Diqin Designer

Chapter 349 Return of the Head, Steam Engine
But even if they were Qin soldiers, they were still human beings, with two eyes, a mouth, two arms and two legs. If they were shot by an arrow or chopped by a knife, they would be injured and die.

Even if they cannot survive today, they must bite off some flesh from these Qin troops. It would be even better if they can defeat this Qin army.

That would destroy the Qin people's plan to use them to establish their power over the Wusun people, and let the Wusun people see that the Qin people were not as strong as the rumors said, and that standing on the Qin people's side might not have a future.

However, the idea is beautiful, but the reality is cruel.

Although the Qin cavalry did not grow up on the grassland, they were well-trained. This team of cavalry were the elite of the Qin who had fought in the battlefield, and their weapons and armor were better than those of the Yuezhi delegation.

What advantages do the Yuezhi delegation have in comparison?

In the distance, Liu Ji and the King of Wusun watched carefully as the Yuezhi delegation and the Qin delegation's escort cavalry approached each other. Neither side chose to retreat, intending to engage in a head-on confrontation.

I saw two teams of cavalry approaching quickly, like two torrents of different colors colliding with each other.

Soon, the black torrent violently tore apart the other torrent, cutting through it and leaving behind a trail of corpses.

This was not the end. The two cavalry units that had crossed each other quickly turned their horses around and charged back at each other again.

Only this time, the other torrent was much looser and smaller.

There is no fear, no surrender, only killing, but this kind of bravery is meaningless.

In the wave after wave of charging and fighting, another torrent of troops was completely defeated. The corpses of the Yuezhi delegation fell on the plain, leaving behind the neighing of their surviving horses.

Seeing the Yuezhi delegation being killed by the Qin cavalry, the King of Wusun and others did not feel too happy, but instead felt more confused and worried.

Although they knew that the Qin people were stronger than the Yuezhi people, they won too easily.

In this small-scale battle, the Qin army did suffer casualties, but compared with the results achieved, the number of casualties was enough to represent a great victory.

Although they don't want to admit it, their strength is indeed not as good as that of the Yuezhi people.

This also means that if they were to be hostile to the Qin people, the casualties on both sides would be even more shocking.

The Qin people are so powerful, is it a good choice for them to unite with them?

But now that we have come this far, it is difficult to turn back, so we can only grit our teeth and keep going.

Otherwise, not only would we offend the Yuezhi people, but we would also offend the Qin people, and that would be the end of us.

The King of Wusun and others were in a heavy mood, but they dared not show it, and even had to put on a smile to congratulate Liu Ji.

The Wusun King smiled and praised: "As expected of the Qin Iron Cavalry, your reputation is well-deserved. Under your army, the Yuezhi people are no match for you!"

Before Liu Ji could reply, a Qin rider came over and said to him, "Report to the ambassador, all 138 members of the Yuezhi envoys have been killed!"

Looking at the battle site, Liu Ji said, "It is because of the brothers' courage to risk their lives that we have this victory. When I return, I will definitely ask for credit for you brothers!"

"Take good care of the injured brothers. As for the dead brothers... collect their bodies properly. I, Liu Ji, am sorry for them. They followed me from Daqin, but I was unable to bring them back intact!"

After saying this, Liu Ji said: "Remember the names of the brothers who died in battle and take good care of their belongings."

"I, Liu Ji, swear: Even if I cannot bring them back to Daqin alive, I will definitely bring their belongings back to Daqin and hand them over to their families!"

After arranging the treatment of the injured and dead Qin cavalry, Liu Ji turned to the King of Wusun.

"The Yuezhi envoys have all been executed. What do you think should be done with their bodies?"

It seemed that they were asking for their opinions and discussing how to deal with the bodies of the Yuezhi envoys, but the King of Wusun and others understood that this was not an inquiry, but a request for them to express their views.

They have no extra choice.

Could it be that the Qin people would allow their proposal to give the Yuezhi envoys a proper burial?

Asking is just a formality to show respect to them. If you really make suggestions, it would be ignorant.

The King of Wusun understood this and said respectfully: "The Yuezhi envoys were defeated by your army. The ambassador should make the decision, and we can just obey!"

Instead of proposing how to deal with the situation, it would be better for them to let the Qin envoy decide. They cannot make the decision anyway, and it all depends on the Qin envoy's intention in the end.

Liu Ji didn't waste any words and made a decision without hesitation: "In this case, we will send all their heads back to Yuezhi. It will be inconvenient for our Great Qin to return the heads, so I will trouble you all!"

Although they had guessed what the Qin people might ask them to do before they came and were mentally prepared, the King of Wusun and others still gasped when they heard Liu Ji's decision.

It turns out that those who can serve as Qin envoys are not good people. This Qin envoy who looks straightforward and heroic is also a tough guy!
The Wusun and Yuezhi already had a feud. If they sent people to deliver the more than one hundred heads of the Yuezhi envoys to the Yuezhi, one could imagine how angry the Yuezhi king would be.

The hatred between the two families will become deeper and more difficult to resolve, and in the choice between Daqin and Yuezhi, they will be forced to side with Daqin and will no longer be able to side with Yuezhi.

This is forcing them, Wusun, to submit their surrender to the Qin Dynasty!
But the Qin envoy had already made his decision, so how could they refuse?

The King of Wusun did not hesitate and said, "I am willing to obey the order of the envoy!"

Seeing that the King of Wusun was so tactful, the seriousness on Liu Ji's face suddenly disappeared, and he returned to his usual heroic look, as if the Qin envoy who had just threatened the King of Wusun was not himself.

Liu Ji smiled and said, "Don't worry, my king. When I return to Xianyang, I will report your achievements to your majesty. The Qin Empire will not treat anyone who has made contributions unfairly!"

A few days later, in a felt tent in the Yuezhi royal court, there were several boxes on the ground with their lids opened.

Looking at the scattered heads, an angry shout came from the tent: "Wusun brats, Qin thieves, you are going too far!"

The expressions of the other people in the room were also unhappy. They thought that the delegation they sent would be killed, but they never thought that these bastards would humiliate them like this.

After killing all the envoys, they cut off their heads and returned them to them, still in a wooden box.

Especially after opening it and seeing the human head placed casually in the wooden box, he became even more furious.

This is the envoy of the Yuezhi. Even if he is killed or beheaded, he should not be treated like a piece of trash.

Compared with the previous few days, there were more Yuezhi leaders in the yurt this time. The situation was not optimistic, and the Yuezhi king recruited more leaders.

The leader who proposed the alliance with the Donghu was also in the room at this moment. Seeing the King of Yuezhi getting angry, he said, "This is a plan of the Qin people and Wusun. They are deliberately trying to provoke the King. The King must not fall for it!"

The leader analyzed: "How could the Qin people and Wusun not know that such an action would anger us, but they still did it, just to make us angry and fall into their trap."

Don’t the Wusun and Qin people know that sending these heads will deepen the hatred?
Definitely know!

But the Qin people and Wusun did this, obviously to provoke them and make them hate them. Although they knew that what the leader said was right, they were still angry.

Understanding is one thing, doing it is another.

The Yue clan king said: "Do I have to endure this? Can't I do anything?"

The leader replied, "Your Majesty, please be patient for now, not forever. Given our current situation, we cannot send troops to attack the Wusun and Qin people, but we have other things we can do."

"The Qin and Wusun people sent these heads back, which is indeed a humiliation to us, but it is also beneficial!"

Hearing "not without benefit", the Yuezhi King's anger subsided a little: "According to you, this is a good thing for us?"

"It's not a good thing, but it is useful. We can show these heads to our tribesmen and let them know about the dangers of Qin and Wusun. In this way, our tribesmen will be more united and persist in resisting Qin and Wusun."

If you think about it carefully, it does make some sense. Showing the head to the tribesmen will let them know the cruelty of the Qin and Wusun people, so that they will have the idea of ​​sharing the same hatred against the enemy and strengthen their determination to fight against the Qin and Wusun people.

You see, the Qin people and the Wusun are so brutal. We have already made enemies with them. If we don’t fight hard, no one will be spared when they attack.

Today, these boxes may contain other people’s heads, tomorrow they may contain your heads!
If you don't want to have your head chopped off and put in a box, stand up and fight the Qin and Wusun people!

The Yuezhi king thought for a moment and said, "I will do as you say. I will avenge today's humiliation in the future!"

Not only did they kill his messenger, they also sent back his head and put it in a box in a haphazard manner, completely trampling on his face.

One of the leaders said, "The head was sent back by Wusun. They were probably forced to do this by the Qin people."

"If so, the Wusun people may be dissatisfied with the Qin people. Can we make the Qin people and Wusun people separate?"

It seems that this is really possible. If the Wusun people were forced by the Qin people, then they might be able to take this opportunity to win over the Wusun people and alienate the relationship between the Wusun people and the Qin people.

But someone immediately refuted this idea.

"Let alone that we are still unsure whether this matter was really forced by the Qin people, even if we are sure, what can we do?"

"This indicates that the Wusun people have surrendered to the Qin people. Even if we win over some of the Wusun people, how can we judge whether they are sincere? What if they are just pretending to surrender to us, but are still loyal to the Qin people in secret?"

This makes sense. The Wusun people already had a grudge against them. Even if the Qin people really forced them, the hatred of the Qin people's persecution was definitely not as deep as their hatred for the Yuezhi.

Even if the Wusun people did not like the Qin people, it did not mean that they liked them. What the Wusun people wanted to destroy the most was definitely the Yuezhi. Besides, the Wusun people were not necessarily forced.

When Liu Ji was on a diplomatic mission to Wusun, somewhere in the Liuying Industrial Zone in Xianyang, Daqin, Li Nian was taking the First Emperor and his ministers to watch a machine.

Prime Minister Wang Wan was amazed and said, "Although I already knew that there were many strange things in Liuying Palace, but now that I see this thing, I know how strange it is."

Li Si also commented: "This thing is very useful. If its power is greater, it may be able to pull carriages, horses, boats and ships, and accomplish things that are beyond human power!"

After listening to Li Si's words, Wang Jian also said: "If one day this thing can pull carriages and horses, it can be used on the battlefield. Now that artillery is inconvenient to move, perhaps it can be used to pull it."

The First Emperor looked at this thing and listened to the discussions of his ministers. He couldn't help but think of the airplanes, giant ships and other things he saw on Li Nian's mobile phone. Could it be that those things were powered by this thing?
The machine they were looking at now was a steam engine, which was jointly completed by Li Nian, the Mohists and the Shaofu craftsmen.

When planning the development of Daqin, Li Nian had not originally intended to produce the steam machine so quickly.

Because of the lack of rubber.

But later he found that if he didn't make a steam engine, many things would be inconvenient and his plans would be hindered. If he had to wait until rubber was available to make a steam engine, how long would that take?
Rubber is produced in the Amazon Basin in South America. Even with the development speed of Daqin, it would not be possible to cross the Pacific Ocean to reach America, obtain rubber and then return to Daqin in a day or two.

Are we going to wait in vain during this time to get the rubber back and make the steam engine?

After thinking it over, Li Nian decided that he couldn't wait like this. Rubber is a better material, but it doesn't mean that the product will fail without rubber. He should use other materials as substitutes first and then change them when rubber is available.

So, steam engine manufacturing was included in his plan!
This steam engine is not the first steam engine manufactured in Daqin, but it is the one with the best performance so far.

After seeing it, many of the ministers saw the potential of the steam engine at a glance. This thing might not be easy to popularize among the people, but it would play an important role for the Qin Dynasty.

Like it can be used for smelting.

Craftsmen will get sick and tired when smelting, but this thing will not. As long as it is not broken, it can run day and night.

How much metal could the Qin Dynasty smelt and how many weapons and armors could it forge?
It can also save a lot of manpower.

It can also be loaded onto vehicles, boats, and ships, using them as a power source for continuous transportation day and night.

The First Emperor had already thought that by paving suitable roads in Daqin and using carriages powered by this material, perhaps he could move materials from all over the world to any place he wanted to reach.

Meng Tian was also among those who came to see the steam engine today. His first thought when he saw the steam engine was that this thing could be installed on boats.

How fast and how far can a ship powered by it travel?

The boats made with this thing are the real ships that can sail the ocean!
The First Emperor said, "Li Nian, tell me why this thing can move and why it can generate strength?"

Li Nian smiled and said, "The principle behind this thing is actually very simple. To put it simply, it is like boiling water!"

Many ministers were stunned. How could one have such strength to boil water?

"As far as I know, water has three states: liquid, gas, and solid. Liquid water is the river water and rain water we see every day, and solid water is ice, snow, and frost..."

After listening to Li Nian's words, Zhao Gao asked, "Could that gaseous water be the fog we see every day, or the water vapor produced when water boils, or the clouds in the sky?"

Liquid water is river water and rain water, solid water is ice and frost, and gaseous water should be fog.

This is a taken-for-granted idea, and Li Nian made the same mistake in the past.

He shook his head and said, "No, gaseous water cannot be seen by the naked eye. It is a kind of invisible, colorless and tasteless gas. The fog and water vapor produced when water boils that we usually see are considered to be gaseous water, but in fact they are still liquid water."

Wei Liao was surprised and asked, "Since it is colorless, shapeless and tasteless, how do you know that there is gaseous water?"

Li Nian said: "When you boil water, you will see that the amount of water decreases, but you don't know where it goes. In fact, the liquid water turns into gaseous water and is lost."

"If you place a lid on boiling water, you will see water droplets condensing in the lid, which is the vaporous water turning into liquid water."

Wei Liao said, "According to your idea, liquid water, solid water, and gaseous water can be transformed into each other, and in this process, some strange changes will occur. Therefore, this principle can be used to make this steam engine?"

(End of this chapter)