Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 170 - 165: Memorial

Chapter 170: Chapter 165: Memorial

The initial scene held significant meaning within the Trial Illusion instance.

It was not just an interface for selecting identity, but it also hinted at some underlying information.

For example, the initial scene for "Even in death, the matters are not settled" was atop the town’s city walls, while "Becoming a marquis was not my intention" took place at Lin Xiangmin’s Governor’s Office.

Both played a crucial role in linking the overall plot of the instance.

Analyzing the initial scene might not greatly assist in deciphering the instance, but it could help players grasp some core elements of the instance earlier.

Chuge said, "This initial scene is quite straightforward; it should represent the general state of affairs during that era.

"Emperor Taizu of Sheng lived in a rather unique region, and during his youth, he experienced several major disasters.

"These included droughts, locust plagues, epidemics, and later, the floods that caused chaos across the land.

"All these natural disasters were extremely lethal for the farmers of that time.

"Just as depicted in this instance, during the drought, the earth cracked and vegetation died; during the locust plague, swarms of locusts blotted out the sky and devoured everything; during the epidemic, nine out of ten households were empty, with corpses littering the village outskirts; and when the floods came, the Yellow River changed its course, turning thousands of miles into marshland, and countless people were swept away by the floods and perished.

"And this piece of land in the initial scene was a witness to all these tragedies, witnessing countless farmers’ miserable fates as they struggled and eked out a living on this land."

The other three were silent.

Goodness gracious.

It was initially thought that the appearance of drought, locust plague, epidemic, and flood in this initial scene was merely an exaggerated form of expression, representing the natural disasters of different places altogether.

Unexpectedly, they were all real, all occurring in the same location.

According to common beliefs, disasters in different places should vary, like flood-prone areas suffering floods, and areas with little water facing droughts.

But in reality, often after a drought comes a locust plague, followed by flooding, never-ending.

The truly harmonious times were few and far between.

Just like money flows towards those who lack it the least, and love gravitates towards those who lack it the least, hardships find those who can endure the most.

The rope always breaks at its thinnest point; misfortune only targets the suffering.

At this moment, the players saw the initial scene depicting the real-life setting of Emperor Taizu of Sheng’s youth.

"Since the identity is decided, let’s hurry and enter the instance to see the details."

Everyone selected their identity cards.

After distributing identities, each person entered different historical periods of this slice of history to begin their trials.

...

Chuge chose the identity of the "Emperor," which was Emperor Taizu of Sheng in his later years.

After selecting the identity card, the surrounding scenes started to transform rapidly.

Eventually, everything settled, and Chuge found himself in a grand imperial hall.

Before him, there were piles of memorial tablets stacked like mountains.

Three talent cards appeared before Chuge.

[Jin·Vigorous Spirit (White):Your energy is abundant, allowing you to remain alert even after long hours of work. The effect doubles in old age.]

[Jin·Commanding Presence (Blue):Your authority is enhanced, making others more likely to panic in your presence.]

[Xin·Eloquent Speech (Blue):Your speech becomes more infectious and persuasive.]

The usual talents offered in the Trial Illusion were not as generous as those in the Cavalry Trial instance; the talents given were rather ordinary.

Chuge immediately ruled out the third talent; clearly, an emperor does not need to persuade many.

After hesitating between the first two talents, Chuge ultimately chose "Vigorous Spirit."

He was well aware that he was portraying Emperor Taizu of Sheng in his twilight years, already over seventy, with not much time left.

In ancient times, the average life expectancy was low, and it was not uncommon for emperors to die in their forties or fifties. Therefore, Emperor Taizu of Sheng being seventy was truly rare.

In this state, if he didn’t have enough energy, he would likely accomplish nothing.

Compared to that, "Commanding Presence" might be useful when interrogating officials, making it easier to spot their flaws, but it was not as high a priority.

Chuge touched the "Vigorous Spirit" talent and began his trial.

The proceedings in the Trial Illusion started.

There was a young eunuch beside him, attending closely; beyond that, there was no one else.

"What should I do now?

"Could it be... reviewing the memorials?"

Chu Ge looked at the piles of memorials in front of him, falling into deep thought.

He had chosen the identity of an emperor because he knew it was probably the most difficult among the four identities.

In terms of age, Emperor Taizu of Sheng had entered his later years, what was so-called "a hero at twilight." Every hero at this stage of life faced the most challenging times.

There were too many unfinished tasks to tackle, and plenty of opportunities for petty crooks to stir trouble.

And in terms of status, ruling the empire was much harder than conquering it.

The role of emperor Chu Ge played was not one of indulging in pleasure and reaping the benefits, but rather the most perilous final stretch.

"From what I see now, there seems to be no necessary linear connection between different stages.

"That means, regardless of whether the first three participants cleared their stages, I can proceed with the fourth stage of the game as usual.

"But, I cannot rule out the possibility that outstanding performances by the first three could improve the starting situation of the fourth stage.

"I should focus on my part for now.

"Reviewing the memorials.

"If I consider the historical situation, this is definitely not an easy task.

"I wonder if I can withstand it..."

As a history student, Chu Ge had not been idle during this time; he had been preparing materials related to Emperor Taizu of Sheng.

Historically, it was clearly documented that Emperor Taizu had reviewed over eleven hundred memorials concerning over three thousand four hundred matters within eight days. If each memorial was about a thousand words, he would read over two hundred thousand words and address over four hundred matters daily.

Of course, not all memorials required detailed responses; some could be delegated to the Six Ministries, while only a few of major importance needed thorough personal deliberations.

Furthermore, replies didn’t need to be tangled in formality; Emperor Taizu liked to use plain language or issue imperial decrees directly.

For instance, in the early years of the Great Sheng Dynasty when Eastern Barbarian raiders occasionally invaded, Emperor Taizu issued a very concise imperial decree to the military and civilians in the southeast: "By the grace of heaven, the Emperor decrees: tell the people to prepare their knives; if these folks come, kill them and then talk. Mark this!"

Moreover, the game "Dark Sand" itself came with support mechanisms; just as a player didn’t need to mimic ancient people’s speech when conversing with historical figures, reviewing memorials in the game didn’t require strict adherence to ancient practices either.

As long as the approximation was close enough, the game’s mechanics would automatically correct it.

Thus, for Chu Ge, reviewing the memorials wasn’t particularly difficult.

The key was to discern and filter out some crucial information from such a vast amount of information.

He took one from the stacked mountains of memorials and began to review.

After flipping through it, Chu Ge found that the content of the memorial was rather clear, and the issues were explained comprehensively. Additionally, the more difficult parts automatically transformed into modern vernacular or expository style in his mind, which further reduced the complexity.

This was reasonable, as there weren’t many players like Chu Ge.

Those who hadn’t studied historical materials or even recognized many traditional characters would have no chance of clearing this stage without some assistance.

However, by the third volume, it had already become somewhat infuriating.

Rambling thousands of words off-topic, even trivial matters were hashed and rehashed.

This reminded Chu Ge of a humorous incident during the early Great Sheng Dynasty.

Once, a high official from the Ministry of Justice presented a memorial that, after reading over six thousand words, Emperor Taizu still couldn’t grasp the essence—it was all empty talk; only after sixteen thousand words did it address the main issue, totaling five points.

And those five matters could clearly have been stated in five hundred words.

In anger, Emperor Taizu immediately had the official summoned and physically punished in front of everyone, afterward cautioning all other officials that memorials should only state facts without unnecessary verbosity.

This drastically cleared the air in the officialdom.

Chu Ge had found this story amusing when he read it, but now that he was in the situation himself, it wasn’t funny at all.

The memorials he was reading were already in a reformed state. It was hard to imagine the verbose and irritating memorials Emperor Taizu had dealt with before.

Soon, it grew dark, and he had to read by lamp light.

The young eunuch serving him was clearly used to this state and waited quietly beside him.

Chu Ge, feeling dizzy and seeing stars, finally finished reviewing all the memorials.

Just as he was about to get up and stretch, everything in front of him shifted rapidly.

A new stack of memorials appeared.

Apparently, a new day had arrived.

Chu Ge froze completely, speechless.