The younger brother of the First Emperor

Chapter 6: Xianyang, the First of the Five Cities in the Central Plains

Xianyang.

It is about 7200 meters long from east to west and about 6700 meters wide from north to south, covering an area of ​​about 50 square kilometers.

The closer to the center, the more developed it is, with circles within circles. Prince Chengjiao divided Xianyang into four rings.

Within the Third Ring Road, the population is dense.

Outside the Fourth Ring Road is the suburbs.

The first year of Qin Wangzhu’s reign, October, 16th day.

In the center of the Qin ceremonial guard were three hundred handsome and tall men holding axes.

Five extremely strong, tall horses with shiny black hair were pulling a carriage, moving slowly and steadily.

The roads here are interconnected and are all compacted with fried loess.

After years of being trampled by cows, horses, people and cars, and after annual maintenance, the road has become solid and flat.

The carriage curtains were hung high.

Inside the car, Ying Zheng touched the black-painted oak carriage with his rough and cracked hands.

"The Five-Horse Royal Chariot..."

He knew that when passing through Hangu Pass, Zhao chariots could not run on Qin tracks, so he had to change to Qin chariots.

But he didn't know that the Qin carriage he exchanged for was actually a five-horse royal carriage, the Qin King's mount.

This was the first time that nine-year-old Ying Zheng rode in a royal carriage in his life.

Although his younger brother next to him is two years younger than him, he has already gotten used to sitting like this.

When he was five years old, Ying Chengjiao followed King Zhaoxiang of Qin to the Lantian camp and brought back an ordinary squad leader named Wang Jian.

Among all the generals in the court, there was not a single one who could match him in debate.

From then on, Prince Chengjiao always rode in the royal carriage with five horses whenever he traveled.

Ying Chengjiao, who had no feelings for the king's carriage, pointed outside the carriage and said to his brother with a hint of joy:
"Brother, this is Xianyang."

Ying Zheng looked out in the direction of his brother's white and tender fingers.

The houses are located in an orderly manner.

The roads are crowded with people.

From a distance, one can see the central palace, which is majestic and tall, about 1 to feet high, piercing the clouds and connecting with the sky. It is like a mountain descending from the sky, not something from the human world, but more like the residence of the Emperor of Heaven. (Note )
Ying Zheng opened his eyes wide, opened his mouth, his gaze flickered, and looked a little dazed.

He had never seen such a magnificent city and such a tall palace.

About twenty years ago, rumors about the Five Cities of the Central Plains began to circulate.

People at that time listed the capitals of the five kingdoms of Qin, Qi, Chu, Zhao and Wei as a separate city and did not compare them with other cities.

Xianyang, the capital of Qin, was the first of the five cities in the Central Plains.

Handan, the capital of Zhao where Ying Zheng had always lived, was also one of the five cities. He originally thought that Handan and Xianyang were both among the five cities, and although there was a gap between them, they would not be that different.

When I saw you today, I felt the difference between us was like heaven and earth.

The sparkling waters are colorful and dancing in his eyes.

He moved his sight downward from the central palace, and unexpectedly saw a continuous river flowing eastward at the foot of the palace!
“Is that the Wei River?”

He couldn't believe it.

Weishui River is the largest tributary of the Yellow River.

The largest moat in the world is the moat of Daliang, the capital of Wei, which is one of the five cities together with Xianyang.

But compared with the Wei River, the Daliang moat is just a trickle.

But he actually saw the Wei River flowing through the city, becoming the inland river of Xianyang!
"That's right. There is no big river flowing through Handan!"

The driver took the initiative to answer, with a look of pride on his face, and shook his wrist, making a loud whip sound.

There was a crackling sound.

The five horses kept running, their necks raised high and their manes rustling in the wind.

"Eh~"

The horses neighed loudly at the same time, scaring Ying Zheng so much that his face turned pale and he almost fell down.

"Master He Chang has returned to the west!"

The driver laughed heartily, and no one knew what he had done, but all five horses stopped neighing at the same time, as if they were one.

Ying Chengjiao supported Ying Zheng with a grim look on his face.

"You almost sent my brother to the west!"

Although the driver didn't know what "return to the west" meant, he knew from the tone of the voice that it was not a good thing. "I was wrong, I was wrong."

Ying Zheng's focus was not on being frightened. Before he could even stand still, he sincerely praised:
"Your driving skills are very good."

Driving and riding are similar, both involve controlling horses.

The State of Zhao was famous for its cavalry, and its riding skills were the best in the Central Plains.

Ying Zheng had seen many Zhao cavalrymen, and the most elite Zhao cavalrymen were the border cavalrymen under the command of Zhao general Li Mu - they could compete in riding skills with the Hu people who were born on horseback.

The driving skills of the driver in front of him were only possessed by the elite border cavalry, the bow-legged soldiers around General Li Mu.

The driver was praised and laughed again, extremely happy, as if he had forgotten the mistake he had just made.

Ying Chengjiao couldn't stand the smug look on the driver's face and rolled his eyes.

"He is the chariot officer, and this is his job."

Ying Zheng finally understood, and looked at his brother with even more envy in his eyes.

If he remembered correctly, the chariot officer of Qin was a 2-stone official, in charge of Qin's chariot and horse transportation affairs, and was responsible for the Qin king's charioteer. He always accompanied the king on his travels, and only a close confidant could do so. (Note )
The royal carriage with five horses went out, and the carriage official was driving the carriage.

Seeing that the Minister of the Imperial Chariot was communicating so familiarly with his younger brother, it must not be his first time to come to the Imperial Chariot.

With such treatment, on par with a king, this younger brother who came to Hangu Pass to welcome him was more favored than he had imagined.

The officer in charge of carriages laughed enough and pointed ahead with his whip.

"My Lord, have you not noticed that Xianyang has no city walls?" (Note 3)
Ying Zheng was stunned and looked carefully.

His eyes turned from east to west, from south to north, from surprise to horror.

When he looked at it, he only felt its grandeur. Standing on the king's chariot, he could see everything at a glance and had a broad vision.

It was only after being reminded by the Minister of Chefu that it was discovered that Xianyang, the first of the five cities in the Central Plains and the largest city in the world, actually had no city walls!
"Why is this happening?!"

The Minister of the Che Palace puffed out his chest, and his rough, ordinary face seemed to glow in the sunlight.

"Because I, the Qin people, don't believe that anyone can capture Xianyang!

"The system of city walls is to build a city to protect the king and to build a city wall to protect the people.

"Since no one can attack Xianyang, why should Xianyang build a city wall?"

The corner of Che Fuling's mouth curled up.

I remembered the Battle of Yique, in which 240,000 soldiers of the Han and Wei coalition were annihilated, causing the two countries to be in decline to this day.

I remembered the Battle of Yan and Ying, in which the capital of Chu was flooded, hundreds of thousands of enemies were killed, and the King of Chu was forced to move the capital.

I think of the Battle of Changping, in which 450,000 Zhao soldiers were buried alive, causing the national strength of Zhao to plummet, from which it has not recovered until now.

He grinned, revealing red lips and white teeth.

"It has always been the Qin State that beats people, never the Qin State that gets beaten!

Ying Zheng's body trembled.

Looking at Xianyang in front of me, I felt that it was a sleeping ancient beast that would eat people when it woke up.

Five Cities in the Central Plains? Ridiculous.

Which of the other four cities is worthy of being mentioned together with Xianyang?

After the fear passed, he began to feel fortunate that he was the grandson of the Qin Kingdom and fortunate that he had returned to Qin.

After feeling thankful, he felt somewhat encouraged, and then his blood started to boil.

Only a Qin State like this can avenge the humiliation suffered by Zhao State!

He clenched his fists, his eyes revealing deep hatred, and glanced at a four-horse carriage not far away.

Sitting there was Prince Gao of Zhao, who was being held hostage in Qin.

The nine-year-old boy will never forget being tied to a pole used to interrogate prisoners.

Gongzi Gao and many other young masters called him a Qin dog and spat on him.

Holding a horsewhip, he would compete to see who left deeper and darker marks on his body.

There was a crackling sound and a trail of blood.

…………

【Note 1: Qin Yizhang is about 2.3 meters. 】

【Note 2: The Minister of Transportation can be regarded as the Minister of Chefuling.】

[Note 3: The walls of ancient cities had two layers: the inner wall and the outer wall.]

(End of this chapter)