Clip-clop, clip-clop— the urgent sound of hooves echoed as a fast horse galloped into Gao Family Fort.
The rider was a retainer from Bai Family Fort. He dismounted and handed an urgent military dispatch to San Shi'er.
(In the Ming dynasty, horse couriers were the elite express delivery. A good horse could cover 200-300 li (≈100-150km) in a day—if you didn't mind it dying afterward. Urgent messages like this often meant changing horses at relay stations, but between private forts, you risked your own steed.)
San Shi'er unfolded it. It was a military report from Bai Yuan, detailing Dian Dengzi's arrival at Bai Family Fort to beg for grain. The report also mentioned that Bai Yuan had taken it upon himself to give ten dan of the Tianzun's grain to the bandits, and he wished to seek the Tianzun's guidance on whether his decision had been proper.
San Shi'er didn't dare delay. He hurried to the watchtower with the report.
Soon, Gao Yiye paused her painting and joined San Shi'er on the watchtower's third-floor balcony.
---
Li Daoxuan happened to be leaning over the diorama, savoring a bowl of preserved egg and pork congee. Seeing their serious expressions, he brought his face close to the box. Below, Gao Yiye immediately spotted him.
"The Tianzun is here!" Gao Yiye turned to San Shi'er. "Report quickly."
San Shi'er carefully read the military report aloud.
After listening, Li Daoxuan fell silent.
He opened his computer, typed "Dian Dengzi Zhao Sheng," and searched for information.
Zhao Sheng's records appeared quickly, but historical accounts were sparse—just a few sentences summarizing his life. Nothing indicated whether he was a good or bad man, only that he was falsely accused of rebellion and forced to rise up.
(Ming historical records were notoriously terse about peasant rebels unless they became emperors. Zhao Sheng's brief entry was typical: "Dian Dengzi, originally named Zhao Sheng, a scholar from Qingjian, rebelled in the xinsi year." The Confucian historians viewed all rebels as "bandits" (zei), making moral judgments irrelevant.)
Besides, even if history books claimed he was good, would you dare believe it?
Trying to judge a person by historical records—you'd be deceived a hundred million times over.
Li Daoxuan considered for three seconds, then closed the tab. Those historical notes weren't worth reading anyway.
Better to focus on the diorama.
"San Shi'er, summon some drivers. Send more grain to Bai Family Fort."
San Shi'er couldn't hide his slight surprise. "The Tianzun is acting unusually this time—helping bandits?"
"Not helping bandits. Helping refugees."
Li Daoxuan sighed inwardly: If Zhao Sheng isn't lying, and those three thousand followers behind him are indeed good people unwilling to rob ordinary civilians, then these three thousand must be saved.
If he deceived Bai Yuan and deceived me—just wanting grain to fill bandits' bellies so they have strength to rob more civilians—then sooner or later, I'll reward him with a palm strike from the heavens.
Ordinary people feared being deceived because deception came at a great cost—economic or even mortal. Being tricked once could leave scars or cost lives.
But Li Daoxuan was different. Forget ten dan of grain; even another hundred dan would be like him casually pinching a bit of flour—costing him mere pennies.
Economically, basically no loss!
And as for mortal danger—impossible!
So he wasn't afraid of being deceived.
Paying a nearly negligible cost to see clearly what kind of person—or what kind of three thousand people—they were? Worth trying.
"Send two more cartloads of grain to Bai Family Fort," Li Daoxuan instructed. "Also, draft a letter to Bai Yuan. Tell him to engage with Zhao Sheng as much as possible—talk more, chat more. If those three thousand are truly good common people forced into rebellion, bring them down the mountain and send them to Gao Village. I will settle them."
San Shi'er quickly performed a deep bow. "The Tianzun is benevolent."
Li Daoxuan added, "Remind Bai Yuan: while vigilance should never be abandoned, during his interactions with Zhao Sheng, he must not let his guard down. If the other side suddenly turns hostile and attacks, ensure he has sufficient time to react. Don't fall for bandit schemes."
San Shi'er: "I obey!"
San Shi'er hurried off to draft the letter.
Li Daoxuan looked down at Gao Village, pondering silently.
If we really absorb Zhao Sheng's entire force—that's over three thousand people. Gao Village itself only has a little over a thousand. Suddenly adding three thousand outsiders could easily lead to 'the snake swallowing the elephant'—indigestion, disrupting the hard-worn spirit and cohesion of Gao Village.
Seems these people need a separate settlement.
They won't need to farm; they can all work as laborers. That means they don't need farmland. Their settlement could be placed on poor land—no matter.
Li Daoxuan immediately thought of that "valley where the immortal and the monster fought."
(This valley, now scarred by celestial warfare, had become a local landmark—a place where villagers whispered stories and children dared each other to enter.)
Recently, he'd been showing the militia one hour of "military combat techniques" each night. He'd completed a full cycle; Cheng Xu had already learned it and would slowly teach the others.
That valley could now be utilized.
A simple plan: if the valley were filled with plastic houses, it could easily accommodate three thousand people.
Then came the issue of the workers' daily commute.
The small valley was a full six li from Gao Village. Having them all walk that distance wasn't ideal.
But the solar-powered buses couldn't transport three thousand people back and forth!
Looks like a more impressive, more advanced mode of transport was needed.
Actually, Li Daoxuan had been considering this vehicle for a while, but with a smaller population living close together, he hadn't brought it out.
Now, with more people and another settlement sector, this handy little thing would definitely come in handy between the two sectors.
He opened a shopping website, searched for "electric toy train," and instantly found a chaotic array of them.
Li Daoxuan picked one with "connectable tracks" powered by "AA batteries."
He specifically checked—tracks could be purchased separately. Of course, he swiftly added several extra track sets to his cart. One train with fifteen meters of track, scaled to the late Ming, would be six li—exactly enough to lay from Gao Village to the small valley.
After placing the order, modifications were still needed.
---
The next day, the train arrived. Li Daoxuan immediately took it to Cai Xinzi's toy store.
"Old Cai, I'm here for another toy modification."
Cai Xinzi was again sitting behind the shop counter, sipping a bottle of Nutri-Express. Seeing Li Daoxuan, he smiled and stood up. "Haven't seen you in days! What are you playing with lately?"
Li Daoxuan handed over two train engines. "Playing with these. Need modifications."
Hearing "modifications," Cai Xinzi sensed trouble and felt a twinge of panic. "What weird mod are you doing this time?"
"Simple this time, I promise," Li Daoxuan laughed. "I need to add a resistor to this train's power system to control its speed to under ten centimeters per second."
Cai Xinzi said, "Small issue. The engine is quite large—much easier to modify than that 3cm solar car you brought last time."
Li Daoxuan: "Also, modify the switch. Move this toggle switch on the roof inside the engine. Make the switch sensitive—just a tiny touch to toggle it. Also add a braking latch, so once the power is cut, it immediately locks the wheels, making the train decelerate to a stop quickly."
Cai Xinzi glanced sideways. "Why are these mods so simple this time? No challenge at all. Didn't eat any magic mushrooms?"
Li Daoxuan spread his hands. "When have I ever eaten magic mushrooms?"
---
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[Behind the Scene]
The "magic mushrooms" (菌子) reference is an inside joke about the wild mushrooms of Yunnan, famous for causing vivid hallucinations when misidentified. Cai Xinzi's question implies Li's past projects were so bizarre they seemed drug-induced—a playful nod to the absurdity of modifying toys for godlike interventions in another world.
The electric train modification reveals Li's practical godhood: he doesn't use magic, but supply-chain magic. A 1:100 scale train moving at <10cm/s would appear as a "divine iron serpent" crawling at ~36 km/h in-universe—fast by Ming standards, where even emperors rarely traveled above 30 km/h by horse relay.
This chapter's title plays on the cultural meme of mushroom-induced visions, contrasting with Li's painfully practical, almost mundane approach to solving a refugee crisis with toy trains and AA batteries—the ultimate expression of "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a well-modified toy."
Note: Six li ≈ 3.5 km. In the 1630s, walking that distance took about an hour for farmers. Li's train solution would cut that to minutes, revolutionizing not just logistics but the very perception of distance in Gao Village's expanding world.