Liu Bei was not particularly curious about Five Stone Powder itself.
What truly stirred a sense of melancholy in him was the final fate of the Great Han.
The name of the General-in-Chief He Jin was one Liu Bei remembered deeply, standing on the same level as the Ten Attendants.
He had not expected that several decades later, the descendants of such a traitor to the state would suffer such an end, and yet at the same time leave behind an object that would poison the nation for a full hundred years.
When Zhang Fei saw later generations mention the word "hallucination," he pondered for a moment and said,
"So this feeling of drifting and becoming immortal-like… is it like having a beautiful dream?"
Liu Bei was briefly stunned. After thinking it over, he felt his sworn brother's guess was very likely correct, and nodded.
"If taking this substance causes one to sink into beautiful dreams, then… its harm would be limitless."
Zhang Fei nodded vigorously.
"I once had a dream before. In the dream, big brother beat Cao Cao with his fists, split Yuan Shao with his sword, Sun Quan came to bow in submission, Liu Zhang bound himself and surrendered, and the realm returned its hearts as one."
"At that time, I was so happy in the dream that I wished it could last longer."
"If Five Stone Powder really has such an effect, then it is truly terrifying."
Even Zhang Fei used the word terrifying. Liu Bei reflected on it and felt that the threat such a substance posed to the state was likely far greater than he had imagined.
But soon, Liu Bei straightened abruptly, because the light screen now displayed that chart showing five thousand years of climate change trends.
The images, text, and lines possessed a kind of simple elegance. Even Liu Bei felt that at first glance, he already understood thirty percent of its meaning.
As for Kongming and the others, they could only be described as obsessed.
Kongming directly dragged a table beneath the light screen, raised his head, and carefully copied the charts stroke by stroke with meticulous precision.
Having already begun studying mathematics, Kongming naturally understood that whenever numbers were involved, even a tiny error could lead to enormous deviation.
If there were even the slightest mistake in this transcription, the value of the entire precious chart would be severely diminished.
Yes. In Kongming's eyes, this was a treasure chart produced by later generations using the essence of science.
To condense two thousand years of rise and fall into a single chart, for those living in the Jian'an era, its value did not lose in the slightest to Grand Historian Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian.
Kongming had secured the best position. His wrist was steady as a mountain as he drew with utter seriousness. Zhang Fei had even come over to help, his broad frame taking up a great deal of space.
Seeing this scene, Pang Tong simply chose not to crowd in. He lifted his head and carefully committed every detail of the chart to memory, while simultaneously trying to understand it. Fa Zheng beside him did the same.
"A farming and pastoral transition zone? Latitude changes?"
Even with the brief explanation provided by later generations, Fa Zheng's eyes still showed some confusion.
Pang Tong pondered and ventured a guess.
"Perhaps later generations reside above the heavenly vault, mapping the earth with latitude markings in order to measure the vastness of heaven and earth?"
Previously, later generations had casually mentioned something called longitude and latitude. Pang Tong and Kongming had discussed it together, believing it to be a method later generations used to measure the size of the world.
After all, the concept of longitude and latitude was not new. The Rites of Zhou stated that the north south path was longitude, and the east west path was latitude.
The Kaogong Ji even specified nine longitudes and nine latitudes within the capital.
With this foundation, Pang Tong could roughly infer that latitude referred to an east west oriented measuring line, and its change indicated movement northward or southward.
But then Pang Tong hesitated again.
"What, then, is this rice price index?"
This time, Fa Zheng laughed.
"That should be a number calculated through mathematics, derived from state taxation figures and grain production figures."
When idle in Hanzhong, Fa Zheng often studied mathematics. At a glance, although he did not fully grasp how the conclusions were derived, he could still intuitively understand quite a bit.
Pang Tong said nothing more. He silently examined every part of the chart, carefully weighing it in his mind.
Yes. Just this chart alone meant that no matter what, he would have to drag Kongming into an all-night discussion tonight.
…
Li Shimin also failed to understand many details, but the overall trend shown by the changing lines was extremely clear.
Just from the records of climate change and droughts and floods alone, Li Shimin truly grasped the immense value of this chart.
Because it differed from those mystical prophecies. It was produced by later generations through methods as unfathomable as ghosts and gods, yet grounded in rigorous mathematics.
For rulers, the most terrifying aspect of droughts and floods was not the disasters themselves, but their unpredictability.
Unpredictability allowed religion to intervene, cloaking disasters in the sacred guise of heaven's wrath, spawning countless troubles thereafter.
If disasters could be anticipated, even if only as a general trend, that would already be enough for Great Tang to judge when to store grain, and when to reduce taxes in advance to cope with calamities.
From the perspective of an emperor, Li Shimin thought even further ahead.
If this object were to fall into the hands of alchemists and be interpreted by them, they could instantly fabricate an unparalleled religion.
If it fell into the hands of ambitious men, they could use it to seize the moment, raise troops, and cast covetous eyes upon the realm.
After all, in their current era, what was the Mandate of Heaven?
This chart was the Mandate of Heaven.
Thus, Li Shimin immediately frowned and looked toward Hou Junji, who already looked like a frost-stricken eggplant.
Ever since coming to the Ganlu Hall and seeing that all those famed generals had gone on campaign against Tuyuhun and were absent here, Hou Junji had sighed over his fate and fallen into low spirits.
Now, sensing the stern gaze sweep over him, Hou Junji immediately lowered his head respectfully, practically shrinking into himself.
This instead made Li Shimin feel somewhat uneasy. Hou Junji had followed him early and contributed greatly at the Xuanwu Gate. He was truly a trusted confidant, and now…
"After this concludes, Junji, stay and dine with me."
Hou Junji's eyes instantly filled with joy.
The two chancellors beside them had no energy left to notice such things.
Du Ruhui copied with great care, having Wei Zheng repeatedly review it, fearing even the slightest error.
Fang Xuanling stared at the chart in deep focus. His mathematical thinking, honed through years of arduous study, proved exceptionally useful at this moment, helping him organize all the meaningful information contained within the chart.
"Two thousand years of rise and decline. Two thousand years of dynastic cycles. Merit and fault, success and failure, all are here."
This was Fang Xuanling's most sincere lament.
Within it, he could see that the end of Great Tang's century of prosperity coincided with the end of a warm period. The renewed cooling of the climate summoned the return of chaos, ultimately destroying the Tang dynasty.
After the rise of Northern Song, another cold wave soon arrived, shattering the dynasty that inherited Tang culture, leaving behind the name Jingkang, forcing Southern Song to cling to a corner of the land, and eventually perish at the hands of the Yuan.
Amid all this, Fang Xuanling found himself, for the first time, feeling a measure of admiration for the Ming dynasty.
To survive, found a state, and ultimately create a brilliant dynasty amid cold waves, such resilience of will was worthy of praise.
"The vast power of heaven and earth. Gain but a fraction and a state may rise. Take but a sliver too much, and the land of China collapses."
"Magnificent."