The Survival Rules of Great Qin

When the anxieties of survival in modern society collide with the ruthless tides of the late Warring States period, four city dwellers ground down by life unexpectedly embark on an experiment in survival across time. Lin Xia, a wage slave fretting over medical bills in a hospital bed, tumbles into Qin’s Liyang still suffering from acute pancreatitis. All she has is a lighter. Using its “divine fire” to sterilize wounds, she becomes a pioneer of battlefield medicine in the Warring States era; Li Muzi, an “older unmarried woman” bound by family obligations, accidentally becomes a “hostage” in Chu. At the Qin king’s birthday banquet, she says, “The foundation of a strong state is a peaceful and prosperous people,” making Shang Yang remember the woman who dares to challenge the dragon’s authority; Chen Yun, a strategic analyst accustomed to lonely blind dates, is captured by Qin troops as a “spy” from Wei. Yet with a sheepskin map and modern geographic knowledge, he lays an ambush in the gorge of Mount Xiao that changes the course of the war, becoming a trusted adviser to General Meng Ao; Zhang Chi, a “slave to numbers” who trades overtime for savings, is exiled to Bashu. There, he brings improved rice-growing techniques to Warring States soil and even dreams of building a “grain futures market” on top of the granaries, giving Qin nobles their first glimpse of the logic of “making money from money.” Bearing the scars of survival in modern society, from neglecting their health and growing weary of family ties to becoming numb to love and fixated on money, they face an era when human lives are worth less than grass. They use sterilization to fight epidemics, challenge outdated sacrificial customs with concern for people’s livelihoods, change the course of wars with geographic knowledge, and use agricultural technology to fill the stomachs of the people of Qin. When Shang Yang’s reforms meet their “black technology,”