Chapter Twenty-Five: A Marvelous Object

Seeing the curiosity etched on the faces of his generals, Yang Xi smiled enigmatically. Instead of answering immediately, he gestured for them to follow him up to the ramparts.

The training of the special forces unit had not been interrupted, though Yang Xi did not preside over it personally today; after issuing his orders, he had delegated the supervision to the squad leaders. For these past few days, the focus remained on physical conditioning—everything had to be done step by step, and one could not afford to be overly hasty.

Only those who met the physical requirements would be selected for the subsequent stages of training. Ultimately, the special forces would be comprised only of those who excelled in every aspect. After such rigorous selection, it would be a success if even one hundred qualified soldiers remained at the end.

Yang Xi’s vision was that, after one or two years of progressive training and real-world combat, he would command a unit of special operators capable of unconventional missions. These soldiers would make future campaigns easier to manage and serve as a significant asset.

Without the advanced equipment of the special forces from the future, many tasks might prove impossible. However, Yang Xi believed that if he entrusted them with missions beyond what an ordinary person could conceive or accomplish, his soldiers would have the capability to succeed.

He was not eager for quick results, so the training proceeded at a measured pace. Moreover, he could not neglect his overall military duties; he set aside time each day to hear reports from Gao Shi and the other officers in charge of the Tongguan garrison’s affairs, all while pondering his "little inventions."

Currently, Yang Xi’s most pressing goal was to develop telescopes and gunpowder. He had crafted the telescope himself with successful results, but he intended to delegate the development of gunpowder to his subordinates. He had already selected dozens of quick-witted craftsmen and soldiers to form a research team. However, the necessary raw materials had yet to arrive at Tongguan, so the project would have to wait.

The risks involved in manufacturing gunpowder were too high, and Yang Xi had no desire to encounter an accident during the development process. Furthermore, as a commander of one hundred thousand troops, such tasks were for his subordinates to handle; he only needed to provide them with the methods and technology.

Today, he intended to demonstrate the telescope he had completed and refined over the past few days.

When he had returned to Chang'an, Yang Xi found high-quality, transparent crystal in the Western Market and instructed the shopkeeper to polish it into concave and convex lenses according to his specifications. The shop assistant’s technique, however, was not particularly refined, and many lenses remained blurry; only a dozen out of thirty were usable. Yang Xi selected one convex and one concave lens, tested their approximate focal length in the sunlight, and secured them into two soft iron tubes of slightly different diameters. The smaller tube could slide and rotate within the larger one, with the convex lens serving as the eyepiece. This simple, single-barrel telescope was what he intended to show his generals.

Upon reaching the top of the wall, and amidst the astonished gazes of the officers, Yang Xi took the carefully wrapped device—the first telescope in human history—from his personal bodyguard, Yang Dong. He held it to his left eye and aimed it at the distant Han Tongguan fortress, slowly adjusting the focal length.

Finally, a crisp image of the Han Tongguan fortress appeared in his field of vision.

The fortress was undergoing repairs and resembled a massive construction site. The busy laborers and soldiers on the walls were clearly visible; he could even make out the faces of those standing in the sunlight. Satisfied, Yang Xi lowered the telescope and smiled at Gao Shi, the marching commissioner standing beside him, whose face was full of curiosity but who had refrained from asking questions. "General Gao, try looking at the repairs on the Han Tongguan fortress through this."

"Yes, Marshal!" Gao Shi replied. He took the telescope cautiously from Yang Xi's hands and, following his instructions, began to peer through it, slowly adjusting the focus.

"Ah! This is truly miraculous!" Gao Shi exclaimed after just one look. He lowered the instrument in disbelief, rubbed his eyes, and looked at the distant fortress walls. After a few moments, he lifted the telescope to his eyes again, observing with a hundred times more focus than before.

He lowered it, looked again, then raised it once more.

After repeating this several times, Gao Shi asked Yang Xi, full of wonder: "Marshal, what is this magical object? How can it see so far? I can even make out the appearance of the soldiers on the watchtower! How... how did you make this?"

"This is called a telescope. I was inspired after seeing the scenery magnified through a dewdrop one morning, and I made it by chance," Yang Xi explained with a smile, taking the single-barrel telescope he had labored so hard to create from Gao Shi's hands. "It took a great deal of effort to craft this, using polished crystal lenses to bring distant objects closer. Haha!"

Yang Xi chuckled and handed the telescope to Wang Sili, who stood nearby and was more curious than anyone. "General Wang, try this out and see if you think this invention of mine would be useful in battle!"

Wang Sili, having already guessed that the device was extraordinary, eagerly took it and mimicked the actions of Yang Xi and Gao Shi. "Ah!" he gasped after a single glance.

Through the tube, distant scenery appeared clear and significantly closer. Wang Sili even saw a patrolling soldier on the Han Tongguan watchtower let out a long yawn.

They were standing on the Sui Tongguan wall, nearly a thousand paces—about three miles—away from that watchtower. To the naked eye, the soldiers on the distant wall were merely blurry figures with no discernible details. Yet, through this magical device, even their features were distinct. It was truly miraculous, and Yang Xi’s ability to create such a thing was nothing short of brilliant.

"Marshal, this item is truly miraculous and immensely useful. With a telescope that can see such distances, we can discover enemy movements long before they realize it and prepare accordingly. This could very well be the key to victory!"

"Well said," Yang Xi nodded in agreement. "If every general were equipped with such a telescope, we could anticipate the enemy and prepare in advance. Its utility is immense."

As they spoke, the telescope was passed to the others. Pang Zhong, Li Fude, Liu Guangting, Li Chengguang, Tian Liangqiu, and Lü Chongben all took turns observing through the device, and every one of them was struck with amazement. As veteran commanders of many battles, they understood the tactical value immediately. Each of them harbored a secret hope: to possess one of their own.

Who wouldn't want to own such a miraculous object?

"Once I have refined the design, I shall order the Directorate of Armaments to produce them in large quantities, aiming to equip every officer with one," Yang Xi declared. The generals were visibly excited. Seeing the look of admiration on their faces, Yang Xi felt a small sense of vanity satisfied.

He would, of course, have his father, Yang Guozhong, order the mass production, though the image quality of this current model was far inferior to the military telescopes he had used in the future. Still, it would suffice for now.

More complex compound-lens telescopes would have to wait for the future—ideally, once he could manufacture proper glass.