"Eastern Han kindergarten?"
Liu Bei, who had merely been listening for amusement, did not expect to be hit by a stray arrow.
Having watched the light screen for so long, he already knew that later generations divided the Han into Western Han and Eastern Han according to the location of the capital. Restricting the scope to his own dynasty, and adding words such as "propped up," "milk-scented child," and "easy to control," what this "Eastern Han kindergarten" referred to was obvious enough.
Liu Bei could only laugh wryly and shake his head.
"Our Han has provided many examples for later ages to inherit."
Yet when he saw that the Taiding Emperor, who had been elevated as a puppet, died in his prime after only eight years on the throne, Liu Bei could not help but feel puzzled.
"But why are the Yuan emperors all so short-lived?"
Zhuge Liang set down his pen and flexed his wrist.
"Before we understood the affairs of the Yuan court, Divine Physician Zhang and I once discussed the peoples of the northern frontiers."
"The tribes beyond the Central Plains live in bitter cold lands. They lack clothing and food. Those who survive are invariably hardy and fierce."
"Thus, once they gain wealth and leave that harsh environment, they often abandon their former discipline, indulging in heavy drinking and gluttony. Their bodies decline, and their lives are shortened."
Liu Bei nodded. He trusted Kongming's words.
At that moment, Cao Cao, seated at an angle some distance away, cupped his hands and called out loudly:
"What this Military Adviser says is most reasonable. From my own campaigns against the Wuhuan, I observed that fewer died from drink, but many perished because overeating made their bodies sluggish and infirm."
"It shows this is not unique to the Yuan. Even the Xiongnu who submitted to Han suffered the same."
Zhuge Liang considered briefly, then nodded.
"What Chancellor Cao says accords with Divine Physician Zhang's judgment. As for fewer dying from drink, that may relate to improvements in brewing techniques mentioned by later generations."
A faint smile appeared on Cao Cao's face.
"I am but a captive beneath the Military Adviser's steps. How dare I presume? If you do not disdain it, you may call me by my courtesy name."
Liu Bei felt, not for the first time, that this was indeed Cao Cao. Even with his leg unhealed, even surrounded by enemies in this hall, he could still speak shamelessly and attempt to draw closer to Zhuge Liang.
Just then, the voice from the light screen slowly recited the list of models for usurpation. Cao Cao's own name was among them, cutting off his words.
Seeing the Chancellor stand stunned, Liu Bei found the sight novel and teased:
"What does Mengde think of this Yuan chancellor's conduct? Was it fitting?"
Cao Cao rubbed his face. His voice was somewhat muffled.
"Unfitting, of course. If the Crown Prince is only nine, then the sooner he ascends the throne, the better."
"After that, one should constantly remind the young emperor of his father's grace, and denounce any disliked persons as ungrateful to Heaven's favor."
"Once regency authority is secured, with meritorious nobles outside and a feeble Son of Heaven within, whom can the emperor rely upon except that chancellor?"
Zhuge Liang merely smiled faintly and returned to revising the greatly condensed records before him.
Looking at Cao Cao, who though distracted remained composed, Liu Bei sighed.
"If Mengde had been born in the Yuan court…"
Before he could finish, Cao Cao laughed and cut him off.
"If you mean to kill me, then kill me. Why curse me so, Xuande?"
"But this Sima Yi…" Cao Cao hesitated.
Earlier, when Zhang Fei had said that Sun, Cao, and Liu would all ultimately belong to the Sima clan, he had still been stunned by the light screen, shocked at the fate of his own house, and at the matter of Cao replacing Han. He had thought the rise of the Sima merely chance.
Yet this Sima Yi was the very man he had sent to contact Han Sui, who thereafter vanished without trace.
If Liu Bei had long possessed the light screen and known the future, perhaps he would have captured Sima Yi for that reason. But the Han emperor still lived. Was there need to act so early? Or did the Sima clan possess some other peculiarity?
"It is that very Sima Yi."
Zhang Fei spoke decisively, shaking his head with a grin.
"He slaughtered your clan and seized your mandate. As the Cao treated Han, so the Sima treated Cao."
"But now Sima Yi is in Yunnan, civilizing the local tribes. Chancellor Cao, will you not thank my elder brother?"
Cao Cao cupped his hands slightly. He said nothing, but remembered more.
The letter Zhang Fei had written at the end of the Jingxiang campaign, the miraculous great ships, Jiangdong's fleeting rebellion. In the end, he only sighed.
While Liu Bei and Cao Cao shared ambiguous reflections, Pang Tong, free of such burdens, was far more carefree.
"Kongming, who would have thought that in such a short time we would survey all the emperors of the Mongol Yuan."
"Yet aside from Kublai, who lived to eighty, why are they all short-lived?"
"And the succession of the throne is utter chaos. Later generations even say that after the Yuan fell, some Han willingly called themselves subjects of Yuan and labeled the Ming rebels. What did they seek?"
Zhuge Liang stopped writing and gazed upward for a long while before answering softly:
"In every age, scholarship is valued not for ability, but for loyalty."
"Loyal submission wins literary fame and preserves one's integrity. It matters not whether Han or non-Han."
Pang Tong shook his head.
"But surely there must be some limit."
"A limit?" Zhuge Liang replied. "Only distinctions."
"The distinction lies in what one seeks through study. To preserve oneself, to preserve the people, or to preserve the civilization of Huaxia. These are not the same."
"The path of governance and learning is long. There remains much for us to do."
…
"In the year of my birth, such unusual events occurred?"
Within Huagai Hall, Empress Ma watched her husband grow cheerful again, seemingly forgetting earlier displeasure, and shake his head in wonder.
"So I truly was born in response to Heaven's mandate, destined to seize the Mandate from the Mongol Yuan!"
She knew that her husband had always felt some unease about his humble origins.
Open any history book and one sees omens at birth, slaying of white serpents, or like Emperor Taizong of Tang, earning glory on horseback before reaching manhood.
As for the Son of Heaven of the Great Ming, he had gone hungry in childhood.
When recalling his achievements, he took pride in this, yet sometimes sighed that he fell short of the ancient sage-kings.
The light screen's words now seemed to provide him with an annotation.
Zhu Zhen blinked and quickly found a problem.
"Fourth Brother, did you not say that on any given day of the world ten thousand are born? In the same year, there must be millions. If millions are destined to seize the Yuan mandate, no wonder the Yuan fell."
Zhu Di shut his eyes in pain.
"I never said that. Sixth Brother, do not slander me."
"And even if born in the same year, could others be the same as Father?"
Zhu Yuanzhang's anger had just begun to rise when the Empress suddenly laughed and turned to soothe him.
"Sixth Brother is not entirely wrong. Even with fate, if Chongba had done nothing, could he have founded the Great Ming and ruled the realm?"
"Even if there were destiny to destroy Yuan, that destiny depends on human action. What I cherish is the man Chongba and what he did, not the day of his birth."
The Son of Heaven of Ming flushed slightly.
"Our sons are present…"
[Lightscreen]
[In 1328, Zhu Yuanzhang was born. For now, let us grant little Chongba some time and space to play in the mud and steal birds' eggs. Once he grows up, such simple joy will be rare indeed.
For at this moment, another figure of consequence steps onto his own stage: Toqto'a.]