Zhang Fei immediately protested, "Hey, what do you mean skip? Does Zhang Fei the Sixth not deserve a mention?"
Guan Yu, however, froze for a moment.
Wei Yan's rebellion?
Wasn't that his own clerk, and also a close friend of his eldest son, Guan Ping? How could things turn out like this… His thoughts tangled into a mess.
No matter how Zhang Fei grumbled, the video calmly shifted its focus back to the Hanzhong Campaign. Zhuge Liang lowered his head again, carefully copying the 3D map.
Zhuge Liang silently marveled. The technological methods of later generations truly resembled the work of spirits and gods. At the same time, he could not help but envy this so-called "3D map." With such a tool, both governance and military campaigns would become vastly more efficient.
[Lightscreen]
[In the third month of the following year, 218 CE, Liu Bei personally led the campaign toward Hanzhong. Perhaps due to the size of his forces, he ultimately chose the broadest route, the Jinniu Road.
The famous line from Li Bai's "Shu Dao Nan," "The road to Shu is harder than climbing to the heavens," does not refer to a single path, but to nearly all routes leading into Shu at the time.
The Shu Roads can be divided into two sections. The first consists of the four Qinling routes connecting Guanzhong (modern Xi'an) to Hanzhong: Chencang Road, Baoxie Road, Tangluo Road, and Ziwu Road.
Chencang Road is the longest. Tangluo Road is the shortest, but was opened later, first recorded in 244 CE during Cao Shuang's campaign against Shu, and later repaired into an official road during the Tang dynasty.
Baoxie Road was one of Zhuge Liang's northern campaign routes. After the fall at Wuzhang Plains, Wei Yan deliberately burned this road to spite Yang Yi.
Ziwu Road was the route proposed in Wei Yan's famous "Ziwu Valley Surprise Attack," where he suggested leading five thousand troops to strike Chang'an directly. The plan was rejected by Zhuge Liang. Later, during Cao Rui's reign, a similar attempt was made from the opposite side, but three thousand troops struggled for half a year and only covered half the distance before retreating.]
Only then did Zhang Fei suddenly snap back to attention, shouting, "Second Brother, wasn't the close friend of Ping'er you mentioned last time this same Wei Yan?"
Guan Yu rose and cupped his fists. "Elder Brother, this Wei Yan serves as a clerk under my command…"
Before he could finish, Liu Bei waved him off. "Second Brother, do not worry. How can we punish a man for deeds not yet committed? If he is capable of commanding an army in the future, he must possess both courage and talent. Let us continue watching."
Guan Yu bowed deeply before sitting down again.
Zhuge Liang, meanwhile, had already noted down the Ziwu Valley plan. Though it failed in that future, perhaps that was due to a lack of understanding of internal conditions within Cao Wei. With proper preparation, striking with foreknowledge against an unprepared enemy… it might not be impossible.
[Lightscreen]
[The second part of the Shu Roads connects Hanzhong and Shu through the Bashan routes: Yinping Road, Micang Road, Yangba Road, and Jinniu Road.
Yinping Road is the most roundabout, which is why Deng Ai's later surprise march to Chengdu was so unexpected. Some speculate that the folk figure Guan Yinping, the Third Lady Guan, derives her name from this route, though there is no solid evidence.]
Guan Yinping.
Guan Yu, who usually kept his phoenix eyes half-closed, opened them wide once more. In these past few months, he felt he had been shocked more times than in the previous decades combined.
"Congratulations, General Guan," Mi Zhu said with a smile. "For a woman to leave her name in history is far more difficult than for a man. Your Third Lady must surely be a remarkable figure."
Guan Yu currently had one son, Guan Ping, often away in the field, and a second son, Guan Xing, still only six years old. Just last year, he had gained a daughter, still an infant in swaddling clothes.
By order of birth, she would indeed be the Third Lady.
To hear of her future legend in advance…
Guan Yu stroked his long beard, already contemplating the name Guan Yinping.
But two-character given names were uncommon. Perhaps Yinping could serve as a courtesy name instead, as a reminder of the Yinping Pass incident. That would not be a bad meaning.
Zhang Fei tried to console him. "Second Brother, if your third niece leaves behind a legend, then that Pang Hui must be some useless nobody. Your lineage is safe!"
If looks could kill, Zhang Fei would already have been split in two by the Green Dragon Crescent Blade.
[Lightscreen]
[Micang Road and Yangba Road are too treacherous for large troop movements. Thus, Jinniu Road was Liu Bei's only viable choice.
Li Bai also praised this route, writing, "The Sword Gate stands lofty and sheer; one man may guard it against ten thousand." The famous Jian'ge lies along this road, where Jiang Wei later stationed his forces during the fall of Shu.
This is why, in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Jiang Wei laments, "We were ready to fight to the death. Why did Your Majesty surrender first?"]
"Excellent poetry!" Zhang Fei exclaimed. "The grandeur and danger of Jian'ge are captured in just a few words. This Li Bai of later generations is truly talented!"
"Indeed!" Jian Yong laughed. "One might almost think the Third General was born in Shu rather than Zhuo Commandery!"
"Can't I appreciate something just because I haven't seen it…" Zhang Fei muttered.
Liu Bei, however, fell silent.
Those twelve words struck him like a blade.
What kind of son had he raised, to be unworthy of such a loyal and passionate minister?
"My lord need not dwell on it."
To Liu Bei's surprise, it was Sun Qian who spoke. Usually quiet and reserved, this loyal early follower now spoke with conviction.
"Ah Dou is still young, and we veterans still have strength left. Since the light screen has already shown that you can seize Jing and Yi and advance into Hanzhong, then by correcting our shortcomings, why can we not go further and reclaim Chang'an, driving Cao Cao beyond the passes?"
Liu Bei looked at him and nodded heavily.
Ah Dou could still be taught.
They could still fight.
[Lightscreen]
[Returning to the main point: Liu Bei's army advanced along the Jinniu Road, a distance of over 1,200 li. Even this "best" route took more than half a year to traverse.
Today, however, the same journey can be completed by high-speed rail in just three hours, roughly one and a half shichen. Letting Liu Bei experience that would probably make his eyes pop out.
After more than half a year, Liu Bei's army finally reached Yangping Pass, the gateway to Hanzhong, where Xiahou Yuan had long been waiting.]
Having just steadied his emotions, Liu Bei immediately bristled at the teasing.
"What do you mean my eyes would pop out? When you talked about aircraft carriers earlier, my eyes didn't pop out! Try walking the Jinniu Road yourself in this era, and you might not even finish it in half a year!"
Zhuge Liang quickly calculated. "If three hours equal one and a half shichen, then later generations have divided time more finely. One day has twenty-four hours, one shichen equals two hours, and one hour equals four ke."
"As for this 'high-speed rail,' one travels by ticket. From Chang'an to Shu takes one and a half shichen, from Luoyang to Shu three shichen. By this measure, could one travel from Liaodong to Lingnan within a single day? All lands under heaven, reachable within morning and evening."
"And furthermore…" Zhuge Liang recalled, "the ticket shown earlier cost four hundred yuan from Luoyang to Chengdu. One ingot of gold equals one hundred thousand yuan, which means the journey costs only around forty Wu Zhu coins."
For the first time, Zhuge Liang truly felt envy.
Since entering service, logistics had always been under his charge. He understood better than anyone the limits of transport, speed, and loss in this era. Compared to high-speed rail, horses were like fireflies before the blazing sun.
Liu Bei, on the other hand, felt only pain.
Pure, piercing pain.
By his calculation, one gold ingot could transport… Liu Bei secretly counted on his fingers… two hundred and fifty people directly to Luoyang!
What about from Jing Province to Xu Capital?
The distance was similar.
If he borrowed some funds from Mi Fang, loaded ten thousand troops onto this high-speed rail, departed in the morning, reached by noon, beheaded Cao Cao, and returned in time for a hot dinner…
At that moment, Liu Bei could not help but sigh:
"If I had high-speed rail in hand, restoring the Han would be effortless!"