Xiao Yuan and Xia Lan-shi looked at him at the same time. The air in the room seemed to solidify, and both their eyes held an indescribable shock.
“What does Doctor Su mean by that?” Xia Lan-shi asked in some confusion.
His usually gentle and refined face now showed a trace of astonishment.
They were behind by more than an entire month. How could they possibly “catch up” to that gap in time out of nowhere?
Su Mu-chen did not answer immediately. Instead, he looked solemnly at Xia Lan-shi and asked in a deep voice, “I need to confirm one thing first. In Da Sheng, if something major happens in the capital, or if you discover Sheng Cheng-xiu’s whereabouts and the information has to be sent back to Linbei City, how long would it take at the fastest? Exactly how does your current intelligence network and method of transmission operate?”
Xia Lan-shi exchanged a glance with Xiao Yuan.
Xiao Yuan’s pitch-black, eagle-like eyes narrowed slightly. He then gave Xia Lan-shi a slight nod, indicating that he did not need to conceal anything.
Only then did Xia Lan-shi turn around and pull out a map of Da Sheng from beneath the layers of documents. It was marked with countless relay stations, hidden sentry posts, and dangerous mountain passes. He slowly spread it across the center of the long table.
“The capital is separated from Linbei City by mountains and passes, with countless checkpoints along the way. The distance is approximately five thousand two hundred li.”
Xia Lan-shi pointed to the long, winding route on the map, his expression solemn.
“At present, our intelligence sources are mainly divided into three channels.”
“First is His Highness’s ‘Imperial Guard Camp,’ which has infiltrated the various government offices in the capital and the Northern Border army and specializes in gathering highly confidential intelligence.”
“Second is the ‘Listening Snow Pavilion.’ Its main operations cover the various commanderies of the Northern Border, while it also has branch offices in the capital. It is skilled at gathering information about the martial world and rumors circulating among the common people.”
“Third is the official military reports and local government documents.”
“As for the methods of transmission…” Xia Lan-shi gave a self-mocking smile.
“There are only a few. The fastest is carrier pigeons, but during the Northern Border’s winter, there are fierce winds and heavy snow, and countless eagles and hawks in the sky. Carrier pigeons are easily intercepted, frozen to death, or lost along the way. Often, fewer than three out of ten survive. Next is the government relay station’s ‘eight-hundred-li urgent dispatch.’ Horses are changed continuously, day and night, with the riders galloping without rest. But even so, from the capital to the Northern Border, it takes at least seven days and seven nights at the fastest. It also consumes an enormous amount of stamina and fine horses. After one trip, the courier and horse are often either dead or crippled.”
“After that comes human transmission through agents mixed among the merchant caravans traveling north and south. That takes half a month, or even a full month. As for beacon fires… those can only be used to warn of an enemy attack. They cannot transmit complicated, specific intelligence.”
After hearing Xia Lan-shi’s explanation, Su Mu-chen’s brows furrowed deeply.
Seven days.
In ancient times, that was already an extreme speed. But in the eyes of a modern person accustomed to instant communication, seven days of delay was practically fatal.
If Sheng Cheng-xiu made a move in the capital right now, and Linbei City did not receive the news until seven days later, everything would already be too late.
“This is too slow,” Su Mu-chen murmured.
He turned around, pulled his notebook and a gel pen from the backpack he carried with him, and quickly drew several parallel lines on the white paper with a series of swish, swish, swish sounds. Then he raised his head and looked at the two men.
“We have to establish a ‘high-speed intelligence transmission network’ that surpasses this era.”
A faint light appeared in Xiao Yuan’s eagle-like dark eyes, and he leaned forward.
“I would like to hear the details.”
Su Mu-chen tapped the tip of his black gel pen against the paper, pointing at the simple diagram he had drawn.
“In Da Sheng, although there are no signal towers, fiber-optic cables, or satellites, we have the most primitive and also most powerful medium of transmission—the light. Light travels through the air instantaneously. As long as the light can be seen by the naked eye, the information can be received within one second.”
“My idea is to establish a ‘Northern Border Intelligence Optical Network,’ abbreviated as the Optical Network. This system requires three things working together: military-grade high-magnification binoculars, highly reflective solar signal mirrors, and a specific signaling system.”
As he spoke, he quickly wrote out a list on the white paper, his handwriting neat and brisk.
“First, the spacing of the observation stations. Under good visibility, military binoculars can have a visual range of fifteen to twenty kilometers… which is approximately twenty-five to forty li. We can establish a secret observation post every twenty li or so at elevated locations along the route from the capital to Linbei City, such as mountain peaks with elevated terrain, existing beacon towers, or high towers.”
Xiao Yuan looked at the changes in terrain on the map and calmly interjected, “The Northern Border has many high mountains and steep ridges. What happens if a mountain blocks the line of sight?”
Su Mu-chen immediately drew a zigzag line on the paper.
“That is exactly where the advantage of light comes in. If a mountain blocks the line of sight between two points, we establish a ‘relay post’ at the mountaintop, using it like a refraction point to turn the signal and transmit it onward.”
“Second, the transmission tools.”
Su Mu-chen pointed to the sun symbol on the diagram.
“During the day, we use reflected sunlight. Da Sheng’s bronze mirrors are cloudy in quality and reflect light weakly, but I can provide highly reflective glass mirrors. Their backs are coated with highly reflective metal, so they produce extremely strong reflections. The observers use sunlight and aim toward the next observation post, producing flashes of reflected light. At night, we use powerful windproof torches or multiple-reflection oil lamps, together with manual shutters, to transmit light signals by means of ‘on’ and ‘off.’”
By this point, Xia Lan-shi roughly understood how Su Mu-chen intended to catch up with the lost time.
“You mean… transmitting it one station after another, like beacon smoke.”
But he immediately raised the most crucial question.
“But beacon smoke only distinguishes between ‘enemy present’ and ‘no enemy.’ How can light express such complicated intelligence?”
“That is the third point: intelligence codes.”
Su Mu-chen wrote a string of codes consisting of dots and dashes on the paper.
“The duration of the light and the number of flashes can be combined into different codes. For example, two short flashes could mean ‘safe,’ while one long flash could mean ‘change detected.’ We can establish a simple numerical coding system corresponding to a codebook that only our people possess. Every word and every commonly used command would have a corresponding number. For example, if an observation post flashes ‘three short, two long,’ that represents the number ‘thirty-two.’ The next observation post receives it and immediately reproduces the same flashes, passing them onward. Finally, when it reaches the Administrative Office, we open page thirty-two of the codebook, and the corresponding term is ‘Sheng Cheng-xiu discovered.’”
Xiao Yuan immediately thought of another problem.
“What if there is heavy fog or a snowstorm?”
Su Mu-chen thought for a moment before answering, “If fog blocks visibility, immediately switch to the fastest relay riders.”
Xia Lan-shi also thought of another problem.
“What if someone deliberately falsifies the optical messages?”
Su Mu-chen thought again and said, “Then use two-way verification, code rotation, and daily passwords to prevent it.”
Following Su Mu-chen’s line of thought, Xia Lan-shi rapidly reasoned through the possibilities in his mind. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that this would constitute another enormous reform.
“In that case, as long as the observers at each post remain completely focused, the moment they see the flash from the previous station, they immediately reflect the same code toward the next station. Across a distance of five thousand li, as long as several hundred observation posts work together…”
Su Mu-chen nodded heavily, a spark from the collision between modern technology and ancient wisdom flashing in his eyes.
“If the weather remains clear along the entire route and every post has someone on duty, the news of something happening in the capital could reach the Northern Border within one to two shichen at the fastest. Even if there is an interruption along the way, we can use other methods to relay the information.”
—One to two shichen.
From seven days and seven nights, reduced to one or two shichen.
For a moment, there was complete silence in the room.
Xiao Yuan and Xia Lan-shi were both deep in thought about the feasibility of this proposal and the terrifying power it represented.
If this could be accomplished, it would not merely mean catching up with the one-month time gap with Sheng Cheng-xiu.
This would be a dimensional blow—a complete crushing of the cold-weapons era by information warfare.
Xia Lan-shi looked at the design, a difficult-to-conceal ripple of emotion in his ruby-red eyes.
“If this network is completed, it would not only be useful for pursuing Sheng Cheng-xiu or searching for the Door Key.” He spoke in a low voice. “From now on, whether it is competing for power with those wealthy and influential clans in the capital, or fighting the barbarians beyond the Northern Border, throughout all of Da Sheng, there will be no one who can stand against Your Highness.”
And that was precisely what he wanted.
In the past, he had always wished he could receive intelligence a little earlier.
Now, there was finally a solution.
However, he immediately thought of the practical problems involved in implementation.
“There would need to be at least two hundred observation posts along the route.”
…Five thousand li.
How long would it take to build all the observation posts?
How many sentries would be needed?
How many mirrors?
How many binoculars?
Who would guard them?
What would happen if the enemy discovered them?
These were all practical problems they needed to overcome.
“There’s no need to complete it all at once. Start with the Northern Border,” Su Mu-chen said.
Xiao Yuan let out a long breath. The tension that had originally been drawn tight across his face finally loosened slightly. He looked at Su Mu-chen with a gentle and focused gaze, so deep it seemed almost capable of melting a person.
He stepped over to Su Mu-chen’s side and placed his palm heavily on Su Mu-chen’s shoulder.
“Have the Listening Snow Pavilion and Imperial Guard Camp immediately select the most loyal and sharp-eyed elite operatives. Chief Administrative Officer, you will personally and secretly oversee the compilation of the codebook. Do not entrust it to anyone else. Mu-an, as for your mirrors and binoculars, I will have them installed across those five thousand li of mountain passes as quickly as possible.”
Su Mu-chen felt the warmth coming from his shoulder and nodded.
“This needs to be done quickly. Start with the Northern Border. In a moment, calculate the number of mirrors and binoculars needed for the first batch and write it down for me. I’ll have Qianqian and Ningning prepare them as quickly as possible.”
Next, without stopping his pen, he quickly wrote two neat lines in his notebook.
“Besides this communications hardware, we also need to change some of our everyday supplies and intelligence habits.”
Xiao Yuan and Xia Lan-shi leaned forward at the same time and looked at the two lines he had written.
Reconnaissance Tools.
Intelligence Management.
“I just looked through the contents of your secret reports. From the perspective of management and efficiency, there are simply too many problems.”
Su Mu-chen pointed at the secret report returned by the Imperial Guard on Xia Lan-shi’s desk and asked bluntly, “The writing implements you normally use for secret reports are nothing more than charcoal sticks, or self-made hard pens and brushes, while carrying a small ink bottle with you, right?”
Xia Lan-shi nodded.
When he had first seen the “black stick-like pen” Su Mu-chen took out today, he had already been extremely astonished.
Although Xiao Yuan had previously told him that there was a miraculous type of pen in the other world that did not require dipping into ink yet could continue writing without running dry, producing extremely fine handwriting, at that time he had only seen the handwriting on the letters that had been sent over.
Seeing Su Mu-chen write with it in person today was even more shocking.
Su Mu-chen took a pen case from his backpack and pulled out several pens.
“If you want to do good work, you must first sharpen your tools.”
He picked up one of the pens.
“This is an oil-based pen. It can write on many different materials.”
He casually wrote a character on the white paper as a demonstration.
Then he took a teacup, dipped his finger into some water, and rubbed it across the character.
The writing did not smear and remained clear.
“The writing produced by this pen is fine. That means a sheet of paper of the same size can record several times more information, making it extremely convenient to conceal inside a message tube or the edge of clothing. More importantly, it is waterproof, so it can still be used in the rain. Its writing speed is almost ten times faster than a brush.”
As he spoke, he handed the pen to Xia Lan-shi to try.
It was Xia Lan-shi’s first time touching such a delicate object made of metal and resin, and his heart was filled with novelty and amazement.
He imitated the way Su Mu-chen had held the pen just now, his fingers somewhat stiff as he gripped the barrel. He wrote the character “Lan” on the paper, then another character, “Huai.”
Both characters had complicated strokes, but with this pen, they came out cleanly and neatly. It was indeed extremely fast. He could even write characters as tiny as grains of rice while keeping them perfectly legible.
Su Mu-chen pointed at the other pens.
“The pens also come in different colors, which can be used for marking or other purposes.”
He gave a brief introduction to the uses of ballpoint pens, signing pens, gel pens, highlighters, and mechanical pencils.
Xia Lan-shi found them extremely interesting.
Although they were all pens, their functions were entirely different.
Next, Su Mu-chen wrote several more lines on the paper.
“Also, intelligence needs a unified format, as well as an established classification system.”
“If intelligence of every size and every degree of urgency is mixed together and presented all at once, it will greatly waste your decision-making time.”
Su Mu-chen looked at the two men and applied the modern emergency-room triage concept.
“We need to establish an intelligence urgency classification system. For example, the most urgent can be designated as ‘Red Intelligence.’ Once an observation post receives it, it does not organize or process it at all. It immediately cuts to the front of the line and uses the Optical Network to transmit it at the fastest speed, where it is dealt with immediately. Next is ‘Orange Intelligence,’ which is important but not urgent and is compiled once a day. Then comes ‘Yellow Intelligence,’ reported once every three days. Ordinary trivial information is ‘Green Intelligence,’ compiled once a week.”
“Not all intelligence can line up on the relay roads. Some intelligence must have absolute ‘priority access.’”
Next, he tapped the secret report with his pen.
“And there is also the way this intelligence report is written. It is long-winded and overly literary. The writer has to spend time choosing elegant wording, while the reader has to extract the key points from it. It wastes too much time. So it has to change. We need to establish a standardized reporting format.”
He drew a table on the paper and gradually wrote down several core elements:
[Time]: Year, month, day, and exact time.
[Location]: Precise to the city, village, street, or mountain.
[People]: Who was the primary subject, and who accompanied them.
[Incident]: What happened, summarized in one sentence.
[Credibility]: Classified by level. For example: witnessed personally, heard from someone, hearsay.
[Verified]: Yes/No.
“Everything should use a unified format. Intelligence personnel only need to fill in the corresponding sections, which can save a tremendous amount of writing and reading time.”
Su Mu-chen capped the pen and let out a breath.
“Finally, we need to establish a Northern Border-specific ‘Intelligence Analysis Department’ within the Administrative Office, staffed exclusively by trusted people who will compile and cross-check the data being sent in.”
He looked at Xiao Yuan and Xia Lan-shi.
“We cannot give the enemy even one second.”
After Su Mu-chen finished speaking, the room once again fell silent for a moment.
At this point, the way Xiao Yuan and Xia Lan-shi looked at Su Mu-chen could no longer be described simply as “shocked.”
What Su Mu-chen had brought was not merely several powerful weapons from another world, but an entire complete, efficient, and ruthless modern intelligence operation system.
“Doctor Su…” Xia Lan-shi gave a wry smile and bowed slightly toward Su Mu-chen. “I have been educated today. Compared with your system, Da Sheng’s intelligence network is practically like that of children.”
Normally, he could only hear about Su Mu-chen’s intelligence and talent through Xiao Yuan. After spending these two days together, Su Mu-chen’s ability to identify the crux of a problem and immediately produce a solution had even earned Xia Lan-shi’s deep admiration.
He could not help secretly feeling fortunate that on that night, when Xiao Yuan was attacked in the Crown Prince’s assassination attempt, he had accidentally opened the Door and encountered Su Mu-chen.
Su Mu-chen was simply the person Xiao Yuan needed most right now.
Su Mu-chen became somewhat embarrassed upon hearing this and immediately said, “You flatter me.”
The look Xiao Yuan gave Su Mu-chen contained even more pride, along with a trace of affection that was difficult to detect.
He stepped forward, slightly bent down, and his deep voice sounded beside Su Mu-chen’s ear.
“Having you by my side is the blessing of this prince’s lifetime.”
Su Mu-chen’s face became slightly warm from his words. He gave a light cough and pointed at the time displayed on the phone on the table.
“Let’s put this matter aside for now.”
He suddenly put away his serious expression and looked extremely seriously at the two workaholics in front of him.
“It’s time. You should sleep.”
Xia Lan-shi was startled, then smiled somewhat helplessly.
He was indeed already somewhat tired.
He called over the personal guard waiting outside the door and instructed him quietly, “Bring a couch in. Keep your movements light. Do not disturb anyone.”
There had been too much information tonight. There was still information in his mind that needed to be organized, and there were people he needed to guard, so he intended to spend the night here.
Upon hearing this, Su Mu-chen also said, “Bring one for me as well. I’ll sleep here too.”
Although Xiao had temporarily shown no rejection or other abnormal reaction after receiving Su Mu-chen’s blood transfusion, he was still somewhat uneasy. Staying here would allow him to keep watch at all times.
Xiao Yuan looked at Su Mu-chen, his brows lifting slightly as a profound meaning flashed through his eyes.
He turned his head and ordered the somewhat stunned personal guard in a deep voice.
“Go. Bring three.”
Su Mu-chen looked at him in confusion.
Xiao Yuan simply said, “This prince will stay here and watch you two sleep.”
Inside the guest room of the southern courtyard, three reclining couches stood side by side, separated by a short distance.
The lamp on the table went out. In the dim room, the only sounds were the howling of the northern wind outside and the faint crackle of the charcoal fire from time to time.
Behind the screen, a pair of eyes that had been silent for a long time quietly opened for a moment in the darkness.
He made no sound.
He merely looked toward the three reclining couches lined up side by side through the screen.
After a long while, he slowly closed his eyes again.