Chapter 31: The Blazing Eight Trigrams of Xianyang

  "We have now entered the territory of the Xiongnu people. If we go further, we will enter the central region of those Xiongnu barbarians."

  Meng Chong continued.

  Su Yue, the fourth generation grandson of Su Qin. Su Qin studied under Guiguzi. The most famous horizontal and vertical house in the Warring States period, persuading six countries including Han, Wei, Qi, Chu, Yan, and Wei to form an alliance against Qin, Su Qin was the leader of the alliance and served as the prime minister of the six countries.

  It was Su Qin's strategy of forming alliances that made it possible for Su Qin to be the prime minister of the six states for fifteen years without Qin daring to attack inside the pass. After Su Qin successfully formed an alliance, he was granted the title of Wujun by the king of Zhao. After Qin destroyed Zhao, Su Qin disappeared without a trace.

  Su Yue heard Meng Chong's words and did not comment, picked up the water bottle and took a sip of water, with his usual elegant smile, he asked: "General Meng doesn't have to worry, General is the adult's beloved general, Yue doesn't want this life for himself, but still has to consider people like General."

  After saying this, Su Yue faintly asked: "Does the general think that today's Qin dynasty is stable?"

  At this moment, it is unknown when they set out to rush to the vast grassland, and those who were in the Yin Mountains north of Xiongnu territory obviously could not know about Hu Hai's assassination of Zhao Gao.

  Meng Chong's face changed upon hearing Su Yue's words, as if he had thought of something. He took a big gulp of wine from the sheepskin bag and stopped talking, getting up to leave without saying what he was going to do.

  Su Yue showed no displeasure at Meng Chong's sudden departure, her face still wore an elegant smile as she slowly began to nibble on the dry rations in her hand.

  The sky gradually brightened.

  At this time, Meng Chong suddenly appeared from a corner, shouted loudly, and all the knights gathered from all sides, packed up their tents, extinguished the bonfire, and rushed north of Yīn Shān to the depths of the grasslands with a loud whistle.

  …………

  Early in the morning, batch after batch of imperial guardsmen slung Hu Hai's three decrees on their backs and rode fast horses across the twelve city gates of Xianyang, stepping on the green stone pavement, and scattered in all directions on the wide straight roads leading to various parts of Qin, rushing to various parts of Qin.

  Wave after wave of horseshoes trampling on the bluestone-paved streets broke the tranquility of Xianyang City at dawn, startling countless Xianyang people who were either asleep or still calculating.

  Innumerable people secretly peeked through the door gaps or windows, and when they saw that all the knights rushing out of the streets with bundles slung over their shoulders were brightly dressed Imperial Guards, everyone's heart skipped a beat, wondering what had happened to deploy even the Emperor's personal bodyguards.

  What's happened in Xianyang again? Which minister is going to be exterminated this time? The heads of Zhao Gao's family are still dripping with blood, hanging in the market. Silently telling that today's Qin has entered a season of turmoil.

  After the unification of Qin, the territory was too vast, and Hu Hai required that his three decrees be transmitted to all counties in the fastest speed. The number of messengers in Xianyang was clearly insufficient, so Li Si and others decided to temporarily use forbidden army soldiers to transmit Hu Hai's three decrees, which Hu Hai agreed to.

  When the sound of horseshoes gradually faded away and finally stopped, countless Xianyang Qin people slowly put down their anxious or thoughtful hearts. Everyone saw that these forbidden soldiers were not rushing to a certain person or clan in the city, but all passed through the city.

  What are you going out of the city for? Hasn't His Majesty the Emperor already returned? What are those things slung over the shoulders of these Imperial Guardsmen?

  These doubts were still on his mind when suddenly a large group of fast horses galloped out from the Imperial City.

  This once again made the hearts of those Xianyang Qin people who had just put down their carrying hearts and were preparing to go back to bed for a nap, tighten up again with the sound of horseshoes "rumbling" again.

  He is a postal relay soldier! Not an imperial guard!

  All the tense Qin people crouching at the door or window couldn't help but whisper to themselves when they saw the man riding on horseback.

  Yi zu and Jin jun are two completely different extremes, Yi zu is only a messenger, while Jin jun is the emperor's personal bodyguard, once they move out, it must be a big deal.

  Everyone finally let out a sigh of relief when they saw the knight galloping past, clutching their hearts tightly, wiping away the cold sweat on their foreheads and exhaling a long-held breath.

  But immediately, a new doubt arose in everyone's mind. These messengers also had packages slung over their shoulders. Were these packages carrying messages? Were the previous imperial guards also for delivering messages? What kind of message would require the emperor's personal bodyguards to deliver it?

  The actions of the courier who immediately ran through the streets and alleys gave these people an explanation.

  These messengers did not gallop out of the city on horseback, but instead stopped in pairs at various busy streets and twelve city gates with heavy traffic in Xianyang City, opened the packages slung over their shoulders, and took out a roll of white silk.

  The two men carefully opened the white cloth they had taken out, and then nailed it to the wall with a few copper nails in a swift and careful manner. After making sure that the white cloth was securely nailed and would not fall off, the two soldiers led the horses to one side, then stood on either side of the white cloth with their swords at their waists.

  At this time everyone discovered that these couriers were all wearing armor and holding sharp weapons, and it seemed they were specifically arranged for the protection of the white silk.

  The same scene was happening in the big and small streets of Xianyang City and at each city gate.

  What is this white silk? Why does it need the postal soldiers to wear armor and hold sharp weapons to protect it? Such thoughts occurred simultaneously in the hearts of countless people who were quietly paying attention to these postal soldiers.

  Those with keen eyes have already discovered that there are words on this white handkerchief.

  What is this white silk with writing on it, anyway?

  This white silk and the words on it are naturally Huhai's idea. Because of Huhai's arrival, the notice will appear in advance on the land of China. And when it first appears, it will shock the world.

  Huhai didn't know until last night that at this time, the great Qin already had paper, sheepskin paper. Although it's also called paper, it's very inconvenient to use, mostly used for drawing maps or sending important messages over long distances.

  Hu Hai began to prepare and write the imperial edict on sheepskin paper as a notice to be posted in various places in Xianyang. However, Li Si and others told him that there was not enough large sheepskin paper in Xianyang, and it would be too disrespectful to use sheepskin paper for an imperial edict. Hu Hai gave up the idea forthwith.

  It suddenly occurred to him that the emperors of later generations used yellow silk to write imperial edicts, so Hu Hai decided to use white silk to write decrees as notices. Although it was a bit wasteful, these decrees would be retrieved after a period of time anyway, and washing them for reuse would be just the same.

  No matter when, where or what era, the visible but unknown things are the immortal driving force for human beings to move forward constantly. This driving force is called desire for knowledge or curiosity in written language, and if it's said in popular terms, that would be gossip-mindedness.

  Obviously, people of Qin in the era of the Great Qin Empire would not lack this desire for knowledge or gossip either.

  Was it not enough to entice the Eight Trigrams fire hidden deep within the hearts of the people of Xianyang, Qin with the mysterious forbidden army, followed by the mysterious relay soldiers and the mysterious white silk banners with writings hung on the walls?

  At this moment, the eight trigrams of fire of Xianyang Qin people have started burning fiercely!