0p0 Chapter 542: The Reign of Qin Shi Huang (10)
Chapter 542: The Reign of Qin Shi Huang (10)
She had seen Ying Zheng trapped in the Mausoleum of Mount Li, buried in the dust of history, but now the emperor before her was about to embark on an unprecedented journey under her encouragement.
"Your Majesty's lifespan has been extended to thirty years." Her voice was firm and clear, "enough for the flags of the Great Qin to be planted wherever the sun and moon shine."
Now, she finally understood that the so-called destiny was never to stop the wheel of history, but to let it roll over a wider field.
In an instant, the system prompt sounded like thunder.
[Ding Dong: Congratulations to the host for activating all historical anchor points. The current world line has been modified, and the process of global unification is about to begin.] Su Mohui knelt on one knee, back straight as a javelin: "I will certainly assist Your Majesty and spread the great name of the Qin Dynasty throughout the world!"
When Meng Tian's voice came from the observatory, Su Mohui raised her eyes and looked into the distance.
The battle flags of the Xuanniao Guard fluttered above the walls of Xianyang, complementing the Tai'a sword and the twelve-tasseled crown at Ying Zheng's waist, creating a magnificent scene that transcended the constraints of time and space. This was the dawn of mortals rewriting destiny, and the starting point for the Qin civilization to enter a new era.
A never-ending dawn belonging to the Qin Dynasty, rewritten by mortals.
............
Six months later, thousands of ships set sail in Bohai Bay. Atop each ship's bow stood a towering bronze bird, its beak clutching the Qin Dynasty's newly forged Si Nan, guiding the unknown.
On the deck, stacked pottery jars for grain and fodder were printed with Qin seal characters such as "rest and bath", "encourage farming", and "military merit". The names of the craftsmen were neatly engraved on the bottom of the jars, bringing the Qin law tradition of "marking the craftsman's name on the object" to the ocean.
The battle flag of the Xuanniao Guard was made of Dongxian shark silk, embroidered with the picture of the unified six kingdoms from the mural of Xianyang Palace. The Qin Li inscription "Everywhere the sun and the moon shine, all is Qin land" at the corner sparkled in the sunlight.
As the first rays of dawn illuminated the fleet, Su Mohui gazed at the Tai'a sword at Ying Zheng's waist. The newly engraved inscription on the scabbard gleamed in the morning light, its inscriptions intricately blending the rudiments of Western Sogdian script and Japanese katakana, a prophecy of the fusion of civilizations.
She knew that what awaited her was not only conquest, but also an unprecedented collision and rebirth of civilizations.
On the wall of Xianyang, the newly engraved inscription "Wherever the sun and the moon shine, all is Qin's territory; wherever the rivers flow, all are the king's subjects" stands tall in the sea breeze.
And she, the dream weaver who has traveled through thirty-three reincarnations, will eventually stand shoulder to shoulder with the emperors of the ages and write the immortal legend of the Qin Dynasty on the long scroll of history.
The wings of the black bird have spread, and the seeds of civilization will follow the fleet's trajectory, taking root and sprouting across the vast land, growing into a towering tree that spans time and space.
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207 BC, Great Heat.
The quicksand on the shore of the West Sea was steaming under the scorching sun. Ying Zheng's bronze chariot rolled over the Mani piles built by the Yuezhi people. The black bird totem on the shaft swept the gold foil on the top of the stone pile, startling the circling vultures, and the black shadow covered half of the sky like a dark cloud.
This was his fifth hot summer of personal expedition. The track of conquest engraved on the armrest of his carriage had crossed the Pamir Mountains and pointed directly to the Ashoka Pillar of the Maurya Empire. It seemed that he wanted to turn that ancient stone pillar into a mark on the territory of the Qin Dynasty!
"Report! Seleucid heavy cavalry spotted ten miles ahead!" Salt frost condensed on the scout's armor, and the black bird emblem on his chest glowed faintly in the heat wave.
Ying Zheng raised his hand to signal, his eyes beneath the crown as sharp as an eagle.
The sheepskin map that Su Mohui unfolded suddenly emitted a blue light. The three-dimensional terrain constructed by the power of the system flowed in the sunlight. The Euphrates River meandered into a silver chain, the array of the Seleucid Silver Shield Legion turned into red light spots, and the group of elephant soldiers on the edge of the oasis cast a huge black shadow, like a dormant beast.
"Order 50,000 elite troops to divert the Tigris River to flood the enemy camp." He traced his fingertips across the Fertile Crescent on the map. "Twenty thousand Black Bird Guards will attack the forage supplies with fire, and fifty thousand Black Bird Guards will form a tortoise shell formation to protect the supply route."
Before he could finish his words, a cloud of yellow sand suddenly rose in the distance, covering the sky and the sun. The Sarmatian nomadic cavalry were attacking from the flank, and the scimitars in their hands formed silver waves in the sunlight.
Su Mohui looked at the dark energy hidden between Ying Zheng's brows. That was the hidden injury left behind by her charming ancestor when he forcibly used the power of national destiny during the expedition against the Alan Kingdom four years ago.
She quietly crushed the jade bottle in her sleeve, and the thousand-year-old snow ginseng she retrieved from the system space turned into white mist, which seeped into the emperor's armor along the tassels of the chariot.
"Your Majesty, your hidden wounds haven't healed yet." Her voice mingled with the approaching drums, carrying an irrefutable determination. "In this battle, let five thousand elite soldiers test the enemy's strength."
At the command, the sand dunes on the east side of the battlefield suddenly split apart. Five thousand elite soldiers clad in asbestos-lacquered armor descended like divine troops from the sky, their flamethrowers spewing out ten-foot-long dragons of fire—the very mechanism Su Mohui had modified based on the book "The Exploitation of the Works of Nature."
As the flames swept across the grasslands, the Seleucid war elephants screamed in terror and trampled their own camp. The Yuezhi cavalry, seeing the fluttering black bird battle flag, dropped their bows and arrows, knelt down, and presented a surrender letter engraved with the Great Qin seal script.
The neat words on it were the seeds of civilization sown by the "Translation Project" three years ago, which now bore the fruit of submission in the war.
Since he led his troops to the West Sea, Ying Zheng's Xuanniao battle flag swept across the East Asian continent.
The Ashoka Pillar of the Maurya Empire was covered with Qin seal inscriptions, the Silver Shield Phalanx of the Seleucid Empire was incorporated into the Qin army, and even the Sarmatian cavalry that roamed the grasslands tied their scimitars with red silk with the black bird totem.
The Yuezhi merchant caravans carried palm-leaf scriptures inscribed with Qin official script as they passed through the oasis. The Alan shamans began to use Qin-style tortoise shells for divination. This war, which lasted for five years, brought the mountains and rivers of dozens of states into the territory of the Qin Dynasty!
When the triumphant bronze chariot rolled through Hangu Pass, the bells and drums of Xianyang City resounded through the sky.
Ying Zheng stood in the Zhangtai Palace and distributed the golden swords symbolizing military merit to the three armies, and amnesty orders flew like snowflakes to the seventy-two counties.
For seven whole days, the bonfire beside the Taiye Lake was kept burning, and the surrendered ministers of various countries drank the spring wine of Qianzhong together with the people of the Qin Dynasty. The Qiang flutes and chime bells played unprecedented harmony, and even the Wei River was reflected into a long red river by the river lanterns.
During the two years of the truce, Su Mohui built the Nine-Turn Alchemy Chamber deep in Mount Li. Using Kunlun Snow Water as a lure and the tears of the mermaids from Penglai as a concoction, she would practice qigong to exorcise the poison for Ying Zheng on every full-moon night.
When the last trace of black air dissipated from between the emperor's brows, the peach forest outside the alchemy room actually blossomed in reverse time, and the dew condensed on the petals reflected the amazing sight of the Big Dipper hanging upside down.
"Sir, are you willing to embark on another journey with me?" Ying Zheng stroked the Tai'a sword at his waist, which was shining again, and cast his eyes on the newly painted world map on the wall of Xianyang Palace.
The Western Regions, the South Sea Islands, and the more distant continents that had not yet been colored in the map were waiting to be imbued with the color of the Black Bird Flag. Su Mohui looked at the sparks that had rekindled in his eyes and put the newly made astronomical compass into her sleeve.