Under the bright night sky, the seven scholars were sitting around a fire while their ‘Senior Brother’ Niu Tan was making a barbecue and teaching them how to make it right.
Jia Yang took a bite of the most delicious meat he had ever had and looked in admiration at this senior brother who seemed to know everything. But he still had to ask the question that was burning in his heart.
“Senior brother, why did we come all the way here? You said we were going to do some experiments. When will we start that?”
They had traveled south for two whole weeks with very little rest in between. He was curious about what they will do here.
Seeing the enthusiastic young scholar, Niu Tan smiled and asked, “Tell me, what shape is this world that we live in?”
Wan Niu was silently appreciating the meat whose taste was surprisingly unique even for himself. But his ears perked up when he heard the question. The others were the same, from their understanding Niu Tan often asked questions in that tone when he was about to teach something new.
“The world should be a large piece of land surrounded by an endless sea on all sides. I suspect there are other continents like ours out there somewhere.” Wan Niu gave his opinion.
Chang Bo added, “I agree I think we are on a plane of endless water with multiple continents floating in it.”
Surprisingly, the usually cold and aloof Zhou Yi decided to contribute, “I think we live in a round world, like a ball.”
Niu Tan then turned to Zhou Yi and asked, “What made you think that?”
Zhou Yi then coolly looked up at the night sky and spoke, “I like to gaze at the night sky when I am alone and I remember the stars quite well. The stars that I have seen up north in my hometown, in Yan city, and here in the south are all slightly different.
Combined with your sudden question, I figured it would make sense if the world is round.”
Niu Tan was impressed, this guy had figured out that he lived on a planet accidentally while trying to be an emo cool guy.
“Good reasoning. Zhou Yi will be the first one to get the complete sets of the books I have prepared when we get back.” A little bit of healthy competition and positive reinforcements have to be nurtured.
“Is the world really round?” Liu Yong, the scholar with the body of a bodybuilder asked in astonishment. The others were equally surprised.
Niu Tan nodded, “Other than what Zhou Yi has said, look at the moon right now. Do you see a curved shadow on there? That is cast by the earth… “
This was a problem Niu Tan had been considering for a while after he decided to start teaching the people of this world. Is this world even similar to his past planet? What if it is one of those wacky worlds in novels where the entire world is a flat plane with some land surrounded by water?
So, he had already been doing basic experiments to see if the world was a planet, its circumference, gravity, the sun-moon cycle, and others.
He had already confirmed that it was a planet similar to his previous life earth but with a circumference that was almost 2 times larger. The gravity was slightly higher at 11 m/s² but it wasn’t too different.
He was glad that he decided to start over from the beginning and test and build upon the knowledge that is experimented on in this world. If he had gone blindly, the small changes would add up and everything he had been building toward would crumble.
“I have already given you enough information, now I need you to find the circumference of this world that we live in. You have the time starting from now until the day we reach Yan city. Whoever gets it first will be rewarded.” Niu Tan ended his lecture.
He had been teaching them for almost a month now. It was time for them to begin experimenting with small things like these.
As for the 2 weeks’ worth of journey here? He just wanted to travel and try new food while he modified and prepared the books for the scholars. He used the existing books in his library as a base and compiled his own set that was appropriate for this world.
He couldn’t just give them books that had data and hypotheses that weren’t verified for this world. So, his books had a lot less information and more hypothesis and questions that the scholars had to prove and think about themselves.
They should be able to start teaching a new batch after two years, Niu Tan thought. After that, he would start a school with these seven as the teachers while continuing to teach them. After the 2nd year, he will start to make them take a specialization subject each.
Just thinking about having to make up for almost a thousand years of worth of accumulated knowledge advancement in this world made his head hurt. He wanted to even complete it within 100-150 years so that he could complete his past life’s work in time before dying.
“Fuck!” Niu Tan cursed, startling the scholars who were at the side discussing how to measure the planet’s circumference.
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In a dark space, chaotic energies were swirling about everywhere. In the midst of the chaotic energies, there were countless stars of different sizes shining bright and pulsating slowly while drawing in the grey chaotic energy into them.
At this moment, there was a disturbance in this space. A large amount of the energy started to tumble and swirl around a small empty point. The commotion kept getting bigger as more energy was swirling in that place.
A dozen or so silhouettes each covered in different kinds of lights appeared out of nowhere and silently observed the phenomena in front of them. The energies kept getting faster and faster until they collided with a loud bang.
All the stars and energy in the area were pushed much further and at the center of the explosion, a very tiny speck of starlight emerged. The starlight just stayed there in the emptiness alone and shining as brightly as it could.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
All the silhouettes started to disappear after looking at the tiny starlight. But one blood-red silhouette remained until the end. He looked on for a long time before leaving with a chuckle.
“Grow well!” a sinister voice lingered in the empty space before being dissolved into the chaotic energy.
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Niu Tan suddenly shivered and sat up straight. He felt an intense fear just now out of nowhere. It was so terrifying that he woke up from his sleep and his heart was pounding. He could also vaguely feel that something was different in his body.
But after checking multiple times, he found nothing. He didn’t like this feeling. Something had changed and he didn’t know what or how. Most importantly he didn’t have any means to check deeper.
After calming his heart down with a glass of water, Niu Tan went back to compiling the books. He needed a distraction to keep his mind occupied. As a first-rate martial artist, he would be fine if he didn’t sleep for a day or two, but he slept, as usual, to keep his mind refreshed. Mental fatigue wasn’t something that you could avoid just by being a martial artist.
The next morning, he got out of the inn they were temporarily staying at and saw that the scholars were already starting their martial arts led by Wan Niu. He joined them and did his own training at the side.
After packing up, they were ready to leave but Jia Yang wanted to stay until the afternoon. While all of the others were scolding him for being too childish, to their surprise, Niu Tan smiled and agreed to Jia Yang’s request.
He even added, “Your approach is good. I’m expecting good results.”
This statement made the others’ eyes flash with understanding. So the little brat wanted the time to do some experiment for the task they were given? Some, like Zhou Yi, had already even deduced some elements of the experiment.
The group then dispersed and quickly made their own preparations. Niu Tan waited for them while working on the book. He would have the printing press ready when he returned to Yan city so he wanted to have as many books and materials as possible.
He wanted to compile at least high school level of books on chemistry, physics, biology, astronomy, engineering, and mathematics. Although it sounded like a lot, because of the fact that most of them would be theory and hypothesis that he would leave the scholars to test and build on, it wouldn’t be too much.
He wanted things to happen fast but he wasn’t compromising on gradual and systematic development that science needed. A stable foundation is a must for any field of study.
In the afternoon, the scholars all came back after having done their things. Some looked happy while others like Pan Fan and Feng Ji seemed lost and dejected. They might not have figured out any methods to measure the circumference of the planet.
The group then headed back to Yan city and their routine was the same throughout the journey, train martial arts in the morning, and lecture from Niu Tan during the evening meal and travel during the day.
They reached Yan city two weeks later and were greeted by a commotion on the streets the moment they entered the city walls. People seemed to be excitedly walking to the river. Niu Tan thought of something while the scholars were curious and asked some passerby about what was going on.
Seeing the scholarly group, the passerby respectfully answered, “The Yan family has just brought out two large boats and people are saying that they will take those large boats to the capital and present them to the king.”
Niu Tan nodded. This was his arrangement. The first two ships were to be sent to the king, it would stroke his ego while the craftsmen and the workers will also be experienced enough to make better ships while teaching new workers.
If things go as planned, with extra labor, the shipyard should produce at least 3 ships next month. The scholars said they wanted to go see these large boats and invited him but Niu Tan declined and went to the Yan estate instead.
Wan Niu and Zhou Yi seemed to be thinking something and their gazes lingered on the back of Niu Tan for a while before they turned to go see the ships.
When they reached the place where the crowd was gathered, they were amazed at the size of the ships. They were at least the size of two normal houses combined. The sails and the long, neatly arranged sets of rowing oars made the boat look even more magnificent like a long draconic creature.
On the large, cloth sails on both ships, there was a symbol of a double-headed lion breathing fire. It was the symbol of the Qian Kingdom’s royal family. Some imperial guards were proudly standing on the ship and observing the commoners. The oars started moving and the ships started to sail upstream with a gentle breeze pushing them along.
As the crowds were cheering at the engineering marvel, the men who made it possible were drinking tea and discussing.
“It was a smart move to send Lin Hong to the capital to present the ships. The Lin family will get their fame and be satisfied. You are learning to delegate unimportant tasks while holding the power.” Niu Tan genuinely praised Yan Mo.
Yan Mo smiled and nodded, “Yes, I still struggle with making the right decisions. We have only ever seen direct power and being at the forefront. This new idea of controlling more power while not even being seen is still difficult to get used to.”
Niu Tan understood what Yan Mo meant. When you’re in a world where everyone likes to be flashy with their powers and dominate everything physically, using soft power methods was something that needed some time to get used to.
“The tree that stands the tallest will also have to face the elements more.” Niu Tan reminded. “What about the printing press and other things?” He asked for the other reports.
Yan Qi stood up this time, “The printing press and literate servants will be sent to your residence in the evening, the servants were already taught to use and fix the machine.
The Li family has already started selling the paper and it is outselling every existing competitor. Spies are already hovering but the Li family should be able to hold them off for a few months. By then the paper with the Li family stamp at the top will have entered every market in the country.”
This was also Niu Tan’s idea. Branding was important and especially so when you know you can’t keep the manufacturing process a secret. So, the consortium members were taught to use their first-mover advantage to the fullest.
When you are already used to a brand, you will definitely buy it more instead of the knockoffs that came later. Unless the knockoffs can be cheaper or better. But the consortium had Yan Mo and Yan Mo had Niu Tan, so any improvement others could make didn’t matter to them.
Yan Mo continued after his nephew gave his part of the report, “The delivery routes and offices have all been prepared with enough space to expand in the future as you suggested. The discussions with the large martial clans and sects are also going smoothly. So, the delivery system and logistics network should be operational in a week.”
Niu Tan was happy that things were coming along fine. “Focus on increasing the trade with the neighboring nations. Use the ships and logistics system to the fullest to increase your trade volume within the whole region.”
He then placed the three huge books that he had brought with him on the table. “These can be considered rewards for you. They are books from a faraway place that our organization originates from. Each has content about how to manage an organization, how to control the market, and how to handle politics. After you copy them return the originals to me, they are very precious.”
Niu Tan had chosen some generic books on business organization, sales, marketing, and business politics to give to the duo. There might be some mentions of companies and products from his past life but he didn’t care too much. He’d be happier if they made more modern products.
Yan Mo and Yan Qing couldn’t contain their excitement. If Niu Tan wasn’t there, they would have jumped to grab the books right away. The thick books should be very valuable if they came from that mysterious Dao Seeker organization.
Niu Tan went back to his residence to complete writing the books and prepare the printing process.
On the other hand, the uncle-nephew duo was going through the books like they had found the greatest treasures in the world. And they had found priceless treasures, just by casually flipping through the books they had gotten ideas that they could never have even imagined before.
Maintaining hierarchy, separating departments, appraisals, advertising, packaging, b2b sales, and all the other concepts in those books were making Yan Mo realize that he didn’t even know one-tenth of what real business should be like before he read the book.
That day, the first real corporation of the martial arts world was conceptualized between an uncle and his nephew while pouring over books that were at least half a century to a millennium ahead of their time.