I started on a deserted island and encountered Ying Zheng, who insisted I was an immortal.

Ying Zheng and the others looked in the direction Zhang Ying was pointing and saw only an ordinary forest.

cellar?

Reservoir?

Zhang Ying looked at their bewildered expressions and sighed.

"In the middle of nowhere, how would I know if you were good or bad people?"

"I showed you that cellar. There's enough food in it for you to eat for a long time. I wanted to tell you that I have plenty of food, so don't get any funny ideas."

Zhang Ying spoke as if it were perfectly reasonable.

"In case you ever have a moment of madness and decide to kill and rob..."

He gestured towards the back of the mountain with his lip.

"I dug a lot of holes in the woods over there, and stuck sharpened bamboo sticks in them, just waiting for some clueless guy to fall in."

As soon as these words were spoken, Meng Yi and Wang Ben broke out in a cold sweat.

They then remembered that the person in front of them was a ruthless individual who had survived alone on a deserted island for three years.

Ying Zheng's cheek twitched.

He, the First Emperor, was treated as a potential murderer and robber.

This feeling is truly bittersweet.

However, he did not get angry.

Put yourself in their shoes: if a person living alone is facing three burly men with swords of unknown origin, this is the safest course of action.

"Sir, you are overthinking it."

Ying Zheng spoke slowly, his tone carrying an undeniable certainty.

"I... I said before that I would appoint you as Grand Tutor, bestow upon you the imperial surname, and grant you a position equal to that of the Prime Minister."

"It is because of the divine object in your cellar that you are worthy of this honor. I am by no means a person who goes back on his word."

His words were both an explanation and a demonstration of his magnanimity and sincerity.

In his eyes, the million catties of sweet potatoes and potatoes in that cellar were priceless treasures that could change the fate of the Qin Dynasty.

It's worth exchanging it for the position of Grand Tutor or Chancellor!

After listening, Zhang Ying scratched his head, his expression somewhat strange.

"Oh, you mean that?"

That's the smallest one.

The air froze.

Wang Ben's mouth was wide open, as if he was about to say something.

Meng Yi's hand instinctively gripped the hilt of the knife at his waist, as if only in this way could he calm his mind.

For the first time, a crack appeared on Ying Zheng's composed expression.

"The...smallest one?"

His voice was somewhat hoarse.

"Yeah, right." Zhang Ying had a "what's so strange about that?" look on her face.

"I haven't worked for nothing these past three years. Besides that, there are three much larger cellars in the mountains behind, and another storage room specifically for storing dried meat and seeds."

He started counting on his fingers, calculating.

"Sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn, rice, wheat—these five staple foods, added together… I'd estimate…"

Zhang Ying pondered for a moment and gave a conservative figure.

"There should still be at least eight million catties."

"In addition, there are tens of thousands of kilograms of cured meat, various dried vegetables, enough seeds to plant tens of thousands of acres of land, oh right, and hundreds of large vats of salt."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Dead silence.

A deathly silence so profound you could hear a pin drop.

Eight million catties.

Ying Zheng felt a buzzing in his head, and the world spun around him.

He swayed and staggered back two steps.

"His Majesty!"

Xia Wuqie, who was standing nearby, reacted quickly and stepped forward to support him.

Ying Zheng waved his hand to indicate that he was fine, but the hand he was using to support himself on Xia Wuqie's arm was trembling slightly.

Eight million catties!

What does this mean?

Even in a wealthy county in the Qin Dynasty, the amount of millet tax collected in a year through hard work was only this much.

And here, all the "auspicious" plants yield thousands of kilograms per mu!

This is no longer an auspicious omen.

This is the ladder to heaven that will allow the Qin Dynasty to ascend to the heavens in one step!

He had been racking his brains over how to transport that million catties of grain back to Xianyang, but Zhang Ying told him that it was just an appetizer.

"Oh……"

Ying Zheng suddenly chuckled softly, the laughter growing louder and louder, filled with an indescribable ecstasy and excitement.

He shoved Xia Wuque away and stood up straight.

In that instant, the "old winner" who had debated with Zhang Ying at the dinner table vanished.

Instead, the First Emperor, who swept across the land and looked down upon the world, took his place!

He exuded a chilling aura of power.

"Yin Xu!"

A loud shout, like a dragon's roar, echoed across the coast.

"Your subordinate is here!"

A general clad in heavy black armor, with a cold and iron-like face, rushed from the ship and knelt on one knee.

It was Yin Xu, the commander of the Xuanwu Guard.

"Issue my decree!"

Ying Zheng's voice was cold and urgent.

"The 50,000 troops on board, disembark immediately!"

"Leave 10,000 men to guard the ships and the coast, and the remaining 40,000 will all be at Mr. Zhang's command to transport supplies!"

"Issue my three death orders!"

Yin Xu lowered his head even further: "Please give your instructions, Your Majesty!"

Ying Zheng raised three fingers, each word seeming to be squeezed out from between his teeth.

"Firstly, if any of the auspicious items are damaged during transport, even if it's just a sweet potato, the person responsible will be executed!"

"Secondly, anyone who disobeys Mr. Zhang's orders and dares to delay will be executed!"

"Thirdly, anyone who approaches the site of the 'auspicious omens' without cause to spy on it will be executed!"

"I want everything here moved onto the ship as quickly as possible! It must be done before nightfall!"

"promise!"

Yin Xu accepted the order, stood up, and turned to leave without the slightest hesitation.

With his command, a black torrent poured down from the large ship, quickly spreading across the coastline.

The 50,000-strong army obeyed all orders.

Ten thousand men were stationed along the coast and on the ships, forming an impenetrable defensive line.

The remaining 40,000 men, led by their respective officers, marched into the depths of the mountains along the path pointed out by Zhang Ying.

The soldiers stood in a line every ten paces, stretching from the cellar entrance all the way to the beach, forming a long dragon of flesh and blood.

The weapons in their hands were not for killing, but for protecting.

Wang Ben ignored the cellar and led a group of his personal guards straight to the thriving field.

"Listen up, all of you!"

The roar of the Marquis of Tongwu echoed along the field ridges.

"What we're standing on isn't mud, it's life! It's the destiny of our Great Qin!"

He pointed at the round watermelons in the field, then at the vines of potatoes and sweet potatoes, spitting as he spoke.

"When picking melons, be as gentle as if you were carrying your wife! Be very gentle!"

"If anyone dares to dig for potatoes and sweet potatoes with weapons, I'll chop them up and feed them to the fish!"

"Use your hands! Dig it up little by little with your hands!"

A group of burly men who kill without blinking an eye on the battlefield now looked like a group of greenhorns learning farm work for the first time, squatting on the edge of the field, looking at each other in bewilderment.

Wang Ben, cursing and swearing, jumped down into the field and personally demonstrated the technique.

He carefully parted the vines and plunged his hands into the soft soil, as if searching for some priceless treasure.

Soon, he found one.