"Jiang Wei?"
Zhuge Liang prided himself on his memory, but no matter how hard he racked his brain, the name refused to ring a bell.
"Perhaps Jiang Wei is a man of Yi Province," Liu Bei said gently. "You may only meet him later. No need to dwell on it." After all, Liu Bei himself didn't yet know Meng Da either.
Zhuge Liang stroked the short beard at his chin. After these two sessions of watching the light screen dissect history, his mindset had subtly shifted. Reviving the Han could never rely on one man's courage or brilliance alone. Even if they would not end up on the same path shown by the light screen, gathering talent and nurturing future generations could only help, never harm.
"My lord," Zhuge Liang said after some thought, "we must accelerate our plans for Yi Province. And as for… Jiaozhou, perhaps it is still worth fighting for."
"That makes sense," Liu Bei nodded. "I'll write to Xianhe shortly."
They couldn't expect Shi Xie to oppose Cao Cao or Sun Quan outright, but the images revealed by the descendants had stirred something in Liu Bei's heart. So educating the people could count as a monumental achievement as well! Even if future generations built temples to honor Shu's heroes, who would ever complain about being worshipped by too many people?
Jian Yong had been sent to Jiaozhou just last month and had yet to return. All the more reason to send a letter and explain matters clearly.
Moreover, the light screen had commented that if Eastern Wu had developed something called a "navy," they could have sailed south along the coast to Japan or north to Indonesia as a retreat.
Liu Bei would rather die than flee overseas—but if he had a port, perhaps he could research that thing called an aircraft carrier too? He himself couldn't manage it, but wasn't Kongming right here?
As for Zhuge Liang's suggestion to "fight for" Jiaozhou, that was also because everyone knew Eastern Wu had its eyes set on it already.
Huang Zhong's expression, however, was oddly complicated. Guan Yu's face flushed a deeper red as well—both had caught the line about how Vietnam was later "lost" by the Ming dynasty.
Zhao Yun stood to the side with his eyes closed, deep in thought. Earlier, when the light screen had switched images, there had been scenes of cavalry formations. The horses looked well-fed, the armor complete—but the formations were loose, the soldiers lacking spirit. Something about it felt… wrong.
"Development, development—always development," Liu Bei sighed, shaking his head. "I thought we had finally laid a foundation, yet now everything feels more urgent than ever."
"If my lord has such thoughts," Zhuge Liang said with a smile as he gathered his sketches, "why not study agricultural tools with General Zilong?"
"That would be excellent," Liu Bei agreed readily, then issued orders as he went.
"Yide—starting tomorrow, sweep up the bandits in the surrounding mountains so the people can hunt and farm without fear."
"Training the troops will be Yun Chang's responsibility. General Hansheng will oversee security around Gong'an County."
With a few sentences, the tasks were broadly assigned. At the same time, a message appeared on the light screen.
[Next video update: one month later.]
As the broadcast ended, Liu Bei once again fell into indecision.
What should we send this time?
Last time, in the rush, they had only sent a jade pendant. This time, knowing the schedule in advance, they had prepared several items and even planned to choose carefully—but who could have expected the descendant's second video to be so packed with content? A single gift no longer felt sincere enough.
"Why not send everything together?" Liu Bei said, wincing slightly.
Poor as they were, sacrifices could not be skimped on!
Wen Mang wiped sweat from his brow yet again, amazed at his fans' efficiency. His video had only been up for a day—how had he already received another gift?
Carefully slicing open the tape with a utility knife, he revealed a wooden chest inside.
It was about the size of a desktop computer case. Each corner was reinforced with bronze fittings, and the surface was painted with ancient, rustic designs. At first glance, Wen Mang had only one thought:
This looks completely out of place.
The chest belonged in a historical drama—sitting in the male lead's study, storing books or treasured items. Placed in his own room, it just felt wrong no matter how he looked at it.
He lifted it experimentally. It wasn't very heavy, but he could feel something rolling around inside.
"There's stuff in here?"
There was no lock. When he opened it, the scent of incense drifted out. Silk cloth lined the bottom, and atop it lay several gleaming yellow objects…
"Replica gold coins!"
Wen Mang whooped, tossing the lid aside and scooping everything onto the desk.
Having brushed up on Han-dynasty history recently for his videos, he recognized them at once:
horseshoe gold and gold wuzhu coins.
No wonder the chest had some weight to it.
Both were valuable items in the Han dynasty. With cultural tourism booming, many shops sold replicas nowadays—but Wen Mang had never splurged on them himself. To think a fan would send them!
An idea immediately struck him. Why not do some field research for the next video?
No sooner thought than done.
One horseshoe gold and five gold wuzhu coins lay on the silk, basking in the glory of Wen Mang's camera. After snapping a batch of photos, he selected the best ones, arranged them into a four-image collage, and posted an update on Site 13.
Back in Gong'an County, the group waiting in the side hall had begun to feel hungry after the light screen vanished. Just as Zhuge Liang had predicted, the screen unfurled once more in midair.
[Gifts from a little buddy received! The UP really loves them. Everyone's enthusiasm makes me embarrassed—so I'll delay the next video a bit. When it goes live, you'll get to see Chengdu!]
[Images 1–3: Horseshoe gold and gold wuzhu coins.
Image 4: High-speed rail ticket from Luocheng to Chengdu.]
Comments:
Holy crap—horseshoe gold and gold wuzhu?! Please adopt me!
Definitely fake. One horseshoe gold weighs half a jin. At today's price—400 yuan per gram—that's over 100,000 yuan each. Still, these replicas look great.
Gold wuzhu is gorgeous… drooling…
High-speed rail to Chengdu is still too slow. Might as well fly.
Go see panda Huahua if you can—super cute!
Liu Bei smiled broadly at Wen Mang's post, though he didn't quite understand what "delay a bit" meant.
As long as the descendant liked the gift, that was what mattered.
But the comments puzzled him.
"Wasn't horseshoe gold one jin?" Liu Bei frowned. "Have I remembered it wrong after all these years?"
"One jin per decree," Zhuge Liang replied, recalling Emperor Wu's regulations. "Perhaps later eras altered their measurements. What we call one jin may equal only half a jin to them."
Zhuge Liang also noted the descendant's units: four hundred yuan per gram, one horseshoe gold worth one hundred thousand… meaning one horseshoe gold was 250 grams? Half a jin? Then one jin would be 500 grams?
Why not a thousand grams?
He couldn't make sense of it, so he quietly committed it to memory.
"The descendant travels to Chengdu on this… high-speed rail?" Guan Yu stroked his beard. "So that final image is a travel voucher?"
As they discussed it, the image of the ticket enlarged for all to see.
Guan Yu nearly tore out his beard.
"From Luoyang to Chengdu in just over six hours?! What unbelievable speed!"
Even without knowing how "hours" compared to shi, it clearly meant less than a day. Even a full day would have been unimaginable.
Zhang Fei snorted. "Second Brother, what's there to be shocked about? Look—someone says it's still slow, that flying would be faster. The descendants can fly now! I wonder what kind of wings they grow. If I were born then, I'd want wings like a hawk or falcon—that'd be something!"