While the Qin Straight Road was being expanded at breakneck speed, a revolution concerning the carrying capacity of civilisation was brewing within the Imperial Academy of History in Chang'an. During the Han dynasty, written texts were extremely difficult to carry: nobles used expensive silk scrolls that were hard to popularise, while commoners used heavy bamboo slips that were difficult to write on. Liu Xun knew that steel and roads alone would not initiate an industrial revolution. He needed an inexpensive, lightweight medium that could convey large quantities of knowledge and information. 'Silk is too expensive and bamboo slips are too heavy. When I review memorials, it's as if I'm carrying bricks,' he said, casually tossing a heavy bundle of bamboo slips to the ground with a dull thud in the Xuan Shi Hall. The craftsmen of the Imperial Household Department beside him trembled with fear; they could not fathom why this sage emperor, who had already established his rule in the Western Regions and forged steel in Guanzhong, had developed such a strong interest in hemp fibres used for wiping sweat.
System Command: Activate 'Cultural Infrastructure – Accelerated Papermaking Technology Research and Development'.
Core Logic: Skip the crude stage of the Western Han dynasty's 'Baqiao paper' and directly benchmark against Song and Ming dynasty techniques.
Key steps: Lime water pulping, bleaching and degumming, and fine-screen papermaking.
Current bonuses: - Microfibre control improved by 30%
- Automatic acid-base balance correction
Key steps: Lime water pulping, bleaching and degumming, fine screen papermaking.
Current bonuses: Microfibre control improved by 30%.
Automatic acid-base balance correction.
Liu Xun was tired of slowly figuring things out in the Han Dynasty. Using his accumulated 'National Fortune Value', he built a huge pool in a restricted area of the Institute of Natural History. In the pool, pungent lime water churned with broken tree bark and hemp fibres.
'The heat's just right. Open the vat!' Liu Xun stood by the vat, holding a finely woven bamboo mat. This was the 'papermaking screen', a tool that he had commissioned craftsmen to experiment with hundreds of times under the guidance of the system, woven from fine bamboo strips sourced from deep within the Qinling Mountains, with a mesh as fine as a hair.
With everyone watching, Liu Xun rolled up his sleeves and dipped his hands into the vat of milky-white pulp. His movements were incredibly steady and his expression was one of almost reverent solemnity. With a gentle shake and lift, a layer of pulp as thin as a cicada's wing and as even as frost was peeled off smoothly. "Press, dry!" The rumble of the water-powered press quickly squeezed out the excess water, and the pulp film adhered to the warm furnace wall. A moment later, Liu Xun personally peeled off the thin sheet. It wasn't the yellowed, brittle 'Baqiao paper', nor was it expensive silk. Instead, it was pure white, supple and so smooth that it reflected the faint lamplight — Xuan paper. 'Please bring pen and ink,' commanded Liu Xun calmly. The Grand Minister of Agriculture, trembling, presented the pen and inkstone. Liu Xun picked up the brush and, in a flourish, wrote four large characters on the paper he had named 'Emperor Xuan's Paper': 'The Flame of Civilisation.' The ink instantly seeped into the fibres of the paper, neither smudging nor bleeding through. The silky smoothness of the writing caused the assembled officials to gasp in disbelief. 'Your Majesty, if this material were produced, all bamboo slips in the world could be rendered useless!' A bolt of silk costs ten thousand coins; how much does this cost?" An old scholar, recruited from the Imperial Academy, trembled as he touched the paper, tears streaming down his face.
Liu Xun held up a finger and shook it playfully. 'If mass-produced, a bundle of rotten hemp and a few pieces of tree bark would cost less than one-tenth the price of bamboo slips and weigh less than one-hundredth of their weight.' What did this mean? It meant that Liu Xun could instantly print tens of thousands of textbooks and disseminate his edicts throughout the Han Dynasty overnight. This pure white fibre would completely collapse the monopoly on knowledge. 'Hidden Dragon Guards, heed my command.' Upon returning to the palace, Liu Xun secretly summoned his intelligence chief. 'From today onwards, the transmission of all intelligence is prohibited on bamboo slips. It must all be conducted using this "Emperor Xuan Paper". Furthermore, establish the first 'Great Han Paper Mill' for me downstream of Dragon's Breath Valley and guard it with the Agricultural Reclamation Corps.' Liu Xun knew very well that the advent of paper would be a boon not only to scholars, but also a powerful tool in intelligence warfare. Official documents that had previously required several carriages to transport could now be carried simply by hand.
[System Notification]: 'Cultural Output Value' has surged, unlocking the prerequisite quest for 'Modular Type Printing'.
'The World's Hearts Turn to the People' progress has increased, and the loyalty of scholars has shown significant fluctuations.
'Don't those powerful families monopolise official careers by collecting books?' Liu Xun stood by the window, looking at the thin sheet of paper in his hand, a cruel smile flashing in his eyes. 'When I've printed and sold tens of thousands of copies of the Four Books and Five Classics like cabbages in the market, I'll see how much their so-called "family learning" is worth!'
As night fell, the lights of Chang'an remained on. However, amidst the constant sounds of boiling water emanating from the Imperial Library, a force called 'cultural hegemony' was undergoing a bloody transformation from heavy to light, from expensive to cheap.
Despite the lingering chill in Chang'an, the forbidden area of the Imperial Academy of Natural History was brightly lit. The advent of 'Emperor Xuan's Paper' was only the first step. Liu Xun knew that paper alone would not completely destroy the foundations of the aristocratic families that had existed for centuries. In this era, knowledge was monopolised not only by the medium, but also by the difficulty of copying. A single copy of the Analects required a poor scholar to spend months painstakingly borrowing and hand-copying the text, which often resulted in numerous errors. Meanwhile, powerful families could employ hundreds or even thousands of copyists, amassing vast collections. These collections were their true capital, enabling them to dominate the court and monopolise officialdom. 'I want to make all the books in the world as numerous as the sands of the Ganges and make them readily available.'
In the deepest, most secret chamber of the Imperial Academy of Natural History, Liu Xun smiled at a plate of small, silvery-grey cubes. These were not gold or silver, but a refined lead-antimony-tin alloy that he had created using blast furnace ironmaking technology. This alloy had a low melting point, moderate hardness and a stable expansion rate, making it an ideal material for crafting typefaces.
[System Command]: Activate 'Movable Type Printing - Industrialisation Module'.
Core Logic: Avoiding the problems of wooden movable type being easily deformed and clay movable type being fragile, it transitions directly to metal movable type.
Key steps: Copper mould casting, oil-based ink development and screw press assembly.
Current bonuses: 'Font standardisation' — automatic alignment with official script; 'Typesetting spacing control' — rapid correction.
Liu Xun held a thumb-sized type mold with a powerful "仁" (meaning benevolence) engraved on the bottom. He activated 'Top Performance: Cultural Tyrant', his eyes flashing with madness as he sought to crush the old order. 'Chang Hui, watch closely. This small square is a hundred times more lethal than the Sword of Annihilation in your hand.'
'Typesetting!' With Liu Xun's command, dozens of specially trained agricultural reclamation corps youths skilfully took the type mould from the type rack and placed it into a specially made iron frame. This was no longer time-consuming and laborious woodblock printing. In just half an hour, a page of the Analects, Book 1, Chapter 1 was completed.
'Ink! Press!" The water-powered screw press groaned heavily. This press, a product of the 'hydraulic mechanical revolution', was now applying consistent pressure between the paper and the type. Accompanied by the crisp sound of paper being turned, sheets of the Analects, dripping with ink and with characters as neat as if carved by a knife, flew out of the machine's other end like snowflakes. 'One hundred copies in a quarter of an hour.' Watching this speed, the Director of the Imperial Library was terrified and his legs went weak. 'Your Majesty,' he exclaimed, 'if this were printed in a day, it would probably be equivalent to the work of all the copyists in Chang'an for three years!' The next morning, in the West Market of Chang'an...
While powerful families were still selling handwritten silk manuscripts at the exorbitant price of five taels of gold per scroll in their bookshops, the official 'Xinhua Printing House' of the Han Dynasty had opened. Dressed in Boss Su's vest, Liu Xun leaned against the stone lion at the entrance, a blade of grass dangling from his mouth. He stared at the banner hanging above: 'Popular edition of the Analects, ten coins per copy!' 'Ten coins? Are you crazy, shopkeeper? Bamboo slips cost thirty coins each!' exclaimed a poor scholar on his way to the capital for the imperial examinations.
'His Majesty, moved by the scholars' hard work, has ordered the Imperial Academy to mass-produce them. Not only the Analects, but the Spring and Autumn Annals and Mencius will also be ten coins each next month!" the shopkeeper shouted.
Trembling, the scholar took the light, pristine, perfectly handwritten, thread-bound book and inhaled the faint scent of ink. Then he suddenly knelt towards the palace and burst into tears.
Meanwhile, the heads of powerful families such as the Du and Wang clans were gathered in a tavern, listening to a secret report. 'What? Ten coins?' The Du family head's jade cup clattered to the ground. 'Is Liu Xun trying to destroy his own empire? Selling the classics so cheaply that even peasants can afford to buy them. Who will listen to our teachings then? Who will serve us as slaves?"
'Not only that,' the scout's voice trembled. 'That paper also has His Majesty's imperial annotations. The people say that this is the emperor's sacred learning, personally transmitted; our family's collection of books has become a forgery.' Watching these powerful families shivering in the cold wind, Liu Xun switched his acting to that of a 'deeply calculating schemer'.
[System Notification]
[Ideological Monopoly] Transfer Progress: 80%
'Poverty alleviation' progress: MAX: Unlocking subsequent rewards: 'Outline of Modern Imperial Examination Reform (Science Bonus Version)'
'To kill someone is to destroy their spirit.' Liu Xun spat out the grass root in his mouth and smiled coldly. 'I will not only empty your purses, but also uproot your "roots". This Han Dynasty doesn't need aristocratic families; it only needs my subjects.'
As the first batch of 30,000 copies of the Analects were snapped up, the dark era built on blood ties and book collections officially came to an end with the clanging of metal type.
The Imperial Academy in Chang'an, with its shadows dappled by locust trees, was no longer the tranquil place it once was. Thousands of students, scholars and senior officials from the court had rushed to the scene and now thronged the lecture platform. Below, the scions of noble families sat upright with disdainful and scrutinising eyes, while the students from humble backgrounds, studying on Emperor Xuan's initiative, were filled with fervent enthusiasm.
Liu Xun was not wearing his imperial robes; he wore only a moon-white Confucian robe with flowing sleeves. He held a newly printed copy of the Analects in his hand and slowly ascended the platform.
'Gentlemen,' announced Liu Xun, his voice amplified by the sound field enhancements to reach everyone's ears precisely. He glanced around, his demeanour instantly shifting to that of a solitary, patriotic master. 'Last night, I was reading the Analects, and when I came across the phrase "A people without trust cannot stand", I couldn't sleep a wink. If the people were to exchange their children for food and the Han Dynasty were to suffer a complete crop failure, where would that 'trust' be? Would it stand on the empty rhetoric of yours?" A deathly silence fell over the audience. An elderly scholar stood up, trembling, and said, "Your Majesty, the sage said, 'A gentleman seeks the Way, not food.' Rites and moral principles are the foundation of a nation. Where does this empty rhetoric come from?"
'What fine "seeking the Way, not food"!' Liu Xun abruptly stood up and slammed a copy of the Analects on the table. He launched into his top-tier performance of 'heartbreaking indignation', his eyes slightly red and his tone impassioned.
'I ask you,' said Liu Xun, 'did Yu the Great tame the floods through kneeling and kowtowing three times, or through clearing mountains and opening roads?' Did the Duke of Zhou establish rites through empty words, or by crafting tools and imitating their forms? You claim to revere the sages, yet you cling only to fragments of words, turning the teachings of the saints into shackles that bind your hands and feet!" He pointed to a small curved plough and a set of pulleys beside the podium, his voice as cold as ice. 'Confucius said, "A craftsman who wishes to do his work well must first sharpen his tools." I ask you, is improving agricultural tools, researching water and fire, and ensuring the people of the Han dynasty had enough to eat and wear considered 'benevolence'? Is building straight roads, connecting the north and south, and bringing the barbarians under your rule considered 'rites'? Liu Xun's gaze swept over the scions of noble families, mockingly. 'The core of the sages' teachings is "investigating things to acquire knowledge". What does 'investigating things' mean? If you don't investigate the thickness of the earth, the strength of steel and the benefits of flowing water, but instead investigate 'the principles of heaven and human desires', how can you grow grain?" He casually wrote the character for 'use' on the blackboard (a wooden board smoothed with lime). 'Today, I am establishing a new rule: the Imperial Academy's examination will consist of three parts of literature and seven parts of use. Mathematics, water conservancy, agricultural economics and metallurgy are all extensions of the sages' learning. He who can build a thousand-mile horse will become a high-ranking official, and he who can save millions of lives will become a true Confucian scholar.' This was nothing short of blatant physical deception.
" Liu Xun cloaked industrial logic in a sacred guise by using the Confucian concepts of 'benevolent governance' and 'investigation of things', leaving those stubborn old scholars speechless. They tried to refute him, but found that their logic was self-contradictory. 'Do you dare say that saving a life isn't benevolent governance? Do you dare say that improving agricultural tools isn't beneficial to the people?' 'Your Majesty is wise! Investigating things is saving the people; saving the people is practising benevolence!' A student from a humble background was the first to react, shouting excitedly. Hundreds and thousands of students echoed his cry, their voices shaking the Imperial Academy. Meanwhile, the scions of aristocratic families, who had previously monopolised official positions through rote memorisation of Confucian classics, now looked extremely grim. They realised that Liu Xun's lesson had overturned the very foundation upon which their survival depended.
[System Notification]
[Cultural Ideological Reshaping] Task Progress: 75%
[Practical Application]: The ideas have deeply penetrated people's hearts. [Academy of Physics]: Enrolment surges.
Unlock Next Stage: The First National Unified Examination for Science in the Han Dynasty.
'Gentlemen, stop searching for destiny in old books.' Dressed in pristine white, Liu Xun stood on the platform, his eyes sharp as an eagle. "Destiny lies in the spinning gears, in the boiling furnace, in every 'ingenious skill' that makes the Han Dynasty strong!" The bell rang and Liu Xun descended the steps gracefully. He knew that the idea of 'pragmatism' had already flourished in the Han Dynasty's highest institution of learning.
With the advent of the movable type printing press and the mass production of 'Emperor Xuan's Paper', political prophecies of dubious veracity were no longer the only things filling the streets and alleys of Chang'an. Liu Xun knew that, in order to advance the Industrial Revolution, he had to unify thought. The most effective way to do this was not to ban books, but to influence public opinion. 'I want to do more than just make paper; I want to drive a stake called "truth" into the minds of every citizen of the Han Dynasty.' A large, gilded plaque reading 'The Great Han Daily' was hung on an official residence to the west of Weiyang Palace by Liu Xun. Previously, the Han Dynasty only had official gazettes transmitted to officials at all levels. Their content was dry and difficult to understand and they were constantly being edited and abridged. Today, the first edition of the Great Han Daily, accessible to the entire nation and even ordinary people, was officially proofread and completed.
[System Command]
[Activate] [Public Opinion Hegemony·Media Matrix]
[Core Logic] Decentralised dissemination, direct access to the grassroots, emotional guidance.
[Block Design] Front page (Imperial Edicts and National Policies), second page (Miracle of Nature), third page (Military Situation in the Western Regions), bottom page (People's Lives).
System Bonuses: [Layout Aesthetics] — Enhancing sensory trust; [Vernacular Conversion] — Lowering the reading threshold.
Dressed in an elegant black robe, Liu Xun held a sample newspaper, still smelling of fresh ink, and began his "Top Performance: Newspaper Tycoon" speech, his eyes revealing a profound mastery of words: 'Chang Hui, once this newspaper is distributed, the idle chatter of those aristocratic families in teahouses will be nothing but nonsense.'
The next morning, hundreds of newsstands in Chang'an simultaneously opened their pages to reveal: 'The Great Han Daily!' Look! Just one copper coin per copy! Inside are farming secrets personally written by His Majesty!' Soldiers from the agricultural reclamation corps acted as the first newsboys, their booming voices piercing the morning mist. The people flocked to the newsstands like madmen. The front page featured a large sketch depicting Liu Xun with his trousers rolled up and holding a curved plough in the mud. The headline was shockingly direct: 'Who is preventing the Han Dynasty from having enough to eat? On the life-or-death battle between the curved plough and the monopoly of powerful families.' This article built on Liu Xun's previous 'performance' in the fields, simplifying the complex political struggle into the simple logic of 'the emperor wants everyone to be well-fed, while the bad guys want everyone to go hungry'.
In an inconspicuous corner on the back page was a comment section signed 'Chang'an Susheng' —[Susheng's Hot Commentary]— created personally by Liu Xun. He transformed into a worldly-wise wanderer, using down-to-earth language to devastatingly criticise stubborn Confucian scholars and hoarding tycoons. "Yesterday, I overheard a gentleman discussing etiquette, claiming that bent farm tools violated ancestral rules. Susheng chuckled, 'If our ancestors knew their descendants were starving today, they'd probably crawl out of the ground and slap you all.' This biting humour, imbued with modern irony, instantly captivated the people of Chang'an. Instead of discussing obscure Confucian classics in teahouses, they eagerly spread Su Sheng's new anecdote: 'Su Sheng's scolding is truly satisfying! Those powerful figures certainly deserve a beating!" Meanwhile,
Liu Xun sat in a private room in a restaurant, watching the people below arguing endlessly over newspapers. A wicked smile played on his lips.
[System Notification]:
Public Opinion Control: 92%
[Populsive Incitement Value]: Steadily increasing; can be converted into Industrial Expansion Momentum.
Unlock reward: Blueprint for a Modern Postal Delivery System
The powerful families were utterly panicked. They had initially thought that Liu Xun was merely experimenting with technology, but they hadn't expected him to seize the 'right of interpretation' outright. The Du family head trembled with rage as he stared at the newspaper in his hand, embroiled in a scandal involving the forced purchase of farmland. 'This is slander! This is a disgrace! The Son of Heaven actually wrote such vulgar words!" 'Master, it's no use,' said the strategist, his face ashen. 'All the people of Guanzhong believe it. Now, whenever we go out, even the beggars in the street spit at us. This newspaper is sharper than a knife.' Liu Xun stood on the high platform of the newspaper office, watching carts loaded with newspapers rush along the newly paved roads towards the various counties. 'Once words become cheap, the altar will crumble.'
He tossed his brush aside, his eyes as sharp as an eagle's. Through the Great Han Daily, he had placed imperial power directly in everyone's hands. From now on, the Great Han would have no secrets — except his own.
Amidst the smell of newspaper ink and the clatter of earth from the Qin Straight Road in the western suburbs of Chang'an, a uniquely designed architectural complex was officially completed. Unlike traditional academies, it lacked layered eaves, instead featuring towering red-brick chimneys, neatly arranged glass windows and an open-air experimental field surrounded by irrigation canals. At the main gate stood a stone tablet inscribed by Liu Xun himself. Rather than bearing the Confucian ideal of 'self-discipline and restoration of propriety', the tablet bore eight bold, powerful characters: 'Seek truth from facts, investigate things to the utmost.' This was the first academy of the Han dynasty: the Academy of Investigation of Things, which would change the course of human civilisation.
'Today, I, Liu Xun, open the examination for the investigation of things, without testing the Four Books or the Five Classics,' said Liu Xun, who was dressed in neat work clothes. He stood on the academy's stone steps, and over a thousand examinees from all over the Han Dynasty stood before him. Among them were carpenters in patched clothes, blacksmiths with calloused hands and impoverished alchemists who were considered 'heretics' by their communities.
[System Command]: Activate 'Talent Selection Module – Examination of Natural Sciences'.
Entry criteria: Logical thinking, spatial imagination and practical ability.
Examination Arrangement: First stage: geometry and arithmetic. Second stage: mechanical disassembly. Third stage: assigned creation.
System bonus: the 'Talent Scanner' is activated and used to screen for hidden SSS-level technical geniuses among ordinary people.
'Can you see those parts on the table?' Liu Xun asked, pointing to the testing ground. Switching to his "discerning talent scout" persona, he continued, his voice steady and powerful: "Whoever can assemble them into a pulley system capable of lifting a hundred-pound boulder within two quarters of an hour will be my student! They will be exempt from taxes and will also be granted the title of 'Doctor of Natural Sciences' and a stipend of six hundred bushels of grain!"
Among the crowd, a boy from Ba County caught the attention of the onlookers. His name was Gongshu Qi. Originally the son of a down-on-his-luck carpenter, he was considered an oddity by the powerful local families for inventing an 'automatic chicken feeder'. At that moment, his hands moved like phantoms. In his mind, the seemingly complex gears and ropes had already been given a logical model in the 'Scientific Investigation' section of the Great Han Daily, distributed by Liu Xun. 'Lift!' Less than a quarter of an hour later, Gongshu Qi pulled the rope sharply. The massive boulder, enough to break the backs of four strong men, was lightly suspended in mid-air by the pulley system.
'Your Majesty! It's done!' the young man shouted, kneeling with eyes filled with the fervour of surviving a near-death experience.
Liu Xun walked over to him and helped him up personally. In front of everyone, he pinned a gear-shaped badge, a symbol of status, to Gongshu Qi's chest. 'From today onwards, you are no longer the son of a carpenter, but the vanguard of scientific investigation for the Great Han.'
With enrolment complete, the Academy of Scientific Investigation began operating smoothly, and its teaching methods caused all the Confucian scholars of the Imperial Academy to "break down" collectively.
Liu Xun personally compiled teaching materials, breaking down the 'Elementary Industrial Encyclopedia' into easy-to-understand rhymes. In the mornings, students studied 'Elementary Mechanics', at noon they smelted blast furnaces at the experimental field, and in the evenings they learned how to solve administrative problems using logical analysis in Liu Xun's 'Actor's Little Classroom'. "I don't want servile lackeys who only know how to kowtow. What I want are engineers who can raise the Han Dynasty's flag where the sun rises!" Standing on the platform, Liu Xun drew a preliminary concept of a steam engine on the blackboard with charcoal. 'When water boils, the lid rises; this is the power of nature. If we can imprison this power with steel, then ten thousand carts can move without horses and ten thousand ships can sail upstream! Whoever can create this will be bestowed with the title of Marquis!" The rise of the Gewu Academy was the last straw for powerful families. Previously, talented individuals could only become retainers of wealthy and powerful families, studying the classics diligently in the hope of achieving fame and fortune. Now, however, anyone capable of calculating complex accounts can enrol at the Academy of Natural Sciences, receive a generous salary and even have an audience with the emperor. 'This is undermining the foundation of the Han dynasty!' an old Confucian scholar cried, cursing at the academy gate. 'Not learning from sages, only esoteric skills — this is a sign of national ruin!' Liu Xun stood by the second-floor window, coldly observing this scene. Activating his 'Ruthless Judge' mode, he ordered the Hidden Dragon Guards behind him: 'Go and deliver a copy of the Great Han Daily to that old gentleman. Tell him that his cursing has been recorded by the academy's 'Echo Collector'. If he considers this an 'esoteric skill', then he can forget about his cane — it was made by a carpenter, which is also an 'esoteric skill'."
[System notification]
[Talent Structure Reform] Progress: 60%
The 'Pioneer of Natural Sciences' team has been formed. Unlocked reward: 'A set of high-precision lathe core parts (host exclusive).' Looking at the bustling scene at the testing ground, Liu Xun realised that this group of people, who no longer believed in ghosts, gods or sages, would be the Han Dynasty's most terrifying weapon. This was not just a school, but the foundation he had laid for the industrial revolution of the Han Dynasty.