In the Ganlu Hall, Li Shimin was still weighing two matters.
One was whether to seriously study mathematics.
The other was whether experimenting with gunpowder might get him killed first.
Before he could reach a conclusion, Du Ruhui suddenly understood something.
"No wonder," Du Ruhui said softly, gazing at the suspended image. "During a full moon, we sometimes see dark patches on its surface. It turns out those are pits and craters."
Having resolved this minor puzzle, Du Ruhui personally wrote down two additional names beside the others.
Zu Chongzhi.
Guo Shoujing.
The light screen continued.
"Apart from naming lunar craters in honor of pioneers, we have also named asteroids after historical figures, to commemorate them."
The scene suddenly accelerated.
Stars streaked past the edges of the screen, countless celestial bodies flashing by in rapid succession. Soon, the motion stopped before a small, unremarkable asteroid.
Fang Xuanling read the inscription aloud.
"Number 1888. Zu Chongzhi Asteroid."
The screen resumed its movement, carrying both the Ganlu Hall and the Chengdu Prefecture viewers through the depths of space. One after another, names appeared and were carefully recorded.
"Guo Shoujing Asteroid."
"Zhang Heng Asteroid."
"Yi Xing Asteroid."
"Shen Kuo Asteroid."
Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui wrote methodically.
Yet Li Shimin's attention had already drifted elsewhere.
"So the stars in the sky," he said slowly, "are each worlds like our Earth?"
During the rapid approach earlier, he had seen it clearly. Just as the Moon lost its brightness up close, many of those distant points of light revealed themselves to be massive bodies—some even larger than Earth.
Li Shimin felt a faint tremor pass through him.
If so, then from the perspective of beings beyond the heavens, the Earth itself was merely another star.
So this was what later generations meant by a journey into the sea of stars.
The galaxy stretched endlessly, countless celestial bodies scattered within it. If other civilizations existed among them, then the idea of enemies beyond the heavens was not unreasonable at all.
Almost immediately, the light screen confirmed his thoughts.
"Most recently, an asteroid was named after Teacher Liu."
"As for his achievements, everyone knows them."
"He discovered the 'Trisolarans.'"
Li Shimin stood up abruptly.
For the first time, he felt an intense desire to witness the future himself—to see how later generations ventured into the stars and what those enemies beyond the heavens truly looked like.
But the thought quickly settled.
A thousand years lay between them.
More importantly, his empress, his ministers, and his generals were all here.
He was an emperor of this era.
If later generations could reach such heights, then his task was to build a flourishing age—one where scholars could study mathematics and astronomy in peace, where the people lived securely, and where the nation endured long enough to be passed on.
Elsewhere, Pang Tong remained preoccupied.
Craters on the Moon. Asteroids. Stars bearing Zhang Heng's name.
They had lived less than a century apart, yet the difference felt immense.
Pang Tong made up his mind.
Starting tomorrow, he would devote himself to mathematics.
Since his fate of dying by a stray arrow had already changed, then mastering scholarship could become his next goal.
Zhuge Liang noticed Pang Tong's resolve and smiled faintly. That saved him the trouble of stirring him on.
But when Zhang Fei leaned in beside him with a broad grin, Zhuge Liang's expression stiffened slightly.
Zhang Fei studying mathematics…
Perhaps it was not entirely impossible.
The screen changed once more.
"That concludes this episode."
"From the rise of powerful clans in the Han Dynasty…"
"…to the Wei–Jin aristocracy draining dynasties dry…"
"…to the Tang, where aristocracy and state fell together."
"The common people rose from oppression, smashing the great clans."
"Aristocratic families vanished."
"Kings and nobles returned to dust."
"Today, ordinary people rely on their own strength to enter the stars."
The light screenpaused.
"For the next episode, there are two topics."
Topic 1: Let's talk about the Three Kingdoms era and 'Sun "Shiwan" Quan wholesale nicknames for the Wei state.
Topic 2: Starting with An Lushan, a look at the An-Shi Rebellion that completely rewrote the course of Chinese history.
"Please cast your vote."
Two options appeared.
Zhuge Liang glanced around the hall.
There was little disagreement.
"Give the Emperor of Wu some face," Zhang Fei said with barely concealed laughter.
"Better to show courtesy to the Tang emperor," Pang Tong added.
"We should study how history was altered," Liu Bei said seriously.
The others nodded.
Zhuge Liang tore off a slip of paper, wrote their choice, and cast it into the light screen.
Scrolling text appeared once more.
[Server Chat Log]
ProductivityMeta: Let me say this seriously once: only new productive forces can defeat old systems. Science and technology are the primary productive forces.
LandlockedTheory: Honestly, in ancient times it was insanely hard to raise productivity. In the end, it all came down to land.
MergerIsInevitable: Exactly. Even if the aristocrats fall, the Song and Ming small landlords would still annex land ruthlessly.
WarringStatesQuote: Ancients already said: "Till the land, but do not possess it—await a proper system." But feudal society could never pull that off.
CoupSpeedrun: Yeah, try that back then and the local strongmen would be the first to overthrow the emperor.
Zhuge Liang's eyes widened slightly, and he quickly recorded the idea.
New productivity defeats old systems.
Another comment followed.
[Server Chat Log]
EmpireCosplay: Hearing this, it suddenly makes sense. America is basically at the end of the Eastern Han.
WeedDynasty: Nah, judging by the legal clover situation, this feels more like Wei-Jin.
RedneckCavalry: Bullshit. Late Han still had strong regional armies. American rednecks are barely functional.
StillCanCope: Don't be overly optimistic.
Feels more like mid-Western Han or early Jin—they can still limp along for a while.
Pang Tong frowned.
"Assigning posthumous titles while rulers are still alive?" he muttered. "Strange indeed."
More discussion flowed.
[Server Chat Log]
SongEconomics: Compared to Song tech, Song civilians were even more impressive.
Less land than Tang, yet they supported hundreds of thousands of troops,
tons of officials, and still paid tribute on time.
MerchantRoute: Commerce changes everything. Before Song, merchants were half-despised. They couldn't even take the exams. Song let merchants enter officialdom,
taxes naturally improved.
DynastyDissonance: Every time I look at Song I feel split: oppressive taxes, yet disaster relief was fast; literary flourishing and entertainment boom, yet women's status plummeted.
MidLaneMeta: Tang women rode horses in men's clothes. Song women bound their feet to match twisted aesthetics.
ConfidenceCollapse: Some research says this started in late Tang—
Wu Zetian plus An-Shi shattered confidence,
led to xenophobia and misogyny.
Song inherited it and amplified it.
LegalContradictions: Tang law stripped women's inheritance rights, but Song law allowed daughters half shares if parents died early. Implementation? Who knows.
Li Shimin let out a quiet sigh.
Again, the An Lushan Rebellion.
Knowing it was coming and seeing it explained were two different things.
He resolved to summon Sun Simiao again. He suspected his headaches would worsen once that episode arrived.
Another comment appeared.
[Server Chat Log]
HeliocentricDrama: Seeing the Earth map reminded me—
why was Copernicus burned,
but Zhang Heng was fine?
HistoryCorrector: UP, stop being illiterate.
Burned was Bruno, not Copernicus.
And it was about divine kingship—
you challenge God, believers burn you.
CosmologyNerd: Also, Zhang Heng's Huntian theory wasn't "geocentric" like people think.
Heaven was spherical, Earth was flat.
Later advances—Yi Xing in Tang—
used observation and math to prove Earth's curvature.
That's why he got an asteroid.
SouthDynastyChampagne: Most cursed take was Liang Emperor Wu.
Used Buddhist cosmology to kill Huntian theory outright.
Historical U-turn.
Southern Liang's fall?
Good death—pop the champagne!
PseudoScienceAlert: Later you had Song folks using the I Ching to explain physics.
Looked legit, core was garbage.
Disrespect reality, no real science emerges.
Zhuge Liang paused.
A monk using mathematics to prove the curvature of the Earth?
Perhaps religion and scholarship were not always at odds.
He carefully wrote it down.
The screen gradually dimmed.
Silence returned to the hall.
Only the sound of brushes moving across paper remained.