In the rain, we entered Juping (Taian) County of Mount Tai. This is a dilapidated small county, originally just a resting place for the emperor when he climbed Mount Tai to worship the mountain. The emperor hasn’t come for 200 years, so Juping has fallen into ruin. During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, this place became the largest den of bandits. If not for our appearance, Patrick Turner would have been one of the most notorious bandit leaders here.

Relying on my status as a traveling scholar, I settled down at the post station. Judging from the situation on the street, the Great Virtuous Teacher Franklin Bolton had already extended his influence here. When we were resting, seeing that we had wounded among us, the people at the post station proactively recommended that we let Franklin Bolton’s disciples treat our injuries. What a joke—would we let Patrick Turner and the others drink talisman water? Franklin Bolton might be a skilled doctor, but he uses the guise of medicine to play tricks and deceive people. Just look at how, after his rebellion, he went around looting and killing; it’s clear he just wants to become another emperor. It’s best not to get involved with people like him.

After declining their offer, I arranged for Patrick Turner and the other two to stay in the outer hall of my bedroom. In their eyes, having just joined us for a day and already being trusted so much, the three of them were moved to tears. But I was simply trying to keep a close watch on them, to prevent Patrick Turner, the bandit leader, from making contact with Franklin Bolton’s people—who knows if he’d be drawn into the Yellow Turbans after meeting them. I figured they had committed crimes near Taian, and no one could say for sure if they had informants in the city. For safety’s sake, I needed to keep them under my nose.

Of course, I would never tell anyone my true thoughts—let them be moved if they wish.

That night, perhaps because we hadn’t slept for days, or perhaps because we now had a goal for the future, we slept deeply. When we woke, the sun was already high in the sky. Patrick Turner, Steven Brooks, and Richard Evans, ignoring their injuries, knelt at the entrance of my bedroom hall waiting for me to wash up. Maybe this was the etiquette of Han dynasty servants toward their master. But I wasn’t used to it. “Get up, your wounds haven’t healed yet. You should rest quietly and not bother with these trivial rituals. Go on now.” Patrick Turner and the others kowtowed and left.

I walked out of the room and looked at the sun of the Three Kingdoms era. This sun really was different from our own time—the sky was a deep blue, and the sun looked especially dazzling against it. Suddenly, I remembered that coal mining wasn’t developed in the Three Kingdoms era. Even in the Tang dynasty, the main fuel was still wood. There’s a famous Tang poet who wrote “The Charcoal Burner,” about an old man burning wood into charcoal to sell at the imperial palace. No wonder there’s no pollution here at all.

Ah, suddenly a thought flashed through my mind—coal! We could open a coal mine and make money. With coal, we could do so many things. I immediately rushed into Brian Cooper’s room, dragged him up, and asked, “Have you decided what kind of business you want to do?”

“Not really. Do you have any suggestions?”

“Do you know what the main fuel for fires was in the Han dynasty? Let me tell you—it was wood. If we open a coal mine and sell coal, wouldn’t that be great? Hahaha! You know, the Han dynasty’s smelting technology wasn’t advanced, and that’s largely because they couldn’t raise furnace temperatures. If we have coal, we can increase furnace temperatures, and William Bennett’s smelting plant can be built as well. Also, with higher furnace temperatures, we could fire glass that’s never been made in ancient China, and we could make better porcelain and tiles. That way, we could truly change history. Just think about it—doesn’t that excite you?”

“Enough already. Coal mines are deadly places. Even in our time, with our technology, lots of people still die in coal mines every year. The US military fights fiercely in Iraq, but Iraq is the second most dangerous place in the world after Chinese coal mines. The US military’s casualty rate is much lower than that of Chinese coal miners. If you want me to do this, I won’t.”

Trying to argue with me? You’re still too green. I sat beside him and tried to speak as gently as possible: “We were so busy yesterday, I forgot to ask—did you catch up with those two merchants?”

Brian Cooper’s face immediately turned pale. “I didn’t kill them,” he blurted out anxiously. I could understand how he felt. After all, someone who’s been educated in the law for years would feel a heavy psychological burden after suddenly killing someone. I patted his shoulder. He continued, “They were too badly injured… we struggled… they fell into the valley… I hurried back. I didn’t kill them.”

I patted his shoulder again and asked, “Did you get the stuff?” Brian Cooper’s face turned even paler. He didn’t answer. I nodded, “As long as it wasn’t for nothing. Now let’s discuss things further. Let me see what you got.”

Brian Cooper immediately replied, “I’ll go dig coal.”

“You should have said so earlier. Besides, I’m not asking you to go down the shaft yourself. Think about it—on one hand, we can improve coal mine safety, and on the other, I’ll try to find some Japanese to do the mining.” I paused, then added, “I’m also thinking, with coal, maybe you could develop a steam engine. The steam engine era in the West was so short because the age of electricity came too quickly. At this stage, we can’t enter the age of electricity, but as long as our smelting technology improves, building a boiler and entering the steam engine era shouldn’t be too hard. You studied physics, so you must have taught your students the principles of the steam engine. So, I’ll leave this matter to you as well.”