On a biting cold night, I returned home in despair.
There were only three or five people left in Zi Nu's entourage. Everyone, including her, was injured. However, the familiar figure Li Qinzai had seen before was now missing in the crowd, including the one who seemed to have a vague affection for him. The non-hostile Wei Tuo.
Li Qinzai knew that those missing people would be missing forever.
"It's all over. I'll protect you from now on." Li Qinzai patted Zi Nu on the back and said softly.
Zi Nu was still crying in his arms, her tears soaking his front, cold and translucent to his skin.
Li Zhi was holding an iron basin at the side and said in a trembling voice: "Is that new grain in it?"
Li Qinzai patted Zi Nu on the shoulder and said, "The emperor is asking, please tell me."
Hearing that the person next to him was actually the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Zi Nu was startled, stopped crying, looked at Li Zhi with complicated eyes, then knelt down on one knee and performed an alien etiquette.
"Those who have lost their country, pay homage to His Majesty the Heavenly Khan of the Tang Dynasty."
Li Zhi was stunned for a moment, then looked at her carefully, but what he was most concerned about at this moment was not the origin of Zi Nu, but the iron basin in his hand.
"Are there new grains inside?" Li Zhi asked again.
Zi Nu choked up and said, "Yes."
Li Zhi said cautiously: "Can you take it out of the soil? Let me see how it looks."
Li Qinzai smiled and said: "If what I expected is correct, there should be a new grain called 'sweet potato' inside. Sweet potato is not that valuable. If your majesty wants to see it, just carefully brush away the soil."
Li Zhi's heartbeat quickened. He brushed away the soil with his hands and dug all the way to the middle layer, where he suddenly discovered several small dark red fruits.
Li Zhi looked at their appearance carefully and murmured: "They...are new grain seeds? Did they grow from being buried in the ground?"
Li Qinzai also saw their appearance, and became more and more certain that they were actually sweet potatoes, and he couldn't help but feel excited.
It is no exaggeration to say that Chinese civilization has taken a huge step forward because of it.
Several small fruits lay quietly in the iron basin, with a few sprouts sprouting on them. Li Zhi held them in his hands and trembled slightly, as if he was holding the entire country of the Tang Dynasty. He didn't even dare to breathe for fear. An ill-timed draft can harm them.
Li Qinzai, however, was not so cautious. He reached out to take the small fruits, held them in his hand and looked at them carefully, then got closer and smelled them.
Li Zhi watched helplessly, with a nervous expression, as if his newborn child had fallen into his hands.
When Li Qinzai made a small slit on the fruit with his fingernails, intending to see the color of the meat inside, Li Zhi was shocked and said: "Stop it, evil beast!"
Li Qinzai was stunned. It was such a familiar title. Where did he learn it?
Li Zhi snatched a few fruits over and stared at him dissatisfied: "Nothing is light or heavy. There are only a few grains in the world. If you hurt the roots, you will kill them with a thousand swords and you won't be able to forgive them!"
"Your Majesty, it's not that fragile..." Li Qinzai explained with a wry smile.
"That's not possible! The yield per mu is five thousand kilograms. It is my treasure, the treasure of the Tang Dynasty! I can't wait to enshrine it in the Ancestral Temple, so that it can enjoy incense for generations to come."
Caressing the sweet potato in his hand lovingly, Li Qinzai's eyes were as tender as water, as if he were treating an older mature lover with tenderness, and his expression was particularly scary.
"Jingchu, does it really have such a high yield per mu? Are you sure?" Li Zhi asked still anxiously.
"I'm sure, and it's only high, not low." Li Qinzai said with certainty.
Li Zhi took a long breath and said: "If this is true, Jingchu's contribution to the country... I can't even estimate it. The blessings of thousands of generations are all given by Jingchu."
"Jingchu, you have accumulated great merit, I... don't know how to reward you," Li Zhi's eyes were red for some reason, and his tone was a little trembling.
"With this thing, I am worthy of the people of the Tang Dynasty and the country that the late emperor built. Since I came to the throne, everyone in the court has compared me with the late emperor. In their mouths, I am not as good as the late emperor in every way, saying that I am a mediocre and cowardly king." , Unfaithful is my father, the late emperor entrusted me with the country, I really don’t know the good or bad..."
"Over the years, I have worked hard to govern, never slacking off, and never doing anything foolish, just to silence the world. But after more than ten years since I ascended the throne, the world is still criticizing me. I often have nightmares and have trouble sleeping and eating. install."
Patting Li Qinzai's shoulder heavily, Li Zhi said movedly: "Fortunate to have you, Jingchu, lucky to have you."
"Those things you made for me, including military divine arm bows, horseshoes, gunpowder, three-eyed muskets, civilian pulleys, hydraulic presses, etc., when the king's army marched eastward to Baekje, you wiped out the Japanese country, and you were sent as an envoy to the northwest. You collected Tuyuhun from me..."
"Today, you have brought me new grains with a yield of five thousand kilograms per mu. From now on, the people of the Tang Dynasty will no longer have to worry about hunger, and they will be able to survive the disaster years calmly. I, Li Tang, will at least continue to have a great country. Hundreds of years."
The more Li Zhi talked, the more excited he became: "If you don't say it, you won't feel it. If you count Jingchu's contributions in detail, there are so many that you can't even describe them in a few words... Jingchu, you are the auspiciousness given to me by God. Fortunately, I have you, fortunately I have you!" "
Li Qinzai said with shame: "Your Majesty is ridiculous. I am just doing my duty. Many things are just done casually. They are not as great as Your Majesty said."
Li Zhi shook his head: "Don't be humble, Jingchu. I am not flattering you. You are indeed capable..."
"The merit of discovering new grains is as high as the sky, how can you not reward me? I have decided to make you the Duke of the County..."
Before he finished speaking, Li Qinzai's eyelids twitched and he said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, wait a minute, you must not!"
"Why?"
"Your Majesty has promoted me to the title of County Marquis. It has only been less than a month, and you have immediately promoted me to the title of Duke. Not to mention the people in the world are criticizing me. I cannot accept being accused by thousands of people. Please take back my order."
Li Zhi said displeasedly: "You have truly made the merits. If the courtiers object, ask them to give me the merits and see. I reward merits and punish delinquencies. How can I do anything wrong?"
Li Qinzai smiled bitterly and said: "Your Majesty, although the new grain seeds have been obtained, we have not seen the actual harvest yet. How about planting them first, and when the actual harvest comes after autumn, how about your Majesty rewarding me?"
Li Zhi was stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly and said: "Yes, I was anxious. Jingchu said that the yield per mu was five thousand catties. I had no doubts and thought that five thousand catties had been buried in the ground, haha."
"Okay, just plant it, and I will reward you after the harvest comes out in autumn. Where does Jingchu think it is appropriate to plant this new grain?"
Li Qinzai pondered for a while and said: "Why don't you plant it in Ganjingzhuang? I will take care of it day and night so that there will be no mistakes. Of course, the news of the new grain seeds cannot be hidden from anyone. We must also beware of thieves who covet it. We still need to strengthen the vigilance around Ganjingzhuang." OK."
Li Zhi nodded and said: "What Jingchu said makes sense, and as Yi Er said, you can find a good field in Zhuangzi to plant it. Spring has just begun and it's time for the season. I will dispatch three thousand troops from Jinwu Guard to outside Zhuangzi." Stand guard and surround that fertile land so that not a single bird can fly in."
(End of chapter)
