I started on a deserted island and encountered Ying Zheng, who insisted I was an immortal.

Whenever the civilization of the Central Plains reaches its peak, becoming incredibly wealthy and prosperous, those horsemen from the north should head south.

During the Zhou Dynasty, they were called Quanrong; now they are called Xiongnu; later came the Turks, Khitans, Jurchens, Mongols...

Like harvesting chives, one crop after another, it never ends.

They used iron hooves and sabers to smash the jars and pots they had painstakingly collected to pieces.

Centuries later, a remarkable figure emerged named Ran Min.

He issued an order to kill the Hu people, beheading millions of them and forcibly reattaching the backbone of a nation.

It is said that after his death, heavy rain fell from the sky, locusts swarmed everywhere, and even the heavens wept for him.

Unfortunately, few people remember him in later generations.

Zhang Ying shook her head and continued her criticism.

"Sacrificing a woman's lifelong happiness in exchange for a pitiful peace is not only an injustice to that woman."

"It is an insult to all men of courage and integrity."

"The glorious Tang Dynasty, the glorious Tang Dynasty, under such a prosperous era, yet they did such humiliating things. How sad and lamentable."

Ying Zheng finally spoke, his voice hoarse: "And after Li Shimin?"

"After that, a female emperor emerged, named Wu Zetian."

Zhang Ying said casually.

"A woman becoming empress?"

Meng Yi shook his head repeatedly, as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world.

"Absurd! Utterly absurd! A hen crowing at dawn signifies the impending doom of the nation!"

Wang Ben echoed in a muffled voice, "Women should stay at home to support their husbands and raise their children. How can they show their faces in public and manage state affairs?"

Zhang Ying was too lazy to argue with these two old fogies about Wu Zetian's merits and demerits, so she skipped to the next topic.

"Later, the dynasty that I admire most emerged was the Ming Dynasty."

"That's what a true great power should be like."

"How so?"

Ying Zheng pressed for an answer.

"The Ming Dynasty has its own principles."

Zhang Ying's voice suddenly became louder.

"No marriage alliances, no indemnities, no ceding of territory, and no tribute."

"The emperor guards the nation's gates; the monarch dies for the state!"

"good!"

Meng Yi could no longer hold back and blurted it out.

He straightened his robes and bowed deeply into the air, as if worshipping some kind of spirit.

"The emperor guards the nation's gates, the monarch dies for the state! Well said!"

"Our Great Qin should be like this too!"

Zhang Ying silently added in her mind.

In fact, these sixteen characters are not ancestral precepts of the Ming Dynasty, but merely a summary of their spirit and character by later generations.

But the thought of the tragic state of the late Ming Dynasty made his heart clench.

After Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself on Coal Hill, foreign tribes entered the pass.

The Jiading Massacre, the Yangzhou Massacre...

That was not war at all; it was a one-sided massacre and torture.

The men were all slaughtered, and the women suffered endless humiliation.

His evil deeds are too numerous to recount.

Zhang Ying clenched her fists involuntarily, a surge of anger rising to her head.

Sometimes he really wanted to devour the flesh and blood of those alien races raw.

Even more tragically, there are still so many ignorant young girls in later generations who idolize those Qing Dynasty dramas and drool over the "Fourth Prince" and "Eighth Prince" on the screen.

Sad, sigh.

"Sir, what happened after the Ming Dynasty?"

Wang Ben pressed for further details.

"Let's not talk about it."

Zhang Ying waved her hand, completely losing interest.

He picked up the earthenware jar, shook it, and found it was empty.

The Erguotou I brought is finished.

He looked at the few sea fish thrashing about in the fish basket and sighed deeply.

He cannot change what has already happened.

Those who are ignorant of history simply don't care.

This feeling of powerlessness made him feel somewhat tired.

"You guys take your time fishing, I'm heading back now."

Zhang Ying stood up, patted the dirt off her bottom, and turned to walk towards the cave.

The three leaders of the Qin Dynasty sat there, gazing at his somewhat forlorn figure, speechless for a long time.

The sea breeze carried a salty, damp scent.

No one spoke; the only sound in the air was the crashing of waves against the rocks.

for a long time.

"I... feel a little dizzy."

Ying Zheng spoke, his voice trembling slightly.

"Your subject agrees."

Meng Yi echoed.

Wang Ben rubbed his temples, feeling as if he had drunk a whole jar of strong liquor.

Ying Zheng turned around and looked at the boundless blue sea in the distance, his face showing an indescribable horror.

When they listened to Zhang Ying's story, they subconsciously treated it as one bizarre tale after another.

But now that I've come to my senses, I'm shocked.

That's not a story.

That spans from the Qin Dynasty to the Han Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty, a thousand-year history of the rise and fall of dynasties and the changing of the country!

It is a fleeting glimpse of countless brilliant heroes in the long river of history.

Huo Qubing, Ran Min, Li Shimin...

These names and these deeds seem to be right before my eyes.

"So, in the end, my empire was seized by a mere village head named Liu Bang?"

Ying Zheng seemed to be talking to himself, but also seemed to be confirming something with the two people beside him.

Meng Yi and Wang Ben lowered their heads even further.

They dared not take on this question.

The air seemed to freeze.

Suddenly, Ying Zheng laughed.

There was no dejection or despair in that laughter; instead, it carried a resolute determination to break through everything.

"If we had not met the young master, my Great Qin might have truly perished after only two generations."

"But not now."

He suddenly stood up.

"Li Shimin had three mirrors; I, on the other hand, have four!"

"Using bronze as a mirror, one can straighten one's clothes; using history as a mirror, one can understand the rise and fall of dynasties; using people as a mirror, one can understand one's gains and losses."

"I must take the future ruler as a mirror to know what is acceptable and what is unacceptable!"

"What Li Shimin can do, I will do even better! What Li Shimin cannot do, I will also do!"

The horrific scenes of the "Five Barbarian Invasions" described by Zhang Ying, the term "two-legged sheep," and the massacres and bloodbaths after the foreign tribes entered the pass were like poisonous thorns piercing Ying Zheng's heart.

What surged within him was no longer merely the ambition of an emperor, but also a deep-seated anger and murderous intent.

"kill!"

"These barbarians must be wiped out!"

"The Xiongnu, the Qiang, the Baiyue... these are all swords hanging over the heads of my Great Qin!"

"I will eradicate them completely, to prevent future troubles!"

"I will ensure that the people of China, generation after generation, will never again suffer such a fate worse than that of pigs and dogs!"

His voice echoed across the empty seashore, carrying the resounding clang and determination of metal striking stone.

At this moment, he was no longer the First Emperor who was single-mindedly seeking immortality.

He found something more important than immortality.

That is protection.

With the sword in his hand, he protected this land, his people, and the future of his nation.

Zhang Ying's history lessons inadvertently ignited the most primal and explosive national spirit in this sleeping dragon.

A brand new, even more terrifying King of Qin is quietly awakening on this isolated island.