Chapter 60 The carriage travels along the road to Langya...
The imperial carriage was traveling on the imperial road leading to Langya.
Unlike his first eastern tour, when his gaze merely swept over the banners symbolizing majesty and the solemnly standing soldiers, Ying Zheng's gaze was now truly and consciously directed towards the kneeling commoners on both sides of the road.
He saw a scene completely different from what he remembered.
On his first eastern tour, he saw faces that were numb, fearful, and filled with deep-seated hatred, like wild grass that had been struck by frost in autumn, lifeless and gloomy.
At that time, he didn't care about these people; whether they hated or feared him, it didn't matter to him. As long as they didn't rebel, that was fine.
Now, beneath those bowed heads, though still dressed in tattered clothes, many faces have regained a hint of color.
What touched him even more was that in the eyes of some of the elders, he sensed not pure fear, but a kind of almost...respectful submission.
In the furtive glances of some of the bolder children, curiosity outweighed fear.
In fact, the First Emperor's frequent inspection tours were not for pleasure. Even with modern productivity and conditions, long-distance travel would be exhausting, let alone in ancient times.
Ultimately, it was to intimidate the world and maintain the precarious state with its own authority.
Now, the starkly different reactions from the common people during his two eastern tours have stirred up Qin Shi Huang's emotions.
"They brought food and drink to welcome the king's army." This phrase, describing an ancient sage king, inexplicably flashed through his mind. Although it wasn't quite like that, he could feel the subtle vitality permeating the air.
All of this stemmed from the fact that he listened to Lin Fengzhi's words on that day at Lishan.
Lin Fengzhi said that the people and scholars were all resentful.
He then established the imperial examination system, opened the Xianyang Academy, and tried to win over the gentry families he could.
Then loosen the reins on taxes and corvée labor, so that farmers can have enough food to eat and weavers can have a foot of cloth left over.
This seemingly insignificant act of "letting go" softened the hearts of the people on this land even faster than the intimidation of thousands of soldiers.
Lin Fengzhi once said something unintentionally, which she herself may have forgotten, but Ying Zheng still remembered.
Make as many friends as possible and as few enemies as possible.
Ying Zheng wholeheartedly agreed.
The distant, rippling sea reminded him of Xu Fu. Xu Fu and the former governor of Langya were incredibly audacious; they had hidden descendants of the former Qi Tian clan and used this opportunity to seize vast amounts of land.
After the incident, he was furious and ordered that the perpetrators be severely punished.
Now, even among the nobles of Qi, some are racking their brains to send their children to the Xianyang Academy to learn the new knowledge brought by the divine messengers, knowledge that could change the fate of their families.
Look, among the people kneeling and welcoming on both sides of the road, there are many nobles from the old Qi state, and even members of the royal family from remote Qi states.
When asked why Ying Zheng knew which people had been loyal to the former Qi, Meng Yi had something to say about it.
Meng was originally from the state of Qi and had some connections within the old Qi. It was precisely this connection that allowed him to see clues about Xu Fu.
These people now kneel before his chariot, no longer rejecting Legalist thought or the rule of the Qin Dynasty.
Because they can secure their place in the Qin Dynasty.
The first imperial examination has been completed. The number of applicants was not large, and a total of fifty-four people were admitted. These fifty-four people came from various places, including Xianyang, the former Qi, and the former Chu.
Countless people scrutinized their hometowns, finally confirming that the First Emperor was serious. They scrambled for a spot at the Xianyang Academy, and the official paper mills' publications on the imperial examinations sold out almost immediately.
Empress Lü's essays during the imperial examinations were widely circulated throughout the country.
The path to advancement has been established. Whether they can secure a place in the ever-changing landscape of the Qin Dynasty depends on their abilities, not anything else.
Differentiation is in progress.
Ying Zheng lightly tapped his knee with his fingertip.
Crush the resisters with absolute force, and then attract the followers with tangible benefits and future prospects.
The hard gets harder, and the soft gets softer.
Ying Zheng clearly sensed that the barriers between the six states were beginning to crumble from within under this invisible strategy. They were slowly beginning to regard him as a citizen of "Great Qin".
That night, the Langya Terrace was brightly lit, and the welcoming banquet held by the newly appointed prefect was extremely luxurious.
It wasn't that the prefect was funding a banquet to curry favor with the First Emperor; rather, it was because powerful clans in the local area and even in the surrounding counties of Langya repeatedly requested that a lavish banquet be held for the First Emperor.
The music was melodious, and the wine cups were clinked.
For Ying Zheng, who ruled the world, he had seen all sorts of good things. In his eyes, all of this was nothing but flattery, nothing new. However, their submission pleased him.
They are actively seeking to join the Qin Dynasty, competing for official positions and opportunities it can offer.
Such conquest excited Ying Zheng even more than the trampling of his cavalry.
Ying Zheng drank a cup of wine. The performance on the high platform was rather uninteresting; it was the usual music and dance in the Qi court.
Lin Fengzhi slowly stepped out of the ranks and bowed to him.
"Your Majesty, I would like to present a play entitled 'All Things Return to One' to celebrate Your Majesty's eastern tour and to demonstrate the great achievements of the Qin Dynasty."
Ying Zheng nodded.
As soon as the words were spoken, the main lights in the hall were simultaneously extinguished, leaving only a huge, taut white silk curtain in front. A slight commotion arose among the crowd, who were puzzled.
Ying Zheng became interested; Lin Fengzhi's moves were never wrong.
Lin Fengzhi was rather absent-minded along the way, and it was obvious to anyone with eyes that she was not in a high mood until she got closer to Langya.
Unexpectedly, a whole scheme was devised for him.
Ying Zheng focused his mind.
The sounds of clinking glasses at the banquet gradually subsided as the huge white silk curtain rose.
As Lin Fengzhi stood quietly by the curtain, all eyes were drawn to her, filled with curiosity and a hint of scrutiny suppressed by the presence of the First Emperor.
The lights suddenly went out.
A slight commotion rippled through the darkness.
Immediately, an incredibly stable beam of light, like condensed moonlight, shot out precisely from behind the curtain, illuminating the screen with a translucent, dreamlike glow.
It is unknown how Lin Fengzhi and the Mo family disciples made their decision.
The shadow puppet show, "All Things Return to One," begins.
Initially, there were chaotic silhouettes, symbolizing the chaos of the Seven Kingdoms period.
Immediately afterwards, the silhouette of a crowned emperor appeared. With a wave of his hand, the characters of "standardized writing" were imprinted like stars, and the tracks of "standardized cart tracks" were like golden dragons circling.
Ying Zheng raised an eyebrow, as if he had been tickled. Lin Fengzhi actually praised him, and with such a miraculous skill.
On the screen, the Great Wall winds its way up, roads connect all directions, and the people use a unified system of weights and measures...
These grand narratives, condensed into a small space of light and shadow, possess a dynamism and grandeur that far surpasses everyone's perception.
The Langya prefect and local officials, who had never seen such a scene before, were stunned and almost breathless.
Originally, the prefect of Langya was just respectfully smiling, but now he unconsciously leaned forward slightly, forgetting to put down the wine cup in his hand.
The accompanying Confucian scholars and doctors initially had a critical eye, but when they saw the unity of writing and weights and measures being interpreted in such a solemn and sacred way, they were moved.
Someone subconsciously raised their hand and gently traced the lines of light and shadow in the air, their lips moving silently.
Standing behind Ying Zheng, Meng Yi's gaze followed closely the trajectory of the Great Wall and the imperial road in the light and shadow.
He knew how much manpower had been consumed in this project, and he had even questioned it. But now, looking at this grand project, artistically rendered with light and shadow, a sense of awe, transcending the specific hardships, and a sense of the vastness of the Qin territory and its will, welled up within him.
Between watching the shadow puppet show, the crowd glanced at the figures standing beside the screen with almost awe.
As the play reached its climax, the fields were bountiful and the looms were busy, ultimately forming the four gentle and powerful seal characters: "Peace and Prosperity for the Nation and the People."
Li Si stroked his beard with satisfaction. Lin Fengzhi had come to him on the way to ask how to write these characters, and Li Si had written them down on the paper with a flourish. He never expected that the result today would be so miraculous.
He glanced at the Mohist disciples backstage, who were busy but still orderly, and thought to himself, "After this battle, the Mohist school's standing in His Majesty's eyes will rise again."
As the images flowed by, Lin Fengzhi suddenly paused.
Suddenly, her figure appeared on the screen. A shadow puppet dressed in a priest's robe with phoenix patterns met an imperial puppet wearing a crown.
Then, millstones, slanted looms, tofu, fried steel, rice, winter wheat, and even papermaking, printing, and the establishment of the Xianyang Academy all appeared on the screen.
This content was beyond Lin Fengzhi's expectations.
In her design, the project should have ended when the country was peaceful and prosperous.
Unexpectedly, Seungkwan and his group added even more content.
Lin Fengzhi's heart stirred.
Those are all the changes she brought about. Now these changes are no longer limited to equipment, but are gradually entering the spiritual realm.
The light and shadow on the curtain slowly froze, and then, just as it had come, the beam of light quietly went out.
A deeper silence fell over the hall.
There was no applause, no cheers.
People seemed still trapped in that dream woven by light and shadow, their eyes somewhat unfocused, their thoughts still immersed in the grandeur of standardized writing and standardized cart tracks, and the abundance of rice and silk.
A few unconscious, long sighs echoed in the darkness, a natural expression of a mind deeply moved.
At the very pinnacle of this utter silence—
"Whoosh—Bang!"
A sharp whistling sound ripped through the night sky, and then a dazzling golden firework burst open in the night sky outside Langya Terrace.
The silk-like light fell, instantly illuminating every face filled with astonishment.
fireworks!
The fireworks that symbolized the first meeting between the divine messenger and the First Emperor!
Immediately afterwards, more and more intense whistling sounds rang out, and red, orange, yellow, green... multicolored orbs of light shot into the sky, exploding into a myriad of dazzling shapes against the dark sky.
The light flowed like rain, illuminating the surging sea and also the deep eyes of Ying Zheng.
Ying Zheng's pupils reflected the dazzling brilliance of the sky and the flowing landscape on the screen just now.
At this moment, light and shadow intertwined, reality and illusion overlapped. He seemed to have returned to more than two years ago, to the foot of Xiangshan Temple, to see for the first time this "miracle" called "fireworks", and to see for the first time this woman named "Lin Fengzhi", standing under the radiant light, as if she had come carrying the splendor of the world.
So mysterious, so awe-inspiring.
He instinctively turned his head, trying to find that figure in the crowd.
He saw Lin Fengzhi standing quietly beside the curtain, gazing up at the sky. Her profile, illuminated by the flickering fireworks, appeared both serene and aloof, as if she might melt into the radiance she brought at any moment.
"Bang--!"
The last and largest firework soared into the sky, exploding into a magnificent purple shower that covered the entire field of vision, illuminating the world as if it were daytime.
The starlight fell slowly, like a grand farewell.
As the light faded, the night sky returned to darkness and silence.
No one spoke inside the hall.
Whether it was shadow puppetry or fireworks, they together created an unrepeatable night, a night deeply imprinted on the souls of all the witnesses.
Ying Zheng withdrew his gaze, his knuckles tightening slightly.
He had a sudden realization: this was no coincidence that the fireworks he had seen at first sight were exactly the same.
Perhaps... Lin Fengzhi is foreshadowing something.
Lin Fengzhi gazed at the even deeper night sky after the fireworks had faded, and at the shattered moonlight reflections on the sea.
The shockwaves from the fireworks and shadow puppetry had not yet subsided, and an almost reverent silence filled the air.
Under the watchful eyes of all, Lin Fengzhi slowly stepped forward and presented two items to Ying Zheng on the throne.
First, there was a thick roll of silk.
"Your Majesty, this is the 'sun-drying method,' which takes advantage of the favorable weather and location to produce high-quality sea salt on a large scale along the Langya coast. Its effect is ten times that of boiling salt."
The palace maid respectfully accepted it.
Upon hearing this, the ministers' eyes gleamed with fervor. Having just witnessed the near-miraculous shadow puppetry and fireworks, no one questioned whether the sun-drying method she brought could indeed produce ten times the salt production of boiling salt, as she claimed.
Salt profits are crucial to the foundation of the nation, and this is a generous gift that can benefit all people.
Then, she took out a square box wrapped in deep-sea blue brocade, the mysterious patterns embroidered with silver thread flowing in the candlelight.
“This brocade box,” her voice was calm and solemn, “is to be opened by Your Majesty alone at what you deem the most appropriate time. What is inside may illuminate Your Majesty’s path for a moment in the future. It is a precious gift I give to Your Majesty.”
She did not specify what was in the box.
That was her painstaking effort during her eastern tour, in the bumpy carriage, carrying Qi on her back and facing the swaying lamplight, as she silently wrote down and sealed away the names and hometowns in her mind that would soon shine in the starry sky of history.
At this moment, it is handed over to the person who can decide its fate.
Ying Zheng gazed intently at her, then at the mysterious brocade box, his eyes sharp and complex. He waved his hand, and the palace servants carefully put the two gifts away.
After the gifts were delivered, Lin Fengzhi returned to her seat and did not utter a single word until the end of the banquet. She drank her wine by herself and looked out at the sea.
The next day.
Lin Fengzhi summoned Qi, who had always followed her.
She calmly explained the matter, her voice without a trace of emotion: "I still have some private property in Xianyang. Divide it into three parts. Send one part to Xiangshui, to An, to ensure the future livelihood of the Keluo people. Give one part to you and Xiaoshui. The rest will be given to Shengkuan, along with all the manuscripts and artifacts in my Xianyang residence, and seal them all away."
Qi initially took notes diligently, but the more he listened, the heavier his heart became.
This is so thorough, it's like... making arrangements for one's afterlife.
He suddenly looked up at Lin Fengzhi, only to see that her expression was calm, but her gaze was fixed on the vast sea outside the window, her eyes so distant that it seemed she no longer belonged to this world.
A chilling sense of dread gripped Qi's heart instantly.
"Great Shaman!" His voice trembled, carrying a barely perceptible plea, "I don't want it. Xiao Shui won't want it, An won't want it, Sheng Kuan won't want it. You keep it, we can earn money ourselves..."
Qi frantically rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a gold ingot, shoving it into Lin Fengzhi's hand: "I can drive a carriage, I can read and write, and I will participate in the imperial examinations in the future. I don't want anything!"
Lin Fengzhi withdrew her gaze and looked at him, her eyes showing a faint, almost pitying gentleness, but without offering any explanation.
"Qi, do as I say." Lin Fengzhi looked at the gold ingot in her hand. Qi was the first person she saved after coming into this world. To save him, she didn't hesitate to lie in an unfamiliar environment. Looking back now, she realized that she might have been exposed in front of An from that moment on.
"You know that, right?"
Qi was puzzled.
Lin Fengzhi repeated herself, her words carrying a hidden meaning: "You know it too, just like An."
Qi's lips twitched a few times; he wanted to ask, to stop her, to beg her to stay.
But looking into those eyes that seemed to know everything and were determined to leave, all the words stuck in his throat. He understood; he couldn't keep him. Neither reason nor loyalty could keep someone who came from afar.
He finally just lowered his head deeply, his shoulders trembling slightly uncontrollably, and squeezed out a broken voice from his throat: "I... obey."
The voice carried an overwhelming sense of grief and a despair born of a premonition of final farewell.
From that day on, Lin Fengzhi went out to sea by boat every day.
She anticipates an unknown outcome every day.
She had a premonition, a strong belief that made her wait day after day. Even when the First Emperor had had enough of Langya County and wanted to leave, she ignored him.
Until one day, she suddenly had a subtle perception.
A pale blue mist hangs between the sea and the sky, and the sound of the waves is soothing and eternal.
Lin Fengzhi, bracing herself on her long pole, took one last look at this ancient land where she had stayed for so many years. There were no ceremonial guards, no farewells, only the sea breeze fluttering her clothes.
The boat slowly left the shore and headed towards the misty east.
Qi stood on the shore, watching the lone boat gradually disappear into the vast expanse of misty waves, until it was just a blurry black dot before vanishing completely.
Only the cries of seagulls and the lapping of the tide remain, as if she had never arrived.
He stood there for a long time, his expression of shock and pain frozen on his face, finally turning into a long sigh that blended into the sea breeze.
The sea fog swallowed the lone boat, and it also swallowed a legend.
However, just as she arrived abruptly, she also left without a trace.
At the same time, the First Emperor, who was on tour to Sishui County, seemed to sense something, gently stroking the brocade box in his hand and gazing into the distance in the direction of Langya County.
This day marked the third year that the Black Bird had entered Ying Zheng's dream.
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back
The First Emperor sent people to search Langya and the sea area for several days.
They returned empty-handed.
—End of text—
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Author's Note: Extra chapters will be updated gradually. [Kiss][Kiss][Kiss]
I'll give away some red envelopes in the comments to thank everyone for your continued support! [kissing emojis]
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