Diqin Designer

Chapter 459 The Peacock Kingdom Sends Envoys Again

While the Games and Expositions of the various states were in full swing, a team came from the southeast of the Qin Dynasty and headed for Xianyang.

From afar, one could see that the procession was quite large, with dozens of carriages stretching out along the road. With so many carriages, it was clear that this procession was no ordinary group.

Indeed, they were extraordinary. The escort for this team was not an ordinary guard, but a Qin army. If they were ordinary, would they have an army escorting them?
The Qin people who saw the procession guessed that a great figure must have come to Xianyang, but who could it be?
Now that the Qin Dynasty is hosting the Games and Exposition of the various states, all the princes who were away have been summoned back to Xianyang by His Majesty, and the princes of other states have also arrived in Xianyang long ago. What important figures would arrive in Xianyang at this time? The Games and Exposition have been open for several days now.

As the procession drew closer, the Qin people saw the flag carried by the procession. It was a strange flag they had never seen before. The flag was white with a blue wheel in the center, which was divided into several equal parts by axles. Some Qin people counted that there were twenty-four axles.

Some Qin people who had seen the flags of the princes and other states in Xianyang made a clear judgment: they had never seen such flags before, which meant that this group was likely a new force that had arrived in Qin and did not belong to any of the factions they knew.

The Great Qin is truly getting better and better, and new forces are coming to the Great Qin on their own initiative. This is all because the Great Qin is strong enough to attract congratulations from all directions.

As the procession drew closer, it became clear that some of the carriages had their windows open, and the people inside were looking out at the scenery. This allowed the Qin people to see the people inside the carriages.

Upon seeing the appearance, hairstyle, and clothing of the people sitting in the carriage, some Qin people who had seen the Peacock Kingdom before immediately realized: Aren't these the Peacock Kingdom people? After leaving Qin last year, have these Peacock Kingdom people come to Qin again?

Did they come here to participate in the sports meet and expo? But the sports meet and expo have already started for several days. Aren't these people from the Peacock Kingdom a little late?
Moreover, this time the Peacock Kingdom people who came seemed to have lost those people with strange clothes and hairstyles, but that's not necessarily true. Some of the carriage windows were not open, and perhaps those strange Peacock Kingdom people called "monks" were among them.

In the eyes of the people of Qin, the people of the Peacock Kingdom were quite strange, and the monks were the strangest of them all. Their unique clothing and hairstyles left a deep impression on the people of Qin.

This group was the envoy sent by the Peacock Kingdom to the Qin Dynasty once again. A year later, people from the Peacock Kingdom came to Xianyang again. However, unlike Master Moye and others, this group of Peacock Kingdom people came with a stronger political purpose.

On a carriage, feeling the gazes of the Qin people from the outside, Pijanu, the chief envoy representing the Peacock Kingdom to the Qin Dynasty, chose to ignore them. If he were in his own country and were stared at like that by a group of commoners, he would have already shouted and ordered someone to punish him. But this was the Qin Kingdom. Not only could he not get angry and shout, but he also had to show friendliness to the Qin people. The Qin people were not the lowly people in his country!

Thinking of the purpose of his visit, Pijanu gave a friendly smile to the Qin people who were looking at him, leaving the Qin people puzzled as to why this foreigner was smiling at them.
After smiling at the Qin people who were looking at the carriage, Pijanu turned his attention back to observing the outside world. Noticing that there were many Qin people outside, he asked one of the people in the carriage, "When you came here, were there just as many Qin people arriving in Xianyang?"

The person being asked glanced out the car window and replied, "There were quite a few people when we arrived, but not this many. Something must have happened in Xianyang!"

Pijanu nodded, sighing inwardly. Although the Qin people treated them as foreign envoys, providing them with carriages and escorting Qin soldiers, they were also under extremely strict control. They were forbidden from contacting the Qin people and were not given any information about Qin. From the moment they entered Qin territory, their days consisted of resting, eating, drinking, relieving themselves, traveling, then eating, drinking, relieving themselves, resting, and traveling again…

He finally understood what Master Moye and the others meant when they said that the Qin people controlled them very strictly. He had no doubt that if they made the slightest move, the Qin army escorting them would immediately turn from escorting them to killing them.

The Qin people were very wary of them. The fact that Master Moye and the others did not deceive them meant that his mission was likely to be difficult to complete.

As the carriage continued its journey, the Xianyang city gate, which had been visible in the distance, came into Vijanu's view. He had seen this city gate in drawings by Master Moye and others, but seeing it in person now was a completely different experience from seeing it in a drawing.

Although this city gate may not seem as large or wide as the walls of Huashi City, I always feel that this city gate is more solid and harder to breach than the walls of Huashi City.

Withdrawing his gaze from the city gate, Pijanu looked towards the gate itself and immediately noticed two strange statues standing there. They were so distinctive that it was hard not to notice them.

Those were two statues that Pijanu had never seen before. Looking at them... gave him a very cute and festive feeling, but Pijanu dared not show this thought. Perhaps these were the gods worshipped by the Qin people. If the Qin people knew that he thought their gods were cute, they might think he was blaspheming their gods.

Pijanu asked, "Is this the deity worshipped by the Qin people?"

The man he asked had been to Da Qin before and was now a "Qin expert" in the delegation. After hearing Pijanu's question, the man looked in the direction Pijanu indicated and saw the two statues.

After thinking it over carefully, the man said, "When we left Xianyang, we didn't see these two statues. Judging from their appearance, they somewhat resemble the Qin people's totem, the Black Bird and the Azure Dragon, but we never saw anything like them while we were in Qin..."

He originally intended to say "these lovely black birds and azure dragons," but he also felt that this might make the Qin people think he was blaspheming their gods, so he changed his words to "black birds and azure dragons! The black birds and azure dragons are the totems of the Qin people, so it is not wrong to say that they are the gods worshipped by the Qin people."

He couldn't understand why the Qin people would make their gods so cute and interesting, and even erect two statues of them at the city gate.

Vijanu had seen the Qin national flag drawn by Master Moye and others, and knew what the Qin national flag looked like. The two patterns on the Qin national flag were the black bird and the blue dragon, but these two statues were quite different from the black bird and blue dragon on the Qin national flag.

In fact, the reason why the Peacock Kingdom made its own national flag was influenced by the Qin people. The Qin people had a national flag and emblem, and the Peacock Kingdom could not lag behind. When they went on diplomatic missions to the Qin Kingdom, they also had to have a flag representing the Peacock Kingdom.

Pijanu then asked, "What are those Qin people doing?"

There were many Qin people gathered in front of the two statues. Some of them seemed to be a family and stood in front of the statues without moving, with smiles on their faces. If the Qin people were praying to their gods, they should not be facing away from the statues. If not, then what were the Qin people doing standing there?
The "Qin expert" looked completely bewildered when asked. He had no idea what the Qin people were doing there; those two statues weren't there when they left Xianyang. If they had observed more closely, they would have noticed some Qin people with a wooden board erected in front of them, quickly applying something to the board.

In fact, these Qin people were "taking photos to commemorate the occasion." Of course, there were no cameras in this era, only paintings. They used rapid drawing as a form of photography to record some scenes of this era.

This is also a little trick Li Nian came up with to make money. Although it doesn't earn too much, it's still something, and it can also preserve some memorable memories for the people of Qin in this era.

When the carriage arrived at the city gate, everyone got off for inspection. When they saw Pijanu and others get off, especially a group of women from the Peacock Kingdom, a slight commotion arose at the city gate, and Qin people's discussions came from all around.

A Qin man said, "These must be people from the Peacock Kingdom. Why are they here again?"

A Qin man standing nearby said uncertainly, "They must be here to participate in the sports meet and exposition, right?"

Another Qin man shook his head and said, "It shouldn't be! The Games and the Exposition have been going on for several days, how come they're only arriving now? And the Peacock Kingdom isn't even on the list of participating countries published for the Games and the Exposition."

The Qin man added, “They must have come to pay homage to the Great Qin. They didn’t bring these women with them last time, but they did this time. They must be as gifts for His Majesty!”

Many Qin people's eyes fell on these women from the Peacock Kingdom. Each of them was a beautiful teenage girl with a high nose, big eyes, fair skin, and a slender figure. They had an exotic charm that was different from the women of Qin, and they were quite unique even among the Hu women.

As beauties to be presented to the First Emperor, the Peacock Kingdom certainly dared not choose beauties from lower castes. These girls were selected from the higher castes of the Peacock Kingdom, and thus had more distinct Aryan characteristics.

After a thorough inspection, Pijanu and his entourage were allowed to enter Xianyang. Before he could even ask any questions, the "Qin expert" in the carriage exclaimed, "Xianyang has changed again after a year!"

Under Pijanu's gaze, "Qin Guotong" said, "When we left, Xianyang was also prosperous and there were many people on the streets, but there were definitely not as many as there are now, especially the foreigners on the streets, there were many more than when we left."

Upon hearing what the "Qin expert" said, Pijanu frowned and asked, "Were there never so many foreigners in Xianyang before?"

The expert on Qin affirmed, “No. When we left, the states that were on friendly terms with the Qin people were the Xiongnu, the Baiyue, and the Wusun. We had met people from all three states. But now there are many foreigners on the streets whom we have never seen before!”

The increasing number of foreigners in Xianyang reveals that in the past year since the Peacock Kingdom people left Qin, Qin has established diplomatic relations with more countries, which also means that Qin's influence among the states has been further enhanced.

Just as Pijanu was about to say something, he heard a Qin man shouting in the street: "In today's wrestling competition, our Qin athlete Wu Yan won the gold medal, adding another gold medal to our great Qin!"

Upon hearing this news, the Qin people on the street cheered in unison, shouting "Great Qin will surely win!" and "Great Qin is the best in the world!" This left Pijianu in the carriage completely bewildered. What wrestling competition? What contestants? What gold medals? What were the Qin people doing?
He looked at the "Qin Guotong" and saw that the "Qin Guotong" also looked puzzled, clearly not knowing what the Qin people were doing either.

Pijanu could only look away again, observing the scene in Xianyang City while listening to the Qin people speaking on the street. Before setting off for Daqin, everyone in the delegation had learned the Daqin language, and he was the one who learned it best, so he was able to understand it.

He heard many fragmented pieces of information, but found it difficult to piece them together. He couldn't understand what the Qin people were saying, and the more he listened, the more confused he became.

He overheard one Qin man saying to another, "Have you been to the exposition? If not, you absolutely must go and see it. I guarantee it will broaden your horizons. Let me tell you, those steam locomotives don't need horses; they can move on their own..."

He knew a little about steam engines; Master Moye and others had said that it was a marvel made by the Qin people. But steam locomotives that could move on their own without horses were a blind spot in his knowledge. And what kind of grand event was that exposition?
The Qin man was still saying to his companion, "But the most amazing things are the electric light and that generator. You don't know, both of them use the power of lightning. The electric light relies on the power of lightning to emit light, and the generator can generate lightning."

“In the past, we never dared to imagine that our Great Qin would one day be able to control the lightning in the sky. I even bought a ticket to touch it. You definitely don’t know what it feels like to be struck by lightning. It’s a bit painful and a bit numb. I heard that this is a very weak lightning force. If it were very strong, it would kill a person directly.”

Pijanu was increasingly bewildered. The Qin people had mastered the power of lightning? What were those electric lights and generators? Thunder shouldn't be a terrifying power that only gods could wield; how could the Qin people have mastered it?
As the carriage moved forward, he heard some other conversations: "The sports meet will end tomorrow, and there will be a closing ceremony. I really want to go and see it. The opening ceremony was so wonderful, the closing ceremony must be just as good."

The man's companion said, "First of all, we don't have tickets; secondly, we still don't have tickets. The tickets sold out on the day they went on sale, so if we want to go, we'll have to wait until the next one."

The man said unwillingly, "When will there be another one? Could you sell more tickets for the next games so I can buy one and go in?"

My companion said, "I don't know, but there should be more next time. As for the ticket price, it should be related to the number of seats. The more seats there are, the more tickets you'll get. If you want to buy tickets, you'll have to hope that there will be more seats at the next Games."

Sports meet, tickets, opening ceremony, closing ceremony... Pijanu wished he could jump off the carriage immediately and ask these Qin people, what are you talking about?
It has only been a year since Master Moye and others left Qin. Qin has already made great progress, to the point that they can no longer understand it.
Pijanu felt that he was like a commoner from the countryside who was visiting Pataliputra for the first time. Everything was new and unfamiliar to him, and he couldn't understand anything the city people were talking about.

(End of this chapter)