For Xu Da, his first thought was whether the Mongols in that later age had produced some extraordinary figure, just as Ming had.
But the thought was quickly dismissed when he saw that vast and strangely named country.
That Mongolia, wedged between the Su state and Huaxia, looked almost like… a festering sore.
Still, however miraculous the screen might be, what Xu Da had seen so far amounted to only a short moment.
So although his reason tried to analyze the later political situation, instinctively he still felt a strong sense of distance. Li Shanchang beside him had his brows twisted tight, clearly struggling to understand the enormous, multicolored map before them.
After thinking for a moment, Xu Da turned to the emperor, who was obviously the most familiar with the screen's revelations.
Zhu Yuanzhang had already risen again. This distribution of later national borders was also his first time seeing it. But noticing Xu Da's confusion and the blank looks on the other officials, the Son of Heaven pondered briefly before sharing what he knew.
"That state by the far western sea, Portugal, is skilled in maritime affairs."
The route by which the Washing Away of Wrongs had spread was still displayed clearly on the later map. After the emperor pointed it out, the others finally noticed the otherwise inconspicuous Portugal.
"The screen once said that thirty years after Temujin died, envoys from Portugal came to Huaxia. After they returned home, they claimed Temujin had died from a lightning strike, and that is how later generations learned of it."
"The Marquis Wu also told us that from Portugal's first embassy to its naval incursions in the east, the time between them was only three hundred years."
"Three hundred years? That would be two hundred years after our Ming!"
Zhu Biao gave the same startled cry Zhu Yuanzhang had once uttered when he first heard it. Since this information had come from the Martial Marquis, he had no doubt at all.
"No wonder Father previously ordered the collection of sea charts from the Hu Yuan period, and commanded local officials to gather and organize shipyards and shipwrights. I thought it was to deal with the Japanese pirates, but it turns out it was preparation for the future."
A trace of satisfaction appeared on the Ming emperor's face. He nodded.
"The Hu Yuan must be destroyed, and the navy must be managed as well. Only then can we suppress the Japanese pirates and guard against sea raiders from the far west."
Inwardly he even felt some relief. From the look of it, Portugal did not possess the kind of overwhelmingly powerful fleets he had feared.
If their navy had truly been unmatched, they could simply have forced their way to Ming's shores and done as they pleased. Why would they need to act indirectly, dealing with a Japanese rebel like Toyotomi Hideyoshi?
Yet seeing that Japan had relied on Portuguese firearms, these arquebuses, to achieve rapid victories, a sudden and indescribable sense of urgency rose in his heart.
While the emperor was still thinking, Li Wenzhong had already leapt forward eagerly.
"Your Majesty is wise! I am willing to take on this responsibility, to spread Ming's prestige abroad and eliminate enemies at the frontier!"
Zhu Yuanzhang studied this nephew carefully. The earlier sense of urgency returned, and a half-formed idea surfaced.
"Securing the seas cannot be done in a single day."
"If Bao'er wishes to complete this achievement, he should first study firearms, so that they may…"
He recalled the later scene of countless cannons firing together, igniting the sky and overturning the earth. That seemed too ambitious. He shook his head.
"If they can be made more suitable for ship deployment and more effective in naval warfare, that will be enough."
"So you are saying what the screen shows is the appearance of the world?"
Cao Cao very much wanted to dismiss everything shown on the screen as nonsense. But seeing Liu Bei and his refined strategist discussing with furrowed brows, seeing Guan Yu stroking his beard while watching intently, and remembering the few pages of the Washing Away of Wrongs they had just seen, all made it clear that this object was extraordinary.
So Cao Cao shook his head and asked another question.
"Your secret meetings every three months are because of this?"
"The repeating crossbows and those other unspeakable things all came from here?"
Zhang Fei answered honestly, shaking his head.
"Some we saw directly. Some the strategist figured out himself."
"But what the screen shows goes far beyond that. We even saw what happens to you after your death."
"After my death?"
Cao Cao's heart stirred. If Zhang Fei had said this before, he would probably have taken it as an insult. But now he truly felt curious.
How would later generations judge him, Cao Cao?
"Yes. After your death."
Zhang Fei nodded and began counting on his fingers.
"For example, Mengde, your head gets taken away for study. Your tomb gets dug up. And later people even go to your grave and recite denunciations against traitors."
Cao Cao: …
"And then your son falls ill, your grandson dies young, your great-grandson gets killed in the street by the Sima clan, and then your Cao family gets—"
Zhang Fei's enthusiastic counting was cut off when Cao Cao raised a hand.
"Right now I am a prisoner. Zhang Fei, why do you curse me?"
Zhang Fei scratched his head, eyes full of sincerity.
"How am I cursing you?"
But Cao Cao no longer fell for that act. He gave a cold laugh and stopped dwelling on it. Instead he looked up at the enormous country on the map and sighed.
"This Su state… its territory is truly vast."
He had not really understood the map itself. It was simply that the Soviet territory was too striking, occupying almost forty percent of the visible area.
Before he finished speaking, however, he saw that enormous territory suddenly break apart.
[Lightscreen]
[The once unbreakable union that commemorated Song Ci's work eventually still reached the day of its dissolution.
Afterward, even broader flames of war returned to this world, and they burn to this day.]
Cao Cao stopped speaking. He watched as that vast country vanished before his eyes.
Icons representing soldiers began appearing repeatedly at the map's borders, entering one country after another.
Several of the larger states constantly showed arrows of various meanings pointing beyond their frontiers.
As the number in the upper left corner advanced, wars flared and died. When the passage of time slowed, the western lands of that former great state once again erupted in conflict.
[Lightscreen]
[The conflicts among the Slavic peoples can be simply summarized as external causes and internal causes.
The external causes are widely known and complex, involving foreign intervention, color changes, oligarchic betrayal, and many other factors. Those are not what we are discussing here.
What we will briefly review today is the internal cause, namely the conflicts among the Slavs themselves. And those conflicts must likewise be traced back to the era in which Song Ci lived.]
Cao Cao watched as the number in the upper left began decreasing again. As it fell, that enormous country returned and vanished once more. Hundreds of states rose and fell in rapid succession.
Finally time stopped again.
Before them appeared a realm whose territory rivaled that former Su state.
It was labeled: The Mongol Empire.
[Lightscreen]
[We previously mentioned that the rise of Genghis Khan was accompanied by the unification of the tribes of the Mongolian Plateau. During the conquest, the most troublesome opponents were the western Mongol tribes.
When conquering the Naiman tribe, the previously surrendered Merkit tribe suddenly rebelled. But in the end the allied forces of the two tribes were still crushed by Temujin.
The Naiman prince fled west into the Western Liao, eventually becoming an imperial son-in-law and seizing the state, but it was ultimately crushed under Mongol hooves.
The Merkits fled even farther. After their chieftain Toqtoa died in battle, his son Khudu led the remnants west across the Caucasus Mountains into the lands of the Rus, seeking protection. He was eventually sheltered by the Kipchak ruler's household.
Subutai, pursuing closely behind with a great army, advanced as far as the Ural River region and attempted negotiations, demanding the surrender of Khudu. But the Kipchak ruler, Inalchik, believed the Mongols were acting aggressively and advised Temujin to show greater magnanimity. This led Subutai to wage war against the Kipchaks.
Later, because Temujin completed the destruction of Khwarazm, the First Western Campaign ended. After achieving partial victories, Subutai was ordered to return, but hostility between the two sides had already been established.
After Temujin's death and Ögedei's accession, the Second Kurultai resolved to "eradicate and destroy the remaining resistors," clearly referring to the Kipchaks.
Thus in 1235 the Second Mongol Western Campaign began.
Because the army was commanded by Batu, grandson of Temujin, and because the eldest sons of the princes all accompanied the expedition, with commanders down to the tumen leaders sending their own eldest sons to join, this campaign was also known as the Western Expedition of the Eldest Sons.]