Mythical Three Kingdoms

As a result, due to years of soy sauce, from the Yellow Turban Rebellion in 184 to now, Sichuan and Shu have truly sent troops only twice: once when the Three Lius defeated Yuan Shu, and once was the pacification of the Southern Barbarians, which resulted in drawing maps and engaging in battles with the Kushan.

This has led to the combat power of Yizhou being somewhat lax in warfare terms from a manpower perspective. Fortunately, a major battle was fought only a few years ago, and before the great battle with the Kushan, almost all soldiers had marched all the way from Chengdu, experiencing several battles.

Otherwise, this battle would indeed have been difficult to predict. However, it must be admitted that the group of Southern Barbarian warriors who surrendered contributed significantly, and Zhang Su considered whether to give rewards to them and everyone in their tribes.

For Zhang Su, it was a matter of being generous at others’ expense. However, speaking of which, the land and climate here are indeed much better than that of the Southern Barbarians. Relatively speaking, it is more suitable for farming here. Although it is somewhat humid and hot, it is still a plain.

”Phew, I’ve basically finished drawing the ancient map and the corresponding map.” At this time, Qin Mi, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.

Everyone turned their heads to look at the map in Qin Mi’s hands, somewhat curious.

”This map, this should be our Yizhou, right?” Wang Lei said somewhat uncertainly, as the map seemed a bit distorted, ”Zichi, when did you become unable to draw a map properly?”

”It does look like Yizhou, but it differs somewhat from our impression of the map. Hmm, there seems to be a little issue here.” Huang Quan also looked at Qin Mi puzzledly.

”This part got wrong. After the presentation map of Ailao Kingdom, these areas didn’t get included, and how did this end up here?” Meng Da pointed at the map and said.

Others were also examining Qin Mi’s map while comparing it with their mental impressions, starting to critique it. Overall, Qin Mi’s map seemed to have small issues but thankfully nothing major according to them.

However, to be fair, though Qin Mi’s strategy might be average, he is like a living dictionary when it comes to human geography, so mistakes shouldn’t happen.

”Are you all done?” Qin Mi asked everyone with a displeased expression.

”Done,” replied the others, nodding as they looked at Qin Mi, who seemed unhappy.

”Any major issues?” Qin Mi inquired.

”No, but minor mistakes are continuous.” The group almost unanimously answered.

”Considering those small detailed mistakes, based on your talents, how many can each of you find?” Qin Mi continued questioning.

”Six, I guess,” Zhang Song said, frowning in confusion, while others followed suit, answering with either three, five, six, or seven, but none too many.

”I started this map on the march, making it by comparing the current map and historical records. There are over two hundred places that are unclear, but if you check the classic books, you could find records similar to what I drew,” Qin Mi said with a pleased smile.

”With this map and the Classic of Mountains and Seas’ South Within Sea Classic, our boundaries can push to where we are standing now, hmm, with some surplus,” Qin Mi said with a smile. With this map and classics existing, they are justified and rationalized.

Wang Lei, Cheng Ji, and others were directly taken aback by Qin Mi’s words, understanding that if this map was truly checked against classic books, they wouldn’t find any loopholes?

”Just as you guessed, it is indeed so,” Qin Mi said with a smile, ”If you really went and checked, you wouldn’t find it. Moreover, the more you consult the classics, the more you feel this map is real.”

”So, is it due to the ancient place names and migration issues, and the vague records causing this altogether?” Zhang Su asked, frowning. He had already guessed what method Qin Mi had employed, but this method required a large amount of classics as support.

It’s like the so-called Six Classics Annotate Me, due to different people’s records and their biases or different focus points in ancient history, it could even be a slip of the pen that could lead to many varying records of the same event.

What Qin Mi did was to choose the record most favorable to them, and as for the so-called ”lack of evidence,” how could it be lacking? History is like rolling wheels, and there will always be someone writing down what they believe to be true due to political fights, Spring and Autumn style writing, euphemistic writing, and other means.

As for whether later generations get misled by this record, or use this historical record to mislead others, it all depends on individuals’ abilities, after all, the kind of people who think ”after me, the deluge” aren’t rare in history.

”No, no, no, it’s not because of ancient place names and migrations, nor due to vague historical records. It’s just the fact,” Qin Mi said with a cheerful smile.

”Just say it directly, what’s the situation,” Zhang Song said with a look of helplessness.

”It’s like this, based on the ancient texts I consulted, and the mutual cross-referencing of local classics, following the principle of bold conjecture and careful verification, I finally determined that the place where Queen Mother of the West resides, as written in the Biography of King Mu, is right here,” Qin Mi shamelessly said.

Meng Da, Fei Guan, and others heard this and couldn’t help but twitch their mouths. To put it logically, the Biography of King Mu was completed even earlier than the Classic of Mountains and Seas, over a thousand years ago, but nevertheless, it’s traceable through history.

”Tell us, roughly how did you authenticate it,” Zhang Song said, looking at Qin Mi speechlessly. That he could use such tricks… well, never mind.