Diqin Designer

Chapter 388 The army triumphs
Faced with Li Nian's move, Qin Shi Huang frowned and fell into long thought. He found that Li Nian's move not only resolved the crisis of black chess, but also formed a counterattack against red chess. He calculated several moves ahead and found that Li Nian had the advantage.

Just as the First Emperor finished thinking and was about to place a chess piece, there suddenly came a thunderous and enthusiastic shout from outside: "Long live His Majesty! Long live His Majesty! Long live His Majesty!"

The First Emperor put the chess pieces back on the chessboard and said to Meng Yi, who was also in the carriage, "Mr. Meng, open the window!"

To ensure safety, the car windows had been kept closed, but this did not make the car dark, because other parts of the car were equipped with glass, allowing light from the outside to pass through, and there were also lights on in the car.

Hearing the Qin Shi Huang's order, Meng Yi responded and opened the car window, but he opened it very skillfully so that the Qin Shi Huang could see the outside world, while the outside world could not see it easily. Meng Yi also stood by the car window to prepare for any unexpected event that might come from outside the car.

Through the open car window, the First Emperor saw that the scene outside was exactly as he had imagined. Outside the car window, groups of people were bowing to the motorcade one after another, and they were the ones shouting "Long live His Majesty!"

When they saw that one of the carriages flying the Qin royal flag had its window open, the cheers became more excited and enthusiastic. They all knew that their emperor was in this carriage and was even looking at them through the window.

The First Emperor had experienced this situation several times, but each time he experienced it, he had many complicated emotions...

Hearing this enthusiastic shout, Li Nian no longer had the heart to continue playing chess with the First Emperor. Today, all the civil and military officials in the court had to attend the triumphal ceremony, and he was therefore taken along by the First Emperor so that he could have a chance to go out of the palace for some fresh air.

His position in the carriage allowed him to see out the window. This was his first time seeing the situation outside Xianyang City.

I saw that many areas were divided on both sides of the road where the convoy passed, and many Qin people were in these areas. These people wore clean clothes, held small Qin national flags, saluted and shouted at the convoy.

Li Nian could see the expressions on the faces of some people who were closer. It was a kind of joy and enthusiasm that came spontaneously from the heart, representing the prestige of the First Emperor in their hearts!

At this time, Qin Zhengzheng and his wife and children shouted enthusiastically outside. While shouting, he taught his son: "Open, that is His Majesty's carriage. His Majesty is the greatest, wisest and most intelligent king in the world! It was His Majesty who led us to defeat the other six countries, and it was His Majesty who allowed us to live the life we ​​have now. We must remember to thank His Majesty!"

This concept is actually wrong. There has never been any savior, and there is no need to rely on gods or emperors. It is the people of the Qin Dynasty who support themselves. They can live a good life because of their own efforts. Instead, the emperor exploited them.

But in this era, Qin Xiu's thinking is the most common and mainstream, and almost everyone thinks so.

As the convoy moved forward, the voices shouting "Long live His Majesty!" continued. Li Nian heard the First Emperor say, "It is my fortune and the fortune of the Great Qin that the people are like this!"

The convoy finally arrived at the designated location. The carriage stopped, the doors of the carriage opened, and teams of elite Qin soldiers surrounded it. The First Emperor walked out of the carriage with the Emperor's Sword hanging from his waist.

The moment he appeared, the cheers reached a peak. The First Emperor stood on the platform outside the carriage, with Li Nian and Ying Shunying standing behind him, and Meng Yi guarding on the side.

The First Emperor looked at the crowds kneeling on the ground one after another, and spoke majestically: "The Great Qin is not only my Great Qin, but also your Great Qin! It is my honor to have you, and it is also the honor of the Great Qin!"

"Gentlemen, please stand up!"

With the words of the First Emperor, "My fellow men, stand up!", the atmosphere, which had already reached its peak, was pushed to another climax, and the Qin people here became even more excited and enthusiastic.

His Majesty the great Emperor said that the Great Qin is not only his Great Qin, but also ours. His Majesty even called us "Qing". His Majesty really treated us as his own people and was so good to us. How can we repay such a kindness?
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Qin Xiu and his family stood up with the crowd. Although there was a distance between them, he finally saw the emperor's face. It was just as he had imagined. Standing there, he had a feeling of looking down on the world and standing tall.

Qin Xiu excitedly picked up his son so that he could also see His Majesty's face: "Open, that's His Majesty, see, that's His Majesty!"

This was the main reason why he came here today to watch the triumphal ceremony, and it was also the reason why many Qin people came here, because they wanted to see the First Emperor with their own eyes.

After everyone stood up, they stopped shouting and just looked towards where the First Emperor was with eyes full of excitement, delight, and eagerness. Even though some of them were a little far away and couldn't see the First Emperor, it didn't hinder their excitement.

Although so many people gathered here, there was no chaos or noise at the scene, and it even became quiet for a while.

Seeing everyone standing up and looking at him, the First Emperor held his sword in his left hand and was about to say something. At this moment, Li Nian behind him handed him a small Qin flag.

The First Emperor took the national flag and immediately understood what Li Nian meant. He raised the national flag high and waved it: "Long live the Great Qin!"

This voice instantly broke the silence, and many Qin people here also waved the Qin national flag in their hands following the First Emperor. This place suddenly became a sea of ​​black bird and blue dragon flags, and the shouts of "Long live the Qin!" echoed from this place, as if they would spread to the whole world.

After completing his communication with the people, the First Emperor climbed onto a platform that had been built earlier, where he would complete the ceremony of the army's triumphal return.

Li Nian and his ministers were all located under the high platform, and the various areas where the people of Daqin watched the ceremony were also divided with this high platform as the center, but their location was farther away from the platform than Li Nian and others.

There are people on three sides of the platform, except for the northern side where a relatively wide area is left. This is easy to understand. If the army is returning from the north, they will naturally have to clear out this side.

But it was incomprehensible what some of the Qin soldiers were doing. They placed seventeen strange things under the platform. They were some slanted copper tubes, which looked weird. It was clear that they were used to welcome the triumphant army, but no one knew how to use them.

Is it possible to emit something from it, or is this a new kind of musical instrument that, when struck, can produce never-before-heard music?
Many people speculated curiously in their hearts, and some people had an idea: could this thing be the cannon mentioned in the victory report?
According to the victory report, the Qin Dynasty was able to easily defeat the Donghu and Yuezhi because of the use of artillery. If it was really artillery, it would be reasonable to use it to welcome the triumphant army.

But this thing is not as sharp as a sword, nor does it have a sharp head like a spear or arrow. How can we use it to fight and kill the enemy on the battlefield?
Just as people were looking at the artillery, three Qin cavalrymen came from the north and approached the platform.

Near the platform, three Qin cavalrymen stopped their horses, took off their weapons, and knelt on one knee to report to the Emperor, who was standing on the platform below: "I am reporting to Your Majesty by the order of the general. The army is thirty miles away!" The Emperor nodded and said, "I have heard of it. I will reward you!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

After being rewarded by the First Emperor, the three Qin cavalrymen retreated. After a while, another six Qin cavalrymen came and reported to the First Emperor that the army had arrived twenty miles away.

By now everyone understood that this was also part of the triumphal ceremony, and the increasing number of Qin cavalry reporting not only reflected that the army was getting closer, but also demonstrated the importance of the army's triumphal return.

When the last group of nine Qin cavalrymen came to report, those with more acute perceptions could already feel that a large number of horses and soldiers were approaching. There were tremors from the ground; that was the cavalrymen moving, their horses' hooves stamping the ground, but they were not marching at a forced pace, but were moving forward at a constant speed.

Soon, an army appeared in the north. It was a fairly large army and its specific shape could not be seen clearly, but several flags could be seen among them.

As the team approached, the fluttering flags were first seen. They were clearly the national flag of the Qin Dynasty - the black bird and blue dragon flag, as well as the national flag of the Qin Dynasty, and the flag of General Wang Ben, who was marching north...

The Qin army returned victoriously, and their number was not small. Judging from the scale, there were tens of thousands of them. If the Qin people had not secretly transferred troops from other places for reinforcement, then according to the victory report: it was these tens of thousands of Qin troops that would have defeated the Donghu and Yuezhi.

As the team got closer, some people's worries finally died down. It was really the Qin Army, and an elite Qin Army at that. Even from a distance, one could feel their toughness and sharpness!
People with sharp eyes soon discovered something else: first, the number of Qin troops matched the records in the victory report, which also meant that the Qin army did not suffer many casualties when defeating the Donghu and Yuezhi.

The Donghu and Yuezhi were at least the top tribes on the grassland, but they were easily defeated by the Qin people with very little loss. It was really terrible!
Secondly, some of the Qin soldiers in this team were dressed differently. Compared to most of the Qin soldiers, these Qin soldiers had special patterns painted on their clothes. They were following near some carriages, and on those carriages...

Looking towards the carriage, many people were shocked, especially the Baiyue people who came to watch the ceremony. The carriage was pulling those strange copper tubes that they had just seen the Qin soldiers arrange under the high platform. However, compared with the copper tubes arranged under the high platform, these were thicker and had two wheels.

This thing should be the cannon!
The war had not been fought before, so the Qin people kept it strictly secret from them. Now that they have won the war against Donghu and Yuezhi, the Qin people intend to show them this weapon.

The people of Qin were of course happy, but the Baiyue people who were invited to watch the ceremony were not happy at all. They thought that it was this thing that defeated the Donghu and Yuezhi, and the Qin people were deliberately showing off to them.

Furthermore, there was a Xiongnu army that returned with the Qin army. They were escorting a group of foreigners in simple chariots. Judging from the clothes of these foreigners, they should be captured Donghu and Yuezhi people. However, their number was not too large, at least not much compared with the population of Donghu and Yuezhi.

This made some people feel a little relieved, perhaps because the Qin people only defeated the Donghu and Yuezhi, but not badly, so they failed to capture enough prisoners.

Of course, it is more likely that the Qin army did not bring back all the prisoners. After all, bringing the prisoners back alive would consume food and fodder, and bringing too many prisoners would affect the speed of returning, so they only brought a group of prisoners back first.

In addition, there were many horse-drawn carriages, and no one knew whether they were carrying people or things!

Soon, the army was not far away. The other Qin troops stopped advancing, and only the Qin generals led by Wang Ben approached the platform. Some of the carriages that were originally closed were opened, and some people got off.

When everyone looked, they saw a group of Baiyue people and two groups of people whose skin color, appearance, and clothing were quite different from those of the Qin people, Xiongnu people, and Baiyue people.

A Qin citizen who came from another place beside Qin Xiu asked curiously, "Who are these people? Why are they dressed so strangely? They can ride in a carriage and get off the carriage like the Baiyue people, so they should not be prisoners of the Qin Dynasty."

They are quite strange, with deep eye sockets, high and narrow noses, and the same clothes they wear, which are different from those of the Qin and Xiongnu. Some of them even have no hair.

Qin Xiu recalled, and then replied: "They seem to have come from a country called 'Peacock Country'. I thought they had left the Qin Dynasty, but they are still here. They were even taken to watch the Qin Dynasty's war against the Donghu and Yuezhi."

The Qin people who came from other places asked again: "What country is the Peacock Kingdom? Where is it?"

This touched upon Qin Xiu's blind spot in knowledge. He happened to have seen the monks from Tamolidi entering Xianyang, but when asked where Tamolidi and the Peacock Kingdom were, he didn't know.

In order to guard against certain things, Daqin also deliberately blocked the news about the Peacock Kingdom, making the people of Daqin know even less about the Peacock Kingdom.

Qin Xiu shook his head and said, "I only saw them when they entered Xianyang, but I don't know what happened to them later, otherwise I wouldn't have thought they were no longer in Daqin."

The Qin people from other places laughed and said, "They look unhappy. I'm afraid they were frightened by the might of the Great Qin while watching the battle!"

The embassy staff of the Baiyue tribes stationed in Xianyang looked at their fellow tribesmen who had gotten off the carriages. Seeing their heavy and serious expressions, they couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. Judging from their reactions, they were probably watching the battle with the army and saw a scene that was not favorable to them, the Baiyue.

Feeling these gazes, some of the Baiyue people who were watching the battle shook their heads at their fellow tribesmen from a distance. Although they did not give a direct answer, the answer was self-evident: the Qin army had really achieved an astonishing victory as the victory report said!

It was only at this moment that the scene was wrong, otherwise many Baiyue people would rush over to ask for details: What did you see when you were watching the battle? How did the Qin people defeat the Donghu and Yuezhi? What was the power of the artillery?
On the other side, Wang Ben had already reached a distance from the platform. He dismounted and led Meng Tian and other generals to the foot of the platform. He knelt on one knee and saluted the First Emperor: "Wang Ben has fulfilled his mission. Today, the expedition to the north has been successful. Please give me your instructions, Your Majesty!"

The First Emperor walked down the steps from the high platform, bent down to hold Wang Ben's arm, and laughed loudly: "Well, you are worthy of being my general who conquers the north! This battle has been won, what other instructions can I have? General, you have made great contributions to me and to the Qin Dynasty, why don't you get up quickly!"

Since the First Emperor intended to support him, Wang Ben naturally would not resist. He stood up with the help of this force, creating a scene of harmony between the emperor and his subjects.

After helping Wang Ben, the commander-in-chief, to his feet, the First Emperor looked at the other generals and said with a smile, "You are all meritorious officials, so please stand up quickly!"

(End of this chapter)