Pang Tong's joke was not particularly funny, but it served its purpose, cutting through the heavy, reverent atmosphere like a dull knife through thick silk.
The tension in the side hall of the Gong'an County Office slowly bled away, replaced by a quiet, shared understanding.
Zhuge Liang took the silk handkerchief offered by Huang Yueying. As he dabbed at the corners of his eyes, he offered a modest, self-deprecating smile.
"That man on the screen... is the Prime Minister of Shu Han, Zhuge Liang."
"And you," Liu Bei cut in at once, his voice ringing with pride and affection, "are the Military Advisor General beneath my banner, Zhuge Liang!"
The others joined almost in unison, their voices rising together and echoing off the rafters.
A wave of genuine laughter swept through the room, grounding the celestial revelations back into the reality of their present struggle.
Kongming merely shook his head with a soft chuckle and did not bother defending himself further.
Deep down, however, a strange warmth spread through his chest.
Words could carry intent.
Writing could preserve emotion.
Even across the gulf of nearly two thousand years, he could feel the profound care and concern the people of the future held for him.
It was a weight.
But it was a beautiful one.
Jian Yong stretched his legs atop his plush cushion, looking as relaxed as a cat basking in the sun.
"Seriously, Kongming, you really need to start taking care of yourself. Our Lord here survived more than a dozen defeats and is already past sixty, yet he is still standing. You, on the other hand, took the reins of power only to burn out like a spent candle at fifty-four. That is simply poor management."
The issue of his health had been brought up so many times now that Kongming could only respond with a look of sheepish embarrassment.
He cleared his throat and adjusted his feather fan.
"Recently, with Shiyuan assisting me, I have not stayed up past midnight to finish reports for several months now. I believe I am making progress."
At last, the group truly relaxed.
In the words of the Light Screen, this man was the literal incarnation of wisdom.
Equal to Zhang Liang?
No.
The screen seemed to suggest he had surpassed even that.
The Light Screen shimmered.
The narrator's voice returned, carrying with it the weight of a tragedy waiting to unfold.
[Lightscreen]
[In the year 223, the year following the disaster at Yiling, Liu Bei passed away at Baidicheng. The great state of Shu Han stood on the verge of collapse.
After the deaths of his brothers, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, Liu Bei had staked the remnants of his strength on one final gamble against fate, and he lost everything.
In the third year of Zhangwu, the first Emperor of Shu came to the end of his life, a man who died with a heart full of regret.
Upon his death, Liu Shan ascended the throne. He enfeoffed Zhuge Liang as the Marquis of Wuxiang and granted him full authority to open his own office and oversee all state affairs.
By the following year, Zhuge Liang was appointed Governor of Yi Province. It was said that all matters, great and small, were decided by Zhuge Liang.
The deathbed entrustment at Baidicheng and Liu Shan's complete delegation of power transformed the regrets, dreams, pressure, and burdens of a broken nation into a mountain that settled squarely upon Zhuge Liang's shoulders.
From that moment onward, the Prime Minister carried Shu Han upon his back as he began the work of governing the land of Shu.]
Liu Bei's face paled.
Guilt and sorrow flickered across his expression.
Seeing this, Jiang Wan, ever the most empathetic among the administrators, softly recited a line that seemed as though it had drifted in from the future itself.
"The world is divided in three, and Yi Province is exhausted; this is truly a moment of life and death."
Pang Tong, however, was more interested in the raw facts.
He shook his head, his mind already racing through countless tactical variables.
"Half the military strength was lost at Yiling, the treasury was in ruins, and the Nanzhong rebellions we saw earlier most likely erupted precisely because they smelled weakness."
"The screen is not exaggerating. Shu was not merely in trouble. It was in a state of total structural collapse."
No soldiers.
No grain.
No money.
How did one win a game when there were no pieces left on the board?
[Lightscreen]
[The first crisis the Prime Minister faced upon taking over this mess was the severe lack of resources.]
[The defeat at Yiling had devastated the economy. But Kongming appeared to have formed a plan before the funeral rites had even concluded.]
A plan for an invisible war. This war required a weapon. And in the turbulent year of 223, the Prime Minister issued his Decree on Brocade.
"Now the people are poor and the state is empty. The resources to defeat the enemy depend solely upon brocade."
At the time, no one understood. Shu Han was besieged on all sides and starving. Shu brocade was a luxury good. You could not eat it. You could not fire it from a bow.
So what was the point?]
Liu Bei looked utterly bewildered.
His brows knit tightly together as he tried to grasp the logic.
Pang Tong fell into deep thought.
If it was Kongming's strategy, then there was no way the Young Phoenix could fail to solve the riddle.
Mi Zhu, however, recalled the Light Screen's earlier mention of "currency warfare" and immediately felt a spark of realization.
Zhang Fei simply turned toward Kongming with wide eyes.
"Military Advisor, we have no money and no food. How is weaving silk supposed to help us kill Cao Pi?"
Kongming chuckled softly and flicked his fan.
"Patience, Yide. Continue watching. The logic of merchants is sometimes sharper than the edge of a blade."
[Lightscreen]
[Almost immediately after issuing the decree, the Prime Minister established the office of Jin Guan, the Brocade Office.
Just like the state monopolies on salt and iron, Shu brocade was now placed under official government monopoly.
It could only be purchased in government-sanctioned markets. And what currency was used in these markets?
The Zhi Bai coin, the Value-of-One-Hundred coin established by Liu Ba. At this moment, the trap was set.
The weapon was ready. In 224, Deng Zhi was sent to Wu to negotiate peace.]
"I get it!" Zhang Fei slapped his thigh.
"We use the silk to buy grain!"
Pang Tong immediately shook his head.
If it were that simple, the screen would not be calling it an invisible war.
His attention instead shifted to the diplomatic implications.
"So Sun Quan and Cao Pi were only pretending to be allies."
"The renewed alliance between Wu and Shu is what forced Cao Pi to disregard Jia Xu's advice and launch that failed invasion."
"To possess a talent like Jia Xu and still ignore his final counsel... Cao Pi truly is a master of self-sabotage."
[Lightscreen]
[Wu merchants flooded into Shu, eager to purchase the legendary Shu brocade.
But because of the government monopoly, they could only buy it using Shu's Value-of-One-Hundred coins.
How were they supposed to obtain these coins? The Prime Minister offered a simple answer. Bring us your grain and raw materials.
We will give you our coins. Then use those coins to purchase our silk. Simple, is it not?]
Mi Zhu's eyes lit up.
Now he fully understood.
This was not commerce, this was extraction. This was economic warfare.
"The pricing power..." Pang Tong muttered.
"That is the core."
Because it was a monopoly, Shu could determine the price.
As long as it was not absurdly impossible, the vanity of nobles in both Wu and Wei would ensure payment.
By forcing the use of Shu currency, Kongming was effectively harvesting enemy wealth to rebuild Shu Han.
"Military Advisor, that is a god-tier strategy!"
Mi Zhu's merchant instincts were nearly trembling with admiration.
"By using the Zhi Bai coin as the sole medium of exchange, we are effectively trading a piece of stamped bronze for a hundred times its value in actual goods."
"We are draining Wu's bronze to fill Shu's granaries."
Liu Bei still looked somewhat confused.
Pang Tong sighed and translated it into soldier's language.
"My Lord, think of it like the salt tax."
"If the officials say one bolt of silk costs ten sacks of grain, then it costs ten sacks."
"Unless the nobles of Wei and Wu are willing to walk around naked, they have no choice but to pay."
[Lightscreen]
[But the Prime Minister did not place all his hopes in commerce. At the same time, he established the office of Yan Guan, the Dam Officials.
Water management was life in the ancient world. Li Bing built the Dujiangyan irrigation system and transformed Chengdu into a Land of Abundance.
But such a system cannot be left unattended. Rivers silt, dams crumble, Kongming created a specialized force of 1,200 men dedicated solely to maintaining the waterways.]
A stunned silence fell over the hall.
The generals did not fully grasp the economics.
But they understood power.
And they could hear it in the scale of these policies.
Jiang Wan and the other scholars were completely speechless.
Most officials would be fortunate if a single policy survived for a century.
Yet this man seemed to casually establish legacies that endured for a thousand years.
Was making money truly this simple?
Was governing truly this easy?
Then they remembered the title bestowed upon him by the Light Screen.
The Incarnation of Wisdom, suddenly, it all felt inevitable.
Pang Tong lowered his head and stared at the floor.
Inside, however, his mind was screaming.
This is not fair, you cannot compare a normal genius to a monster like that.
[Lightscreen]
[With food and wealth secured, the Prime Minister finally turned his gaze southward. Nanzhong had been unstable ever since the defeat at Yiling.
But Kongming understood priorities. You do not chase rebels through mountains while your own people starve.
That is merely a faster route to ruin.
He spent the years 223 and 224 restoring the economy, repairing the waterways, and stabilizing the alliance with Wu.
Only in 225 did he finally march south.]
Zhang Fei frowned. "Wait, they were that weak?"
"Two thousand men? I could crush that many with a loud sneeze. Why did it still take seven months?"
Ma Liang shook his head.
"The terrain in the south is a nightmare, Yide."
"If you do not win their hearts, they retreat into the mountains and rise again the moment you leave. It is an endless drain on men and coin."
Zhao Yun nodded.
"Conquering them is easy. Keeping them conquered is the true challenge."
Kongming stared silently at the Light Screen.
For some reason, he had the sinking feeling that the true cost of this legacy was something he was not going to enjoy hearing.