Seeking Truth with a Sword

"Mountain Master."

The Emperor dared not wait for the other to approach, so he quickly walked dozens of paces to meet Academic Palace Master Lian Xuanxiao and Tantai Leshan.

"Your Majesty."

In front of the other ministers, Lian Xuanxiao casually lifted his hand in a crossed-arm salute. He then took a wide, illustrated sheet of paper from Tantai Leshan and handed it to the Emperor.

Emperor Yu accepted the drawing. It was a beautifully exquisite map of Chang'an, meticulously depicting the city's workshops, fields, bridges, canals, rivers, and the bustle of carriages and pedestrians, all rendered with lifelike, minute detail. The only disconcerting aspect was the dense scattering of numerous black dots across it, which were distasteful to behold.

Emperor Yu frowned. "What is this…"

"The malaria epidemic that was predicted to break out in Chang'an this coming autumn." Lian Xuanxiao glanced at the Empress, the ministers, and Cheng Juxiu nearby, then said gravely, "This is the result given by the 'Chang'an Micro-View.'"

Emperor Yu's eyelids twitched. Beside him, the Minister of Revenue and the Minister of the Ministry of Rites swayed, their eyes subconsciously drawn to the map.

The 'Chang'an Micro-View' Mutated Object, codenamed "Cunning-1-17," was effectively a National Treasure of Yu Country. Its function was to provide a predictive reenactment based on specified conditions, presented in the form of a map of Chang'an. It could forecast scenarios for the city up to three months in advance, essentially acting as a prediction machine with its scope limited to Chang'an City.

For example, if the condition was set to "The Cao Transport system fails to deliver grain to Chang'an City," the predicted outcome would show which areas in the city would suffer grain shortages, how much grain prices would rise, and how many people would starve due to unaffordable or unavailable food. Alternatively, if, during an abnormal heatwave, the condition was set to "use talismans to pray for rain," it could predict not only the success of the rain prayer but also whether Chang'an City would return to normal afterward.

There were two 'Chang'an Micro-View' devices. One was placed in the Academic Palace East Lord Tower, and the other deep within the Imperial Palace. Using the 'Chang'an Micro-View' incurred a high cost and involved a complex operation. Furthermore, the predictive results required specialized interpretation, and there was a cooling-off period after each use. Consequently, even if the Six Ministries wanted to use the 'Chang'an Micro-View' Mutated Object in the Imperial Palace to predict the outcomes of important policies, they first needed to file a report with the officials of the Three Provinces and submit their plans to Emperor Yu.

For hundreds of years, 'Chang'an Micro-View' had never been wrong; any errors were attributed to human misinterpretation. And since this drawing was delivered by the Academic Palace Master himself, its accuracy and credibility were beyond doubt.

There would be an outbreak of malaria in Chang'an City this autumn—though, when hadn't there been malaria?

Emperor Yu's brow furrowed deeply. He asked seriously, "Does the Mountain Master wish for me to have the Imperial Medical Bureau, the Pharmacy Bureau, and the Medicine Storage Bureau prepare for the malaria in advance?"

Among Yu Country's three major medical institutions, the Pharmacy Bureau and the Medicine Storage Bureau served the Royal Family. The Imperial Medical Bureau, on the other hand, oversaw national medical administration. This included educating and training Doctors, compiling medical texts, and treating officials, military personnel, laborers, Palace Attendants, and foreign chieftains and commanders.

The problem was that the Imperial Medical Bureau had only just over fifteen hundred personnel. Among these, a large number were housekeepers, Managers, and other administrative staff responsible for financial and documentary affairs. There were also Pharmacy Garden Masters and pharmacy students who did not directly participate in medical care. The few truly useful Doctors were already extremely busy treating officials, soldiers, Palace Attendants, and the like, leaving them with neither the time nor the capacity to treat the common people of Chang'an City. Even knowing that malaria was coming, the most that could be done, to a large extent, was to prepare medicinal ingredients in advance. This was the situation even after Yu Country, with the establishment of the Academic Palace, had begun to place more emphasis on medical care than before. In the early days of the Yu Chu era, the Imperial Medical Bureau's permanent staff numbered only three hundred and forty-one.

"No." Lian Xuanxiao shook his head and produced a second sheet of paper. This map was broadly similar to the first, also depicting the topography of Chang'an. The difference was that on this map, many open-air canals were covered with stone slabs, vast swathes of woodland and grassland had been cleared, and ponds and hollows had been filled in. Most significantly, the black dots on this sheet were greatly reduced.

"Your Majesty, it has been confirmed that the cause of malaria is not malevolent qi or the Malaria Demon, but mosquitoes," Lian Xuanxiao said sternly. "In the second map, merely covering the city's open-air canals, clearing the grasslands and stagnant ponds that breed mosquitoes, and using Mugwort and other substances to fumigate and kill them has been enough to eliminate the malaria epidemic predicted for this autumn, saving tens of thousands of common people. I earnestly request Your Majesty to first trial this mosquito eradication strategy in the southern workshop districts of Chang'an to observe its effectiveness."

"Malaria is caused by mosquitoes..." Empress Xue was so shocked she lost her voice, while the nearby Minister of Revenue and the Minister of the Ministry of Rites were visibly shaken. Malaria was one of the most terrifying and devastating widespread diseases of the age. Both the "New Bodhisattva Scripture" and the "Exhortation to Virtue Scripture" ranked "death by a cruel disease" as the foremost suffering. Any Yu person with common sense understood the implications of preventing malaria: households would no longer live in fear of sudden calamity, and Yu Country's military might could continue its advance south and west.

Malaria and miasma were essentially the same disease, called malaria in the Northern regions and miasma in the Southern regions. Yu Country had not conquered the Zhou Kingdom to its south, the Six Nan Zhao Kingdoms to its southeast, the Jing Country to its west, and the Ten Thousand Desolate Mountains to its southwest for two main reasons. Firstly, these regions also had Cultivators. Secondly, miasmic epidemics were rampant; any outbreak of malarial miasma could kill tens of thousands of Yu Country soldiers, forcing Yu Country to pay a grievous price for no territorial gain.

"Academic Palace Master," Emperor Yu's thoughts raced as he instantly understood the value of this discovery. The entire nation's strategy for the next hundred years would change because of it. The map of Yu Country, which had not expanded for so long, might now grow under his reign or that of the next monarch. Emperor Yu immediately took a deep breath and said earnestly, "If there were any higher honor to bestow, I would certainly grant it to you, Mountain Master..."

"Your Majesty," Lian Xuanxiao interrupted, a peculiar smile on his face, "this is not my humble achievement."

"Then..." Emperor Yu turned to Tantai Leshan, who stood beside Lian Xuanxiao.

Tantai Leshan bowed with a wry smile. "Your Majesty, this discovery is not mine either. It was mentioned to me some time ago by a Yizhou scholar named Li Ang."

"A Yizhou scholar?" Emperor Yu and Empress Xue exclaimed in unison, their voices rising. The Minister of Revenue and the Minister of the Ministry of Rites wore particularly intriguing expressions, while Cheng Juxiu... stood with his mouth agape, unsure how to react.

Cheng Juxiu had, in fact, only arrived in Chang'an that morning. Upon hearing that Xi Yangyu had judged Li Ang incapable of Cultivation, he immediately knew that Xi Yangyu was taking out an old grudge against Pu Liuxuan on Li Ang, deliberately making things difficult for him. Cheng Juxiu had returned to Chang'an while the final exams were still ongoing, with Li Ang already in the examination hall. Therefore, Cheng Juxiu made a decisive call. Through former classmates in the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Rites, he informed the Minister of Revenue and the Minister of the Ministry of Rites about the forceps, inviting them both to the Imperial City to present this auspicious instrument to His Majesty, hoping for a turnaround in events.

However... it looked like Li Ang had not only cured Duke Yan but also discovered the cause of malaria, prompting the Academic Palace Master and Master Tantai Leshan to personally rush to the Imperial City to congratulate His Majesty... His last two or three months had certainly been eventful... Well, even if he hadn't passed the final exam, he would definitely be specially recruited into the Academic Palace by the Academic Palace Master.

Cheng Juxiu secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he heard faint footsteps approaching.

A eunuch attendant hurried over. "Your Majesty, at the Academic Palace, some candidates have already finished the final exam and come out."

"So soon? Wasn't this year's final exam said to be very difficult? Since he is the top scorer, bring him into the palace quickly. I want to meet him..." Receiving two pieces of excellent news in one day, Emperor Yu was in a splendid mood. He was speaking when he suddenly stopped, his expression turning curious. "Wait, what is that candidate's surname?"

The eunuch, not understanding the implication, replied honestly, "Two candidates have finished. One is surnamed He, the other Li."

Emperor Yu turned his head, exchanging a glance with Empress Xue and the Academic Palace Master, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"Your Majesty," the Academic Palace Master said with a gentle smile, shaking his head, "there's no need to rush him into the palace just yet. 'Success comes as swift as a horse in the spring breeze; in a single day, one can see all the flowers of Chang'an.' He's a young man. Let him enjoy his moment a little longer."