My Imperial Advisor is ChatGPT

Xianyang, Daqin High Energy Physics Laboratory.

"Sizzle—snap!"

A blue arc of electricity, like an uncontrollable snake, suddenly pierced through the silk layer wrapped around the copper wire, broke through the thick lacquer coating, and bit hard into the iron frame next to it.

The air was filled with the smell of burnt protein (the smell of burnt silk) and the burnt smell of raw lacquer.

"Stop! Stop it now!"

Wang Jianguo pulled down the switch on the hand-cranked generator, looking with heartache at the wire that had turned to charcoal.

"Failed. The 108th insulation test has failed."

Standing to the side, Zhao Gao, still holding two copper needles used for "electrotherapy," looked on with a mixture of lingering satisfaction and fear: "Mr. Wang, this 'Thunder God' has such a fiery temper. We dressed it in five layers of silk and applied three pounds of lacquer, but it still keeps trying to get out!"

Wang Jianguo took off his goggles and sighed helplessly.

"Zhao Gao, you've underestimated the power of thunder. Electricity is like water trapped in a pipe; when the pressure (voltage) is low, it behaves itself; but once the pressure increases, it will desperately try to escape through any cracks. Silk and lacquer, while insulating, aren't dense enough, easily absorb moisture, and... they're too brittle—they crack at the slightest bend."

He picked up a piece of hard Eucommia ulmoides gum. This was the best alternative that Daqin could find at the moment, but it had a fatal weakness—it was as hard as a stone at room temperature, only softening after being soaked in hot water, and its insulation properties were not stable under high pressure.

"We need something," Wang Jianguo said, his eyes gleaming with longing. "Something as soft as skin, as insulated from electricity as rock, something that can stretch and bounce back."

"What is that?" Zhao Gao asked, "Dragon skin?"

"No, it's the tears of the trees." Wang Jianguo turned to look at the map on the wall, pointing south, past the recently pacified Baiyue, and pointed to a more humid and mysterious green area (the area around the present-day Indochina Peninsula).

"Natural rubber," Wang Jianguo explained. "Little G mentioned before that there might be some rubber plants in the Baiyue region, but no one has actually found them. Now we can only pin our hopes on that rainforest further south."

---

South of Lingnan, on the banks of the Yu River.

This is no longer part of the Qin Dynasty's usual territory. Humid, hot steam rises from the decaying leaves, the air seemingly saturated with moisture. Huge vines coil around towering trees like pythons, and the cries of unknown birds are mournful and eerie.

A Qin army squad of fifty men is struggling through this green hell.

Instead of heavy iron armor, they wore light rattan armor, and each of them had a small gourd hanging from their waist containing "life-saving water"—artemisia extract (mixed with alcohol).

The centurion leading the group was named Meng Shan, a distant cousin of Meng Tian, ​​and a true tough guy from Guanzhong. But now, this tough guy was brandishing his machete, cursing the thorns blocking his path.

"This godforsaken place! Is it even fit for a human?!" Meng Shan cleaved a centipede as thick as a wrist in two with a single stroke. "Mosquitoes are bigger than flies, leeches are longer than noodles! What kind of lousy tree is Mr. Wang looking for? He says it's to make clothes for the Thunder God? The Thunder God will freeze to death without clothes, won't he?!"

"Boss, calm down."

Following behind him was a thin young soldier named Amu.

Unlike Mengshan's volatile temper, Amu seemed particularly "unproductive." His knife wasn't used to cut roads, but rather... to dig up grass.

At this moment, Amu was squatting in front of a strange pitcher plant, taking out a small notebook and carefully drawing on it with a charcoal pencil.

"Amu! You're drawing those rotten grasses again!" Mengshan was furious and kicked Amu in the butt. "I sent you here to chop people up... no, to chop down trees! You think you're here for a spring outing?"

Amu rubbed his bottom, chuckled, and carefully clipped the pitcher plant sample into his notebook.

"Boss, Mr. Wang said this is called 'natural history.' Mr. Wang said that every blade of grass in this forest might one day save the lives of the people of Qin. Look at this grass, the locals say it can stop bleeding when applied to wounds..."

"Stop my ass! Get out of here!" Although Mengshan cursed, he didn't actually confiscate Amu's notebook.

In fact, if Amu hadn't recognized some edible wild fruits and avoided some poisonous mushrooms along the way, these Guanzhong men who only knew how to kill enemies would have starved or been poisoned to death several times over in this rainforest.

---

The crisis erupted on the third day.

Although artemisinin can prevent malaria, the dangers of the rainforest go far beyond malaria.

"ah--!!!"

One of the scouts suddenly screamed as he sank into what appeared to be a flat patch of grass—a swamp.

"Don't move! The more you move, the faster you'll sink!" Mengshan roared, untying the rope from his waist and about to throw it over.

But just then, a swarm of dark creatures swooped down from the treetops. They were poisonous wasps! Each one was the size of a thumb, its stinger gleaming blue.

"Take cover! Take cover now!"

The soldiers were in chaos; some jumped into the puddles, while others waved torches.

In the chaos, Amu suddenly pointed to a large tree nearby and shouted, "Boss! Look over there! That tree isn't afraid of bees!"

Amidst his busy schedule, Mengshan glanced over and saw a huge tree with grayish-white bark a dozen meters away. There was a wound on the trunk from which white sap was oozing. The poisonous bees seemed to find the smell of this sap extremely repulsive and flew around it in droves.

"Torch! Use smoke!" Mengshan shouted.

The group lit the damp branches and leaves, and thick smoke billowed up, finally driving away the poisonous bees.

The soldier who had fallen into the swamp was pulled out by the group, covered in mud and still in shock.

Mengshan slumped to the ground, panting heavily, staring at the "lifesaving tree".

"Damn it, has this tree become a spirit?" Mengshan cursed.

Amu, however, had already moved closer. Ignoring the danger he had just faced, he stretched out his finger and dipped it into the white sap that had seeped from the tree trunk.

The lotion was thick and smooth, with a distinctive grassy scent.

Amu rubbed his fingers together.

A miracle happened.

The white liquid quickly solidified at his fingertips, turning into a thin, elastic film. Amu tried to pull it, and the film stretched, but when he let go, it bounced back.

"Played...played?" Amu's eyes widened.

He suddenly remembered the sample Mr. Wang had shown them before they left, the one called "rubber band" (a cheap product that Mr. Wang had painstakingly made using eucommia gum). Mr. Wang had said that whoever could find this tree that could be stretched and bounced and that oozed white sap would be rewarded with a thousand gold pieces and a noble title!

"Boss! Boss, come quick!" Amu's voice trembled with excitement. "The sacred tree! We've found the sacred tree!"

---

Mengshan walked over and looked suspiciously at the dark, gelatinous substance on Amu's finger.

"Is this the 'tears' Mr. Wang wanted?" Meng Shan stretched out his rough, large hand and tugged hard.

"collapse!"

The clump of glue was stretched very long, but it didn't break. Instead, it made a crisp, snapping sound and hit Mengshan's hand, causing a sharp pain.

Mengshan's eyes lit up instantly.

As a veteran, his first thought wasn't about the insulating material, but rather—the bowstring! The catapult's slingshot!

"What a treasure!" Meng Shan laughed. "If this were made into a bowstring, wouldn't the range double? No wonder Mr. Wang called it a national treasure!"

"Quick! Get a bucket! Fill it for me!"

The soldiers excitedly gathered around and used their knives to cut diagonal slits in the tree bark (this was the rubber tapping method that Wang Jianguo had taught them by drawing pictures).

The white emulsion, like milk, dripped into the bamboo tube.

Despite the ticking sound, Amu did not join the revelry. He stood quietly under the tree, stroking its rough bark.

He took out his tattered notebook, turned to a new page, and began sketching the tree that had changed the fate of the Qin Dynasty.

In his writing, the tree is no longer just a resource, but a miracle of life.

"Boss," Amu said as he drew, "you know, in the past, all we Qin people knew was cutting down trees to make weapons and burning mountains to grow crops. But the blood that flows from a living tree is actually more useful than the blood that's been cut down... Doesn't this mean that sometimes not killing is more powerful than killing?"

Mengshan was busy directing the collection of glue when he heard this and paused for a moment.

He looked at his brothers, their hands covered in white fluid, and then at the surrounding rainforest, a place both vibrant and fraught with danger.

Previously, his knife was used to kill people.

Now, his knife is meant to make the tree shed "tears," and these tears will become armor to protect the Qin soldiers, and lightning bolts to transmit His Majesty's voice.

"Go away, stop talking nonsense." Meng Shan wiped the sweat from his forehead, his tone unusually gentle. "Just keep painting. When we get back to Xianyang, I'll recommend you to Mr. Wang. You can quit the army and become a painter at that…botanical garden."

Amu smiled, revealing a set of white teeth that shone brightly in the dappled sunlight of the rainforest.

Beside the painting, he solemnly wrote down the characteristics of this tree and gave it a name:

"Qin Rubber Tree"

(Note: It is actually a wild Ficus rubber plant or ancient rubber vine. Although it is not as productive as the American rubber tree, it was priceless at the time.)

---

One month later, in Xianyang.

When several large barrels of rubber blocks that had undergone preliminary treatment (fumigation and solidification) were transported into the high-energy physics laboratory, Wang Jianguo was so excited that he almost dropped his glasses.

He shakily cut off a small piece, softened it over a fire, and then coated it onto the copper wire. After cooling, the dark, rubbery coating tightly bound the copper wire, and no matter how it was bent, it did not crack.

"power ups!"

The generator roared to life again.

This time, the voltage was pulled up to the maximum.

There were no electrical sparks. There was no burning smell. There was no electrical leakage.

The current flowed obediently through the thin black wire, like a tamed dragon, running obediently toward its destination in this insulated "prison".

"It's a success..."

Wang Jianguo stroked the ugly but magnificent power line, then turned to Ying Zheng and said:

"Your Majesty, with this, the Qin Dynasty's nervous system (telegraph network) can finally be deployed. With it, we will have true 'eyes that can see a thousand miles' and 'ears that can hear the wind.'"

Ying Zheng looked at the dark lump of rubber, then at Amu, who was standing to the side, tanned dark, and holding a sketchbook.

"Is this the soldier who draws pictures?" Ying Zheng asked.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Meng Shan knelt on the ground. "This lad may not be good at killing, but he's exceptional at finding trees. He's drawn every single flower and blade of grass along this route."

Ying Zheng took Amu's sketchbook.

It depicts pitcher plants, Venus flytraps, giant ferns, and a rubber tree shedding tears. Though the lines are naive, they convey a sense of curiosity and reverence for life.

"Very well." Ying Zheng closed the sketchbook. "My Great Qin needs not only hands that wield swords, but also hands that wield pens. It needs not only generals who conquer the six states, but also naturalists who conquer nature..."

"By imperial decree, Amu is hereby appointed 'Royal Plant Hunter' and granted the title of Duke. From now on, you will no longer need to go to the battlefield; your sole purpose will be to search the world for these wondrous plants and trees for me!"

Amu was stunned, then tears welled up in his eyes, and he kowtowed heavily.

"Thank you, Your Majesty! Thank you, Your Majesty!"

In a corner of the laboratory, Zhao Gao was secretly prying off a small piece of rubber when no one was looking, and chewing it.

"Pah! It's bitter! It tastes terrible!" Zhao Gao spat it out in disappointment. "I thought it was milk candy..."

But he had no idea that this bitter piece of rubber would lead the Qin Dynasty into a crazy electrical age.