Post by Tong Kai on Mar 27, 2011 15:23:23 GMT
It had been a few days after the moment that Tianxi had decided to gain a commission in the service of Lord Sun. Sadly however when he made his way to the palace he was notified that Lord Sun was away in the campaigns. Although his request was granted by an Administrator Zhao. So he has a commission but the entire army is out fighting some war. What is Tianxi going to do now?
"Pave a road?" he yelled out half questioningly and half in disbelief into the air.
He sighed heavily as he stood there in the middle of town. A few people were staring at him because of his mini outburst that had startled a group of people nearby. He looked around to see all the people staring at him and began to grumble as he started to walk again. His task granted by the Administrator was to pave a road between here and Jian An. Tianxi had only done such a task back when he was in servitude. He was somewhat irritated to have to do such a task. There must be more important tasks, he thought to himself.
His grumbling to himself ended up being in vain. He finally made his way to the palace and as requested by the administrator enlisted the help of 400 of the strongest looking of the guard. He sighed at some of them that looked somewhat distraught from hearing what they are going to do for the next few days. He obviously didn't want to do the task so why in the world would the guards want to do it? He knew the answer to that by looking at their faces.
They, after the initial grumbling, gathered their material and went off out of the city. This is where they would start. Tianxi walked up infront of the men and took in a deep breath. "Ok so we have been given this task so let us remove our annoyance and get this job done. I'll be sure to request to the Administrator to give you all some extra perks for doing this dull task with me. Are we settled?" he asked outloud
The large group of guards all yelled out 'Yes!.'
With the pleasantries out of the way it was time to get down to business. Tianxi along with other guards began to remove any grass or other plants that would be in the way of the road. While they were doing this one of the guards asked a very simple question. "So...how wide are we making it?" Tianxi sighed as he had forgotten to think of that. He looked down at the ground for a moment until he snapped his fingers. He pointed at two of the men. "You two! Go lay down one after another from head to toe!"
The two men both nodded and did so. Tianxi had decided how wide the road was going to be.
With that simple task taken care of the group continued to clear the path of any plants or the sort. Once they had gotten quite a distance away from the city he notified some of the men still waiting at the gate to begin to lay the pavement.
The men who had gathered some wood made a small wall on both sides of the trail. A small distance from the beginning of the road they would place this wooden wall across the path to make a large rectangular box. From there the men would begin to pour the pavement into these rectangular boxes while adding a large amount of small rounded stones as filler.
Tianxi nodded seeing the men get to work followed by motioning to his men to continue on the path and clear the terrain. "Well isn't this just wonderful...." he grumbled as he removed a weed from the dirt.
This continued on for nearly two days before their first obstruction appeared. "Honestly?!" Tianxi exclaimed as he saw a giant and very old tree had decided it was going to sit in the way of the road. "Go kill it!" he yelled out to the men as a group of them ran forward with axes. They started striking at this wide tree with great force. Chop, chop, chop. The wood kept giving way from the force of the blades.
Tianxi was standing there and sighed as he noticed this was taking too long. "Alright let me show you how to do it!"
He grabbed an axe from one of the men and began using a great amount of strength to tear into the tree. After nearly an hour of doing this the group finally had the tree torn down as it struck the ground with a large crash. With roped tied to the tree they pulled it off to the side. Tianxi then looked over to see the giant stump still there. He was at a loss of words at seeing how long this was taking and still longer it would take before the stump was removed from the dirt.
With the monster of a tree removed they could continue to clear up the land and make their road. They worked for nearly a week with only enough time for breaks as was necissary to eat and sleep. Yet even that time was usually cut short. They had to get this done fast so Tianxi could get off to fight in the campaigns. He was anxious to fight for his home. He was annoyed that he wasn't set out yet.
It felt like they had been working for ages but finally after a week of work they arrived at Jian An. It was a moment of rejoice as the men cleared the last plant and large rock from their makeshift road. The men that were with Tianxi, and Tianxi himself, all layed down onto the ground and relaxed. It most likely was a strange site to see over a hundred men laying around in the dirt infront of the city but they did it anyway.
Tianxi was the first to get to his feet and brush himself off. It was nice to relax but they had more work to do. There was still the rest of the pavement to place. "Alright lets finish this up and get back to Jian Ye....and....get a bath..." he muttered at the end as he sniffed himself and nearly passed out. After wiping the sweat from his brow Tianxi and the others made their way back down the trail until they met up with the rest of the group. The pavers were close enough to Jian An to be able to see it in the distance.
About half a days worth of work was done as the large group of soldiers arrived at the front gate of Jian An. The last walls of wood were placed and the pavement was poured. They waited in that spot and relaxed for a time as they waited for the pavement to dry. When it finally did Tianxi and his men began the treck back to Jian Ye. They removed the wood they had used to place the pavement as they walked.
As Jian Ye finally came into shouting distance Tianxi walked out infront of the group and turned to face them. "Men you have done your home a great deal. From now on our homes will be more protected because of these roads and the merchants will be able to travel back and forth. You have done well. Now go spend the rest of the day with your families." He made a military salute to the men. "Dismissed!"
The men scattered into the city while Tianxi had to report to the Administrator about the finished task. He started towards the palace but stopped in his tracks as he remembered that he smelt like decay. "hmmm...." he muttered as he made a quick stop at his home.
There he was welcomed by his two elder sisters, Sun Xiao and Sun Jiao Si. They both welcomed him home with smiles on their faces until a whiff of their younger brother overcame them and they nearly choked. "What on Earth?!?!" Xiao questioned as she covered her nose with her hands.
"give it a rest." Tianxi grumbled as he went passed them and went out back where the three had a small bathhouse that Tianxi reluctantly was forced to build but today he was glad he had.
He spent about a half hour in the bath removing the stench that had taken him over. After he was for the most part clean he dried himself and changed. Tianxi walked into the house to see his two sisters preparing a meal. He told them that he had to inform the administrator of the completed task followed by him leaving his home to return to the palace he had been at nearly two weeks prior.
He saluted to one of the guards infront of the palace. "Sun Ao Long is here to speak with Administrator Zhao."
"Pave a road?" he yelled out half questioningly and half in disbelief into the air.
He sighed heavily as he stood there in the middle of town. A few people were staring at him because of his mini outburst that had startled a group of people nearby. He looked around to see all the people staring at him and began to grumble as he started to walk again. His task granted by the Administrator was to pave a road between here and Jian An. Tianxi had only done such a task back when he was in servitude. He was somewhat irritated to have to do such a task. There must be more important tasks, he thought to himself.
His grumbling to himself ended up being in vain. He finally made his way to the palace and as requested by the administrator enlisted the help of 400 of the strongest looking of the guard. He sighed at some of them that looked somewhat distraught from hearing what they are going to do for the next few days. He obviously didn't want to do the task so why in the world would the guards want to do it? He knew the answer to that by looking at their faces.
They, after the initial grumbling, gathered their material and went off out of the city. This is where they would start. Tianxi walked up infront of the men and took in a deep breath. "Ok so we have been given this task so let us remove our annoyance and get this job done. I'll be sure to request to the Administrator to give you all some extra perks for doing this dull task with me. Are we settled?" he asked outloud
The large group of guards all yelled out 'Yes!.'
With the pleasantries out of the way it was time to get down to business. Tianxi along with other guards began to remove any grass or other plants that would be in the way of the road. While they were doing this one of the guards asked a very simple question. "So...how wide are we making it?" Tianxi sighed as he had forgotten to think of that. He looked down at the ground for a moment until he snapped his fingers. He pointed at two of the men. "You two! Go lay down one after another from head to toe!"
The two men both nodded and did so. Tianxi had decided how wide the road was going to be.
With that simple task taken care of the group continued to clear the path of any plants or the sort. Once they had gotten quite a distance away from the city he notified some of the men still waiting at the gate to begin to lay the pavement.
The men who had gathered some wood made a small wall on both sides of the trail. A small distance from the beginning of the road they would place this wooden wall across the path to make a large rectangular box. From there the men would begin to pour the pavement into these rectangular boxes while adding a large amount of small rounded stones as filler.
Tianxi nodded seeing the men get to work followed by motioning to his men to continue on the path and clear the terrain. "Well isn't this just wonderful...." he grumbled as he removed a weed from the dirt.
This continued on for nearly two days before their first obstruction appeared. "Honestly?!" Tianxi exclaimed as he saw a giant and very old tree had decided it was going to sit in the way of the road. "Go kill it!" he yelled out to the men as a group of them ran forward with axes. They started striking at this wide tree with great force. Chop, chop, chop. The wood kept giving way from the force of the blades.
Tianxi was standing there and sighed as he noticed this was taking too long. "Alright let me show you how to do it!"
He grabbed an axe from one of the men and began using a great amount of strength to tear into the tree. After nearly an hour of doing this the group finally had the tree torn down as it struck the ground with a large crash. With roped tied to the tree they pulled it off to the side. Tianxi then looked over to see the giant stump still there. He was at a loss of words at seeing how long this was taking and still longer it would take before the stump was removed from the dirt.
With the monster of a tree removed they could continue to clear up the land and make their road. They worked for nearly a week with only enough time for breaks as was necissary to eat and sleep. Yet even that time was usually cut short. They had to get this done fast so Tianxi could get off to fight in the campaigns. He was anxious to fight for his home. He was annoyed that he wasn't set out yet.
It felt like they had been working for ages but finally after a week of work they arrived at Jian An. It was a moment of rejoice as the men cleared the last plant and large rock from their makeshift road. The men that were with Tianxi, and Tianxi himself, all layed down onto the ground and relaxed. It most likely was a strange site to see over a hundred men laying around in the dirt infront of the city but they did it anyway.
Tianxi was the first to get to his feet and brush himself off. It was nice to relax but they had more work to do. There was still the rest of the pavement to place. "Alright lets finish this up and get back to Jian Ye....and....get a bath..." he muttered at the end as he sniffed himself and nearly passed out. After wiping the sweat from his brow Tianxi and the others made their way back down the trail until they met up with the rest of the group. The pavers were close enough to Jian An to be able to see it in the distance.
About half a days worth of work was done as the large group of soldiers arrived at the front gate of Jian An. The last walls of wood were placed and the pavement was poured. They waited in that spot and relaxed for a time as they waited for the pavement to dry. When it finally did Tianxi and his men began the treck back to Jian Ye. They removed the wood they had used to place the pavement as they walked.
As Jian Ye finally came into shouting distance Tianxi walked out infront of the group and turned to face them. "Men you have done your home a great deal. From now on our homes will be more protected because of these roads and the merchants will be able to travel back and forth. You have done well. Now go spend the rest of the day with your families." He made a military salute to the men. "Dismissed!"
The men scattered into the city while Tianxi had to report to the Administrator about the finished task. He started towards the palace but stopped in his tracks as he remembered that he smelt like decay. "hmmm...." he muttered as he made a quick stop at his home.
There he was welcomed by his two elder sisters, Sun Xiao and Sun Jiao Si. They both welcomed him home with smiles on their faces until a whiff of their younger brother overcame them and they nearly choked. "What on Earth?!?!" Xiao questioned as she covered her nose with her hands.
"give it a rest." Tianxi grumbled as he went passed them and went out back where the three had a small bathhouse that Tianxi reluctantly was forced to build but today he was glad he had.
He spent about a half hour in the bath removing the stench that had taken him over. After he was for the most part clean he dried himself and changed. Tianxi walked into the house to see his two sisters preparing a meal. He told them that he had to inform the administrator of the completed task followed by him leaving his home to return to the palace he had been at nearly two weeks prior.
He saluted to one of the guards infront of the palace. "Sun Ao Long is here to speak with Administrator Zhao."
