I have a space station

Prince Dan of Yan was two years older than Ying Zheng, now 18.

Young and frivolous, he knew no restraint.

He often told people in the streets how foolish and poor Ying Zheng was when he was young, in order to elevate his own status.

One day, while drunk, he openly proclaimed Ying Zheng as the illegitimate son of Zhao Ji and Lu Buwei, unworthy of being the King of Qin.

Upon learning of this, Ying Zheng secretly subjected Prince Dan to castration and imprisoned him.

This imprisonment lasted for 12 years.

In 243 BC.

A rare locust plague occurred in the Central Plains, and soon after, a plague broke out.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Zoroastrian Church rapidly grew, almost covering all countries.

Fortunately, the Qin State had completed the reform of the Ba and Shu regions ten years ago and completed the construction of the Dujiangyan Irrigation System. This, to a certain extent, alleviated the food crisis in the Qin State.

However, other countries were not so lucky. Starving corpses were everywhere, and the practice of exchanging children for food occurred from time to time.

Also in this year, a Fangshi (alchemist/magician) came to the Qin State, claiming to be able to summon wind and rain.

Ying Zheng personally received him.

This man was named Xu Fu, claiming to be a disciple of Guiguzi.

The various rulers of the Qin State had heard of Guiguzi's great name. It is said that Zhang Yi and Su Qin were both his disciples, and both made great contributions to the development of the Qin State.

Xu Fu advised Ying Zheng:

"The plague will soon pass, but what is difficult to overcome is the people's hearts. Please, King of Qin, go to the banks of the Wei River to worship the Water God to relieve the people's worries."

Ying Zheng immediately adopted this suggestion.

Soon after, Ying Zheng held a grand sacrificial ceremony on the banks of the Wei River.

During the ceremony, a giant black dragon actually rushed out of the water, nodding to Ying Zheng.

This event was witnessed by many people.

From then on, Ying Zheng's position was thoroughly affirmed by the ministers.

In private, everyone had a new name for the King of Qin: Ancestral Dragon.

Xu Fu's move can be described as a stroke of genius. It solved the people's crisis of confidence in him, their concerns about the locust plague, and the ministers' disapproval of him in one fell swoop.

At the same time, Ying Zheng's rise also touched the sensitive nerves of certain people.

The first to become restless was Lao Ai.

Lao Ai was actually the Holy Son of the Zoroastrian Church, and he and Zhao Ji were fellow disciples.

Originally, their plan was to kill Ying Zheng after Cheng Jiao grew older and let him inherit the throne of Qin.

However, with Lu Buwei's checks and balances on the outside and the Heavenly Soldiers provided by Qin Lao providing layers of defense on the inside, they had no suitable opportunity to strike.

In 239 BC, Ying Zheng turned 20 years old this year.

After years of production, the Terracotta Army finally completed the firing of 10,000 finished terracotta soldiers.

Each of them was heroic and extraordinary.

Qin Lao also took advantage of Ying Zheng's construction of the Qin King's Mausoleum to build an extremely large underground base deeper below the mausoleum and under Mount Li.

However, it was clear that even if Qin Lao's plan was hidden, it could not escape Guiguzi's eyes.

Guiguzi could learn everything he wanted to know with the help of the lost deity.

It was just that their goals were now the same, to eradicate the power of the Zoroastrian Church.

Qin Lao had a sub-dimensional sentry tower, monitoring the entire Blue Star. Naturally, Guiguzi could not make things too obvious.

Similarly, Qin Lao did not know which high-tech force was hiding in the dark, so naturally, he did not dare to show his face.

The two sides tacitly jointly funded Ying Zheng, allowing him, after eight years of perseverance, to finally have the strength to confront the Zoroastrian Church.

At the same time as the Terracotta Army was completed, Lu Buwei's "Lu Shi Chunqiu" (The Annals of Lu Buwei) was also compiled.

In order to promote his fame with this masterpiece, Lu Buwei placed the completed set of books at the entrance of his residence and posted a notice:

Whoever can find a place to be modified in this book will be rewarded with a thousand taels of gold.

The news of "one word, one thousand gold" quickly spread throughout Xianyang City, and this "Lu Shi Chunqiu" became a popular topic of conversation after dinner.

Soon after, Ying Zheng ordered Cheng Jiao, who was only 15 years old, to lead troops to attack the State of Zhao. However, on the way to the expedition, all of them were ambushed and killed by the Heavenly Soldiers led by Meng Ao's son, Meng Tian.

Lao Ai was extremely angry after learning that Cheng Jiao had been killed and vowed to kill Ying Zheng.

However, their movements were completely under Ying Zheng's control.

Lao Ai, relying only on some low-level Zoroastrian Church members and his Tier 2 cultivation, could not compete with the Heavenly Soldiers at all.

In the end, Lao Ai's rebellion was put down.

He himself was executed by being torn apart by chariots.

The two young sons he had with Zhao Ji were also executed together.

Losing Lao Ai and her three children, Zhao Ji was also disheartened and locked herself in the palace.

In the name of searching for rebels, Ying Zheng quickly purged all the remnants of the Zoroastrian Church in Xianyang City.

From then on, the Zoroastrian Church was separated from the political center of the Qin State.

Except for one person: Lu Buwei.

Ying Zheng knew from the beginning that Lu Buwei was also a member of the Zoroastrian Church, but only at a very low level.

The meaning of Lu Buwei's existence was to restrain Lao Ai. Now that Lao Ai was dead, it was time for him to leave.