Chapter 23: The Mahatma's Folly and the Shogun's Defeat
They sing and drink wine from their cups of jade,
They strum the pipa while on horseback.
Why laugh when they fall asleep drunk on the sand?
How many soldiers ever come home?
"A Song of Liangzhou," Wang Han (A.D. 687-726)
An apple flew into Mao's room and landed on the floor with a
thud. The Chairman turned, only to find his science advisor Deng Xiaoping standing at the entrance, grinning.
"An ordinary apple," grumbled Mao. "Why have you disturbed me with this?"
"It is a gift," replied Deng. "I got it from a scientist named Isaac Newton. He says that it fell on his head, and he suddenly had this brilliant idea of how the whole world worked in perfect mathematical harmony."
Mao picked up the apple, decided it was not worth eating, and set it aside. "What else have you brought me today? I have no time for this foolishness."
"I would like to build a university in honor of Newton," suggested Deng. "It would be the envy of scholars around the world, and I am sure we will be able to attract more of them to join us in our research efforts."
"Yes, yes, a fine idea," muttered Mao, who suddenly raised his voice. "Can't you see how busy we are right now? We don't have time for this. Send your proposal to the internal affairs office, they will handle it from here on."
Deng knew that most proposals that ended up at the internal affairs office would never materialize in the end. "Chairman, I think you forgot that Newton's University will be a Great Wonder when we build it. I urge you to think twice about this."
Mao did think twice. Newton's University would double the scientific research in a single city, and at the time Shanghai was the world leader in academia. But Shanghai was still busy with Smith's Trading Company, and any slack there could mean disaster if the Indians maintained their pace. Beijing was getting close to finishing JS Bach's Cathedral, but compared with Shanghai, it seemed much less attractive a place to build this next wonder.
"No," said the Chairman at last. "We cannot afford to work on this wonder yet. Let us first beat India and Japan to the ones we are working on now, and worry about Newton later."
Deng could not argue with this any further. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a strange stone and fidgeted with it on his way out. Mao secretly hoped this new toy would keep him occupied for the next few years.
Sure enough, in the year 1655 AD, Beijing completed JS Bach's Cathedral right on schedule. Mao felt he could reserve Newton's University for Shanghai after Smith's Trading Company was done, so Beijing's next project was just an ordinary bank.
The construction of JS Bach's Cathedral in Beijing was not news to the Indians, who had long known that China was working on it. But Mahatma Gandhi seemed to have grown too comfortable with his Golden Age, and the sudden loss of a project astonished him. The Indian city of Bangalore, which had started the Magellan's Voyage way back in 1530 AD, had then switched to JS Bach's Cathedral after they lost that wonder to Shanghai in 1565 AD. Ninety years had passed since then, and the production that had been accumulated in that time was too great to waste.
Gandhi called together an emergency council on how to deal with the upcoming production crisis. Bangalore had around 280 shields of production with nothing to build. Delhi was making progress on Smith's Trading Company but had not accumulated anywhere near that amount of materials yet. After a long discussion, it was finally decided. Delhi would abandon the project. Construction of Smith's Trading Company was secretly transferred to Bangalore.
But the Chinese embassy in Delhi managed to learn of this development, and immediately forwarded an investigation of Bangalore to Mao.
Economic advisor Liu was the first to notice the changes in the shield output in the land surrounding the city. "I think I miscalculated," he told Mao.
Mao raised an eyebrow at him, and was about to blame him for all his recent sleeping trouble, but Liu did not let him interrupt.
"Perhaps the war elephant charge at Toyama was not the first of its kind," said Liu. "I can only guess that the Indians may have entered their Golden Age at least twenty years earlier. And thus the Indians have gotten out of their Golden Age ahead of my expectations as well."
"So this is good news after all, then," said Mao.
Liu nodded, smiling. "That's some mad corruption in Bangalore, too. I think Gandhi forgot to build a courthouse there."
The report indicated that Bangalore would need 19 more turns to finish Smith's Trading Company. Mao checked with his governor in Shanghai, who told him that he would be ready in just 14 turns.
Silly Gandhi, thought Mao.
For a moment he had me worried, but obviously he's not that careful after all. He could finally relax for a while. The Japanese still made some pointless attempts to land troops by Nanjing, but they were easily overpowered by the combined assault of Chinese cannons and cavalry.
It was 1675 AD when Deng Xiaoping paid Mao a surprise visit while he was vacationing in Shanghai. The science advisor was now wearing a suit with a bow-tie and a spectacle on his right eye, and he was still playing with that same stone from many years ago when he threw the apple into Mao's office. Mao was curious how such a simple object could have kept Minister Deng's attention for so long.
"Tell me," he said, "what exactly is that stupid lump you've had in your hand all this time?"
"A lodestone," replied Deng, smiling. "I gave one of these to Admiral Zheng He. We're using them on all of our ships now."
Lodestone. Mao had heard of the legendary stone before, the one that was fabled to have destroyed an entire army in a distant country because it clung to their iron armor and swords, leaving them helpless as they got slaughtered by barbarians with only stone weapons. But he still did not understand why a lodestone would be useful in the navy.
Deng, hearing no response from the Chairman, continued. "These lodestones can be used as devices called magnets," he explained. "Magnets, when used properly, have a tendency to point straight toward a northerly direction. It will be immensely helpful to us when we are out in the open ocean and want to know which way to go."
"Ahh," said Mao. He wasn't really paying attention, as he saw some workers exiting the Great Lighthouse. The old wonder that had once guided China's ships was no longer any use, even though a lighthouse-keeper still kept the beacon flashing from the top of the tower. With a deep sigh, Mao gazed out toward the deep blue sea, over the many rooftops of Shanghai.
The rooftops. He noticed something strange about them.
Mao turned to ask Deng what was going on, but his science advisor had long since disappeared.
I wonder what he could be up to now, he thought.
Far across the ocean, Shogun Tokugawa also heard about the incredible new changes in China. His seamen reported seeing smoke billowing out of Chinese cities and heard loud noises from buildings along the shore, but they seemed nothing like the sights and sounds of civil disorder. Upon the urging of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he decided he would have to see for himself.
His first stop was the naval base in Chittagong, the closest Japanese city to mainland China. It turned out there was not much of a navy to greet him, as much of it had been damaged or destroyed in battles with the Chinese. But just as he debarked from his caravel, he heard a familiar voice call to him from the mountains just outside the town, followed by a hideous laugh.
Tokugawa raised his head and instantly froze. There, facing him, were six regiments of Chinese cavalry, backed up by two columns of musketmen in red uniforms.
"Greetings, Shogun," said Mao coldly. "Have you finally come to surrender?"
Furious but totally helpless, Tokugawa had to accept Mao's terms. Japan would pay a lump sum of 30 gold, plus tribute of 2 gold per turn, as reparations for war.
And so in 1695 AD, with the Treaty of Chittagong, the world was brought back to peace.
Chinese casualties: 1 rider, plus 3 caravels damaged by Japanese bombardment
Japanese casualties: 1 archer, 8 swordsmen, 4 longbowmen, 4 pikemen, 1 musketman, 4 samurai, 1 caravel, and unknown others lost in combat with the Indians
Indian casualties: unknown
China was able to defeat Japan with minimal losses because most of the Japanese troops were attacked immediately after they landed, giving them hardly any opportunity for offensive action.
It was during this time of peace, in the year 1725 AD, that Shanghai finally completed Smith's Trading Company, and once again the Chinese harbors were bustling with trade.
"Now we can finally build Newton's University," Mao told Deng at the opening ceremony. "But let's check on what Gandhi has done in the meantime."
The embassy in Delhi produced another investigation, which showed that somehow the Indians had salvaged some scraps together from their failed project, just enough to outfit a new unit of cavalry.
What a folly this wonder-building must have been for Gandhi, thought Mao.
I hope that he learns his lesson and decides not to challenge us in the future.
... to be continued
