Clearing the Board
The researchers were ecstatic about the hot air balloons and parachutes. Taoist priests and cult leaders had always advertised their spiritual powers by claiming they could levitate, and every god in the pantheon was equipped with the ability to fly. Flying through the sky was a dream that everyone harbored at least once, and the researchers at the institute had finally achieved it. And not through some monstrous sorcery, but through pure technology.
The sky lantern, known as the Kongming lantern thanks to Zhuge Liang—the greatest patent fraudster in human history—had surprisingly been in use since the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. The principle that hot air rises was something people of this era could already explain in their own way, using concepts like the duality of yin and yang or the circulation of the five elements. The hot air balloon was a clear product of technology and engineering that utilized this phenomenon to soar through the heavens. The researchers were now experiencing for themselves the act of stepping into the skies, a realm no one before them had ever truly conquered.
“Just imagine it. If we float a hot air balloon above a fortress wall and fire yeongangno bolts from above, even a million-strong army would struggle to capture the stronghold. And once the jincheonroe technology is perfected… yes, we would have an impregnable fortress.”
Once the researchers had shaken off the initial thrill of flight, they began exploring the tactical and strategic value that could be gained from these lofty heights. The bows of this era didn’t have much range. That was the limit of their materials science and the ceiling of technology developed purely through craftsmen’s accumulated experience without any real understanding of physics. The yeongangno didn’t require a person to draw the string by hand, so that wasn’t an issue, but the physical limits of the people in this era still applied. At best, the balloons could only ascend and descend about 250 meters, but shooting an arrow that high with the bows of this time was nearly impossible. The principle of potential energy converting into kinetic energy was something people of this era roughly understood.
“From the start, the yeongangno is superior to any other bow. It doesn’t require long training periods, and thanks to the division of labor among craftsmen, we’ve stockpiled enough to give two to every soldier in Yan Province. Even without using jincheonroe, if skilled marksmen climb aboard the balloons and open fire… wouldn’t they be able to repel any army?”
Arrows fired from high atop castle walls retained their power over long distances. It stood to reason, then, that arrows fired from the heights of the sky would fly even farther. A few researchers cited this logic and demanded mass production of the hot air balloons, but the eternal problems were always time and budget. Sometimes one was the issue, sometimes both.
“That’s true, but the problem is the silk.”
The issue with the balloons was mass. The envelope needed to be made from fabric that was both light and durable enough to carry people aloft. At this point, the only material that met those standards was the silk produced in Yi Province—Shu silk. No matter how much wealth Liaodong was accumulating through the salt trade, Shu silk was still prohibitively expensive. When you factored in the need to supply food to Ji Province, mass-producing hot air balloons right now was simply impossible.
“The people of You Province… no, they’re people of Yan Province now. Anyway, we’re gathering everyone in Yan Province who knows how to raise silkworms and compiling their techniques and experience into books… but it will still take several years before we can produce silk here in You Province.”
“Hmm… then there’s nothing we can do about it. But it is certain that our Emperor is the first person in history to claim dominion over the skies. If we succeed in luring the Han Emperor here during the winter… then I am confident that, just as Yao passed the throne to Shun, our Yan Province—no, our State of Yan—will inherit the Mandate of Heaven. As that charlatan Zhang Jue once said, the blue sky is already dead. The rise of a new heaven is clearly our destiny.”
In the research institute bathed in moonlight, such treasonous conversations continued without pause, yet no one stepped forward to stop or rebuke them.
“How is His Highness the Prince of Bohai?”
“He has not even been in Liaodong for a full day yet. Hehe… there is plenty of time, so there is no need to rush. Besides, His Majesty has generously allocated a sufficient budget.”
Gongsun Zan had shown generosity toward the young prince, but aligning the hearts of superiors and subordinates was never an easy task. This time was no different.
---
It had been a long time since I returned home. Well, “a long time” only meant I had been away for about a month, but a long time was still a long time. I had left with the intention of briefly hiding the Prince of Bohai, yet I still couldn’t quite grasp why I had become the center of attention in Yan Province, or why I had risen to the rank of a feudal lord comparable to the Three Dukes.
In any case, the title of Duke allowed one to oversee the education of kings or emperors, so escorting the Prince of Bohai to Liaodong had proceeded without major issues. I had also gained some understanding of the political situation in the Central Plains, so there were benefits to be had.
“It has been a while, my wife.”
“You return once per season, my husband.”
“…I’m sorry. The situation took a strange turn and delayed me a bit.”
“That is fine. I was prepared for this from the moment I married you. It is just… I worry that you might break under the strain.”
Lady Jin was one of the few people who understood all my thoughts and accepted them completely. She was the only person with whom I could truly relax, and even someone who could sympathize with my eccentric ideals.
“Your face has grown so thin. I will prepare some snacks, so please rest for a while.”
“It’s fine. I deliberately starved myself because I need to lose some weight.”
When winter came, I would have to visit Luoyang. There was a limit to the weight a hot air balloon could carry, and my body, which easily exceeded five hundred pounds, was likely to put serious strain on the balloon’s frame. If it were just me, I might manage somehow, but since this was a military operation, I would need to wear armor. Carrying the Emperor would almost certainly result in a severe weight overrun, so dieting wasn’t a choice—it was mandatory. Fortunately, I wasn’t losing fat so much as trimming muscle, so it wouldn’t be that difficult. Still, Lady Jin’s expression looked a little strange.
“You don’t need to worry. The takeoff weight of the hot air balloon… um… basically, my body is too heavy to ride one safely. That’s why.”
“You don’t need to explain it in such detail. I already understood what you meant, so there is no need to make excuses.”
“…The world is falling into chaos. I should at least be able to rest when I can. Since Dong Zhuo appointed me as Inspector of Yan Province, I finally have some breathing room. It should be fine now.”
“If my husband says so, then I will believe it.”
“I’m sorry for always making you worry.”
“…It is late. I have prepared hot water for you to wash with, so please rest well tonight.”
I nodded and, as always, used the collected horse urine to wash away the sweat and dust. The hot bath I hadn’t enjoyed in so long was incredibly relaxing, and all sorts of thoughts swirled through my mind before drifting away.
Dong Zhuo had turned me into a third faction, thereby reducing his own burden. The local magnates had returned to their hometowns to pursue their own ambitions, carving out and expanding their territories by attacking one another. Naturally, expanding one’s lands required more people to farm them, so the pointless slaughter of civilians would decrease. If we could just clean up the few warlords who dared to challenge the star-shaped fortresses we were building along Yan Province’s borders, the chaos might finally show signs of ending.
Of course… I would also have to think about what came after that. But it seemed I had somehow prevented the country from falling into such complete ruin that superstars like Liu Bei or Cao Cao would need to appear.
It had been a while since I looked in a mirror. I still couldn’t recognize my own face. After drying off, I changed out of my armor into silk robes and entered the bedroom. The mattress we had made from the newly extracted rubber was soft and springy, and my wife’s body was warm.
“…Later, when the world becomes a little more peaceful… let’s have a child.”
“Yes. Later… when the day comes that you no longer suffer from nightmares, let’s do that.”
---
As winter arrived, even the Dong Zhuo rebellion that had shaken the entire Han Empire began to show signs of calming down. No matter how numerous or powerful the Clean Stream faction was, it was difficult to expect unity from the coalition army without a competent supreme commander. And with the legitimate Prince of Bohai still alive and well, Dong Zhuo could not commit the kind of tyranny seen in the original history, which prevented a massive loss of popular support.
Cao Cao had suppressed the Yellow Turbans that had risen in Yan Province—specifically in the Yan (沇) region attached to Ji Province rather than the Yan (燕) formed by the merger of You and Ji—and had become Inspector of Yan Province as the successor to Liu Dai. Yuan Shu had absorbed Yuzhou and Jingzhou, territories where his spies were active, thereby building up a force comparable to Gongsun Zan’s Yan Province. Liu Yan remained shut away in Yi Province as usual, happily playing SimCity. Dong Zhuo had become a great feudal lord encompassing Xiliang, Yong Province, the Capital District, and Bing Province. While the turmoil had not completely ended, the daily wars of the past had ceased.
Qing Province was staggering from the loss of too many young men who had left for Yan Province. Kong Rong, the Governor of Beihai and a member of the anti-Dong Zhuo coalition, was still carefully watching the situation to decide which side to join. The fact that the scramble for military supplies among the coalition forces and the dissolution of the anti-Dong Zhuo alliance had occurred simultaneously was not particularly strange.
As the chaos in the Central Plains subsided, merchants once again began traveling here and there to resume economic activity. The silk merchants selling Shu silk from Yi Province stopped by Liaodong to replenish a few items before heading toward Luoyang along the Yellow River. The composition of their group had changed significantly from when they first arrived in Liaodong, but no one knew that fact.
As the sun hung over the western mountains, a hot air balloon painted pitch black slowly rose into the sky.