Chapter 800 — Reached
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 4
Night was falling, but before the darkness could fully claim the land, artificial lights had already kindled across the city, driving back the dusk that had only just arrived.
Streetlamps lining the roads and the bright windows of every household flickered throughout this forest of steel and concrete, like a host of stars fallen to earth, blazing and resplendent.
The city of Xuanque might never know night at all.
On a terrace somewhere in Qiu Palace, Count Dure gazed out at the distant reaches of this unfamiliar city and could not help murmuring, "Even the most remote districts have the same number of streetlamps... that must cost a fortune."
Matilda's voice came from not far off: "But it improves public order and makes the city safer. In the long run, crime rates will fall, and so will the cost of upholding the law."
"...The noble council of Aldern has never been good at thinking in the 'long run.' That is one thing that genuinely needs to change," Count Dure said, turning to bow slightly to Matilda. "Are you here to admire the view as well?"
"Just taking a walk," Matilda said lightly. "Count Dure, after all you have seen and heard today, what are your impressions?"
"...It truly is a place unlike Typhon. Frankly, in some respects its disorder is frightening, yet in others it displays a... surprising order," Count Dure said, shaking his head. "I still prefer Aldern—its solemnity and dignity."
"Clearly, our understanding of 'order' differs from that of the great emperor Gaoyang," Matilda remarked offhandedly, then pressed on. "Count Dure, what do you make of that set of Fundamentals of All Things? You have read its manuscript and portions of its contents as well."
"Honestly, my first reaction was a certain disappointment," Count Dure said after a moment's thought, speaking plainly. "When I learned what a price the Cecilians paid to compile it, and how much the great emperor Gaoyang Cecil staked upon it, I expected some great tome recording arduous magical mysteries, distilling profound philosophical wisdom, shining with the brilliance of sublime prose. Instead its contents proved so shallow... and its wording utterly commonplace. Yet its sheer scale and the vastness of its contents are indeed breathtaking."
Matilda regarded Count Dure for a moment, then said unhurriedly, "But it also records things you do not understand—cold damage and miscellaneous diseases, mechanical craft, and that unfinished volume on agriculture... Just as its name says, it is the Fundamentals of All Things. What it records are the basic commonplaces that keep a society running, not abstruse knowledge for a select few to pore over.
"And more importantly, Emperor Cecil intends to spread such a thing across the entire Empire, to make it the 'knowledge baseline' of his subjects. Count Dure, can you imagine what that means?"
Count Dure's words came accompanied by reflection: "Yes, I can imagine it... So after that first disappointment, I understood your feelings upon seeing those manuscripts, and I understood the demands you made of Emperor Gaoyang..."
Matilda looked into Count Dure's eyes. "Then what is your view, Count Dure? Do you think Typhon needs the Fundamentals of All Things?"
Count Dure blinked and fell into brief thought. After a moment of silence, he spoke in a somewhat complicated tone: "Honestly, in my view, if it is to be spread through the whole of society, then what the Fundamentals of All Things discusses... is rather too much."
...
In a room somewhere in Cecil Palace, Amber stared at Gaoyang with wide, astonished eyes. "And then you decided to give the complete edition of the Fundamentals of All Things to Typhon?"
"That's right," Gaoyang said with perfect composure. "And I plan to send them a hardcover set—signed by my own hand."