Chapter Ninety-Three: The Goal Ahead

As soon as Princess Xuancheng spoke, the ministers in the front row all drew sharp breaths.

Not only they; even Li Zhi and his wife, who had long been prepared for this outcome, widened their eyes as well.

When the result lay before them, the shock that rose from the depths of the heart still showed plainly on every face.

In this age, at least half the country’s fields yielded fewer than one hundred catties per mu, and even the finest land produced at most around two hundred catties.

Yet the yield from Li Yuechen’s plot, converted to a single mu, had come to nearly three hundred catties, shattering the national record outright.

How could they not be astonished?

Li Zhi even clutched his wife’s hand tightly, and only after taking a couple of deep breaths did he gradually settle himself.

“Good, good...” Li Zhi could not help nodding. Whether from the heat or from excitement, his face had turned somewhat flushed. “Heaven blesses our Great Tang, heaven truly blesses our Great Tang!”

The ministers behind him were all wearing expressions of utter disbelief, their eyes fixed hard on the two baskets of grain before them.

Li Zhi slowly crouched down, reached into the basket, and took a handful of the freshly threshed rice. Then he turned around and said in a resonant voice, “My lords! From this day on, my Great Tang will no longer lack grain!”

“Father, Father, do not be so excited yet!” Li Yuechen called out to interrupt him.

“Hm?” Li Zhi lowered his head. “What more does Chen'er have to say?”

Li Yuechen thought for a moment. “This time it was not only the fertilizer. I also added a great deal of fruit peelings and the like, so the soil became especially rich. That is why the yield was so high. If this method is to be spread widely, various factors may interfere, and at most one can guarantee a yield of a little over one hundred eighty catties per mu...”

“One hundred eighty is already something we would once never have dared imagine!” Li Zhi said with a smile, patting her head.

Then he looked up at the assembled ministers. “What do you say, my lords? Does Chen'er count as a blessing to the Great Tang?”

Liu Ren gui was the first to step forward and bow. “I congratulate Your Majesty! What the Princess has done brings benefit to the present age and profit to all future generations! She is indeed a blessing to the Great Tang!”

The other ministers also voiced their agreement and astonishment one after another. Even the Imperial Censor, who usually existed to oppose the emperor at every turn, did not object this time; instead, he expressed support.

“Your Majesty, this method ought to be spread throughout the realm! In that case, our Great Tang will no longer be so easily troubled by famine!”

Li Zhi nodded, took a deep breath to calm the lingering excitement in his chest, and said with a slight incline of the head, “When this is over, draw up a proper plan.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

“Very well. My lords, follow me into the hall and let us discuss the later arrangements.” Li Zhi waved them on.

The ministers behind him finally recovered from their shock. After bowing, they turned and walked out.

Li Zhi and his wife walked at the end. Just before leaving, he looked back.

He happened to see his daughter making a heart gesture above her head toward him, her body tilted slightly, looking adorable beyond words.

“Heh...” Li Zhi grinned, then glanced around to make sure the ministers were not looking. Secretly, he raised both hands above his head and made a heart gesture as well, before turning and leaving.

Wu Zetian shot him a sidelong glance. “Your Majesty, the ministers are all here. You should still be a little more mindful.”

“It matters not. They did not see!” Li Zhi said with a smile, squeezing his wife’s hand.

...

“Phew——”

Only after everyone had gone did Li Yuechen finally let out a long breath. “At last, they’re gone!”

Princess Yiyang came over and touched her face. “Doesn’t Chen'er usually like liveliness?”

“Liking liveliness depends on where it is,” Li Yuechen said, rolling her neck. “At one’s own residence, it is better to have some peace.”

Shangguan Wan'er peered out from behind the door to make sure everyone had left, then put on her shoes and ran out.

With light, quick steps, her little wooden clogs tapped out a crisp rhythm of clack-clack-clack against the floor.

Only when she reached Li Yuechen did she raise the cup in her hand and say, “Your Highness, have some yogurt.”

“Mm.”

Li Yuechen took it and drained it in one gulp. “I’ll be busy after this.”

“What business?” Princess Xuancheng asked.

“You’ll know in a few days, Elder Sister.”

Now that the grain-yield experiment had succeeded, Li Zhi would certainly choose an opportunity to announce that she was to enter government service.

For the next few days, Li Yuechen decided to do nothing at all. She would simply rest well in Anfu Hall and enjoy life for a while.

When Princess Yiyang had nothing to do, she would play Go with Shangguan Wan'er. After playing too much, the two would occasionally grow bored and call Zheng to join them.

Zheng had once been a noble lady herself, and could be said to have mastered music, strategy, calligraphy, and painting in equal measure.

These past few days, when Li Yuechen had nothing to occupy her, she would also stand by and watch while Zheng taught Shangguan Wan'er to play Go.

Seeing that she seemed somewhat interested, Zheng asked, “Would Your Highness like to try?”

“Then I’ll give it a try.” Li Yuechen was not the sort to fear stepping outside her comfort zone. Though she did not understand the game, she was willing to try.

So Zheng knelt beside them and let her play a game with Shangguan Wan'er.

Before they began, she even used her eyes to signal her daughter to go easy and show some restraint.

Unfortunately, Li Yuechen truly did not understand the game. It was not like chess or other such games. Strictly speaking, there were no fixed rules; one could place a stone wherever one wished.

Even people who did not know chess at all understood that the opening cannon often leads to a knight jump, but Go was different. Because it was so open-ended, one could not immediately tell how to play it.

After less than six moves, Li Yuechen’s black stones had already been boxed in, leaving only two liberties.

After Shangguan Wan'er sealed off one of them, she was about to speak when Li Yuechen cut in.

“I know. The stone you place here becomes yours, right?” Li Yuechen said with a grin, laying down another black stone to connect with the first. “Then I only need to play here first.”

Seeing her move, Shangguan Wan'er gave a light laugh. “Then, Your Highness, if I place another stone here, you will still have only one liberty.”

“Fine, I’ll add another!” Li Yuechen set down another black stone to connect.

Shangguan Wan'er blocked again, and Li Yuechen added another.

Thus they went on, stone after stone. Just as Zheng, standing nearby, could no longer hold back and was about to remind her, Li Yuechen also realized something was wrong.

If this continued, she seemed to be able only to run along a staircase-like route. Once she reached the edge of the board, the final result would still be getting sealed in completely.

“Forget it. As expected, I have no talent for this!” Li Yuechen waved a hand, lost interest, and stood to leave.

She left behind only Shangguan Wan'er, who was laughing softly there, her eyes curved into crescents, her shoulders trembling with stifled amusement.

Zheng lifted a hand toward her daughter and thought to herself: I told you to go easy. Yet look at you—you even had the nerve to seize the Princess’s stones. What boldness!

Li Yuechen did not care in the least. If she could not play, then she simply could not play. There was nothing shameful about that.

She came over to Princess Xuancheng and sat down. “Why is Elder Sister sitting here in a daze?”

“I was only thinking about the matter Chen'er mentioned last time—how one is to calculate things that have no form.”

“Ah...” Li Yuechen scratched her hair. “That is still too profound for Elder Sister. It cannot be thought through.”

Princess Xuancheng seemed somewhat unwilling to give up. “Then how can one prove that a formless thing exists?”

Seeing that look of eager curiosity, Li Yuechen thought for a moment. “How about I explain this to Elder Sister in a few days?”

“Very well...”

She felt that such curiosity ought to be encouraged. It is precisely because people possess curiosity that they keep challenging their limits and society is able to develop.

The next afternoon, Li Yuechen first went to her own glass workshop and had them use the remaining materials to make a transparent cup.

Then she took a simple design sketch to the artisan bureau and had the craftsmen use scraps to make a small cart.

Three days later, the things she had asked for were delivered to Anfu Hall. Li Yuechen examined them and prepared to explain things to Princess Xuancheng.

Princess Yiyang and Shangguan Wan'er also seemed quite interested, gathering around the desk to see what else she had made.

Li Yuechen took out a fire striker, lit a short candle, and said, “People must breathe to live, but this breath, we cannot see or touch, can we?”

The three of them nodded in agreement.

“In fact, fire also needs this breath. If there is only wax or charcoal and the like, but no air, it still cannot burn.” As she spoke, Li Yuechen inverted the cup over the candle.

“When the air in the cup is burned away, the flame will go out!”

The moment she finished speaking, the flame in the cup began to shrink, then little by little it went out, and a wisp of white smoke filled the inside of the cup.

Li Yuechen looked at the three of them. “In this way, can the existence of air be proven?”

The three of them nodded somewhat uncertainly. They could still understand this concept.

In ancient times, people believed that the amount of breath a person could take in during a lifetime was fixed by destiny, and once that breath was exhausted, the person was nearing death.

That was also the origin of the saying that one’s allotted fate had run out.

Seeing that they could understand, Li Yuechen nodded. “Then let us speak of how to prove force.”

With that, she took out the little cart made by the artisans. It was nothing more than a block of wood with four wheels attached by two thin sticks.

Shangguan Wan'er was rather curious. “Your Highness, what is this copper strip for?”

On the axles of the cart’s two rear wheels, Li Yuechen had added a long, thin copper strip wound round and round.

Yes, a spring. In later generations, this was the childhood memory of many children, including Li Yuechen herself.

“I place this little cart on the table, and it will not move by itself.”

As she said this, Li Yuechen reached out, pressed the cart, and pulled it backward, winding the spring tighter and tighter.

“At this moment, my hand uses force to pull it back. As the copper strip tightens, that force is stored within the copper strip.”

“If I now let go, that force will be released, and through the copper strip it will be transmitted to the small wheels, causing it to move forward on its own.”

As soon as the words fell, Li Yuechen released her hand. The cart suddenly shot forward and streaked across the tabletop.

Just as it was about to fall off, Princess Xuancheng reached out and caught it. “I think I understand!”

Li Yuechen smiled and nodded. “And you two?”

Princess Yiyang and Shangguan Wan'er shook their heads.

“Still do not understand?” Li Yuechen was a little helpless. She felt she had already explained it very clearly.

“I understand this part, but...” Shangguan Wan'er thought for a moment. “It still feels as though I do not understand...”

Li Yuechen nodded to show she understood.

After all, when one encounters something entirely new, even the clearest explanation can still leave one feeling dazed. That was understandable.

However, she could not think of any solution to this problem at present, so she could only explain it to them slowly whenever an opportunity arose.

Fortunately, Princess Xuancheng had understood quite a bit. In the future, she ought to be able to think things through on her own.

...

News that the princess had increased grain production quickly set the political world ablaze. At first, it spread only among the high officials, but by the very next day, all of Luoyang’s officials and even many of the nobility knew about it.

Many great ministers thought that this would mean no more worrying about famine relief in the future. Others wondered whether taxes might be raised.

Still others suspected the news might be false...

Three days later, the matter was essentially confirmed as true, and all that remained was to wait for the court’s policy. The emperor had been discussing it with the ministers these past days.

Though the experiment had succeeded, fully spreading it everywhere would take quite some time. It was not something that could begin at once.

Besides, rice had succeeded, but what about wheat and millet? Would they have the same effect?

Or, to think even more broadly, could fruits and other crops also be improved?

For a time, the entire upper class of the eastern capital was discussing this issue. When they attended banquets, the topic was always the same.

Even many people ran to Wang Xiang to probe for information, though in the end they all returned empty-handed.

In Anfu Hall, Li Yuechen sat beneath the Lingbo Pavilion, soaking her two fair little legs in the water and splashing at the surface with her feet.

Fulai stood nearby, reporting the latest information he had obtained from Wang Xiang.

After hearing his report, Li Yuechen suddenly laughed, revealing a row of white teeth.

It had to be said that some people’s sense for these things was truly sharp. The policy had not even officially begun to spread, and they were already thinking about raising taxes or rents.

Yet Li Yuechen’s research into grain was not to fatten their profits. It was to let the common people live a little better.

So at the very least, one thing was certain: Li Yuechen would not permit them to unleash the beast called capitalism in this era.

For the people of this age could not bear its ravages.

Not to mention that slavery still lingered in this era; if capital were allowed to take root, human beings would become cheaper than livestock.

Looking at her clear reflection in the water, Li Yuechen suddenly felt that entering officialdom did not seem like such a bad thing after all.

As a princess, she was born above others. If she were watching over the court, she ought to be able to keep hold of the broad direction.

She did not expect to transform this age into one like the future, but at the very least, she should not allow it to become worse.

Yet to do that meant standing against the entire noble class. That was certainly no good thing.

If there was any advantage at all, it was probably only her identity as a princess of the imperial house.

Thinking of this, Li Yuechen lifted one wet little foot and shook it dry, then turned to put on her clogs and slowly stood up.

Fulai hurriedly reached out to steady her.

Fortunately, the nobles of this era did not yet have a clear concept of capitalism, and Li Yuechen did not plan to reveal her true purpose, so there was no need to worry about conflicts escalating.

Besides, she was only seven years old now. There was still plenty of time.

But considering that her future aims would conflict with the noble class, she ought to prepare now and carefully think through her strategic goals for the future.