The Tang's Master of Verbal Sparring: My Science Can Blast Through Chang'an
Su Mo, an overachiever who lives in the lab, is struck by lightning while staying up late to work on an experiment and lands in a Tang Dynasty execution ground. With his lab coat scorched black and half a piece of copper wire clutched in his hand, he is immediately branded a demonic sorcerer in league with monsters!
Luckily, he can talk circles around anyone, and his scientific knowledge bridges ancient and modern times.
The county magistrate wants his head? “Let's make a bet first! I'll use a bowl of water, a spoonful of oil, and a handful of salt to make the oil and water separate on their own. Can your fake priest do that?” He demonstrates density separation on the spot, leaving every official and guard dumbfounded.
An old Daoist priest is putting on a show with his magic? “Can your talismans purify dirty water? Make salt dissolve in water by itself? Stop swindling people for food and drink. Why not learn the study of natural principles from me?” Thirty strokes of the board teach him a lesson.
Cheng Yaojin comes looking for trouble with his axe? “Easy, Duke! I'll fit your axe with a spring mechanism. It'll double its force and make it lighter. Then I'll make you a little saltwater gadget that conducts electricity, enough to make the Turks jump!” His retort so impresses the Demon King of the World that Cheng carries him straight back to Chang'an.
A hidebound minister accuses him of using strange arts to mislead the masses? “I improve farm tools to increase harvests and build repeating crossbows so the Tang army sheds less blood. What can you do besides quote the classics? If you disagree, come debate me. Lose, and you'll serve me tea!”
Verbal firepower opens the way, science backs him up! Armed with a poisonous tongue and a head full of modern knowledge, Su Mo wreaks havoc across the Tang: he improves weapons and leaves Li Shimin stunned, opens a soda shop that has the princes and princesses drooling, takes on the Confucian scholars and topples hidebound ritualism, and even uses scientific principles to forecast the weather and control floods...
From then on, Chang'an has a new “master of verbal sparring”: he leaves the powerful speechless, uses science to blast through old conventions, and transforms the Tang into a “technological powerhouse.”
