Starting from Jing Province.
Or more precisely, starting from the establishment of the Department of Engineering at Gong'an County, iron smelting techniques had been constantly improving, and the output of the smithies steadily climbed alongside them.
The more iron was smelted, the more slag was produced.
Based on past experience, the use of slag had long since been planned out.
Either it was returned to the furnace for secondary refining, in hopes of extracting every last bit of residual iron.
Or entire baskets of it were mixed directly into rammed earth walls during construction.
Or it was crushed outright and used to pave roads.
Overall, the three uses were not all that different. They emphasized one thing only: waste reutilization.
After all, Jiangling City had long since been completed, so slag was no longer needed for city walls.
Gong'an used coal-fired furnaces to smelt ore, and with improved water-powered bellows supplying air to raise furnace temperatures, the resulting slag no longer had much value for re-smelting.
As for paving roads, the results were hardly ideal. Stone slabs, green bricks, or even gravel were all far more visually pleasing, even if they cost more than slag.
Kongming still remembered that last year, his wife had casually mentioned in a letter that a plot of land had been specially designated outside Gong'an County for piling up slag.
At the time, he had merely chuckled after reading it, taking it as another sign of how prosperous iron production in Gong'an had become.
But now, seeing the formula casually mentioned on the light screen, and then looking again at the towering grandeur of the Roman ruins,
For a moment, Kongming found himself feeling strangely uneasy.
This is bad. Jiangdong is not going to steal our slag, right?
As for the other two ingredients in the formula, the people of Han Chang'an could only say one thing: they were far too familiar with them.
Using lime to build walls had existed since the Zhou dynasty.
Using clay to make pottery had been passed down for thousands of years.
Compared to how seriously Liu Bei and Kongming were taking this new formula, Ma Chao's reaction was remarkably calm. After all, the concept of technology itself was still too abstract for him.
Ma Mengqi's first instinct was envy at the capital region's sophisticated planning. Cities divided by function, mutually reinforcing one another. It was something impossible to imagine back in the remote lands of Yong and Liang.
But then, recalling the magnificent and complete planning of Chang'an from several centuries ago, and remembering how the voice had earlier said that Han Chang'an was ultimately abandoned due to accumulated filth, with a new Chang'an built elsewhere, Ma Chao suddenly felt his image of Chang'an shatter a little.
"So what if it was well planned in the end, didn't it still get ruined by filth…"
Before he could finish, Zhang Fei's hand was already faster than his mouth, snapping up to grip Ma Chao's chin and force him to shut up.
Big Brother and the strategist were in high spirits right now. How could this brat from Xiliang be allowed to spoil the mood?
Facing Ma Chao's indignant glare, Zhang Fei looked entirely unconcerned and lowered his voice.
"If what our descendant says is true, then Rome had such a hard time just bringing in water. Handling filth must have been even more hopeless."
Zhang Fei's reasoning was simple. No matter how different they looked, people still had to eat, drink, and relieve themselves. The problems Han Chang'an faced were problems Rome could not possibly avoid either.
…
"This thing is truly ingenious."
The first person to fully grasp the principle behind the pressure well was Yan Lide.
This middle-aged man, who had served under the Sui before joining the Prince of Qin's household and now headed the Directorate of Works, had once thought that the greatest achievement of his life would be building an imperial mausoleum.
But now, with the appearance of the light screen, Yan Lide saw within it the same world forged by the hands of countless craftsmen.
The imperial tomb plans he had once cherished were cast far aside.
All he wanted now was to witness, with his own eyes, the Directorate of Works flourish under his command, and to hammer the Great Tang step by step into something entirely new.
Yan Lide's exclamation was not quiet. Li Shimin immediately turned his gaze toward him, his eyes filled with incomprehension.
"Your Majesty need not worry!"
With ambition swelling in his chest, Yan Lide spoke with confidence.
"Before the sun sets today, this humble servant can present this device before the throne!"
"Good!"
Li Shimin's mood lifted instantly.
What was the most important thing about being an emperor? Broad-mindedness, clarity, benevolence, and knowing how to employ capable people.
So what if he himself did not understand craftsmanship? It was enough that the men he promoted did.
Combined with Yan Lide's earlier eagerness to take responsibility, Li Shimin's expression softened further.
"Today's affairs are many. Present it tomorrow once it is fully prepared, and that will also be fine."
The scene of ruler and minister in perfect harmony between Yan Lide and Li Shimin left Yan Liben feeling restless.
He could not help but turn his gaze toward the emperor as well, hoping to hear an order for him to assist his elder brother.
This look was caught by Sun Simiao, who stood beside Li Shimin.
Thinking of the past two months of Yan Liben's exhausting assistance with dissections, Sun the Imperial Physician understood his hardships well. He immediately put on what he felt was his warmest smile and directed it at Yan Liben.
Yan Liben's body swayed slightly.
Memories of the sights he had seen at the newly established Imperial Medical Office surged up, especially how Sun occasionally complained that his drawings were not accurate enough and made him personally measure the internal organs by hand.
Just recalling the sensation made his scalp tingle.
With only the briefest thought, Yan Liben's face turned pale, and he hurriedly looked away, not daring to look again.
Sun Simiao stroked his beard, feeling rather satisfied.
Originally, out of sympathy for Yan the Attending Gentleman's hardships, he had planned to grant him an extra five days of leave on top of the ten days for the New Year.
But seeing Yan Liben's expression now, he was clearly a man like his brother, willing to shoulder responsibility.
In that case, once the ten-day leave ended, he would immediately have Yan Liben observe the drawing process and then proceed with the scalpel.
As for the city cluster planning praised by the descendant on the light screen, the people in Ganlu Hall were not particularly surprised. They all felt it was only natural.
After all, the descendant had already said that city planning existed as early as the Shang and Zhou.
If Qin, Han, and Tang, as descendants of Shang and Zhou, could plan city clusters, was that not perfectly reasonable?
After dialing down their expectations of distant Rome just a bit, the officials of the Zhenguan era looked up with keen interest, hoping to hear more about Rome.
Unfortunately, Wen Mang did not oblige them.
[Lightscreen]
[At this point, let us once again look back at the climate change chart over the past nearly two thousand years.
Civilizations are not entirely puppets pulled by the strings of climate, but the immense impact of climate on civilization cannot be denied.
And because of this, the struggle of successive generations of Chinese ancestors against climate, in order to survive, becomes all the more precious.
But in truth, when it comes to the rise and fall of ancient dynasties, climate change, though a major factor, was never the whole story. The most典型 example is Guangshen.
The reign of Emperor Yang of Sui coincided with one of the three unparalleled climate peaks in the past two thousand years of Chinese history.
The other two warm periods produced, respectively, the mighty Western Han, and the Yuan dynasty with its unprecedented vast territory.
Standing at the wind's crest and not only failing to take flight, but instead smashing oneself to pieces, that was Emperor Yang of Sui. Even the tide of history could not lift him.
Fortunately, Li Erfeng was born in time. With unprecedented efficiency, he swept the realm externally and swept away father and brothers internally.
Then without pause he campaigned west and expanded north, opening the era of Zhenguan and the grandeur of the High Tang, ensuring that China did not miss this once-in-a-millennium window.]
Li Shimin had been nodding along frequently, but the sudden phrase "swept away father and brothers internally" made his smile freeze in place.
The ministers in Ganlu Hall were all very tactful. At this moment, they stared unblinkingly at the light screen, mouths shut tight, necks unmoving, as if completely absorbed in listening to the later generations speak.
This attitude left Li Shimin with no outlet for anger. After his chest heaved twice, he could only fall silent.
Endure it.
[Lightscreen]
[Therefore, for the Sui-Tang warm period, Li Shimin's role was nearly irreplaceable, and he can truly be called a model of humanity's struggle against nature.
After all, struggle means not only resisting harsh cold periods, but also seizing abundant warm periods. The two are not contradictory.
Although in recent years there have been arguments that the Tang gained the empire largely thanks to Li Yuan, this claim simply does not withstand scrutiny.
Rather than laying out lofty academic arguments here, let us try a popular modern thought experiment for discussion:
What if Li Shimin and Zhu Qizhen swapped places?
Alright, that concludes this episode of "Climate Change in the Han and Tang."
Like and follow so you do not get lost. We will see you again at the same time next week!]
The evaluation "irreplaceable" quickly washed away the four words "swept away father and brothers" that had nearly burned themselves into Li Shimin's heart.
Thus, the emperor who had just been seething moments ago now broke into a broad smile.
These later generations might tease him now and then, but at least they acknowledged most of his achievements.
The atmosphere in Ganlu Hall relaxed accordingly.
Li Shimin cleared his throat, curiosity surfacing.
"Who is this Zhu Qizhen?"
As for the earlier line evaluating his father, Li Shimin could only pretend he had not heard it.
After all, Li Yuan was not present, and the Book of Rites did say that fathers do not speak of their sons' virtues, nor sons of their fathers' faults.
The merits and faults of the Retired Emperor were not for the people of Ganlu Hall to judge.
Du Ruhui cleared his throat. He too admired how His Majesty had skipped right over matters concerning the Retired Emperor, sparing everyone an awkward dilemma.
Facing Li Shimin's question, he answered swiftly.
"The descendants once said that this Zhu Qizhen could be compared to that Wanyan Gou…"
Fortunately, Li Shimin did not need to dwell on it further, as the dense text on the light screen soon answered part of his question.
[Server Chat Log]
NightReaver: Holy crap. If Li Er sat in Zhu Qizhen's position, with the Yongle and Xuande golden age above him and five hundred thousand elite troops below him, he would probably be so happy he would not know how to lose.
VoidSlayer: If Zhu Qizhen were swapped into Li Lao Er's position, Dou Jiande, Wang Shichong, and Li Mi would be overjoyed. Our chance has come!
Honestly, this hypothetical is a bit wild, but it really does show Li Erfeng's importance. Without this war god, even if the Tang unified the realm with Li Jing and others, Li Jiancheng would not be narrow-minded even if he glanced at Zhu Qizhen one extra time at Xuanwu Gate.
Ruinborne: Wait, which war god are you talking about? Why does Zhu Qizhen, war god of Esen, not count as a war god?
AshenWrath: Give it a rest. Without Erfeng, it would have been impossible to even reach Xuanwu Gate. The first Qin Prince breaking formations arc would have died immediately.
NoctisWar: Give it a rest x2. With Pig-Rider Formation-level skill, it would be debatable whether he could even get the title of Prince of Qin.
If the two swapped places, they would probably both be baffled. Heavenly Tactics General: You got five hundred thousand troops captured? Zhu War God: You dared charge a hundred thousand with three thousand?
Blitzor: Zhu Qizhen's script. Forget Li family's second son. I would do just fine myself. Foreign affairs ask Yu Qian. Domestic affairs ask Yu Qian. Sit in the harem and reap a virtuous reputation from the heavens.