Chapter 25: Chang’an
When Yun Ye fell asleep again, the street drums in Chang’an had already stopped. The gates of the various markets were closed, and as the lights in the tens of thousands of homes went out one after another, the noisy Chang’an City finally fell into silence.
The Taiji Palace was still lit up. The eunuchs and palace maids stood silently under the long porch, listening to the restless footsteps in the hall, and passing each other puzzled looks. Usually wise and calm, His Majesty was unusually restless today. The sound of his quick footsteps seemed to convey the extremely frustrated mood of the ruler of the world.
His Majesty is unhappy. The eunuchs and palace maids stand even more solemnly, and their breathing is much quieter than before. A stream of lights meanders from the inner palace. The yellow-clad eunuch in front of the palace gate smiles, and the turbid air in his chest dissipates in an instant. He steps forward two steps and bows down: “Welcome Your Majesty, the Empress.”
A beautiful woman in a palace dress lightly waves her sleeves in the light, and the eunuch stands up and leans forward. “Your Majesty has not yet gone to bed?”
“Your Majesty, since receiving the urgent report from Lord Lu, Your Majesty has been in the palace and has not yet gone to bed.”
After dismissing the others, the beautiful woman in the palace dress entered the hall alone. She saw the emperor pacing back and forth. She was about to speak, but heard the emperor say, “Guanyin maid, do you think there really is grain with a yield of 15 mu in the world? If there really is, what does it look like?”
The empress laughed softly and covered her mouth. “Is Erlang still worried about the locust plague in Lingzhou? I have already streamlined the expenses of the imperial household, and I am sure I can save 2,000 strings of cash. Although it is a drop in the bucket, it is still a contribution.”
The emperor looked at the empress and smiled, “Do you think I’m dreaming? Cheng Zhizhang’s urgent report from 300 miles away is very convincing. Niu Jinda’s secret report from 100 cavalrymen also claims that this is true. He has personally taken care of the five original seeds, and they will be ready for harvest in another month. This treasure is called potatoes. I really don’t understand why such a treasure has such a strange name. I’ve never heard of it. Can you hear about this from your extensive reading, Guanyin maid?” He handed the report in his hand to the empress.
The confused empress took the petition and read it carefully. She finished reading it in a moment, put the petition on the table, and muttered, “Is there really such a grain? Fifteen shih? Can it be grown in such a desolate place? Erlang, I feel a little dizzy.”
His Majesty Li Er helped the empress sit down and said, “Although Cheng Zhizhang is crude, he has always been loyal and honest, and he always speaks the truth. Niu Jinda is meticulous and careful, and he made a great vow in those days, vowing to spare no effort to ensure that no one in the world would starve to death. Such a loyal and upright person would not speak such a shocking statement without being 80% sure. Let me wait for a month or so, and everything will be clear. I will wait and see. The man from Ping’an County said he would sell this to me. If it really produces 15 mu of grain, no, even if it produces 8 mu of grain, I will search the palace to satisfy him. If it is a false hope, I will not let him off lightly.
“Your Majesty, who is this Ping’an County Man? Is he involved in this matter?” The empress heard this name for the first time.
“This son is surnamed Yun and named Ye. He is fifteen years old, a descendant of a foreigner, and retired from his post in Longyou for his miraculous salt-making technique. He is currently a secretary of the Lanzhou Zhechongfu military counselor, a seventh-rank official. I saw that he understood the suffering of Longyou’s salt shortage and specially bestowed the title of Ping’an County Man on him.”
“It turns out that he was the one who came up with the method of extracting salt from brine. A few days ago, my brother wrote to me about this, saying that Cheng Zhizhang had traded 500 catties of salt for 50 of his fine horses. It was simply outrageous and outrageous. I decided to get it back if I had the chance. My brother was very upset to be blackmailed for the first time.” She laughed.
“Huang Zhi’en is Liu Huai’s favorite student, and there are few people in the field of mathematics who can match him. But this boy was convinced by a few words, and the two diagrams made Huang Zhi’en calculate all night. Since then, he has always referred to this boy as his teacher. It can be seen that Yun Ye’s son has real talent, and his teacher must be a great sage of his generation. I look forward to him giving me another big surprise.”
“Such a talented person would not speak lightly. After hearing what Your Majesty said, I also believe that there is really such a thing as 15-stone grain. However, it is already late at night, and Your Majesty should also go to bed. Tomorrow is still an early morning, so it is only reasonable to go to bed early.”
The couple were about to go to bed. A long, urgent report woke up the entire palace. For a moment, the palace was brightly lit, and the locked palace gate was opened. A yellow gatekeeper held a bundle with three red-dyed chicken feathers stuck on it. This was the famous Hongling urgent report, 800 miles urgent, which had to be submitted to the emperor immediately, even in the middle of the night.
Behind the yellow gate, a disheveled knight, supported by the imperial guards, hurriedly ran to the Taiji Palace. His Majesty Li Er was already sitting on the throne. When he heard the urgent report from Zuowei, he was very uneasy. There was no war in Zuowei, so it must have nothing to do with the war. It must be about the high-yield seeds. His Majesty Li Er couldn’t help but clench his fists and eagerly waited for the urgent report to arrive.
The little yellow men handed the package to the eunuch in front of the hall. The eunuch unwrapped the package and opened the wooden box. A strange dagger lay inside the wooden box, shining with a cold light under the candlelight.
He was hesitating whether to present it to the emperor, but then he saw the emperor step down from his throne, walk two or three steps to the front of the hall, pick up the strange-shaped dagger in the wooden box, and hold it in his hand. He felt that it was very smooth in his hand, played two knife flowers on his hand, turned around and stabbed it into the red wooden pillar in the hall.
His Majesty Li Er exclaimed in surprise, pulled out the military dagger, and asked in a low voice with his hand on the back of the handle, “Where is the urgent report from Hongling?”
The eunuch hurriedly handed it over. His Majesty Li Er carefully checked the fire seal and saw that it was intact. He then used the dagger in his hand to open the envelope and took out the memorial to read it carefully.
After reading the memorial, he remained silent for a long time. Empress Dowager Changsun walked in with a bowl of lotus seed porridge in her hand. Seeing that the emperor was lost in thought again, she also remained silent and sat quietly on the side.
The emperor said to the empress in a soft voice, “Cheng Zhizhang and Niu Jinda have jointly petitioned for a heavy reward for Yun Ye, because they have once again obtained the steel-making technique from Yun Ye. The three of them can produce 100 catties of refined steel a day, and they have presented this son’s hand-made military weapon. I just tried it and it is indeed extraordinary, it is the best weapon when the short weapons are in contact. The Royal Ordnance Department produces only 4,000 catties of refined steel a year, which is the maximum output of nearly 500 skilled craftsmen. Now that someone can make 100 catties in a day, I believe this is still their conservative estimate. Cheng Zhizhang also got a set of military body-building techniques, and now he has selected 100 people to start the experiment. Am I not dreaming now?
“This boy’s background has now been verified. He is from the Yun family of Chang’an, and his ancestors have lived in Lantian for generations. Unfortunately, the male members of the family were killed in a rebellion during the previous dynasty, and now there are only about 40 women and children left, living in poverty. I now understand why this boy wants to make a deal with me. He actually wants to revive the family name. But this boy said that it is also a strange thing that the treasure is useless and uncomfortable.”