Chapter 27 Chapter Twenty-Five

Shane was furious.For the second time, the queen refused him to participate in the governance of state affairs in the most direct way, on the pretext that his father had not given a clear account on this matter.His status as heir to the pharaoh did not entitle him to deal with documents that were still too difficult for him. The king's eldest son obeyed his mother's will and hid his disappointment, but he knew that his circle of communication and information was still too weak if he wanted to effectively counter Duya.Unable to wait agonizingly, Shane decided to take things step by step for his own sake.

Without being ostentatious, he invited a few tradition-minded and influential people at court to dinner while he played the role of a humble man begging for instruction.All hubris aside, he behaved like a model son whose only ambition was to follow in his father's footsteps.This kind of remarks won the applause of many people, and Shane's future is a foregone conclusion, thus winning many supporters. However, he found himself still ignorant of foreign politics, and that business dealings with other countries—even enemy ones—was his primary purpose.How could he know the real state of foreign relations, whether he lacked a capable and ready man in his camp?He found that it was not enough to obey the words of businessmen, who were short-sighted and did not understand the real intentions of those in power.

Convincing a diplomat close to Seti to work for him was the perfect solution, almost utopian.But Sienna needs first-hand knowledge in order to develop his strategy and prepare to revolutionize Egyptian politics when the time is right. The word "betrayal" flashed in his mind, but he thought it was amused.To betray what?Is it the past and tradition? From the platform at the top of the Sehabi Al Kading rock, one can overlook the sprawling landscape of mountains and river valleys, and its complex appearance is unsettling.In this chaos, in the face of this visible hostility, only the turquoise mines can bring a kind of quiet peace.

Ramses looked down and was stunned for a moment: the precious blue stone that appeared in the ore lode on the plateau was almost exposed to the ground!This is simply not easy to see elsewhere.Passed down through generations, these miners dug underground passages and tunnels, where they hid their tools between expeditions.There is no permanent residence for this place, because the mining of turquoise cannot be carried out in the hot season, otherwise the stone will fade and distort. The seniors led the juniors and immediately started working. They wanted to shorten their stay in this desolate place as much as possible.They lived in rock huts that barely survived the cold at night.Before the start of work, the pharaoh presided over a ceremony in the small temple of Hathor, praying for the assistance and protection of the goddess of heaven.The Egyptians did not come to destroy the mountains, but to collect the fruits of the mountains, so that they could dedicate them to the temples and make them into jewels, conveying the beauty of the eternal and new life of the Lord of the Stars.

Then came the sound of carving knives, mallets, and chisels, accompanied by the yelling of miners in squads.Seti visited the mine to encourage them.As for Ramses, he was studying the steles erected on the mines in thanks to the mystical powers of heaven and earth and in memory of those who, centuries ago, had contributed to the discovery of vast quantities of precious stones. Moses scrupulously played the role of cook, making sure that everyone was fed; no worker went hungry, and no altar was left to burn incense.Because people thanked the god, the latter offered them something beautiful - a huge turquoise.

Due to the steep terrain of the mine, the expedition team was not worried about being attacked, and no one could escape the surveillance of the sentry and climb the steep cliff leading to the plateau, so Ramses' work was particularly easy.For the first few days he practiced iron discipline, which he later found ridiculous.Subject to the requirements of maintaining security, he allowed his soldiers to relax a little, and let them indulge in the long afternoon naps they loved. Unable to bear idleness, he tries to become Moses' assistant, but his friend is difficult to work with and prefers to do his own tasks alone.The miners also did not want the prince to help them. They persuaded him not to stay in the tunnel any longer, until Bakken got angry and ordered him to only do the work assigned to him by the pharaoh and not to disturb the smooth progress of the mining work on the site.

Ramesses had to concentrate on looking after his subordinates. He was interested in his work, his family, listening to their complaints, refuting some of their criticisms, and sometimes agreeing with others.Given the distance from home and often operating under difficult conditions, they hope to enjoy a good retirement and learn a little more about the country in the future.Few of them had the chance to go to war, but every one of them had been called to work in a quarry, to a large construction site, or on an expedition like that.Although the work is tough, they are proud of their profession, and have some fabulous memories to show off to those who never had the chance to travel by Pharaoh's side!

Ramses watched.He learns to understand the day-to-day procedures of a construction site, endorses the need for a true class division of labor based on competence rather than power, distinguishing the hardworking from the lazy, the persistent from the reckless, the silent from the talkative.In the end, his vision always stays on the stele set up by his ancestors, on the verticality required by the human beings who erected this sacred stele in the middle of the desert. "They're lovely, aren't they?" His father startled him. Seti wore a simple loincloth, exactly the same as the pharaohs in the old empire, but still without losing the pharaoh's dignity.Every time he met, he exuded a power that confused Ramses.Seti does not need any special decoration, his presence is enough to show his majesty.No one else possessed this magic, all but trickery or coyness.As soon as Seti appeared, order immediately replaced chaos.

"They motivate me to concentrate," Ramses admits. "They are all living languages. Unlike human languages, they do not lie or betray. The buildings of the destroyer have been destroyed, and the actions of the liar can only be fleeting. The only power of the pharaoh is Maat." Ramesses was messed up, what does Pharaoh mean by saying these words to him to suspect that he ever engaged in destruction, treachery or lying?He wanted to stand up, run to the end of the plateau, roll down the steep slope, and disappear into the desert.But what mistake did he make?He waited for a more serious indictment, but nothing happened, and the king just looked away.

Xie Na... Yes, it must be him, the father alluded to Xie Na without naming his name!The father realized Xena's disloyalty to the monarch and reminded Ramses of his true status.Once again, fate changed!The prince was sure that Seti's words were addressed to Xie Na, and his father's disappointment and expectation were indistinguishable. "What is the purpose of your trip?" Ramses hesitated, there could be no trap hidden behind such a simple question. "Bring back the turquoise for the gods." "Are they absolutely necessary for the development of the country?"

"No, but... how to lose its beauty?" "Let profit not be the source of our wealth, for it corrupts the heart and entitles any man to make prestige, that is to say, it impairs man's character and his genius. Look for the irreplaceable." Ramesses felt a light pass through his heart, making him strong, and Seti's words were imprinted on his heart forever. "May the young, as the elders, draw from Pharaoh the energy they need to survive, and do not neglect one to the detriment of others, and convince them that the group is more important than the individual. What is good for the whole hive is good for the bees Beneficial in itself, and bees should serve the colony on which they depend." Bee, one of the symbols used to describe the name of Pharaoh!Seti speaks of the execution of the Supreme Work, and he reveals to Ramesses step by step the secrets of the king's office. "While production is important," Seti went on, "distribution is more important. A large amount of wealth that is only appropriated by a certain class will only cause misfortune and disputes, while a small amount of wealth that is well distributed will spread joy. The process of governing should be like As in the process of a festival, and to be so, no one should go hungry. Watch, my son, keep watching, for if you are not a man of vision, you will not be able to feel what I say." Ramses stayed up all night, gazing at a blue vein of minerals floating at the end of the plateau.He begged Hathor to dispel the ignorance that was struggling inside him, that there would be no more stalks of pressure. Just before dawn, a shadow slipped out of the main tunnel.Despite the lack of hazy moonlight, Ramses believed he saw a ghostly shadow hurrying into another tunnel.This ghost figure had a human-like appearance, and was holding something tightly to its chest. "Who are you?" The man paused, turned his head in the Prince's direction, and then set off for the most undulating part of the plateau, where the miners had only a small hut. "Do not move!" The man quickened his pace, and Ramses chased after him even more.He cut the distance and overtook the stranger head-on before he descended the steep slope. The prince threw himself on him and grabbed his legs.The thief fell, but without letting go of his pack, he grabbed a rock with his left hand and tried to smash his attacker's head.Ramses elbowed him to the throat, nearly suffocating him.However, that person was still able to stand up, but his center of gravity was unstable and he fell backwards. A scream, followed by a second, and then the sound of a body rolling down a steep slope, which finally stopped at the bottom of a slope. When Ramses caught up with him, the fugitive was dead, still clutching a sack full of turquoise to his chest. The thief was not a stranger. He was a coachman who lured Ramses into a trap during a desert hunt, and he should pay for it with his life.