First Emperor of Qin Special #The Legend of Qin #The Forgotten River
[Germany tried twice to unify Europe and failed both times.]
[Leaving everything else aside, just look at those dozens of little countries in Europe. The First Emperor of Qin just keeps looking more impressive!]
As they read comment after comment, certain emperors were green with envy.
The First Emperor of Qin actually had such a good reputation in an era when there were no emperors!
A certain unnamed First Emperor wanted to know where Europe was.
Emperor Wu of Han's plane.
"Sima Qian, is this how you wrote your Records of the Grand Historian?"
In response to Liu Che's question, Sima Qian said, "Your Majesty, I wrote it based on earlier records and investigations. I certainly did not make it up!"
Emperor Taizu of Ming's plane.
Zhu Yuanzhang sighed. "Ying Zheng is so popular with later generations! Why don't they talk about how I drove out the barbarians and restored the Central Plains?"
"In my heart, Father Emperor is no less than the First Emperor of Qin," Zhu Biao said reassuringly. "Your achievements will surely never be forgotten by future generations."
Hearing his beloved eldest son say that made Zhu Yuanzhang feel much better.
The First Emperor of Qin had been dead for over a thousand years. What good was a fine reputation among later generations?
Was his son as good as Zhu Yuanzhang's?
[What do you think Ying Zheng was like? #Ying Zheng #The Legend of Qin #The Forgotten River]
"Huh? Why is it Ying Zheng again?"
"What is The Legend of Qin?"
["Like this?"]
["Ying Zheng unified the six states and named the realm Great Qin."]
["The six kings fell, all under heaven became one, cart axles shared a gauge, and metal was melted down to cast statues."]
["I heard you once said that the realm of the seven states needed ninety-nine. May I ask whether your method is one for a single state or for all under heaven?"]
["The people of the seven states have long suffered the afflictions of this age of chaos. The hundred schools of thought each offer their own way to save the world. To govern all under heaven through law has long been my wish."]
["Would you be willing to join hands with me to put that wish into practice and create a realm of ninety-nine together?"]
["As the realm divides and unites, it is always the common people who suffer."]
["The ninety-nine in my heart should be a realm governed by law and guided by Confucian teaching."]
["I wish to forge a sword of the Son of Heaven."]
["With the seven states as its point, mountains and seas as its edge, governed by the five elements, opened by yin and yang, wielded through spring and summer, and set in motion through autumn and winter, it would be without equal in the world, and all under heaven would submit. This would be the sword of the Son of Heaven."]
["And I am willing to be the one who wields it."]
["What kind of person is Ying Zheng?"]
["He is someone who cannot be described in words."]
["What kind of assessment is that?"]
["He is someone who has never appeared since ancient times and may never appear again."]
["You think that highly of him?"]
["That is not my assessment. It should be the assessment of historians in future generations."]
["History is written by the victors."]
["Ying Zheng and his empire will fail."]
["Why?"]
["Because he is only one man, yet he has done things beyond human ability."]
["Then can't he continue to go beyond it?"]
["He is only one man. This vast empire exists because of him alone, but he is also the only one capable of it."]
["So if he dies..."]
["He will die, because he is human, and no one can escape death."]
["I unified the six states. From this day forth, there will be no borders to divide us, no barriers of language. Only then will this country deserve to be called a paradise!"]
["Or like this?"]
["Tyrant! You wage endless wars and conquer everything under heaven. Have you ever thought about how many families you've destroyed and how many lives you've taken?" — Jing Ke]
["Which of you dares claim to be a truly worthy king or enlightened ruler? If I die, people like you will fall upon the State of Qin like wolves, tearing it apart, carving up its lands and stealing the realm. A new crop of so-called feudal lords will emerge, dragging all under heaven into endless chaos." — Ying Zheng]
["What I will bring to this world is a mighty realm reaching the sea and Korea in the east, Lintao and Qiangzhong in the west, Beixianghu in the south, and, in the north, taking the river as a barrier and extending along the Yin Mountains to Liaodong! And peace for ten thousand generations!" — Ying Zheng]
["The six directions united as one, flourishing forever!" — Ying Zheng]
["It was I who brought the four directions into submission and opened up the world! It was I who gave the people food in the morning and shelter at night! It was I who created a true country and home!" — Ying Zheng]
["Those people have never stood where I stand. How could they understand the view I see, and how dare they judge my achievements!" — Ying Zheng]
[My heart aches for Brother Zheng.]
[Marry him.]
[I'm not worthy.]
[The TV dramas ruined his image.]
[As long as Ying Zheng lives, Great Qin will never fall!]
[Because no one would dare rebel.]
[His biggest mistake was favoring Confucianism.]
[Ying Zheng favored Legalism.]
[The Confucians use their writings to disrupt the law, while the knights use their martial prowess to violate prohibitions.]
[Someone slipped through the net of nine years of compulsory education.]
[After unification, he slept less than three hours a day. His body couldn't take it.]
[That's why The Legend of Qin anime has hardly ever been surpassed. The perspectives of several characters explain the history of the time.]
[Brother Zheng in The Forgotten River is good too, and even more handsome!]
[Now those are the words of a sovereign of mankind. His sins were in his own age, but his achievements benefited a thousand generations.]
[Ying Zheng committed no sins!]
[No woman is worthy of my Brother Zheng.]
[Han Fei wanted ninety-nine, yet he just had to meet someone like Ying Zheng, who wanted a hundred.]
[If I had been born in Qin, I would have become his high minister.]
[Of the beauties of the seven states, I want ninety-nine.]
[If Ying Zheng had unified the whole world back then, I wouldn't have to slog through learning English now.]
[Quick, grab Tang Sanzang and send him to my Brother Zheng.]
[This matches everything I imagined Ying Zheng to be.]
"Mother Empress, did the First Emperor really look like this? He's even better-looking than Immortal Zuo just now!" A little princess from a certain dynasty pointed at the sky screen.
The First Emperor she called better-looking than Zuo Ruotong was Ying Zheng from The Forgotten River.
It wasn't just her. Even her mother was staring in a daze!
She had seen imposing men before, but this was the first time she had seen one who was both imposing and handsome!
"Is this a play from later generations?!"
"People in later generations call it anime. I wonder what that means?"
"Then was Immortal Zuo just now fake too?"
"The two First Emperors of Qin are different, but each is more imposing than the last!"
"The Han Fei on the sky screen should be Han Feizi, right? He looks so refined! He's very handsome too!"
"'With the seven states as its point, mountains and seas as its edge, governed by the five elements, opened by yin and yang, wielded through spring and summer, and set in motion through autumn and winter, it would be without equal in the world, and all under heaven would submit. This would be the sword of the Son of Heaven.' Why does that passage sound so familiar?"
"I remember now. Zhuangzi's Discourse on Swords says: 'The sword of the Son of Heaven has Yanxi Stone City as its point, Qi and Mount Dai as its edge, Jin and Wei as its spine, Zhou and Song as its guard, and Han and Wei as its grip. It is enclosed by the four surrounding peoples, wrapped in the four seasons, encircled by the Bohai, and girded by Mount Chang. It is governed by the five elements, ordered by punishment and virtue, opened by yin and yang, wielded through spring and summer, and set in motion through autumn and winter. When thrust forward, nothing lies before it; when raised, nothing lies above it; when pressed down, nothing lies beneath it; when swung, nothing lies beside it. Above, it cleaves the floating clouds; below, it severs the foundations of the earth. Once this sword is used, it sets the feudal lords right, and all under heaven submits. This is the sword of the Son of Heaven.'"
"People in later generations must have drawn on that passage from Zhuangzi's Discourse on Swords! The real First Emperor of Qin definitely never said those words!"