Inside the Chengdu Prefectural Office, Kongming could no longer hold back his smile.
His hands never stopped moving.
The smile at the corner of his lips never faded.
What was a surprise?
This was a surprise.
Compared to concrete devices from later generations, what Kongming and the others valued even more now was the scientific way of thinking behind them.
After all, Huainanzi once said:
Begging for fire is inferior to striking flint.
Borrowing water is inferior to digging a well.
Or, to put it plainly—
Standing by the river and envying fish is pointless.
Go home and weave a net.
When chatting idly with Liu Ba in the past, Liu Ba had once sighed in amazement. Those later-generation things—"Eastern Wind Express" that delivered destruction like divine punishment, the "Heavenly Palace" floating among the stars—felt no different from myths of ancient gods.
Then Liu Ba laughed and said:
Even if by sheer fortune they obtained blueprints for such things, they'd probably still be like a frog at the bottom of a well staring at the sea, or a summer insect sniffing winter ice—knowing it was vast, yet unable to grasp the principles behind it.
Just like the object currently projected on the light screen—
The sextant.
Angular in shape, seemingly forged from red gold, inlaid with transparent glass known as lenses.
Kongming had already drawn it perfectly.
But why it had that shape, how it was used—
He had no idea whatsoever.
This limitation had been apparent for a long time.
But now—
It finally seemed to have a solution.
"Define theorems… establish postulates… reason from axioms?"
Liu Ba was also copying down these half-understood terms, pondering them carefully.
"This 'axiom'… the meaning is rather clear."
Pang Tong refused to be left behind and forced his way into the discussion:
"'All under Heaven is shared,' laws follow principle.
An axiom, then, is a truth that can pass unchanged through all ages."
Liu Ba nodded. That was exactly his understanding.
He continued:
"And this 'logic'… 'log' implies inspection, while 'ic' gathers meaning. Here, it likely refers to organizing and assembling principles into order."
The more he spoke, the more he understood.
Inwardly, Liu Ba marveled at the wisdom of later sages. Even the words themselves revealed meaning at a glance.
Liu Ba and Pang Tong deduced term by term.
Kongming, meanwhile, wrote tirelessly—organizing their conclusions, copying them neatly, and patching any gaps in their reasoning.
Zhang Song stroked his beard, listening while thinking deeply.
Liu Bei, seated above, found the discussion exhausting to follow.
Then he turned his head—
And saw Zhang Fei listening with sparkling interest.
"Yide, do you understand this?" Liu Bei asked.
Zhang Fei nodded.
"It's difficult," he admitted, "but if you compare it to troop formations or city construction, I can grasp some of it."
As he spoke, he dipped a finger into his tea and began drawing on the table.
"Ancient classics are like villages and markets scattered across a plain."
"They don't hear one another. They don't interact."
"This axiom-based method is about gathering the best people from those villages and building one great city."
"In this City of Axioms, those of common origin live in the same ward, are registered, and their hierarchies are clarified."
Zhang Fei looked faintly proud.
Very much wearing the expression: Praise me. Quickly.
Kongming still had the leisure to lean over and admire him.
"Yide's explanation may not grasp the deepest meaning," Kongming said with a smile,
"but as a metaphor for the surface meaning of logic, it is excellent."
Zhang Fei immediately became even more pleased with himself.
Liu Bei patted his shoulder with some emotion.
"Yide should keep books at hand and read diligently."
Then Liu Bei made up his mind.
"In that case, we must urge Wu Yi to completely pacify Nanzhong as soon as possible and open the Shendu trade route."
"Post bounties for Elements and for cotton."
Liu Bei still remembered those later-generation items. With no ocean-going ships under his command, this was the only option—spend heavily and hope foreign merchants would risk everything for profit.
Though Liu Bei didn't fully understand Kongming's discussion, he clearly recognized its importance.
He also understood that their current interpretations relied on later perspectives—dangerously prone to error.
No matter what, obtaining a translated copy of Elements for direct comparison was essential.
Kongming and the others cupped their hands in agreement.
At the same time, Kongming felt a surge of anticipation.
"If Chang'an is restored," he said,
"then the Imperial Academy must be reopened—
to investigate principles, study mathematical axioms, and establish lens workshops."
From the meanings they had extracted, Kongming saw not a single project—but a scholarly undertaking requiring the full strength of an empire.
To study science meant reviving the Imperial Academy and forging it into an institution even greater than before.
And it would need workshops to support it.
Lens grinding, for instance.
Kongming didn't know how the West polished glass to such smoothness, but in Yizhou they had eventually found a few glass artisans.
Expanding glass production meant expanding glass polishing workshops.
Glass also needed to make money.
And once everything was planned—
The most obvious problem emerged.
There weren't enough people.
So population growth had to be encouraged.
Agriculture and sericulture had to be emphasized.
And war with Cao's forces was inevitable—to reclaim the populous Central Plains.
With just a little planning, Kongming saw a future overflowing with endless tasks.
And he welcomed it.
If successful, such achievements would be no less than recreating the Han Dynasty.
Thinking of the Imperial Academy in Chang'an, Kongming suddenly recalled a stone inscription he had long wanted to see.
He sighed softly.
"I wonder… does the Stone Classics of the Imperial Academy still exist?"
In Ganlu Hall, Li Shimin immediately grasped the importance.
And sighed:
"Such an Elements… is a scripture that must be obtained."
He even seriously considered dispatching envoys westward to chase after Wang Xuance's delegation and send them into Central Asia—if it was still possible.
But recalling the situation there, he abandoned the thought.
By now, Sassanid Persia was on the verge of collapse, locked in mortal struggle with Byzantium.
And beside those two empires, the Arabs were rising rapidly.
It was chaos incarnate.
If Wang Xuance were lost there, regret would come too late.
So the Tang Emperor swiftly changed his plan.
"Form a fleet. Sail west."
"Proclaim Tang might—
and gather all Western…" He paused, then used a term from later generations:
"Gather all of their cultural achievements."
Li Shimin's thinking was inclusive.
If barbarian generals could become Tang's stellar commanders, then Western "Rakshasa" scholars could serve as Tang teachers.
Looking back, the conditions for a western expedition were increasingly ripe.
Strong ships ensured safety.
Canned food prevented acclimation sickness.
Those later-generation maps—so casually treated—were now the most accurate sea charts imaginable.
Hug the coastline, and the west was reachable.
If so—
Take the essence of all under Heaven and return it to Tang.
Forge Huaxia.
It was only a pity that Sir Newton seemed to be four or five centuries too late.
Otherwise, bringing him to Tang as Duke Niu would have been perfect.
After surveying the hall and deliberately ignoring the eager gazes of Changsun Wuji and Hou Junji, Li Shimin finally settled on one man.
"Zhengze," he said to Liu Rengui,
"now that you've entered the naval command, you must not only learn to govern troops, but also observe new shipbuilding methods."
"Once the Eastern Seas are pacified, you will represent me in inspecting the West."
Before Liu Rengui had even formally taken office, his future duties were already arranged.
Far from burdened, he was thrilled.
No matter how he looked at it, this life was far more interesting than being a county magistrate in Chencang.
Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui carefully took out a fresh sheet and copied down the passages concerning Elements.
Together with Wei Zheng, they had many thoughts—but kept them to themselves.
They were busy men.
Scholarly matters were best left to the Imperial Academy.
As the saying went: every inch has its strength, every foot its weakness.
With the Emperor pushing the civil examinations, the Imperial Academy's importance would only grow.
Thus, the essence of Western scholarship should naturally be entrusted to it—to refine Tang culture.
The generals stared at the light screen with innocent expressions.
Science, lenses, axioms—
They didn't really understand.
Instinctively, they turned to the map, estimating the distance between Tang and the West.
In the end, they could only sigh.
At best, Tang could contend with Central Asia.
Beyond that—
It was simply too far.
Li Jing stroked his beard thoughtfully.
"A collection of small-probability events… forming the present result?"
Wasn't military strategy the same?
A famous general's ability lay in turning low probability into inevitability.
Yes.
Just like himself.
"But why is this Sir Newton called the Apple Heavenly Venerable?" Hou Junji asked, glancing around. "And what exactly is an apple?"
"It's probably a joke by later generations," Fang Xuanling said after some thought, sounding confident.
"As for the apple…" He hesitated. "Perhaps Sir Niu achieved enlightenment through studying apples?"
But Fang Xuanling couldn't understand what there was to study about an apple.
And—
"What even is an apple? Is it unique to the West?"
The group exchanged glances.
No one knew.
Qin Qiong offered a guess:
"In former dynasties, grapes were called putao, in Tang they're called pútáo.
This 'apple' reminds me—Hebei calls the nai fruit pingpo fruit. Could they be the same?"
The reasoning sounded solid.
So they tucked the thought away, planning to find a nai fruit later and study it carefully.
Could such a small fruit truly hide the key to enlightenment?
[Lightscreen]
[Before clashing with the Tang army, the Wa forces brimmed with confidence, swearing to show Tang who was father and who was son.
The result?
Before the battle: grand boasts.
During the battle: incoherent shouting.
After the battle: absolute silence.
After the defeat at Baekgang, Wa directly went radio silent.
They urgently conscripted massive numbers of farmers to build coastal defenses around Kyushu, terrified that a Tang landing would annihilate their state.
Those ruins can still be seen in Japan today.
This extreme panic lasted two full years.
With Wa cowed, Baekje pressed down again, and Silla outwardly obedient—
Destroying Goguryeo naturally returned to the agenda.
This time, there were no surprises.
From September 667 to March the following year, Goguryeo's king surrendered.
In just half a year, Goguryeo was utterly destroyed.
The captive ceremony mirrored that of Western Turkic Lesser Lu.
Li Zhi still remembered his father.
Captives were first presented at the tomb of the Two Phoenixes, then at the ancestral temple, and finally received at Hanyuan Hall.
Face was fully given.
Thus, Tang finally unified Liaodong and the Korean Peninsula.
Five years later, Guo Daifeng's roar at Dafeichuan gifted Silla vast new lands.]