"I really wish I could see what the West looked like in that era."
Zhuge Liang did not sound sentimental like his lord Liu Bei often did. He was simply staring at the glowing screen, at the arrows spreading across the map and knitting distant lands closer and closer together. The sigh that escaped him was genuine.
Pang Tong thought for a moment.
"You think something unusual was happening in the West at that time?"
It was almost unnecessary to ask. Pang Tong had been watching the screen from the beginning as well. Whenever later generations spoke about Chinese history, they inevitably mentioned the West in passing. Yet looking back, from the Former Han onward there had not been much to say about Western states. Most of what appeared clustered around the same period as the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties.
For more than a thousand years, the Western realms had seemed much like China, busy dealing with neighboring rivals. And then, almost overnight, they began appearing all over the world.
While Pang Tong was still trying to piece his thoughts together, Zhuge Liang spoke again in his calm, even tone.
"The narrator once mentioned that the Black Death devastated Europe even more severely than the epidemic that struck three years later, shaking the authority of the Church."
"We now understand that this Church could command kings, crown emperors, and speak in the name of God with unmatched authority."
"When the Mongols campaigned westward, knowledge from the East flowed into the West. Perhaps minds began to awaken. Perhaps conflicts arose between reason and divine authority."
"Many such things, piling up one by one, are like earth heaped into a mountain. When the mountain grows high enough, wind and rain inevitably follow."
Pang Tong finally understood.
"You want to witness that storm with your own eyes?"
"And you do not?" Zhuge Liang replied with a faint smile.
They both knew what that storm meant. It was the unprecedented transformation of the Western world.
The fact that a Western sage had written The Elements showed that Eastern and Western intellectual traditions were fundamentally different. Yet so many changes converged within a short span of one or two centuries. It could only be that countless events collided and fermented together, producing a historic upheaval in Western learning and institutions — the very storm Zhuge Liang spoke of.
After a brief silence, Zhuge Liang smiled lightly.
"This lies a thousand years beyond us. What use is my worry? Let us see whether the young narrator will show it to us."
"For now, our task is to reunify the provinces and restore the Han."
---
Inside Huagai Hall, the atmosphere was equally grave.
The affairs of the Song dynasty could still be treated as distant history. But the campaigns of Kublai Khan were matters of only a century past. Even more troubling was the narrator's explanation of how those repeated Yuan expeditions would later affect the Ming dynasty. These were not things that could be dismissed lightly.
Li Wenzhong thumped his chest in exaggerated frustration.
"Why skip over the invasion of Japan? I haven't even seen myself as Grand General Conquering Japan yet!"
Everyone knew he was putting on a show for the emperor.
Zhu Yuanzhang did not know whether he should first scold his nephew for calling himself a grand general, or rebuke him for speaking as though Ming conquest of Japan were inevitable. Seeing Li Wenzhong continue his dramatics, the emperor waved a hand in irritation.
"Stay after the session and dine with me. Tell me properly about this grand plan of yours to conquer Japan."
Though the emperor did not use his usual affectionate nickname, Li Wenzhong was still delighted.
Nearby, Crown Prince Zhu Biao frowned as he considered the centuries of chaos in Burma described by the narrator.
"If even the Yuan could not properly govern it, how could our Ming, newly founded as we are, succeed?"
"Are we expected to help unify it ourselves?"
"Why make it so complicated?" Zhu Di, his younger brother, turned toward him with bright enthusiasm.
"If their kingdoms are constantly fighting one another, then they lack unity. If they lack unity, why not bring them into Ming?"
"Send capable generals and administrators southward, advancing gradually. Incorporate their territories one by one. At the same time, build a fleet and sail around to the western approach where the Portuguese later intervened. Strike from north and south, use the fertile lands of the Khmer as a base, and consolidate step by step. With fifty years of steady effort, the South Seas could be secured."
Zhu Biao fell into thought. Zhu Yuanzhang, however, looked faintly surprised.
The strategy might be somewhat idealistic, perhaps even naïve. Yet beneath it lay a coherent idea: first establish loose control, then gradually civilize and integrate, until the people became Ming subjects and the land naturally became Ming territory. Given enough decades, such a place could become, as the narrator had phrased it, an inseparable part of the realm.
Zhu Di was only twenty-one. That he could think this far already pleased the emperor greatly.
Zhu Yuanzhang decided to test him further.
"And what of Java?"
Without hesitation, Zhu Di pointed at the strait west of the island.
"From the map, control of the southern seas hinges on this passage. If we pursue maritime strategy, we must govern from the Central Plains into Khmer territory, and from there secure this strait."
"If the strait is held, western enemies cannot enter. The southern island states will become interior states of Ming. Let them quarrel among themselves. In the end, they will all become our vassals."
It was not an especially brilliant plan, but it was direct, practical, and militarily sound.
For Zhu Yuanzhang, that was more than enough. He laughed loudly.
"Brother Xu Da, it seems the military council in Beiping will soon have another seat filled."
---
[Lightscreen]
[Beyond the military failures that plagued Kublai Khan, the death of his wife dealt him another heavy blow.
History records many imperial couples who lived in harmony: Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou and Empress Ashina; Li Yu of Southern Tang and the two Zhou sisters; and in Ming times, the famously devoted Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma.
As for the lurid tale claiming Emperor Taizong of Song violated the younger Zhou sister, that is little more than wild rumor. It may serve as gossip, but it should not be taken seriously. Li Yu's fate was tragic enough without embellishment.
Yet couples who not only shared affection but also supported one another politically were rarer. Tang Taizong and Empress Zhangsun were one such pair. Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma were another. Kublai Khan and Empress Chabi belonged in the same category.
Kublai married Chabi long before anyone imagined he might one day ascend the throne of Great Khan.
When Ogedei died suddenly during a western campaign and Empress Toregene seized regency power to clear the path for her son Guyuk, it was Chabi who repeatedly urged Kublai not to oppose them recklessly. Survival, she said, was the first step toward victory.
Later, when Mongke became Great Khan and began to suspect his capable younger brother, it was again Chabi who advised Kublai to seek reconciliation, to play upon brotherly affection, and even to surrender military command temporarily in order to retreat strategically.
When Mongke died at Diaoyu Fortress during the war against the Song, opportunity suddenly fell into Kublai's hands. After intense struggle, he succeeded in fracturing the Mongol Empire and establishing his own rule.
After the fall of Southern Song, Chabi continued to counsel restraint. She urged him to treat surrendered officials well, not to persecute the Zhao imperial clan, to promote capable ministers, and to avoid unnecessary slaughter. In many ways, she guided him like a steadying hand, and her presence was a crucial pillar of stability in the early Yuan court.
Curiously, Kublai greatly admired Tang Taizong. Zhu Yuanzhang, in turn, admired both Kublai and Tang Taizong.
All three were founding emperors. And in certain ways, their fates were strikingly similar.
Tang Taizong lived to fifty-one and lost his empress at thirty-eight. Zhu Yuanzhang lived to seventy-one and lost Empress Ma at fifty-four. Kublai lived to eighty and lost Empress Chabi at sixty-six.
Each endured the grief of losing his empress.
And within a few years of that loss, each would also lose the crown prince he valued most.]