Chapter 368: War Memorial Film

After finishing the noodles, nobody left.

The sofa was too comfortable; no one wanted to get up.

Gu Shanhe glanced at the clock on the wall, then at the people filling the room, and suddenly said, "Let me show you something."

Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "What is it?"

"A documentary."

Gu Shanhe took a projector from his space and casually placed it on the coffee table.

"It's commemorative; watching it might be unpleasant."

Ying Zheng leaned against the other end of the sofa, already resting with eyes closed; hearing this, his eyelid twitched: "Play it."

Gu Shanhe pressed the remote, and an image appeared on the white wall opposite.

Gu Shanhe waved his hand to block the morning sunlight; the light in the living room dimmed, and the picture became clearer.

A city, its walls dull gray, crowds of people fleeing outward.

The camera zoomed in; corpses piled on the ground—old people, women, children.

Zhu Yuanzhang sat up straight.

Empress Ma took his hand.

The footage continued:

Japanese tanks rolled over the streets, bayonets prying open shop doors; women were dragged into alleys, children hoisted up and flung away like trash.

The camera swept past the riverbank; bodies blocked half the river, blood seeping into the soil.

Zhu Di was the first to sit up straight.

His cup slipped, tea splashing onto his knees, but he didn't look down.

His eyes were fixed on the screen, his throat twitching once.

Li Shimin's fingers tapped faster and faster on his knee, as rapid as a war drum.

Ying Zheng's face was expressionless, but the hand resting on the armrest clenched, knuckles whitening.

Liu Bang's smile vanished.

He stared at the image in silence, the corners of his mouth pressing down again and again.

Liu Che's breathing grew rough.

He had watched less than half a cup of tea when his hand went to his waist—

—it was empty, no sword, yet he instinctively reached for it.

Liu Xiu closed his eyes briefly, then opened them.

Zhao Kuangyin said nothing, but his eyes never left the screen.

Empress Changsun turned her face away, covered her mouth with a handkerchief, her shoulders trembling.

Empress Ma also turned her face away, but she gripped Zhu Yuanzhang's hand tightly.

The image finally froze on a mass grave.

A bulldozer pushed aside the soil, revealing layers of white bones; some skulls had holes, some bones twisted into strange shapes.

The living room fell silent except for the projector's hum.

Zhu Yuanzhang stood up.

As he rose, his movement was a bit stiff, his knee giving a soft crack, but he ignored it.

His voice trembled: "Where is this? How many years in the future is this?"

Gu Shanhe: "Nanjing. 1937. Roughly five hundred years from now."

Zhu Yuanzhang's legs gave way, and he collapsed back onto the sofa.

Empress Ma pulled his arm: "Chongba—"

"Little sister, we—"

Zhu Yuanzhang's voice choked: "We designated the Japanese pirates as a non‑conquered state."

"We wrote that in the Imperial Ming Ancestral Instructions: a non‑conquered state."

He turned to Gu Shanhe: "I wrote it myself."

Gu Shanhe said nothing.

Zhu Yuanzhang's voice grew lower: "Back then I thought those wretched islands were dirt‑poor, attacking them would be a waste of money."

"I figured letting them survive on their own would be enough."

"I had no idea the later Japanese pirates would—"

He couldn't go on.

Zhu Di suddenly knelt.

He knelt loudly, knees hitting the floor, before Zhu Yuanzhang:

"Father! Your son begs for orders to go to sea and exterminate the Japanese pirates!"

"Not a single one left!"

Xu Da followed suit, kneeling: "I request permission!"

Lan Yu rushed forward from three steps behind and slammed one knee to the ground.

"I am willing to lead thirty thousand sailors and pacify the pirates in three months!"

"If I fail to pacify the pirates, I will bring my head to you!"

Li Shanliang rose, clasped his hands, and said: "Your Majesty, I believe this battle must be fought."

Liu Bowen also rose: "I concur."

Zhu Biao stood up last.

He is the Crown Prince, and he rarely expresses an opinion on military or state affairs.

But this time he stood up, his voice steady and unshaking: "Father Emperor, your son also asks to fight."

In the entire living room, everyone who could kneel knelt, and those who could not—such as the six emperors—also stood up.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the room full of kneeling people, at Zhu Biao's unusually youthful face, at Zhu Di's upright kneeling silhouette, and at Xu Da's blue‑jade hands clenched into fists.

He stood up.

"Xu Da, I order you to gather one hundred thousand elite troops within a month and to ready provisions and warships within three months."

"I obey the edict!"

"Li Shanchang, have the Ministry of Works begin constructing warship firearms immediately; the construction period is three months, not a day later."

"Obeyed!"

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Gu Shanhe: "Immortal Master, I wish to borrow your blueprint."

Gu Shanhe nodded: "I was just about to mention that."

……

That afternoon, Zhu Yuanzhang issued seven consecutive imperial edicts from the Imperial Study.

Each bore the jade seal, each was written extremely concisely and firmly, with no superfluous characters.

When the officials of the Ministry of Revenue received the edicts, their hands trembled—

Supplies for a hundred‑thousand‑strong army for half a year, to be ready in three months—doesn't that mean death?

But he dared not speak, because the second edict was for the Ministry of Works: thirty warships, to be launched within three months.

The third, addressed to the Ministry of War: ten thousand fire guns, twenty red‑clothed cannons, to be completed in three months.

All civil and military officials of the court were rushing.

It wasn't fleeing for their lives; they were rushing to transmit edicts, to mobilize troops, to allocate silver.

Gu Shanhe delivered the blueprint that very night.

Thirteen steam warship blueprints, marked with the locations of the boiler, propeller, and drive shaft, even specifying the coal consumption.

Seven new‑type red‑clothed cannon blueprints, whose range exceeds that of current Ming cannons by more than double.

Five repeat‑fire gun blueprints, complex in structure but with a clear principle.

Zhu Yuanzhang pored over them all night.

Early the next morning, he summoned Xu Da and pointed to the massive warship on the blueprint.

"This, have the senior craftsmen of the Ministry of Works examine it to see if it can be built."

Xu Da flipped through it, looked up: "It can be done."

"But the senior craftsmen may not believe this thing can be launched."

"As long as we believe, that's enough."

Zhu Yuanzhang rolled up the blueprint and thrust it to him,

"In three months, we must see this ship running on the sea."

Xu Da took the blueprint, cradling it in both hands as he left.

That night, Gu Shanhe summoned Zhu Yuanzhang, Empress Ma, Zhu Biao, and Zhu Di to the villa.

The other several emperors were also there, seated in a row on the sofa.

Gu Shanhe sat cross‑legged opposite the coffee table: "As for the immortal technique, I had promised you earlier."

Zhu Yuanzhang: "I remember."

"Tonight we will begin transmitting your cultivation formula's mnemonic."

Gu Shanhe glanced at Ying Zheng and said, "Brother Zheng, will you come first or shall I?"

Ying Zheng opened his eyes: "I will come."

He stood up, walked to Zhu Yuanzhang, and looked at the founding emperor of Ming: "Sit cross‑legged, close your eyes, and listen to my mnemonic."

Zhu Yuanzhang sat down properly, cross‑legged.

Ying Zheng's mnemonic was neither hurried nor slow; each syllable was enunciated clearly.

Zhu Yuanzhang repeated it, and his dantian felt as if someone had lit a match there—tingling, warm.

Liu Bang leaned in: "Brother Zheng, your teaching is too rigid."

"You should come teach him to relax."

He sat opposite Zhu Yuanzhang,

"Old Zhu, don't constrict it; Qi must flow through the meridians, and if you constrict it, it won't move."

Zhu Yuanzhang tried to shrug his shoulders.

Li Shimin added beside him: "Zhao Guanjia also came through this way at first."

Zhao Kuangyin nodded: "The first three days are the hardest, then it smooths out."