Starting with ten elixirs of immortality, I led the First Emperor to rebel against the Qin Dynasty.

In his spare time, Bai Qi was not idle either. Seeing the village children running around all day, he had an idea.

He gathered together a dozen or so boys in the village who were seven or eight years old. The most mischievous one was called Gou Dan, and there was another one with a chubby face called Shi Tou.

"From today onwards, I will teach you to read and write, and I will teach you military strategy."

Bai Qi kept a straight face, trying his best to appear dignified.

The children had never seen anything like this before, and they stood ramrod straight, not daring to breathe.

Bai Qi started by teaching them the simplest "one, two, three," and then taught them to stand at attention and march in formation.

Although these children are mischievous, they have been doing farm work for many years and are in good physical condition, so they learn quite well.

Looking at these young faces, Bai Qi's cold killing intent unconsciously dissipated.

He would nod when Gou Dan wrote a word correctly, and he would smile from the bottom of his heart when Shi Tou marched in formation well.

It felt like looking at your own grandchildren.

Once, the sword in his hand pointed at a million corpses and rivers of blood.

Now, the branch in his hand points to the words on the sand, and in return, he hears the clear sound of children reading aloud.

However, what the children liked most was pestering Zhao Huan.

"Brother Huan, Brother Huan! What story are you going to tell us today?"

"Brother Huan, can you make me another one of those bamboo dragonflies you made last time? Er Ya's family's are all ruined by her!"

Zhao Huan had done a great favor for the village and was a kind and gentle man. He could always pull out all sorts of novel little gadgets from his pocket, so the children naturally felt closer to him.

At times like these, Bai Qi could only watch from the sidelines, feeling a little uneasy.

That noon, Zhao Huan was cooking in the kitchen, and Bai Qi, having nothing to do, helped him tend the fire.

Watching Zhao Huan scoop some snow-white powder from a pottery jar with a spoon and sprinkle it into the pot.

The powder was whiter and finer than any salt he had ever seen, like the first snow of winter.

"What is this?" Bai Qi couldn't help but ask.

"Salt," Zhao Huan replied matter-of-factly.

"Salt?"

Bai Qi frowned, picked up a bit of powder from the edge of the pottery jar, and tasted it on his tongue.

It has a pure salty taste, without any bitterness.

"Most of the salt I've seen is bluish-black and tastes bitter. Why is your salt so white?"

Zhao Huan then realized that he had used refined salt that he had extracted himself.

He explained with a smile, "Old Bai, the kind of salt on the market is called coarse salt. It contains too many impurities, like sand, mud, and all sorts of random minerals. It's not good for your health. Mine is refined salt, called fine salt. It tastes good and is better for your health."

Then, he briefly explained to Bai Qi the purification methods of "dissolving, filtering, evaporating, and crystallizing" from later junior high school chemistry textbooks.

"...It's about dissolving coarse salt in water, letting the dirty stuff sink to the bottom, then pouring out the brine on top, filtering it several times with a cloth, and finally boiling it over a fire until the water evaporates. What's left is this pure white refined salt."

Bai Qi was dumbfounded.

Salt... you can actually make it like this?

Why has no one thought of such a simple method for thousands of years?

In ancient times, salt was a vital commodity monopolized by the government, affecting the national economy, people's livelihoods, and even the fighting capacity of soldiers on the border.

Bitter, coarse salt is hard to swallow, while refined salt...

If we could present this refining method to His Majesty…

Bai Qi's heart was burning with passion.

Countless people of the Qin Dynasty will benefit from this, and the national treasury will be filled.

Zhao Huan was practically a walking treasure trove; the way people looked at him changed once again.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

Xianyang Palace, Qilin Hall.

After dealing with the backlog of government affairs, Ying Zheng's heart would always involuntarily drift towards Lantian.

Five days ago, the jar of hot pot base that Zhao Huan gave us was completely eaten up by Wang Jian, Li Si, and their gang of old guys.

These past few days, Ying Zheng has felt that his mouth is bland and tasteless, and no matter what delicacies he eats, he feels that something is missing.

More importantly, he urgently needed to get an answer from Zhao Huan to solve the problem of low farming efficiency.

"Someone come here."

"Your Majesty." A eunuch bowed as he entered.

"Issue the imperial decree, ordering the eldest son, Fusu, to come to see the emperor immediately."

"only!"

Before long, Fusu arrived at the palace.

Witnessing the bloody scene of Xu Fu being torn apart by five horses left Fusu with a great psychological trauma.

For the past two weeks, I have been frequently awakened by nightmares, and I look much more haggard, but the stubbornness in my eyes has not diminished at all.

"Your subject greets Your Majesty."

"Get up," Ying Zheng said calmly, looking at him. "Pack your things and come with me out of the palace."

"Leaving the palace?" Fusu was taken aback. "Where to?"

"Lantian".

Ying Zheng did not offer any further explanation. He then boarded the carriage bound for Lantian with Fusu, Li Si, and Meng Tian, ​​who were already waiting outside the palace gates.

The carriage slowly drove out of Xianyang City. As it passed a field, Ying Zheng heard the murmurs coming from outside.

"Have you heard? The government has posted a notice saying that His Majesty received divine guidance and devised a method for castrating pigs that will make the pork less fishy and allow them to grow fat!"

"Really? It sounds so far-fetched!"

"Hey! Who cares if it's true or false! It's His Majesty's order, how could it be false? We old Qin people, if we can't trust anyone else, why can't we trust His Majesty? If His Majesty says it's effective, then it must be effective! I'm going to castrate my piglets tomorrow!"

Hearing these simple conversations, Ying Zheng felt a surge of pride.

These are his people.

Thinking of Feng Quji, he nodded to himself; he trusted Feng Quji's abilities.

He, Ying Zheng, must not betray the trust of the people.

The atmosphere inside the carriage was somewhat somber.

Fusu sat upright, his mind filled with doubt.

He didn't know why his father suddenly wanted to take him to Lantian.

Just then, Ying Zheng slowly spoke.

"Fusu, remember every word I am about to say."

Fusu's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly bowed, saying, "Your subject obeys."

Ying Zheng's gaze deepened, and he told Fusu everything about Zhao Huan's appearance, being mistaken for his father, the elixir of immortality, potatoes, and the earth-shattering prophecy about the Qin Dynasty's demise after only two generations.

Of course, he concealed his true intentions of using the name of "rebellion" to carry out reforms, and only said that he wanted to appease Zhao Huan and take advantage of the situation to extract all the information from his mind.

"...That's how it is."

After Ying Zheng finished speaking, Fusu's mind went blank with a "buzz".

Immortality? A miraculous object that yields 3,000 catties per mu?

Is it a prophecy that the Qin Dynasty would perish after only two generations?

The emperor was mistaken for a father by a country boy and even had to join him in "rebellion"?

Each of these events, any one of which would have overturned his understanding, has now piled up together.

I felt like my worldview had completely collapsed at that moment.

"This...how is this possible..." Fusu muttered to himself, his face as pale as paper.

"Nothing is impossible." Ying Zheng's voice pulled him back to reality as he stared at Fusu.

"I have personally verified that immortality is real, potatoes are real, and the prophecy about the future is also very likely to be true."

"I brought you to see him so that you could learn from him! Learn his practical skills in governing the world, instead of spending your days talking about benevolence and morality with those pedantic scholars!"

Ying Zheng's tone became stern.

"From this day forward, you are no longer Fusu, the eldest son of the Great Qin. Your name is Zhao Fan. You are my own son, whom I have raised by my side. Zhao Huan is your younger brother. Do you understand?"

"Zhao... Fan..." Fusu chewed on the name, his heart filled with mixed feelings.

Does Father want me to rebel?

Ying Zheng's expression was serious.

"You are not allowed to reveal our true identities in front of Huan'er, or don't blame me for disregarding our father-son relationship!"

"Your subject... understands." Fusu nodded with difficulty.