Within the frames of the Light Screen, a grand banner bearing the bold character for Han slowly descended until it touched the earth.
As the sun and moon spun in a frantic dance within the image, the fallen banner visibly aged before their eyes. Its fabric frayed, its color bleached away, and at last it crumbled into fine dust until not even a trace remained, reclaimed by the silent march of history.
Then the perspective soared upward, carrying the onlookers across the clouds and back to Chengdu, the City of Brocade.
What kind of city was this?
Every household seemed to possess its own salt well, and every courtyard overflowed with heavy orange groves.
Beyond the residential wards, shops and stalls lined the streets in neat, endless rows, displaying exquisite wares that glittered like a sea of stars.
Men and women dressed in their finest silks flowed through the thoroughfares like a living tide of prosperity.
By the riverbanks, the Jinniang washed freshly woven Shu Brocade in the current.
Each bolt, worth a thousand gold, caught the sunlight in a kaleidoscope of brilliant colors, turning the water itself into a shimmering, many-hued Brocade River.
As the narration continued, an elegant youth, brimming with the spirit of the mountains, rode out from Shu with a sword at his waist.
In the blink of an eye, the image shifted.
That youth became an old man in shackles, yet his expression remained serene and untroubled.
With a flourish of the brush, he wrote the immortal line: The nine heavens opened to create Chengdu.
The images flickered faster and faster, almost surreal.
Towering buildings of glass and steel rose toward the heavens.
Then the view plunged downward into a tiny modern workshop, where a craftsman carefully assembled a traditional feather fan.
A stray breeze lifted a single feather into the sky.
As it drifted upward, it looked down upon the bustling crowds of Jinli, the endless stream of visitors at the Wuhou Shrine, and the statue of the Tea Ancestor standing amidst a verdant plantation.
It saw an old man in strange modern clothes telling children the story of how their forefathers had once formed a sacred alliance with Zhuge Liang.
The feather rose higher on the thermal currents, drifting past the clouds until it dissolved into the blue.
Then a line of poetry slowly appeared across the Light Screen in golden radiance.
Zhuge's great name hangs suspended in the cosmos; through ten thousand ages, the clouds and skies hold but a single feather.
Silence fell over the hall in Gong'an.
Though they had witnessed the Light Screen's miracles before, this sequence left them breathless, their hearts wandering through the corridors of time.
"It felt as if... we truly lived through a thousand years," Shiyuan murmured, his usual cynicism nowhere to be found.
Yide leaned his massive frame closer, eyes glinting with mischief.
"Stategist Pang, it is a pity you missed the Marquis Wu Shrine we saw before. Now that you have seen the Military Advisor's shrine, what do you think?"
Shiyuan let out a sharp huff and turned away, presenting him with the back of his head.
Yide scratched his scalp. This Pang Shiyuan really was too prickly. If you are jealous, just say you are jealous. What is there to be ashamed of?
We generals were all secretly green with envy and had already begun imagining how to earn temples of their own. Why was strategist Pang being so difficult?
Deciding to offer what he believed to be encouragement, Yide added cheerfully,
"Strategist Pang, you and Military Advisor Zhuge Kongming are equally famous. Even if you do not get your own temple, surely you will at least be enshrined beside my Big Brother as a secondary figure, right?"
"Zhang Yide!"
Liu Bei barked at once, noticing Shiyuan's face turning a dangerous shade of red.
He immediately changed the subject. "If those words on the Light Screen truly belong to Li Shimin, then he must be furious right now, mustn't he?"
---
[Lightscreen]
[What is the point of living? The Prime Minister said: 'I shall bend my back to the task, exhausting myself until my heart stops beating.
He did not merely say it. He lived it. That is why he is remembered even today.
The modern poet Zang Kejia, when remembering Mr. Lu Xun, once summarized the life choices and final ends of two types of people in concise language.
His lines apply perfectly to the Prime Minister as well: 'Those who live so that the majority may live better lives... the people will remember them forever, and the masses will lift them high, very high.'
And that concludes this episode. Don't forget to follow and like so you don't lose your way.
Next episode preview: 'The Armies Exit Mount Qi!']
[Server Chat Log]
[Incense-Bearing: "The whole world speaks of his integrity; in the hearts of the people, there is a monument to the Marquis of Wu."
Grandmaster Of Wifi: "In the Romance, the Prime Minister is surrounded by noobs, so he carries everyone and dunks on the opposition. In actual history, the Prime Minister was much more humble; he was surrounded by legends, and he carefully dunked on all of them anyway."
He-Fei's Laughing: "During the Northern Expeditions, it really was like that. On the eastern front, Sun Quan is busy feeding 100,000 troops to the meat grinder, while on the western front, Sima Yi is terrified of the Marquis of Wu."
Chief Disciple: "The Prime Minister isn't just a role model; he's our source of joy. Now, all it takes is the phrase 'Could the one approaching be the Zhuge villager?' to make me burst out laughing."
Tech-Cultivator: "Honestly, the Prime Minister wasn't a god who knew everything from birth. What's impressive is that even with his status, he was willing to learn, research, and innovate so that the benefits reached the common people. That's true greatness!"
Mojin Hater: "The Prime Minister established the Salt and Gold Officials for technical innovation so the people could earn a living. Cao Cao established the Grave-Robbing and Mound-Touching Officials to dig up the Liu family's ancestral tombs. The contrast is peak."
Sighing Scholar: "Man, if only the Prime Minister had met Jiang Wei earlier. By the time Jiang Wei grew up, the Prime Minister was almost at the end. He learned the martial strategy, but not the civil governance."
Undisputed Grass: "You can think he's not great, but the people you think are great all think he's the greatest. While he was alive, he seemed normal. After he was gone, there was no equal. For a thousand years, no ruler of Shu has lived in the hearts of the people like he has."
Sword_Urging : "The 'Memorial on the Expedition' is truly world-famous; in a thousand years, who can compare to him? He spent his entire life chasing an unreachable dream. He never saw the Han in its prime, but he spent his life trying to restore it. Jiang Wei never saw the First Emperor, yet he spent his life guarding the First Emperor's legacy. HURRY UP AND BRING OUT THE NEXT EPISODE!"]
---
Ganlu Hall, Great Tang
"I wish I could personally execute these wretched descendants!"
Li Shimin's eyes were bloodshot.
Had Zhangsun Wuji not been physically restraining him around the waist, the chess table and several priceless ornaments would already have met a violent end.
Du Ruhui looked between the Light Screen and the Emperor, confusion written across his face.
"Your Majesty, when you asked earlier whether our descendants were unworthy... was it because of this?"
At the mention, Li Shimin's fury surged again.
"Emperor Xuanzong fled, and Chang'an fell! Emperor Xizong fled again, Huang Chao rose, and the Great Tang was destroyed!"
"Chang'an fell twice. The Son of Heaven fled twice. With what face do they dare sit upon the throne before the people of the world?"
He reached out and snatched the treasured sword hanging on the wall.
The blade left its scabbard with a sharp ringing sound.
With one furious slash, he carved a deep gouge into the wooden couch.
Only then did his anger begin to subside.
The fall of the Tang.
The news was so sudden and so brutal that even Fang Xuanling, whose composure was usually ironclad, stared wide-eyed in shock.
Zhangsun Wuji tightened his grip on Li Shimin's sleeve.
"Your Majesty, do we know when this Huang Chao appears?"
"I do not know."
Li Shimin's voice dropped into a low growl.
The Light Screen had only mentioned it in passing. He only knew it was sometime after this Xuanzong.
On the other side of the hall, Fang Xuanling had already taken out paper and begun rapid calculations.
"It has been 365 years since the fall of Shu Han. According to the Light Screen, the An Lushan Rebellion occurs 490 years after that."
His voice trembled slightly.
"That means... we are only 125 years away from the An Lushan Rebellion."
Zhangsun Wuji's breathing became uneven.
"Your Majesty is called the Emperor of the Ages. Our Tang is praised for its ten-thousand-mile dominion. With such civil and military achievements, is our legacy truly fated to last barely a century?"
"Why worry, Wuji?"
To everyone's surprise, Li Shimin had calmed.
As a master commander, he never allowed anger to rule his ultimate strategy for long.
His decision was swift and iron-willed.
"First, we create the Golden Age."
"Then, we find a way to break the deadlock of a rebellion that has not yet happened."
He carefully lifted the map Fang Xuanling had recently sketched based on the images from the screen.
He held it with reverence, as if it were the most sacred treasure in the world.
"Only today do I realize how vast the world truly is."
"The disasters of our descendants and the An Lushan Rebellion are matters for the future."
"For now, it is time to wash away the shame of the Wei River and build the great sea-ships."
To Li Shimin, the world had suddenly become crystal clear.
If a ten-thousand-mile empire could buy a century of glory, then what of twenty thousand?
Thirty thousand?
How could the An Lushan Rebellion compare to the future calamities hinted at by the light screen?
He would use it to forge an Unsurpassed Great Tang.
Du Ruhui finally let out a breath of relief.
"Your Majesty is truly a pragmatic sovereign."
---
County Office, Gong'an
Liu Bei returned to the room looking slightly pained as he carried a box.
Every time before listening to the Light Screen, they privately prepared gifts.
Yet more often than not, once the broadcast ended, the gifts felt woefully inadequate.
This time was no different.
With a wince at the cost, Liu Bei shoved a landscape painting back beneath the desk and instead brought forward another chest from the rear hall.
After a silent prayer, he placed it in its usual position.
The box vanished into the void.
Everyone let out a breath of relief.
At least they would not need to worry about what to send for a while.
Ma Jichang stretched his wrists.
This was usually the break period.
Time to decompress and decide what to have for dinner.
He was still marveling at how useful the bamboo pens was when he looked up and found Kongming watching him.
"Jichang, how is life for the Five Stream Barbarians in Wuling Commandery?" Kongming asked suddenly.
Jichang thought for a moment.
"They do not practice much agriculture. They lack salt and iron. They are skilled at building small boats, and the people are honest and simple."
Though the summary was brief, Kongming immediately understood the meaning beneath it.
They had little beyond raw manpower. The southern lands were poor. Without salt and iron, even basic farming was difficult.
Kongming nodded. Then he shifted the subject seamlessly.
"Once the matters in Wuling are settled, would you be willing to go to Wu and establish contact with the Shanyue?"
Jichang's heart skipped a beat. After weighing the implications for only a moment, he nodded firmly.
"I am willing."
Liu Bei instantly understood Kongming's intent and smiled.
"Sun Wu is unprincipled. They prey upon the Shanyue to fill the slave quarters of their great clans. It is only right that we offer them support so they are not constantly bullied by the Sun Wu elites."
Since Sun Quan had chosen to support Yong Kai in the south, it was only polite to return the favor by supporting the Shanyue resistance.
Kongming sighed softly. "Seeing the phrase 'the people' appear so often in the future gives me much to think about."
"My Lord, the reason your name endures through the ages is likely not because of the prestige of Shu Han, but because of your benevolence."
Liu Bei reflected for a moment, then quoted softly,
"Xunzi said: 'If the common people are frightened by the government, the gentleman cannot rest easy in his position.'"
He smiled. "Before, I thought the future spoke of me because I was Emperor Zhaolie."
"Now I understand."
"The screen speaks of me because I am Yunchang's Big Brother and the Lord of Kongming."
"Brother, why say such things?" Yunchang called out loudly. "If not for you, I would rather return to Hedong and sell green beans than remain in this chaotic world."
Kongming laughed as well. "If not for my Lord, I would have been content to farm in Nanyang and live out my days in peace."
"I AM THE SAME!" Yide roared.
Just then, the Light Screen unfurled once more.
[Lightscreen]
[Ding-ding-ding-ding! Another huge thanks to the big boss for the generous gift. They actually sent a roll of Shu Brocade!
But... I do not actually know how to cut and sew clothes, hahaha.
Still, this truly lives up to its reputation as the Prime Minister's primary source of military funding.
If I transmigrated with a roll of this, I would be set for life, wouldn't I?]