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That evening, a list detailing the cement formula appeared on the desk in the Minister of Works' study. The Minister had gone to court early that morning and had not entered his study until later, still troubled by the road construction issues. At that moment, he noticed an extra piece of paper on his desk. Curiously, he picked it up and felt a surge of excitement. If what was written on it was true, it would perfectly resolve the difficulties of road construction!
"Someone come!"
A maidservant entered the study.
The Minister held up the formula and asked, "Who brought this formula?"
The maid blinked in confusion. "May I ask what formula you mean, my lord?"
"This one right here on my desk," he replied.
The maid looked puzzled. "Wasn't it brought back by you yesterday?"
"If I had brought it back myself, why would I need to ask you?" The Minister realized that the maid was unaware of the origins of the cement formula and asked, "Has anyone entered or exited my study today?"
The maid replied, "No one has."
"You may leave," he said, dismissing her as he squinted at the cement formula. Who could have sent this? Such an excellent formula not only saved time and labor but also money; it certainly didn't seem like something a craftsman could come up with. Moreover, it had appeared so suddenly in his study—he recalled how during the Winter Solstice Festival, Consort X had received a "Miracle" from a deity. Could this formula have been bestowed upon him by divine intervention?
Excited, he rushed out of his study with the cement formula in hand, instructing his servants to prepare a carriage. Fortunately, the palace gates had not yet been locked for the night. The Minister entered the palace and found Emperor Li Xuan Zong, who had just finished dinner with Consort X and was engaged in conversation about further discussions.
Though initially displeased at having his time with the beauty interrupted, Li Xuan Zong's irritation vanished upon seeing the cement formula. The Minister quickly offered flattery: "Your Majesty's divine mandate has led to this blessing; first there was Consort X being saved by a miracle from a deity, and now we have this divine formula bestowed upon us. All credit goes to Your Majesty."
Li Xuan Zong felt quite pleased by this praise and rewarded the Minister with several gifts, entrusting him entirely with the responsibility for cement production. The Minister was ecstatic; producing and selling cement promised immense profits! He decided to delegate this task to his son.
Meanwhile, Elder Brother Li secretly provided the cement formula to the Minister of Works and then gave another recipe for refining white sugar to Princess Mo Yan as a token of gratitude. In ancient times, while cane sugar existed, its production methods were primitive, resulting in many impurities that left a bitter aftertaste alongside its sweetness. With Hanno's provided techniques, they could produce pure white sugar that was delicious. Princess Mo Yan shared this recipe with her family, and two months later, white sugar and rock sugar dominated the high-end market in the capital. Prince Qirui smiled as he counted stacks of banknotes, deciding to share some profits with his daughter Two Minutes to give her more confidence in front of her husband.
Of course, white sugar was merely a side project for Elder Brother Li; his focus was entirely on military exercises and the upcoming parade. Acting on imperial orders, he gathered all military leaders in the capital to discuss military drills. The soldiers were restless after a long period of peace; when they heard about such an interesting proposal, they eagerly agreed. Each one rolled up their sleeves to train their troops diligently, determined to win first place in the military exercises. Elder Brother Li pondered whether he should take center stage or remain low-key. Considering he also needed to prepare for the parade ceremony afterward, he decided that being more prominent would be better. In the military, strength reigned supreme; if he didn't assert his authority over those unruly soldiers through strength, how could he expect them to obey him?
Half a month later, Li Xuan Zong led all officials to Mulan Enclosure to observe the military exercises. Elder Brother Li set up artificial hills and marshes within the Enclosure to increase the difficulty compared to fighting on flat terrain. To prevent any accidents, a high platform was erected five hundred meters from the battlefield where the Emperor and various ministers could watch from above. To be honest, from such a distance they could only see two groups charging at each other; they couldn't discern much else about what was happening on the battlefield. The young Emperor struggled to see clearly; many older ministers either had poor eyesight or presbyopia and could only enjoy the music and festivities without truly grasping what unfolded on the battlefield below.
"Had I known I wouldn't come, I wouldn't have seen anything clearly!" Li Xuan Zong muttered.
Elder Brother Li heard this and pulled a single-tube telescope from his sleeve, handing it to the Emperor.
"What is this?" the Emperor asked, puzzled as he took the strange object.
"This is a telescope. As the name suggests, it allows you to see distant objects and people as clearly as if they were standing right in front of you," Elder Brother Li explained, teaching the Emperor how to handle and use it.
The Emperor extended the tube forward, pulling out nearly half its length, then brought it close to his eyes.
"I can see it! It's so clear!" The Emperor exclaimed joyfully as he set down the telescope, sighing, "Li Aiqing's contribution is great. This telescope will be a winning tool on the battlefield."
Elder Brother Li smiled lightly. "The creation of this telescope is not my achievement but rather the culmination of many craftsmen's wisdom."
He had merely suggested a general idea; the craftsmen had spent several years developing it.
The Emperor chuckled, "The craftsmen should be rewarded, and so should you, Li Aiqing."
"Thank you, Your Majesty," Elder Brother Li replied.
The Emperor waved his hand. "Send those craftsmen who made the telescopes to the Ministry of Works and grant them the title of Ninth-Rank Officials."
"Yes," Guan De Zhu answered from behind the Emperor, knowing this was a task for him to handle.
"Let’s begin," the Emperor said to Elder Brother Li.
Elder Brother Li took out two flags of different colors and crossed them. The two prepared armies shouted as they charged at each other, colliding like two massive waves. Since the competition area was not particularly large, the number of participants was limited; one side had only a thousand men, all wielding non-sharpened weapons. Even so, the scene of battle stirred excitement in onlookers—human collisions and displays of strength that modern warfare could not replicate.
Hanno sent five cameras to Elder Brother Li; four were mounted around the arena while one was set up on the podium to capture the reactions of the Emperor and various ministers.
This military exercise lasted for a total of three hours. The five cameras recorded the entire process, during which Elder Brother Li had to change memory cards twice—there was simply too much footage captured.
"Is this really that many?" Hanno was stunned as he watched the war scenes in the video. Television and movies could never capture such a realistic and large-scale depiction of war. In dramas, a few dozen or even a hundred people might represent a battle scene, while movies might show a few hundred clashing together, but rarely did they reach a thousand. But in this video? Thousands of individuals! The scene was breathtaking... Hanno thought about how Jia Qianjun could incorporate these visuals into a film; it would surely astonish the audience.
Hanno selected several clips to save onto a USB drive. When she saw Li Xuan Zong sitting with the officials on the observation platform, she edited a few more clips to include. She was merely doing it casually, but Jia Qianjun treated it like a treasure, repeatedly praising Hanno for her efforts. With these additional clips, he felt even more inspired. Everyone else was equally amazed by the grand scale of the war scenes; compared to what they had seen in films and television about ancient battles, Hanno's footage felt like the difference between children playing games and adults fighting. They held Hanno, the investor, in awe, and it boosted their confidence in participating in this film project.
"Where did you find so many people and horses? It looks so real!" Chang Miao asked Hanno sternly.
Hanno smiled slightly. "Not at all. This video is just like the one from before during Duanwu when I commissioned someone from ancient times to film it for me. Do you believe it?"
Chang Miao gave her an expression that said "I believe you; I'm a fool," rolling his eyes at Hanno. "Forget it!"
Hanno laughed; she was telling the truth, but no one believed her.
After the military exercise, Elder Brother Li returned home to rest for two days before heading back to Mulan Enclosure to prepare for the military parade. The soldiers participating in the parade were selected from eight battalions in the capital, with each battalion contributing one thousand men. Additionally, two thousand were specialized cavalry and siege equipment teams, making a total of ten thousand soldiers. Most of these soldiers had participated in the military exercise and greatly admired Elder Brother Li's capabilities and tactics. They all looked up at him with starry eyes, expecting him to teach them useful skills, but what they didn't expect was—
"Form up? Walk?" The soldiers were all dumbfounded; did they really need to practice these two things?
"General Li, who here doesn't know how to walk in formation? Why are you making us do this? Teach us something practical instead," shouted a burly general with a thick beard. He was tall and robust with dark skin, sharing a name with Zhang Fei and having quite the temperament as well; he was the deputy commander of the Tiger Guard Battalion.
"Practical? Teaching you how to walk in formation is very practical," Elder Brother Li sneered. "You want to learn other things without mastering the basics first? I’m afraid you won’t be able to learn anything."
Seeing that everyone below wore expressions of disbelief and defiance, Elder Brother Li snapped: "Look at you all—neither straight nor aligned; is this what you call formation? Even pigs and sheep line up better than you! Walking? Dragging your feet along the ground, walking crookedly—this is what you call walking? Listen carefully: if you don't get these two things right, don't even think about resting!"
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