Bo Yi had already extended the road into the southeast.
Wugu had originally been a herding slave of Gong Fang.
Among the northern tribes, herding slaves ranked even lower than the slaves of Great Shang. They survived on a little mare's milk each day, while all the cattle and sheep they raised had to be handed over.
Not everyone among the nomadic peoples was a strong, sturdy warrior. There were plenty of herding slaves like Wugu.
Later, when Gong Fang headed south, Wugu saw how the people of Great Shang lived. What kind of life was this?
Even ordinary commoners lived better than some of his tribe's nobles?!
He yearned for the life of Great Shang's people. For the first time in his life, he defied his tribe's most exalted chieftain and rode south to freedom right before the man's eyes.
He kept heading south. Whether it was building roads or the Great Wall, as long as he joined in, he could live in peace instead of remaining a herding slave no different from livestock.
Fortunately, he encountered Bo Yi, who was building a road.
He discovered that there were many people from foreign tribes among the road crews: Tu Fang People, people from Hu Fang, people from Gui Fang, and more.
Later, Wugu earned some merit, and Bo Yi appointed him to take charge of receiving people from foreign tribes who fled south.
Early one morning, Wugu watered the flowers beside a little roadside tree with the bodily fluid he had stored up overnight.
A gaunt woman, barely clothed and plainly underfed, ran up to him.
Wugu understood at once. She must have been another refugee from some tribe. Even a frail woman had fled, and without a horse, too. How miserable must her former life have been!
"Here...