Whether the Administrator was a god or a Buddha, he showed no human feeling at all, offering not even a word of condolence.
A few breaths later, a question appeared in the group.
[Question: In the feudal era, which of the following must a rebel army do during the early and middle stages of an uprising to succeed? Enter your choices within thirty breaths.] [A: Establish a stable base of operations.] [B: Proclaim a king or emperor to expand its influence!] [C: Actively stockpile grain, fodder, weapons, armor, and other strategic supplies.] [D: Establish regulations, reorganize the army, and enforce strict military discipline.] [E: Promote slogans, implement good policies, and unite the people's hearts!] [F: Strike straight at the capital, kill the emperor, and seize his damned throne!] [G: Act as roving bandits, fight across a thousand miles, drag the populace along, and wreak havoc on the reigning dynasty's local rule.]
When the full question appeared in the group, Liu Bang, Zhang Jiao, and Zhu Yuanzhang all frowned slightly.
Another multiple-answer question?
At Changle Palace, Liu Bang habitually propped his head on his left hand, lounging at an angle beside the bank as he grumbled inwardly.
I hate these multiple-answer questions most of all. I don't even know how many correct choices there are!
Then he began analyzing the question and its choices.
Establish a stable base of operations? That must be a definite choice. Otherwise, where would the Money and Grain and men come from to fight the reigning dynasty's armies?
Proclaim a king or emperor? That doesn't seem necessary during the early and middle stages. When I first rose in rebellion, didn't I only call myself the Duke of Pei? I still went on to establish Great Han.
Actively stockpile grain, fodder, weapons, armor, and other supplies-that certainly has to be done...
In a mountain stronghold somewhere in the Taihang Mountains.
Zhang Jiao was also analyzing each choice.
Establish regulations, reorganize the army, and enforce strict military discipline. That certainly has to be done-at the start of my Yellow Turban Rebellion, the Yellow Turban Army in Ji Province was directly commanded by me and my second and third brothers, yet even our discipline was barely passable. The other Yellow Turban forces probably had even worse discipline.
As he analyzed the question, Zhang Jiao drew on his experience of launching the Yellow Turban Rebellion, taking stock of his successes and failures.
Promote slogans, implement good policies, and unite the people's hearts... My Yellow Turban Army rose too hastily, and the imperial troops came even faster. In all that rush, there was simply no time to implement good policies.
Still, that was also my fault for not thinking through beforehand exactly what policies to enact after taking territory.
At that thought, Zhang Jiao's brow furrowed even deeper. He felt more and more keenly how many shortcomings there had been in the Yellow Turban Rebellion he had launched...
In the Western Side Hall of the Hall of Heavenly Favor, within Great Ming's imperial city.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the final two choices and shook his head in disapproval.
Strike straight at the capital? What would a rebel army have to strike at the capital with in its early and middle stages? Unless a general commanding an army rebelled-from the group's many questions about rebel armies, though, it seems rebellions by serving ministers or generals don't meet its definition of a rebel army.
Thinking of Liu Bang's, Zhang Jiao's, and his own status before launching or joining an uprising, Zhu Yuanzhang felt fairly certain of that conclusion.
The last choice, acting as roving bandits... There is some sense to it, but it isn't necessary. If you really acted as roving bandits, you'd ruin your reputation. It would probably be hard to attract many scholars or men of outstanding talent and courage.
By this point in his analysis, Zhu Yuanzhang had essentially settled on his choices.
Seeing that little sand remained in the group's hourglass, he silently entered his answer.
A few breaths later.
[Administrator: All three group members have entered their answers. Your choices and the correct answer will now be revealed.] [Liu Bang: A, C, D, E.] [Zhang Jiao: A, C, D, E.] [Zhu Yuanzhang: A, C, D, E.] [Correct answer: A, C, D, E!] [Liu Bang: Haha! I knew it was those four!] [Zhang Jiao: I did hesitate over A and G, but I chose correctly in the end.]
Seeing their messages in the group, Zhu Yuanzhang smiled slightly and joined the discussion.
[Zhu Yuanzhang: Following B in the early and middle stages would invite disaster. As for F, it would be difficult to accomplish. Most importantly, B, F, and G are all optional during the early and middle stages.] [Liu Bang: Old Zhu, you certainly live up to being the most successful rebel chief a thousand years later. Plenty of experience there.] [Zhu Yuanzhang: What rebel chief? I'm a proper leader of a righteous rebel army!] [Liu Bang: Hahaha, I'm teasing you, Old Zhu.]
Zhu Yuanzhang grumbled inwardly, but did not trade further barbs with Liu Bang, because the second question had appeared in the group.
[Administrator: Congratulations to all three group members for answering correctly. Since all three answered correctly, this round will include a second question. The reward and punishment rules remain unchanged.] [Please make your choice within ten breaths.]
Already familiar with the rules, all three quickly made their choices this time.
[Administrator: All three have chosen to answer the second question. Here it is.] [Question: Which of the following crops has the highest yield after domestication? Enter your answer within thirty breaths.] [A: Rice.] [B: Foxtail millet.] [C: Wheat.] [D: Broomcorn millet.] [E: Potatoes.] [F: Corn.] [G: Sorghum.] [H: Sweet potatoes.]
In the front hall of Changle Palace.
Liu Bang stared blankly at the eight choices on the translucent screen before him, then his expression abruptly sprang to life.
"One out of eight! But there are three crops among them I've never even heard of! That dog has made the question unfair again!"
Liu Bang was so angry that he stood and paced back and forth through the hall-he believed Zhu Yuanzhang surely knew all eight crops.
Little did he know that Zhu Yuanzhang was also pacing through his hall, his brow furrowed into three deep lines like the character for "river."
Potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes? How come I've never heard of any of these three crops?
Could they be rare coarse grains grown in remote places?
Were these three choices added to muddy the waters, or does one of them really yield more than rice?
Impossible... If any crop yielded more than rice, there's no way I wouldn't know about it.
But what if the answer really is among those three?
No, I can't let these extra choices lead me astray...
In a mountain stronghold somewhere in the Taihang Mountains.
Zhang Jiao was considering similar questions.
Leaving aside the three crops I don't recognize, rice would certainly be the answer. But surely the Rebel Army Group had a reason for including those three crops?
Could all three be crops domesticated only in later ages, with one of them yielding more than rice?
If that's true, choosing one of them would give me a one-in-three chance of answering correctly.
At that thought, Zhang Jiao made up his mind.
Seeing that little sand remained, he simply entered his answer.
Nearly ten breaths later.
[Administrator: All three group members have entered their answers. Your choices and the correct answer will now be revealed.] [Liu Bang: F (corn).] [Zhang Jiao: H (sweet potatoes).] [Zhu Yuanzhang: A (rice).]
Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang had chosen A, Liu Bang's and Zhang Jiao's hearts sank. Instinctively, they assumed they had answered incorrectly.
After all, Zhu Yuanzhang lived a thousand years after them. Perhaps China had introduced potatoes, corn, and sweet potatoes from elsewhere during that interval, but their yields were simply lower than rice's.
Just as they were thinking this, the correct answer finally appeared.
[Correct answer: H!]
All three were stunned when they saw the correct answer.
Then Liu Bang posted in the group.
[Liu Bang: These sweet potatoes actually yield more than rice? And Old Zhu, even you didn't know?]
Zhu Yuanzhang came back to his senses, his face still full of disbelief.
Indeed, he had not known there was a crop called sweet potatoes that yielded more than rice. What was going on?
Could it be that, in the original course of history, China had introduced this crop called sweet potatoes from somewhere in some year after the tenth year of Hongwu?
Zhu Yuanzhang immediately ruled out the possibility that sweet potatoes were some coarse-grain crop grown in a remote corner of Great Ming at present.
Having been born a farmer, he knew perfectly well that if China truly possessed such a high-yield crop, news of it would have spread long ago, however remote the place where it grew. It could not possibly have remained hidden from the Han era all the way to the present day in Great Ming.
At that thought, he also posted in the group.
[Zhu Yuanzhang: Potatoes, corn, and sweet potatoes are all crops unheard of even in my time. Most likely, they were introduced later from the Western Regions or overseas.]
The Western Regions?
Liu Bang committed this new place-name to memory, but did not ask about it immediately.
Meanwhile, Zhang Jiao felt that Zhu Yuanzhang's guess was probably right. After all, many new crops had indeed entered Great Han after Zhang Qian opened a route to the Western Regions States during Former Han. It was not impossible that a crop yielding more than rice had later arrived from some country farther to the west.
Even after reading Zhu Yuanzhang's guess, Liu Bang still felt puzzled.
[Liu Bang: In my time, the five grains, including wheat and foxtail millet, have already been around so long that no one even knows when they first appeared. More than a thousand years later, in your Great Ming, no new grain crops have appeared either. How could three suddenly appear afterward?]
Reading Liu Bang's message, Zhu Yuanzhang realized it too.
The eight choices in the question might not all be staple grains, but they were still important supplementary crops that could replace staples and fill people's bellies. Thus, even if potatoes, corn, and sweet potatoes were not staples like rice, wheat, and foxtail millet, they were probably important supplementary crops like sorghum.
So many years had passed since Former Han opened the route to the Western Regions, and the Tang and Song had maintained sea routes to the Western Ocean for so many years, yet no new grain crops had arrived. How had three new crops been introduced afterward?
Not to mention that one of them, sweet potatoes, actually yielded more than rice!
As Zhu Yuanzhang pondered deeply, new text appeared in the group.
[Administrator: Three members answered this question. Liu Bang and Zhu Yuanzhang answered incorrectly and will each receive one punishment. Congratulations to Zhang Jiao for answering correctly. He will receive a fairly good reward!] [Since only Zhang Jiao answered correctly, the "Rebel Army Q&A" round has ended. Your punishments and rewards will now be settled. Please wait...]