Chronicles of the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 51 50. Heavy Crossbow Whaling
Qin Shi slept well.

Although she rushed back at night and went through the hassle of washing and dressing, which seemed like a long time had passed, she actually looked at her watch and saw that it was only 10 o'clock when she fell asleep.

At ten o'clock, when I used to work, the night had just begun.

Although the mattress is a bit hard - it's a rosewood bed, and you can imagine that it is definitely not made of hay, but three layers of tiger skin.

That’s right, sheepskin is at the bottom, covered with three layers of tiger skin, and then six layers of silk.

Soft?

It’s not soft, after all, the bottom support is still hardwood.

Comfortable?
That's so comfortable.

Moreover, she was in good health and had normal circulation. She could get a full night's sleep after going to the toilet once before going to bed, so when she woke up at 5:30, she was really refreshed.

Chi Nu also energetically closed the bed curtains for her - thanks to Qin Jun, they, the slaves, also had a good rest.

Because the King of Qin does not like to keep people in his sleeping quarters, but if he really does not keep anyone, the king will probably punish him if he asks about it.

After careful consideration, they decided that every night, only one personal maid would lead the other servants to stand guard outside the bedroom. Whenever the Lord of Qin needed anything, he could just ring the bell.

In this way, everyone arranged their time and everyone was in high spirits.

...

Wu Zi was on duty last night, so only Chi Nu came now.

After she had tidied up the bed curtains, she stepped aside. Qin Shi, wearing Ditang spring-colored silk pajamas and gold-carved, black-brocade slippers inlaid with gems, went to the bathroom as he was already familiar with.

If there was anything wrong with being served, it was that there were too many servants to serve her when she went to the toilet, and she couldn't adapt to it at all.

Fortunately, she was now the one giving orders, and once she spoke, no one would contradict her. If she said someone was going to the bathroom, then that was it.

What's more, she had to wear a new pajama top and pants, as well as silk drawstring underwear. It was a bit more troublesome for her to do it alone than before, but it was not unacceptable.

Sitting on the ancient-style toilet, looking at the clean silk cloth always ready at the side, Qin Shi exhaled silently -

Anyway, toilet paper needs to be arranged first.

After reviewing today's schedule, she instantly felt the regularity of carrying out her customized plan one by one, and she became more energetic.

After a quick wash, the fried lotus and lotus leaf glutinous rice chicken that we were going to eat last night were already served.

Of course, it doesn’t stop there.

I noticed that although Qin Qing's meals were simple, he loved to combine meat and vegetables, and fish, meat and eggs were indispensable every day, so I went up to him for breakfast.

One plate each of fried lotus with brown sugar and fried lotus with pepper and salt, one plate of glutinous rice chicken in lotus leaf, seven honey-pickled hawthorns, one plate of vinegar sauce with bean sprouts (meat sauce mixed with boiled soybeans and young bean sprouts), and one bowl of fish paste and lotus root soup cake.

There were also three fresh lotus pods, and the maids peeled them as they ate.

Qin Shi sat down and took a look, thinking: That's it, the palace chef was still complaining about his simplicity yesterday!

She didn't say anything, but the waitress, Chi Nu, smiled and said, "Mr. Qin, I wonder if these two breakfast dishes are still edible?"

Qin Shi tasted the fried lotus and said: It’s okay.

It’s not as crispy as I imagined - but this can’t be blamed on the chef, as there is no starch coating and only ordinary flour is used.

Starch needs corn or sweet potatoes to be made, but they are nowhere to be found nowadays. Even the best cook cannot cook without rice.

Being able to make both salty and sweet dishes by myself gives them a very novel taste.

There is also lotus leaf glutinous rice chicken.

There is still some glutinous rice available, so I soaked the glutinous rice last night, and slaughtered a young chicken in the middle of the night, cut the chicken breast into cubes, and added pepper, which is very expensive nowadays. After it is cooked, I wrap it carefully with lotus leaves and steam it in a pot.

Now when you open it, you can smell the fresh aroma and the flavors are blended just right.

According to her instructions, the food intake was not large, so although there were many varieties, Qin Shi was still meticulous and ate them all.

Chi Nu, standing by, had long since gotten used to it. She glanced at the sky outside the palace and asked, "Lord Qin said last night that he wanted to see the lotus flowers this morning. Should he go now, or dress up first?"

I woke up at 5:30, and by the time I finished eating, it was already 6:00. The sun was already shining brightly and scorchingly hot. If I had to wait for the next step to get dressed, it would take at least half an hour.

When I go there again, how can I appreciate the lotus?
Clearly, she was just basking in the sun. But then I thought: That's not right! She always travels with a canopy, and people are holding ice and fans. When has she ever been basking in the sun?
But it is not necessary.

She then made a prompt decision: "Let's go now."

So Yi Ming prepared some mouthwash powder and brought over a new "toothbrush" that a craftsman had hastily made. Qin Shi exclaimed, "Huh?"
"Why isn't it the bronze toothbrush from before?"

Yiming made his own tooth powder, which made his mouth fresh and teeth white as snow after use. However, he had to mix it every day, so he replied while taking care of it:
"The other day I saw Lord Qin using his bronze toothbrush himself, often without the help of a servant. Therefore, I took the liberty of using Lord Qin's own [old toothbrush] and ordered the Minister of the Household to make a replica."

She had heard the term "old toothbrush" from Qin Shi, but it still lacked substance: "It's a pity that we don't know what kind of bristles the treasure was made of. The Shaofu searched everywhere but couldn't find any, so they only used pig bristles."

Qin Shi was already happy.

Sure enough, it is beneficial to give more rewards to everyone, just look at how proactive they are!

You don't need to give detailed instructions on how to make changes, it will naturally try to adapt to her lifestyle habits.

What's more, a boar bristle toothbrush is suitable enough!

She praised again: "Yiming, you are so considerate!"

……

There were no outsiders in Lanchi Palace, so she wiped her face quickly and walked out of the palace.

Looking back sideways, the giant stone whale behind the hall is still standing, majestic and cute.

She couldn't help but exclaim, "This giant whale... can it be caught now?"

Chi Nu replied, "This was captured by the king himself."

Qin Shi: ???
With your own hands?! A giant whale!
Seeing her doubt, Chi Nu was remarkably firm: "After Your Majesty ascended the throne, you followed General Yan to attack Qi. Upon entering Qi territory, you had a dream in which you battled with the sea god."

"The diviner asked for an interpretation of the dream, and he said that I needed to catch a giant fish in the sea to dispel the bad omen."

"Then the king personally went to Langya, armed with a giant crossbow, and shot down a giant whale in the sea."

Qin Shi gasped.

History is surprisingly similar.

The "Records of the Grand Historian: The Basic Annals of Qin Shi Huang" records that Xu Fu, the old man, had repeatedly failed in his voyages to the sea and, to avoid punishment, blamed a giant fish. The emperor also had a dream and then personally shot him with a giant crossbow.

Nowadays, no one has ever heard of Xu Fu, but this giant fish could not escape no matter what!
Although only a giant fish was recorded, the records in "Sanqin Ji" quoted in "Taiping Yulan" all showed that the giant fish was a whale!
I also remembered that Zhou Ju once said that the people in Zhangtai Palace drank fish oil all night long. I'm afraid it was during this capture that they discovered that whale shark oil can also keep people awake all night long.

She sighed deeply, "Your Majesty...you are truly brave and courageous."

It's too ridiculous.

Really.

She knew that the so-called "giant crossbow" was definitely not shot by the King of Qin himself, but was the standard heavy crossbow of the Qin army.

But no matter what you use, dreaming about shooting a giant whale is too brave and powerful.

In addition, Akena herself may not have noticed that there are several key points in this passage -

First, the Qin army’s weapons were incredibly lethal.

Second, the King of Qin was extremely brave.

Thirdly... Whales wouldn't just happen to appear in shallow waters. Combined with the fact that Xu Fu went out to sea in another time and space, it's enough to know:

Today, the Qin Dynasty's sea vessels are actually quite powerful.

The passage in "The Records of the First Emperor of Qin" is indeed true. Xu Fu, in a literal translation, claimed that the reason he couldn't reach Penglai Island was because of a giant dragonfish. Qin Shi Huang, having a dream, interpreted it, and decided to kill the whale.

(This execution is amazing)
But the whale (poor thing) was not discovered as soon as it entered the sea. Instead, it traveled all the way from Langya North to Jiaodong Peninsula and was only discovered in Zhifu (zhi1fu2).

Zhifu is today's Zhifu Island, which was very important in the Qin State and was one of the five major ports. Qin Shihuang visited it many times and left stone carvings.

However, the claim that the "giant fish" was a whale was made by later scholars, based on records and discoveries such as the "Taiping Yulan" citing the "Sanqin Ji" (Records of the Three Qins) that "whale fat was burned as a lamp in the First Emperor's tomb," as well as porcelain jars filled with whale oil unearthed from the Dingling Mausoleum during the Ming Dynasty. This led to the inference that the "giant fish" shot by Qin Shihuang was likely a whale.

[Langya]: It belonged to Qi State in the late Warring States Period and is located in present-day Yantai, Shandong.

The Qin Army's heavy crossbow was a powerful weapon of its time! It was said to have a range of 500 meters and even had a sight for aiming. With its high accuracy and power, how could it not be invincible? They even had a military workshop with an assembly line.