Chapter 18: High-Altitude Overlook

These words were spoken.

The Tang Dynasty Ministry of War office.

Minister Li Jing suddenly pushed aside the desk, strode down the steps with long strides.

"Several million people... crossing from south to north of the city in a single hour..."

Li Jing was utterly shocked.

The Vice Minister of War followed behind, his face equally filled with horror.

"Minister, if the Great Tang possessed such a thing..."

"If such a thing existed, there would be no more urgent pleas from the border passes!"

Li Jing spun around sharply, grabbing fiercely at the air with both hands, "When the Turks press the border, this old man would not need a month to prepare!"

"Extend the tracks of this 'Iron Dragon' to Youzhou, extend them to Longyou!"

"With the great army boarding the carriages, within a single day, a hundred thousand in Iron Armor could descend upon the border passes from the sky!"

The Great Han, Weiyang Palace.

Huo Qubing roared aloud, the sharp spirit of the young general soaring straight to the clouds: "Your Majesty! That is a divine artifact for transporting troops!"

"Horses will tire, horses will die."

"As long as this iron carriage possesses that thunder-fire power called 'electricity', it can run day and night without rest."

"If the Great Han possessed such a road, I dare to grind the Xiongnu king's court into a flat plain!"

Liu Che was equally agitated, his arm trembling violently.

"Draw it down! Draw the entire intricate network of routes for me!"

The modern concept of a transportation network directly destroyed the ancient generals' ingrained understanding of logistics and marching speed.

The form of war began to undergo an extremely violent evolution in their minds.

Taiji Palace.

Li Shimin strode toward the map inside the hall, which was also the map of the entire Great Tang territory.

He picked up a cinnabar brush and drew a heavy red circle at the location of Chang'an.

Then, the brush tip moved north, slashing toward the Turkic border.

Westward, slashing toward Tuyuhun.

"Ministry of Works!" Li Shimin shouted in a deep, angry voice.

The Minister of Works tumbled and crawled into the hall, prostrating himself on the ground.

"Within the Great Tang, where is iron produced the most?" Li Shimin stared at the map.

"Replying to Your Majesty, there are iron mines in Longyou and Jiannan..."

"Increase the manpower! Dig for me!" Li Shimin threw the cinnabar brush in his hand onto the ground, where it snapped in two, "Dig three feet into the earth if you must, but dig out all the iron ore for me!"

Li Shimin strode down the jade steps, closing in on the Minister of Works.

"The Iron Dragon on the Sky Screen, the Great Tang cannot currently create that kind of mechanism driven by thunder and lightning, but I can settle for the next best thing."

A violent flame of unifying the world burned in Li Shimin's eyes.

"First, build the tracks for me; lay the hardest massive timber as the base, then cover it with raw iron bars."

"Create huge wooden carriages that can slide while locked onto the iron rails, wrapping the exterior in iron sheets!"

"Use eight, ten of the strongest draft horses to pull them!"

He pointed northward outside the hall.

"I want to build a wooden track railway leading straight to Youzhou; I want the Great Tang's supplies and troops to roll forward day and night without cease on these iron tracks!"

A single route map of the modern Subway forced Li Shimin to leap over a thousand-year technological barrier, directly launching the crazy infrastructure of an ancient version of horse-drawn iron track troop transport.

The train continued to speed through the tunnel.

The light and shadow outside the window flickered in Xiao Sizi's eyes.

She leaned back against the seat, listening to the highly rhythmic clattering sound of the train.

"Next stop, Huanle Gu Yuleyuan."

"Passengers wishing to disembark, please take your personal belongings..."

The carriage broadcast announced with a gentle female voice.

Lin Xuan stood up and stretched.

"We have arrived."

"Get off, I will take you above ground to see the true prosperity."

Lin Xuan led Xiao Sizi out of the Subway station passage.

A wave of heat struck their faces.

Several hundred meters away, the massive roller coaster tracks twisted and intertwined, piercing straight into the clouds.

Xiao Sizi stopped her feet and looked up at the sky.

"What is that thing? A high platform built of iron pillars?"

"A roller coaster, a toy of the Yuleyuan."

Lin Xuan led her to check her ticket and enter the park.

Cheerful electronic Yinyue sounded from all directions.

In the center of the square, on a two-story carousel, dozens of painted wooden horses were rising and falling, turning along with the round disk.

Xiao Sizi's gaze fixed.

The Great Tang valued martial arts; royal children were exposed to horses from a young age.

But the horses before her looked lifeless, their bodies painted in vibrant colors, yet they moved autonomously up and down.

"Go try it."

Saying this, Lin Xuan picked her up and mounted a white horse on the outer ring.

The wooden horse rotated with the Yinyue; Xiao Sizi gripped the metal rod.

The wind stirred her hem.

She looked down at the painted horseback, then at the crowds sweeping past in concentric circles outside.

"Lin Xuan, this horse eats no hay or grain—how does it run?"

Lin Xuan stood beside the wooden horse: "It still runs on electricity. Electricity, this energy source, is the most vital in our society."

"Without electricity, the entire nation... no, the entire world would suffer severe paralysis!"

"But this device has no other use—it's made solely for children to play with."

……

Outside the Sky Screen.

In the square of the Great Tang's Taiji Palace.

A group of war-hardened generals stared at the spinning, painted wooden horse.

Duke E, Yuchi Jingde, widened his eyes, his Adam's apple bobbing.

"Such a delicate mechanism—used not for transporting grain, not for city defense, but merely to amuse a child?" Yuchi Jingde stroked his long beard.

Zhangsun Wuji sighed, adjusting the wide sleeves of his court robe.

"This is the source of strength."

"The later era's national power is so abundant that it can squander such marvels freely."

……

After enjoying several attractions, the two walked deep into the park.

A giant Ferris wheel, over a hundred meters tall, stood by the lake.

Dozens of transparent cabins hung along the edge of the massive steel frame, turning slowly.

They queued, then entered a cabin.

The giant wheel lifted them off the ground.

Their height rose inch by inch.

Xiao Sizi knelt on the long seat, her round, plump face pressed against the panoramic Glass.

Her gaze swept past the colorful roof of the Yuleyuan, stretching outward.

The Great Tang's Chang'an, with its one hundred and eight wards, lay in perfect order.

The imperial palace loomed high above, overlooking all its people.

But this city before her had no walls.

Glass curtain walls, hundreds of meters tall, reflected the sunlight.

Dozens-of-meter-wide asphalt roads flowed like black rivers, carrying countless metal vehicles.

Their height neared one hundred meters.

The cabin reached its peak; the vast silhouette of the entire city lay fully visible.

Xiao Sizi turned around, her back against the Glass.

"Brother Lin Xuan."

"What is it?"

"I have seen the prosperity of the later age."

Xiao Sizi pointed to the sprawling city outside the window: "In such a golden age, can all the people of the world live this happily?"

Lin Xuan looked into her eyes.

Inside her four-year-old body resided the deepest educational foundation of the Great Tang Imperial Family.

Lin Xuan rubbed his temples in distress: "Happiness? Hardly. Adults must earn money to support their families, pay off housing loans—they're under immense pressure."

"But compared to your era, there is no shortage of food here."

"As long as one is willing to work, one can live with dignity."

Xiao Sizi lowered her eyelids, her hands folded on her knees.

"Father often said: the ruler is the boat, the people are the water."

"The sage monarch receives mandate from Heaven to shepherd all people."

"Without a wise ruler, the realm must fall into chaos."

"Whose great achievement is this prosperity of the later age?"

Lin Xuan smiled.

He tapped the Glass, pointing to a distant construction site.

"Look there—those yellow cranes."

Xiao Sizi followed his gaze.

Faintly, she could see tiny figures, like ants, climbing and moving among steel and concrete.

"Those are construction workers."

"They haul bricks, tie rebar, pour concrete."

Lin Xuan shifted his finger downward, pointing to electric vehicles moving along the road.

"Those are food delivery riders."

"And the factory workers operating sewing machines, the sanitation workers sweeping the streets."

He pulled his hand back and stared directly into Xiao Sizi's eyes.

"You ancients believe the emperor's authority comes from heaven, that prosperity is a gift bestowed by the emperor upon the common people."

"You pray for a wise ruler to appear, seeking peace."

"You're completely wrong."

"This city, these towering skyscrapers, the iron dragons beneath the ground."

"All were built bit by bit with the hands of the lowest common folk in your eyes."

"Those who create history have never been the ones seated on the dragon throne—it is the people."

Xiao Sizi's pupils shrank, her lips slightly parted.

"Your imperial family always speaks of the cyclical law of history—dynasties replacing each other every few hundred years. Why?"

Lin Xuan paused, "Because you treat the realm as the private property of a single family."

"The common folk till the soil, pay taxes, and support the imperial house—yet are still exploited."

"When they can no longer even eat, they pick up their hoes and overturn the table."

"Without an emperor, the realm would still function."

"When the common folk govern themselves, it runs better."