Chapter 20: The Misunderstanding of Glass

Inside Taiji Palace.

Li Shimin grabbed the collar of the Minister of War beside him. "Did you hear clearly what he just said?"

"Minus ten degrees or more, and it won't freeze through!"

The Minister of War's legs turned weak, and his lips trembled as he could not speak.

The territory of Great Tang is expanding.

But what often blocks the iron cavalry of the Tang army each year is not the enemy's curved blades, but the biting wind and snow of the northern grasslands and the Liaodong Peninsula.

In winter campaigns, soldiers wear thin hemp clothes; those in better condition stuff some reed flowers inside.

Once heavy snow falls, hundreds and thousands of soldiers are frozen to death in their sleep, turning into ice sculptures.

Those suffering frostbite on hands and feet, or losing limbs and becoming disabled, are countless.

To ward off the cold, Great Tang spent huge sums collecting sheepskins, but sheepskin production is limited and extremely heavy. This book is first published on Tiantian Kan Xiaoshuo, ttkk. tw, offering you an error-free chapter reading experience with no disordered chapters.

Soldiers wearing sheepskin coats weighing over ten jin find even the motion of swinging a blade becomes sluggish.

"A weapon sent from heaven... this is a true weapon sent from heaven!" Li Shimin let go of the Minister of War and paced back and forth on the steps.

Waterfowl like ducks and geese are abundant in Great Tang!

Common people raise ducks and geese for meat.

Those plucked feathers were all swept into the fire as filthy waste, or thrown into rivers.

Who could have thought that the most unnoticeable fine down from the belly bottom would become the supreme divine object for warding off cold in later generations!

Li Shimin stopped, turned his head, and looked at the Minister of Revenue and the Minister of Works.

"Ministry of Revenue!"

"Your subject is here!"

"Issue an edict to all prefectures and counties across the realm: the government will fund and encourage the people to raise ducks and geese on a large scale along the rivers! The more, the better!"

He pointed at the Minister of Works.

"The Ministry of Works shall summon all skilled craftsmen to study for the Emperor how to wash duck and goose feathers clean, and how to weave that kind of dense fabric that does not shed feathers."

"Before winter arrives next year, I want to see one hundred thousand military coats filled with Yarong delivered to the Liaodong front line, delivered to the Turkic border passes."

"With such a lightweight and cold-protective item, Great Tang's iron cavalry can still gallop like wind across ice and snow."

"I want to see which bitter cold land can still block the edge of my blade!"

The originally lowly domestic fowl, overnight, turned around and became strategic materials concerning the nation's fate.

At the cashier counter of a fast-fashion store.

Lin Xuan took out his Mobile Phone to pay.

He folded the Tangzhuang Rujun that Xiao Sizi had changed out of and stuffed it into a paper bag. Several other summer outfits and two down jackets were packed into a large shopping bag.

Xiao Sizi wore that lightweight short-sleeved shirt and shorts, with a newly bought Daximao on her head.

She reached out, took the paper bag containing the clothes, and held it in her arms.

She followed behind Lin Xuan with light steps, walking out of the store.

"Lin Xuan, where do we go next?" she asked, looking up.

Lin Xuan, carrying the large shopping bag, looked up at the mall's huge panoramic Glass Sky Screen.

Outside the Glass, the sky had darkened at some unknown time.

Thick black clouds rolled over the city, pressing down.

The sunlight vanished, and a layer of water vapor rapidly condensed in the air.

Lin Xuan withdrew his gaze and quickened his pace. "The weather forecast said there would be a heavy rainstorm today."

"Let's go to the first floor to eat something first, and return after the rain stops."

The two had just reached the side of the escalator.

Boom—!!

A muffled thunderclap exploded.

Raindrops the size of beans smashed onto the mall's Glass dome, making a dense pattering sound.

The two quickly arrived before the Glass doors at the mall's side entrance.

Outside, pedestrians on the road were clutching their heads and sprinting toward the buildings on all sides.

They were heading to the dining annex building opposite, separated by an open-air plaza.

Xiao Sizi stepped back half a pace, looking at the pouring rain outside the door.

"Lin Xuan, the rain is too fierce."

"The Dragon King is angry; let us retreat for a moment!"

Lin Xuan switched the shopping bag in his hand to his left hand.

His right hand reached behind to his black backpack and unzipped the side zipper.

"No need to wait; summer flash rains like this go on endlessly."

He pulled out a black cylinder, about one chi long.

Xiao Sizi stared at that black stick.

No sharp edge, no blade; unknown what it was.

Lin Xuan stepped out the Glass door, his right foot stepping onto the edge of the rain shelter eaves.

The wild wind messed up his short hair.

His thumb pressed a metal button on the grip and pushed down hard.

"Bang!"

A modern automatic folding umbrella, over a meter in diameter, unfolded in mid-air like a black shield within a fraction of a second amidst the downpour.

Xiao Sizi's eyes snapped wide open, and she instinctively shrank backward.

"A hidden weapon?!"

The mechanism's release speed was too fast.

If this cylinder concealed not an umbrella canopy but a poisoned crossbow bolt, no one within ten paces could dodge it.

"What hidden weapon? This is called an umbrella."

Lin Xuan turned around, pressed the umbrella handle downward to cover Xiao Sizi's head, and said, "Come, hide inside."

Xiao Sizi tentatively stepped forward and ducked under that black canopy.

Raindrops struck the umbrella surface, producing a dense 'pitter-patter' sound.

Water droplets could not penetrate; they slid rapidly down the edges of the umbrella ribs.

In the downpour.

Lin Xuan held the umbrella with his right hand and protected Xiao Sizi's outer shoulder with his left, tilting most of the canopy toward her.

The two rushed into the dense curtain of rain, stepped through puddles on the ground, and quickly crossed the open-air square.

Tap, tap, tap...

Water splashed.

A few dozen seconds later, Lin Xuan pushed open the revolving Glass door of the annex building.

After closing the umbrella, he shook off the water droplets on the floor mat at the entrance and stuffed the umbrella back into his backpack.

Xiao Sizi stood in the center of the hall, wiped the moisture from her face, and looked behind her.

The hall of this annex building had no brick walls.

The side facing the square was a curtain wall assembled from more than ten huge transparent panels, each ten meters tall.

Outside, wind and rain raged, and tree branches were torn off by the gale.

Rainwater washed over the transparent wall like a waterfall.

Standing behind this wall, one could hear no wind and get no rain on one's skin.

Two worlds, inside and out, were completely separated by this layer of transparent material.

Xiao Sizi took a step and slowly walked to the curtain wall.

She extended her small hand and pressed her palm against that transparent wall.

Cold and hard.

Smooth, without a single texture.

Through the wall beside her palm, the situation in the square outside could be seen clearly.

"Lin Xuan," Xiao Sizi said without turning around, her voice wavering, "Is this... Glazed Ware?"

In her memory, there was a Glazed Ware cup from the Western Regions offered as tribute in the Imperial Study of her father the Emperor.

It was only fist-sized, its color murky and filled with impurities.

Yet it was regarded as a priceless treasure and locked inside a red sandalwood box.

But before her eyes, this so-called "Glazed Ware" stood ten meters tall and dozens of zhang wide.

It simply stood there brazenly by the roadside, letting the wind and rain batter it.

Lin Xuan walked over and said, "This is not called Glazed Ware; this is called a Glass curtain wall."

"So huge, so pure," Xiao Sizi turned her head, her eyes revealing extreme shock at the wealth and national power, "How much money from the National Treasury would it cost to build this wall?"

"Emperors of later generations were actually so extravagant, using priceless gems to block the rain?"

Lin Xuan laughed, bent his index finger, and tapped the Glass twice.

"This thing is not worth much."

"In our place, every household uses this for their windows."

"Building an entire wall doesn't cost much money."

"Uh... haven't you noticed that my house's toilet and balcony have this thing?"

Lin Xuan suddenly remembered that he could not view ancients through the eyes common to modern people.

Moreover, the Glass in his home was small and positioned above Xiao Sizi's height.

"Never mind, it's your first time; knowing now is enough."