7: Chapter 7 Qin State Had No City Walls

Zhao Fusu prepared to lead a thousand cavalrymen south via the Qin Straight Road.

In the Guanzhong region of Xianyang, there was a Guanzhong Army of two hundred thousand.

These two hundred thousand Guanzhong Army soldiers had also been branded with a Thought Steel Seal of absolute loyalty to him alone.

He intended to lead these two hundred thousand Guanzhong Army soldiers to forcibly launch a coup and take control of Qin.

"Reporting to Young Master Fusu, preparations are complete."

Meng Tian replied.

"Good."

Zhao Fusu led his troops and horses south along the Qin Straight Road, escorted by Deputy General Pang.

Zhao Fusu lifted the carriage curtain and looked at the Qin Straight Road with curiosity.

In his mind, scenes of Fusu supervising the laborers building the Qin Straight Road involuntarily surfaced.

During construction, the laborers first tamped the soil of the road surface; in some places, they even used the "Steamed Earth" method, which involved roasting the soil or charring it with fire to destroy the soil structure, making it difficult for weeds to grow and enhancing the road's stability and durability.

Most of the road was 30 to 60 meters wide, with the widest parts reaching 80 meters, allowing dozens of carriages to pass side-by-side.

Normally, the Qin Straight Road was open for merchants to travel.

Because he was leading his army south, the Qin Straight Road had been restricted to ensure the safety of his journey and prevent any delays to his itinerary.

The Qin Straight Road was equipped with Courier Stations.

These were much like service areas on a highway; besides resting, one could also change horses and feed them concentrated fodder.

After a day's journey, Zhao Fusu led the thousand cavalrymen into a Courier Station to stay the night.

Zhao Fusu held Wang Xia's hand as they stepped out of the carriage.

He originally hadn't wanted to bring Wang Xia south.

His purpose in going south was not merely to mourn the First Emperor.

He was going to launch a coup.

Open attacks are easy to dodge, but hidden arrows are hard to guard against; even if the two hundred thousand soldiers in Guanzhong were absolutely loyal to him alone, he could not guarantee that the officials in the Xianyang court wouldn't resort to underhanded tactics to assassinate him.

Wang Xia said she wasn't afraid of danger.

She wanted to stay by Zhao Fusu's side.

Furthermore, her father was Wang Ben and her grandfather was General Wang Jian; born into a family of military prestige, she also knew a bit of martial arts and could even protect him.

Zhao Fusu's heart warmed; he knew that Wang Xia was indeed an extraordinary woman who didn't even fear death, so he stopped trying to prevent her from coming.

At this moment, Wang Xia was dressed in tight-fitting martial attire, wearing a waist saber and her hair in a ponytail, looking quite spirited with the air of a swordswoman.

After entering the Courier Station and eating, the two prepared to rest.

Even a two or three-hour bus ride is tiring, let alone jolting in a carriage for ten hours.

Zhao Fusu had no other thoughts and collapsed directly onto the bed.

His consciousness entered the system space to check in for the day.

"Congratulations to the host for obtaining a Steam Engine."

A Steam Engine!

Zhao Fusu's body jolted, his eyes filled with anticipation.

He had coal, he had a Steam Engine; if he could also get the specific methods for forging steel...

Then, out of the three puzzle pieces of the First Industrial Revolution, he would have gathered two.

During the next three days of Zhao Fusu's journey south, his daily check-ins rewarded him with a Coke Oven, a Sintering Machine, and a blast furnace.

These machines all came with detailed instruction manuals.

Each machine's manual was practically a textbook in its own right.

Having nothing to do on the road, Zhao Fusu began flipping through these books.

Seeing him pull these books out like a magic trick, Wang Xia was curious, yet also deeply shocked by the use of books as a medium for knowledge.

Each page was covered in a vast amount of text; if all these words were written on bamboo slips, how many would be needed?

She couldn't imagine it, but she estimated it would take at least two hundred catties of bamboo slips.

This book weighed only one catty in her hand, but in Wang Xia's heart, it felt heavier than a thousand.

Rustle, rustle...

She flipped through the book rapidly.

The curious expression on her face was no different from that of a student who had just received their textbooks.

It wasn't that she didn't want to see what was inside, but rather that she couldn't understand simplified chinese characters at all.

"Illiterate."

Zhao Fusu's lips curled into a smirk as he teased her.

"You're the illiterate one."

Wang Xia retorted instinctively.

As the daughter of a noble, she had naturally been taught to read, but she truly did not recognize these simplified characters.

Seeing Zhao Fusu sitting with his legs crossed, reading the book with great interest, she knew he must recognize these simplified characters.

"Husband..."

Like a little kitten, Wang Xia snuggled into Zhao Fusu's chest, looking at him with pitifully large eyes and saying in a cutesy voice, "Will you teach me to recognize these square characters?"

"Mhm."

Zhao Fusu did not refuse.

With his wife pleading like this, how could he not agree?

Once he took control of the Great Qin Empire,

Promoting simplified characters and eliminating illiteracy would be among his top priorities.

"Give me your hand."

Zhao Fusu took Wang Xia's jade-like hand and traced strokes onto her palm with his index finger.

Wang Xia felt her palm itch, but she watched and felt intently as Zhao Fusu traced each stroke.

Simplified characters evolved from Lesser Seal and Clerical scripts; they are pictographic and inherit their forms.

For example, the character for 'sun' ( day) in lesser seal script is shaped like the sun.

Wang Xia easily recognized a simplified character.

The character for 'mouth' ( mouth) in lesser seal script is also shaped like a mouth.

Thus, Wang Xia easily learned two simplified characters.

Besides these, many simplified characters are connected to lesser seal script.

One can tell at a glance what those simplified characters mean.

More advanced ones have some transformations.

For instance, the pictograph for 'strength' ( force) looked like a 'lei' (an ancient plow tool) in Oracle Bone and Bronze scripts. It was standardized in lesser seal script and became ' force' in Regular script after the clerical transition.

Wang Xia studied earnestly.

She found that learning these simplified characters was much easier than learning lesser seal script, and writing them was also very convenient.

Wang Xia also understood why these books were written in this simplified script.

Looking at the dense simplified characters in the books, her desire to learn them grew even stronger; she wanted to know what was written inside and what the illustrations were.

As Wang Xia recognized more and more simplified characters, the cavalry troop arrived at Hangu Pass.

Zhao Fusu looked at this majestic pass with a solemn expression.

The Guanzhong Plain was flat and vast, stretching about three hundred and fifty kilometers from east to west with an area of roughly 39,000 square kilometers.

In Chinese history, more than ten dynasties established their capitals here; it was the first place in China to be called the "Land of Abundance."

Topographically, its location was extremely advantageous. It faced Mount Li to the east and leaned against the Qinling Mountains to the south, with treacherous terrain.

To its north was the Loess Plateau, with its countless ravines and gullies blocking raids from northern nomadic tribes.

Four passes were set around it; to the east was Hangu Pass, which Zhao Fusu was looking at. To the west was Dasan Pass, and to the north was Xiao Pass. The four passes supported each other, such that one man guarding the pass could hold off ten thousand.

The name "Guanzhong" originated from this.

Within its borders, the Wei River flowed from west to east into the Yellow River.

Its largest tributary was the Jing River, which flowed from north to south into the Wei River.

Multiple rivers from the Qinling Mountains wrapped around Chang'an in layers, forming the layout of "eight rivers surrounding Chang'an."

Of course, the current Chang'an had not yet been developed into an international metropolis; it was still just a township.

Seeing the wide-open Hangu Pass and the garrison kneeling all over the ground, Zhao Fusu was the first to enter.

Controlling Hangu Pass was essentially equivalent to taking Xianyang.

Qin has no city walls.

Xianyang City has no city walls, and Xianyang Palace likewise has no city walls.

The Qin people have no city walls.

Hangu Pass is the city wall of Xianyang!

Several mounted messengers departed from Hangu Pass.

They were sent by Zhao Fusu.

He would mobilize the two hundred thousand Guanzhong Army soldiers Inside the Pass to forcibly launch a coup!