December, 194 AD.

  Guangling County

  A hundred of burly master blacksmiths, who would soon become gunsmiths, surrounded their team leader, observing what he was doing.

  On the blacksmith’s leader hands, gun parts were being assembled into one long item.

  *Click*

  Soon, a prototype musket of the Sun Clan was completed.

  "Let’s try to shoot it!" Asked an enthusiastic blacksmith.

  The blacksmith leader did just that. He poured a pinch of gunpowder and used a long thin pipe to shove an iron ball inside the long chamber. Clumsily, he aimed at a mud wall, where all blacksmiths dispersed and gave this old man a room to shoot.

  *BANG*

  *PU*

  The iron ball punctured into the mud wall, creating a small hole in it.

  "Is it successful?" An apprentice blacksmith looked at the scene from afar.

  "Obviously, yes! It’s completed!"

  Everyone celebrated that they achieved what Sun Fang had entrusted them to do. .

  Jiangdou Port, south of Guangling County

  500 Shipbuilders of this port were observing a new ship, which was sliding on wooden logs to the Yangtze River.

  The new ship did not have a square hull, which was an orthodox warship in this era. Instead, they had a narrow and curvy hull, sharp bow, and three tall masts on the front, center, and rear deck.

  Not only could this vessel sail by paddles, but the sailcloths on the mast could also be used to take advantage of the wind and propel the ship forward without paddles.

  This was the first galley that Sun Fang designed by using his modern world’s knowledge. It took him and his men a decade through a difficult trial-and-error project. Yet, they completed it nonetheless.

  Sun Fang gazed at the first galley of china with a proud look.

  ’I can’t fight Zhang Tong and Sun Ce head-on, but I can at least advance my colony’s technologies. With this ship and my shipbuilders, even if Sun Ce and Zhou Yu backstabbed me, I can migrate to either Japan or South Asia with this.’

  Pu Jing was not the only one that planned to escape from China and start over in other countries. Sun Fang, too, had his sight on the Yamato Kingdom, the ancient Japan.

  Sun Fang knew that the Yamato Kingdom valued shipbuilders and warships, so he could make it big there. Staying in China and fighting Tong with his current military strength was a foolish idea.

  Unlike persistent antagonists in some novels, Sun Fang had a brain. He knew when to retreat when he could not win.

  *ZAAAAA*

  The galley entered the Yangtze River. As it floated and maintained on the water, all shipbuilders shouted and cheered, celebrating their success.

  Sun Fang clenched his fists, ’Next, I’ll cultivate to at least 6-wing tier ASAP. I can’t trust anyone but myself now!’ ……

  Chang’An

  \r \r \r

  A similar celebration took place in a workshop as Liu Bei’s elite blacksmith group completed their research and forged a new musket, which was more advanced than the prototype arquebus that they obtained from Cao Cao and Pu Jing.

  Moreover, Liu Bei, who had obtained a fraction of Ping’s memory, came up with a new item for his Qiang Cavalry units.

  The stirrup

  A pair of leather and iron rings, attached to a saddle with a strap, was a tool for horsemen as an extra foothold during their ride, which made their balancing easier and more comfortable, increasing the rider’s efficiency in horse combats.

  The stirrup was invented during the Jin Dynasty Period, which did not exist during the Han Dynasty or the Three Kingdoms Era. However, the constraint dream of Ping’s modern world reminded Liu Bei about many things that he could apply to his kingdom.

  At first, Guan Yu, Pang Tong, and everyone were skeptical about Liu Bei’s new invention. But once the first stirrup completed, it changed their opinion about this ambitious lord’s intelligence.

  With stirrup foothold, their horse units could instantly become elites, rivaling Lu Bu’s former Mountaineer Legion, as they could perform on horseback better.

  This was something that even Tong overlooked. The latter had too many competent officers that his angst disappeared from his mind. Without the anxiety and the pressure from strong rivals, Tong lacked the motive to invest everything into his technology development.

  But Liu Bei, who was pressured by Lu Bu’s absurd cultivation strength and Tong’s military power, kept struggling non-stop. He scrambled for anything that could increase the chance to win against Tong’s elite legions, and it paid off.

  On a training field, Guan Yu equipped a stirrup on his horse and tried it.

  As soon as he placed his feet into the foothold rings, his riding experience changed.

  "This is comfortable. I don’t have to adjust my legs while I’m riding anymore."

  Zhang Fei nodded in agreement since he had already tried it many times before, "First brother is surprisingly a genius! If we can mass-produce this, our cavalry units will be unstoppable!"

  "Indeed, but we have to secure our counter-intelligence network. Zhang Tong’s spies can just steal our items and copy this for themselves. By the way, Yide, how many lifespans do you have now?"

  "Something 500,000 years? Why?"

  "I’ve been talking to the goddess recently, and she said that our men can learn this cultivation method if we pay her 200,000 years of lifespan per person. I’m planning to give it to Pang Tong, Xu Shu, and Ma Chao."

  "This will take a while. I can only cultivate like 400,000 to 500,000 lifespan a year."

  "Try to awaken your 5th and 6th wing. Then, you can cultivate at least 600,000 lifespans a year."

  "I’ll try, second brother…… There go my wine sessions."

  "Don’t drink too much. You’re going to die pissing off your subordinate again."

  "…… I know." ……

  February, 195 AD.

  The news about the new development of neighbor countries reached the ears of Tong and his men.

  Even though the threat of their new technologies and new toys could harm his men, Tong was not flustered or panic. Instead, he was delighted that his plan finally bore fruits.

  So far, Tong had been pressuring all hostile forces with his military might and the overwhelming number of soldiers so that Liu Bei, Cao Cao, and Sun Ce could hasten their city development and technology.

  And it worked.

  Without doing anything but sitting and training his soldiers, Liu Bei and Sun Fang did the work for him by developing new war tools. ……

  Throne Room, Ye Palace, Morning Assembly Meeting

  As Dong Bai and Diaochan stopped harassing Tong at night, the pervert emperor’s health got better. Tong’s face regained color, which delighted his subordinates that this pillar of the Han Dynasty would not die any time soon.

  Zhuge Liang took over Xun Yu’s job and reported the finding of Liu Bei and Sun Fang’s movements.

  Finished listening to the report, Tong summoned Te Langpu, "Mr. President……"

  Te Langpu stepped forward, questioned Tong’s motive, "Your Majesty?"

  "I think stirrup is something that I overlooked after all these years. We should add this to our current development projects and mass produce this along with horse saddles, so it can become a set."

  Te Langpu grumbled, "So, the designer task is on me again?"

  "It’s an easy job, much easier than developing muskets and smooth bore drills to make cannons or muskets."

  "Fine. I’ll add this to my projects this year."

  Tong turned to Lu Zhi, "Master Lu."

  Lu Zhi grinned as he predicted that Tong was up to no good again, "Will it be a sabotage job, assassination, or stealing someone’s wife this time, disciple?"

  Everyone in the throne room laughed. They were expecting that Tong might have plotted something nasty again, like how he took Wu Guotai or Cao Cao’s daughters as his wives.

  "I can’t take in anymore concubine, or my empress and prime consort will kill me. For now, I just want to know how Gan Ning’s navy fleet development is going."

  "Oh, that’s a disappointment. I was hoping that you can have more children."

  All civil officers laughed again.

  "That’s not funny, master. Think of my children. They’re going to start killing each other if I have too many successors."

  Lu Zhi shrugged, "You can just make it clear who will your crown prince be. Write a mandate and publish it to your people. Then, no one can deny that order, or they will be charged as rebels."

  Liu Xie’s secret supporters were interested in this conversation. They wondered if Tong and Liu Xie were on good terms or not after the former had two more sons.

  "I’ll announce it after I tested all of my sons. Back to the main topic, how is Gan Ning’s navy?"

  "The frigate development? We have 10 hulls completed, but our shipbuilders are confused about the mast setting and your interior design. Also, Sir Li Feihong’s lumber supply isn’t enough for the research because of the last winter. Our soldiers turned them into firewood and distributed them to the Xiangping, Ji, Beiping, and Pyongyang. We have to wait for Sir Li to bring out more lumbers, or we’ll have to start cutting forests."

  Tong shook his head right away as he dreaded natural disasters. Cutting forests recklessly might cause landslides, floods, or irregular seasons.

  "Don’t cut the forests. Leave them be, so the gods won’t curse us. We don’t want to piss them off by destroying natural gifts."

  It was just an excuse for not cutting trees or expanding their land reclamation. Since people in this period believed in supernatural phenomenon more than science facts, using an excuse relating to gods worked better than explaining physics and natural science.

  Tong continued, "But, we won’t leave Sun Fang alone. I want a special troop to infiltrate Sun Fang’s city and buy the shipbuilders. Make them migrate to Beihei, so they can make ships for us."

  "Why not kidnapping them?"

  "We need their heart, not their bodies. I want them to work for us willingly. Bribe those shipbuilders and entice them with our salary standard. Promise them that no slave exists in our country."

  "……Ah, an underhanded tactic, I see. I’ll see to it."

  "It’s not underhanded if we do it in the open. Just make it public that we want their shipbuilders, and we’re paying a lot for their services. I want more people to migrate to us, so we can get more household taxes, merchant taxes, income taxes, and VAT from the merchandise they buy from us!"

  "…… I take that back. You’re an evil capitalist emperor, disciple."

  "Their money is our salary, master."

  "…… I also take that back. We should bring more people to our territory and squeeze more taxes back from their wages. Money circulation never lies!"

  Listening to the absurd conversation, all civil officers sweated. Somehow, Tong and Lu Zhi’s noble image was slowly degrading into sly money-grubbing officials after their kingdom’s financial power improved.

  Still, Tong did not allow anyone to own property or land yet, which troubled all noble clans who were waiting to buy back territories that they used to own.

  One of the officials in the throne room mustered his courage and asked Tong.

  "Your Majesty, when will you allow us to own lands? Now that all of your enemies are no longer a threat, shouldn’t you allow us to own some assets?"

  The speaker was Zhuge Liang!