Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 488 Your Majesty, it's time to pay!
The First Emperor burned incense, bathed, fasted, and prayed for three days.

Over these three days, he demonstrated his most steadfast belief, his most sincere expectations, and offered the truest sincerity of his life.

Then~
When the First Emperor was so exhausted that he fell into a deep sleep, he had a sweet dream that lasted for a whole day and night.

When I opened my eyes, I was completely dazed.

He even shed tears!

Because you can sleep through it by simply opening and closing your eyes.

Aside from feeling incredibly sweet and comfortable, I didn't even dream of Bodhi Patriarch coming to enlighten me!
"Immortal chief."

With bloodshot eyes that made it impossible for anyone to meet his gaze, the First Emperor asked in a hoarse voice, "This doesn't count, does it?"

"I'm not ready yet~"

"This can only be considered as passing out, not falling asleep."

"After all, I haven't even dreamt yet~"

"Wait until tonight~"

"Your Majesty," Lin Dao shook his head and chuckled repeatedly, "You can't accept defeat?"

With just one sentence, the First Emperor broke down his defenses.

He was furious and nearly went mad!

"Impossible, this is impossible!"

"I am the emperor!"

"It's the emperor!"

Emperors are rare; there have only been a few hundred in thousands of years.

But for Bodhi Patriarch, it's really not rare.

The master only plays high-level games.

They either sprang from stones or roamed the myriad realms like never before seen.

"I don't believe it!"

The First Emperor was clearly emotionally broken, and his roar made the entire palace tremble.

"I don't believe it!"

"Whatever you like." Lin Dao calmly took out a printed copy of "The Great Celestial Immortal Manual" and handed it over.

"If you can develop supernatural powers through casual practice, you're awesome."

As the saying goes, the master leads you through the door, but the practice is up to you.

How well one can improve or learn depends entirely on the individual.

However, there is a prerequisite: you must first have a master to guide you into the door.

If you can't even get through the door, then personal cultivation is out of the question.

Even the Great Sage, who sprang from a stone, had to go to the master's private room in the dead of night to receive instruction and guidance in order to learn true skills.

If you can understand it by yourself, you can learn it and practice it successfully.

Lin Daogao deserves a thumbs up and a shout of praise.

'Awesome~'

Seeing the First Emperor, who had fallen into madness, staring at the book with bloodshot eyes, Lin Dao turned and left.

At this time, the First Emperor was in a state of irrationality.

He can only speak normally once he has truly calmed down.

It just so happens that Lin Dao went to the modern world to purchase and pick up goods during this period.

Now that the immortals and Buddhas have retreated, it's time to show the power of Industrial Cthulhu.

"When I was in school, I never thought about what would happen if the teacher stopped teaching me!"

In the modern world, as Lin Dao drove past the school, he thought of the First Emperor, who had almost gone mad in his pursuit of knowledge.

"That's why compulsory education is truly amazing!"

"Without compulsory education, the vast majority of people will remain illiterate and at the bottom of society for their entire lives."

"The most luxurious thing since the dawn of civilization is knowledge."

"Making knowledge accessible to everyone in a nearly free way."

"Before modern civilization, this was something that people in ancient times would never have dared to dream of."

In ancient times, pursuing education, even something as simple as learning how to make chairs and benches, was an extremely difficult task.

Working like a beast of burden, cleaning up excrement and urine, began with a ten-year period of slavery.

As for the even more vile things, there's no need to elaborate.

Modern civilization and compulsory education have truly brought knowledge into every household.

Many things that modern people take for granted were, in the eyes of the ancients, their lifelong pursuits and dreams.
After driving all the way to the handicrafts factory, Lin Dao was greeted with a warm welcome as soon as he got out of the car.

After politely declining the restaurant banquet and after-dinner activities, Lin Dao got straight to the point.

"What I want to order this time is a crystal coffin."

"Luxurious, signifying status, the kind that commands respect at first glance."

"The exterior should also have corresponding decorations to create an atmosphere; the more dazzling and eye-catching, the better."

"I'm ordering on behalf of someone else, so please use the highest standards to do it."

"Don't worry about payment, that man is incredibly wealthy!"

There are 700,000 prisoners at Mount Li. Why did they have to build tombs when they could do so many other things?
The First Emperor's meritorious deeds began with arranging for the relocation of these 700,000 people.

As for his imperial tomb, Lin Dao prepared a dazzling crystal coffin for him.

Over the next few days, Lin Dao kept placing orders for large quantities of supplies.

They figured that the First Emperor should have accepted the facts by now, so they set off to return.

"His Majesty."

When Lin Dao saw the First Emperor again, even though he was mentally prepared, he was still shocked by the First Emperor's current appearance.

What are you doing?

"Why is this so?"

The First Emperor before me had a pale complexion, a bluish-white hue.

His eyes were bloodshot.

His hair had noticeably more gray hairs, and his stubble beard was clearly unkempt.

His once imposing face was now filled with confusion. He clutched the cultivation manual Lin Dao had given him tightly in his hand, his entire demeanor like that of a student on the eve of the end of summer vacation, still without having started his summer homework.

"Immortal Master~"

The First Emperor's gaze was silent, his voice hoarse like a broken bellows: "Why is this happening?"

"I am the emperor!"

Why can't I learn it?

"Why doesn't the patriarch call?"

"What exactly is this for?"

Lin Dao felt a little sad.

He could understand that feeling.

It's like knowing from history books about the countless massacres and ravages by barbarians and the destruction of civilizations, and the pain of being powerless to do anything about it.

Just~
Life must go on.

"Your Majesty, you must not be so despondent."

"I only have a few years left to live," the First Emperor exhaled. "If I cannot achieve immortality, what is the point of continuing to live?"

Lin Dao stepped forward and sat down beside him.

"Your Majesty, have you forgotten what I said before? There is a second path to immortality."

"Prove the Way through the power of merit!"

"The goddess Nuwa attained enlightenment by relying on her merit of mending the sky."

"Although he stopped caring about the clay figures he sculpted, the result of achieving sainthood through merit remained unchanged."

He was just saying it offhand, setting the stage for what he would say later.

Little did they know that, throughout the myriad realms, this very statement caused countless timelines to become distorted, intertwined, and reintegrated.

Inside the Nuwa Palace, Nuwa looked at the cracks that had suddenly appeared on the Map of Mountains and Rivers in her hand, and her Dao heart almost wavered!
Lin Dao knew nothing about it.

He was still trying to deceive the First Emperor, saying, "The medicine I sent can detoxify and expel toxins, and should prolong life."

"Now, Your Majesty's most important task is to accumulate merit!"

The First Emperor was an extremely confident person.

When others tried to persuade him, the First Emperor simply ignored them.

But when Lin said that, his eyes gradually regained their light.

"Is this really feasible?"

"Whether it works or not, you'll know once you try it." Lin Dao advised again, "Putting everything else aside, you should stop those large-scale projects that consume a lot of manpower first."

The First Emperor took another breath, and the light in his eyes brightened.

He asked, "Which ones are stopped?"

"The Epang Palace, the Lishan Mausoleum, the Qin Straight Road, the Great Wall!"

Without waiting to be asked, Lin Dao continued, "The Epang Palace, a thing for personal enjoyment, is actually unnecessary."

"If you really want to build it, you can wait until you have enough laborers to start construction."

"If His Majesty succeeds in attaining enlightenment at Mount Li, then naturally there is no need for that."

"Even if it doesn't work out, I've prepared something good for you that can replace the Lishan Mausoleum."

"The Qin Straight Road is a good thing; improving traffic conditions is a good thing no matter where you are."

"After all, if you want to get rich, you have to build roads first."

"The temporary suspension of work is partly to give the laborers who are performing corvée labor a breather."

"On the other hand, I have prepared a lot of tools and materials here, which can improve work efficiency."

"The most important thing is to have enough laborers and then let them do these manual labor jobs."

"The Great Wall is actually quite similar."

Lin Dao smiled and said, "The Great Wall was built to defend against the raids of those barbarian tribes."

"But hasn't Your Majesty considered simply wiping out those barbarian tribes? Wouldn't that have saved you a lot of trouble?"

"I have considered the matter of annihilating the barbarians." The First Emperor became serious and sighed. "But the barbarians are skilled cavalrymen. Although they are not very durable, they can run away very fast after being defeated, making them difficult to pursue."

"The grasslands are so vast that it is really difficult to implement."

"By the way, the immortal keeps talking about hard labor, hard labor, where does this hard labor come from?"

"The barbarians on the grasslands are just laborers." Lin Dao slowly replied, "What Yuezhi, what Donghu, what Xiongnu."

"Defeat them, capture them and use them as laborers, while the people of Middle-earth will be responsible for the technology and supervision."

"In this way, Your Majesty will not only be able to build a great project that will benefit the people for thousands of years, but also gain a good reputation for caring for the people's labor."

With his mental state gradually recovering, the First Emperor simply sat upright.

He first invited Zhao Gao to serve wine and food, and then immediately replied, "I said that those barbarians are skilled cavalrymen, and it is easy to defeat them but difficult to annihilate them."

"Moreover, the grasslands are vast, and our Qin army is mainly composed of infantry, making it very difficult to pursue them."

That is indeed the truth.

The Qin army's cavalry was never very strong, except for the Battle of Changping when it was at its peak.

Most of the decisive battles were won by Qin's elite troops.

However, the Qin warriors' two legs were simply no match for the Hu barbarians on horseback.

"Your Majesty need not worry."

Lin Dao smiled again, "I'll help you!"

"Your Majesty, have you ever heard of motorized infantry?"

"Huh?" The First Emperor was stunned. "What motorcycle?"

"Motorized infantry that is fast-moving, adaptable to various terrains, and highly mobile, capable of rapidly deploying troops to the battlefield." Lin Daohao said calmly, "I can provide Your Majesty with the corresponding equipment and logistical supplies."

"Including but not limited to all kinds of vehicles, repair tools, spare parts, fuel, etc."

"Mainly off-road motorcycles, off-road sidecars, motorized tricycles, motorized four-wheelers, off-road trucks, off-road trailers, off-road supply vehicles, off-road tankers, etc."

"With these things, no matter how fast the barbarian horses run, they will not be able to escape the pursuit and capture of the Qin army's elite soldiers."

"of course."

Lin Dao emphasized his words.

"Your Majesty, it's time to pay!"

(End of this chapter)