"Third Brother!" Guan Yu, uncharacteristically exuberant, struck Zhang Fei's shoulder with such force that the younger man winced. "To crush Zhang He's main force in a single battle! One of Wei's Five Elite Generals—defeated by your hand!"
Wei Yan stood by, bewildered. Is this truly the same General Guan? The man famed for his cold dignity and hidden emotion now laughed freely like a proud elder brother.
Zhang Fei, meanwhile, was staring intently at the images flickering on the screen—particularly the "Inscription of Mount Bameng." He studied every character until they were etched into his mind, then exhaled a long breath. His familiar, unrestrained grin returned.
"Second Brother, I didn't even take Zhang He's head. How can it be called a great victory? Compared to your 'fame that shook all Huaxia,' it's hardly worth mention."
The hall erupted in laughter, and the tension that had hung in the air dissolved into warmth.
"Yide, you've lightened my heart," Liu Bei said with a smile. "It seems Liao Li's criticism had merit. When we first secured Yi Province, I should either have abandoned Hanzhong temporarily to secure the four commanderies of Jingzhou, or yielded the three commanderies of Jingzhou to seize Hanzhong."
"Instead, I gave up the three commanderies and failed to take Hanzhong. I was left with nothing—squandering the lives of my men for no gain."
"Why reproach yourself so, my lord?" Pang Tong grumbled, his voice brimming with loyalty. "Liao Li speaks with hindsight—judging the past through the results of the future. That is hardly just!"
Liu Bei smiled, placating the irate strategist, and turned back to Zhang Fei. "Yide, your valor is evident to all. Though this inscription alone would bring you fame, you must still emulate Wei Qing, Huo Qubing, and Li Guang—love your soldiers, and uphold justice in rewards and punishments."
Zhang Fei's expression turned solemn. "This inscription… the prose is unrefined, and its placement obscure. Now that I think of it, defeating a cur like Cao Cao is nothing worth boasting of."
Jiang Wan interjected with a grin. "Does the Third General intend to rival the Marquis of Champion, then?"
Almost on cue, the screen changed, addressing the very subject.
[Voiceover]
"A brief detour: the le ming or le shi—inscriptions carved into stone—were the ultimate expressions of a general's glory in antiquity.
The Great Han set the standard for such immortal boasts: The Investiture at Mount Wolf Juxu, Ceremonies at Mount Ganyan, Watering Horses at the Vast Sea, and The Carving at Mount Yanran."
Zhang Fei pointed at the screen in excitement. "To sweep the plains, to strike six times deep, to return west across the Great River, and to line the commanderies along Qilian—such deeds of the Marquis of Champion are worthy of praise! That is a true man!"
"Well said, Yide," Guan Yu replied, his eyes gleaming with pride.
"The ages to come seem to prize the conquest of foreign lands and the extermination of the tribes beyond the frontier," Liu Bei observed thoughtfully.
"That may not be entirely a virtue," Kongming said calmly, his tone measured. "The Marquis of Champion was a genius blessed by Heaven. Perhaps the future reveres such deeds precisely because no one since has equaled them."
Liu Bei fell silent, his mind recalling the "Uprising of the Five Barbarians," the "Song Dynasty," and the countless soldiers and commoners who perished for their homeland.
Zhao Yun, meanwhile, thought of his own legend—the "Horse Washing Pond." If the barbarians reached as far as Chengdu, he thought uneasily, was the entire North lost?
"Dou Xian was a tyrant who abused his power, yet the future still credits him with destroying the Xiongnu," Pang Tong remarked. "It seems that merit and fault are weighed with great precision in later ages."
Inwardly, Pang Tong felt a faint unease. He glanced at Kongming's serene expression, and at his lord's deepening vision. Before joining Liu Bei, he had believed that seizing Yi Province was the height of strategy. Only now did he realize his lord's gaze extended to the whole realm.
Pang Tong, oh Pang Tong, he chided himself, you must not fall behind. Tonight, I shall read every word transcribed from that screen.
[Voiceover]
"Then came the Great Tang, which essentially said, 'Hold my wine.'
They turned those northern lands into actual provinces, pushing their frontier toward the Arctic Circle at their height."
The hall was struck silent as if thunder had rolled through it.
"The Tang… made the Vast Sea their territory?"
"Their borders exceeded those of the Han?"
"The Marquis of Champion marched three thousand li beyond the frontier to reach the Vast Sea," Pang Tong said quickly, calculating in his mind. "From Chang'an to the Vast Sea is over five thousand li. Did the Tang truly hold a frontier of ten thousand li?"
The words left everyone stunned.
Zhao Yun whispered, "With such vast lands, were the northern tribes completely annihilated?"
"Unlikely," Kongming replied thoughtfully. "It must have been a system of protectorates. If they had been wiped out entirely, the future would not still speak of 'barbarian troubles.'"
[Voiceover]
"By the Great Song, all of that was gone. What remained was longing, heard in the poetry of Fan Zhongyan:
'A cup of thick wine, home ten thousand li away; / At Yanran, no inscription carved, no plan for return.'
And in Xin Qiji's lament:
'Swift were the years of Yuanjia; / Seeking investiture at Wolf Juxu, / They earned only a panicked glance northward.'
In the Song, the brave and the patriotic yearned for military glory—but found only frustration and grief."
"Wait," said Ma Liang, who had been transcribing. "Wasn't there a General Yue in that Song, who sought to reclaim the North?"
"Perhaps he was hindered by that 'Wanyan Gou'?" someone guessed. The memory of those two youths at Wuhou Shrine—calling someone a 'feeder'—remained vivid.
Liu Bei recalled more clearly. "No… the screen said General Yue fought the Jin during his northern campaign, but in the end, the Song was destroyed by the Mongols."
"Not one foe, but many great enemies!"
"Such a calamity…" The men's voices dimmed with sympathy. The plight of the Song seemed harsher even than their own. At least they had the nominal alliance of Eastern Wu; the Song had faced two powerful enemies and perished beneath a coalition of tribes.
[Voiceover]
"In 2017, the nation of Mongolia announced the discovery of a cliff carving.
Research confirmed it as the Inscription of the Investiture of Mount Yanran, composed by Ban Gu himself.
The characters remain clear and legible to this day.
This ancient carving, enduring a thousand years, bears witness to the Great Han's might spreading three thousand li into the desert—reaching Uvs Lake.
To carve one's deeds upon stone is indeed the highest honor a general can attain."
The revelation drew gasps from every man in the hall.
"Mongolia?"
"That land not only became a nation but endures into the future?"
"The Yanran inscription lies within Mongolia's borders… could these Mongols be the descendants of the Xiongnu?" Ma Liang ventured.
"The Tang's dominion was vast, yet even they could not pacify all who defied them," Liu Bei murmured.
Perhaps because his own struggles mirrored theirs—or because the Song's General Yue had stirred his heart—Liu Bei felt a quiet kinship with that later dynasty. If the Tang had truly annihilated the barbarians and secured their lands forever, he thought, how could later ages have faced such calamities again?
"Even the stone carved by the great Ban Gu now lies in another nation's hands," Zhao Yun said heavily. The thought filled the hall with melancholy.
"Then we shall carve our own inscription at Yanran again!" Guan Yu declared, his eyes blazing. "If the Tang of the future could forge a realm of ten thousand li—
We, too, have Heaven's omen in this screen, the bond of brothers, and the counsel of two great strategists. Why should we not achieve the same?"
His conviction was like fire. The men felt the weight of destiny settle upon them—not as a burden, but as a purpose.
If we accomplish this, they thought, how will the future remember us? The mere question made their blood quicken for the battles yet to come.
[Voiceover]
"Anyway… that was a tangent. Let's return to Yiling."
"Eh?" The men groaned in unison.
"What's the point of revisiting Yiling?" Zhang Fei complained, his voice booming. "We already know it ends in defeat! Why dwell on that? Tell us more about this Mongolia—and those four frontiers!"
Liu Bei gazed at his exuberant brother with weary affection. Perhaps, he mused, I should write a couplet for him—something like 'Brave but heartless.'
[Voiceover]
"After Zhang Fei stabilized Baxi, the first obstacle to the Yiling campaign was cleared—peace within and without.
Yet though the territory was secure, Yi Province still suffered the bitter consequence of Liu Bei's earlier choices: a crippling shortage of funds."
[Live Comments]
NoobSlayer99: [Han-Shu economy = broke. They literally printed Monopoly money at one point.]
PentaKill_Enjoyer: [The 'Inscription on Horseback' was an absolute flex. Zhang Fei = 1000 IQ scholar in a tank's body.]
GachaLife_4Ever: [Imagine finding an ancient Han carving in your backyard in 2017. Ban Gu wins the ultimate flex.]
AFK_Farmer: [Shu-Han had the worst spawn point—mountains everywhere and zero economy.]
ToxicMain: [Liu Bei spent all his gold on troops, none on tech. Classic rookie mistake.]