Poverty Alleviation in Qin: A Sky-High Review of "I Am the Female Prime Minister of All Time&qu

In April, on the grasslands of northern Mongolia, a few tender green shoots have just sprouted from the withered yellow grass.

Touman Chanyu's royal court was stationed at Chanyutai, north of Yinshan Mountain. Felt tents stretched as far as the eye could see, and herds of horses grazed on half-dried grass on distant hillsides. When the wind blew, sand and grass clippings stung people's faces.

A scout pushed aside the heavy felt curtain and slipped into the tent, kneeling on one knee to report: "Great Chanyu, there's movement from the Qin side. Xianyang has sent a new general to the northern frontier with 30,000 troops, and a young man named Han Xin, who's said to be some kind of military genius?"

Upon hearing this, Touman Chanyu raised his head, his expression shifting from bewilderment to disdain. "Han Xin? Which tribe is he from?"

The scout shook his head: "They're Qin's own people."

Touman Chanyu was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter, spitting out bits of meat from his mouth.

"Are the Qin people their own people?"

He tossed the mutton onto the table, grease dripping from between his fingers. "Have all the capable fighters among the Qin people died? Meng Tian was no good, Wang Jian is dead, and now they're sending some greenhorn who hasn't even grown his hair yet to deal with me, the Chanyu?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the Xiongnu nobles in the tent burst into laughter.

The Left Wise King grinned, revealing rough, yellowed teeth worn smooth by the wind and sand: "Great Chanyu, are the Qin people short of men? Thirty thousand infantrymen? Any one of our tribes could easily muster that many. Their infantrymen run slower than oxcarts; they can't even catch up with our horses' rear ends."

King Youguli slapped his thigh and laughed, "A military immortal? Do all the immortals of the Qin people control wars?"

"Those infantrymen last time, didn't they still get chased so far by us? Hahahaha..."

The tent erupted in laughter.

Touman Chanyu picked up a bowl of mare's milk wine, tilted his head back, and gulped it down, wiping the wine stains from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. He glanced around at the generals in the tent, his eyes revealing undisguised contempt: "How many border generals has the Qin people changed?"

"Meng Tian built the Great Wall and the Straight Road, and what was the result?"

"My sons still went south to plunder grain, and now this Han Xin has come..." He paused, slammed the bowl on the table, the bone bowl making a dull thud.

"A young man without a beard dares to come to the northern frontier?"

The Left Wise King stood up, brandishing his scimitar: "Great Chanyu, we'll head straight south! We'll seize their grain and women, and show that so-called 'Military God' the might of the steppe cavalry!"

"Yes! Rob them all!"

"Kill them all! Kill them all! Kill them all!"

A chorus of cheers erupted from inside the tent, and the sound of a knife slamming on the table made the mare's milk wine bowls bounce.

Touman Chanyu stood up and walked to the tent entrance. The April grassland wind, carrying a biting chill, rushed towards him. In the distance, the Yinshan Mountains resembled a lurking black dragon in the twilight.

That place was the Qin territory.

He wanted to seize the land.

"Pass down the order: let the Qin people see what real cavalry is."

"Okay!!"

-

On this day, as always, Touman Chanyu sent another cavalry unit south.

They would engage in routine harassment: plundering border residents, stealing grain and horses, burning down two villages, and then leaving triumphantly.

Over the years, the Xiongnu people have become as adept at this as they are at eating.

The Qin army sentries lit beacon fires, and the garrison quickly assembled to meet the enemy.

The Xiongnu cavalry force numbered about two thousand, led by a man named Qiehou, who was tall and strong with a fierce-looking face.

He rode on his horse and saw the Qin army arrayed in the distance. Instead of panicking, he burst into laughter.

"Qin people!" Qiehou shouted in broken Qin language, his voice loud enough to be heard throughout the entire battlefield, "I heard you've got some kind of military genius?!"

"Where's the God of War?! Who's the God of War?! Come out and face your death!"

"A self-proclaimed immortal?! I'll break his immortal bones today!" After saying this, the Xiongnu cavalry behind him burst into laughter.

Immediately afterwards, some people slapped the horses' rumps with curved swords, while others spat in the direction of the Qin army, displaying an arrogant and overbearing attitude.

"..." Silence fell over the Qin army.

Just then, the sound of hooves rang out, and a rider charged out from the flank of the formation—

It was the young Xiang Yu.

He carried a newly forged halberd in one hand, mounted his horse, and sneered, "The God of War may not be here, but your Overlord Grandpa has arrived!"

The Marquis was stunned for a moment, then flew into a rage: "You're courting death!" With that, he spurred his horse and led the two thousand riders behind him to charge forward.

The ground trembled from the horses' hooves, billowing dust and creating a terrifying spectacle.

When the Xiongnu cavalry charged within thirty paces, Xiang Yu spurred his horse and charged straight at them.

The lord laughed wildly on horseback, shouting, "You ignorant fool!"

Next, the two armies clashed.

When the first clang of metal rang out, Qiehou's smile froze on his face.

His scimitar struck Xiang Yu's halberd—

"clang!"

The scimitar broke.

It was cut directly in half.

Qiehou stared wide-eyed at the half-broken knife in his hand. Before he could even process what was happening, Xiang Yu's halberd was already in front of him.

He instinctively leaned back, the tip of the halberd grazing his nose and drawing a line of blood.

"...What the hell is this?!"

The others have also realized that something is wrong by now.

The Qin army's halberds swept across, instantly cleaving through leather armor and bone.

"???"

Two thousand cavalry charging into the formation should have been an overwhelming victory.

But at this moment, the dozens of Xiongnu cavalrymen at the forefront had already been cut down by Xiang Yu, one by one with each of their spears.

Every strike of Xiang Yu's halberd was swift and decisive, piercing throats, ripping horse legs, and sweeping ribs, like a heartless killing machine.

Upon seeing this, the Marquis was so frightened that he turned his horse around and tried to run away.

Xiang Yu sneered, spurred his horse to give chase, and his halberd shot out like a venomous snake: "Pfft—!"

The halberd tip pierced through Qiehou's back and emerged from his chest.

He looked down at the blood-stained halberd tip on his chest, opened his mouth but couldn't make a sound, and the next second he fell straight off his horse.

With their commander dead, the Xiongnu cavalry fell into chaos instantly.

Two thousand people, who thought it would be an easy robbery, ended up running into a killing machine.

Xiang Yu led the Qin cavalry charging up behind him in pursuit, cutting through everything with their new weapons as easily as chopping melons and vegetables.

In less than half an hour, nearly half of the two thousand cavalrymen were lost, and the rest were routed and fled in all directions.

"???"

"?!?!"

Xiang Yu reined in his horse and stood in the center of the battlefield, covered in blood, with drops of blood dripping from the blade of his halberd.

He raised his head and coldly uttered two words: "That's it?"

...

Northern Frontier Camp.

Han Xin stood in front of the command tent, watching the dust settle on the battlefield from afar, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"Did Xiang Yu do this?" he asked the messenger beside him.

"General Xiang charged in alone and beheaded the enemy's commander!"

Han Xin nodded without saying anything.

He already knew Xiang Yu's martial prowess.

That's not the level that humans should be at.

But what he wanted was not for Xiang Yu to shine alone.

Han Xin turned around, walked back into the tent, looked down at the spot on the sand table where the small flag representing the Xiongnu cavalry had been pulled out, and tapped the edge of the sand table lightly with his finger. "Next, it's time to make the Chanyu (Xiongnu ruler) restless."

...

the other side.

When Touman Chanyu received the news of the defeat, the bowl of mare's milk in his hand was crushed with a "crack".

His voice was terrifyingly low: "Two thousand cavalry, half of them gone?!"

The scout kneeling on the ground trembled: "Yes... the Qin army has produced a ruthless killer, charging into the enemy lines like a mad dog, and killing the lord..."

"And their weapons are different from before..."

Upon hearing this, the Chanyu's pupils suddenly contracted: "What did you say?!"