中英雙語話歷史 第25期:秦朝(經略邊疆)
Xiongnu, a powerful nomadic people living on the Mongolian plateau, often harassed the south at the end of the Warring States Period.
In 215 B. C. , the First Emperor had Meng Tian lead 300 000 soldiers to fend off these nomads, and finally recovered the south area of Hetao plain.
公元前215 年，秦始皇派蒙恬率軍30萬抗擊匈奴，收復河套以南地區。Then, Meng Tian crossed the Yellow River northward, repaired and augmented the old walls left by Qin, Zhao and Yan according to the terrain, and eventually Linked these defense works together to form the Great Wall extending from Lintao ( modern Minxian County, Gansu Province) in the west to the Liaodong Peninsula in the east to protect the Northern agricultural areas.
蒙恬又北渡黃河，利用地勢，修繕、增補舊秦、趙、燕長城，並將其連接起來，築成西起臨洮（今甘肅岷縣）、東迄遼東的萬里長城，用來保護北方農業區域。
Tens of thousands of families were migrated to Hetao subsequently, which played a positive role in land reclamation and frontier defence.
接着，秦又徙民幾萬家於河套。這對於邊地的開墾和邊防的加強起到了積極作用。Besides the building of public projects, the emperor ordered a string of palaces built. For the construction of the Epang Palace alone, 700 000 peasants were conscripted ,while the building of his mausoleum took over 30 years to complete.
秦始皇下令建造了許多宮殿，僅阿旁宮一處就徵用了70萬人,而始皇陵的建造更是花了30年的時間才完成。In order to continue his reign after his death, he also ordered the construction of the Terra-Cotta Army in the east of his mausoleum.
爲了能在死後繼續統治，秦始皇還下令在其陵墓以東修建兵馬俑。All of these activities required enormous levies of manpower and resources, not to mention repressive measures.
秦始皇的這一列系舉措不但徵用了大量的人力、物力，還以各種強制手段作爲保障。Endless labor, heavy taxation and harsh laws in the later years of the First Emperor’s reign started to provoke widespread social discontent.
頻繁的徭役，沉重的賦稅，加之殘酷的刑罰令民衆大爲不滿。
