Start with a photographic memory and build a memory palace

Chapter 315 Laws of Space: The Gravitational Constant
……

Upon returning to Chang'an, Li Shimin had already made his plans.

On his way back, he had already made up his mind that no matter what Wu Wen's true identity was, what secrets he was hiding, or what schemes he had behind the scenes, he was not willing to miss this opportunity.

Therefore, as soon as he entered the palace, he couldn't wait to summon Yan Rang, the chief craftsman.

"Greetings, Your Majesty!" Yan Rang bowed respectfully.

"Rise!" Li Shimin waved his hand in greeting.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Yan Rang stood up and stood with his hands at his sides.

"Lide, how is the construction of my Zhaoling Mausoleum progressing?" Li Shimin asked with concern.

"Your Majesty, construction on the Zhaoling Mausoleum at Jiuzong Mountain began in the tenth year of the Zhenguan era. The main structure has been largely completed, and construction of the burial chamber and other ancillary facilities is currently being expedited," Yan Rang reported in detail.

"Hmm!" Li Shimin nodded slightly, then changed the subject, "Lide, after I pass away, I hope that more people can be buried with me, by my side."

Upon hearing this, Yan Lide was startled, thinking that His Majesty intended to carry out the practice of burying people alive with the dead. He immediately knelt down and remonstrated, "Your Majesty, burying people alive with the dead is too cruel and is not the act of a wise and virtuous ruler. I hope Your Majesty will reconsider!"

"I do not wish for living people to be buried alive with me!" Li Shimin explained, "but rather I hope that all the meritorious officials who have fought alongside me in the north and south and pacified the world can be buried beside me. In this way, even if I go to the underworld after my death, they will be with me."

After hearing the explanation, Yan Lide breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that he had misunderstood His Majesty. He quickly said, "Your Majesty, many more burial tombs can be built at the foot of Zhaoling Mountain, so that even in the afterlife, the ministers can accompany Your Majesty."

"No!" Li Shimin shook his head. "It's not enough. Those soldiers who helped me pacify the world were also my comrades-in-arms. I also hope that they can stay with me."

Upon hearing this, Yan Lide was taken aback. He thought to himself that His Majesty actually wanted those soldiers to be buried with him. The number of them was so enormous that even if the entire Jiuzong Mountain were hollowed out, it would be difficult to accommodate them.

Most importantly, this would increase the scale of the Zhaoling project several times over. The construction of Zhaoling was already extremely costly; this would mean an even greater expenditure of money and resources.

Therefore, Yan Lide once again advised: "Your Majesty's benevolence extends to the world and your compassion for the soldiers is truly a blessing for them."

However, those who were buried with the emperor in Zhaoling were meritorious officials and generals because of their achievements, while ordinary soldiers were not qualified to be buried with him.

"If Your Majesty truly wishes to do so, I may excavate a burial pit at the foot of Zhaoling Mountain, and symbolically bury terracotta figurines in place of the soldiers."

Li Shimin seemed to understand Yan Lide's predicament and nodded silently.

He then proposed, "I wish to build a command platform-style altar in Zhaoling. In this way, after I am buried in Zhaoling, I can wave the military flag on the command platform from the netherworld and summon the spirits of all the soldiers buried within the territory of the Tang Dynasty to serve me!"

Upon hearing this suggestion, Yan Lide also expressed his agreement: "Your Majesty is wise, this method is excellent!"

"Then, you should get started!" Li Shimin said, even handing over the blueprints he had already prepared to Yan Lide.

In fact, this was Li Shimin's true purpose.

Although he was the emperor, he still needed a pretext to do things. He wanted to use the construction of the Zhaoling Mausoleum as a pretext to build the altar, so that the censors and officials in the court would not keep bothering him.

"I hereby give you a year to complete the project," Li Shimin said solemnly.

Upon receiving the blueprints and hearing the time limit, Yan Lide was about to say something, but after seeing the construction requirements on the blueprints, he immediately exclaimed in surprise:
"Your Majesty, is it really necessary to build this military platform using stones from the Five Sacred Mountains? Wouldn't the manpower and resources required be far too enormous?"

On this blueprint, it is marked that the stones needed to build the altar should be selected from five colors of mountains: green, white, red, black, and yellow, from Mount Tai in the east, Mount Hua in the west, Mount Heng in the south, Mount Heng in the north, and Mount Song in the center, to build a five-colored altar.

Li Shimin solemnly explained: "The Eastern Peak belongs to wood, the Western Peak to metal, the Southern Peak to fire, the Northern Peak to water, and the Central Peak to earth. Without a five-colored altar, one cannot represent my Great Tang Dynasty and summon the armies of the world."

Then he snapped, "You don't need to say anything more, just get on with it!"

Helpless, Yan Lide accepted the order and withdrew.

His Majesty has given him a one-year deadline, so he must make the most of every minute. Once the project is launched, he must divide his forces into multiple groups to have any chance of completing it within the time limit.

—

The next day, Umrah will be held.

Wei Zheng was the first to submit a memorial to Li Shimin, saying, "Your Majesty, I have heard that yesterday Your Majesty dispatched Yan Lide to build a five-colored altar at Zhaoling. I feel that this is inappropriate!"

“Building the five-colored altar will consume a great deal of corvée labor and grain. Now that the world has been at peace for a short time, it is the time to reduce corvée labor, lighten taxes, and allow the people to rest. There is really no need to undertake this project. I hope Your Majesty will reconsider.”

Li Shimin looked at Wei Zheng, who was offering advice below, with a displeased expression.

"This matter is settled and there is no need for further discussion," Li Shimin said coldly.

"Your Majesty!" Just as Wei Zheng was about to insist on speaking again, Li Shimin glared at him.

But Wei Zheng still said, "Your Majesty, in recent years you have already engaged in large-scale construction projects, with the Cuiwei Palace and Yuhua Palace both costing enormous sums. If you continue to impose such heavy corvée labor, you will end up like Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty..."

"Wei Zheng!"

Upon hearing Wei Zheng compare him to Emperor Yang of Sui, Li Shimin immediately rebuked him angrily:
"I have been too lenient with you."

"You have repeatedly offered dissenting advice before, yet I have not punished you, and even the matter of the Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai was cancelled. Do not take my tolerance for granted and use it as a bargaining chip to test my patience."

Seeing Li Shimin so angry, Wei Zheng wasn't so reckless as to rush forward and risk his life in the face of his rage, so he silently retreated.

"If there is nothing else, everyone else may leave. Fang Xiang and Duke of Lu, please stay!"

Li Shimin flicked his sleeves, stood up, and left.

……

A place for sacrifices.

After Li Shimin left, Wu Wen also began to make his own plans and arrangements.

He ordered Lü Cai and Ma Daxiong of Lingnan to build altars in Cangwu, Panyu, and Jiaozhi respectively, awaiting his activation.

Just as everything was proceeding smoothly, Hua Nu brought Cai Tong to Wu Wen's side: "Young Master!"

"What is it?" Wu Wen asked.

"Take a look, it seems there's something unusual about Cai Tong," Hua Nu said.

Upon hearing this, Wu Wen examined the colorful pupils that were showing their entire back.

On her snow-white skin, one could see that some crystallized lines had appeared.

"Entropy reduction compensation!"

Wu Wen immediately recognized that the abnormality in Cai Tong's body was due to her own tendency to crystallize.

Crystallization is a spontaneous "compensation mechanism" that arises to resist excessive entropy reduction.

This is a situation that only occurs when Wu Wen reaches the fourth stage in his 'genetic system'.

How did this happen to someone with colored contact lenses?
Wu Wen immediately placed his hand on her back, examining her while seriously inquiring:
"Tell me, what have you been doing lately? What have you encountered? Or has anything strange happened?"

"No, I was just like always..." Cai Tong explained simply, she had been staying at the sacrificial site and nothing else had happened.

The only change is that she has made a breakthrough in her practice of "All Thoughts Return to the Flow".

Listening to her story and combining it with his own investigation, Wu Wen immediately understood the reason for the crystallization on Cai Tong's body.

It's because her cultivation of "All Thoughts Return to the Flow" has reached a certain level.

When she enters the collapsed state, she will forcibly lock the quantum probability cloud, similar to compressing "100 possible possibilities" into "1 that is bound to happen".

This absolute certainty will trigger an entropy reduction effect in local spacetime, just like water freezing, it will gradually solidify into a crystalline structure.

Just as Wu Wen was deeply analyzing the situation of Cai Tong, he suddenly looked shocked.

He discovered something incredible.

The equivalent value of the gravitational constant within Cai Tong's body actually changed.

The gravitational constant, in 'general relativity', characterizes the degree of curvature of spacetime.

Because of the crystallization phenomenon of 'entropy reduction compensation' in her body, the density of energy matter changed, thus altering the equivalent value of her local gravitational constant.

Although this is only a very slight manifestation.

But this also means that the power of colored contact lenses has already touched the realm of 'gravity'!
……

(End of this chapter)