"When we first entered Shu, I was laying siege to Luocheng. Caught a stray arrow to the chest. Game over."
Pang Tong was surprisingly calm about his own death. He stared up at the ceiling, looking faintly awkward, but he laid out the grim facts without flinching. To spare Zhang Song from feeling bad about his attempt to lighten the mood, he kept talking.
"This whole clever scheme of dividing commoners into rigid little classes, does it not spring from the exact same root as the hereditary warlord system in Jiangdong? It was nothing more than a shortcut Sun Quan used to buy peace with the local clans."
Back when Pang Tong had been in Jiangdong, he had served under Zhou Yu, not Sun Quan. He held no warm feelings for the lord of Jiangdong and stated the matter plainly.
"Kongming's governance of Shu was an open-source strategy," Pang Tong went on, tapping his fingers against his knee. "He used Sichuan brocade as bait and sold it into the Central Plains, even as far as India. Sun Quan, on the other hand, ran Jiangdong on pure austerity. He fed the commoners and the private armies straight into the mouths of the local elites, just so he could force them to do his bidding."
Zhao Yun recalled what the Light Screen had said about Kongming earlier and murmured quietly to himself.
"Under the military advisor's way, the common people can still breathe. Under Sun Quan and his wealthy clans, they choke them to death."
Liu Bei let out a sigh. A wave of deep emotion rolled through him.
"When I think about it now, I owe far too much to Kongming. And to Adou."
After all, looking back at how later generations saw him, the only reason anyone thought Liu Bei worth remembering was that he had treated the people well. What did the actual administration of the Han state have to do with him? He had gambled everything on an imperial title and lost it all. The state had survived on Kongming's genius and Adou's mild and benevolent nature. That was the true foundation beneath the name Zhaolie.
Liu Bei, whose perspective had grown far clearer, let out a carefree laugh.
"Win the hearts of the people, and you win the people. Win the people, and the world is yours."
[Lightscreen]
[The economic foundation of Cao Wei was somewhat more complex. Put simply, it rested on two things: state-run agricultural colonies and currency.
During the Three Kingdoms era, the only way to keep a state alive was, at its core, a sustainable method of sucking the life out of the common people.
Cao Wei's currency history was fairly straightforward. The same year as the Battle of Red Cliffs, Boss Cao marched a massive army south, absolutely certain that unifying the realm was already within his grasp. He practically popped the champagne at halftime. He abolished the old Dong Zhuo coins and began casting fresh five-zhu coins.
Unfortunately for him, his luck that year was terrible. Zhou Gongjin pulled off a silky-smooth combo at Red Cliffs and slammed Cao Cao straight into the dirt.
The currency reform wiped out the old coins, but the new ones carried such low intrinsic value that nobody bothered to use them.
Two years after taking the throne, Cao Pi tried bringing back the five-zhu coin. It went nowhere. Not until the year 227 did Cao Rui finally manage to get the five-zhu coin circulating again.
Why was the road so bumpy? Because the agricultural colony system had all but wrecked the people's livelihood.
Modern economic analysis describes currency very clearly. With the development of productivity, when there is a division between animal husbandry and agriculture, barter trade begins. As productivity continues to develop, creating a division between handicrafts and agriculture, there is a need and space for currency.
Therefore, agricultural colonies are a way to squeeze the people's labor quickly, but it is also a step backward in terms of productivity.
Cao Pi saw the problem. He started loosening the colony system on purpose, giving the common people a little breathing room. Only then could Cao Rui bring the currency back.
And right then, the common people got hit with a massive setback.
Cao Rui poured staggering sums into building grand palaces. The imperial family, led by Cao Shuang, seized massive amounts of land. Meanwhile, Cao Zhi was praised in history books for eating a bowl of camel's feet worth a thousand pieces of gold while being praised as thrifty
So you can say the common people of Cao Wei had their good days. But those good days depended entirely on luck.]
Liu Ba and Mi Zhu stared at the mention of currency, both of them sinking deep into thought. Kongming, meanwhile, was lost in the word productivity.
He knew he could never grasp currency the way Mi Zhu did. But productivity? That concept grew clearer to him every day, especially with the water-powered mills spreading further.
He had watched the change unfold from Gong'an to Jiangling, and all the way from Zigui to Jiangzhou. The watermills had quietly taken over a real share of the backbreaking labor that used to fall on the common people. That meant the people now had time to raise livestock, work in the local workshops, even sew clothes or prepare food for the military camps to earn a bit of extra coin.
Was this not exactly what the Light Screen meant by the development of productivity? Papermaking, Sichuan brocade, iron smelting. All of that should count as handicrafts.
But what counted as non-handicrafts? Kongming felt the future lay somewhere beyond his imagination.
And there was another problem. The South was rich in waterways and could lean on watermills. But the North? Guanzhong. The provinces of Yongzhou and Liangzhou.
Kongming scratched his head. The question had been gnawing at him for nearly a year.
Over in the Great Tang court, Li Shimin was feeling rather relaxed. He smiled and turned the question to his ministers.
"If you gentlemen had to choose, which of the three states was best for the common people? Which one comes out on top?"
Fang Xuanling shook his head. All three places, he felt, were wretched in their own particular ways.
"Shu went from good to bad. Wei went from bad to good. But in Wei or in Wu, living a peaceful and comfortable life still came down to pure luck."
Zhangsun Wuji saw his opening. He seized it with both hands.
"If I had to choose, I would take none of them. We should look instead to an eternal and enlightened monarch like Your Majesty. A ruler who can sweep the realm, end the chaos in five years, restore the order of heaven and earth, and deliver the common people into an era of genuine peace and prosperity."
Li Shimin burst into laughter. Zhangsun Wuji beamed.
But in his mind, Li Shimin's thoughts had already drifted toward Zhuge Liang. If he could view the Light Screen together with the Marquis Wu, could he use it to reach the man directly? Could he harness the Marquis Wu's genius to unite the Three Kingdoms?
The thought was far too entertaining. Li Shimin found himself deeply tempted.
In fact, the kind of heavy-handed oppression Cao Shuang practiced on the common people was practically a family tradition for the Cao clan.
Go back a bit further. The common people of Guanzhong, fleeing the chaos stirred up by Dong Zhuo, chose to run all the way to Xuzhou and throw their lot in with Tao Qian rather than settle in Cao Cao's Yan Province. That alone tells you the Cao reputation got there ahead of them.
And how did they earn that reputation? Aside from grabbing land and people, the Cao clan was constantly snatching up commoners to build their family tombs.
In the tomb of Cao Song, which Cao Cao personally oversaw, there are many tomb bricks with words carved into the back that reflect the harsh reality of the time.
Take the brick inscribed "My Husband Forgot It." The full text reads: "My husband forgot it. There is a small West Datou. I know I will not be coming back." The meaning is painfully literal. A woman was dragged there to build the tomb, and she knew she would never leave.
Three more bricks record the fate of a man named Wang Zuo, an official who crossed Cao Cao.
"Wang Zuo knocked his head until he died." This was likely carved by workers who watched him kneel before the overseer, beating his head against the ground until it killed him.
"Only thinking of Wang Zuo and Zhu." This suggests Wang Zuo was well-liked among the laborers. They were worried about him.
"Wang Zuo died, his slave died, so harsh." After Wang Zuo perished in the tomb, his wife chose to die with him. The word harsh could be a cry of despair. It could just as easily be a curse on Cao Cao for grinding the common people into dust.
Other laments survive as well. "Work during the day and rest at dawn." "The walls are built on our injustice." "Stop the rations when the work is done."
And what Cao Cao did was simply copying his father. When Cao Song supervised the construction of Cao Jun's tomb in Kuaiji, he deceived a great number of commoners. The slave laborers were even angrier. They left behind a very direct record.
"Wang Fu, you made me build this huge wall, directly wronging me. People do not know it, but I will strike your family! The blue sky will die, and it must be beaten!"
This brick is currently held in the National Museum of China. Its official name is the "Blue Sky Will Die" brick, because it stands as a direct witness to the Yellow Turban Rebellion.
But translating the spirit of the thing rather than the letter, calling it the "Screw You, Cao Dog" brick might cut closer to the truth. The man who carved those words made it extremely clear that he was tricked by a man named Wang Fu.
The identity of the Yellow Turban followers also suggests that the Cao family may well have been one of the root causes driving the rebellion itself.
"People say building walls is fun, but building walls is just pain. We walk back and forth, and it makes the blue sky angry."
This one was written by one of the tomb foremen. The meaning is simple enough. People lied to him. They told him building walls was a fine job. When he arrived, he understood exactly what kind of hellish life he had been dragged into. Oh Heaven, please open your eyes and strike them down.
Beyond the literate workers, there is also the "Cao Jun is a Cow's Head" brick. In ancient times, calling someone an ox-headed demon was a straight insult. Though the writer surely never imagined that Cao Cao would not end up a demon, but a cuckold.
Another damaged brick carries a fragment of a phrase. "Is there a Japanese person who made a peace treaty at that time?" The context behind this one is less clear.
Based on the historical timeline, it is possible the Cao clan held some connection with the Japanese state of that era. But when Japan collapsed into civil war, whatever connection existed was severed.
It was not until the year 239, after the Japanese civil war finally ended, that Queen Himiko of Yamatai dispatched envoys to Cao Wei. She was granted the title "Pro-Wei Japanese King."
It is worth noting that Cao Wei took a fairly cautious stance toward Japan. The Sui Dynasty followed much the same line. The Japanese envoy famously addressed the Sui Emperor as the "Emperor of the Place Where the Sun Sets," which sent Yang Guang into a towering fury.
The ones who truly put in the work to open up this new land were the monks of the Sui Dynasty. They followed the Japanese envoys back across the sea, and later monks used Tsushima Island as a transit point to carry their preaching into Japan. This effort helped propel the Taika Reforms, setting Japan firmly on its path of wolfish ambition.]
On the Light Screen, everyone could see the rare transparent cover and the luxurious red velvet cushion. Resting on top of it was an ordinary tomb brick, the kind they would not have spared a second glance if it lay by the side of the road.
Zhang Fei's eyes bulged as he read the line of text displayed in front of the brick.
"Excavated from the Cao clan family tomb in Bozhou, Anhui."
"Ha! The Cao family tombs got dug up? Good! That is fantastic!"
Kongming spoke softly. "They were tricked and dragged in as slave labor. If this many of them could read and carve bricks, how many more who could not write at all must have suffered?"
Pang Tong sat in silence for a moment. "The disaster of the Cao clan began with the eunuchs."
Kongming shook his head, a faint and distant smile on his face. He kept quiet, his eyes fixed on the words glowing on the screen.
At last he said, barely above a murmur, "The two Cao tombs hold nothing but the tears of a chaotic age. A woman dying inside a tomb is truly heartbreaking."
The hall fell still. Every man among them had carved out some measure of success and now held an entire province in his hands. But who among them was not, at his core, a survivor of this broken world?
Liu Bei's lips moved. He ended up reaching for the blunt language of later generations to say what he felt.
"Screw you, Cao dog. Damn those corrupt eunuchs. And to hell with this chaotic era."
The tight and angry pressure in his chest eased a fraction. He looked around at his men and let out an open sigh.
"I wonder if later generations have any means of keeping these powerful elites in check."
Kongming spoke as though he had been waiting for exactly this question.
"The first step is to establish a system of public education for the common people. The second step is to promote scientific knowledge."
Liu Bei's expression grew thoughtful, but he could not grasp it all at once.
"What does that mean, exactly?"
Kongming gathered his thoughts and spoke slowly, choosing each word with care.
"From the Light Screen, we know the Song Dynasty had the imperial examinations. The Tang Dynasty had them as well. Why did later generations abandon the recommendation system and turn to exams instead? Because the old system allowed the powerful clans to build their networks, to weave private connections into every corner of the state. Examinations test real talent. They judge a man by his policy thinking, by his actual ability, not by how loudly he has been praised for filial piety or personal fame."
Kongming's mind flickered to the absurd tales of filial sons recorded in the Book of Jin. The memory only hardened his resolve.
"Look at the later generations on the Light Screen. This young man, Wen Mang, is neither from a prominent clan nor a great sage. He is just a young man in his early twenties, yet he stands there critiquing the sweep of history. That alone tells you the academic culture of the future is an unstoppable force. In an era like that, a commoner can rise to high office. Ordinary people can produce national heroes. With a system like that in place, why should we ever fear the powerful clans?"
Pang Tong let out a sigh. The prestigious families of Jingzhou were nothing next to the great northern houses. He knew this well.
"Kongming and I have been studying the meaning of the technical documents mentioned by the later generations. The strength of the powerful elites rests on their grip over production. If our lord can use watermills, and methods like them, to let the common people stand on equal footing with the elites, then that grip will shatter on its own."