plumnovel Chapter 3: Devastating News from the East – Is the Qin Dynasty Doomed?
Chapter 3: Devastating News from the East – Is the Qin Dynasty Doomed?
"Your Majesty."
"A messenger from Babylon, delivered by urgent courier!"
Fa Zheng rushed into the palace hall in a panic, holding a silk scroll in his hands.
Upon hearing this, Ying Xuan frowned. Babylon was the most important city in Mesopotamia.
Before setting out on the expedition, he specifically appointed Xun Yu to take charge of the administration, Xie Xuan to lead the army, and Cen Wenben, Di Renjie, Xu Shu, and Zhang Dun to assist him.
In addition, Cui Jun, Shi Tao, Meng Jian, Wen Qiao, Zhang Xun, Xin Qiji and others were stationed in the local areas.
Logically, Babylon shouldn't be in trouble, so why would an urgent report come at this time?
"filial piety."
"What's the matter that you're so panicked?"
"Your Majesty."
Fa Zheng hesitated for a moment, then quickly handed over the silk scroll, saying, "You'd better read it yourself."
"Um?"
Filled with questions, Ying Fei took the silk scroll, opened it, and her expression instantly changed.
"Issue my imperial edict."
"Yu Yunwen is in charge of all matters concerning An Tiaoke, and Di Qing is temporarily in command of the 100,000 Qin troops in the city."
"Zhao Yun led three thousand White Horse Cavalry to escort the orphan back to Babylon."
"only!"
Yu Yunwen and Di Qing responded without hesitation.
On that day, Ying Xuan, the Western King, abandoned Antioch, the capital of the Seleucid Dynasty that he had just conquered, and hurriedly led his army back to Babylon.
...............
Ten days later.
The Mesopotamian plain, at the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers.
A square, imposing city sits on the right bank of the Euphrates River, where almost all traces of ancient Babylon have vanished.
"We, your humble servants, offer our congratulations to Your Majesty! Congratulations to the Great Qin!"
"Over a period of seven years, the king conquered thirty-seven kingdoms, expanded his territory by tens of thousands of miles, and thus dominated Asia Minor."
"Apart from the First Emperor, who among the successive rulers of the Qin state could compare to him!"
Xun Yu, Xie Xuan, Cen Wenben, Di Renjie, and others were waiting at his side early in the morning, their feelings indescribable.
"We'll save the small talk for later."
Where are they?
Ying Xuan, who had driven 1,200 li back to Babylon, suppressed his fatigue and said urgently.
"Reporting to Your Majesty."
"The person is inside the hall."
Xun Yu led the way, and Ying Xuan couldn't wait to walk into the hall.
The others followed closely behind and entered the main hall one after another.
"Your Majesty."
Inside the hall, a black-clad armored soldier called out in a hoarse voice.
His face was weathered and his skin was cracked. His clothes were disheveled, and his eyes shone with a mixture of determination and weariness.
"It's you, it really is you...."
Upon seeing the person who had arrived, Ying Xuan's voice trembled slightly.
Five years had passed, and this was the first time he had ever met anyone from the Black Ice Guard.
The Qin Dynasty and Babylon were separated by more than ten thousand miles, so it was unbelievable that he had appeared here.
"Your Majesty."
"His Majesty has passed away!"
Hei Bingtai knelt down abruptly, his face filled with grief as he spoke.
Boom!
This news was like a thunderclap in a dry land.
Fa Zheng and the others were shocked. The First Emperor, Ying Zheng, had passed away!
"Thump thump!"
Ying Xuan staggered back several steps, barely managing to regain his balance.
A variety of emotions kept flashing in his eyes: fear, sadness, and disbelief.
Before setting off on his campaign, he repeatedly warned the First Emperor, Ying Zheng, not to seek immortality or consume any elixirs.
But why did the First Emperor, Ying Zheng, still die?
Tell me in detail.
Staring at the black ice platform, Ying Xuan's tone gradually turned cold.
"Your Majesty."
Black Ice Platform trembled and said tremblingly, "In the thirty-seventh year of Qin Shi Huang's reign, His Majesty made his fifth eastern tour and passed away at the Sand Dune Palace."
"He was accompanied only by Prince Huhai, Zhao Gao, the Chief of the Imperial Carriage Office, and Li Si, the Left Chancellor."
"What is Fusu doing?"
Ying Xuan asked again.
"In the thirty-fifth year of Qin Shi Huang's reign, the alchemists Hou Sheng and Lu Sheng acted improperly."
"His Majesty was furious and ordered the imperial censors to arrest and interrogate all the sorcerers in Xianyang City. More than 460 people had violated the law."
"The eldest son submitted a memorial to remonstrate with the emperor, who then ordered him to be exiled to Shangjun as a military supervisor."
"After His Majesty's death, Prince Huhai ascended the throne as the Second Emperor of Qin, and a will was sent to Shangjun."
"The eldest son and the general both committed suicide."
Geek!
The entire hall fell into a deathly silence.
"madness!"
"Utterly foolish!"
Ying Xuan gritted his teeth and angrily cursed Fusu: "Back then, I advised him not to be so soft-hearted as to act like a woman."
"The 300,000-strong army of Shangjun is the most elite northern legion of the empire."
"If the Emperor was unwilling to hand over the empire to him, why would he send him to Shangjun to supervise the army?"
"The Meng family has always supported Fusu. If he raises an army, the world will be within his grasp."
"Giving up a great throne to do such a pedantic thing."
"Fusu really did get his brain corrupted by those Confucian scholars."
"Doesn't he even consider what qualifications Hu Hai had to succeed to the throne? Was he even worthy?"
In order to activate his cheat ability, he traveled all the way to the Western Regions, but in the end, the wheels of history turned back to their original course.
Had he known this would happen, he might have been able to wrest the throne back from Huhai if he hadn't left Qin.
"His Majesty passed away in the thirty-seventh year, which was two years ago."
"Why is the news only being sent now?"
Fa Zheng's words were sharp as knives, each one piercing the heart of the Black Ice Platform.
The distance is thousands of miles. It would take at most half a year to reach Babylon by horseback, or to send a message by courier. How could it be so slow?
Now, two years have passed since Hu Hai ascended the throne, and many things have changed.
Black Ice Terrace did not answer, but simply bowed his head and kowtowed.
"Ugh!"
Xun Yu sighed and said helplessly, "Your Majesty."
"I'll answer that question."
"explain."
Ying Xuan suppressed his anger and shouted coldly.
"It's not that they're unwilling, but that they're unable to do it."
"Our army marched westward, opening up passages through Longxi, Hexi, and the Western Regions."
"In the past, the Yuezhi and Wusun people who occupied the Hexi Corridor would give us some face, more or less."
"All thirty-six kingdoms of the Western Regions were destroyed by the ruler, and his wife was also in charge."
"After five years of operation, it's as solid as an ironclad unit."
Xun Yu explained the whole story: "In recent years, a powerful ruler has emerged on the grasslands, named Maodun Chanyu."
"This man is a wolf in sheep's clothing, with the eyes of a tiger and the gaze of a wolf."
"They successively annexed the Donghu, Loufan, and Baiyang tribes."
"They conquered the northern kingdoms of Hunyu, Qushe, Dingling, Gekun, and Xinli."
"It now occupies a vast area stretching from the Yin Mountains in the south to Lake Baikal in the north, from the Liao River in the east to the Pamir Mountains in the west."
"They claimed to have united all the archers into one family, possessing more than 300,000 archers."
"The Yuezhi and Wusun people fought continuously with the Xiongnu, and the Hexi Corridor was no longer peaceful as before."
"Does Your Majesty know where they came from?"
"They detoured from Longxi through Qinghai, passed through the territories of the Western Qiang tribes, and headed towards Loulan."
『............』
Immediately, everyone present fell silent.
This route sounds simple, but in reality, it involves crossing mountains and passing through the desolate Gobi Desert (now the Qaidam Basin).
As early as the 26th year of Qin Shi Huang's reign, the First Emperor Ying Zheng sent Wu Dafu Yi to lead alchemists to Kunlun Mountain to collect the elixir of immortality. They traveled upstream along the Yellow River and arrived at its source (now the shore of Zaling Lake). Qinghai had already come into view of the Qin Dynasty.
Even a mighty emperor like the First Emperor did not send troops to conquer the Western Qiang, which shows how dangerous the situation was.
PS: The straight-line distance from Baghdad to Xi'an is approximately 5800 kilometers, which is equivalent to 11600 li.