Great Qin: I Handed the First Emperor a Map of the World

Transmigrating to the eve of Qin’s unification of the six states, Zhao Yu looks at King Zheng of Qin, who is frowning over a few cities and fretting about the alliance of the six states, and falls silent.

While Ying Zheng is still fuming over the antics of Han, Zhao, Wei, Chu, Yan, and Qi, Zhao Yu quietly presents him with a scroll of sheepskin.

“What is this?” Ying Zheng asks with a frown.

“Your Majesty, it’s called a globe.”

“What is this huge piece?” Ying Zheng points to the continent of Asia.

“This is our Great Qin. Those little specks around us are the six states you think about day and night.”

Ying Zheng’s eyes widen in shock. “And what lies beyond them?”

Zhao Yu smiles faintly. “Your Majesty, this is the Maurya Empire, rich in spices and gold. This is the Roman Republic, with the craftsmen and iron ore we urgently need. And this is the vast grassland waiting to be conquered…”

From then on, Ying Zheng no longer loses sleep.

He simply gazes at the globe every day, growing ever more impatient with envoys from the six states:

“Petty Han dares to threaten me? Summon Wang Jian. We’ll destroy Han first and make an example of it!”

“What of Chu’s thousand li of territory? Tell Xiang Yan to prepare himself. I intend to open a trade route to the Maurya Empire!”

Years later, when Great Qin’s cavalry has crushed Parthia and reached the Mediterranean, the aging First Emperor takes Zhao Yu by the hand and gazes at the starry sky.

“My dear subject, I still haven’t seen enough of this globe…”