The demonstration at the northern testing grounds did not last very long, but nobody walked away from it unaffected.
Yan Lide left in a thoughtful mood, already planning a return trip to Wulei Temple as soon as he could arrange it. The crater left behind by the explosion had overturned a great many assumptions. He had spent months refining armor designs, improving coverage, strengthening weak points, and balancing protection against mobility. Yet after seeing a single buried charge carve a hole into the earth, he could not help feeling that some problems simply did not care how much steel a man wore.
All that work, he thought, and one jar of dirt just made it irrelevant.
Li Jing and Li Ji viewed the matter rather differently.
These were men whose names would one day define an era. They had commanded campaigns that expanded the Tang's borders and written military doctrines that later generations would study. When their careers were over, their tablets would stand in the Military Temple alongside the greatest commanders of the age. They had already reached a height that few men could even imagine.
As far as they were concerned, the painstaking work of refining gunpowder formulas, training craftsmen, and exploring practical applications belonged to the Bureau of Works. Let the engineers and artisans worry about mixtures, furnaces, and production methods. Yan Lide's younger brother, Yan Liben, had already produced sketches based on the cannons shown in the light screen. The internal mechanisms remained uncertain and the materials were still a mystery, but at least they now had a direction to follow.
For Yan Lide, that alone was enough.
After today's demonstration, he had already decided that the Bureau of Works needed a dedicated department for gunpowder research. Whether it was called the Gunpowder Division or the Five Thunders Division hardly mattered. Either name sounded impressive enough, and both carried a certain dignity. Besides, he reasoned, Five Thunders Division sounds much more intimidating on official documents.
Li Jing and Li Ji departed together, continuing their conversation as they walked. Judging by their expressions, they were in excellent spirits.
Months of experimentation had finally produced a tangible result. That achievement alone was worth celebrating.
As for whether gunpowder would eventually become a battlefield weapon, neither man seemed particularly concerned.
Wei Qing and Huo Qubing had chased the Xiongnu across the steppe without relying on any overwhelming technological advantage. They had won through leadership, discipline, and the quality of their soldiers. Compared to the powers surrounding the Tang today, the empire already enjoyed advantages in training, equipment, and organization. From Li Jing's perspective, most enemies could be defeated perfectly well with the tools already in hand.
His own campaign against the Eastern Turks was proof enough.
Three thousand light cavalry had crossed the snow and struck Dingxiang in a night assault. Facing a force many times their size, they shattered the enemy before an effective response could even be organized. In that sort of battle, gunpowder would have changed very little. Maybe made a bigger noise, but the result would have been the same.
"If later generations really build those flying vessels," Li Jing said with a small smile as he stroked his beard, "then surely our names deserve a place somewhere in the story. Preferably somewhere prominent."
That was the part that genuinely interested him. Not the killing. The legacy.
Li Ji glanced upward at the open sky above Chang'an.
"Whether they remember us on the ground or carry our names into the heavens," he said, "is another matter entirely." He paused, then added, "Though I would not mind a spot among the stars. The view would be better."
Li Jing laughed. "You just want to avoid paying taxes."
"Can you blame me?"
Hou Junji stood a short distance away, watching the others depart with an expression he was not entirely managing to keep under control.
Yan Lide had walked past him without even a nod. Li Jing and Li Ji had done much the same. All three had treated him with perfect politeness and complete indifference.
Hou Junji was the Duke of Liguo and Right Guard Grand General.
Today, he might as well have been a decorative stone by the roadside. They treated him as if he did not exist at all.
The only person who stopped in front of him was Li Shimin.
"Come. Walk with me."
Hou Junji fell into step beside the emperor immediately, matching his pace with practiced ease.
As they made their way back toward the city, he reported everything he had gathered during his months in Hexi. The state of the frontier. The movements of the various tribes. The shifting balance of power after the collapse of the Eastern Turks. The intelligence network he had spent months assembling.
Li Shimin listened patiently throughout, occasionally interrupting with a question precise enough to make Hou Junji wonder whether the emperor had already guessed half the answer before asking.
When the report was finally complete, Li Shimin nodded.
"The Hexi work was well done."
For a moment, Hou Junji nearly forgot how to be a dignified duke. He nearly burst into tears.
Oh my god, what have I done? This is not normal. What is happening to me?
All of this is going in a bad direction.
During the entire trip back to Chang'an, he had prepared countless arguments for future campaigns. Tuyuhun first. Gaochang second. The Western Regions after that. He had polished every point until it shone. Now all of those carefully prepared speeches seemed to have packed their bags and followed Wang Xuance toward India.
Before he knew what was happening, words of gratitude were already leaving his mouth.
"This was only possible because of Your Majesty's foresight and wisdom."
The moment he said it, he knew he sounded suspiciously sincere.
Four months.
For heaven's sake, I had only been away from the capital for four months. Just four months. And now the entire atmosphere had changed this much. All my uncles and aunties in court seem to hate me. Even the ones who used to smile at me now look at me like I owe them money.
What would happen if I spent a year on campaign? Would I return to find Wei Zheng sleeping in my bed, eating my rice, and all my sons calling him "Dad"?
The thought genuinely terrifies me.
The route back toward the palace passed through Xuanwu Gate.
When they reached it, Li Shimin stopped.
Hou Junji's heartbeat immediately sped up.
The emperor looked toward the gate for a long moment before speaking. His voice was completely calm when he finally asked:
"Had it not been for Junji back then, how could there be me today?"
That was precisely the problem.
If Li Shimin had sounded amused, Hou Junji could have responded. If he had sounded angry, Hou Junji could have responded. If he had sounded emotional in any way whatsoever, Hou Junji could have responded. Instead, the emperor sounded as though he were discussing the weather.
That was far more frightening.
Cold sweat appeared almost instantly.
Without hesitation, Hou Junji bowed deeply.
"No, Your Majesty, I am just your servant. What merit is this Junji worthy of without you? Without Your Majesty pacifying the realm, there would be no Tang today. Without the Tang, there would be no flourishing age under heaven."
He lowered his head and kept it there.
The silence that followed felt much longer than it probably was. Several breaths passed, each one heavier than the last. Then Li Shimin laughed. A genuine laugh.
The tension vanished so quickly that Hou Junji almost felt dizzy.
"If that is truly what you think," Li Shimin said, still smiling, "then there is no need to discuss the matter further."
He resumed walking.
"Come. Stay for dinner. The imperial kitchen has recently developed a sweet and sour fish dish. It is surprisingly good."
Hou Junji followed, his legs feeling slightly unsteady.
As they continued toward the palace, the conversation gradually returned to normal. Only then did he notice that the silk lining beneath his robes was completely soaked through with sweat and sticking unpleasantly to his back.
It was an undignified experience. Still, compared to the alternatives, he was willing to accept it.
He understood Li Shimin's temperament better than most men alive. Whatever the issue had been, the emperor had chosen to bring it up directly and set it down just as directly. That was usually a good sign. Probably. Hopefully.
Hou Junji decided not to examine the possibility too closely.
What lingered in his mind instead was a completely different problem.
The light screen had apparently revealed that, at some point in the future, he was going to cause this emperor a great deal of trouble.
This emperor.
The same Li Shimin who could reduce him to cold sweat with a single casual sentence. The same Li Shimin whom later generations praised as one of the greatest rulers and strategists in history.
And future Hou Junji had looked at that man and thought: Yes. I can take him.
Hou Junji spent several moments silently contemplating this revelation. The more he thought about it, the less sense it made.
Finally, he shook his head.
Future Hou Junji was either extraordinarily brave or completely insane. At the moment, he was leaning toward the second explanation.
---
Bianjing. The imperial gardens.
Zhao Guangyi took one look at the imperial guards sealing off every approach to the garden, then another at his elder brother's unusually pleasant expression, and felt a familiar sense of resignation settle over him.
"Big Brother," he said, already sounding tired, "if this turns into another bird-hunting afternoon, your little brother respectfully requests permission to leave early."
He knew Zhao Kuangyin's hobbies far too well. The emperor had a fondness for slingshots and migratory birds that bordered on obsessive. It was almost undignified for a man of his stature, but no one dared say so to his face.
The emperor merely smiled and motioned for him to sit. That smile did not improve Zhao Guangyi's mood in the slightest.
Over the past year, his big brother had become increasingly attentive to certain matters. Or rather, increasingly attentive to him. At first, it had all been little things, nothing worth worrying about. Lately, though, they had become hard to ignore.
Just last month, a eunuch from the Prince of Jin's household had submitted a routine request to the palace workshops. Zhao Guangyi's residence required timber for new furnishings, and among the requested materials was a particularly magnificent log that took two grown men to wrap their arms around.
The request had reached Zhao Kuangyin's desk.
The emperor's reply had been concise.
"To take a whole tree and chop it into bits for your furniture. How is that different from removing your head?"
The timber request had been denied. The eunuch had nearly fainted from shock. Zhao Guangyi had spent several days wondering whether he should be impressed by the warning or alarmed by it. In the end, he settled on both.
Which was why he was in such a complicated mood today.
Unfortunately, Zhao Kuangyin appeared completely unconcerned.
"Wait a little longer," the emperor said cheerfully. "You will understand soon enough."
Zhao Guangyi immediately became more suspicious.
His big brother was many things. "Cheerful" was usually a sign that someone else was about to suffer.
Over the past year, Zhao Kuangyin had quietly watched the currents swirling around the court. He had seen his little brother testing boundaries. He had seen Zhao Pu responding in kind. Neither side had crossed any lines, but both had spent a great deal of effort measuring where those lines were.
The emperor had noticed all of it.
After giving the matter some thought, he had arrived at what seemed like the simplest solution. Since words clearly were not getting through to his little brother, perhaps reality would do a better job.
Let Zhao Guangyi watch the light screen.
That was the entire plan.
The logic behind it was straightforward.
Look, little brother. The Mandate of Heaven is currently sitting exactly where everyone can see it. Please stop scheming.
---
The government hall in Chengdu was lively, though in a very different way from the courts of Chang'an or Bianjing.
Liu Bei was in an exceptionally good mood.
The Nanzhong campaign had progressed faster than anyone expected. Sima Yi had arrived full of plans, analyses, and strategic proposals, clearly determined to demonstrate his intellectual value to his new overlords. He kept proposing high-concept, aggressive maneuvers designed to break the local tribal resistance. Unfortunately for him, every single blueprint he put forward was immediately and ruthlessly dismantled by Li Hui and Zhang Ni. The two local experts kept using cold geographical facts and localized cultural data to expose the blind spots in Sima Yi's grand schemes.
Watching the future Emperor Xuan of Jin get roasted by a couple of mid-level Shu administrators had quickly become Liu Bei's favorite afternoon pastime.
The frontline field commanders, Feng Xi and Zhang Nan, were executing their directives without a shred of reckless vanity. Their leadership style prioritized unglamorous stability over tactical gambles, and the results spoke for themselves.
"Big Brother, how is our resident team of geniuses doing in the field?" Zhang Fei roared as he burst into the council chamber, his voice rattling the wooden rafters. "How is the Yi Gang handling the terrain?"
"The Yi Gang?" Liu Bei repeated, blinking in genuine confusion.
"You know, the strategy squad!" Zhang Fei cackled, slapping his massive thigh. "You went south with barely any staff, yet half your officers have Yi in their names. Sima Yi, Wu Yi, and young Zhang Ni. That is a monopoly on the syllable!"
Liu Bei shook his head, unable to comprehend his younger brother's eccentric sense of humor. Still, he considered the question. "Though it may be a coincidence, Sima Yi and Wu Yi have developed a close working relationship. When they coordinate an offensive, they strike fast and go straight for the enemy's supply lines."
He kept another thought to himself. Wu Yi still had no idea that in the original timeline, his descendants would be forced to alter his ancestral name to avoid sharing a character with Sima Yi's imperial bloodline. Liu Bei occasionally wondered how Wu Yi would react when he eventually learned that detail.
"As for Zhang Ni," Liu Bei continued, his tone softening, "he endures hardship alongside his men without complaint. He has the discipline of a true commander."
Every time Liu Bei looked at the young officer, he remembered what the light screen had revealed. In the original timeline, Zhang Ni had spent his life breaking his body for the state, eventually reaching a point where he had to borrow money just to afford medical treatment.
To ensure that never happened, Liu Bei had made a habit of rewarding Zhang Ni generously after every engagement. The results were clear. The young general had quietly decided to repay that kindness with his life.
"If we are naming the most valuable contributor to this campaign," Liu Bei said, turning to bow toward a quiet scholar near the map racks, "the honor belongs to Divine Physician Zhang Zhongjing."
He gestured toward the health ledgers on the table. "Without his insect-repellent powders and fever treatments, our soldiers would have been decimated by disease long before they ever saw a tribal spear."
To complement the physician's work, Liu Bei had enforced strict water-boiling rules across every camp, assigning officers to ensure compliance. The results were remarkable. Despite marching through the disease-ridden jungles of Nanzhong for months, fewer than a hundred soldiers had been rendered unfit for duty by illness.
Zhang Zhongjing accepted the praise calmly. He said only that preserving the health of the state's soldiers was his proper work.
"And what of our friend from the north?" Zhang Fei asked, leaning over the map table. "Are we still keeping him on a short leash?"
Liu Bei leaned back. "Wu Yi will oversee the provisional administration of the southern territories, with Li Hui and Sima Yi as his advisors. I gave Li Hui Kongming's development plans and instructed him to negotiate trade treaties with the local chieftains to reopen the India route."
He reached into his sleeve and pulled out a weathered scroll.
"As for Sima Yi, I left him with a list that Liu Zhang passed down to me."
The original list had been long, filled with names of regional elites who had opposed the new regime. But after the victories in Jingzhou and the success of the southern campaign, most of those names had been crossed off. The ones that remained belonged to men who had been given every opportunity to change course and had chosen otherwise.
Now, they were about to discover why Liu Bei had put Sima Yi in charge of internal security.
At that moment, the familiar vibration rippled through the air. Clouds over Chengdu, Kaifeng, and Chang'an began to churn, parting to reveal the shimmering borders of the light screen as it launched its next broadcast.
---
[Lightscreen]
[Hey hey hey! Welcome back, everyone!
No warm-up today. Let us just get straight into it.
Last time, we covered how Li Jing completely wiped out the Tuyuhun. With that obstacle gone, the Tang finally had a clear path west. And that was when the dynasty really started expanding. Or to put it more accurately, they started taking back the lands that had always belonged to the Han in the first place.]
---
Inside Ganlu Hall, Hou Junji felt a wave of relief wash through his chest. He was so close to weeping tears of joy that he had to bite his lip to maintain his composure.
The sweet and sour fish from the imperial banquet was already a blur in his memory, but the atmosphere in the capital had reset. Fang Xuanling was no longer mysteriously unavailable. Li Jing and Li Shiji were suddenly easy to find. The machinery of state was running normally again. The only strange thing was that whenever his old colleagues looked at him, their expressions carried a hint of dark amusement.
But none of that mattered now. The emperor had not stripped his titles. His lineage was secure. And he had been allowed back into Ganlu Hall.
His personal drama, however, did not register with the rest of the room.
Su Dingfang and Li Shiji were locked in a silent staring contest across the aisle, neither willing to yield. Both had calculated the trajectory of the broadcast and were certain their campaigns would be the main feature.
Li Jing sat comfortably on his cushion, watching his two proteges trade glares like a spectator at a sporting event.
Near the front, Sun Simiao was whispering with Li Shimin about zoning permits for a new medical laboratory. The old physician insisted it be built in a quiet district away from residential areas, but close enough to the Ministry of Justice prisons to ensure a steady supply of unclaimed bodies for research.
Qin Qiong's health had improved enough that he could sit upright and trade battle stories with Yuchi Jingde. He was dropping hints about strapping on his old armor and leading a vanguard division, telling Jingde it was time to shake off the rust and get ready to ride.
Meanwhile, Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui were huddled over state papers, reviewing the final details of the Imperial Examination reforms. The calendar had turned to the seventh month. Li Shimin was set to announce the restructuring in three days. The two prime ministers knew the traditional clans would push back hard, so they needed everything aligned before the session opened.
When the light screen lit up, both men set aside their papers, dipped their brushes in fresh ink, and prepared to record every word.
---
[Lightscreen]
[The achievements of Li Erfeng's reign were vast and enduring. Across a thousand years of history, he stands alone as a figure without equal.
If you look at the global situation in the mid-seventh century, the scale of Tang dominance is staggering. Byzantium and Persia had spent decades tearing each other apart in exhausting conflicts, leaving both empires bankrupt. The early Islamic Caliphate was still consolidating in the desert, not yet ready to project power. Into that vacuum, the Tang rose like a giant, emerging as the brightest power of the seventh century.
We are incredibly familiar with this specific stretch of the timeline, and honestly, the entire era can be summarized in a single sentence: Our brilliant ancestors simply didn't believe in long-winded diplomatic negotiations. If a foreign power refused to cooperate with imperial policy, the Tang mobilized the vanguard and corrected their attitude by force
After all, the philosophy of winning people over through 'virtue' has been the foundational core of Chinese statecraft since ancient times. As for what exactly constitutes 'virtue' on the global stage... well, every single one of our brilliant ancestors possessed a slightly different interpretation of the word.]
Li Shimin leaned back into his throne, a delighted grin spreading across his face as he adjusted his robes. He looked around the room at his assembled ministers, his voice carrying unmistakable satisfaction.
"Yes," he murmured, nodding toward the screen. "Keep going. I approve of this narrative direction."