Literacy drives and infrastructure advanced side by side.
Under Wu Liang's personal supervision, the Tribe's construction progressed steadily every day.
Before dawn, the vast worksite already hummed with voices.
Hundreds of clansmen threw themselves into the great task of building their homeland.
Eliza handled supplies while Akomann managed labor; the pair had become Wu Liang's right and left arms, keeping the sprawling site in perfect order.
Wei Xian, her belly growing larger by the day, could no longer take part in the labor.
Her biggest duty now was to arrange for hot broth and roast cakes to be delivered to every worker.
The Artisans led by Chief Steward Wula, after learning basic numbers and arithmetic, were no longer baffled by the annotations on Wu Liang's blueprints.
Complex details still eluded them, but they could at least tell how long, how wide, or how many parts were needed.
That small change alone more than doubled the Military Workshop's output.
'Still too slow,' Wu Liang muttered after class, brows knitting.
Blackboards of plank and charcoal were simply too crude.
He needed better writing tools.
'Have to invent paper; washing up after the latrine is unbearable.'
With that resolve, he launched a papermaking project.
The technique was intricate, but the materials were at hand.
For pens he would make quills—brushes were beyond even him and troublesome to craft.
The Tribe now raised plenty of wild geese; wing-shafts were plentiful.
Ink was simplest: wood-ash and tree-gum mixed with water.
Soon Wu Liang led a group to the river, where dense reeds grew.
They cut basketfuls of reeds and had the weaving sheds send discarded hemp scraps.
Once everything was gathered, Wu Liang had the Artisans set great cauldrons over fires.
The reeds and rags were tossed in, covered with ash, and boiled.
The first step in papermaking is pulping.
Alkaline water breaks down impurities and frees the fibers.
Finally heavy stone slabs pressed out the excess water.
After boiling, straining, pressing, and drying, the first sheet—dry, flat, slightly yellow—was finished.
A quill was merely the longest shaft plucked from a goose's wing.
A slanted tip was carved at the end and a slit cut in the point.
Thus a simple quill was born.
The ink was charcoal-black pot-ash mixed with gum and water.
That morning in the literacy class Wu Liang pinched the quill, dipped it, and wrote clear characters on the paper.
Every student craned forward in wonder, gasping in delight.
'Wow!'
'So much better than charcoal!' Eliza exclaimed, admiration and love shining in her eyes.
'From today each of you gets a stack of paper and a pen!' Wu Liang announced.
'Within a month you will all master at least one hundred common characters!'
The decision proved wise; with paper and pen, knowledge spread faster and enthusiasm soared.
Best of all, trips to the latrine were finally tolerable—though he had to be careful not to poke a finger through the sheet.
'Eliza, Akomann, come home early,' Wu Liang said after class, slipping an arm around each slender waist.
'You two study so hard yet still lag—starting tonight I'll tutor you privately.'
'Private lessons? Wonderful!' Eliza's eyes sparkled.
Akomann resisted: 'Pass. My head's already splitting; those squiggles are worse than fighting a hundred Wind Wolves.'
Wu Liang chuckled, cheek against hers: 'Don't worry—home tutoring is… different.'
His warm whisper turned her earlobe scarlet, then he strolled off.
Watching the trio, Wei Xian rubbed her swollen belly and frowned.
Night fell; Eliza, after dispatching the last supplies, rubbed her tired temples and stepped inside.
Wu Liang was bent over the table, quill flying.
So intent was he that he didn't notice her.
'Liang, what are you drawing?'
'Welcome back. I'm sketching tools for building the city wall.'
She peered at the baffling mesh of lines, gears, and levers covered with numbers.
'What is it?'
'I call it a crane. With pulleys and levers one weak man can lift a thousand-catty stone.'
Crane? Pulleys? Lever principle? Eliza was lost, but if Wu Liang said it worked, it worked.
He pulled her onto his lap, breath warm against her ear: 'Want to learn? I'll teach you.'
Her body tensed, cheeks burning.
She meant to protest she was too dense, but he guided her hand with the quill.
'See this? It's a pulley; it changes force direction and saves effort. One movable pulley halves the load… Combine many and you have a pulley block…'
His voice, low and magnetic, etched every word into her heart.
An arm circled her waist while the other sketched force diagrams across her back.
'So, with strong enough ropes and bearings, we could, in theory, move the world with a small force.'
By the time he finished, Eliza was utterly entranced.
'Liang… you know so much.'
'I know far more than that…'
He kissed her hard.
'Liang—mm—'
Her mind blanked; she answered clumsily yet fervently, arms locking around his neck.
The room's temperature soared.
Carrying her, still kissing, he strode toward the inner bedroom.
'Liang, wait… I—I still don't understand…'
'No matter,' he laid her on the soft hide bed.
'Tonight I'll lecture slowly and teach you… the lever principle.'
'Ahem!' Akomann, back from drilling the Black Rock Army, stood in the doorway.
'Am I interrupting? Has class begun?'
Wu Liang smiled and opened an arm.
'You're right on time—we're just about to start.'