Chapter 40 The design of the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum is...
The design of the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum was based on the traditional funeral system of "treating the dead as if they were alive" and the principles of "the imperial mausoleum being like a capital city" and "the supreme imperial power".
The layout and all facilities of the cemetery are arranged according to these principles.
The inner and outer walls surrounding Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum symbolize the palace city and outer city; the magnificent mausoleum complex symbolizes his palace during his lifetime; the various burial pits within the mausoleum area are a microcosm of what Qin Shi Huang enjoyed and possessed during his lifetime; the towering earthen mound and the underground palace beneath it symbolize his imperial palace during his lifetime.
In short, the underground kingdom is a reproduction of the above-ground kingdom.
Can the difficulties Su He mentioned really be solved with gunpowder?
Lin Fengzhi felt that this was a bit difficult.
First, the explosive power of the gunpowder she currently possesses is relatively weak, making it difficult to blast through hard rock. While she could seal the gunpowder in an iron casing to increase the blasting effect, this would extremely increase the risk of accidentally injuring construction workers.
Secondly, the underground palace is a closed space, and blasting it could easily cause a collapse.
Therefore, Lin Fengzhi politely declined Su He's offer.
Su He had anticipated this and was not disappointed. His goal was not to have Lin Fengzhi help his subordinates solve their problems.
If you can't burn through or drill through hard rock, just go around it. Isn't that a last resort? His Majesty isn't an unreasonable emperor; he's just going around it for a bit, and the structure of the underground palace remains completely unchanged.
Su Shaofu said, “Divine Envoy, as Shaofu, besides being in charge of the royal finances, we also oversee textiles. Among my subordinates is the Weaving Chamber Master, who is specifically responsible for producing royal textiles. With these newly established official workshops, shouldn't our Shaofu also be able to produce them?”
Lin Fengzhi burst out laughing.
The true intentions were revealed when Su Shaofu was finally shown.
She had heard that some people use a strategy when asking for favors: make a big request first, and then make a smaller one after being refused. She never imagined she would use it today.
"Young Master Su, it's not that I don't want to agree, but you should have seen the memorials that Prime Minister Li has presented along the way regarding the official workshop. Since you wanted to get involved, why didn't you discuss it with Prime Minister Li earlier?" Lin Fengzhi looked into Su He's eyes. "The official workshop has already been coordinated by the Minister of Grain Administration, with Magistrate Feng assisting. Even my clansman Xiao Shui has already taken on a supervisory role at the workshop this morning. Isn't it too late to come to me now?"
Su He smiled awkwardly, realizing that his attempt to use connections had failed, and gave up: "The young master's mansion is full of skilled craftsmen. If the divine messenger needs anyone, he can simply send someone to the camp to request them."
Although Lin Fengzhi didn't have the chance to visit the Terracotta Army in her previous life, she did her homework and knew that the craftsmen who built the mausoleum were highly skilled. In addition to looking for a way home, she also wanted to see the most advanced craftsmanship of this era when she came to Lishan.
Lin Fengzhi shamefully fell in love.
Su Shaofu understood immediately. He knew Lin Fengzhi couldn't refuse. She had brought Chu Mo and the peasant family to Xianyang, so how could she not have designs on the best craftsman in the entire Qin Dynasty?
Moreover, judging from Lin Fengzhi's style of doing things, once she achieves some results, she is very likely to request an official title for someone. The Agriculturalists and the Mohists will either come to the Imperial Household Department or go to the Minister of Agriculture.
Just like Xiangli Mo, isn't he now serving as an official in the Imperial Household Department?
Lin Fengzhi readily agreed. Seeing that Su Shaofu was so understanding, she also said, "I can't help Su Shaofu with textiles, but I have some new ideas recently. I hope Su Shaofu will not be stingy with the talents under his command."
"Of course, it is our honor to be able to assist the divine messenger and serve His Majesty." Su He was overjoyed; it was truly a stroke of good luck.
Seeing that the rain was gradually subsiding, Su He said again, "There are hot spring palaces here in Lishan. His Majesty has ordered them to be renovated. I still have official duties to attend to, so I will not personally escort the messenger."
After saying this, he assigned a subordinate to lead the way for Lin Fengzhi, and then hurriedly left.
Lin Fengzhi gazed at the camp in the distance, where hundreds of thousands of convicts and laborers were eating and resting. Lost in thought, she boarded a carriage and headed with an official from the Imperial Household Department to the hot spring palace.
The pine and cypress trees on Mount Li are sparse, and the vegetation is mainly low shrubs, lacking the lush greenery of later times. The mountain paths are rugged, and even after being deliberately repaired, they become muddy in the rain.
Lin Fengzhi actually saw deer and pheasants in the mountains.
The hot spring palace wasn't far, and we arrived there in no time.
Lin Fengzhi fell silent as soon as she got out of the car, not because there were a lot of palace servants and managers.
Rather, this place is probably, perhaps, the original form of Huaqing Palace.
Lin Fengzhi's guess was correct. This place was a royal bathing area built by the First Emperor using the natural hot springs of Mount Li, and was later expanded into the core part of Huaqing Palace during the Tang Dynasty. The straight-line distance from the hot spring pool to the Mausoleum of the First Emperor of Qin is only 1.5 kilometers, which is also a place she had reserved in her previous life but hadn't had time to visit yet.
As soon as they entered, the steward greeted them warmly: "Divine messenger, the hot spring has been cleaned, and I have made arrangements for the people and things you brought. Would you like to have a meal first or rest first?"
Lin Fengzhi turned her head, intending to ask the large group of people following her, but they all stared at her.
Lin Fengzhi found it amusing.
She didn't ask any more questions and said to the housekeeper, "Let's eat first, and then we'll go to the hot spring pool. The mountain road here is rugged, and everyone is tired."
The steward led her to a warm pavilion inside the palace. Before long, a continuous stream of banquet dishes was brought up by beautiful palace maids.
The architectural style of the Qin Dynasty is simple and robust, emphasizing functionality. Although it was called a warm pavilion, Lin Fengzhi felt a surge of heat as soon as she entered.
"It's only August, and they've already started burning earth dragons?"
The steward had food served to her, and replied, "No, no. Divine messenger, this is a warm pavilion surrounded by hot spring water drawn by Mo family craftsmen, not a fire dragon burning the ground."
Isn't that similar to modern underfloor heating?
Of course, she knew it was impossible.
Modern underfloor heating relies on electric power or gas boilers, radiating heat evenly across the floor to maintain constant temperature and humidity, and poses no risk of open flame.
It's already quite remarkable that modern craftsmen can think of using the heat from hot springs to heat the ground and actually do it.
Seeing her interest, the steward added, "Divine messenger, the underfloor heating in this warm pavilion was done by that master craftsman Xiangli. Shall I invite him up here to answer your questions?"
Lin Fengzhi looked over and saw that the person the steward was pointing to was a subordinate that Su Shaofu had specially left behind.
Xiangli?
Isn't the Mohist school left behind by the Qin state the same as Xiangli Mo?
Seeing that the craftsman, who appeared to be a disciple of the Mohist school, was engrossed in eating, Lin Fengzhi asked the steward in a low voice, "Is he a disciple of the Mohist school?"
“Exactly, exactly, the gods have made ice and snow intelligent.”
Lin Fengzhi immediately widened her eyes to look at Sheng Kuan, Chi Su, and Chu Mo, as if she were enjoying the spectacle.
Whether it was at the behest of the manager or not, the sounds of string and wind instruments were played during the banquet.
Lin Fengzhi's eyes were piercing, and even the meat in her mouth lost its flavor. Her gaze darted back and forth between Xiangli Gongshi and Shengkuan's group.
At this moment, the strange silence of the group became clear.
Xiangli Liang was already used to this kind of occasion. He answered silently and smiled (Lin Fengzhi: Huh? Really? Really?), waiting for Shangguan to ask questions and then answer.
However, everything vanished when he discovered that Seungkwan was also among the people brought by the so-called divine messenger.
At first, he was delighted. You Chu Mo once solemnly swore to uphold the ideals of universal love and non-aggression of your ancestor Mozi, opposing all wars and acting as a wandering knight to stop wars and help the weak. How could you now be bowing down to serve so-called divine messengers?
Xiangli Mo was excluded from the court and had almost no access to essential political information. In addition, Xiangli Liang had lived in Lishan for a long time and was not very politically astute. He was only able to obtain the position of engineer because of Xiangli Mo's technical contributions to the war.
He knew nothing about Lin Fengzhi's background; he only thought she was a rising alchemist. And for some unknown reason, his former fellow disciples had gathered before this alchemist.
Are they really going to abandon the century-old reputation of the Mohist school?
Chu Mo is shameless, but Xiang Li Mo still has a sense of shame.
Xiangli Liang shoved his chopsticks into the millet rice in anger, but after taking a bite, he couldn't help feeling resentful.
He glanced at Shengkuan casually, feeling sorry that the other man had lowered his standards to flatter the sorcerer, yet also afraid of seeing the contempt in the other man's eyes.
He recalled the heated debates of his youth, when he was still full of passion and ideals, a zeal for researching machinery, and a sincere desire for "universal love." The memories were so vivid that they almost overwhelmed the dam he had built up over the years. Chu Mo ended up like this; how could their choice of Xiang Li Mo have been correct?
Despite Xiangli Mo's allegiance to the Qin Dynasty and the significant technological support he provided for the Qin's unification wars, only the technology entered the Qin Dynasty; the ideas they championed were still rejected.
Xiangli Liang was heartbroken. Perhaps in the end, even the technique would not be able to be preserved and would only become a "lost skill".
Seungkwan also felt a little guilty and uneasy.
Although he disliked Xiangli Mo, what saddened him even more was that even after Xiangli Mo went against his own wishes, he still could not receive better treatment in Qin.
Chu Mo and Xiangli Mo originally came from the same source, but they went their separate ways due to different philosophies.
This doesn't mean that Seungkwan wanted to see Sangri Mo's decline. He was just angry at his lack of ambition.
Before the banquet ended, the two of them went to the corridor outside the warm pavilion without prior arrangement.
Black pillars, vermilion railings, white-gray walls, gurgling hot spring water, and two men who have been silent for a long time.
Xiangli Liang, with his back to Shengkuan, said in a hoarse voice, "...You shouldn't have come, and you especially shouldn't have come in this way."
He turned around, his eyes filled with complex emotions—warning, pain, and a barely perceptible concern: "This is Mount Li, not the State of Chu. What good can mere brute force do for the greater good? It will only lead to your own destruction."
Sheng Kuan's feelings were equally complicated: "Xiangli Mo was truly excluded from the court. How could you say it in this way? How ironic that Xiangli Mo used the ingenuity passed down from his master to build the mausoleum for the First Emperor and to contribute to the unjust war. Xiangli Mo made such a sacrifice, yet he couldn't even get a scrap of power."
Xiangli Liang's body jolted violently, as if struck by a heavy hammer. He instinctively gripped the cuffs of his official robes, his knuckles turning white, his lips trembling: "You think I'm doing this for power?! Tell me, in this chaotic world, how can the flame of the Mohist school not be extinguished except by attaching oneself to a powerful authority that can potentially achieve 'harmony'? Qin law is harsh, but it can prevent Mohist disciples from dying in street battles, and it can ensure that the chapters in the 'Mo Jing' are not just castles in the air!"
"The spark? Xiangli Liang, look me in the eye! The spark of the Mohist school is 'universal love and non-aggression,' it is 'promoting the benefit of the world and eliminating the harm of the world.'" Sheng Kuan was stunned for a moment by his fierce reaction, then retorted: "Xiangli Mo, hasn't he already lost the soul of the Mohist school?"
Xiangli Liang slumped against the cold corridor pillar, listening to the heavy breathing of the two men and the soft, seductive music coming from the warm pavilion, and he couldn't help but feel a deep sadness.
After a long silence, he spoke in a weak, almost delirious voice: "...Soul? You're right, we lost our souls long ago."
“We humans also calculated dimensions and levers, trying to make the mechanisms less strenuous and the city walls stronger… hoping that perhaps we could save a few laborers from dying from exhaustion.” He stretched out his hand from under his official robe, looking at his calloused and finely wounded palm, and smiled bitterly: “But I can’t fool myself. All our efforts have ultimately become nothing more than a clever tool for Qin’s siege warfare. Now, even Chu Mo has to rely on the sorcerers.”
Shengkuan saw the pain and struggle on Xiangli Liang's face. He had also been saddened by this before. He understood that Xiangli Liang was not numb, but rather mired in a quagmire, suffocating in the conflict between ideals and reality.
Sheng Kuan looked at Lin Fengzhi, who was peeking out from the warm pavilion. The flame of his ideal had not been extinguished. Instead, he found a new answer in Lin Fengzhi. He said, "Xiangli Liang, that is not a sorcerer. Su Shaofu called her a divine messenger, and she does indeed have many supernatural qualities."
"I know you won't listen to anything I say right now. Just you wait and see, you'll find a new answer, the same answer I have."
The Mohist school of thought actually has a utilitarian undertone, emphasizing use value and social benefits, and Lin Fengzhi's actions were effective almost without any delay.
Building water conservancy projects for the people and promoting grain production, increasing the income of the surrounding people through textile machinery, and building water conservancy stone mills because of the hard work of stone mills... every single thing was put into practice in the areas that the Mohists always cared about.
Sheng Kuan, with his hands clasped together, confidently said, "Just you wait and see. What did she say again? Oh, practice makes perfect. Before long, Xiang Li Mo will be just like us."
Xiangli Liang also looked towards the warm pavilion, and couldn't help but wonder, "Do I bow down to that sorcerer and raise my cup to toast him, just like you?"
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Author's Note: *Commentary on the Terracotta Army of Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum / Commentary on the Shaanxi History Museum
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