Once the ordination edict was finished, Zhao Kuangyin did not consult his younger brother at all.
He simply ordered the attendants to deliver it to the proper office for record keeping.
Just like that, the matter was settled.
Afterward, Zhao Kuangyin clasped his hands behind his back and lifted his head to the luminous screen.
The long stream of praise the later generations had for Zhuge Wuhou did not surprise him. Any ruler worth the throne had read the histories of past dynasties. Zhao Kuangyin's own ambition was to end the age of chaos and forge unity.
Not to behave like Hou Jing, that reckless usurper who rose in rebellion, strutted wildly, seized a throne for a single fleeting moment, and fabricated an ancestral temple out of pure delusion.
Still, hearing later generations retell these stories while recalling what he himself had studied created a strangely layered feeling.
Only Zhao Pu gave a quiet sigh.
"That 'Comprehensive History of China' must be a history compiled in later ages. I wonder what judgment it gives on us."
The entire hall fell silent at once.
Liu Han thought that if his name merely appeared in such a history, he would already be satisfied.
Zhao Kuangyin, meanwhile, found himself wondering whether his brother's later tampering with historical records might affect how he himself would be judged.
When he turned his head, he saw the monk Kongjiong, still not yet shaved, sprawled on the floor with a faint smile.
Clearly Zhao Guangyi had also thought of Zhao Pu's remark. And clearly he believed the name Zhao Jiong would receive no shortage of praise in those histories.
That sight instantly irritated Zhao Kuangyin.
Even the soles of his feet began to itch.
What interrupted him from discreetly scratching them was Zhao Pu's sudden exclamation.
"So this is the full shape of the western lands."
Earlier, guided by Zhuge Wuhou and Tang Taizong, they had replayed the segment titled "From Powerful Clans to Aristocratic Houses to Noble Lineages." The ending scene showing Earth from afar had already struck Zhao Pu like a thunderbolt.
To know the vault of heaven.
To see sun, moon, and stars.
To sigh at the brevity of human life.
To mourn the boundlessness of the cosmos.
Yet that earlier view of Earth had been too abstract.
Only now, as the later narrator casually began discussing the ancient Indian trade routes and the exchanges between Former Han and Rome, did the perspective rise higher and higher until the lands west of the Western Regions unfolded completely before them.
Beyond Persia.
Past the Arab lands.
Even reaching the territories west of Byzantium.
At last, Zhao Pu, Zhao Kuangyin, Liu Han, and the others gained a clear and concrete understanding of the world beneath their feet.
"No wonder later generations were so dissatisfied with Northern Song's partial peace in one corner…"
Emotion stirred Zhao Pu into speaking without restraint. No one present bothered to nitpick the slip.
Voices filled the hall.
Some urged scribes to copy the map immediately.
Some argued about the relationships between Rome, Byzantium, and the Arab realms.
Some marveled at the oceans.
Some simply gasped at the immensity of the land.
The map was crude, but major rivers and mountain ranges were marked. That alone was enough to estimate the vastness of the world.
Zhao Kuangyin, however, was thinking about something else.
"No wonder later generations praise the shipbuilding of the Two Songs."
Both Han and Tang had explored the Western Regions. The records described treacherous mountains and unpredictable climates. Beyond the Western Regions, human effort simply could not push further.
But now he looked at the maritime routes on the map, and remembered how later generations had described the importance of Bianliang's canal transport system.
From that small clue, he began to sense just how crucial shipbuilding might be.
Zhao Pu studied the map with great care while listening to the luminous screen narrate the difficult exchanges between the eastern and western ends of the world over a thousand years ago.
Suddenly, he felt a surge of emotion.
"Heaven and Earth have limits. If we do not contend, how are we different from frogs in a well?"
Before the sentence even finished, his tone sharpened.
"Dynasties rise and fall over centuries. If we do not contend, we may not even learn whether our neighbors on this Earth live or perish."
"To strive among nations, to compete upon the Earth. This is the duty our generation owes to those who come after."
Now that he knew both past and cosmos, Zhao Pu refused to become the Zhao Pu recorded in later histories, the one who advocated disarmament, compromise, and quiet submission.
He wanted to gather Song's sharp edge, strike it like a bell upon the Earth, and let its sound shake the world.
Only then, he believed, could the spirit within this seven foot body truly be revealed.
Zhao Kuangyin looked at him with clear satisfaction. After decades as partners, seeing Zhao Pu's fighting spirit rekindled could only be good news, for him and for Song alike.
"What use is knowing how vast it is?"
The sudden voice cut sharply across the hall.
Zhao Kuangyin did not even need to look. He knew it was his dear younger brother.
Zhao Guangyi continued.
"Does elder brother wish to become a tyrant like the First Qin Emperor, or a reckless spender like Emperor Wu of Han?"
"Both Emperor Wu and Tang Taizong campaigned in the Western Regions. How many Han people remain there now? Even the Guiyi Army is on the verge of collapse."
"To exhaust the people and drain the treasury just to make a name for yourself. How is elder brother's selfishness any different from mine?"
Zhao Kuangyin's expression did not change.
Calmly he said, "I thought you were about to call yourself 'We' again."
Zhao Guangyi choked on his words, but forced himself to continue.
"I speak only for your sake."
Zhao Kuangyin kept his head raised, not even glancing at him.
"If so, why do later generations remember Qin Shi Huang and Han Wudi so vividly, yet look down on Sun Quan for clinging to one corner?"
"Even in the centuries after Jin, only Liu Jinu wins consistent admiration."
"My private ambition may resemble yours. But yours seeks safety. Mine seeks a legacy lasting a thousand autumns."
At that point Zhao Kuangyin finally turned and looked at his brother.
The contempt in his eyes was undisguised.
"This is my Great Song. Not your Weak Song."
None of the earlier words moved Zhao Guangyi.
That single sentence did.
His eyes flared with fury. His fists clenched. He almost leapt up, ready to prove himself, ready to show his brother he was not someone to be trampled.
Then he looked up.
And met a pair of utterly emotionless eyes.
He knew that look.
Zhao Kuangyin always wore it when leading troops. Advantage or disadvantage, charging personally into battle or holding formation, it never changed.
Remembering those battlefield victories, the anger inside Zhao Guangyi deflated at once.
He lowered his head and no longer dared meet that gaze.
"Heh."
Even with his head lowered, Zhao Guangyi heard the faint chuckle.
It carried pure dismissal.
Zhao Kuangyin lifted his head again and focused on the luminous screen. It was now describing how, even after a thousand years, the Wa people still resisted British invaders and regarded themselves as descendants of Kongming.
Several in the hall were visibly moved.
"Wuhou truly was an extraordinary man," Zhao Pu sighed.
If he could achieve even three parts of Zhuge Liang's accomplishments before dying, his life would hold no regrets.
Zhao Kuangyin also felt deep admiration for Zhuge Liang's governance of Shu.
"Two years of work, praised for a thousand. Positioned in a weak land yet still intent on northern expeditions. No wonder Yue Fei invoked him to express his resolve. No wonder Shu still honors the Zhuge clan in sacrifice."
To be honest, if either he or Zhao Pu possessed Zhuge Wuhou's ability, would they ever have adopted the strategy of tackling the easy before the difficult?
Would they not have marched north, commanded strong troops, crossed the river southward, and made all under Heaven submit, just as many southern campaigns in history had done?
Was it that they did not want to?
They simply could not.
"Wuhou's character was too lofty. We cannot hope to match it," Zhao Pu concluded after reading the later judgment on Zhuge Liang.
Zhao Kuangyin straightened and said, "Let Wuhou stand as our model of loyal ministers. What we urgently need now is to emulate his northern expedition."
At the mention of this, Liu Han immediately stepped forward.
"If Your Majesty truly wishes to achieve great enterprise, then from today onward, you must abstain from alcohol and also from rich sweet foods."
Zhao Kuangyin's face fell instantly.