Da Ming: The system granted me immortality; I clock in every day.

[Ding! Today's attendance complete. Attribute point gained +1.]

"Add to strength."

His attributes have steadily progressed toward the 1,500 mark.

One afternoon, Zhu Gaochi walked wearily into the library.

He didn't slump in his chair and drink tea as usual.

Instead, he paced restlessly between the bookshelves.

"Yan Nian, the three main halls have been destroyed, Father Emperor is in a terrible mood, and his subordinates are taking the opportunity to cause trouble. Can't this Ming Dynasty have even one day of peace?"

Zhu Gaochi sighed repeatedly.

Gu Yannian put down the book in his hand, got up and poured Zhu Gaochi a cup of calming lotus seed tea.

"Your Highness, natural disasters and man-made calamities are inevitable since ancient times. Although the three main halls have been destroyed, the foundation of the Ming Dynasty remains unshaken. Your Highness only needs to stabilize the Ministry of Revenue's finances and appease the people of Shuntian Prefecture, and the storm in the court will naturally subside."

Gu Yannian calmly offered words of comfort.

Zhu Gaochi picked up his teacup and gave a bitter smile.

"You make it sound so easy. Now it's not just a matter of the three main halls; the Tatars and Oirats in the north are starting to stir again, and Father Emperor intends to personally lead another expedition."

"The national treasury is empty. If this war breaks out, I, the Crown Prince Regent, will probably be forced to sell the Eastern Palace's assets."

Gu Yannian's heart stirred slightly.

In his later years, Zhu Di was keen on northern expeditions.

He personally led five expeditions to the northern deserts, ultimately exhausting the vast national strength of the Ming Dynasty, and he himself died of illness in Yumu River.

At this time, Zhu Di's health was already failing, but he still refused to put down his sword.

This is a tragic yet stubborn display of imperial dignity.

"Your Highness, His Majesty's will is difficult to defy. If His Majesty is determined to launch a northern expedition, Your Highness can only do everything in your power to raise military supplies."

Gu Yannian analyzed rationally.

"However, when I was compiling the military records of the Ministry of War, I discovered that although the firearms of our Great Ming Divine Machine Battalion are extremely powerful, they are prone to becoming damp and misfiring in the desert sands."

"If the Ministry of Works could be ordered to make minor improvements to the fuse and powder chamber of the muskets, it might have an unexpected and remarkable effect in the Battle of the Desert, thereby reducing the casualties of our soldiers and shortening the course of the war."

This was a rare instance of Gu Yannian proactively offering suggestions regarding military affairs.

But he remained vague, only offering a direction.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Gaochi's eyes lit up slightly.

He knew that Gu Yannian never spoke without reason.

"Firearms improvement... Excellent! I will immediately order the Ministry of Works and the Ordnance Bureau to gather elite craftsmen and discuss this matter overnight!"

Zhu Gaochi seemed to have grasped at a straw and hurriedly left the library.

Gu Yannian watched Zhu Gaochi's departing figure and sat back down in the large armchair.

He did not want to change the course of history.

Zhu Di's northern expedition was an inevitable historical process.

However, he doesn't mind subtly introducing some technical improvements within his capabilities.

To give those low-ranking soldiers who shed their blood in the desert a more precious chance to survive.

The sky outside the window is high and clear, and a flock of wild geese are flying south in a neat "V" formation.

The Yongle reign was irreversibly drawing to a close.

Meanwhile, in a corner of this vast empire, Gu Yannian quietly continued to work as a librarian.

No matter how drastically the outside world changes.

He only needs to guard his peaceful heart and slowly savor the magnificent waves of history in the endless flow of time.

……

Spring of the seventeenth year of the Yongle reign.

Outside the city walls of Shuntian Prefecture, the ice and snow had long since melted away.

The willows along the moat sprout thousands of tender green tendrils, swaying gently in the wind.

After several years of extensive construction, this magnificent imperial capital has begun to take shape.

The streets were bustling with activity, teeming with merchants, exuding a unique and vibrant energy characteristic of the Ming Empire.

(Note: The destruction of the three main halls by lightning mentioned above occurred in the nineteenth year of the Yongle reign. Although the wheels of history have deviated slightly, the general outline remains stable. At this time, the Forbidden City was on the eve of its magnificent completion.)

Inside the library of the Bureau of Scriptures, there was a comforting scent of sandalwood and camphor wood.

Gu Yannian was dressed in the blue official robes of a fifth-rank official.

The white heron badge on his chest gleamed faintly in the morning light streaming through the window.

He sat upright before a large sandalwood desk by the window on the second floor, holding a yellowed copy of the "Commentary on the Waterways Classic" in his hand, his expression focused and serene.

"Checking in".

He meditated in his heart.

[Ding! Today's attendance complete. Attribute point gained +1.]

"Add to the spirit."

A cool and refreshing feeling spread through my mind.

Gu Yannian's mental attribute steadily surpassed the 1,500-point mark.

At this moment, his five senses were so acute that they reached an inhuman level.

He could even hear the sound of a bookworm slowly gnawing on old paper in a corner of the first floor of the library.

I could clearly perceive the subtle tremors of peach blossoms falling from the branches in the East Palace's rear garden outside the window.

Despite being in his late thirties, his face showed no signs of aging.

He still had that handsome and gentle appearance, like a piece of polished jade.

Hidden within this vast sea of ​​ancient books, untouched by the dust of time.

However, this peaceful and tranquil time did not last long.

Around noon, the tightly closed vermilion doors of the library were anxiously pushed open from the outside.

Accompanied by a series of disordered footsteps and suppressed breathing.

Seven or eight officials dressed in scarlet and blue robes, sweating profusely, rushed into the first-floor hall.

Leading the group were Hu Guang, the Grand Academician of the Hanlin Academy, and the Director of the Imperial Observatory.

The officials following behind them each carried thick files.

Some even had their official hats askew to one side.

Gu Yannian frowned almost imperceptibly.

He closed the book in his hands, gently placed it on the table, and slowly walked down the stairs.

"Greetings, Scholar Hu; greetings, Superintendent."

Gu Yannian bowed with a composed expression.

"Gentlemen, has the Crown Prince come here today on some urgent matter?"

Hu Guang was so anxious that his beard was trembling. He grabbed Gu Yannian's sleeve as if he had grasped a lifeline.

"Gu Xima! Quickly! Open the Class A library containing the ancient Yuan dynasty's 'Huihui Calendar' and a rare copy of Western Region astrology! Something terrible has happened!"

Gu Yannian calmly withdrew his sleeve, turned around and took a bunch of heavy copper keys.

He led the group toward the deep library.

At the same time, he asked in a calm tone:

"Scholar Hu, please do not be impatient. The books in this library are vast and numerous. I wonder which type of astrological charts you are looking for? I can offer some guidance."

"Sigh! It's a long story!"

Hu Guang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead as he walked.

"Yesterday, the Timurid Empire of the Western Regions sent a large delegation to the capital to pay tribute. The Timurid ruler, Shah Rukh, not only presented lions, leopards, and other rare and exotic animals..."

His chief envoy, Gaiastin, presented the emperor and all the court officials with a bronze astrolabe from the Western Regions and a strange Persian calendar book!

Gu Yannian walked steadily, but he already understood what was going on.

In the seventeenth year of the Yongle reign, the Timurid Empire did indeed send a large-scale mission to visit the Ming Dynasty.

This was intended to repair the relationship between the two countries that had broken down when Timur Khan attempted to conquer the Ming Dynasty.

The Imperial Astronomical Bureau Chief, with a pained expression, continued to complain.

"That envoy appeared respectful, but in reality he harbored malicious intentions! Under the pretext of discussing calendars, he pointed out that the timing of the lunar eclipse next month, as predicted by the Imperial Astronomical Bureau of the Great Ming Dynasty, was off by half a quarter of an hour."

"He even shamelessly claimed that the arc-arrow calculation array contained in their extraordinary book could accurately predict the trajectories of stars, and asked the learned scholars of our Great Ming Dynasty to correct a flawed formula in the book!"

"What kind of temper does the Emperor have? He immediately flew into a rage, believing that these barbarians were showing off their power to the Ming Dynasty."

"His Majesty has issued an imperial decree, ordering the Hanlin Academy and the Imperial Observatory to solve the equations in that strange Persian book within three days, and to use the calendar of our Great Ming Dynasty to predict the timing of the lunar eclipse more accurately than they have, thus demonstrating the flourishing of our Celestial Empire's cultural achievements!"