"These descendants, on what grounds do they criticize us?"
Liu Bei's expression darkened as he spoke. It was not anger born of impulse, but restrained dissatisfaction, the kind that came from being judged by people he could neither see nor question.
Zhang Fei did not respond. He scratched his head and committed one detail to memory.
'So that strange white beast was called a panda!'
"This criticism cannot be called baseless," Zhuge Liang said calmly, as if he had already anticipated Liu Bei's reaction. He folded his hands inside his sleeves and continued in an even tone.
"Ban Gu once wrote in the Book of Han that the felling of forests was not properly regulated, and that floods and droughts might well arise as a result."
"If the trees in a region are completely cut down, heavy rain will carry soil into the rivers. Over time, the riverbeds will rise, the land will lose its strength, and disasters will follow. Perhaps this is what the descendants mean by soil erosion."
Liu Bei wanted to argue, but he found no words to push back.
If this had been the opinion of unseen descendants, he could have dismissed it. But if even Ban Gu had written the same thing, there was little room left for denial.
"And there is another matter," Huang Yueying added.
She stepped forward slightly, her tone precise and grounded in practical knowledge. "The amount of timber consumed in iron production is far from trivial. Smelting one jin of iron requires seven jin of charcoal, while producing one jin of charcoal requires at least three times that amount of raw timber."
"A tung tree that has grown for ten years yields roughly three hundred jin of charcoal. Even if all of it is burned, it produces only several dozen jin of iron."
Her figures were not guesses. They were based on recent conversations with the craftsmen and laborers working under her supervision.
Liu Bei felt a faint chill run through him.
It was the first time he had heard such concrete figures, and their scale forced him to reconsider things he had long taken for granted.
"Then what is this coal they speak of?"
No one spoke for a moment.
Finally, Huang Yueying answered, "It may be the black stone extracted from the earth, once referred to as stone coal. It can burn, though its use is not widespread."
Zhuge Liang glanced at her, a trace of admiration flickering in his eyes.
'As expected of my wife!'
"Then what of this online shop and porcelain firing?"
This time, even Huang Yueying hesitated.
"If they are mentioned together, then porcelain is likely an evolution of pottery. But as for the online shop..." She shook her head slightly.
Mi Zhu frowned in thought.
"A shop is still a shop," he said slowly. "But this online... perhaps it refers to some form of transmission? A way of announcing goods across great distances?"
Even Mi Zhu could say no more.
If the three of them could grasp only fragments of the concept, then to Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Huang Zhong, it was completely beyond comprehension.
"In that case, let us disperse for now,"
Liu Bei said at last, waving his hand with a tired sigh. "Kongming, remain behind. We will discuss this further."
After leaving the hall, Zhang Fei remembered Liu Bei's earlier words and headed toward the inner courtyard.
He peeked through the moon gate, glancing left and right. Seeing no attendants nearby, he could no longer hold himself back.
"Sister-in-law! Old Zhang is here to take Feng'er to the camp!"
His voice echoed across the courtyard.
Not long afterward, Lady Gan appeared with a servant. A hint of concern rested between her brows.
"Yide, has Feng'er done something wrong again?"
She could not help worrying. In recent months, Liu Bei's attitude toward Liu Feng and A-Dou had grown increasingly strange. He never scolded them openly, yet he often subjected them to unexpected training or watched them from afar with long, heavy sighs. Whenever she asked what was wrong, he would only shake his head.
Zhang Fei feared neither Heaven nor Earth, but even he instinctively took half a step back.
"No, no, nothing like that," he said, lowering his voice. "Feng'er has always wanted to lead troops. There happens to be no war at present, so I thought I would take him to the camp early and let him become familiar with military affairs."
Lady Gan studied him for a moment before nodding.
"As long as nothing is wrong. Feng'er is at the southern training ground."
Zhang Fei clasped his fists and was about to leave, but then hesitated.
"Sister-in-law, please take care of your health. If anything feels wrong, summon the divine physician immediately. The inner household depends on you now."
Lady Gan's expression softened slightly.
"Go on, Yide."
Zhang Fei did not linger. He strode toward the training ground and, without a word, lifted Liu Feng as though the boy weighed nothing, carrying him straight toward the military camp.
The lamps in the side hall of Gong'an County burned deep into the night.
By the time they were finally extinguished, dawn had already arrived.
"They must have slept on the same couch again, our lord and chief strategist!" the servant Niu Er declared confidently.
The others barely reacted.
Such things had long since ceased to be news.
Jiang Wan's duties had now officially shifted to the side hall. He had become Zhuge Liang's clerk. When he arrived the following morning, he knocked for quite some time before the door finally opened.
Zhuge Liang stood there with slightly disheveled hair and faint exhaustion beneath his eyes.
"Kongming, you did not sleep?"
"We discussed matters with our lord through the night."
Only then did Jiang Wan notice Liu Bei lying on a mat inside, still fast asleep.
"You came at the right time," Zhuge Liang said, already turning back toward the desk. "Copy this directive."
Jiang Wan carefully accepted the document and read aloud.
"On the twenty-fourth day of the Yin month, an Observation Bureau is hereby established to examine the words of the light screen and investigate matters not yet understood..."
As he spoke, Zhuge Liang began organizing the scattered documents on the desk.
"Our lord and I discussed this through the night," he explained. "Relying only on immediate judgment risks overlooking important details. It is better to assign reliable personnel to examine the contents of the light screen carefully. They will extract useful information, classify it, and deliver it to the appropriate departments."
"For example, the forged-steel method from yesterday has already been compiled. You will deliver it to the Ministry of Works and explain it to an experienced craftsman so that its feasibility can be tested."
"As for items such as the Eight-Ox Ballista, those fall under military restrictions. Such matters must be reported to our lord and me. We will arrange for trusted craftsmen and soldiers to reconstruct and test them."
Jiang Wan nodded, though inwardly he felt a deep sense of dread.
'My peaceful days as an ordinary clerk are clearly over.'
The activity across Jingzhou steadily intensified. Even Liu Bei, who did not wake until nearly noon, could not escape the growing tide of responsibility.
After exchanging greetings with Jiang Wan and washing up, he stepped out of the county office. He paused briefly in the inner courtyard to speak with Lady Gan, reminding her once again to summon the divine physician if she felt unwell. Only then did he continue on his way.
Outside the city, small plots of farmland had already begun to take shape. Liu Bei recognized them immediately. They belonged to the refugees from Jianghuai who had crossed Mount Tianzhu under Lei Xu's leadership to seek refuge.
The air was still cold, and the season had not yet reached the time for planting rice. But survival did not wait for the seasons. Beans, greens, or anything else that grew quickly would have to suffice.
Watching the refugees work the soil with curved plows, Liu Bei slowed his steps. He did not disturb them. Instead, he watched for a moment before moving on.
Farther south, along the banks of the Hudu River, the papermaking workshop had taken shape. Even from a distance, one structure stood out: a massive waterwheel.
It was nearly three times the size of ordinary designs. Unlike hand-operated wheels, this one turned steadily under the force of the current alone. Each spoke ended in a bucket that dipped into the river, lifted water upward, and emptied it automatically into channels leading toward the workshop.
Where there had once been only a single structure, an entire cluster of buildings now stood. Workers moved back and forth carrying materials, their movements quick and purposeful.
Liu Bei stopped a passing laborer.
"How is this waterwheel performing?"
The man was about to brush him aside, but upon recognizing Liu Bei, he immediately straightened and bowed.
"Lady Huang's wheel works extremely well! It draws water on its own, requires no manpower, and even powers mechanisms for pounding pulp and grinding materials!"
From his explanation, Liu Bei gradually understood.
The craftsmen had initially been at a loss, but Huang Yueying had personally directed the construction and completely convinced them of its value.
Privately, they had already begun calling it Lady Huang's Wheel.
"It is only a pity that Zuo Bo paper has not yet been produced," the worker added, his tone tinged with regret. "Lady Huang says the problem may lie in the pulp mixture. She has been testing it with several master papermakers."
Liu Bei nodded in satisfaction.
At least here, progress was tangible.
But no matter how long he delayed, there was one matter he could not avoid.
He had to deal with Chanling and Lady Sun.
The thought alone made his steps grow slightly heavier.