After arriving at his office, Li Yuechen looked around and couldn't help shaking his head.
Everything else was fine, but the key point was that the low table was uncomfortable to use, so he waved his hand to Fu Lai and said, "Give me my chairs and high table."
"Yes!" Fu Lai agreed.
"I was originally thinking of making a batch and selling them in the future, what a pity..." Li Yuechen couldn't help but shook his head with a look of regret.
In this age without intellectual property rights, once those tables and chairs are seen, there will definitely be many people who will go back and find ways to make them themselves.
Who in the Tang Dynasty’s officialdom doesn’t know about Princess Taiping’s invention?
Many of the minor officials below hold health balls in their hands every day.
It’s just that most people can’t afford steel or jade, so they use wooden plates, so they don’t mind if they drop it.
Li Yuechen casually opened a scroll and started reading.
The scrolls of this period can be roughly divided into two types.
The first type is to calculate the approximate number of words and write them directly on it.
Another method is to use the scroll as the base paper, and then stick the content written on other papers one by one on the base paper. In this way, you can also turn the pages and read like a book.
Because the paper inside will become curved when the scroll is closed and then opened, as if a gust of wind has blown through it, it is also called "tornado binder".
This is what Li Yuechen has in his hand now.
Not long after, a dozen clerks came to the second floor and saluted outside the door: "Your subordinate greets Your Highness!"
"No need to formality. Come in." Li Yuechen closed the scroll and looked up.
These are the staff responsible for accounting. Some are promoted internally, and some have passed the clear accounting examination.
One of them, who was slightly older and looked to be about fifty years old, asked, "I wonder why His Highness asked me to come here?"
Li Yuechen nodded: "There are many unclear places in these accounts. Although there is no big problem, I still need to pay more attention to it in the future. Take it back."
The dozen people on the opposite side looked at each other, and the old man in the front suddenly bowed and said, "Your Highness, please forgive me for being so bold. These accounts were taken away by this eunuch Fu three days ago. May I ask, Your Highness, is it possible that such a huge account was completely cleared in just three days?"
In fact, it only took two days... Li Yuechen answered in his heart.
But seeing them like this is understandable. On the one hand, the current accounting method is messy, and on the other hand, the computing speed in this era is really not fast enough.
But now Li Yuechen was in no mood to explain so much to them, so he turned around and sat directly on the table.
Li Yuechen crossed her left leg over her right leg and said, "What? Do you suspect that I am teasing you?"
"I dare not, but..."
Li Yuechen raised her hand to interrupt him: "It's okay to question it, why not take it back and calculate it again, and then compare it with the result calculated by me!"
Having said this, the clerks on the opposite side did not say anything else. They picked up the scrolls and left.
Li Yuechen did not hate them for questioning, but rather appreciated them a little.
This era was not like what was shown in TV dramas, where ordinary people would kneel down when they saw members of the royal family.
It is a good thing that subordinates occasionally dare to put forward their own suggestions when talking to their superiors.
Unfortunately, Li Yuechen was in no mood to have a debate with them, so he sent them back to check the information themselves.
Now that the accounting is done, the next step is the most important work.
"Call Shaoqing Si Nong." Li Yuechen waved to Fulai.
“Yes!”
Fu Lai agreed, turned around and left. About five minutes later, he came back with a man in his forties with a small mustache.
"Your humble servant Liu Zihe greets Her Royal Highness the Princess!"
Li Yuechen raised her hand and said, "No need to be polite, Liu Shaoqing. I am studying the issue of grain production, I believe you already know it."
"Yes, I admire you!" Liu Zihe saluted, with a look of admiration on his face, "Such merits..."
"Okay, that's not what I want to say." Li Yuechen raised his hand to interrupt, "Although the experiment was indeed successful, it will take time to promote it nationwide. This requires Liu Shaoqing to do his best. The sooner it can be fully promoted, the sooner the people of the Tang Dynasty will suffer less from famine."
Having said that, he waved his hand, and Fu Lai next to him took out a small scroll from his sleeve and handed it to Liu Zihe.
"This scroll contains the formula and production method of the fertilizer," Li Yuechen explained. "We must find a way to fully promote it as soon as possible. Most people are illiterate, so we need the active cooperation of local governments."
Liu Zihe took it respectfully: "Don't worry, Your Highness, I understand!"
Li Yuechen nodded: "Also, arrange another group of people to prepare to go south."
"Go south?" Liu Zihe looked puzzled. "What do you mean, Your Highness?"
"We will go south to look for wild rice seeds, and also buy some grain rice seeds from the southern countries and bring them back for experiments." Li Yuechen explained, "Fertilizer alone is not enough, grain production may be able to continue to increase!"
Liu Zihe, who was standing opposite him, raised his head in surprise, his eyes sparkling, "Can it be any higher?"
Li Yuechen nodded, "But this still needs research. I don't know how long it will take. For now, we can only take it step by step."
Liu Zihe stood up and saluted: "I understand! I will arrange for personnel immediately, but this..."
"Don't worry about the funding issue. I will take care of it." Li Yuechen said with a smile.
Having said that, Liu Zihe had nothing to worry about. He immediately bowed and said, "Yes! I'll do it right away!"
…
After solving the problem with the Ministry of Households, Li Yuechen did not stay here for long and left directly.
He looked up and saw that it was still early, so he ran to Renshou Hall.
Today was a rare day. Wu Zetian had finished reviewing the memorials early and was playing backgammon with Li Zhi.
Li Zhi seemed to have won a lot and couldn't hide the smile on his face.
Seeing her daughter coming over, she waved happily: "Come here, Chen'er, I won a lot today!"
Li Yuechen ran over and gave him a hug: "Grandpa is so awesome!"
Then he ran over to add water to the two people's tea cups, and then ran behind Wu Zetian to massage her shoulders.
Wu Zetian was very happy with her daughter's massage. She closed her eyes and enjoyed it for a while. Then she asked, "How is the Ministry of Revenue? Is anyone giving you a hard time?"
"Don't worry, mother. After all, I am a princess of the Tang Dynasty. Even if they feel uncomfortable, they have to keep it to themselves." Li Yuechen said with a smile.
"Well, no matter whether they like you or not, you represent the face of the royal family and you must not let anyone bully you!" Wu Zetian nodded, "I believe you are confident in this!"
Li Yuechen smiled proudly: "That's right! Don't you see whose daughter I am!"
As he said this, he kissed his mother on the cheek.
"Hmph..." Wu Zetian grinned, sat up straight and waved her hand, "No more playing, let's talk about it next time."
Li Zhi on the opposite side grabbed his health ball and rolled it up: "Is Mei Niang going to cheat?"
"I admit defeat." Wu Zetian smiled and picked up the teacup and took a few sips.
Li Zhi didn't care too much, he just lay in the rocking chair and rocked gently: "Chen'er, is there any trouble?"
"Not really." Li Yuechen said while massaging her mother, "But I hope Grandpa can grant me a piece of land at the Royal Farm outside the city for future experiments."
"Hasn't this experiment been successful?" Li Zhi asked.
Li Yuechen patted her mother's shoulder, came behind Li Zhi and massaged his head again: "It really worked this time, but why not go one step further? The current output is close to 300 kilograms, why can't we find a way to increase it to 400, 600 or even 1,000 kilograms?"
"Wow! Chen'er is really bold!" Li Zhi couldn't help but praise him. He had never dreamed of achieving a yield of four or five hundred kilograms per mu.
"This kind of research may take a lot of time, and may not even be accomplished in a lifetime, but I still want to try." Li Yuechen continued, "As long as my Tang Dynasty is no longer short of food, at least half of the problem can be solved."
Li Zhi nodded in agreement: "Okay, I'll give you 100 acres. Is that enough?"
"Enough, but we still need some manpower. In case there are no results during the experiment, I have to make sure they are well fed." Li Yuechen rested her chin on his shoulder and smiled cutely.
Li Zhi was about to agree to his daughter's behavior, but Wu Zetian suddenly said, "Solve this matter yourself. Your shop is so profitable, can't you afford to support a few people?"
"Um..." Li Yuechen showed a slightly awkward smile, "My child is just thinking about making some money..."
Seeing his daughter's cute look after her plan was exposed, Li Zhi smiled and said, "It's okay, Chen'er, go ahead and do it. I'll give you some money."
Li Yuechen was about to thank him, but was interrupted by Wu Zetian: "No, carving a Buddha statue already requires a lot of money, how can you do this?"
"Buddha statue?" Li Yuechen was stunned. "What do you mean?"
Li Zhi smiled and said, "It's just that I discussed with Mei Niang today that in order to express gratitude and record the merits of the late emperor, we plan to carve a Buddha statue and pray for the late emperor..."
After listening to Li Zhi's explanation, Li Yuechen felt a little familiar.
After thinking about it carefully, I came up with the answer. It should be the Vairocana Buddha in Longmen Grottoes, right? But wasn't that thing built after my mother became emperor?
I have heard of the legend about this Buddha statue before. It seems that the face of this Buddha statue was built based on the appearance of Wu Zetian.
But she is not the emperor yet, she is just a queen.
Not to mention that this was built by my father to express gratitude to the late emperor. No matter how you look at it, it is not up to me to build it according to her face, right?
"Come to think of it, Mei Niang also donated her 20,000 strings of cash for cosmetics." Li Zhi said with a smile.
Li Yuechen raised his head and said, "Since we are here to express our gratitude to the late emperor, I will also donate some money. The income of the store has been relatively stable recently. How about I donate 10,000 strings of cash?"
"No need. I appreciate Chen'er's filial piety." Li Zhi smiled and pinched her cheek. "But since this matter is to express gratitude to the late emperor, it is better for Mei Niang and I to handle it. Chen'er, keep the money for your own experiments."
Wu Zetian nodded and said, "Speaking of which, what do you plan to do with the appearance of this Buddha statue?"
"What does Mei Niang think?"
"In my opinion, it is better to make it according to the appearance of the predecessors and successors. In this way, the names of the predecessors and successors can be passed down forever." Wu Zetian said.
Hearing his wife's suggestion, Li Zhi nodded: "That makes sense. The Buddha statue itself is to commemorate the merits of the previous emperor. It is not biased to use the appearance of the previous and the next. I hope this Buddha statue can be passed down for a thousand years..."
Will do!
Li Yuechen next to him nodded in his heart. People a thousand years later would still be able to see this Buddha statue.
She had never met Empress Changsun, but there was her portrait in the palace.
But Li Yuechen didn’t think that was what she looked like.
Because the paintings of this era are inherently freehand rather than realistic, the portraits are beautified to the maximum to conform to the aesthetic trend, and there is a huge gap between them and the real people.
Not to mention anything else, just the portrait of my father Li Zhi is quite different from the real person. If you don’t know it in advance, it’s hard to think that they are the same person.
Li Yuechen was quite supportive of this matter, because she knew that this Buddha statue would be passed down and become a valuable cultural heritage thousands of years later.
…
After coming out of Renshou Hall, Li Yuechen returned to Anfu Hall to think about the next plan.
The work at the Ministry of Revenue is actually not difficult. You just have to be an accountant and do some calculations every month, and your main focus should be on grain production.
Apart from that, she doesn't need to worry about other things, as others will naturally solve them.
Before he could go back, he happened to meet a young eunuch on the road. He came over to greet him and said, " Your Highness, the craftsman supervisor asked me to tell you that the telescope you wanted is ready."
"Okay, got it." Li Yuechen waved his hand, turned around and walked towards the craftsman supervisor.
Since the prism had been made last time, Li Yuechen asked the carpenters of the craftsmanship supervisor to help her make binoculars.
After giving them the design drawings, she let them figure it out on their own. Since she couldn't remember the exact details, she could only ask them to make adjustments bit by bit.
Now that people have been sent here, some results have been achieved.
Li Yuechen was in a good mood. If she presented the binoculars to Li Zhi, she should be able to gain more favor from him.
They came to the craftsmanship department with bangs and bangs all the way. The craftsmen immediately took out a pair of wooden binoculars and handed them to him: "Your Highness, please take a look."
I took it and took a look. Apart from the unpainted wooden shell, there was no obvious difference in appearance between it and the future telescope.
I turned around and went outside, looking around, and the effect was indeed good.
Compared with the Porro-type telescope, this roof-type telescope does not have complementary colors, but the visual effect will be more realistic.
This type of device is often used in the military and can display the most realistic situation on the battlefield.
And they are all added with a layer of smooth transparent glass to prevent dust from entering, so it can be said that it is quite perfect.
Li Yuechen nodded: "Okay, now that this thing is completed, you will have made a great contribution! I will report this to the Saint and ask for a reward for you!"
The craftsmen behind him smiled brightly and saluted respectfully: "Thank you, Your Highness!"
"Take it to be painted and maintained first, I'll come back tomorrow." Li Yuechen handed over the telescope and let them complete the final work.