Chapter 916: The past and the present!

Master Tian Ze felt very uncomfortable and also very lost.

After helping the Qin Guo annihilate Baiyue and killing his enemy Zou Wuzhu, he did not have many pursuits left.

Restore the nation? Become the King of Baiyue?

He had thought about such things at first, but later gave up on them.

Even if he really rebuilt Baiyue, what could he do? With the ambition the Qin Guo had revealed, if he rebuilt Baiyue, he feared it would soon face the conquest of the Qin army, and Baiyue would be destroyed again.

Over the years, having experienced wind and frost, Master Tian Ze was no longer the person he had been back then.

The current him was no longer arrogant and proud, but had accepted the cruel reality and recognized his own identity and status.

Red-Eyed Dragon Snake, former Crown Prince of Baiyue—these were merely identities of the past. In the Baiyue of those years, or the Han of those years, they might have been able to cause some turmoil, but placed in the "433" of today, they were somewhat insufficient.

The Qin Guo had annihilated the Six States, and even those true kings had lost power one after another; what did a mere deposed Crown Prince of Baiyue count for?

Therefore, after Baiyue was destroyed, he had not thought about restoring the nation. For him, the greatest obsession was probably to have another battle with Su Xuan, wanting to verify the gap between himself and the Bai Yifei of those years, wanting to know if he could have taken revenge if Bai Yifei were still alive.

Therefore, upon learning that Su Xuan had returned on the Mirage, he had found Yan Lingji at the first opportunity, and then found Su Xuan through Yan Lingji.

Unfortunately, the result of this battle left him very desperate.

Several years ago, he could only last one move before Su Xuan, and today, before Su Xuan, he could not even last a single move.

One had to know that the battle between Su Xuan and Bai Yifei had lasted for some time before he used his sword to execute Bai Yifei.

Was he ultimately inferior to Bai Yifei?

No, it was that Su Xuan's strength was even more powerful than it had been back then; this in itself could not be used as a reference.

Master Tian Ze's thoughts flickered, his feelings mixed.

Afterwards, he left this place, feeling lost and dejected.

Su Xuan did not know Master Tian Ze's specific thoughts; it was mainly because Master Tian Ze had buried all his worries deep in his heart. If Master Tian Ze had stated his purpose at the beginning, Su Xuan would not have minded satisfying Master Tian Ze by suppressing his own strength and then facing Master Tian Ze as he had dealt with Bai Yifei back then.

Watching Master Tian Ze leave with a look of disappointment, Su Xuan said "inexplicable" in his heart.

Afterwards, he began to reminisce with Yan Lingji.

He had been out to sea for more than two years.

He knew nothing about what had happened in the Central Plains and had to take this time to understand it.

At the same time, he was also very interested in the war for Baiyue that had occurred after he left.

Before leaving, he had learned that Ying Zheng was preparing to conquer Baiyue, so he had made some preparations. Su Xuan also very much wanted to know if these preparations had come in handy.

Yan Lingji's voice was soft as she recounted the details of the war for Baiyue.

……

The war for Baiyue was already a thing of the past for the Qin Guo.

But the war with the Xiongnu was something that was still ongoing.

Jiuyuan City.

It was a city built by the State of Zhao in the past. The entire city was built from giant stones, appearing extremely ancient and simple. This was also the commandery city of Jiuyuan Commandery. To be precise, the entire Jiuyuan Commandery was delineated around Jiuyuan City and the desolate land surrounding it.

In terms of geography and population, Jiuyuan Commandery actually did not deserve to be called a commandery; it should have been incorporated into Yanmen Commandery.

But the Qin Guo was fond of the number "six." In numbers, six represented the meaning of "smoothness." The Qin Guo used six as its standard; tallies, legal caps, and carriages were all six inches or six feet, and six feet made a pace, with six horses to a carriage.

At the same time, six in the cycle of the Five Virtues corresponded to the Water Virtue of the Qin Guo.

After unifying the world, Ying Zheng divided the commanderies and counties and found that no matter how he divided them, he could only divide them into thirty-five commanderies. Just then, while looking at the map, he saw Jiuyuan City and the area where the Xiongnu were located near Jiuyuan City.

Consequently, he divided Jiuyuan City and the nearby land into a new commandery named "Jiuyuan Commandery," making up thirty-six commanderies, which corresponded exactly to the number of six times six.

It could be said that the initial Jiuyuan Commandery was the commandery that lived up to its name the least. To make this commandery live up to its name, one had to annihilate the nearby Xiongnu and occupy all their territory before it could be called a commandery.

The initial appearance of Jiuyuan Commandery embodied Ying Zheng's ambition to annihilate the Xiongnu.

But that was in the beginning.

By the time the Qin Guo annihilated Baiyue, took all the land of Baiyue, and newly acquired four commanderies, counting the initial thirty-six commanderies, there were already forty commanderies in total. This was undoubtedly inconsistent with the number "six."

Therefore, in order to be divisible by six, the Qin Guo had to annihilate the Xiongnu as soon as possible. After annihilating the Xiongnu, it would be best to also annihilate other foreign tribes such as the Da Yuezhi and the Donghu, and then gather two more commanderies.

At the very least, they had to get to forty-two commanderies!

In Jiuyuan City, Zhao Gao, as the Commandery Governor, had lost almost all power after the army led by Meng Tian to conquer the Xiongnu arrived. Everything in Jiuyuan City was decided by Meng Tian.

Of course, because Jiuyuan Commandery was a small place with a sparse population, Zhao Gao, this Commandery Governor, had more of an empty title and not much power. Even so, he was still very unhappy in his heart.

Or rather, from the first day he arrived in Jiuyuan Commandery, upon discovering the true face of Jiuyuan Commandery and knowing that he had been nominally promoted and actually demoted by Ying Zheng, his heart was filled with deep hatred.

At first, he had delusions of returning to Xianyang to win back everything that was his.

But after staying here for a year, he had not even received a single document from Xianyang. Ying Zheng had completely forgotten him. He understood that Ying Zheng had sent him here to let him fend for himself.

This made Zhao Gao very angry.

When the Xiongnu invaded and Jiuyuan Commandery and the neighboring Yanmen Commandery were attacked by the Xiongnu, he finally received a document from Xianyang. The document contained reprimands, scolding him, Zhao Gao, the Commandery Governor, for dereliction of duty and failing to protect the people of the border, and then demanding that he must assist Meng Tian in defeating the Xiongnu and handle the logistics for Meng Tian's army.

Upon seeing this imperial edict from Xianyang, Zhao Gao became even more angry.

Jiuyuan Commandery had no people and no soldiers; what was he supposed to use to resist the Xiongnu?

He saw that Ying Zheng was clearly looking for trouble!

Since Ying Zheng was unjust and unrighteous, he had no need to continue to risk his life for such a person.

Consequently, in extreme anger, Zhao Gao did one thing.

That was... colluding with the Xiongnu! ===== CHAPTER 918 =====