Chapter 33: Oh my god, fifty sacks!
It had rained for five days in a row. Everything was wet and muddy. The tent was uninhabitable. The heavy leather was swollen by the water and smelled of rot. Yun Ye felt like he was living in a garbage dump. The thin blanket could not withstand the cold and damp, but fortunately, the sleeping bag prevented the tragedy of the cold-blooded bird.
Lao Cheng stopped training Yun Ye and Li Chengqian. This made Yun Ye feel a strange mixture of joy and sadness. On the one hand, he was glad to escape the devilish training, but on the other hand, he felt that he owed them something when he saw Cheng Chumo crawling in the mud and water while he was sitting in the tent.
The cold of autumn is most likely to invade the marrow, which will leave a root of disease. Lao Cheng himself is a living example. Although he is not yet fifty years old, he looks strong on the surface, but in fact, when he returns to the camp, he is also complaining.
The swelling in his knees was so bad that Cheng Chumo had to knead his legs and give him medicine every night, but it was of no use. Yun Ye did not have any medicine for treating arthritis, so he had to give Cheng Chumo some anti-inflammatory medicine. However, Cheng Chumo knew how precious the medicine was, so he forbade Yun Ye from giving it to anyone, including himself.
Niu Jinda also reduced the number of his inspections. Whenever he could sit down, he never stood up. It seems that this old guy was also tortured.
In the Tang Dynasty, a person was considered old at the age of 50. The underdeveloped health system, lack of food, and frequent wars caused people to generally not live long. Unlike later generations, when 50 years old is the time when senior officials are full of ambition, it is not a problem to fight for another 20 years.
When he tried to persuade Yun Ye to stop training in the rain, Yun Ye swallowed his words. It was obvious that the Tang Dynasty would be at the peak of its military power in the next few years. With one more elite, there would be one more chance of victory. Old Cheng didn’t care if these people would leave a root of illness behind. As long as the Tang Dynasty was strong, he didn’t even care about his own life.
He is a very pure person, a good soldier. Not only him, but also the children of senior cadres in the training camp have this kind of awareness, and they persevere through hardship and fatigue.
Climbing over obstacles with only a rope to climb up and down the steep cliffs, Yun Ye felt dizzy at a glance, but they had to climb up with their whole bodies. This has gone beyond the training plan set by Yun Ye. Lao Cheng, Lao Niu and a group of veterans have added these subjects to the plan set by Yun Ye.
The three-month training has already seen results. These guys can walk on walls and roofs like they were on flat ground, and they can easily run a hundred miles. They are used to sneaking up on people, assassinating people, breaking through encirclements, and capturing prisoners alive. The only thing they didn’t expect was that these people would use Yun Ye’s engineering shovel as their main weapon, and they would use crossbows and military knives to form their own equipment system.
During a routine assessment ten days ago, a 1,000-man encirclement and annihilation force chased down 200 people within a five-kilometer radius, and was slaughtered by these guys. This was still a head-on confrontation. If Cheng Chumu and the others were allowed to play freely, none of the 1,000 men would have survived.
After a detailed assessment of their combat effectiveness, Niu Jinda believes that without an elite force of more than ten times their number, they will not be able to hold the 200 men. If they are in a special terrain, such as mountains, forests, or cities, their capabilities will be infinitely magnified, of course, this is the effect after two years of training.
Both Old Cheng and Old Niu were looking forward to this army shining its own brilliance, and they believed that it would not be long before His Majesty Li Er would not allow such an elite force to waste its time.
Today is a big day. The potato stems and leaves have completely turned yellow and are ready to be harvested.
Li Chengqian got up early, washed up with the help of his servants, and went to the straw shed. Cheng Yaojin, Niu Jinda, and all officials above the rank of seventh grade were already dressed in their court robes and waiting in the straw shed.
A six-foot long incense table was placed in the open space in front of the straw shed, with a whole cow, sheep, pig’s head, fruit, and snacks on it. In the middle was a large bronze incense burner, which Li Chengqian would use to insert sandalwood when he worshiped the heavens.
Yun Ye was dressed in a five-grade military officer’s uniform, which was light scarlet like his mother’s. Unlike the purple robes worn by the old Chengs, he held a goldfish bag in his arms, and his silk-woven crown was as bright as new. Two black crowns naturally hung down, dignified and solemn, like a group of important ministers.
Yun Ye turned his head and looked around. He saw that all the people around him were middle-aged men, all wearing scarlet robes like boiled crabs, strutting around.
When he looked back, he was amused to see that Cheng Chumo’s eldest grandson, Chong, and Li Huiren were all wearing green robes, wearing green crowns and looking like mantis. They even winked at Yun Ye when they saw him looking at them. Just as they were about to speak in a low voice, they heard Lao Niu cough, so they quickly shut up.
Li Chengqian was wearing the crown of a prince, with a dragon on his chest and golden all over. He walked slowly from the tent and stood in front of the incense burner, his hands clasped in front of him.
When the first ray of sunlight hit the incense burner, Niu Jinda shouted in a loud voice, “The auspicious time has arrived. The prince is offering incense.”
Li Chengqian picked up three thick pieces of sandalwood from the incense table and lit them on the candles. After three kneeling bows, he inserted the incense into the furnace. Except for Lao Niu, who stood next to the incense table, the rest of the people followed the prince in bowing to the sky.
After the prince finished offering incense, he turned around and took out a yellow silk scroll from his bosom. He read it in a falsetto voice: “Your Majesty has a petition to present to Heaven. All officials kneel and bow.”
After everyone has knelt down, he reads the emperor’s petition to the heavens. This time, the petition is not for the Supreme Emperor, but for the third emperor, Shennong. First, he remembers Shennong’s past achievements, then expresses that the current happy life comes from Shennong’s legacy, then reports that new grain has been produced, and then encourages Shennong to continue to bless the Tang Dynasty with good weather and a good harvest. Finished. Then he burns it to show Shennong. I don’t know if Shennong will see it, and I’m not sure if he’ll be happy. Yun Ye is very unhappy. The potatoes he brought with so much effort all the way here are now being credited to Shennong. This is so sad.
The five large vats were all moved out, and Lao Niu stared at them without blinking. He had been worried about them for months, taking meticulous care of them during the day, watering and fertilizing them, catching insects and adding soil. He was just short of cleaning the leaves every day. Now that they had finally matured, how could he not be excited?
Lao Cheng was worried that if there was no high yield as Yun Ye said, he would be guilty of deceiving the emperor. He regretted that he had reported this matter too early.
“Lord Yun, you are most familiar with auspiciousness, so please harvest it.” Li Chengqian was also very excited. He didn’t know where to start, so he turned to Yun Ye to do it.
Yun Ye looked at the crowd strangely. What’s the big deal about harvesting a potato? He reached out and grabbed the stem and leaves on the potato, and pulled it out with one effort, making the old ox tremble, as if he were pulling out his life root.
Looking at the potatoes in Yun Ye’s hand, everyone took a deep breath. They saw that the potato roots were attached to three fist-sized potatoes, each weighing more than one catty. This is outrageous! One plant produces three catties, and if there are 1,000 plants in an acre of land, there will be 3,000 catties. Even if this one plant is carefully cared for , it is impossible to have this yield in the field. Even if it is cut in half, there are still 1,500 catties. A dan is about 120 catties, which is exactly 12 to 13 shi. It seems that Yun Ye has already laid an ambush in front of him, underestimating the yield and only reporting the lowest yield of 15 shi.
Cheng Yaojin was greatly satisfied, whether it was Yun Ye’s prudence or the yield of potatoes.
Niu Jinda burst into tears, Li Chengqian sat on the ground, and everyone crowded forward to take a closer look. Niu Jinda, who was crying, suddenly jumped up and shouted, “Stand back, or I’ll kill you!” Everyone hurriedly retreated.
Yun Ye scratched his head and said in surprise, “No, how can there only be so little?”
Hearing this, everyone fell to the ground. The prince, with a smile on his face, was about to pretend to comfort Yun Ye, but when he saw Yun Ye pick up a stone and smash open the vat with a loud bang, the soil in the vat spilled onto the ground. He dug in the soil with his hands until he dug out three more potatoes, and then nodded in satisfaction. Feeling a little quiet around him, he turned his head and saw that everyone was staring at the three potatoes in his hands with their eyes wide open. After a while, Niu Jinda screamed, “Oh my God, fifty loads!”