[The Qin Straight Road originated from Xianyang, running directly north to the northern border, traversing Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia, and Gansu. Stretching over 700 kilometers, it was the world’s earliest highway-like main transportation route.]
[This broad and level road not only significantly enhanced the Qin central government’s control over the northern frontier but also facilitated the rapid deployment of Qin troops to the front lines to combat foreign invaders, holding extraordinary military strategic importance.]
[Economically, Qin Shi Huang unified currency and measurements, enabling trade activities across the nation to operate under standardized systems, greatly promoting commodity circulation and economic development.]
[Simultaneously, it strengthened the court’s control over fiscal and economic matters. Qin Shi Huang’s series of reforms unified national standards, establishing the fundamental framework for feudal dynasties over the next 2,000 years.]
[Qin Shi Huang shaped a China unified in both territory and culture, allowing Huaxia culture to take deep root and maintaining national cohesion for over two millennia.]
[As the First Emperor through the ages, he truly deserves this title.]
With these final words, the matter was settled.
At the market by the Wei River, commoners who had just finished listening to the sky screen’s explanation gradually dispersed, their footsteps carrying unspoken thoughts.
Most Qin natives stood straighter, clutching the square-holed banliang coins in their hands, their fingers tracing the neat seal script characters engraved on the currency.
This coin could buy grain in Longxi and exchange for cloth in Bashu. No longer did they need to exchange currencies when traveling between cities or suffer from merchant exploitation during conversion rates.
A Qin merchant who transported goods by cart recalled delivering grain to Shang Commandery via the Qin Straight Road last month, completing in four days a journey that previously took seven. He couldn’t help but marvel to his companion:
“The Straight Road is truly level! I’ve broken two fewer cart wheels already. We have to respect His Majesty’s foresight!”
But the feelings of former citizens from the six conquered states were like crumpled linen – complex and indescribable.
Chen Laosan, a grain merchant from Daliang of Wei, gripped a newly standardized Qin ruler until his knuckles turned white. In Wei, he had used Liang rulers, but when going to Han, he had to switch to Han rulers, always worrying about miscalculations when measuring grain.
Now a single Qin ruler served him everywhere, simplifying both purchasing and selling grain. Yet at night, remembering the Wei characters once carved on Daliang’s city walls, he couldn’t help sighing.
Those were the first characters he had taught his son to write, now only visible in dreams.
A woman from former Chu territory bought sugar figures for her child, watching the vendor use unified Qin weights to measure sugar lumps. No more conversions between Chu jun measures and Zhao shi measures – it was indeed convenient.
A former Yan hunter who had followed Qin troops along the Straight Road to fight the Xiongnu last year noted how the road was wide enough for three chariots to travel abreast.
The Qin army reached Yanmen in just three days, repelling the Xiongnu before he needed to sharpen his bow for the second time.
But sitting around campfires at night, listening to Qin soldiers sing their local songs, he remembered Yan’s Ji City and his former life in the Yan Mountains.
Though chaotic, those days everywhere had felt like home.
They resented Qin for destroying their native states, but looking down at the hemp cloth from Shu they wore, feeling the universally accepted banliang coins in their pockets, they couldn’t voice pure resentment.
Life was indeed much more stable than during the era of warring states with excessive taxes everywhere.
Only the pressure remained great.
The wind swept through the market, carrying both the dust from the Qin Straight Road and the scents of merchandise from various regions.
The former subjects of the six states gazed toward the distant city of Xianyang, their hearts filled with two conflicting emotions: one was a heavy nostalgia for their fallen kingdoms, weighing them down like a full bucket.
The other was a warm reliance on the present stability, comforting as a gentle flame.
These two feelings intertwined, leaving them uncertain whether to resent or accept their current reality.
Just as the sky screen had declared.
Perhaps this was the inevitability of history.
Sins in the present, merits for millennia.
They might have always been mere specks of dust in the annals of history, paving the way for future generations.
Yet in this world, there would always be those who remembered and reflected.
Even dust leaves traces behind.
Ying Qingyue sighed softly, her thoughts drifting afar.
People often say emperors shape destiny and ministers determine rise and fall, but without commoners wielding hoes to build straight roads or mastering abacuses to learn the Qin System,
Without their yearning for stability in turbulent times and striving for livelihood under the New Deal, even the grandest blueprint would remain a castle in the air.
Those truly propelling history forward have never been the figures seated upon the Dragon Throne, but rather the common folk tilling the land, bustling through markets, and carving out existence amid the smoke of daily life.
They might remain nameless, perhaps meriting only passing mentions in historical records, yet brick by brick, stitch by stitch, they have firmly embedded the concept of “Huaxia” into the flowing river of centuries.
The common people, the masses.
They are history’s greatest sacrificial lambs.
Meanwhile, in the main hall of Xianyang Palace, as the words “The Unrivaled Emperor Through the Ages” still glowed upon the sky screen, Li Si stepped forward first.
Bowing deeply with resonant voice brimming with barely contained excitement, he declared: “Your Majesty! The Qin Straight Roads connect northern frontiers and fortify border defenses! Standardized script, unified axle lengths, consistent measurements – all cornerstones for ten thousand generations!”
“Now with unified territories and cultural homogeneity across Huaxia, such achievements are unprecedented! The title ‘Unrivaled Emperor Through the Ages’ is truly deserved! I congratulate Your Majesty and our Great Qin!”
Before his words faded, Zhao Gao immediately hunched forward with ingratiating smile, though adopting a solemn tone: “Minister Li speaks truth! This all stems from Your Majesty’s benevolence and foresight!”
“Such magnificent deeds shall be celebrated through countless generations! I wish Your Majesty eternal glory and Great Qin’s perpetual stability!”
Other court officials followed suit in succession, their overlapping congratulations echoing through the hall.
Ying Zheng remained standing, his gaze sweeping over the bowing ministers before returning to the sky screen’s explanations about Qin Straight Roads and unification policies. He spoke measuredly: “Your words must be matched by deeds.”
“Though the New Deal benefits millennia to come, its implementation requires your devoted efforts. Do not fail the common people, nor betray this evaluation as Unrivaled Emperor Through the Ages.”
“Your servant obeys—”
When Li Si raised his head, the satisfaction in his eyes deepened.
The sky screen’s assessment had not only affirmed the Emperor’s achievements but also bolstered the confidence of ministers implementing the New Deal.
Even previously discontented veteran officials now remained subdued and silent.
The sky screen continued:
[In 219 BCE, Qin Shi Huang hoped his reign would last eternally, avoiding the chaos following monarchs’ deaths that caused hard-won unified empires to crumble, as seen in other dynasties.Contemporary society is prevalent with immortalist beliefs and mystical practices, with many convinced that specific methods could achieve longevity. This cultural trend influenced the First Emperor.]
[Thus, our Shi Huang began pursuing immortality…]
Upon hearing this, Ying Zheng’s composed expression froze for a moment, a barely perceptible flicker of astonishment passing through his eyes.
What did the sky screen mean by that?
Meanwhile, in the alchemy room, Xu Fu heard the words from the sky screen, and a trace of unease suddenly crept into his heart, inexplicably making him restless.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that something major was about to happen.