[Server Chat Log]
[Full_Armor]: What hurts most is Zilong. Even without the oath, they were brothers in life and death. "Prime Minister, Yun is old; he can no longer follow me to reclaim the Central Plains."
[Frame_PvP]: Silver armor and white robes, a loyal follower to the end. The tragic songs of Yan and Zhao are a tribute to Zilong. Zilong, Zilong, world-peerless, the fierce general of Shijiazhuang!
[Salted_Fish]: Goddammit, the tears were literally welling up in my eyes, and then your "Shijiazhuang" comment forced them right back in.
[History_Buff_66]: Since ancient times, heroes are like beauties, they are never allowed to grow old before the world]
Jiang Wan gently massaged his aching calves. He had been kneeling for a long while, copying down page after page, yet he still felt he had not seen enough.
But even if he had not seen enough, the like button still needed tapping.
Ma Su, clueless as he was, managed to force out a thumbs up under Zhang Fei's menacing glare.
After the likes came the usual gift sending segment. This time, Kongming seemed to have prepared in advance. He pulled a box out from beneath his desk.
The wooden box was thin and perfectly square. Kongming did not open it. He simply took a sheet of blank paper, wrote a few characters on it with meticulous care, and placed it on top of the box.
He set these down beneath the light screen with solemn formality and stepped back. The screen flickered, and the items vanished.
With the broadcast now over, the civil and military officials finally allowed themselves to relax.
As the main subjects of this episode, Kongming and Ma Su naturally drew the most eyes.
Even Huang Yueying felt a spark of curiosity. She asked quietly, "Husband, what do you make of the loss at Jieting?"
Kongming paused for a moment. He noticed everyone else perking up their ears, clearly just as eager to hear his thoughts.
Ma Liang's heart seized up. His hands clenched involuntarily.
"The defeat at Mount Qi. The first fault lies with me. I should have abandoned Mount Qi and moved swiftly on Shanggui."
"The secondary responsibility also lies with me. Jieting is a strategic choke point; I should have dispatched a seasoned general to defend it to the death, rather than entrusting the vanguard to a mere Adjutant leading troops for the first time."
This was Kongming's verdict on his future self. Deep down, he felt that his first Mount Qi campaign had been naive, inexperienced. Days of pointless attrition beneath the walls of Qishan City. One step behind at every turn, reacting instead of acting.
The future generations... truly love me too much.
Ma Su felt his heart turn to dead ash. He could feel his childhood dreams slipping further and further away with every passing breath. And right in front of him stood a general with a truly terrifying expression.
"I never imagined the Tang and Ming would share such deep connections," Jian Yong mused. He was curious about every new and novel thing. That naturally included these future dynasties he could only learn about through the light screen.
"Still, it makes me wonder. If our lord destroys Cao and revives the Han, would that Li Shimin even be born in Longxi?"
Liu Bei was thoroughly unconcerned. "Why worry about such things?
If we can crush the Cao traitors, we still have to pacify the northern barbarians and suppress the rebels in Joseon and Goguryeo.
We must move south to secure the Han populace in Jiaozhou and follow the path of the Former Han to reopen the Silk Road.
My brother Yunchang is even itching to cross the sea and subjugate the Wa people. If I can achieve all this, I will have no shame before the Liu ancestors. As for things hundreds of years from now, let them be."
He turned to Jian Yong with a teasing grin.
"In fact, Xianhe, don't worry about temples and monuments. You should at least worry about leaving a few extra lines in the history books."
Jian Yong laughed heartily. "To be remembered for my wit and humor is an elegant destiny in itself."
...
With the light screen temporarily dormant, the Zhenguan court also took the chance to rest.
Li Shimin was even poking idly at the charcoal brazier. "Wuji, go fetch some more charcoal."
Zhangsun Wuji went off as instructed. The coals in the brazier had already burned pale white. Watching Li Jing nod off drowsily beside it, Li Shimin spoke up.
"Hongjin has sent word from Daizhou. Tuli has sent a secret message. He may wish to enter the court."
Hongjin was Zhang Gongjin. Last year, Li Shimin had instructed him to secretly observe the Turks in Daizhou. Even Zhang Gongjin himself had not expected the situation to shift so quickly.
"Also, the Bayegu, the Uyghurs, and the Tongluo are all stirring restlessly."
"Your Majesty's insight is keen." Li Jing jolted awake from his drowsy state. "This year, I shall bind Jieli in chains and present him before Your Majesty at the Imperial Ancestral Temple."
"However..." Li Jing's gaze drifted toward the light screen.
Li Shimin smiled. "Afterwards, the light screen's contents will be preserved in writing and illustrations, for you to review upon your triumphant return, Yaoshi."
Zhangsun Wuji returned with the charcoal. Li Jing slipped right back into his drowsy dozing state.
Li Shimin strolled back behind Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui. He peered at their transcriptions and curled his lip.
Why does the future have so much praise for this Zhao Yun? He's clearly not as good as me."
"Perhaps because the title of the screen is focused on the Zhuge Wuhou," Zhangsun Wuji guessed.
"I wonder how many months we'll have to wait before it talks about our Great Tang in detail?"
Li Shimin scowled fiercely, displaying his true colors as a hater. "What is there even to say about that Sima clan's mess? It should spend way more time talking about our Great Tang!"
"Oh, right. And that glorious Chang'an of the future."
That was the only thing Li Shimin was truly interested in.
And at that very moment, on that small page of the Sou Shen Ji-In Search of the Supernatural the light screen flickered back to life.
The Zhenguan ruler and his ministers stared wide eyed as vivid images appeared upon it. A feather fan, pure white in color, exquisitely crafted.
Beside it was a note with a single line of text: A gift from Zhuge of Nanyang, a mere village bumpkin.
[Lightscreen]
[Thanks to the big boss for the donation! I always feel like I don't deserve such high-tier gifts.
But man, this fan is gorgeous. I have no idea where the boss bought this, but I bet it's worth at least a hundred bucks! I tried it out myself, and honestly... it's not as good as the AC.
Overall, the style points are ten out of ten. While the practical utility is debatable, I absolutely love it!]
[Server Chat Log]
AC_is_Life: "Not as good as the AC" LMAO. Is that fan even meant for cooling?
Nature_Tree: I'm a wildlife protection major and I have just one thing to say: the feathers on that fan are from the White Crane, a Grade-1 protected species. Luckily, there have been no recorded poaching cases of white cranes in the last decade, or our illiterate creator would be at the police station making a statement right now.
Lack Wifi_Nerd: For real. Also, a quick reminder: keeping it as a collection is okay, but buying or selling that fan is highly illegal. I advise our creator to be careful.
Face_Slap: My god, he just said it was worth a hundred bucks and the reality check hit him immediately. Classic illiterate creator move.
Salted_Fish: The donor is definitely a heavy hitter, but it actually makes total sense. Back in the Prime Minister's time, white cranes were everywhere, and their habitat was the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze. It fits perfectly.
Frame_PvP: We probably use goose feathers for everything now, right? Since machine incubation is so fast, we have more goose feathers than we know what to do with.
History_Buff: It's a shame about artificial incubation. It was a technique that existed as early as the Pre-Qin era, but the scholar-officials just weren't interested in researching it further.
Pain_45: It was mostly because it was hard to maintain a constant temperature in ancient times, and people didn't realize that unhatched chicks actually need to breathe.
Watch_Bot: It really is a pity. If they had more chickens, ducks, and geese, maybe Erfeng wouldn't have had to eat locust sashimi.
Locust_Slayer: Locust sashimi LOL... but it's true. You can't stop a massive swarm, but you can definitely mitigate smaller ones with poultry.
Inmate_Watch: How did this conversation derail so fast? I just want to see when our "illiterate-tier" creator turns into an "inmate-tier" creator. I'm waiting.
Restorer_88: Waiting for "Uneducated Creator" to be "Prison-Bound Creator." Mugshot arc soon?
Li Shimin understood what "locust sashimi" meant almost instantly. After all, it had not even been a full year since he had swallowed those locusts live during last year's plague.
He forced down the faint wave of nausea rising in his stomach and cut straight to the point. "Chickens and ducks can solve locust plagues?"
Fang Xuanling nodded in confirmation. "When Your Majesty previously sought methods of exterminating locusts, the common folk did offer a suggestion. They claimed a single chicken or duck can eat three dou of locusts per day."
"However, the chickens and ducks are limited in number. The locust swarms are limitless. Using fowl to fight locusts is like trying to douse a burning cart of firewood with a single cup of water."
"Your Majesty, we must try this method!" Du Ruhui cut his old friend off and stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, we must try this method!" Du Ruhui interrupted his old friend, speaking with urgency.
"I have heard rumors among the people that this artificial incubation method has indeed existed since the Pre-Qin era.
In the Hebei region, they use fire-pits; in Lingnan, they use charcoal buckets; in Henan, they use warming vats.
However, the success rate is abysmal. Out of ten eggs, perhaps only one or two hatch. The rest turn foul and become inedible.
Because of this, the people know the method but refuse to use it. Now that we have the guidance of the divine machine, it is a blessing for the people!"
Li Shimin grasped the implications immediately. If every egg, no... if out of every ten eggs, at least five could hatch, then in just a few years they could deploy an army of chicken nationwide. They would produce eggs. They would produce meat. And they would suppress locust plagues.
"A blessing for the people is a blessing for the Great Tang!"
The vision seized Li Shimin's imagination on the spot. The more stable the livelihood of the common people, the stronger the Great Tang would become. And the stronger the Great Tang became, the easier it would be to go and smack around those shameless foreign kingdoms.
This logic was crystal clear to him. And so the "Incubation Policy" was settled without further debate.
Li Shimin even entertained a further thought. "Keming, what do you think? Could the Imperial Academy establish a School of Science? Or perhaps a School of Light Screen Studies?"
This was an idea he had been nursing for some time. The future generations always spoke of "science." They had skyscrapers, vast roads, and cities of light that stretched for miles.
They had divine tools like this screen that could summon spirits. Was it all because of science? Or did the future sovereigns have a more advanced version of this screen protecting them?
Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui exchanged a glance. This was not a topic to be handled lightly. Fang Xuanling raised the first objection.
Your Majesty, the study of Law has the Tang Code; the Great Academy has the Three Classics; even Mathematics has its own scriptures. I must ask: does this 'Science' have its own essential scriptures?"
Du Ruhui was equally cautious. ""Your Majesty, the same applies to 'Lightscreen Studies.'
The words of the screen are scattered and chaotic. As we saw this time, one needs a deep understanding of the Book of Han, the Records of the Three Kingdoms, and the Book of Wei just to avoid being completely confused.
If Your Majesty simply wishes to find people to interpret the screen's words, we can take the transcripts and edit them for clarity.
Then, Your Majesty can hand them to those with quick wits for review."
Li Shimin nodded in agreement. "Very well. Xuanling will follow Keming's suggestion and prepare a redacted version of the light screen transcriptions."
"Keming will remain here. I am summoning the Chief Physician and his deputy. They will conduct a thorough and detailed examination of Keming's health."
...
Zhang Fei's booming voice echoed out. "Isn't that the white crane fan the Military Counselor treats like a treasure? I remember you were always reluctant to use it. Who'd have thought it would nearly bring disaster on that future kid?"
Kongming analyzed the situation coolly.
" While it may be a restricted item, there were people providing warnings. I doubt he will find himself behind bars.
Besides, with the jade pendant and the gold my Lord sent previously, he should not be lacking in wealth."
But inwardly, he felt a twinge of regret. That white crane feather fan had been purchased at great expense during his diplomatic mission to Jiangdong. He had treasured it ever since.
Who could have known that in the future, the white crane would become a "Class One Protected Species"?
Still, Kongming did not regret the decision at all.
"That white crane feather fan was little more than a beautiful trinket. To trade it for this egg incubation technique..."
"Well worth it."