The Heavenly Craft Workshop.
This place, once an imperial workshop, now looked like a massive steel furnace.
“Clang! Clang! Clang!”
The deafening sound of hammering nearly pierced the eardrums.
A wave of heat mixed with coal smoke and iron filings rushed toward them.
Ying Zheng had changed into plain clothes, his brows slightly furrowed.
Beside him, Ying Ziye’s little face was full of excitement.
Qinglong strode forward and knelt on one knee.
“Your Majesty. Ninth Prince.”
Ying Ziye pointed toward a nearby stable.
“Father Emperor, first look at the first good thing.”
Inside the stable.
A magnificent black stallion, the Wuzhui horse, was restlessly pawing at the ground.
The saddle was nothing unusual compared to ordinary ones.
Only on both sides of the saddle were two small iron rings.
“What is this object?” Ying Zheng asked.
Qinglong stood up and replied in a deep voice:
“Reporting to Your Majesty, the Ninth Prince calls it… stirrups.”
Ying Ziye explained in a childish voice.
“Father Emperor, try mounting it and you’ll understand.”
Ying Zheng mounted the horse in one smooth motion.
His feet naturally stepped into the two iron rings.
An unprecedented sense of stability rose from beneath his feet.
It felt as if he and the horse had become one.
He tried loosening the reins.
The horse took a few steps forward.
Yet he remained steady on the horse’s back.
Ying Zheng’s eyes narrowed.
He drew the bronze longsword from his waist.
“Zing—”
The blade cut through the air in a flash of cold light.
From horseback, he even performed a twisting, spinning slash.
His body remained as steady as a mountain.
“Good!”
Ying Zheng couldn’t help but shout.
He gently squeezed the horse’s flanks.
The Wuzhui horse began to trot.
On the bumpy horse’s back, Ying Zheng’s hands were completely freed.
He even mimicked the motion of drawing a bow.
Smooth as flowing water!
No obstruction at all!
“Hahahahaha!”
Ying Zheng laughed heartily toward the sky.
His laughter was powerful and thunderous, echoing through the workshop and even drowning out the hammering sounds.
He dismounted.
His gaze burned as he looked at the small stirrups.
“With this object,” he said,
“My Great Qin cavalry’s combat power will double!”
Ying Ziye giggled.
“Father Emperor, this is only an appetizer.”
He pulled Ying Zheng toward the deeper training grounds of the workshop.
On the field stood rows of brand-new crossbows, gleaming with a cold metallic light under the sun.
Their design was more complex and refined than ordinary Qin crossbows.
“What is this?” Wang Jian had also arrived at some point, looking at the new crossbows with curiosity.
“God Arm Crossbow.”
Ying Ziye replied.
He pointed to a thin soldier busy at the target range.
The soldier looked weak, not tall, almost like an underage youth.
“You, come here.”
Ying Ziye beckoned.
The thin soldier immediately ran over.
“Give him a God Arm Crossbow.”
Qinglong handed one over.
The soldier skillfully lifted the crossbow.
He did not use foot braces or struggle to draw it.
Instead, he simply turned a small crank beside his arm.
“Click! Click! Click!”
The mechanism sounded.
Ying Ziye pointed toward a target a hundred paces away.
Behind the target stood three layers of thick oxhide armor.
“Shoot.”
“Swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh!”
A sharp tearing sound rang out in a continuous stream.
In an instant, a full magazine of ten crossbow bolts was fired.
At a hundred paces away, the solid target was directly turned into a sieve.
Even the three layers of oxhide armor behind it were completely pierced through!
Wang Jian’s mouth opened wide.
He quickly walked over to another target.
There, a burly man over eight chi tall was exerting all his strength.
He braced a standard Qin crossbow with his feet, his face red, barely managing to draw the bowstring.
“Bang!”
A bolt was fired.
It barely penetrated the first layer of oxhide armor.
The contrast was brutal.
Wang Jian sucked in a cold breath.
He rushed back, grabbing the God Arm Crossbow from the thin soldier.
It felt heavy in his hands.
He followed the soldier’s movements and turned the crank.
Even easier than he had imagined.
“Good weapon!”
“This is absolutely a good weapon!”
Wang Jian was so excited his face turned red.
“With this, who still needs archers!”
“Any recruit, after three days of training, can become a sharpshooter!”
Ying Ziye pointed toward a huge factory building not far away.
“General Wang, inside there are even better things.”
Everyone walked into the workshop.
The scene before them left both Ying Zheng and Wang Jian stunned.
Hundreds of craftsmen were working in full swing.
But they were not working independently.
Instead, they were arranged in rows.
The first row only carved crossbow arms.
The second row only polished mechanical components.
The third row only assembled them…
Each craftsman was like a precise component in a giant machine, operating at high speed.
One after another, brand-new God Arm Crossbows were carried off the end of the production line, visible to the naked eye as they were completed.
They piled up like mountains.
“This is…” Ying Zheng murmured.
“Assembly line,” Ying Ziye replied crisply.
“Division of labor. Maximum efficiency.”
At that moment—
“Food’s ready!”
A loud shout rang out.
Several cooks carried in a huge wooden barrel.
When the lid was lifted, the rich aroma of potato and beef stew instantly filled the air.
All the craftsmen immediately dropped their work, eyes lighting up.
They picked up their bowls and lined up.
Each of them received a full bowl of steaming meat and potatoes.
They squatted in corners, eating hungrily, faces full of satisfaction.
Ying Ziye pointed at them.
“Father Emperor, look.”
“If you let them eat their fill, they can produce endless weapons for Great Qin.”
Ying Zheng looked at the craftsmen eating, then at the mountain of weapons.
He nodded slowly.
“Good.”
…
Kirin Hall.
Before a massive sand table stood Ying Zheng, Ying Ziye, Wang Jian, and Li Si.
Wang Jian pointed at a location on the map.
Hangu Pass.
His voice rang like a bell.
“Your Majesty!”
“Xiang Liang has gathered 8,000 Jiangdong recruits, claiming a force of 50,000, and is advancing north after crossing the river!”
“He has already taken several cities and is now heading toward Hangu Pass!”
Li Si added from the side:
“Our regional commanders are following the plan and surrendering without resistance, clearing his path.”
Wang Jian clasped his fist.
“Your Majesty! This old minister requests permission to fight!”
“Only 30,000 elite troops equipped with God Arm Crossbows are needed to ambush both sides of Hangu Pass!”
“When Xiang Liang’s army enters the trap…”
He made a slicing motion with his hand.
“Not a single one will escape alive!”
Just then—
A court attendant rushed in.
He held a bamboo scroll.
“Your Majesty! The remnants of the Six States have jointly issued a ‘Condemnation of Qin Manifesto,’ now spread across the realm!”
Li Si took the scroll and unfolded it.
He cleared his throat and began reading in a rhythmic, declamatory tone:
“Violent Qin is without virtue; its tyranny is fiercer than tigers!”
“Its first crime: burning books and burying scholars, destroying the way of the sages!”
“Its second crime: excessive taxation, leaving the people in misery!”
“Its third crime…”
Li Si read with great emotion.
The atmosphere in the hall grew increasingly heavy.
Ying Ziye sat on his chair, swinging his short legs, casually eating an apple as if he heard nothing.
After Li Si finished listing the “ten major crimes,”
Ying Ziye jumped down from his chair.
He walked over to Li Si.
Held out his little hand.
“Give it to me.”
Li Si froze for a moment, then instinctively handed over the bamboo scroll.
All eyes focused on Ying Ziye.
He picked up the document filled with blood-written accusations.
Slowly and unhurriedly, he wiped the corner of his mouth—stained with apple juice—on it.
Then, he casually tossed the bamboo scroll into the nearby brazier like it was trash.
It immediately caught fire.
Soon, it turned into a wisp of smoke.
Ying Ziye clapped his hands.
He looked up at everyone.
“Nice writing.”
He paused, grinning, revealing a row of small white teeth.
“Too bad.”
“The dead don’t need literary talent.”
Just then—
“Report!!!”
A dusty scout stumbled into the hall.
He fell to his knees, voice hoarse.
“Urgent report!”
He raised his head, face full of panic.
“The rebel coalition vanguard is less than a hundred li from Hangu Pass!”
The hall fell into a frozen silence.
Wang Jian’s hand rested on his sword hilt.
Cold sweat appeared on Li Si’s forehead.
Ying Zheng’s face remained expressionless, but he turned his gaze toward his son.
Ying Ziye stood up.
He stretched lazily, as if he had just woken up.
“Let’s go, Father Emperor.”
His voice was innocent and cheerful, echoing through the entire hall.
“Let’s go harvest the crops.”
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