The Son of Heaven of Ming was sighing.
The Crown Prince of Ming was staring blankly.
The princes of Great Ming had already begun arguing noisily among themselves.
"Father defeated that Hu Yuan. Then can we also launch a western campaign and establish merits unmatched in this age?"
"Fourth Brother wants a western campaign again… But the voice just said that even with Hu Yuan's brutality, governing the western lands still proved insufficient, and those places are distant beyond measure. If something changes there, what then?"
"Fifth Brother, I also want to go west with Fourth Brother…"
Zhu Bai, who had just turned ten, watched his elder brothers' dispute with great interest. For him, he could still understand the words being spoken, but grasping their full meaning required more effort.
Seeing Fourth Brother and Sixth Brother both speaking fervently of leading troops westward, while Fifth Brother stood alone arguing against the two of them, Zhu Bai simply moved to stand beside Zhu Su.
"You are not allowed to bully Fifth Brother!"
Zhu Di immediately reached out and vigorously kneaded the younger boy's cheeks.
"Little Bai forgets that it was Fourth Brother who carried you just now."
Only after rubbing him did he explain:
"Besides, who is bullying whom? Where is there right or wrong here? In the end, does it not all depend on Father's decision?"
Zhu Su nodded in agreement and casually patted his younger brother's head as well.
The Empress watched the scene and felt considerable relief. So long as the brothers could remain harmonious, it would be difficult for uncles and nephews to grow estranged, much less drive one another to death.
Yet faintly, she felt a trace of doubt.
Biao'er was most benevolent by nature. How could he have taught Xiongying a heart so severe as to force an uncle to death?
"Xiongying?"
Unable to resolve the question, the Empress simply beckoned her grandson to her side.
The Emperor and the Crown Prince were both watching the luminous screen and speaking in low voices. She would personally guide this fine imperial grandson, and lay for him the foundation of benevolence and enlightened rule.
Zhu Biao firmly committed to memory the later evaluation of this so-called window of time. Facing his father's remark that later generations understood his difficulty, he almost spoke without thinking:
"Regarding this hidden peril, your son will certainly exhaust himself to share Father's burden!"
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled faintly, then straightened his face.
"Hongwu has Hongwu's merit. Yongle will have Yongle's achievements."
"How can a father fail to seek complete accomplishment himself and instead let his son do the work?"
"The matter of North and South lies within my own responsibility. Biao'er need only thoroughly understand the troubles of the seas."
…
Setting aside the diagram of the entirely unfamiliar heavy iron armor, Kongming sighed softly at this notion.
"A window of time… what an expression."
"Kongming, what does this 'window of time' mean?"
Liu Bei felt that those few phrases were overly brief, and so he directly sought clarification from his strategist.
Looking up, Kongming saw that not only Xuande Gong, but also Cao Cao and Xun Yu and others wore puzzled expressions as they watched him.
So Kongming rose and hung up the map stretching from the lands of Wa in the east to the far end of the Mediterranean Sea in the west. With his feather fan he pointed to it and said:
"In the future age there was once an evaluation of the fruits of technology. Papermaking, printing, and gunpowder were all listed among them."
"I believe that as for the utility of papermaking and printing, Xuande Gong must now understand them thoroughly."
Liu Bei nodded. He even turned and explained to Cao Cao:
"Mengde must have used Zuo Bo paper. Though of fine quality, its price rivals gold, and thus it is of little practical use."
"But in later times there are several methods of papermaking. Bamboo paper, straw paper, rice-stalk paper and the like are produced at ever lower cost and greater ease."
"Mengde does not know this: in Jing, Yi, Hanzhong, and Guanzhong there are now over a hundred small academies. Each academy possesses books of ten thousand words."
"The paper required needs only a hundred craftsmen laboring three months. The printed texts require merely three to five stone carvers and fewer than ten days of work. How advantageous this is."
Cao Cao looked at Liu Bei and found himself without words. His gaze conveyed a single thought.
Xuande, you need not continue.
He naturally knew of Zuo Bo paper, and had even stored away many sheets he was reluctant to use. Yet he had never considered such extensions of its application.
Kongming nodded and continued:
"The other sharp instrument is gunpowder. Once applied in warfare, there will no longer exist an impregnable city in the world, just as with this heavy infantry armor…"
As he spoke, Kongming lifted the hurriedly sketched drawing from before. The details were clear. At the knees and elbows there were enlarged depictions of the joints. Around them were hastily written conjectures, for he did not know how the interior of the armor was constructed. Even so, it was already astonishing. Cao Cao's heart grew heavier still.
"Such fine armor would cost no fewer than one hundred thousand coins. Yet one hundred thousand coins used to manufacture gunpowder…"
Kongming shook his head. Liu Bei glanced at Cao Cao. Before he could speak, Cao Cao answered directly:
"I know well its power and its advantage."
Kongming smiled and nodded at him. Only then did Cao Cao feel somewhat at ease.
Kongming continued:
"When Westerners obtained paper and printing, they thereby flourished in civil governance. When they mastered the use of gunpowder, they thereby transformed military governance."
"The old methods could no longer be followed. The new methods had yet to be fully established. Thus the great continent underwent transformation, and the world entered its own Spring and Autumn and Warring States."
"Rather than calling it a window of time, it is better to say that from this began the world's great trend of contention."
"The various states and peoples attacked and negotiated frequently. Those who adapted and sought knowledge became strong and endured. Those who remained closed and complacent became weak and fragmented."
Eight chi tall, Kongming stood there, his expression calm.
Yet his words fell upon the hearts of those present like towering waves.
---
[LightScreen]
[Even to this very day, renewed war among the Slavic peoples is described by some as a confrontation between autocracy and democracy.
Democracy is a universally pursued value of modern political civilization. Of this there is no doubt.
Yet when democracy is mentioned, some will say that Genghis Khan, founder of the Mongol Empire, was in fact more democratic. Whether this is true or false, we may follow this thread to discuss the fall of the Mongol Empire.
Generally speaking, the claim that Temujin was democratic arises from the kurultai system he established.
Simply put, no major matter could be decided by one household alone. The leading nobles of each clan had to deliberate together.
It may broadly be described as a "Mongol aristocratic assembly." Temujin's original intention was to balance the interests of all parties as far as possible, and to avoid internal armed conflict and attrition among the Mongols.
In the context of that era, it could indeed be called aristocratic democracy. Yet the illiterate Temujin could hardly have foreseen the question: by what means would such democracy be defended?
A glance at the rise and fall of the Mongol Empire largely provides the answer.
Before his death, Temujin transmitted the position of Great Khan to his third son, Ögedei. In accordance with the Mongol custom of the "youngest son guarding the hearth," he left the majority of the army to his youngest son, Tolui, who was to act as regent.
By "majority," we mean that Tolui was left with one hundred thousand troops, while the remaining three brothers each received four thousand.
Let us imagine the situation. If you were Tolui, what would you think?
Faced with a vast empire, faced with one hundred thousand against four thousand, most men would feel that Third Brother's seat looks rather comfortable. Perhaps I would also like to sit upon it.
In fact, possessing the authority of regency, Tolui would not even need to resort to force. If he simply delayed convening the kurultai assembly, Ögedei's position as Great Khan could not be formalized.
For Temujin had stipulated that a new Great Khan required approval by the kurultai to possess legitimacy.
As for compelling Tolui to convene the kurultai, that is mere fantasy.
That was one hundred thousand troops.
Who would compel whom?]