At Yashan, a sea of blood claimed the lives of a hundred thousand soldiers and civilians. I was eight years old, being carried on Lu Xiufu’s back as he leapt into the sea! In that desperate moment, I bit my finger, sealed a pact with my blood, and activated the [Civilization Stewardship System]. “Today, I, the emperor, hand the Song Dynasty over to the nation!”
The next second, a Type 055 destroyer tore through the sky, and modern China arrived as promised.
But this wasn’t charity. It was the most solemn of civilization pacts. What I received wasn’t an invincible cheat, but a Stewardship Agreement, four cold measures of civilizational progress, and a crucible for talent called the Institute of Practical Learning.
Wen Tianxiang put down his calligraphy brush and led the charge in devouring the New Compendium of Practical Learning. In the “Museum of Failures,” old craftsmen bowed before an exploded cannon barrel, then returned to the fight.
As steam locomotives roared across the north and south, as the Hall of State Affairs independently ruled on the Yellow River floods for the first time, as Kublai Khan looked upon an ironclad designed by the Song people themselves and burned himself alive in despair…
I, Zhao Bing, stood at the ceremony marking the end of stewardship and proclaimed to the Chinese people of both eras:
“The debt of stewardship has been repaid today. From this moment on, Chinese civilization stands on its own!”
(Reader comment: What an epic vision! This isn’t just handing the nation over. It’s getting civilization an ID card!)
