The Tragedy Triggered by Potatoes
Yun Yan saw Zhuang San stop, and he was still regretful of his own image for drooling. A good nobleman, a good seventh-rank official, now completely lost his dignity, despite the fact that on the official nameplate it was written: Yun Yan, male, 15 years old, white face without mustache, over six feet tall, no disability, no birthmark, from a certain year and month in Chang'an, serving as the main secretary of the Lan Prefecture's Zhēn Chōng Fǔ, specially announcing his identity. At first glance, it seemed that any 15-year-old man could impersonate this Yun surname's main secretary. Niu Jin Da even extorted the remaining red oil from him, saying it was a hardship fee for writing the nameplate, and looking at the twisted and crooked characters, Yun Yan couldn't help but feel that his official seal looked fake.
Tell this doubt to Cheng Chumou, this guy grinned and took back his own notice to show Yunyan. It turned out that except for the name, place of origin, age, and official position, the other descriptions were exactly the same as his own. Moreover, the words were equally ugly. At a glance, it was clear that they came from the hand of Niu Dajie. Cheng Chumou pointed to the lower part of the official notice and told Yunyan that there were three blank notices with the seal of the Ministry of War, which would take effect as soon as the name was filled in, as long as it was below the seventh rank. It's just that afterwards, they will be sent to the Ministry of Households for archiving. Therefore, Yunyan has indeed become a seventh-rank official of the Great Tang Dynasty, equivalent to a deputy department-level official in later generations.
At this time, the Tang Dynasty had also introduced civil service examinations, but they were still limited to a small range of officials. Most low-ranking officials still relied on recommendations from high-ranking officials in the court, such as Cheng Yaojin. If two high-ranking officials recommended someone, it was considered a great honor. The new jinshi (advanced scholar) of the Tang Dynasty only started at the seventh rank, and because of the Tang's emphasis on martial prowess over literary talent, Yun's seventh rank was even more exceptional. This was mainly because there was a clear dividing line between commoners and scholars, with one group being on solid ground and the other in heaven.
Yun Ye is now very aristocratic, and Zhuang San has been kneeling in front of him for a long time, able to remain calm and composed, without changing his expression. He no longer appears flustered as he did when he first arrived in the Tang Dynasty. Others may go back in time and influence ancient people, but he himself has gone back in time and is being influenced by them - it's hard to say whether this is progress or decline. Anyway, for now, he is still enjoying the sense of success that comes with being worshiped. With great difficulty, Yun Ye finally managed to get Zhuang San to stand up, which also required a lot of effort to stop himself from being worshiped. He decided to do less of this in the future. Afraid that Zhuang San would continue kneeling, he asked in his most gentle voice: "Is your injury all healed? Is everything alright?"
Zhuang San stopped and bowed his head to reply: "Thanks to your good fortune, Master, I am unharmed. Thank you for saving my life, sir. If you need me in the future, I will certainly repay your kindness with my life."
"Heh heh, as long as you're unharmed, a loyal and righteous person will naturally have good fortune. This is also the reward for your good deed of sacrificing yourself to save others. Don't thank me, instead I should be thanking you for saving Chu Mo. Have you been taking care of these potato sprouts all this time?"
"Yes, I'm afraid the young master is very particular about these seedlings and is worried that others might not take good care of them. Since I had some free time and also come from a farming family, I took it upon myself to take on the responsibility of caring for the seedlings. Please forgive me, sir."
"Old Zhang, you don't know, even the rough and uneducated soldiers in the army don't understand what this is all about. As a farmer's son, you should understand what a new crop means to farmers. This thing is called potato, it grows in sandy soil, drought-resistant, and has an astonishing yield per mu. I've heard that in other regions, the yield can reach as high as 15 dan per mu. It's also durable for storage, if stored properly after harvest, it won't spoil until next year. It's suitable for both dishes and staple food. Even poor families who can't afford grain can survive on potatoes alone. Now do you understand why I'm so particular about these five large jars?"
Yun Yan finished speaking and found no response, looked up to see Zhuang San's mouth agape, his eyes without any focus, the whole person in a daze. He couldn't help but smile, thinking that even if it were Li Er, he wouldn't be much better than Old Zhuang right now. Just as he was feeling pleased with himself, two large hands grasped his shoulders and lifted him up, turning his head to see that the pavilion outside was packed with people, tall and short, old and young, all staring at him with bloodshot eyes, more terrifying than the wolves on the barren plain. Niu Jin Da held Yun Yan's body and shook like he had malaria. It took half a day for Old Cow to spit out a few words: "Youngster, is this true?" His eyes were half hopeful, half pleading as he stared at Yun Yan.
"Uncle Niu, can you please put down your nephew first before answering your question? Your nephew is almost being squeezed to death." Yun Ye seemed to hear his own shoulder blades cracking.
"Don't let you, answer now, dare to deceive Lao Fu, Lao Fu will tear you apart." Old Niu fell into a state of frenzy, Yun Ye only needed to say one wrong word, and this old fellow might really tear himself apart. He didn't dare to follow the example of Yuwen Chengdu, so Yun Ye hastily said: "Uncle Niu, when I crawled out of the water, my teacher's precious calligraphy and paintings were all thrown away, but I only held onto a few potatoes. In the wilderness, I was starving to death but didn't dare eat them. Do you think I would talk nonsense?"
"Why, why did you not bring this thing out thirty years ago? Do you know how my parents, brothers and sisters died? They starved to death! Why are you bringing out such a treasure now? What's the point of being a high-ranking official if you can just watch others' families starve to death? You only care about getting rich yourself and don't care about others' lives or deaths. What right do you have?"
Niú Jìndá was furious, his eyes brimming with tears, as he grabbed Yún Yè's arms and shook him back and forth, as if Yún Yè was the one responsible for the death of his entire family. But Yún Yè remained calm, seeing the pain in Niú Jìndá's eyes, a pain that came from hearing about a kind of grain that could easily bring warmth and fullness to people, but also reminded him of the tragic deaths of his parents and siblings who had starved to death. His emotions were stirred up, and he needed to vent them out. Yún Yè didn't mind letting Niú Jìndá use him as an outlet for his emotions, as long as it didn't harm himself.
How did Zheng Zhuo Mo make the old cow let go. A giant palm struck the side of Niu Jin Da's neck, and the old cow fell softly to the ground. Cheng Yao Jin appeared with a dark face, it was his elder who knocked down Niu Jin Da, he also saw that the old cow had fallen into a frenzy and was afraid that Yun Ye would be injured, so he decisively knocked out Niu Jin Da. Yun Ye also sat softly on the ground, her two arms hanging limply by her side, unable to exert any strength. Cheng Yao Jin tore open Yun Ye's clothes and took a deep breath, only to see two dark purple handprints on Yun Ye's white shoulders, clearly visible.
"Little nephew is fine, Uncle doesn't need to worry, just shoulder hurts badly, hands can't exert force, resting for two days will be fine. Niu Shu's spirit is stirred up, great sorrow hurts the heart and needs good care, must not be careless." Yun Ye said with a smile to Old Cheng.
"You young man, with a big heart, in the face of life and death, you can still remain calm, and yet you're concerned about Old Niu. If you don't make a name for yourself in the future, it would be a travesty." Old Cheng was delighted to see Yun Yan's behavior and turned to scold the surrounding officers: "Old Niu has a quick temper, when he gets angry, he can't control himself. You've been working together for years, don't you know how to advise him? Have all these years of food gone to waste? If I hadn't arrived, Yun might have died, and as military leaders, you don't even know how to adapt. Each of you will receive 20 military lashes, and if this happens again, the punishment will be doubled."
The officers bowed their heads to accept the order, and then made a fist at Yun Ye to apologize. Yun Ye smiled bitterly and said to everyone: "Originally it was a happy event, but this kid's nonsense has caused you all to be punished. When Yun Ye is injured, he will cook a pot of meat to apologize to his uncles, brothers and elders."
