What tugged most strongly at the hearts of Liu Bei and the others was the final destruction of the Tang dynasty.
"A dynasty's end… is it not always so."
It felt as though there were a thousand things Liu Bei could say, yet in the end only this single sigh escaped his lips.
At this moment, there was no need even to bring up what Cao Pi once said about Yao and Shun. One only had to look back a few hundred years.
Emperor Gaozu and Emperor Guangwu had both swept away the heroes of the age and rebuilt the foundations of the Han.
Yet their final outcomes were not so different from that of this Tang Emperor Ai.
After all, if one followed the formal procedures, did not Wang Mang and Cao Pi also establish their dynasties through abdication?
The only difference was…
"This Zhu Wen really moved fast," Zhang Fei muttered.
Trying hard to find common ground with his elder brother, he followed up Liu Bei's words with another sigh.
"At least wait ten or eight years."
Liu Bei immediately shot him a look. But Zhang Fei remained completely unaware, and even recalled something from much earlier.
"Think about the Luo River and Cao Mao. That Jin Emperor Xuan really did set a bad precedent."
"Big Brother, why not send that Jin Emperor Xuan, Sima Yi, into our army as a traveling clerk?"
Before Liu Bei could reply, Ma Chao, who had been pricking up his ears nearby, suddenly felt that the name sounded familiar.
If his memory was not faulty, that envoy of the Cao thieves seemed to be…
Zhang Fei burst out laughing, his broad palm slapping Ma Chao on the shoulder.
"Mengqi, your night raid on Jin Emperor Xuan would count as a great merit. A hundred years later it would surely become a famous tale."
Although Ma Chao had not quite followed the logic yet, he still puffed out his chest and raised his head at once.
So I actually have such great merit?!
Liu Bei, standing to the side, completely gave up on intervening and decided to give Ma Chao a proper explanation after things wrapped up.
This Brocade Ma Chao might not use his head much, but like Yide, he was rough on the outside yet careful within, not a reckless man.
Compared to Ma Chao and Zhang Fei happily chattering together, the three strategists gathered nearby brought Liu Bei far more comfort.
Just looking at their solemn expressions, quietly discussing matters while pointing at the temperature fluctuation chart personally copied by Kongming, it was obvious they were worrying about future military conditions and policies to counter severe cold.
Thus Liu Bei walked over with satisfaction, planning to offer whatever advice he could.
"…In Kongming's view, by what method do later generations calculate this grain price index?"
"The calculation should be related to cultivated acreage, household population, and yield per mu. The exact formula still requires study, but it is truly an excellent method for observing the state of the people's livelihood."
"One likely must also account for differences between southern and northern farmland."
"Indeed. But if we calculate it this way, could we also use mathematics to estimate how great clans encroach upon land?"
"A gentry index? A gentry threat index? If such a number could be calculated, that would be most wonderful."
"By the same logic, this method could also be applied to state markets, and even to agronomy. Mathematics truly has endless uses."
The three strategists were clearly in high spirits, and even pulled over Mi Zhu, who was well versed in commerce, to discuss the functions of mathematics together.
Liu Bei felt dizzy listening and could only retreat in defeat. Turning back, he saw Zhang Fei full of excitement and Ma Chao's eyebrows nearly flying off his face, and his anger immediately flared.
"Yide!"
Zhang Fei raised his head blankly.
"Ah?"
…
For Ma Zhou, today's shocking revelations came one after another.
Even though the light screen spoke only briefly, Ma Zhou, as the newly appointed top scholar, lacked only experience, not intelligence.
A century of stability, the sudden eruption of the An Lushan Rebellion, then the Tang stubbornly holding on for another hundred years. Calculated this way, the Tang's mandate lasted only around three hundred years?
For a moment, Ma Zhou could not help but feel unsettled. After all, strictly speaking, he was thirty this year, yet his first seventeen years had been spent as a subject of the Sui.
Born into chaos, witnessing the founding of Tang in youth, placing first in the examinations at thirty, and now learning of Tang's eventual fall. Even though it lay more than two hundred years in the future, it still left him dazed.
Subconsciously, Ma Zhou turned his gaze toward Li Shimin, who stood with hands clasped behind his back.
This time, Li Shimin did not pretend not to notice. Instead, he turned his head, looked at Ma Zhou, and smiled.
"Now that you know this, Binwang, do you have the ability to revive Tang and continue its mandate?"
Ma Zhou, who had encountered chaos young and now met a wise ruler, immediately knelt.
"At Your Majesty's command, how would I dare not give my life in service?"
Li Shimin immediately turned, solemnly lifted Ma Zhou up, and said,
"Later generations will call you a celebrated minister of Zhenguan. Now that you serve me, do not begrudge your virtue and talent. Become a model for governing the people."
Ma Zhou was so moved that he could not even speak.
Thinking back to a year ago, when he had to rack his brains under Lord Leize's roof just to secure a meal, and now, after passing the examinations and making his name known in Chang'an, he was further told by the emperor himself that his name would be recorded in history.
The contrast made Ma Zhou weep, and he was even more stirred by having his talents acknowledged.
With both arms tightly held by Li Shimin, unable to kneel again, Ma Zhou finally cried openly.
"This minister will never betray Your Majesty's great grace!"
Li Shimin laughed heartily, and in his heart temporarily set aside the matter of Tang Emperor Ai.
After all, speaking reasonably, being poisoned hardly counted for much.
Which of the Nine Flights of the Son of Heaven was not more infuriating than this?
And the Tang emperors who colluded with the Uyghurs filled him with even greater contempt.
Beyond that, Gao Xianzhi, Feng Changqing, Zhang Yichao, and other loyal Tang figures, dead or slandered, each made him slap his thigh in regret.
In short, he was numb to it.
Rather than burning with anxiety over these things, it was better to seize the present and see whether one Zhenguan reign could accomplish a century's work.
And the focus of these plans lay precisely with the worthy ministers and talents before him.
Only by pouring all of Zhenguan's strength into this could descendants two hundred years hence resist the changes in climate.
This was now Li Shimin's foremost concern.
After settling Ma Zhou back into his seat, Li Shimin raised his head. His gaze swept past the Ballad of the Qin Lady, then continued upward, as though piercing the roof and plunging into the heavens.
Half of the Turks were destroyed, Tibet was still weak.
The hundred states of the Western Regions could scarcely be called adversaries, and the island nations of the eastern seas had navies awaiting battle.
Now knowing the changes of a thousand years, the vastness of the world, and the wonders of science, the achievement of making the four barbarians submit no longer satisfied Li Shimin.
Instead, he found himself very interested in testing whether he could defy this so called mandate of Heaven.
The mere thought made his blood surge, and it seemed as though the strains of the Prince of Qin Breaking the Battle Formation tune echoed faintly in his ears.
Yet if one wished to resist climatic change, meticulous internal governance was no different from reinforcing defenses in a military formation. It could prevent defeat in the short term, but it was not a path to victory.
What could truly count as an offensive method against the grand tide of history?
His heart produced the answer on its own.
Open the seas.
Li Shimin could not help but turn his gaze toward Liu Rengui.
But after a moment's thought, he suppressed the idea. Liu Rengui was also a general star, and a rare one with talent for naval warfare, deserving of care.
If he were to assign someone daring as the vanguard for opening the seas, then…
Li Shimin's eyes swept the room, finally settling on Hou Junji, whose face was still ashen.
"Junji, are you willing to serve this year as the first reconnaissance envoy for opening the seas?"
The grayness vanished from Hou Junji's face in an instant. Like dead wood meeting spring, he slid forward on bent knees before Li Shimin.
"This minister is willing!"
Changsun Wuji imperceptibly curled his lip.