NOVPUBChen Xi, who gobbled up Fa Zheng’s food without a shred of guilt, was always open to any revelry, be it singing, dancing, or feasting. However, it must be said, Fa Zheng’s cook was rather good at cooking.
"I’ll give you this portion too." Chen Xi passed a small dish from his own table to the small table of Lu Xun seated beside him, who was clearly very pleased with the novelty of stir-fried dishes, having been accustomed to eating stewed food every day.
"Oh, thank you, Master," Lu Xun said, putting aside his chopsticks with a respectful tone.
"Don’t be so formal. If you like it, Xiaoo Zhi, bring another serving," Chen Xi pointed at the table and instructed, "Serve him some fried rice instead of steamed buns, as he might not be used to them. And bring a little of every dish. Boyan really likes this way of eating."
Fa Zheng gestured to someone on the side, and soon Lu Xun’s small table was swapped with a new serving, and various small dishes and bowls were laid out.
"Hmm..." Lu Xun hesitated, uncertain if he should finish eating here.
"Eat without worry. My father, as well as your parents and grandfather, have already begun the feast, and the operas to follow have all been arranged," Fa Zheng said with a smile, seeing straight through Lu Xun’s hesitation.
Normally, considering their statuses, it should have been Fa Zheng and Chen Xi entertaining the entire Lu family, but alas, Fa Zheng felt he was not old enough, so he had his father host the Lu family, while he took care of guests like Zhuge Liang.
Once Fa Yan left, it would have been inappropriate for Chen Xi to simply sit in as a guest, hence the party was split into two: the main banquet in the hall, and their group in an inner room of the hall. This setup let the group cast aside any reservations they might have had.
"Thank you," Lu Xun offered a courteous bow to Fa Zheng, the etiquette ingrained in him from childhood expressed fully in that moment.
"No need for thanks. In time, you’ll find that when you eat these dishes every day, they won’t seem like much," Fa Zheng said with a smile, "Many things silently and subtly change your habits. Even the finest things will go unnoticed once they become routine, and soon you’ll become accustomed to this new way of life."
"Huh, Xiaoo Zhi, I didn’t expect such words from you," Chen Xi remarked with a smile, "Indeed, it’s the silent and subtle influence that’s the most fearsome, gradually altering your pattern of thought, and slowly acclimatizing you to a lifestyle that once seemed unfamiliar."
"These are my observations of our Lord," Fa Zheng said with a laugh, "In the past, our Lord, despite holding a high position and commanding a territory, had a bit of a small-mindedness about him. Now, he has gradually become more magnanimous, no longer fussing over short-term gains and losses as before."
"Certainly, ’the position makes the man,’ as the old saying goes," Chen Xi nodded and then asked curiously, "Did Yuan Benchu send any beauties or fine horses?"
"Yes, he did send beauties, and they are quite pretty. As for the horses, well," Fa Zheng smirked and said, "Yuan Benchu is no fool; on the contrary, he’s one of the few mighty lords out there. He knows what to send and what not to send. Sending beauties won’t increase combat power, but precious horses could boost the enemy’s combat power. So the horses he sent, though not bad, are far from what one would count as a top-tier military general’s mount."
"Yuan Benchu isn’t that easy to deceive. What about the exotic and clever items?" Chen Xi asked curiously, "For example, the strange items from the Former Han."
"There are quite a few. During Emperor Yi’s reign, Minister Zhang’s Seismograph and Armillary Sphere were both sent over, as well as some self-propelled boats and flying birds made by the Grand Craftsmen of the Former Han. The rest are just various gold and jade playthings," Fa Zheng shook his head and said, "Apart from the Seismograph and Armillary Sphere, which have some uses, the others are just playthings to waste one’s intelligence. Are you sure this won’t lead to trouble?"
"What about gearwheels, drum carts, and those so-called flying things?" Chen Xi asked curiously. After all, if the Armillary Sphere had been sent, there wouldn’t be too few of the rest. These things might seem useless, but they actually contain very high technological content.
"The wings of the ’Sky Flying’ are gone," Fa Zheng said with a hint of curiosity, "We still have the drum carts and gearwheels. Do you need them? Just don’t let playing with them sap your will." Fa Zheng continued, half-serious, "Being obsessed with playthings is no laughing matter. I do have quite the admiration for Zheng Hun, but it’s clear to me that he is a classic case of one’s talents going to waste. With such talent, he poured it all into making things and ended up ruining himself."
"Some things he just researched in the wrong direction," Chen Xi said, pulling a face. He really didn’t want to criticize Zhang Heng anymore.
Take the gearwheels, for example. They’re said to run error-free for decades. Okay, it must be said that the precision of Zhang Heng’s creations was very high. The water timer linking to an Armillary Sphere claimed to have the precision of the heavenly constellations, meaning as long as this device wasn’t destroyed, the timing precision wouldn’t be an issue...
Why use such precise instruments just as a calendar? Wouldn’t it be possible to make a clock? Just show the sliding degrees of every moment, and the difficulty level compared to the previous mechanisms would virtually be zero…
Then there’s the wooden galloping horse. It clearly looks like a case of misattributing the points on the technology tree. The mechanical applications in here are almost defying the heavens. It would be far better to use it for making large sailing ships than wasting it on things that merely amuse people!
And the South-Pointing Chariot, never mind its accuracy for now, but the technology of the automatic engaging and disengaging gears, which branch of technology did that come from? With this technology, a lot of agricultural tools could have been made. Yet Zhang Heng used this high-end black tech to just replicate a small toy like the South-Pointing Chariot, to prove he could reach the standards of the sages from the Xuanyuan Yellow Emperor’s era, and then it was just discarded... lost just like that...
"Oh, suit yourself. You can ask Zijing when you’re back at Mount Tai," Fa Zheng said, not quite understanding Chen Xi’s intentions but aware that Chen Xi had ways of handling it. 𝚗ov𝚙𝚞𝚋.c𝚘m
In fact, Chen Xi had long known that aside from beauties, Liu Bei would likely be sent items intended to erode his character. However, many of those ancient items are essentially black technology with significant research value. For instance, studying Zhang Heng’s gearing technology could improve many existing tools, but unfortunately, this aspect has been overlooked by many.
After all, Chen Xi knew many things that, due to the current society’s developmental strength and technology level, couldn’t be made even if he pointed them out explicitly. Thus, finding similar methods from antiquity became the most time-saving and efficient approach, especially since many technologies have been lost throughout China’s history...
For example, salt drying, a technology that originated during the era of Shennong and matured ridiculously well by the early Western Han. However, because a certain Feudal Lord King used it to gain a fortune and rebel, the technology was suppressed by the officials. After strict scrutiny for over a century, it finally became successfully lost...
Or take glass making as another example. Mature glass technology existed in the early Spring and Autumn Period. But since it impacted the interests of a type of semi-porcelain in the Chu Territory, which wasn’t quite porcelain but a significant step beyond the early pottery, the technology was directly suppressed, vanished altogether, leaving only relics as collectors’ items for the nobility of the time. (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to vote for it on Qidian (qidian.com), or cast monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)
