Chương 671: Another World

Liu Ce couldn't help but laugh at his precocious manner, and put his pen down on the table:

"Relax, it's just the two of us here, father and son. Why are you so tense? Like I'm interrogating you? Do you have nails in your ass?"

He twirled the brass fountain pen in his hand... This thing was also made by the Ministry of Works according to his drawings. It was filled with ink and was much more convenient than a brush pen. Even though the court officials said it was "not made in the ancient style," he couldn't be bothered to listen. He still used it as usual. Whenever he took it out to write instructions during court meetings, he could hear a few whispers, but he pretended not to hear them.

After circling around a few times, Liu Ce spoke up: "You're sixteen this year. You started studying the classics with your maternal grandfather when you were six, memorizing the Analects, Mencius, and Zizhi Tongjian perfectly. Your grandfather said you could recite the Analects backwards when you were seven. You've also been following me around here since you were six, learning some 'unorthodox' theories. You've also spent two years at the Ministry of Works Research Institute.

You were the one who adjusted the feed mechanism of that small boring machine last month, weren't you? Song Yingxing even came to the palace a few days ago to praise you, saying you're 'more stable than his three chief clerks,' and he even wanted to recruit you to the research institute as the chief engineer, saying you're 'born to do engineering.'"

Liu Chen's ears turned slightly red, and he said modestly, "Father, you flatter me. I'm just tightening screws according to the blueprints. It's nothing special."

"Tightening screws is a skilled job; being able to control the gap to within two threads is already quite impressive," Liu Ce nodded with a smile, his tone very sincere.

"Don't think that tightening screws is inferior. So many major problems in this world end up because of a single screw. A train wheel might fly off while it's running, or a cannon might explode after firing a shot. Ultimately, it might be because a craftsman was just a hair's breadth off when tightening a screw. A hair's breadth off could be fatal. You can get it just two hairs' width off, which is something many people wouldn't even dare to dream of."

He changed the subject abruptly, placing the pen on the table. His voice wasn't loud, but it made Liu Chen sit up straight instantly.

"But... just being able to tighten screws and write beautiful policy essays isn't enough."

Liu Ce got up and walked to the side wall of the imperial study.

There used to be a painting hanging on this wall. It was an original work, priceless. The court officials all said that it was elegant and culturally rich to hang in the imperial study, and it enhanced the prestige of the place.

As a result, Liu Ce got tired of it last month and had it taken down and put into the inner treasury, replacing it with a larger one... the "General Map of the Han Dynasty and Surrounding Areas" newly drawn by the Ministry of Works' Cartography Workshop.

This map is unlike any other map before. It is not a freehand landscape painting, but a new surveying method. It has contour lines and a scale, and the provinces, prefectures and counties are clearly marked. Even the outline of the mainland overseas is roughly outlined with light ink. It looks rough, but it has a different kind of realism, as if the whole world is laid out in front of you.

Liu Ce stretched out his finger and swept it across the map from the Central Plains southwards. His fingertip stopped at the water towns of Jiangnan, then moved north to the border of Youyan, westwards to the Gobi Desert of Longyou, and finally gently touched the vast land of the Western Regions.

"Eldest son, tell me the truth... Your grandfather taught you the Analects and Mencius, taught you 'Governing with virtue is like the North Star, which remains in its place while all the other stars revolve around it,' and 'Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it.' After all these years of studying, have you noticed anything... that's not right?"

Liu Ce turned around, leaned against the edge of the table, and looked at him with a hint of testing in his eyes.

Liu Chen fell silent.

This was a habit he learned from his father: whenever a question involved the words "country" or "way," he would first calm down and think for three breaths before speaking, and he would never blurt it out.

The Imperial Study was quiet for a moment, and the sound of the wind outside the window became clear, with a few ginkgo leaves swirling and falling.

The boy carefully chose his words before slowly speaking: "... I feel that what Grandpa taught was 'how the world should be'; what you taught, Father, was 'how the world actually is'. Both are correct, but... they are not always the same thing. In fact, many times, they are quite different."

"Well said!" Liu Ce snapped his fingers, his eyes filled with admiration, his eyebrows raised.

"All these years of teaching haven't been in vain. Your grandfather's teachings were the path to sainthood, teaching 'what an emperor in an ideal state should be like,' a target, a direction. What I taught you...

He raised his hand and tapped the huge map, his knuckles making a thud on the paper.

"It's about 'what a mess the real emperor faces every day when he opens his eyes,' it's about arrows, it's about methods. Without a target, the arrows don't know where to shoot; without arrows, the target is just for show. Your grandfather will draw the target for you, and I'll make the arrows for you. You need both."

He walked back behind the desk, but instead of sitting back on the dragon throne, he leaned against the edge of the desk, his gaze drifting towards the ginkgo forest outside the window, as if recalling something very, very far away.

"I called you here today not to test your strategic thinking. I'll test you on something else... I'll tell you a story. Not a story from our world, but... a story from another place that looks similar, but is a little different."

Liu Chen's eyelids twitched suddenly.

The phrase "another world" was mentioned once when my father was six years old, when he was shown a map of the world. He said there were many continents and other countries overseas, not some "Celestial Empire where all nations pay tribute".

I never went into detail about it again after that.

Is today... going to be a complete layout?

Liu Ce casually poured himself a cup of hot tea; the tea was clear and steaming.

He didn't pour any for Liu Chen... He knew the kid disliked the weak tea and preferred sweet honey water.

Taking a sip of hot tea, the warmth spreading through his chest, Liu Ce slowly began to speak: "That other world, also called Huaxia... the historical timeline is largely the same, but some details are different. The most crucial difference is: in that world, there is no emperor like me... so they follow a different path..."

He paused, then used a common term: "a vicious cycle."

"A vicious cycle?" Liu Chen frowned, his fingers unconsciously clenching his sleeves.

"Yes, it's like going in circles, going around and around without ever getting out. When you reach the end, it collapses, and you have to start over. You start all over again and it still collapses. It's like a donkey pulling a millstone, going round and round, a cycle that takes three hundred years."

Liu Ce sat up straight, picked up a pen, and quickly drew a circle on a blank sheet of paper. He then drew an arrow around the circle and finally poked it heavily in the middle.

"Listen carefully, I'm going to break it down for you..."

At the beginning of the founding of the country, the country had just been in chaos and fighting had ended. Most people had died, and the land was empty.

The new emperor distributed the land, so every household had land to cultivate and food to eat. The people lived in peace and prosperity, the national treasury gradually filled up, civil officials dared to speak out, and military generals were able to fight. This was how a prosperous era came about.

Back then, the emperor's word carried weight, the ministers did practical work, and the common people had hope.

and then?

Three or five generations later, the emperors either became lazy or stupid, or the relatives of the empress and eunuchs came out to cause trouble, and the court became a mess.

Local gentry and powerful landlords began to gradually acquire more land.