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

The wind in the square carried a strong smell of diesel fuel.

Hu Hai collapsed to the ground, his body soaked. He looked at the steel monster that had just crushed Zhao Yu into a bloody pulp, then at his father, the emperor, standing indifferently beside the turret. The string of "imperial power" in his mind snapped completely.

"Father... Your son knows his mistake... Your son..."

Hu Hai was incoherent, crawling forward on all fours, trying to grab Ying Zheng's clothes.

Ying Zheng took a step back.

The military boots made a crisp tapping sound as they stepped on the bluestone slabs.

"Do you admit your mistake?"

Ying Zheng looked down at his once beloved young son. He didn't kill him not out of pity, but because Zhang Ying had said something along those lines—the death penalty is too lenient; labor reform is the highest form of purification for the soul.

"Zhang Ying".

"I'm here." Zhang Ying crushed the empty Coke can in her hand and casually tossed it into a trash can in the distance (which was actually a bronze cauldron).

"What can this kid do?"

Zhang Ying sized up Hu Hai. He was fair-skinned and delicate, lazy and inactive—a typical good-for-nothing rich kid.

"Driving a tank is definitely out of the question, the reaction time is too slow." Zhang Ying stroked his chin. "However, Daqin Heavy Industry has just been established and is short of a test driver."

"A test drive?" Li Si interjected from the side. "Grand Preceptor, what are the intricacies of this test drive?"

"It's nothing much," Zhang Ying shrugged. "It's just driving the newly built cars to the edge of a cliff or crashing them into a wall to test whether the airbags deploy. The mortality rate isn't high, only about fifty percent."

Hu Hai rolled his eyes and almost fainted.

"Alright." Ying Zheng made the final decision. "Then let's test the chariot. If it doesn't die, keep testing it; if it does, bury it under the roadbed as a sleeper."

Two soldiers in camouflage stepped forward and dragged Hu Hai away like a dead dog.

The square is now quiet.

Feng Quji and the other ministers remained kneeling on the ground, not daring to breathe. Everything that had happened today was too surreal, beyond their comprehension.

"Get up, all of you."

Ying Zheng waved his hand, somewhat impatient. His mind was now filled with the inverted triangle-shaped landmass on the map and the mountains of gems piled up there.

"Feng Quji".

"Your old minister is here."

"Issue my decree." Ying Zheng pointed to the tanks behind him. "Collect all the copper and iron in Xianyang, except for weapons and farm tools. Also, bring those Mohists here. I don't care if they're in some deep mountain forest or some rat hole, I want to see them alive in the palace within three days."

"If we can't find it..."

"Then let Wang Ben drive this thing around to their ancestral graves."

Feng Quji shuddered.

"promise!"

……

Two hours later.

Side hall of Zhangtai Palace.

This place has been converted into a temporary combat command center. A huge world map hangs on the wall, and in the middle is a long table piled high with blueprints that Zhang Ying redeemed from the system shop.

Li Si was extremely efficient.

Or perhaps the Mohists were originally active in the vicinity of Xianyang.

Seven or eight men dressed in coarse linen clothes and straw sandals stood uneasily in the center of the hall. The one in the lead, with a scraggly beard and calloused hands, was none other than Xiangli Ge, the patriarch of the Mohist school in this generation.

They thought they were doomed this time.

Although the burning of books and burying of scholars by the First Emperor had not yet begun, the suppression of the various schools of thought had never stopped. The Mohists advocated "universal love and non-aggression," which was incompatible with the Qin Dynasty's national policy of "agriculture and war."

"Kneel down!"

Wang Ben shouted.

Xiangli Ge stood there, neck stiff, not moving. The Mohists had their own backbone.

"Alright."

Ying Zheng sat in the main seat, toying with a lighter in his hand. It was a gift from Zhang Ying; it was windproof and had a golden dragon engraved on it.

"Click".

Flames shot up.

Xianglige's pupils suddenly contracted.

"No need to kneel." Ying Zheng closed the lid and tossed the lighter onto the table. "I summoned you here not to behead you, but to show you something."

He gave Zhang Ying a wink.

Zhang Ying pulled a box out from under the table. She opened it.

There was no gold or silver jewelry inside.

There was only a pile of blueprints. And a few exquisitely crafted metal parts.

"What is this?" Xianglige couldn't help but ask.

"This is the future."

Zhang Ying picked up a drawing and unfolded it.

That was a diagram of a "simple steam engine." Although it was a simplified version, it was a marvel of engineering more than two hundred years BC.

Xiangli Ge leaned over and took a look.

Just one glance.

He couldn't move his feet.

As the patriarch of the Mohist school, he dedicated his life to studying mechanical arts. Wooden birds, repeating crossbows, siege ladders... he believed he had reached the pinnacle of mechanical arts.

But this blueprint completely shattered his worldview.

Cylinder. Piston. Connecting rod. Crankshaft.

Every line exudes a kind of violence and elegance known as "industrial aesthetics".

"What...what is this?" Xianglige's hands began to tremble. He wanted to touch it but dared not, afraid of getting the paper dirty.

"A steam engine," Zhang Ying explained. "It boils water, produces steam, and pushes the wheels to turn. With it, there's no need for oxen or horses; carts can run by themselves, and boats can sail by themselves."

"Boiling water... and you can push a cart?" Xianglige found it absurd, but his intuition told him that the logic in the blueprints made sense. It was perfectly fitting and flawless.

Don't believe me?

Zhang Ying smiled.

He picked up a small Stirling engine model from the table (a system gift, a teaching tool). He lit the alcohol lamp underneath.

A few seconds later.

The flywheel started to spin.

buzzing-

The speed increased so much that the spokes became invisible to the naked eye.

Xianglige knelt down with a thud.

It wasn't because of imperial power.

It is because of the truth.

Several Mohist disciples behind him also knelt down, each kowtowing to the ground as if they had witnessed a miracle.

"The God of Ink... This is the God of Ink manifesting himself!" Xianglige cried, tears streaming down his face.

"Don't worship gods." Zhang Ying stopped the model. "This is science."

Ying Zheng looked at the group of craftsmen who had just been fearless but were now crying like two-hundred-pound children, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Xianglige".

"This humble subject is here!" Xiangli Ge even changed his form of address.

"I have established the Great Qin Heavy Industry." Ying Zheng pointed to Zhang Ying. "He is the chief engineer. You are his deputy. I will give you three months to thoroughly understand these blueprints."

"Three months?" Xiangli Ge suddenly looked up, his eyes bloodshot with fanaticism. "Your Majesty, give me a month! If I can't build this thing in a month, I'll twist my head off and let you kick it around like a ball!"

"it is good."

Ying Zheng stood up.

He walked up to Xianglige.

"I don't want your head."

"What I need is a carriage. A carriage that can carry several thousand kilograms of grain. A carriage that can travel a thousand miles a day."

"besides."

Ying Zheng pointed to the tank outside the door.

"That thing is broken."

"If you can't fix it, your whole family will have to go and accompany Hu Hai on his test drive."

Xiangli Ge followed Ying Zheng's finger. When he saw the steel behemoth parked in the square, his breath caught in his throat.

I was too nervous when I entered the palace and didn't dare to look around.

Looking at it now...

That's not a car.

That is the ultimate dream of the Mohist school of mechanical arts! It is art! It is the Tao!

"His Majesty!"

Xiangli Ge sprang up from the ground, disregarding all etiquette between ruler and subject, and rushed straight out the door, throwing himself onto the tank's tracks, rubbing his face against the cool armor plates with a fervent passion.

"This material...this structure...the rivets..."

"Beautiful! Absolutely stunning!"

Wang Ben's lips twitched.

"Imperial Advisor, has this man gone mad?"

"Good riddance." Zhang Ying opened a new bottle of Coke, the bubbles hissing. "Those who do scientific research, if they're not obsessed, they won't survive."

He looked at Ying Zheng.

"Old Zhao, we have the men and the blueprints."

"But there's a problem."

"explain."

"We're short of steel." Zhang Ying pointed to Xiangligge's rusty iron sword. "With your current iron smelting technology, you can barely make a hoe, let alone a steam engine? It'll explode and kill you."

Ying Zheng frowned.

"What should we do then?"

"Refine".

Zhang Ying took out another drawing from her bosom.

Guide to Traditional Blast Furnace Steelmaking (Enhanced Edition)

"Also," Zhang Ying paused, "the tank is out of fuel. The fuel in the system store is too expensive, and I need to save my points to exchange for antibiotics and seeds."

"Oil?" Ying Zheng thought of the two barrels of diesel fuel that had caused him so much heartache.

"Can oil really grow underground?"

"able."

Zhang Ying walked to the map.

The finger landed about several hundred miles north of Xianyang.

Northern Shaanxi.

Yanchang County.

"Here," Zhang Ying circled on the map, "there's a kind of black liquid called 'stone grease.' Dig it up, refine it, and you'll get oil."

Ying Zheng stared at the circle.

It's like staring at a huge treasure.

"Wang Ben".

"Your subordinate is here!"

"Take your soldiers." Ying Zheng took the map down and stuffed it into Wang Ben's arms. "Take shovels and buckets."

"Go dig."

"Don't come back if you can't find any oil."

"That's my blood."

Chapter 93

Chapter 93 My Black Water

The wind in northern Shaanxi is like a knife.

It stings when it scrapes my face.

This is the edge of the Loess Plateau, crisscrossed by gullies and sparsely covered with vegetation. Wang Ben stood beside a dark puddle, holding a wooden ladle and scooping up a spoonful of viscous black liquid.

It has a pungent smell.

It looked like rotten eggs mixed with a decaying corpse.

"Is this the...oil the Imperial Advisor was talking about?"

Wang Ben frowned and poured the spoonful of black water into the earthenware jar next to him.

Nearby, hundreds of Qin soldiers were frantically scooping water from the ditch with pottery jars, wooden buckets, and even helmets. This water was originally "rock grease" used by the local people for lighting lamps, and nobody paid any attention to it, complaining about the strong smell.

But now, this is the lifeline of the Qin Dynasty.

"My lord!"

The lieutenant ran over, his face smeared with black grease like an African refugee's. "It's full! Fifty truckloads! We've almost emptied the ditch over there!"

"Only fifty carts?"

Wang Ben was not satisfied.

His Majesty said this is the tanks' rations. If the tanks aren't fed, they won't move. And if the tanks can't move, how can they raid the Mauryan Empire for gold?

"Keep digging!" Wang Ben pointed to the spring gushing black water. "Dig deeper! Turn the ground upside down! The Imperial Advisor said there's a sea down there! An oil sea!"

……

Xianyang.

Daqin Heavy Industry's No. 1 Factory (formerly the Shaofu Weaponry Bureau).

heat.

The heat was intense.

Xiangli Ge was shirtless, his muscles bulging, sweat dripping down his back and landing on the red bricks at his feet with a sizzle, evaporating instantly.

Before him stood a strange building, three zhang tall.

That was the first blast furnace built under Zhang Ying's guidance.

The refractory bricks were specially made, the blowers were water-powered, and even the coke was made by Zhang Ying teaching them how to cook coal.

"Add more ingredients!"

Xiangli Ge roared.

Several Mohist disciples pushed carts loaded with iron ore and limestone up the walkway to the top of the furnace and poured them in with a splash.

Inside the furnace.

The flames roared.

The temperature has exceeded 1,500 degrees Celsius.

Zhang Ying, wearing sunglasses, stood on a safety platform in the distance, holding a temperature gun (a product of the system).

"That's about it."

Zhang Ying glanced at the reading.

"Made in iron!"

Xiangli Ge smashed open the iron hole with a single blow.

boom--

The golden-red molten iron roared out like a fiery dragon, flowing along the pre-dug sand trough. The heat was intense, even distorting the air.

Li Si, who was standing to the side, was so frightened that he took three steps back, and his beard was almost burned.

"This...this is steel?"

Looking at the flowing, scalding liquid, Li Si felt his worldview shatter once more. While Qin swords were sharp, they were forged hammered away, a time-consuming and laborious process. How many swords could this batch of liquid forge?

A thousand? Ten thousand?

"This is pig iron," Zhang Ying corrected. "It still needs to be decarburized and forged. But it's much better than your junk."

Ying Zheng stood beside Zhang Ying.

He didn't back down.

The firelight reflected on his face, and two flames danced in his phoenix eyes.

He watched as the molten iron flowed into the mold, cooled, and turned into dark, heavy iron ingots.

That is power.

It is the purest form of violent aesthetics.

"I have this." Ying Zheng's voice was a little hoarse. "Can my army change their uniforms?"

"Yes," Zhang Ying nodded. "Not only can we change equipment, but we can also build cannons, railway tracks, and those trains that puff out black smoke and carry hundreds of thousands of kilograms of grain at breakneck speed."

Ying Zheng took a deep breath (even though it smelled like coal ash).

"it is good."

"Li Si".

"Your subject is here."

"Pass down the order. All convicts and prisoners of war of the Qin Dynasty shall be transferred to northern Shaanxi and Shanxi."

"Mining coal."

"Digging for iron."

"I will extract all the bones from the ground and cast them into the backbone of the Great Qin Dynasty."

As they were talking.

A sudden commotion broke out outside.

A fast horse rushed into the factory area and nearly knocked over the freshly forged iron ingots.

The knight tumbled off his horse and scrambled to Ying Zheng's feet.

"Report—!"

"General Meng Tian has returned to court!"

"Bring back 30,000 Xiongnu prisoners of war! And 100,000 cattle and sheep!"

"And..." the knight gasped, his expression strange, "and the Chanyu's... wife and children."

Ying Zheng raised an eyebrow.

"Meng Tian was quite quick."

"Let's go take a look."

……

Outside Xianyang City.

Thirty li of shops.

As Meng Tian rode his horse, looking at the majestic city in the distance, he felt a little uneasy.

He received news that His Majesty had returned, carrying a divine weapon, and had crushed Zhao Gao. But he hadn't witnessed it himself, and it all seemed a bit far-fetched.

Until he saw the procession that was there to greet him.

There was no honor guard.

There was no drumming or music.

Only three strange green cars rumbled by.

The wagon bed was filled with fully armed soldiers, who were not holding halberds, but rather a kind of black, strangely shaped crossbow (compound crossbow).

On the lead car.

Ying Zheng sat in the passenger seat, a cigarette between his fingers, his arm draped over the window.

The car stopped.

Ying Zheng jumped off the chariot.

Meng Tian quickly dismounted and knelt on the ground.

"Your subject Meng Tian, ​​I arrived too late to save Your Majesty, and deserve to die!"

"Get up." Ying Zheng helped Meng Tian up. This pillar of Qin had a weathered face and his armor was stained with dried blood.

"I heard you wiped out the Xiongnu's stronghold?"

"Your Majesty, the main force of the Xiongnu has been defeated by the unknown heavenly thunder (actually tank cannons). I only went to clean up the mess." Meng Tian looked ashamed. "However, I captured Modu's wife and several of his sons."

"Oh?"

Ying Zheng smiled.

He turned to look at the truck behind him.

"Bring it down."

The car door opened.

Li Si pulled Maodun down. Maodun was wearing tattered burlap work clothes, his face covered in coal dust, and he was carrying a shovel. He had been shoveling coal slag at Daqin Heavy Industry for the past few days and was quite skilled at it.

When Maodun saw the prisoners behind Meng Tian...

He froze completely.

"Father!"

A seven or eight-year-old child rushed out from the pile of prisoners and tried to pounce on Modu.

However, they were stopped by Qin soldiers.

Maodun's lips trembled. The last shred of dignity of this steppe overlord collapsed the moment he saw his wife and children become prisoners.

"His Majesty……"

Maodun knelt down in front of Ying Zheng with a thud.

This time.

It's from the bottom of my heart.

"Your Majesty...please spare them..." Maodun kowtowed, "I'll mine coal! I'll mine coal properly! I won't run away! I'll mine coal for Qin for the rest of my life!"

Ying Zheng looked at him.

He didn't speak.

He simply turned around and looked westward.

The sunset was like blood.

His shadow stretched long, covering Modu, Meng Tian, ​​and the 30,000 Xiongnu prisoners.

"Zhang Ying".

"what?"

"We have oil, we have steel, and we have people."

Ying Zheng took out the world map from his pocket.

It pressed down hard on the position of the Mauryan dynasty.

"It's time to go."

"Go tell those who play with elephants."

"The demolition team of Daqin".

"They're here."

Chapter 94

Chapter 94 The Last Spending Spree Before Departure

The atmosphere in Xianyang has changed.

It used to be bleak and desolate. Now it's frenzied and chaotic.

The chimneys of Daqin Heavy Industry spewed black smoke day and night. The Mohist disciples were like they were on steroids, working tirelessly in the workshop. Xiangli Ge hadn't slept for three days; his eyes were bloodshot like a rabbit's, but his energy was frighteningly high.

He is building a boiler.

According to the blueprints provided by Zhang Ying, the first small steam engine has been successfully tested. Although its efficiency is outrageously low and its noise is as loud as a donkey's braying, the wheel does indeed turn on its own.

This is enough.

This is the breakthrough from 0 to 1.

……

Zhangtai Palace.

Ying Zheng is trying on new clothes.

It's not a dragon robe. Dragon robes are too cumbersome; the sleeves are wide enough to fit two chickens, making them inconvenient for fighting.

This is a set of "Tactical Camouflage Training Uniform" that Zhang Ying redeemed from the system store. It's scratch-resistant, durable, and has multiple pockets. Ying Zheng tucked the trouser legs into his military boots and tightened the shoelaces, feeling as if he had lost ten pounds.

"These clothes are nice."

Ying Zheng turned around in front of the mirror and patted the holster on the side of his thigh (inside was the Glock 17, although it was running low on bullets).

"A hundred times better than those imperial robes."

"Of course." Zhang Ying sat on the steps, loading bullets onto an AK47. He had spent a fortune to acquire this gun; it was the only one of its kind in the entire server, and it was Ying Zheng's exclusive weapon.

"Old Zhao, the road to the Peacock Dynasty this time won't be easy."

How difficult is the journey?

"We have to cross the Pamir Mountains and then the desert." Zhang Ying slammed the magazine into the gun and cocked it with a click. "Whether the suspension systems of our trucks can hold up is a question. Fuel supply is also a big problem."

"Didn't Wang Ben bring back hundreds of truckloads of oil?"

"That little bit of oil is barely enough to get to the border," Zhang Ying sighed. "I'll have to rely on the system to redeem it. My points are almost gone."

Ying Zheng paused for a moment.

He walked over to Zhang Ying and squatted down.

"I still have many fine things in my private treasury."

"The jade discs, the pearls of the Marquis of Sui, and those large tripods that were presented as tribute by the six states."

"Can I exchange them for points?"

Zhang Ying was stunned for a moment.

The system does indeed have a recycling function. Antiques and cultural relics are priceless.

"I could... but that's a national treasure." Zhang Ying said with a hint of heartache, "Are you willing to part with it?"

"What's there to be reluctant about?"

Ying Zheng stood up and waved his hand.

"Just an inanimate object."

"Change it to oil, change it to bullets, change it to cannonballs that can blow the Mauryan dynasty to the sky."

"That is the true national treasure of the Qin Dynasty."

Zhang Ying smiled.

This is the vision of a great emperor throughout history. As long as he could win, he wouldn't hesitate to dismantle the Epang Palace and sell its bricks, let alone discard the jade discs.

"OK."

Zhang Ying stood up and patted the dust off her bottom.

"Since Your Majesty is so generous, I cannot be stingy either."

"System, activate recycling mode."

A beam of light swept across.

The rare treasures in Ying Zheng's private treasury vanished in an instant.

[Ding! Recycling successful. Points earned: 500000.]

Zhang Ying whistled.

Five hundred thousand.

This is a huge win.

"exchange."

"What else do you want?" Ying Zheng asked.

"I want a big one."

Zhang Ying tapped her fingers repeatedly in the air.

The light flickered.

on the square.

A huge tanker truck painted in desert camouflage appeared out of nowhere. It had a carrying capacity of thirty tons.

Followed by.

It's a mobile repair vehicle. It's equipped with a generator, welding machine, and lathe.

At last.

It's a command vehicle. It has satellite communication (although it can only connect to the local area network), air conditioning, a refrigerator, and a genuine leather sofa.

Ying Zheng looked at the three newly appeared behemoths and his breathing became rapid.

"This... is it also for me?"

"That's it." Zhang Ying tossed the car keys to Ying Zheng. "A luxury road trip package. I'll take you on a show and let you soar to new heights."

Ying Zheng caught the key.

A cool, metallic feel.

He turned around and looked at the army gathered outside the main hall.

Three thousand elite cavalrymen. All of them were newly equipped with stirrups and high-bridged saddles (made overnight by the Mohists). They carried freshly forged high-carbon steel sabers.

Following behind were thirty four-wheeled carriages modified by the Mohists, loaded with supplies.

And then...

It was that tank that had been repaired, maintained, and looked brand new.

And those trucks.

This is the Qin Dynasty's expeditionary force.

There are not many people.

But its firepower was enough to destroy a country.

"Set off!"

Ying Zheng jumped onto the command vehicle.

The engine roared.

The black dragon flag fluttered in the wind.

Target: Due west.

The Mauryan Dynasty.

Wash your neck clean and wait.