The Cradle of Civilization and Knowledge (1)

Far away in the west, in Mudo, the fight between the mercenaries and the Islamic forces was an overwhelming victory for the mercenaries — the Islamic fighters were beaten back with bows and sent running.

With recurved bows firing miniature arrows, the enemy was being slaughtered to their hearts' content.

"Wait, weren't those folks a different religion, though?"

And yet, somehow, word had it that they were all starting to believe in the Sky Faith.

"Perhaps they were moved when we sent priests to treat their wounds?"

"Is that so?"

Well, if you drink the Holy Water and rub it on a wound, it does look like a miracle, doesn't it? In this day and age, an injury that should have killed you gets wrapped tight to stop the bleeding, you smear on some Holy Water, and before you know it, it's healed. When the priests bind you up that tight to staunch the blood, it hurts like hell and you can't even squirm away — look at their shoulders, and any curse crawling up your throat swallows itself right back down.

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"I'm just glad it ended without anyone getting seriously hurt."

"Apparently they withdrew because something came up."

Trouble elsewhere, most likely. Fine by me.

Still — they could craft springs good enough for striking flint in a firearm, so when on earth were they going to get around to a clock?

"How's the clock coming along, by the way?"

"They say achieving accuracy is difficult, so it's still being improved."

Ah, so it's a math problem.

"That's because you're short on math. Tell them to study harder."

"Huh? Math?"

"Yeah. Getting it right through trial and error alone is genuinely hard. They need to start thinking about calculating it with mathematics."

"So mathematics is capable of such a thing..."

"One day, every law of the world will be calculated with math. Mark my words."

...So it wasn't all of them, then.

"Anyway — math and science, you can't separate the two. If they get stuck on something, tell them to try solving it with math."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Sure is a crisp answer, but their heads are going to split open, aren't they?

"Speaking of which, why is everyone panicking about a paper shortage?"

"Production is hitting its limits..."

"Are they still stripping tree bark and digging up grass roots?"

"Is there another way?"

Still playing primitive caveman games, I see. If you have machines now, you should be thinking about grinding the wood up with them. These people, honestly.

"You do know paper can be made from something in the inner flesh of the tree, right?"

"Of course?"

Another blank look. So punchable.

"Then figure out exactly what happens to what, and once you do, couldn't you use a steam engine to grind whole trees into pulp and produce it in enormous quantities?"

They need to be thinking about making pulp for mass production. Getting out of the primitive stage is still a long way off. Truly.

"Er... how would we do that?"

"Look for the answer in chemistry. That one."

When I read the reports that come up, they've catalogued all sorts of things — so why won't they think to actually use them?

"You people find things and then fail to make use of them, over and over. Think harder. Watching from the sidelines, it's painful."

"Our apologies."

Yeah. It really is frustrating. Come on, people!

"Math, science, chemistry — these fields of study are all connected. So don't work on them separately. Tell them to put their heads together and wrestle with the problems as one."

Though wait — doesn't chemistry kill a colossal number of people through experiments?

"And when they run experiments, tell them to at least wear protective clothing..."

"You mean the kind used for the blast furnace?"

"Yeah. Some substances are dangerous just from the fumes, let alone when they explode. And tell them to always carry Holy Water in their pouches."

"Heh..."

"There's a lot they need to be careful about, so have them work at a good distance from each other."

That should cut ten deaths down to five, at least?

"Oh, and the people over there ran tons of experiments like these! Go through the materials we looted from them carefully — they'll help. And ask around in Mudo for chemists. Have a chat with them."

They really did an insane amount of unhinged stuff over there, didn't they? Since only the survivors left records, imagine how many died. Terrifying, honestly.

"Compared to other countries, our fundamentals are terribly thin, you see?"

"Aren't we the most advanced, though?"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Right — technologically, sure. But to keep advancing, the fundamentals always matter. Things like addition and subtraction in math. You have to organize it systematically and build it up step by step if you want to see further into the future."

With a population this big, all it takes is getting started and the results will be enormous. Now, how do I bait the hook?

"That's it! You all love your gunpowder weapons, don't you? Develop those with real dedication, and you'll be able to blast everything from Sinsi all the way to Seonnam!"

"Gasp!"

Oh? Did that land?

"And ships made of iron that float on water!"

"Hiiik!"

It's working, isn't it?

"And the Gulleongsoe tractors make the trip from Sinsi to Moda in under an hour!"

"Is that true?!?!"

Well then, I trust you all know what needs doing now?

"Have you ever seen me lie?"

"Er...? You do swindle us now and then..."

"..."

"Though I don't believe you've ever outright lied?"

What's the difference between a swindle and a lie?

"Anyway, everything I just described is far too difficult, so the fundamentals have to be rock solid. If it's too hard for you, gather scholars from other countries or whatever else it takes — you have to study to build these things."

"Ah... study..."

Right — finding people willing to study is always the hardest part.

"If you want something, you have to suffer for it. Roast the kids, boil them, do whatever it takes — just make them study."

"If only Haneul-nim would say a word for us..."

"Don't want to work?"

"A little?"

What exactly are they hoping for here? Do they want me to process their resignation?

「Scramble」

Well, if you don't want to work, I suppose I should let you off easy.

"Where are you going? Your desk is over there?"

"Hm? To the Grand Priest's?"

"Wh... why? Why?!"

Legs shaking already, are they?

"Ah! Go wait in the prayer chamber and hang yourself upside down. Actually, no — you might as well just string yourself up. You won't be coming out until you're dead anyway."

If you don't want to work, shouldn't you just crawl underground?

"No! I'll work hard! I'm going right now! Yes! Going! I said I'm going!"

"Really? And here I was trying to let you off easy?"

"No thank you. Now is fine! Right now is wonderful!"

Right, right — better to roll in a dung heap than lie dead, as they say?

"There you go! Spirit's up! Let's work hard!"

「Pat pat」

"Sob..."

Crying tears of joy. Magnificent. There's truly no one quite like me, is there? So moved by my own words that the tears just flow. Extraordinary.

A new building had risen in Mudo. Eleven stories, its skeleton wrought of steel — the tallest structure of this era.

Since hwanghoe mortar corroded steel rapidly on contact, brick had been laid over the exterior frame, with the hwanghoe applied only as a finishing seal.

Truthfully, they'd wanted to build it even taller, but with no elevators, the scholars would have suffocated trudging up and down all day — so it had been kept modest.

"People keep gathering?"

At first, the response had been lukewarm, but rumor fed on rumor until now they were taking applications and weeding through the list.

"They say the Institute will make whatever experimental materials or instruments you want — there's no way not to come."

Apparently no one had believed it at first.

"I suppose that matters quite a lot, then?"

"The chemists are asking for instruments made of glass. No one but us can produce glass of such high purity."

Chemists especially. So many of their substances are dangerous, without glass they couldn't experiment at all.

"That much is hardly difficult, is it?"

"The glassworks has only ever made window panes, so when you asked them for small, intricate pieces, it seems their passion ignited all over again."

Ordinary household glass had begun pouring out in truly staggering quantities. With the master craftsmen of Moda lending their skills there too, the furnaces were melting glass faster than ever.

Laboratory glassware — tubes and the like — takes real dedication to make, and apparently the work was a good deal more fun for it.

"Mm. Good. Still plenty of room in the building?"

"Yes. It's tall, and the floor space is hardly ordinary."

They'd built it big on purpose. Expansion projects later would be a headache.

"And outsiders are clamoring to come in and have a look."

"Absolutely not. Only scholars get inside — and around it, we'll build an enormous library to hold every book and every scrap of knowledge in the world."

The titles of first university, first ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠library, first steel-frame building — those are ours!

Really, this is all because our kids fall short. Nothing to be done about it. We'll gather the foreigners, have them study, and then take the results for ourselves.

「Flip flip」

Let's see — is this the new roster?

"A lot of Islamic names here... hm? There are children on this list too?"

Each entry was written in Hangul, then repeated again in that squiggly Arabic script. Talk about dedication. It was practically artwork.

The basic personal details were all there, but no matter how I looked at the ages, some of them were clearly kids. Were they experimental slaves or something?

"No, ma'am. Children rumored to be exceptionally bright were brought in to serve as assistants while they study."

"Make sure they're never assigned anything dangerous, and see that they get their education."

You never know what these ruthless medieval types might get up to.

"The university will fund everything except matters of state secrets. And for every document ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that goes into the library, make two identical copies — hide one away, and display the other. We'll build a library of our own as well."

If the Islamic world has its House of Wisdom, then...

"We're building a Grand Library. The cradle of knowledge."

"What a warm, comforting feeling that phrase has?"

It's a Hanja word, though? Do words have auras or something now? Strange.

Ah! While I'm at it, I should make one more thing. There's something like a library, isn't there...

"Let's build a museum too. We have an absolutely staggering number of artifacts, don't we?"

"Artifacts?"

"All the things we've been casually scooping up from here and there for thousands of years."

"Ah!"

Now comes the headache. Get to it, people.

"Sort them properly, store them, and manage the collection."

"Sort them, you say?"

"Yes. You have to note which era and which country each piece came from, no? We'll need scholars devoted to precisely that."

"Heh... and who would take on such work..."

"There will be plenty. Perverts who love that sort of thing?"

Time to create historians. This is the country where you'll find at least one ancient artifact rolling around in any given basement, after all?

Best to establish the field early and put it to good use.

"He wants to tour our country?"

"Yes. He's served as dean of the university all this time, but now past eighty, he says he doesn't know how much longer he'll live, and that there's one thing he'd like to see before he goes."

Oh dear. By this era's standards, that's a staggeringly long life?

They say you should honor even the wishes of the dead — surely the wish of a living man deserves a hearing too.

"Just put him on a train and let him see it all in one go. Have him visit the museum while he's at it."

Once we started laying out everything that had been collected underground for over three thousand ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠years, an ordinary building simply wouldn't do!

So they were extending the display hall in a long line, following the wall that had been driven into the mountainside to keep the trees and animals out.

If you actually wanted to look at everything as you went, it would take days.

"How long will sorting all of that take, anyway?"

"That's... roughly—"

"Roughly?"

"Two hundred years? Three hundred?"

"What kind of answer is that?"

Is it really that much? And surely a fair number of pieces must be broken or damaged by now?

"Few people want to do the work..."

"Ah..."

Can't be helped, I suppose. It's not as though you can grab anyone by the collar and force them.

"Would the women not do it either?"

"Only if you count going hunting as the work?"

"What hunting?"

"The women love hunting with the negotiation guns — the pair of them! They say they even bring down tigers and bears!"

Isn't the accuracy on those things abysmal? And think of the reload time — miss your first shot and you're in serious trouble, aren't you?

"Isn't that dangerous? The shots go wide, don't they?"

"They fire up close, or travel in groups of two or three. And they carry two or three guns each."

Oh? Civilians can get their hands on that many firearms?

"Hold on — ordinary people can just acquire guns like that and use them?"

"Pardon? Is that not allowed?"

"If someone gets angry and shoots a person over it, that's a catastrophe, isn't it?"

"If I were forbidden from hanging upside down in the prayer chamber, I'd go into the mountains and hunt animals instead..."

What? Where did you suddenly find all that weight?

Right — the northern provinces up there are crawling with dangerous beasts, so you can't exactly ban guns.

"Fine. Manage the weapons carefully, drill them thoroughly on gunpowder explosion safety and proper training, then let them use the things. Accidents will happen constantly, after all."

"The schools already require it."

Hm? Schools?

"For children?"

"Of course! Education is early education!"

Oh... this is a little terrifying, isn't it? What exactly are those children going to grow up to be?