Chapter Twenty-Five: Chang'an
When Yun Ye entered the dreamland again, the Jing Street drum in Chang'an City had stopped beating. The various fang and markets closed their doors, and as the lights of ten thousand families went out one after another, the bustling Chang'an City finally fell into silence.
The Taiji Palace still had lights on, and the eunuchs and palace maids stood silently in the long corridor, listening to the anxious footsteps inside the main hall, exchanging puzzled glances. Usually wise and calm, His Majesty was rarely anxious today, pacing back and forth with an increasingly urgent tone, as if conveying the emperor's extremely frustrated mood. The eunuchs and palace maids stood even more solemnly, their breathing quieter than before. A string of lanterns wound its way to the entrance, and a smile appeared on the face of the yellow-clad eunuch standing in front of the palace gate, as if the stagnant air in his chest had dissipated instantly. He stepped forward two steps, bowed down: "Welcome, Your Majesty the Empress." A beautifully dressed woman in palace attire lightly swung her sleeves, and the eunuch stood up to stand beside her. "Has His Majesty not retired for the night yet?"
"Going back to what you said, Your Majesty has been in the palace since receiving the urgent report from Duke Lu and hasn't retired for the night yet."
After dismissing the crowd, the beautifully dressed woman entered the grand hall alone and saw that the Emperor was still pacing back and forth. Just as she was about to speak, she heard the Emperor say: "Guanyin, you said that in this world there is really grain that produces fifteen stones per mu? If it's true, what does it look like?"
The queen covered her mouth and smiled lightly: "Is the second prince still worried about the locust disaster in Lingzhou? I have already streamlined the internal affairs of the palace, and I should be able to save two thousand guan. Although it's just a drop in the bucket, it's also doing my part."
The Emperor looked at the Empress and smiled, saying: "Do you think I'm dreaming? Cheng Zhijie rushed to report three hundred miles away, speaking with certainty. Niu Jinda led a team of one hundred cavalrymen to secretly report that this matter is indeed true. The five original species have been personally taken care of by him, and in just over a month, they can be harvested. This treasure is called 'tudou' (potato). I really don't understand why such a precious thing has such an unusual name. I've never heard of it before. Has Guanyin's maid ever read about this thing?"
After finishing speaking, he handed the memorial to the Empress.
The bewildered Empress took the memorial and carefully read it. After a moment, she finished reading and placed the memorial on the table, murmuring: "Is there really such food? Fifteen shi (a unit of measurement) per mu (a unit of area)? Can it be planted in barren land? Second Brother, I'm feeling dizzy."
Li, the Emperor, helped the Empress sit down and knocked on the table, saying one word at a time: "Although Cheng Zhi is rough, he has always been loyal and true to his words. He won't speak nonsense. Niu Jinda is meticulous and has made great vows in the past, willing to sacrifice himself for the people. Such a loyal and honest official wouldn't speak of such astonishing things without being at least 80% certain. Let's wait for over a month, and everything will be clear. I'm eagerly waiting. Ping'an County Magistrate said he wants to sell this thing to me. If it can really produce fifteen shi per mu, or even eight shi, I'll make him happy with the treasures from the inner palace. But if it's just an empty joy, I won't forgive him lightly."
"Your Majesty, who is Ping An County's male? What does he have to do with this now?" The Empress heard the name for the first time.
"This son, surnamed Yun, named Yan, 15 years old, is an extraordinary young man. He was born in Longyou and has mastered the art of salt production. Currently serving as a secretary in the Lanzhou Zhenxiong Prefecture's military affairs department, with a rank of seventh grade. I have observed that he has alleviated the suffering of the people of Longyou due to the lack of salt, and therefore grant him the title of Ping'an County Duke."
"It was he who presented the method of extracting edible salt from salt brine. The other day, my elder brother came home and told me about this matter, saying that Cheng Zhi-jie exchanged 500 catties of salt for his 50 fine horses, which is simply outrageous and infuriating. I will definitely get it back when I have the chance. My elder brother was extorted by someone for the first time, and he was very indignant." He burst out laughing after finishing speaking.
"Huang Zhi'en is Liu Huai's proud disciple, and in the field of mathematics, there are few who can rival him. However, he was defeated by this young man with just a few words, and the two diagrams made Huang Zhi'en calculate all night under the lamp. From then on, whenever he mentioned this young man, he would call him his master. It can be seen that Yun Ye's son has real talent, and his teacher must be a great wise man of our time. I look forward to him giving me another huge surprise."
Here is the translation:
"Such a wise man would not speak nonsense, and hearing Your Majesty say so, I also somewhat believe that there really is grain that can produce fifteen stones per mu. However, it's already late at night, and Your Majesty should also retire for the day. Tomorrow is an early court session, so it's only proper to rest early." The emperor and empress were just about to go to bed together when a long, urgent report suddenly startled the entire palace. For a moment, the palace was brightly lit, and the already locked gates were thrown open. A eunuch held a package with three red-dyed chicken feathers on it - this was the famous Hongling Express Report, which required immediate delivery to the emperor within 800 li, regardless of whether it was daytime or nighttime. Behind the eunuch, a disheveled knight was hastily escorted by the Imperial Guard as they rushed towards the Taiji Palace. Emperor Li had already taken his seat on the throne and heard that it was an urgent report from the Left Wuwei Army, which made him feel anxious. Since there were no battles to be fought in the Left Wuwei Army, this must not have anything to do with military affairs - then it must certainly be about that high-yielding grain! Emperor Li couldn't help but clench his fists tightly as he eagerly awaited the arrival of the report.
The little eunuchs handed the package to the inner attendant in front of the temple, who opened it and took out a wooden box. A strange dagger lay inside, shining coldly in the candlelight, and at first glance, you could tell it was a deadly weapon. Just as they were hesitating about whether to present it to the emperor, they saw the emperor had already stepped down from his throne and walked up to them in three or two steps. He picked up the strange dagger in one swift motion, grasped it in his hand, and felt it fit perfectly. With a flick of his wrist, he spun the knife around twice, then turned it over and stabbed it into the red wooden pillar inside the temple with a soft "whoosh" sound, sinking halfway into the wood. Emperor Li was startled and exclaimed, pulling out the military dagger and holding it upside down in his hand, asking in a deep voice, "What is the urgent report from Hongyun?" The inner attendant hastily presented it to him. After carefully examining the fire seal and finding it intact, Emperor Li used the dagger in his hand to pry open the envelope, pulled out the memorial, and read it carefully.
After reading the memorial, he remained silent for a long time. Empress Longsun entered with a bowl of lotus seed porridge and sat down quietly beside him, seeing that the Emperor had fallen into deep thought again. The Emperor spoke to the Empress in a low voice: "Cheng Zhijie and Niu Jinda have jointly submitted a memorial requesting heavy rewards for Yunyan because they have obtained the technique of refining steel from Yunyan. The three of them can produce 100 jin of refined steel per day, and they presented this son with a personally crafted sharp blade, which I just tried out and found to be incredibly powerful, truly the best blade for close combat. The imperial armory produces no more than 4,000 jin of refined steel per year, which is the maximum output of nearly 500 skilled craftsmen. Now someone can produce 100 jin in a day with just three people, I believe this is still their conservative estimate. Cheng Zhijie has also obtained a set of martial arts training techniques and has already selected 100 people to start experimenting. Am I dreaming?
"This child's origins have now been investigated, and it turns out that he is a member of the Long'an Yun family, who have lived in Lantian for generations. The ancestral temple still exists, but unfortunately, all the male members of the family were killed or injured in the rebellion during the previous dynasty, leaving only over 40 women and children behind, struggling to make ends meet. Now I understand why this child wanted to do business with me - it's actually because he wants to revive his family's fortunes. However, what he said is also true: 'A rare treasure is hard to keep without good deeds' - a truly remarkable thing."
