"Jiang Wei?"
Zhuge Liang always thought his memory was pretty sharp, but no matter how hard he dug, he just could not recall ever hearing that name before.
"Maybe this Jiang Wei is a local from Yizhou and you will meet him later. No need to stress over it," Liu Bei said to comfort him.
After all, he did not know Meng Da either until very recently.
Zhuge Liang rubbed his short beard thoughtfully. After these two broadcasts laying out both past and present, his whole outlook had shifted. Restoring the Han dynasty could not depend on just one man's bravery or clever ideas alone. Even if they managed to dodge the grim future the screen had shown, gathering talented people and nurturing the next generation would only work in their favor.
"My lord, we really need to speed up our plans to take Yizhou and..." Zhuge Liang paused, weighing his words carefully. "We might also want to fight for control over Jiaozhou too."
"That makes perfect sense. I will write a letter to Jianhe straight away," Liu Bei agreed.
He did not expect Shi Xie to help him fight Cao Cao or Sun Quan, but that light screen had planted a brand new ambition in his heart. Educating the common people could count as such a massive achievement! Sure, they already had the Wuhou Shrine where folks worshipped the heroes of Shu Han, but who would ever complain about having more people praying for them?
Jian Yong had headed off on a diplomatic mission to Jiaozhou the previous month and had not returned yet, so Liu Bei decided to send an urgent letter after him to explain everything.
On top of that, the screen had pointed out that if Sun Wu just built up that thing called a navy, they could sail south all the way to Indonesia or north toward Japan as a backup escape route.
Liu Bei would rather die than run away overseas, but having a decent port might let them study those weird aircraft carriers. He could not wrap his own head around how one of those things worked, but he had Zhuge Liang for exactly this kind of problem!
As for Zhuge Liang's push to secure Jiaozhou, well, that was also because Sun Wu already had plans to take it themselves. Everyone in the know knew that.
Only Huang Zhong had a really weird look on his face, while Guan Yu's face turned a few shades darker red. Both of them remembered the screen mentioning that Vietnam eventually got lost during the Ming dynasty years later.
Zhao Yun sat off to one side, eyes closed, deep in thought. The screen had shown some cavalry footage earlier in the broadcast. Those formations looked messy and the soldiers had zero fighting spirit. Their armor was complete and their horses looked well fed, but something about the whole scene just felt off.
"Development, development, and more development," Liu Bei sighed, shaking his head. "I thought we were off to a solid start, but now I feel way more pressed for time than ever before!"
"If my lord has the heart for it, why not head out with Zilong to study those new farm tools together?" Zhuge Liang smiled while carefully organizing all the sketches he had copied down.
"That sounds like a plan!" Liu Bei did not mind getting his hands dirty one bit and started handing out assignments right away.
"Yide, starting tomorrow, sweep all the bandits out of the nearby mountains so the common folks can hunt and farm in peace."
"Yunchang, you take charge of troop training. And Hansheng, please handle security all around Gong'an County."
He laid out every task in just a few clear sentences, and right on cue a notice popped up on the light screen.
[Lightscreen]
[Next video update in one month.]
Seeing the broadcast wrap up, Liu Bei found himself stuck in a bit of a dilemma.
What should he send over this time?
Last time everything was so rushed, he only managed to send a single jade pendant. This time he knew the schedule in advance and had prepared several nice things. He planned to pick the absolute best one to send, but he never expected the descendant's second video to be so incredibly good. Now sending just one gift felt nowhere near sincere enough.
"Let's just pack everything up and send the whole lot!" Liu Bei winced a little, thinking about the cost.
They might be running on a tight budget, but they absolutely could not skimp on offerings for the descendant!
...
Wen Mang wiped the sweat off his forehead again. He was genuinely blown away by how efficient his fans were. His video had only been up for a single day, so how was he already getting another package?
He carefully sliced the packing tape open with a utility knife and pulled out the wooden box inside.
It was about the size of a computer tower, with copper fittings on all eight corners and simple ancient style paint all over the surface. Looking at it, Wen Mang could only think one thing. This thing totally clashed with his modern room!
It belonged in a historical drama set in some nobleman's study or bedroom, holding precious books or heirlooms. Sticking it in his apartment just looked wildly out of place.
Wen Mang picked it up to test the weight. It was not especially heavy, but he could feel things rolling around inside.
"Whoa, there is actually stuff in here?"
The box had no lock. When he lifted the lid, the first thing he noticed was the faint scent of fine incense. Silk cloth lined the bottom, and resting on top were several bright yellow shiny objects.
"Whoa, replica gold coins!"
Wen Mang cheered, tossed the box aside, and scooped everything out to spread across his desk.
He had been digging into Han dynasty history for his videos lately, so he recognized these items straight away.
Horseshoe gold and Gold Wuzhu coins! No wonder the box had some weight to it.
Both were incredibly valuable items back in the Han days. Cultural tourism was booming these days and plenty of shops sold replicas, but Wen Mang had never been willing to splurge on them himself. He never expected a fan to send him a whole set. This was awesome!
A cool idea popped into his head right then. Maybe he should take a little field trip for his next video? He decided to go for it immediately.
He arranged one piece of horseshoe gold and five Gold Wuzhu coins neatly on the silk cloth and let his camera work its magic. After snapping a whole bunch of shots, he picked the absolute best ones, arranged them in a neat four grid layout, and posted the update straight to the video site.
...
Back in Gong'an County, the men waiting in the side hall were starting to feel those familiar hunger pangs now that the broadcast had ended. But just as Zhuge Liang had predicted, the light screen slowly unfurled in midair all over again.
[Lightscreen]
[Got the awesome souvenirs from my friend! This uploader loves them so much. You guys are way too enthusiastic and honestly making me feel kinda bad, so I am gonna pigeon the next video for a few days. Once it drops, you will get to see all the amazing scenery in Chengdu!
Attached images 1 to 3: Photos of the horseshoe gold and Gold Wuzhu coins.
Attached image 4: High-speed rail ticket from Luoyang to Chengdu.]
[Server Chat Log]
[Iron Mode: Damn, horse-hoof gold and gold Wuzhu coins?! Please adopt me! 😭
Banner Up: Gotta be fake. One horse-hoof gold weighs half a jin. At 400 per gram that makes a hundred thousand per piece! Still, the replica looks really nice 👍
Standing Still: That gold Wuzhu looks so good… I'm literally drooling 🤤
NoStepBack: High-speed rail to Chengdu is way too slow. Might as well fly there ✈️
Unshaken Tree: If you have time go see the giant panda Huahua! She's super cute 🥰]
Liu Bei watched Wen Mang's update with a big smile on his face, even though he had no clue what "pigeon the next video" was supposed to mean.
As long as the descendant loved the gift, that was all that mattered. But scrolling through the comments, Liu Bei started getting confused.
"Wait, isn't a horseshoe gold supposed to weigh a full catty? Did I forget the exact weight after not handling them for so long?"
"The official decree set one catty as the standard weight for gold during Emperor Wu of Han's reign,"
Zhuge Liang recited from memory. "Weights and measures probably changed over the centuries. Our one catty most likely equals their half catty."
Zhuge Liang was staring hard at the descendant's math. Four hundred bucks a gram and one horseshoe gold equals a hundred grand. That meant each piece weighed two hundred and fifty grams, which came out to half a catty. So one full catty would be five hundred grams? Why not a thousand grams? It was a little confusing, but he made sure to write it all down anyway.
"The descendant rode something called a high speed rail to get to Chengdu?"
Guan Yu stroked his beard thoughtfully. "So that last picture is a ticket for riding this rail?"
As they talked, the screenshot of the ticket got blown up big enough for everyone to see.
Guan Yu was so shocked he nearly tore a chunk of his own beard right out. "From Luoyang all the way to Chengdu in just over six hours! What kind of godly speed is that!"
He had no idea how their modern hours compared to the traditional two hour time periods they used, but the meaning was crystal clear. The whole journey took less than a single day. Even one full day would have been mind blowing enough!
Zhang Fei scoffed loud and proud. "Why are you so shocked, Second Brother? Look at that guy in the comment! He says it is way too slow and suggests flying instead! The descendants can actually fly! I wonder what their wings look like. If I could visit that time, I would want a pair of eagle wings or something. That would be so cool!"