"Ready your bows... loose!"
At a small training ground in Gong'an County, several veteran soldiers tightened their grips on finely crafted bows.
At the command, they steadied their aim, drew their strings back in one smooth motion, and released.
The arrows flew together, cutting through the air toward the targets.
An officer hurried forward to inspect the results before raising his voice.
"At seventy paces, the arrows pierce leather armor! At eighty paces, they punch through wooden boards! At ninety paces, they strike the wooden dummies!"
"Now that is a fine bow!" Huang Zhong praised, genuinely impressed.
The old general had become noticeably more spirited in recent days. Ever since news arrived from Nan Commandery that a distant kinsman had offered to adopt a son into his family branch, Huang Zhong seemed to have shed several years.
The lingering air of decline that had surrounded him for so long had vanished completely.
"It is indeed a fine bow," Zhuge Liang agreed.
Only three people stood beside the training ground today: Liu Bei, Huang Zhong, and Zhuge Liang. Since the demonstration involved bows and crossbows, they had invited Huang Zhong to provide his expert assessment.
He was practically the local encyclopedia of archery.
"Jiangdong's soldiers are skilled archers, so they also possess many talented bowyers," Huang Zhong said as he picked up a longbow.
With barely any effort, he drew it to eighty percent and released without taking careful aim.
The arrow shot forward like a streak of light and pierced clean through the target at one hundred paces.
"It is a pity that such a fine bow sells for only six hundred coins," Huang Zhong said with a sigh. "Even skilled bowyers struggle to make a decent living."
Among standard military equipment, longbows were relatively cheap. The south had no shortage of good bows or skilled craftsmen, yet the craftsmen remained poor.
The reason was simple. Han battle formations favored direct clashes, and in such formations, crossbows had long surpassed bows in practical use. A crossbowman could be trained more quickly, while a large formation could fire in coordinated volleys without relying entirely on individual strength and skill.
"Hansheng possesses divine archery skills," Zhuge Liang said sincerely.
Then he gestured toward the side.
"But how would you respond if our army possessed the Eight-Ox Ballista?"
Under Liu Bei and Huang Zhong's curious gazes, several personal guards pushed forward a massive wooden frame roughly the size of a bed.
It was completely covered in oiled cloth.
The arrangement was mysterious and impressive.
Zhuge Liang uncovered it himself.
The first thing Huang Zhong saw was three enormous bows mounted on top of the frame.
And when one said enormous, one meant enormous.
The bow arms were nearly twice the size of the three-stone bow in Huang Zhong's hand. All three were fixed to a complicated system of mechanisms and pulleys.
Huang Zhong could not fully understand how the machinery worked, but the weapon possessed that unique, threatening beauty found only in weapons.
He practically threw himself onto it for a closer look.
"Kongming, how is this thing operated?"
"It cannot be drawn by human strength alone."
Zhuge Liang pointed toward the two wooden wheels at the rear.
"Bring the oxen."
Four guards led draft oxen forward. They carefully attached ropes to the wheel mechanisms on both sides of the ballista and held the reins tightly to keep the animals from bolting.
Zhuge Liang and a junior officer lifted one of the enormous bolts and fixed it onto the machine.
"Begin pulling!"
The wooden wheels began turning slowly.
The internal mechanisms ground into motion. The three giant bows gradually bent backward, their strings tightening little by little.
As the creaking grew louder, Huang Zhong felt a chill travel down his spine.
When he was young and training in martial arts, he had once used his strength to snap a five-jun bow.
The sound of the string just before it broke had been sharp enough to cut the air, leaving a deep impression on him.
The same sound now came from the Eight-Ox Ballista.
The wheels were pulled until they could go no farther.
A guard carrying an axe moved carefully behind the machine and swung down hard on the release rope.
TWANG!
The deafening sound shook the training ground.
A fierce gust struck Huang Zhong in the face.
By the time he recovered, a distant boom had already echoed across the fields.
Two hundred paces away, a large tree had been snapped cleanly in half.
The ballista bolt itself was nowhere to be seen.
Huang Zhong clicked his tongue in awe.
"Such power! It truly lives up to the name Eight-Ox!"
"Unfortunately, it has not reached that level yet," Zhuge Liang said, sounding slightly regretful. "Perhaps the craftsmanship passed down by later generations differs from ours. Perhaps we have not yet understood the critical mechanical components."
"If this Eight-Ox Ballista truly used the strength of eight oxen, the frame would tear itself apart before the bolt was even fired."
At that moment, the junior officer sent to locate the bolt returned empty-handed.
"Reporting! The bolt landed four hundred and eighty paces away. It buried itself completely in the ground and could not be recovered!"
"That is practically five hundred paces!" Huang Zhong's mind reeled.
The range was truly terrifying.
"But it is a pity that the Eight-Ox Ballista is difficult to calibrate accurately," Zhuge Liang said, shaking his head.
Huang Zhong looked horrified.
'Five hundred paces of range, and it hits exactly where you aim? That would be even more terrifying. As long as the enemy commander came into view, this weapon could kill him before he even realized he was in danger. How is anyone supposed to fight against that?'
His years of experience defending Jingzhou quickly gave rise to an idea.
"Kongming, since that is the case..."
Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang's eyes lit up at the same time.
"Excellent!"
Five days later, in the Gong'an county office, Liu Bei sat at the head of the hall as usual, watching his closest generals and ministers arrive one after another.
The first person to arrive was Guan Yu.
The man from Hedong rarely displayed such obvious joy. Today, however, his expression was radiant.
"Big Brother, the Eight-Ox Ballista Kongming built works wonders when mounted on ships! The Yangtze and Hudu River are now protected from enemy vessels!"
Liu Bei nodded slowly.
Huang Zhong's suggestion had been simple but brilliant.
If a bed ballista could be mounted on a city wall, why could it not be mounted on a ship?
Compared with ordinary bed ballistas, the Eight-Ox Ballista could fire bolts powerful enough to punch through an enemy vessel. If it struck a tower ship several times, would that ship not sink?
Zhuge Liang had adopted the idea immediately and placed the test units aboard Guan Yu's ships.
The results had evidently been better than expected.
Next, Zhuge Liang and Huang Yueying arrived together.
Huang Yueying and Mi Zhu had submitted a proposal to officially expand the paper workshop, which Liu Bei had already approved.
The plan to print official bulletins, though, had been postponed by Zhuge Liang.
The reason? Current paper production was still far inferior to what Cao Cao could put out. If the printing method got learned by the Cao thief, this move would end up benefiting the enemy instead.
Mi Zhu had already packed his bags, planning to head to Jiangdong first to open a paper shop. He would set off right after watching this light screen segment.
As for Zhuge Liang, he had a mountain of responsibilities: farming, ballista development, tax collection. Plus he had to research with Jiang Wan how to distinguish coal quality and figure out better mining methods.
Speaking of Jiang Wan, he walked through the door looking as unmotivated as ever. He cupped his hands toward Liu Bei, then sat down next to Zhuge Liang like it was second nature. The man was clearly overworked and had given up on pretending otherwise.
Zhang Fei, Huang Zhong, and Zhao Yun, who had just returned from Changsha, arrived together. The three sat on Guan Yu's side, subtly treating him as their leader.
As Mi Zhu and Sun Qian also entered and took their seats, two newer faces appeared in everyone's view.
Ma Liang's mottled white eyebrows were hard to miss. Zhuge Liang waved happily. "Jichang, come over here! I saved you a seat!"
After paying his respects to Liu Bei, Ma Liang went over and sat down. Very naturally, just like Jiang Wan, he pulled out paper and brush to get ready for note-taking.
Jiang Wan looked absolutely delighted. 'Finally, someone to share the paperwork burden with!'
Then Liu Bei stood up warmly and took the hands of the last person to arrive.
"Zifang, my brother!"
Mi Fang paid his respects properly. "My lord."
The two stood chatting warmly for a few moments, then Mi Fang also sat down beside Mi Zhu.
But Mi Fang looked confused about what was going on. "Big Brother, what are we discussing today? Why are we allowed to attend this?"
Mi Zhu's eyes held about thirty percent pure joy. This younger brother of his, who had followed him through wandering and hardship, who had abandoned his official post to follow their lord, was finally being entrusted with real responsibility.
There was also a deeper meaning in his gaze. "Zifang, you just need to wait and watch for the auspicious sign."
---
Meanwhile, in another place entirely, Chang'an, Ganlu Hall.
The summer heat was oppressive.
One imposing man, whose brows carried an unmistakable air of heavenly majesty, had discovered the perfect solution.
He had placed his feet in a bucket of ice.
The sudden chill made him sigh in satisfaction.
An open book lay beside him. The light screen flickered across its pages.
Several large characters glowed on the surface:
One Commandery Against the World, Might Shaking All Under Heaven Is Today!
Beside it lay a sheet of reading notes.
Immortals instruct us to conquer the Western Regions. If that is so, we must avenge the humiliation at the Wei River!
What are the Mongols? We must proceed carefully. They should be exterminated early.
Establish a Martial Temple to pacify the people and govern the state. Sixty-four generals are too many. Worship Jiang Shang instead, with thirty-six generals as accompanying sacrifices.
Who is Emperor Suzong of Tang?
In the blank space beside the notes, he had drawn a rough prototype of a ballista chariot.
It was so ugly that looking at it was painful.
The man stared at the light screen glowing across the pages of the book.
A flash of delight crossed his face.
He picked up his brush and wrote directly on the light screen:
"This battle has a fraction of my style from the banks of the Ming River!"