Chronicles of the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 219, Section 218: Yin-Yang Divine Pill
When the impure colors of the glass magnified the details on the ant's body, in the newly built, simple glass workshop next to the Ironworks, the artisans gathered to verify for the first time the secret entrusted to them by the Queen—

New glassmaking techniques.

To achieve purer colors and higher transparency in glass, and even to successfully create large, flat pieces with more precise shapes...

Previously, they had worked tirelessly and experimented extensively within a limited timeframe, finally succeeding in presenting some of the brilliant and translucent glass pieces to Ganquan Palace.

After being pieced together by skilled craftsmen, it will become an exceptionally beautiful and magnificent window frame.

But that's not enough.

Few craftsmen were literate, so this would become a secret method for generating revenue in the Qin King's palace. Therefore, in the early stages, for all important procedures, Xin had to bring the secret manuals and divide them into several groups, with each person mastering one item.

Currently, the craftsmen in various groups are experimenting privately and have begun working on methods such as blow molding and flattening, cylindrical cutting and flattening, crowning, and casting.

There are many tricks to making large pieces of glass. They also have to start with the raw materials, using plant ash and magnets to gradually reduce impurities, so that there are fewer bubbles, the colors are more transparent, and the transparent images are more detailed...

All of this is tantamount to handing over the secrets to a family's prosperity to them.

The craftsmen were filled with trepidation, yet also felt as if they had found a treasure.

When Mo was brought by Xin, they had just blown a nearly flawless, highly transparent glass vase using the glassblowing technique.

Although it still inevitably has some blue-green hue, and the vase isn't too big, which reduces the difficulty, it is still the most successful finished product they have made so far using the new method.

When Mo was brought in, the first thing he saw was the clear vase.

He rushed forward and, amidst the exclamations of the craftsmen, lifted the vase high and brought it close to his eyes.

Through the slightly blue-green glass, he saw a distant, blurry, distorted, and magnified campfire, and further away, Xin, looking troubled.

His figure was distorted, and his expression and face were also particularly strange, with some parts bulging and others shrinking even smaller.

But once the glass vase was put down, the other party's enormous and distorted appearance suddenly returned to normal.

"I want this."

Mo looked at him.

Xin stepped forward and placed the glass vase back on the table in front of him. After the craftsmen surrounded him again, daring not to speak out, he cautiously looked at Mo:
"You want this glass?"

He reassured her, "Although this glass is a rare treasure, the Queen has no particular preference for it. I will return to Lanchi and report to Your Majesty that it should be presented to you. But you should be able to obtain it around next year."

Mo shook his head: "I don't want the whole thing."

He stretched out his finger and drew circles on the vase in front of him.
"I want pure glass slabs that are arched, concave, thin, thick, and have various curvatures."

The craftsmen nearby didn't recognize him, but seeing that he was brought by the Grand Tutor, they barely suppressed their anger.

"Aren't there enough glass shards already?"

To test the new method, they piled up huge baskets of glass shards everywhere.
Because of unevenness or insufficient color, they couldn't be sent to Ganquan Palace at all. Now, all we need to do is search around, and we can quickly gather ten or so baskets!
Xin frowned: "The Queen instructed that if you want to try something, you should just try it boldly. Is this piece of discarded glass really useful?"

Mo had already squatted down and began to place the glass pieces one by one in front of his eyes, then nodded haphazardly:

"I don't know what kind I want, so I'll just look around here. If I find something similar, I can ask a craftsman to make it."

His eyes shone brightly, as if sparks far ahead of their time were bursting forth:

"Happiness! If this prototype is successfully developed, this glass shard can magnify or shrink what we see..."

He gripped Xin's sleeve tightly: "Xin! This is divine power!"

Xin doesn't quite understand.

But that didn't stop him from patting the boy's hair and gently instructing him, "Be careful not to get scratched, and remember to wear gloves—the Queen instructed me to."

Moreover--

"Your Majesty is originally a celestial messenger from Kunlun."

……

Meanwhile, the Kunlun Immortal Envoy himself was listening to the Red Maiden's report:

“A group of alchemists came from afar, claiming that they were summoned by the Queen and were fellow disciples of Mao Sheng.”

"He sought an audience with the Queen outside the Xianyang Palace, pleading to learn the secret methods of Kunlun and the art of immortality."

Qin Shi immediately burst into laughter.

Ji Heng was also interested in hearing about the secret to immortality!

However, he had read the books recorded during the Qin Dynasty, including one called "The Essentials of Nature and Destiny," which stated: "The control of fire is effortless and in harmony with nature; the true fire of nature nourishes the embryonic immortality. Simply preserve your spirit and breath, dwelling within the elixir chamber, regulating the innate to connect with the acquired."

It sounds like a method of cultivating immortality.

Ji Heng was quite interested, but this book was completed during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, and its fundamental elements were Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.

Qin Shi picked and chose, selecting only some seemingly reliable excerpts from Daoist texts to copy down. Ji Heng read them carefully twice, including things like the unity of life and death, the harmony between heaven and man, and the profound arts...

"Mysterious and profound, yet utterly useless!" He tossed the book back onto the table, showing utter disdain for such magical arts.

Because no matter which volume of this book contains the theory, it all talks about asceticism and sudden enlightenment.

As the ruler of a nation, the reason he sought the secret method of the Golden Elixir was because he could not let go of the fate of the Great Qin Dynasty, nor could he abandon his country to devote himself to cultivation and seek the path of corpse liberation and ascension.

He even thought that Qin Shi was going to teach some secret method of elixir, like Heng'e, who could fly to the heavens by swallowing one pill.

Flying to the heavens is good, but if it means being trapped in Xihe forever and having to abandon his Great Qin, then Ji Heng would never approve of it.

He has never forgotten his original aspirations.

The pursuit of immortality is about achieving eternal life, and the essence of eternal life is to witness the Qin Dynasty last for thousands of years and to have it under his personal control.

But if he can't return to the mortal realm after ascending to heaven, what kind of immortality is that? Unless another celestial kingdom entrusts him with its control...

In short, although Ji Heng did not say it explicitly, Qin Shi knew that he simply wanted to be the ruler.

Otherwise, I wouldn't have chosen to write this particular volume.

At that moment, she laughed: "Why must Your Majesty seek immortality so desperately?"

"People's lifespans vary, but their achievements can be etched in history."

"Who in history has been able to unify the world and conquer the six kingdoms at such an age as Your Majesty?"

"And who is it that has now standardized writing, cart axles, and weights and measures, so that the civilization of our Central Region will be passed down from generation to generation and never fade away?"

"And then there are the straight roads that connect the four corners of the Qin Dynasty, and the Great Wall that keeps the Xiongnu at bay for hundreds of miles..."

She held Ji Heng's hand: "Your Majesty is only 36 years old, yet you have already achieved such unprecedented feats. If you were to live to 88 like our ancestors, you would not even have lived half of your life."

Why rush through this time?

"Even if Peng Zu lived for a thousand years, how many people in my Qin state would actually know about him?"

She had told Ji Heng long ago that even two thousand years later, no one had found the way to immortality.

Now, instead of proclaiming "Long live the Emperor," or even mentioning "hundred years old," they insist on talking about the Qin ancestors who lived to be over 80, which truly shatters the King's dream.

Zhou Ju stood by anxiously, fearing that the ever-favored Queen might offend the King with her words.

But little did anyone know that Ji Heng, being a pragmatic workaholic, found that while empty boasts could amuse him, they couldn't compare to the sense of security that concrete data brought him.

Not bad!

I am only in my early thirties, yet I have already achieved feats that many people cannot accomplish in their entire lives. My one year here is equivalent to ten or even a hundred years of hard work for others!
If he wants to be like his ancestors, he has a long way to go in his remaining reign!
His expression was relaxed, and he didn't say much, but Qin Shi looked at him and already knew that he was no longer dwelling on the matter.

Because he quickly changed his focus again:

"What kind of secret method is this elixir of immortality that the Queen spoke of, which can make all nations submit?"

His narrow, phoenix-shaped eyes gazed into the distance, his voice soft yet steady:

"If those sorcerers have ulterior motives regarding such secret methods, then send the General of the Palace Guard to lead men to kill them on the spot—and then summon the loyal and trustworthy men of my Qin state."

Qin Shi thought for a moment, then picked up his brush, dipped it in ink, and slowly wrote a line of seal script characters.

[The elixir of immortality is primarily composed of saltpeter and sulfur, supplemented by wood ash. Saltpeter is extremely yin in nature, while sulfur is extremely yang. When these two divine substances meet in a space with no room for congestion, upon its release, any person who receives it will have their soul scattered in terror and their spirit reduced to dust.]

At this time, Song Yingxing's *Tiangong Kaiwu* discusses [all things gunpowder...].

She had carefully copied down several proportions during this period and remembered this passage vividly. It was perfectly appropriate to show it to Ji Heng now.

As for those elixir recipes, she only needed to provide them; it was the alchemists' job to try them out.

For example, the records in the Tang Dynasty's "Secret Formula of the Golden Elixir of the Supreme Ancestor" and the records in the Northern Song Dynasty's "Complete Essentials of Military Classics" describe gunpowder formulas, as well as the properties and uses of firearms.

Ji Heng carefully read the passage written by Qin Shi: "Can such a divine pill truly terrify one's soul?"

Qin Shi nodded: "That's why, not only is the sound like thunder, but it's also more likely to injure those around us. That's why Your Majesty has granted us a remote open space so that those sorcerers can stay there and study diligently."

Of course, Qin Shi did not get involved in building workshops or guarding them; these were all to be arranged by Ji Heng.

Ji Heng stared at that sentence for a long time, then sighed:
"If one possesses this divine pill, and refines several of them, then when facing the Xiongnu and Qiang enemies, using this divine pill will cause a thunderous roar, scattering the horses and subduing the enemy without a fight."

Qin Shi blinked: what she provided was a substantial record from an ancient book, as well as a modern formula record that he was keeping hidden away, one he didn't intend to share immediately—

She looked down on the Taoist priests, but she didn't want to treat the lives of ordinary people lightly.

Modern gunpowder is so powerful that if people at that time had not yet clearly imagined its power, and if such a thing had been made right away, many people would have been harmed if an accident had occurred.

In that case, even if it takes more time, let's start with the basics.

With this foundation, if the divine pill is detonated a few more times, then the user will understand its power and consequences.

Later, they wanted to improve and upgrade it to increase its lethality...

That would be more efficient than figuring it out out of thin air, wouldn't it?
The cited sources are all noted in the book, so I won't go into further explanation here.