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Losing their tempers in the heat, some workers have started to fight.
Find the wild-haired shaman performing a ceremony to bless the canal’s construction. Some workers have been captured trying to escape.
Made with iron instead of the traditional bronze, the diggers’ tools are strong.
By swinging a heavy stone in the air, then dropping it quickly, the men make the bed of the canal more solid.
Construction Begins
Yangzhou, 486 bce
During the Spring and Autumn Period of the Eastern Zhou
Dynasty, wars are common between the many small states
of ancient China. King Fuchai of Wu orders the construction
of a canal, the Han Gou, to transport soldiers and equipment
quickly to the north, where he wishes to expand his kingdom.
It is backbreaking work for the thousands of peasants ordered
to dig the barren earth in the baking sun, using only basic tools.
Yangzhou
Lookout
tower
Canal diggers
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