The comments continued to scroll across the screen.
[Server Chat Log]
[BornToQueue: "It really is a case of 'Xiao He creating the success and Xiao He causing the failure.' The Song's tech boomed because they prioritized the pen over the sword, but they were destroyed for the exact same reason."
LegendIfLucky: "I disagree. Can you really call Neo-Confucianism 'science'? The core of science is the pursuit of objective truth, not moral philosophy."
WonByMistake: "Agreed. Science is a tool that needs a proper methodology. Neo-Confucianism was still trying to figure out its own navel-gazing world view; it couldn't guide a scientific revolution. But you can't judge feudal officials by modern standards. The 'Tech Tree' has too many prerequisites—math, astronomy, navigation—that the Song simply couldn't unlock yet.
CriticalButLate: "That's the tragedy of the feudal era. Advanced science inevitably becomes a tool for class oppression. It turns into superstition or a prop for the ruling elite."
SkillIssueKnight: "How did the Song support such a massive population with such a weak foundation? Agriculture. The South had a merchant-farmer boom since the Five Dynasties. Zhao Kuangyin ended the chaos, allowing seeds and tools to be exchanged between North and South. Even if the Song population topped 100 million, the North China Plain was still being wasted. If they'd managed it better, the growth potential would have been insane."
VictoryPatchSoon: "In that sense, the Southern Song's fall is a bit tragic. Mathematical barriers were already lowering. With more time, who knows…
PingKilledHonor: "Pity? The Northern Song had commoner-born Chancellors, but the Southern Song forgot the rule: 'Chancellors must rise from the provinces, and fierce generals must come from the ranks.' No matter how good the people were, the emperors were either cowards (Zhao Gou), insane, or lazy. The Chancellors were either traitors or useless. It was all for nothing."
WonByMistake: "Still, that atmosphere was a rare peak for ancient China. The Ming Dynasty improved in the application of technology, but in terms of scientific theory and thought? It was a regression. Truly a shame."]
---
"Then if the Hongwu Emperor was so capable," Zhang Fei muttered, "why did he dislike mathematics?"
Normally, such a challenge would already be written on paper and tossed toward the screen for debate with the mysterious speaker.
But now everyone was busy.
Zhang Fei himself stood beside a hastily moved desk, brush sweeping like a spear as he carefully reproduced the diagram known as the "axle-frame warping method."
The strategist had said this technique could "secure the livelihood of countless commoners."
So even though Zhang Fei felt regret, his hand did not tremble. Stroke by stroke, he reconstructed the image from memory with meticulous care.
---
At the same time, Zhuge Liang's brush seemed almost to fly.
Fragments of ancient texts that had appeared only briefly on the screen were all engraved in his mind, pouring out onto paper through swift ink strokes.
"Wine begins from mash. When mash is absent, water mixed with vinegar may substitute… add scallion and pepper and simmer, called the revived old mash… glutinous grain must be selected first… pound, sift, rinse clean…"
"Sprouting grains must be washed thoroughly, tools kept spotless, steaming and pressing must be timed precisely, grinding while hot, drying fire well controlled…"
Methods for brewing wine, preparing tea, pressing oil, printing texts. One after another, the crafts unfolded in calm prose. Some were accompanied by rough sketches, which Zhuge Liang reproduced in quick, confident lines.
When copying the section on tea, he paused briefly.
"The Treatise on Tea… written by Zhao Ji. The Northern Song Huizong?"
Though spoken softly, Lu Su beside him heard it clearly and still found time to comment while organizing his own notes on scientific thought.
"That Huizong was mocked in later ages as an emperor better suited for pleasure houses, and even tried to include painting in the civil examinations. Yet he still wrote such a work. If he had not been emperor, perhaps everything about him would have been admirable."
Zhuge Liang simply nodded and quickened his brush again.
Even Liu Bei sat silently writing, recording the words flashing across the screen.
From those unrestrained later commentaries, he now understood more clearly why their era was called "feudal" by posterity.
At first, he had thought the term came from the Zhou practice of enfeoffing vassal states.
Now he knew that guess was wrong.
Instead, every time the screen casually discussed the limitations of their age, the meaning of that word became clearer.
It was a road not yet fully visible.
Yet Liu Bei felt that at its end lay the answers to why later emperors vanished, and how the feudal age itself came to an end.
---
Inside Ganlu Hall, the scene was much the same as the Luo River residence.
Officials hurried.
Li Shimin pondered.
Empress Zhangsun leaned close, hesitant.
"My lord… are you troubled?"
Before she could finish, Li Shimin shook his head.
"I am not troubled."
Seeing disbelief in her eyes, he smiled and pulled her gently closer.
"Now that we know what later generations wished for, and what grief they carried, if I abandoned the pursuit of reason, I would be ashamed."
"One must reflect inwardly and stand firm. Only then can one face ten thousand people without fear."
"I used that courage to survive the chaos of my age. Why should I abandon it now?"
The words sounded complicated, but in his heart the Tang emperor was very clear.
Rather than worry about whether the Tang would last forever, it was better to push forward the path of inquiry the screen had placed before him.
After all, history shown by the screen had proven again and again that even the greatest emperor could not control events after death.
Not even a century later.
Not even five years.
Thinking of his son and the rise of Wu Zetian, Li Shimin could already see it. If one reasoned backward from her future rule, it was obvious that even his immediate legacy lay beyond his grasp.
So his mood was unexpectedly calm.
He was only thirty-three years old.
What was there to fear?
He even had spare curiosity left for that newly encountered Hongwu Emperor.
How had that man calmly accepted that Zhu Qizhen, who could rival Zhao Gou in incompetence, would exist?
After all, the later jokes about exchanging their timelines had left Li Shimin remembering Zhu Qizhen's situation clearly.
He inherited prosperity and a powerful army, yet still allowed himself to be captured by the northern tribes. Truly incomprehensible.
But then again, after hearing the later explanation of Zhao Gou's failures, Li Shimin remembered how he himself had felt upon learning about the disasters of Emperor Xuanzong, the usurpation of Wu Zhou, and the turmoil of the Wu and Wei clans.
Thinking of the future now, he almost found himself curious.
---
Inside Kunning Palace, Zhu Yuanzhang could not make sense of it.
"These words… this questioning of me…"
"What does it mean?"