My Imperial Advisor is ChatGPT

The night in Xianyang is no longer black.

As the battle-ravaged, battered "Iron Rhinoceros" slowly approached the capital along the newly restored Qin Straight Road, Ying Zheng, sitting on the roof enjoying the breeze, had the strange feeling that he had taken the wrong road.

The city of Xianyang, which was originally under curfew at the hour of Xu (7-9 PM) and was as silent as a tomb, now seemed to be on fire.

From the direction of the Epang Palace, several enormous beams of light pierced the sky, illuminating the clouds. Meanwhile, in the university district in the south of the city, the lights were even brighter, like a dazzling Milky Way fallen to earth. Countless kerosene streetlights were strung together, illuminating the streets as if it were daytime.

The noise, the sound of reading, and even the roar of machines could be heard clearly across the moat.

"This...this is Xianyang?"

Xiang Yu sat on his horse, guards stood beside the chariot, their double pupils wide open.

"Why does this feel even more lively than our battles in the Western Regions? Could there be a rebellion?"

Ying Zheng squinted, looking at the sea of ​​light.

"rebel?"

"No. Rebellion is a matter of life and death. These people..." Ying Zheng listened to the noisy voices, "These people are fearless."

"Let's go. Let's not disturb the officials, let's sneak in and take a look."

Ying Zheng changed into casual clothes, put on his signature sunglasses, and jumped out of the carriage.

……

The ruins of the former wall of the Epang Palace University are located south of Xianyang City.

Just as Zhao Gao reported, Fusu really did tear down the wall. The once towering red wall was gone, replaced by rows of neat railings and countless open gates.

But what shocked Ying Zheng the most was not that the wall was gone, but that there were more people.

Too much.

The spacious square was crowded with people dressed in all sorts of clothes. There were scholars in long gowns, craftsmen in short tunics with bare arms, and even butchers in aprons and cooks covered in flour.

They weren't fighting, nor were they watching a show.

They were arguing heatedly in front of the huge black wooden planks erected in the square.

"What are those things?" Ying Zheng asked, pointing to the blackboards.

"Little G".

"Your Majesty, that's a blackboard. It's made of slate or wood lacquered black."

The white chalk used for writing is made of plaster powder.

This is a revolutionary tool for low-cost education. Carving characters on bamboo slips was too slow, and writing on paper was too expensive. Only this thing can be written on, erased, and rewritten; it can be used ten thousand times.

Ying Zheng squeezed through the crowd and came to a blackboard.

A young man with chalk dust on his hands was drawing a complex geometric figure on the blackboard—a diagram of a lever principle.

"Look, everyone!" The young man banged on the blackboard, spitting as he spoke, "According to Archimedes... oh no, according to the 'laws of motion' of the Mohist master, as long as the lever arm is long enough, we can lift a thousand-pound stone with one pound of force!"

A butcher below protested, waving his large, fan-like hands and shouting, "Nonsense! I've slaughtered pigs my whole life, and all I know is that strength comes from the flesh! What kind of 'arm' can save strength? You try lifting a pig for me!"

The young man wasn't annoyed, and chuckled, "Uncle, don't be in such a hurry. That long hook you use to butcher pigs, isn't it easier to hang the pig's leg than to just pick it up? That's a lever!"

"Huh?" The butcher scratched his head. "It seems... that makes sense?"

A burst of good-natured laughter erupted around them.

Ying Zheng stood at the back of the crowd, watching this scene, his heart filled with mixed feelings.

He recalled the era when only nobles could study. Back then, knowledge was monopolized, sacred, and lifeless.

Now, knowledge has become the "reasoning" in the butcher's mouth, the tool in the craftsman's hand, and this argument full of the smell of smoke.

"Is this what they call...the people being enlightened?"

Ying Zheng muttered to himself.

Just then, a rapid gong sounded.

"Make way! Make way! The latest issue of the *Da Qin Evening News* is out! It's been posted! It's been posted!"

Several newsboys, carrying stacks of large sheets of paper that smelled of ink, rushed to a huge notice board in the center of the square.

The place was originally used to post wanted posters, but now it has become a "press center".

Apply paste and paste newspaper.

The movements were completed in one smooth motion.

The crowd surged forward like a tidal wave.

"Quick, read it! What's the news today?" the illiterate person shouted.

"I'll read it!" A literate clerk squeezed to the front and read aloud.

"Front-page headline: Great Victory in the Western Regions! The First Emperor personally led the expedition, and the Divine Fire Flying Crow decisively defeated the Xiongnu cavalry! Modu Chanyu fled in disarray!"

"good!"

"Your Majesty is mighty! May the Great Qin Dynasty last ten thousand years!"

Cheers resounded through the sky.

As Ying Zheng listened to the thunderous praise, a slight smile played on his lips. This feeling of being genuinely supported by the people was indeed much warmer than sitting on a cold, impersonal dragon throne.

But the second news item read aloud by the clerk immediately froze Ying Zheng's smile on his face.

"Second Edition: On the Debate Between 'Investigation of Things to Attain Knowledge' and 'The Divine Right of Emperors'—A Question from an Anonymous Scholar."

The entire room fell silent instantly.

The clerk swallowed hard, his voice trembling slightly as he read:

"...Since we know that thunder is electric charge, not divine punishment; and since we know that the earth is a sphere, not a square, then, what was meant by 'receiving a mandate from Heaven' in the past—was it a mandate from some ethereal, unknowable Heaven, or from...someone who has grasped the truth?"

"If humans evolved from monkeys (a side effect of Little G's personal opinion), then... were emperors also evolved from monkeys?"

"hiss--"

A collective gasp of astonishment rippled through the crowd.

This is utterly rebellious! This is punishable by death!

Xiang Yu's hand was already on the hilt of his sword, his eyes sweeping over the newsboy with a gaze as sharp as a knife.

"Who wrote this? I'm going to chop him up."

Ying Zheng raised his hand to stop Xiang Yu.

He pushed up his sunglasses and looked at the huge newspaper pasted on the wall, which was the first "big-character poster" of the Great Qin Dynasty.

The handwriting is neat, the logic is clear, and it even cites arguments from "The Foundation of Natural Science of the Great Qin".

"That's interesting."

Ying Zheng's voice revealed no emotion.

"Is this what Fusu released after he tore down the wall?"

"Let's go see that rebellious son."

……

The Principal's Office (formerly the Study of the Chancellor) of the Epang Palace University.

The bookshelves that were once piled high with bamboo slips have now been replaced by metal cabinets filled with files. Bright biogas lamps hang from the ceiling, illuminating every detail of the room.

Fusu was hunched over a huge desk, a red pen in his hand, rapidly annotating documents.

He had lost weight and gotten darker, but he also looked more capable. His scholar's robe had long been replaced by a smart Zhongshan suit, with chalk dust still clinging to his cuffs.

"This budget won't do! Cut it! We can't just build buildings; we need to buy equipment!"

"Let the Imperial Household Department handle the patent fees for that 'steam loom'! We can't let the inventor suffer a loss!"

As Fusu was reviewing the papers, he shouted at his secretary (a young disciple of the Mohist school) next to him.

"Young master, please rest for a while," the secretary said with concern. "You've been working three nights in a row."

"Rest? What are you talking about? Father is fighting in the west. If I fall behind, people will die." Fusu rubbed his bloodshot eyes.

Just then, the door was pushed open.

There was no announcement, no footsteps.

A shadowy figure blocked the light from the doorway.

"It seems my crown prince is even busier than I am."

Fusu shuddered, and the red pen in his hand fell to the table with a "clatter".

He suddenly looked up at the figure standing at the door, who, though travel-worn, remained as majestic as a mountain.

"Father...Father Emperor?!"

Fusu hurriedly went around the table and knelt down with a thud.

"Your subject... Your subject was unaware of Your Majesty's return to the capital and has failed to greet you properly; I deserve death!"

Ying Zheng did not wake him up, but went straight to his desk and picked up the document that Fusu had just revised.

"Approval on Expanding the Scale of Night Schools", "Notice on Improving the Treatment of Craftsmen", "Provisional Regulations on Allowing Academic Debates".

Ying Zheng put down the document and his gaze fell on Fusu.

Get up.

"As I traveled here, I saw that Xianyang was brightly lit and bustling with activity. You did a good job."

Fusu stood up, his hands hanging down, like a child who had done something wrong.

"Father, your son... your son took it upon himself to demolish the university's walls..."

"If the wall is torn down, then so be it," Ying Zheng said calmly. "Anyway, I didn't expect that wall to block anything."

"But, Fusu."

Ying Zheng took out the newspaper he had just taken off the wall from his pocket and slammed it on the table.

"How do you explain this?"

Fusu glanced at the title, his expression changed slightly, but he quickly regained his composure.

"Father, this is an 'academic discussion'."

"Discuss?" Ying Zheng sneered, "Discuss whether I'm a descendant of a monkey?"

The air in the hall instantly plummeted to freezing. The secretary next to him was so frightened that she immediately crawled under the table.

Fusu took a deep breath, raised his head, and looked directly into Ying Zheng's eyes.

This was the first time he dared to look directly at this emperor of all ages.

"Father, you taught me that truth lies only within the range of an arrow. But you also taught me to be realistic."

"Since we teach everyone physics, chemistry, and biology in school, and explain the laws governing how the world works, it's impossible to stop people from thinking."

"To forcibly prohibit it is to bury one's head in the sand. It would be to tell the world that the science of the Qin Dynasty is fake and a deception."

"Therefore, I believe that it is better to guide than to block."

"Let people speak, and the sky won't fall down."

Ying Zheng looked at the son in front of him.

he's changed.

He was no longer the pedantic scholar who only knew how to quote classics and fawn over others. He had his own thoughts, his own logic, and even... the courage to challenge imperial power.

This courage does not come from ignorance, but from faith in "reason".

Ying Zheng remained silent for a long time.

It went on for so long that Fusu thought he was about to be dragged out and beheaded.

Suddenly, Ying Zheng smiled.

"Hahaha!"

The hearty laughter shook the dust off the roof.

"Great! What a great saying, 'Let people talk, and the sky won't fall down!'"

Ying Zheng patted Fusu on the shoulder with such force that it almost knocked Fusu over.

"You little rascal, you're finally starting to look like an emperor."

"However..." Ying Zheng changed the subject, his eyes becoming sharp.

"I'm very unhappy with that guy who wrote an article calling me a monkey, even though I didn't kill him."

"Go and publish an article for me in the newspaper."

"The title is... 'On How Monkeys Evolved into Dragons'."

"Tell those bookworms that it's survival of the fittest. I was able to conquer the six kingdoms and make the Xiongnu call me 'father' because I am the victor of evolution!"

"Use scientific reasoning to give him a good beating!"

Fusu was stunned, then his eyes lit up with surprise.

"Your subject... obeys the decree!"

"I'll go write it right away! I'll write it myself!"

……

The "political storm" between the father and son was resolved in a highly modern way through a "pen war".

But Ying Zheng did not let his guard down because of this.

He walked out of the university and looked at the city that never sleeps.

"Little G".

"The people have become more enlightened, which is both a good thing and a bad thing."

"If everyone has their own ideas, this team... will be difficult to manage in the future."

Your Majesty, this is the price of "modernity."

A single authority will inevitably be challenged. What you need is no longer a populace of blind followers, but... citizens with a consensus.

You need a new kind of 'adhesive'.

[In the past, it was patriarchal clan system and fear. In the future, it may need to be... ethnic identity, or shared interests.]

Ying Zheng nodded.

"Benefit."

"It seems we still have to rely on Liu Bang."

"As long as everyone's pockets are full, as long as the Qin Dynasty continues to conquer and distribute profits, these people will continue to follow me."

Just then, Li Si came running over, panting.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Something has happened!"

"What is it now?" Ying Zheng asked impatiently. Why are there so many things happening tonight?

"It's...it's the Minister of the Imperial Household!" Li Si exclaimed in horror. "That Roman Marcus, with a group of craftsmen, dug something up while experimenting with some kind of 'new type of concrete'!"

"Did you dig something up?"

"Yes! It's right beneath the foundation of the Epang Palace!"

"They dug up a...huge, metal...egg!"

"And that egg...makes strange noises!"

Ying Zheng's heart skipped a beat.

Metal egg?

Underground of the Epang Palace?

He looked at the light screen in his mind.

"Little G, what kind of plot is this? I don't recall this ever happening in history!"

The data stream on the screen suddenly became erratic, and red warning boxes popped up frantically.

[WARNING! WARNING! Unknown high-energy signal detected!]

[Signal source characteristics...not from this era!]

[It also does not belong to... Earth's civilization!]

[Your Majesty, you may have unearthed... an 'alien relic,' or perhaps... a 'time capsule left behind by a time-traveling predecessor'?!]

Ying Zheng's pupils contracted instantly.

Traveler?

Besides me, who else is there?

"Get the car ready!"

Ying Zheng roared, his voice trembling slightly.

"To the Imperial Household Department! Immediately! Right now!"

"Seal off the scene! Anyone who dares to divulge a single word will be executed without mercy!"

……

Shaofu, an underground construction site.

The huge searchlights illuminated the deep pit as if it were daytime.

At the bottom of the pit, half-buried in the soil, a silver sphere with a diameter of three meters was exposed.

Its surface is as smooth as a mirror, without any rust, and even after being buried underground for countless years, it remains spotless.

Marcus and a group of craftsmen were kneeling by the pit, as if they were worshipping a god.

"Drip... drip... drip..."

A rhythmic electronic sound emanated from inside the sphere.

The sound was very soft, but in the deathly silence of the underground, it felt like tapping on one's heart.

Ying Zheng stood at the edge of the pit, looking at the creation that did not belong to this era.

He felt that the worldview he had built up over the years seemed to have cracked open at this moment.

"What...is this?"

He reached out his hand, wanting to touch the sphere.

"Your Majesty, don't move!" Little G suddenly screamed.

That's... a hibernation pod!

[The vital signs inside... are reviving!]

"Crack—"

A sound of gas being released rang out.

A crack slowly appeared on the surface of the silver sphere.

A burst of white, cold air shot out.

In the cold air, a hand slowly reached out.

That was a...

A hand holding a laser gun.