My Imperial Advisor is ChatGPT

Thirty li east of Xianyang.

A procession carrying a red flag with a golden eagle was slowly making its way westward along the Great Qin Straight Road. The people of the Central Plains dressed very differently from the locals; they wore short red cloaks, leather armor that resembled short skirts, and sandals that exposed their hairy calves.

This was the official mission from the distant West, the Roman Republic.

The chief envoy sitting in the carriage was Valerius, a senior senator of the Roman Senate. He was impatiently covering his nose with a handkerchief. Although the air in the Qin Dynasty had been improved, he habitually believed that the East must be a dirty, foul-smelling, and barbaric land.

"Marcus," Valerius turned to the guide on horseback beside him—the very same Marcus, the Roman centurion captured by Xiang Yu and Liu Bang in the Western Regions, now given the Chinese name "Marco," "You sang rosy tales about this 'Silk Kingdom' in your letter, saying it was overflowing with gold and everyone wore silk. But all I've seen along the way is desert and Gobi. If we find out you're lying to the Senate when we get there, I'll throw you into the arena to feed the lions!"

Marcus was now completely transformed. He was wearing a well-tailored Qin Dynasty silk robe, his hair was tied up in a bun (though it was a wig), and he was leisurely fanning himself with a folding fan.

"Your Excellency," Marcus said in fluent Guanzhong dialect (with a Roman accent), "please be patient. We're just ahead of Xianyang. Don't be surprised when you arrive."

"Hmph, what haven't I seen? Rome is the center of the world, the city of cities!" Valerius arrogantly raised his head. "Could this eastern village possibly be more magnificent than the Roman Forum?"

Before he could finish speaking, the carriage suddenly jolted.

It wasn't because of the bumpy ride, but because—**the ride stopped.**

To Valerius's astonishment, the dirt road that had been so bumpy it felt like his bones were about to fall apart had suddenly vanished. In its place stood an outrageously wide gray avenue.

The road surface was as smooth as a mirror, with a hard, rocky texture. Horse hooves made a crisp, pleasant "clattering" sound as they stepped on it, and the wheels rolled over it without any resistance, as smoothly as gliding on ice.

"What...what kind of stone is this?" Valerius pressed his face against the car window, staring at the ground in shock. "Did they flatten the entire mountain and pave it on the ground?"

"This is called a 'cement road'," Marcus explained calmly, a hint of pride as a "spiritual Qin person" flashing in his eyes. "In Qin, this is just standard equipment. They've built thousands of miles of roads like this."

Valerius gasped. In Rome, the Appian Way was already an engineering marvel, but it was paved with large stones, with wide gaps, making it incredibly bumpy. But here, the road was a single, continuous block!

[Your Majesty, you see, this is the power of infrastructure development. A good road not only improves transportation efficiency but is also a symbol of national strength.]

Little G's voice echoed in Ying Zheng's mind. At that moment, Ying Zheng was on the terrace of Xianyang Palace, observing the delegation that had come from afar through a monocular telescope.

In your world, Rome's Appian Way was already considered one of the greatest engineering feats of its time. But your concrete road, in terms of smoothness and durability, surpassed all roads of that era.

"This is just the beginning." Ying Zheng put down his binoculars. "I will make the straight road of Qin reach every corner of the world."

---

The convoy continued on its way, and soon the outline of Xianyang City appeared on the horizon.

If the cement road only surprised Valerius, then the city of Xianyang before him was a direct "dimensional reduction attack".

It wasn't the mud-walled huts he had imagined, nor was it the chaotic pile of brick and stone buildings of Rome.

It was a **shining city**.

As the sun set, its afterglow bathed the buildings of Xianyang. The shops, restaurants, and government offices, newly fitted with large panes of flat glass (though still showing many bubbles, they were not visible from a distance), reflected a dazzling golden light. Even though glassmaking technology was still being perfected, it was already enough to amaze the Romans, who had never seen transparent windows before.

The entire city seemed to be made of jewels and gold, shining so brightly that Valerius could not open his eyes.

"God..." Valerius trembled as he took off his sunglasses (also a gift from Marcus), "Is that... crystal? They built houses with crystal?"

"That's glass," Marcus corrected. "In Qin, although it's not cheap, it's already being used widely."

"Glass? Such a large piece of glass?" Valerius felt his worldview crumbling. In Rome, glass was only used to make small beads or expensive little bottles, and here it was being used to wallpaper walls?

How extravagant is that? How wasteful?

[Your Majesty, you see, this is the visual impact brought about by technological advantages. For those who have never seen such a large area of ​​flat glass, it truly seems like a miracle.]

Little G commented.

As the convoy entered the city gate (the Qin soldiers guarding the gate were dressed in neat plate armor and held gleaming firearms; Valerius didn't understand what those were, only that they exuded a murderous aura), the Roman delegation completely transformed into "country bumpkins entering the city."

The streetlights (kerosene lamps) on both sides of the street were already lit, illuminating the street as if it were daytime.

Ordinary people dressed in silk clothes (actually middle-class people from Xianyang) strolled around the streets, holding candied hawthorns or newspapers in their hands.

"Look! That chariot has no horses!" a Roman servant cried out.

Valerius looked over and saw a strange iron carriage gliding along the tracks in the street, filled with people. It was actually a horse-drawn carriage (with horses in front or using gravity to glide), but to the unsophisticated Romans, it seemed like magic.

"That's a 'rail wagon'," Marcus explained. "For just one copper coin, you can ride it around the city."

Valerius's hands trembled. He suddenly felt that his proud Tyrian-dyed toga robe looked so rustic in this city.

---

"Stop! Stop right now!"

Halfway there, Valerius suddenly turned red in the face, clutched his stomach, and called for the carriage to stop.

The bumpy ride, combined with the shock he had just experienced, suddenly made him feel the urge to urinate.

"What's wrong?" Marcus asked.

"The toilet! I need to go to the toilet!" Valerius cried, legs tucked together, face contorted in pain. "Quick, find an alley or a corner!"

In Rome, it is common to relieve oneself anywhere, or to use public toilets on the street (which are rows of boards with water running underneath).

"My lord, in the Great Qin Dynasty, urinating or defecating in public is strictly prohibited, and the fines are very heavy." Marcus pointed to a small, exquisite building not far away. "Go there. That's the 'public latrine.'"

Valerius stumbled and rushed over.

He froze as soon as he entered the door.

The ground was paved with black and white stone bricks, and the walls were covered with smooth ceramic tiles (although the craftsmanship was not perfect, it was already stunning enough). There was no foul smell in the air, but rather a faint sandalwood fragrance.

In the center of the hall, there was a handwashing basin with clear water flowing from the copper pipes above it. Several pots of blooming orchids were also placed next to it.

"This...this is a temple?"

Valerius was stunned. So clean, so elegant, and with a constantly flowing "holy water." This must be dedicated to some water goddess!

He remembered that he had just tried to relieve himself here, and suddenly felt a sense of blasphemous panic.

He quickly straightened his clothes, walked to the sink, bowed respectfully, scooped up the clear water, washed his face, and took a sip.

"Praise be to the water god, your blessings are so sweet."

Just as he was praying devoutly, the door to a small cubicle next to him opened.

An old man from the Qin Dynasty came out, pulling up his trousers. He saw Valerius drinking water from his hands and gave him a look as if he were an idiot.

"Barbarians are barbarians. They've never even seen tap water, yet they drink water used for washing hands." The old man muttered, walked to another pool next to him, washed his hands, dried them in front of a hand-cranked hand dryer, and strode away.

Valerius turned to stone.

Just then, Marcus rushed in: "Sir! Why are you drinking water? That's for washing your hands! The toilet is in that stall over there!"

"This...this is a latrine?!"

Valerius looked at the still-wet water stains on his hands, then at the stone floor that was even cleaner than the floor of the Roman Senate, and vomited.

He felt that his dignity had been brutally trampled on by a latrine in the Qin Dynasty.

[Your Majesty, you see, this is the power of public sanitation facilities. A good toilet is not only a practical facility, but also a symbol of civilization.]

Little G spoke in Ying Zheng's mind.

In your world, while Rome's public sanitation was quite advanced, it still lagged far behind the standardized public toilets of the Qin Dynasty.

---

That evening, at the Daqin State Guesthouse, in the Zuixianju VIP room.

To entertain the "barbarians" who had come from afar, Liu Bang, who was in charge of receiving them, specially arranged a "Qin-style banquet".

Valerius was still in a daze. He sat at the round table, looking at the pair of slender bamboo sticks (chopsticks) in front of him, not knowing what to do with them.

"Come, come, Your Excellency, try this!" Liu Bang enthusiastically used serving chopsticks to place a piece of braised pork in Valerius's bowl. "This is called 'braised pork,' it's fatty but not greasy, and melts in your mouth!"

Valerius stared at the glistening, trembling piece of meat. In Rome, they usually ate meat roasted or boiled into a paste, served with a pungent, fermented fish sauce made from fish entrails.

He tentatively picked up the meat with his hand and put it in his mouth.

boom!

My taste buds exploded.

The savory aroma of soy sauce, the caramel sweetness of rock sugar, and the mellow richness of Shaoxing wine, combined with the fatty aroma of pork, instantly broke down the Romans' taste buds.

"Ugh! Ugh!" Valerius's eyes widened, and he made unintelligible groans.

This is so delicious! Is this food eaten by the gods?

"Try this too, hot pot!" Liu Bang pointed to the boiling copper pot in the middle. "Put the slices of mutton in and cook them briefly, then dip them in sesame sauce and chive blossom sauce."

Valerius followed suit and cooked a piece of mutton in the hot pot.

The mutton was sliced ​​as thin as cicada wings (only the finest steel knife from the Qin Dynasty could cut it like that), and after being rolled in the spicy soup, it was infused with the numbing sensation of Sichuan peppercorns and the refreshing kick of chili peppers.

One bite and Valerius's face turned bright red from the spiciness, and tears streamed down his face.

"Water! Water!" he shouted.

"Don't drink water, drink this!" Marcus handed him a glass of ice-cold beer (a new product from Daqin Brewery).

The icy beer went down my throat, instantly suppressing the spiciness and turning into a loud burp.

"belch--!"

Valerius leaned back in his chair, looking at the leftovers on the table, and thought of the stews and fermented fish sauces he had eaten in Rome.

"Marcus..." Valerius said, tears streaming down his face, "I feel... what we used to eat was practically pig swill."

"No, my lord," Marcus cruelly added, "In Qin, pig feed is now scientifically formulated, perhaps even better than the rations of the Roman legions."

Valerius fell silent.

He took out a parchment scroll diary and, with trembling hands, wrote his first diary entry upon arriving in Xianyang:

*"The Age of Titus... no, the thirty-sixth year of King Zheng of Qin. I arrived in the capital of Seres. The roads here are made of solid stone, the walls are made of crystal (glass), and the toilets are cleaner than the temples. Their food would shame Jupiter so much he would smash his wine cup. I originally thought I had come to civilize barbarians, but now I realize that I am the barbarian myself."*

After finishing writing, he added another sentence:

"Don't let them know we eat with our hands, it's too embarrassing. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to practice using chopsticks."