Chapter 184: Lost Nautical Chart

Wang Hao did not return to his own mansion, but went straight to the Taichang Temple.

This highest office overseeing state rites, located in the southeast corner of Huangcheng, separated from the bustling Six Ministries by a street, appeared especially quiet and cold.

The vermilion lacquered gate was already somewhat mottled, the stone lions before it covered in dust, with even moss growing in the crevices.

As soon as Wang Hao stepped through the gate, a musty smell of rotten wood and old paper piles hit him.

In the courtyard, a few seventh-rank officials—Taichang scholars and Fengli Lang—were gathered under an old pagoda tree, basking in the sun and chatting intermittently. Seeing the newly appointed superior arrive, they lazily rose, clasped their hands, and performed a perfunctory salute.

"Greetings, Lord Wang."

Their attitude was indifferent, even tinged with a hint of mocking amusement.

What kind of place is the Taichang Temple? It's a retirement home, a place of exile for disgraced officials. Those assigned here are either old timers without background, or unlucky fellows who have offended their superiors.

They had long grown accustomed to loafing and waiting for death; toward this newly arrived, overly young superior, they simply didn't take him seriously from the bottom of their hearts.

In their view, Wang Hao was merely someone the emperor placed to arrange court affairs or to gild his résumé. After a year or so, once the limelight faded, he would either be transferred away or, like them, sink completely into oblivion among these dusty files.

Wang Hao paid no heed to this. He glanced around the dilapidated office, and instead of disappointment, a faint satisfied smile appeared on his face.

"How nice and quiet," he thought. "The quieter it is, the fewer disturbances, the better I can let loose and attend to my own affairs."

"Please, colleagues, no need for excessive courtesy," Wang Hao said gently. "I have just arrived and am still unfamiliar with the temple's affairs; I will need to rely heavily on all of you in the future."

He kept his posture very low, making those old-timers who had been ready to laugh at him feel a bit embarrassed.

The eldest Taichang scholar, named Zheng Xuan, was an old minister left over from the previous dynasty, having served at the Taichang Temple for nearly twenty years.

He stepped forward, gave a dry cough twice, and said, "Sir, you're too polite. We are merely idlers passing the days, unworthy of being relied upon. The temple's affairs are nothing more than checking the calendar for festivals, offering sacrifices to Heaven and ancestors, and setting the pitch; usually it's very idle."

The implication was, "You too should stop stirring things up and just lie flat with us."

"Doctor Zheng, you jest," Wang Hao laughed. "Ritual and music education is a great state undertaking; how could it be considered idle? Yesterday I received the Emperor's gracious approval to conduct a comprehensive collation and compilation of all historical classics stored in the Taishi Bureau under the Taichang Temple."

"What? Organize the classics?" Zheng Xuan and the other officials were stunned.

The Taishi Bureau's library is practically a bottomless pit. It holds bamboo slips, silk manuscripts, and scrolls—no fewer than hundreds of thousands of volumes—and because it has long been neglected, insect damage, decay, and loss are rampant. Not to mention organizing it; even trying to locate a specific document would take several days.

Is this newly arrived Lord Wang crazy? To pass up easy comfort and take on such a thankless, arduous task?

"This matter, I have already decided," Wang Hao said, giving them no chance to object. "Starting today, the Ministry of Agriculture will allocate a batch of manpower and funds. Doctor Zheng, with your rich experience, you will be in charge, first making a preliminary classification and registration of all the classics by dynasty and category. The rest of you will assist from the sidelines."

"This..." Zheng Xuan still wanted to say something.

"This is the Emperor's edict," Wang Hao invoked Guo Rong. "Anyone with objections can personally go and explain to the Emperor."

Upon hearing "the Emperor's edict," everyone fell silent. No matter how lazy they were, they dared not openly defy the imperial decree.

"Yes, I will obey," Zheng Xuan and the others could only resign themselves to accept the order.

Thus, under Wang Hao's vigorous promotion, a grand project of ancient text organization erupted in full swing within the lethargic Taichang Temple.

Wang Hao himself plunged straight into the long-sealed storeroom deep inside the Taishi Bureau.

This storeroom is called the Forbidden Archive; it houses files deemed "forbidden books" or "absolutely secret" from all dynasties.

Pushing open the storeroom door, a heavier stench of mold and dust burst forth, making one cough outright.

Wang Hao struck a match and illuminated the interior.

Countless shelves stretched from floor to ceiling, densely packed with various manuscripts. On the floor and in the corners lay scattered scrolls and fragments everywhere.

Wang Hao felt no disgust; instead, like an explorer who had discovered a treasure, excitement sparkled in his eyes.

He knew that the true treasures lay hidden in these unknown corners.

Over the next month, Wang Hao practically ate and slept in that storeroom. He brought along several learned and reliable disciples transferred from the Wang family, and they worked day and night reviewing and organizing the materials.

What they discovered was astonishing, each find more amazing than the last.

"Head of the Family! Look at this!" a Wang family disciple exclaimed, running up to Wang Hao while clutching a damaged sheepskin map.

Wang Hao received the map and carefully unfolded it.

The map had yellowed and become brittle, depicting an unfamiliar sea dotted with countless islands. Routes were marked in red cinnabar ink, and beside them were dense annotations written in a lost ancient script.

"This is... the former dynasty's, the Tang navy's secret maritime chart!" Wang Hao's breath quickened.

Although he could not read that ancient script, he recognized the familiar outline on the map—that was the later Malacca Strait!

Moreover, the route marked on the chart actually stretched westward, crossing the Indian Ocean to reach Africa's eastern coast, even rounding the Cape of Good Hope!

"Good heavens..." Wang Hao was deeply shaken.

He had always thought that maritime technology of this era was limited to near-shore voyages; he never imagined that, as early as one or two centuries ago in the Tang dynasty, fleets had already accomplished the feat of circumnavigating Africa!

If this were to become known, it would surely overturn the world's understanding!

"Quick! Immediately copy this map and send it back to Yangzhou at the fastest speed!" Wang Hao commanded calmly.

The value of this nautical chart is immeasurable; it could allow the Wang family's fleet to avoid decades, even centuries, of detours!

"And this!" another disciple, rummaging through a pile of bamboo slips, pulled out a book bound in iron plates.

On its cover were three seal-script characters—Treatise on Heavenly Craft.

Wang Hao opened the pages and was immediately captivated by the contents.

This book contains no classical particles or moral doctrines; throughout are various and unheard-of mechanical drawings and manufacturing techniques.

There is a "water-powered large spinning wheel" that can use water power for large-scale spinning.

There is a "seed drill" capable of sowing several rows of crops at once.

Even more, there is a "crane" that, using lever and gear principles, can lift objects weighing thousands of jin.

This book is practically an ancient edition of The Exploitation of the Works of Nature; many of the techniques it records are even more advanced than those currently mastered by the Wang family!

"A treasure! This is the true treasure!"

Wang Hao clutched the book, trembling all over with excitement.

He knew that with these materials, the Wang family's Science Academy's ongoing "steam engine" research would receive a tremendous boost! The gears of the Industrial Revolution would be advanced in this era!

He immediately ordered that the entire Forbidden Archive be completely sealed off; no one except him and a few core Wang family disciples may enter.

He intended to extract every bit of knowledge here to the last drop, turning it all into fuel for the Wang family's rise.

And while Wang Hao buried himself in the pile of old papers, the Wang Family Fort far away in Yangzhou also received a secret letter from Kaifeng.

The letter came from a confidant of Chancellor Fan Zi, secretly sent via the Wang Family's northern trade route.

The letter detailed in full the process of Su Qin visiting Fan Zi and presenting the Push En Order plan.

Wang Zhen looked at the letter, and a satisfied smile appeared on their face.

Next, it's Li Chongjin's turn, this clueless prey, to taste the flavor of being torn apart by a fierce tiger.