Volume 1 Princess Taiping Grows Up Chapter 54: Blessings of the Tang Dynasty
Wang Xiang is Fulai's nephew. He has studied for a few years and originally wanted to get an official position through the imperial examination, but he couldn't even pass the test. So he ran to the foot of the imperial city and looked for a job from his uncle.
It just so happened that Li Yuechen was about to open a shop and was in need of an accountant.
You don't need a high level of education, just being able to read and do math will do.
After giving his nephew some serious instructions, Fulai got up and returned to the palace.
On the other side, Li Yuechen in the palace was thinking and writing something on paper.
Egg white, cucumber, flour, honey...what else?
Li Yuechen scratched his hair while thinking, and patted his head with his hand from time to time, trying to awaken the fragmentary memories.
But are there really cucumbers in this?
After thinking carefully about some TV dramas I have watched before, it seems that this thing was used directly.
After thinking for a while, Li Yuechen waved and called Xiao He over: "It's the season for cucumbers to ripen, right? Ask the Shangshi Bureau to bring a cucumber and cut it into slices and bring it over."
“Yes!”
Xiao He agreed and did it immediately.
Li Yuechen continued writing on the paper, thinking about how to make the primitive facial mask.
About twenty minutes later, Xiao He came over with a bowl of sliced cucumber.
This thing was originally called Hugua, but it was renamed cucumber during the reign of Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty, and this name continued to be used for more than a thousand years.
However, the cucumbers at this stage are not as big as they will be in the future, but are relatively smaller.
After washing her face, Li Yuechen lay down on her rocking chair and began to put the cucumber slices in her hand on her face.
Xiao He, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but ask after seeing this: "What is your highness doing?"
"It's okay, go and do your own thing." Li Yuechen waved his hand.
Xiao He agreed blankly and went out with a strange look on her face.
As I walked, I thought to myself, could it be that His Highness has been possessed by an evil spirit?
Of course, I only dared to imagine this in my mind, and I would never dare to say it out loud.
After a while, Shangguan Wan'er, who had finished reading, came in. Seeing Li Yuechen lying in a rocking chair in a daze with cucumber slices on his face, she walked over with some curiosity.
She didn't say anything, but just stood next to the rocking chair, tilting her head and staring with curiosity.
Li Yuechen's dark eyes moved slightly: "Why are you staring at me?"
"I'm just curious as to why Your Highness wants to put cucumbers on his face?" Shangguan Wan'er replied.
"You don't understand, this is all for maintenance." As he said that, Li Yuechen took a piece of cucumber off his forehead and put it into his mouth.
While chewing, he was thinking about how effective this method would be if it were presented to Wu Zetian.
If you think about it carefully, this method is too simple after all. Let's first figure out how to make a facial mask.
If that doesn’t work, just mix some egg white, honey or something like that.
Anyway, even if this kind of edible stuff doesn't really have any skin care effects when applied on the face, it will definitely not be any worse.
Thinking of this, Li Yuechen took another piece of cucumber and put it in his mouth.
…
After two days, Li Yuechen thought the fertilizer should be ready and wanted to go take a look.
So he directly called Fulai and Xiaohe to go outside the city with him to look for fertilizer.
When Shangguan Wan'er heard that Li Yuechen was going to leave the palace, she ran over and stared at her without saying a word.
Li Yuechen smiled and touched her head: "I'm leaving the palace today to look at the fertilizer. It smells terrible, so I won't take you with me."
"Yes..." Shangguan Wan'er agreed, looking a little disappointed.
Hearing that they were going out of the city, the Jinwu Guards did not change into casual clothes this time. Instead, they followed the carriage fully armed all the way out of the palace and headed to the village outside the city.
Along the way, Li Yuechen, who felt bored, came out of the carriage and sat on the frame with the captain who was in charge of driving to look at the scenery along the way.
Even though the road had been repaired and was relatively smooth, the carriage was still shaky.
Li Yuechen looked down and pondered the possibility of making shock absorbers in this era.
To put it simply, a shock absorber is just two springs.
But in reality it is a very troublesome thing. When she used to ride an off-road motorcycle, it took her a long time to adjust the shock absorbers.
Not to mention that whether the quality of steel in this era meets the standards is a big problem.
Of course, there is another way, which is to stack steel plates to make leaf springs, but the shock absorption effect of this is definitely not as good as that of coil springs.
The carriage she is riding in is pretty good. After all, it is for members of the royal family. You can put some silk or leather under your butt to reduce shock, but the effect... those who understand will understand.
Because this time they were going out of the city, for convenience, except for the captain who was responsible for driving, everyone else rode horses around them.
Li Yuechen also wanted to try it, but considering her current height...she shook her head.
She can ride a horse, and not only that, she can ride quite well.
This is all thanks to my ex-girlfriend whose family runs a horse farm and is also an equestrian coach.
As an extreme athlete, Li Yuechen’s circle of friends used to be mostly high-level players of various sports, and his ex-girlfriend was one of them.
The reason for the breakup was very simple. The other party hoped that she could stay in Europe and run his family farm together.
But Li Yuechen couldn't stand that kind of idyllic life and finally chose to leave.
Thinking about it now, I can’t help but feel a little emotional.
Li Yuechen, who wanted to find a topic to talk about, turned around and asked the captain who was driving: "Have you married yet?"
"Your Highness, they are married and their son is five years old now." The captain replied respectfully.
Li Yuechen nodded. The other party was serving in the army here and already had a wife and children at home, so he still had concerns.
It seems that no matter what era, being a soldier has never been easy!
Thinking of this, she smiled and said, "It's not easy for you Jinwu Guards either..."
The captain had an awkward look on his face: "Your Highness, we are... not the Jinwu Guards, but the Gate Guards."
"Huh?" Li Yuechen was slightly stunned, as if he was a little unable to react.
When she was a child, she heard Fu Lai talk about the Jinwu Guards once, so Li Yuechen always thought that the Jinwu Guards were responsible for protecting her. But why did a gate guard appear today?
Showing the embarrassment on his face, Li Yuechen asked casually, "Is there any difference between the Gate Guards and the Jinwu Guards?"
The other party nodded and gave a quick explanation.
After listening to this, Li Yuechen nodded, realizing that he had been doing it wrong all along.
She used to think that the ones around the emperor were the Qianniu Guards, and the others were the Jinwu Guards. It was only through the captain's explanation that she realized that there were a total of sixteen guards responsible for protecting the imperial city.
Because their troops were stationed in the south of Chang'an City, they were also called the Sixteen Guards of the Southern Court.
The Jinwu Guard is naturally one of them, but among these sixteen guards, four are different.
There are four guards in total, including the Left and Right Gate Guards and the Left and Right Thousand Bullies. They are not palace soldiers but professional soldiers who eat emperor's food and receive salaries.
After listening to his popular science, Li Yuechen finally understood that she had been wrong all along.
The other guards protected the entire capital, while they, the gate guards, were only responsible for the security of the imperial city.
The people responsible for protecting the emperor were the Qianniu Guards, and the emperor's personal bodyguards were called Qianniu Beishen. They were usually the sons of high-ranking officials at the prime minister level, and they had to be legitimate sons, not illegitimate sons.
Qianniu Beishen would carry two swords with him, one for himself to protect the emperor, and the other was the emperor's imperial sword.
If the emperor wanted to give a special order or wanted to kill someone personally, this imperial sword would come in handy.
Speaking of this knife, Li Yuechen has something he wants to complain about.
It was said on the Internet before that the straight Tang sword that looked like a samurai sword was the standard weapon during the Tang Dynasty.
But I have been in the Tang Dynasty for so long and have never seen that thing.
These golden... The swords carried by the gate guards are indeed straight, but it seems that the sword guards and arrowheads have not yet appeared in this era.
Therefore, the knife is usually placed in the scabbard together with the handle. There is a ring behind the handle, which is larger than the opening of the scabbard, which can just prevent the entire knife from entering the scabbard.
One advantage of doing this is that it can prevent the knife from falling out when riding a horse or running, but it may be a little more troublesome to draw the knife.
etc!
Li Yuechen felt that she had caught the blind spot! It hasn't appeared yet, but I can make it appear!
I am a martial artist now, so it is normal for me to invent something like this, right?
Even if it could be equipped to the army and improve its combat effectiveness, it would definitely make Li Zhi and his wife happy.
As long as they are happy, I will be happy too!
Perfect!
Thinking of this, Li Yuechen felt that his mood suddenly became much better. He couldn't help but lean against the door frame of the carriage and hummed softly.
However, the captain next to him reminded him: "Your Highness, it is better to move a little further in. Be careful not to fall down."
"It's okay. With this speed, the fall won't kill anyone!" Li Yuechen waved his hand nonchalantly.
The captain next to him coughed and almost choked himself.
Your Highness is really careless. Is this a question of whether he will die from the fall? I can't afford even a slight fall!
In desperation, he could only pay some attention to Li Yuechen to prevent her from suddenly slipping, and he drove a little slower.
…
About an hour later, they arrived at a village outside Luoyang city.
When the villagers here saw a group of fully armed soldiers rushing in, they habitually took a few steps back, but there was not much fear on their faces.
On the way, I heard Fu say that this place belonged to the royal family's estate, and I thought they should be used to seeing soldiers.
The carriage slowly stopped, Li Yuechen jumped off the frame, and Fulai and Xiaohe followed closely.
An old man with white hair and wearing coarse linen clothes came over and saluted: "My dear old man, I am honored to meet you..."
"Forget it!" Li Yuechen raised his hand, "Just mind your own business."
The old man bowed slightly and left.
Fulai took Li Yuechen to the back of the village. Before they had completely reached the back, they already smelled the scent of biological weapons.
After dry heaving twice, he endured the smell and continued walking forward.
Behind the village, a conical mound that looked like it was covered in mud was emitting a smell that was enough to keep most creatures away.
Li Yuechen asked someone to bring a hoe, and held his breath to turn over the mud on the surface. After turning it over a few times, he nodded. It looked pretty good.
After leaving the back mountain, Li Yuechen waved to Fulai and said, "Find some containers to take back."
“Yes!”
This fertilizer is similar to what Li Yuechen remembers. As to whether it works or not, we will have to wait until the experiment is over to find out.
When we get back, just put the fertilizer into the soil. As for planting, we can ask the Ministry of Households to send people to help with planting.
As for crops to grow, Li Yuechen would rather grow rice than wheat.
After all, along the Luo River, my small garden should be able to sustain itself.
As long as the experiment is successful, different crops can be planted according to the differences in different places.
In this era, we don’t ask for a thousand kilograms per mu. As long as we can ensure a minimum yield of more than two hundred kilograms per mu, the emperor would wake up laughing in his dreams.
…
On the other hand, Wu Zetian finished dealing with all the memorials early today . After the couple stayed in the Renshou Hall for a while, Li Zhi decided to go see his daughter.
The couple arrived at Anfu Hall, and the palace maids all came out to pay their respects.
However, Xiaohe and Fulai were not there, let alone their daughter.
Li Zhi frowned slightly: "No need to be polite, where is Chen'er?"
Zheng bowed and said, "Your Majesty, His Highness said he was leaving the city today to look at fertilizers."
Hearing the answer, Li Zhi nodded and took the lead to walk into the palace. Since he was here, it might as well stay here for a while.
However, Wu Zetian looked at Shangguan Wan'er, who had grown up a little, standing next to Zheng, tilted her head, and followed Li Zhi in, not knowing what she was thinking.
The two took off their shoes and entered the hall, and saw Li Yuechen's desk at a glance.
There's no way, mainly because it's too messy, with all kinds of scrolls and papers almost filling up the desk.
This table is the most eye-catching scenery in this hall, and it is impossible not to notice it.
"This girl..." Wu Zetian muttered, walked over first, picked up a piece of paper and took a look.
Egg white, honey, cucumber...a bunch of food was written on the paper.
Li Zhi came over to take a look and smiled: "Are you researching some food again?"
As he spoke, he randomly pulled out a piece of paper and started reading it.
Wu Zetian shook her head helplessly: "I really don't know why this girl is so interested in food research."
Li Zhi, who was standing next to her, suddenly handed over the paper in his hand: "Mei Niang, look at this!"
Wu Zetian took it and looked at it, then a look of surprise appeared on her face.
A poem was written on the paper: I hoe the field at noon, and my sweat drips down to the ground. Who knows that every grain of rice on the plate is the result of hard work?
Li Yuechen had indeed forgotten most of the poems she had learned, but she still remembered the ones she had known since childhood, such as "Song of the Peasant" and "Quiet Night Thoughts", more clearly.
Because I’m afraid of forgetting, I’ll occasionally write it down from memory, thinking that it may come in handy someday.
Normally, she would burn these poems directly after writing them, but recently because she had too much to write and was still thinking about facial masks, this poem was put at the bottom and forgotten.
After recovering from her slight surprise, the expression on Wu Zetian's face softened a lot.
Li Zhi sighed, turned his head to look at the sky outside, and murmured to himself: "With the world in mind... Mei Niang, having Chen'er is a blessing for you and me, and also a blessing for the Tang Dynasty!"
Wu Zetian smiled and nodded slightly: "Your Majesty is right!"
