Chapter Twenty-Two: Returning with the Martial Emperor

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Liu Che and Liu Bei continued their conversation for a while longer. Although Liu Che kept nodding throughout, the expression on his face revealed that he did not particularly approve of his descendant’s way of conducting himself.

Afterward, the two rose and approached Zhang Bo, who was watching Zhuge Liang converse with Wei Qing and Huo Qubing.

“Zhongqing, Qubing, we shall pay a visit to the Eastern Han later.”

As the emperor of the Great Han, Liu Che had not only come to see what the dynasty would be like three hundred years after his own era, but also to verify the shopkeeper’s claims from another angle.

Were their lifespans truly as the shopkeeper had said?

Since this so-called Eastern Han existed three hundred years after the Western Han, there ought to be historical records documenting its entire history.

Nearby, Liu Ju wore an expression of barely contained excitement.

Going to the Han dynasty meant that he would not have to study with Grand Tutor Shi Qing.

Seeing his son’s delighted expression, Liu Che’s long, narrow brows drew together.

He could not help recalling how, after returning to the Great Han that day, he had asked Crown Prince Liu Ju how many years remained to him. His own son had refused to say a word, no matter what.

At that moment, Liu Che made up his mind.

“Shopkeeper, do you have any method for learning the written language of later generations?”

Liu Che’s idea was simple.

He intended to learn the new script so that he could thoroughly understand what had happened in the thousand years after the Great Han, without having to entrust the contents of history books to anyone else.

Good grief. One after another, they were all starting to learn simplified characters, were they?

Though, it had been Zhuge Liang who first proposed learning simplified characters.

Zhang Bo turned his gaze toward Zhuge Liang, only to see him take half a step backward.

Kongming, was that half-step backward really necessary?

Of course, Zhang Bo had a fairly good idea of what Zhuge Liang’s movement meant.

He was obviously giving priority to Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che.

“Your Majesty, we do. I shall fetch them for you at once.”

With that, Zhang Bo hurried back inside and brought out a stack of preschool readers.

He himself had used things like these to learn phonetics when he was young. Later, they had been given to Liu Ju. Now it seemed that Liu Che would be using them, and Zhuge Liang would probably need them afterward as well.

The thought of the illustrious Emperor Wu of Han holding a preschool reader and studying it struck Zhang Bo as rather amusing.

Liu Che took the brightly colored preschool reader from Zhang Bo and immediately realized how remarkable it was.

Compared with bamboo slips, it was not only light and convenient but could also record a far greater amount of information.

However, the moment he opened it, Liu Che felt a headache coming on.

Every page was filled with characters whose meaning was incomprehensible.

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“Qubing, give the shopkeeper the gold ingots we brought with us.”

Chezi, you’re being far too polite.

Zhang Bo immediately perked up as he watched Huo Qubing pick up a bundle from the ground nearby.

His attention had been entirely focused on the reunion between grandfather and grandson, so he had completely failed to notice that Huo Qubing had brought along such a large package.

Huo Qubing opened the bundle on the stone table, and a dazzling golden light made Zhang Bo’s eyes ache.

Zhang Bo swallowed involuntarily.

In all his life, he had never seen so much gold.

With trembling hands, he picked up one of the gold ingots and examined it carefully.

He soon discovered that there was a serious problem with them.

They bore inscriptions.

Oh, no.

Zhang Bo could easily imagine that if he really took these gold ingots to market, he would probably spend the rest of his life working a sewing machine in prison.

“Shopkeeper, here are ten gold ingots. Would they be enough to purchase seeds for five hundred mu of land?”

“Er… Your Majesty, that should be enough. But may I make one request?”

“Go ahead, shopkeeper.”

Liu Che was in a good mood at the moment, so he was inclined to agree to Zhang Bo’s request if possible.

“Could Your Majesty have these gold ingots melted down and recast into tiny gold beads, each about the size of a bean?”

The gold ingots were simply too conspicuous. Gold beads would be easier to conceal and much easier to sell.

Although he did not understand why Zhang Bo would make such a request, Liu Che still nodded in agreement.

After all, he would not have to do the work himself.

“Your Majesty, I have already purchased a batch of seeds. Would you like to take a look first?”

“Oh? The shopkeeper has already bought them? Bring them over quickly.”

Liu Che immediately became interested.

He could hardly wait to see what the legendary seeds capable of producing a thousand jin per mu actually looked like.

As he watched Zhang Bo walk away, Liu Bei asked, “Your Majesty, what sort of seeds are they?”

He too was curious to know what kind of seeds could arouse such interest in Liu Che.

“The shopkeeper hasn’t told you? They are seeds that can produce a thousand jin per mu.”

A thousand jin per mu!

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Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang instantly revealed looks of utter astonishment.

In that moment, both of them understood what this meant.

A yield of a thousand jin per mu meant abundant grain and fodder. With sufficient provisions, there would be no need to worry about a shortage of soldiers.

“Hey, don’t just stand there. Come give me a hand.”

Zhang Bo’s voice reached everyone’s ears.

Wei Qing, Huo Qubing, and Liu Bei immediately hurried over.

With their help, Zhang Bo managed to haul a large snakeskin sack onto the table, then plunged his hand inside and began rummaging around.

“This is wheat, suitable for planting in the north. This is hybrid rice, suitable for the south, but hybrid rice can only be planted once, so more seeds will have to be purchased afterward. This is corn; it can be planted anywhere with a suitable temperature. Potatoes and sweet potatoes are easy to grow and produce enormous yields, but they cannot be planted continuously, or there is a risk of damaging the soil.

“All the crops I have mentioned can be sown in spring, around April or May. As for the specific precautions, I’ll write them down later and give them to Little Ju.

“Of course, I’ll also purchase a batch of fertilizer to be used together with these seeds.”

As Zhang Bo explained, everyone took one brightly packaged bag of seeds after another from his hands.

The vivid illustrations of the mature crops on the packaging elicited exclamations of wonder from everyone present.

“Shopkeeper, how much do these seeds cost?” Liu Bei asked.

“Eight hundred mu for one gold ingot—er, it should be fifty gold beads now. That works out to about one gold bead per mu.”

Liu Bei gave a slight nod.

Although the price seemed somewhat high, when one considered the astonishing yield, the cost was no longer a problem.

The problem was Liu Bei himself.

It seemed he would have to work hard to earn money and expand his farming operations.

With enough grain, there would be no shortage of soldiers or anything else.

The group continued discussing the crops for a while. When the sun began to slant westward, Liu Bei bade Zhang Bo farewell.

As Zhang Bo watched Liu Bei depart with Liu Che and the others, he suddenly remembered something.

It was something that might not seem particularly important to Liu Bei at present, yet would bring him nothing but benefits.

“Lord Xuande, wait.”

Hearing Zhang Bo call his name, Liu Bei turned around and cupped his hands toward him.

“May I ask what else the shopkeeper requires?”

“Lord Xuande, you are currently in Xinye. Have you ever heard of a boy named Deng Fan, around ten years old? As I recall, he should be living with his mother.”

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