Chapter 53: Old Zhu Visits the Western Han Dynasty

Zhang Bo led Old Zhu into his room, opened the wardrobe, and handed him a set of his own clothes.

Because Zhang Bo usually dressed in a traditional style, his wardrobe naturally contained historical attire.

"Your Majesty, you can go to the restroom to change, and then take a look in the mirror."

Although Old Zhu did not understand the word "restroom," he understood that after putting on the clothes, he could check the effect in a mirror.

"If you encounter anything you don't understand, just call me."

With that, Zhang Bo closed the door for Old Zhu.

Zhu Yuanzhang moved swiftly, changing into the garments in no time.

Feeling the snugness of the clothes against his body and stretching his limbs slightly, Old Zhu wore a look of satisfaction.

Not bad at all.

Recalling the shopkeeper's mention of a mirror to check his appearance, Old Zhu walked into the so-called restroom.

The moment he stepped inside, Old Zhu froze in his tracks.

He saw a mirror.

Unlike the somewhat hazy reflection of a bronze mirror, the mirror before Old Zhu was crystal clear to a degree he had never witnessed, reflecting light brilliantly.

He could not help but lean closer to the mirror, observing a version of himself he had never seen before, filled with immense astonishment.

He could even see the wrinkles on his face within the glass.

This item is magnificent.

If he were to bring this back to Da Ming for his beloved wife, she would undoubtedly be overjoyed.

Old Zhu circled the mirror with his eyes, pondering how he might pry it off the wall.

"Your Majesty, are you not done yet?"

Zhang Bo was growing a bit impatient waiting outside. Ten full minutes had passed; why was changing an outfit taking so long?

It was just an outer garment; surely it shouldn't be this troublesome.

Hearing the urging voice from outside, Old Zhu halted his actions.

Ah, right, he could simply ask the shopkeeper for a mirror of his own.

With that thought, Old Zhu left the restroom and, mimicking Zhang Bo's earlier action, opened the door.

Seeing the thoroughly transformed Old Zhu before him, Zhang Bo looked him up and down.

Clad in coarse cloth garments, at first glance he might be mistaken for an ordinary, elderly peasant. Yet, if one lingered for even a moment, they would notice that despite the rough attire, Old Zhu possessed a gaze like torches, radiating an extraordinary and commanding aura.

Before Zhang Bo could speak, Old Zhu beat him to it.

"Shopkeeper, could you give me a mirror like the one in that restroom?"

A mirror?

Right, the mirrors currently used in Da Ming were still bronze ones. It wouldn't be until the late Ming dynasty, with the dawn of the Age of Discovery, that mercury glass mirrors would make their way into Da Ming.

"Your Majesty, that is naturally no problem, except..."

Zhu Yuanzhang understood Zhang Bo's implication immediately.

"Money is certainly not an issue."

"Easy enough, easy enough."

Guiding Old Zhu out of the shop, the father-and-son duo of Da Ming, along with Crown Prince Liu Ju of Da Han, embarked on the path toward the Han dynasty.

Approaching the courtyard wall, Old Zhu still felt a slight sense of astonishment upon seeing that they had to crawl through a dog hole.

"Your Majesty, I am not quite sure why, but it seems only I need to crawl through this hole to travel between the eatery and the Western Han, while Uncle Liu Bei and Elder Brother Zhu Biao merely need to take a stroll to arrive."

"They just take a stroll and arrive?"

Zhu Biao turned Liu Ju's words over in his mind.

"Little Ju, when you crawled through the hole, were you thinking of that eatery?"

Liu Ju asked with a hint of surprise.

"That's right, Brother. How did you know?"

"Because after my first visit to the eatery, every time I went back, I kept that place in my mind. Little Ju, perhaps you can try not crawling through the dog hole."

Zhu Biao's novel idea made Liu Ju's eyes light up; he had never considered such a possibility before.

He immediately prepared to give it a try.

"Biao'er, there is no need for such trouble. Let us simply crawl through the hole this time."

For Zhu Yuanzhang, crawling through a dog hole was nothing shameful. Back when he was a beggar, doing so was an everyday occurrence.

Rather than wasting time trying to figure out how to travel to the Western Han, it was better to stick to the proven method.

It might be undignified, but it was fast.

Right now, he was simply too impatient to meet that legendary Emperor Wu of Han face-to-face.

With Liu Ju leading the way, Old Zhu and Zhu Biao simultaneously bent their bodies and wriggled through the opening.

After a dozen seconds of crawling, Zhu Yuanzhang's upper body emerged from the hole. He stood up and cast his gaze upon the surrounding environment.

Soon, a look of profound shock crept across the face of this Hongwu Emperor of Da Ming.

Unfolding before Zhu Yuanzhang were grand structures whose architectural style was vastly different from Da Ming's, stretching straight toward the horizon as far as the eye could see.

They were noticeably much larger than the Forbidden City of Da Ming.

"Little Ju, where is this..."

Zhu Biao asked Liu Ju, seeking confirmation of the scene before them.

"Elder Brother, this is the fifth year of Yuan Shou, and this is the Weiyang Palace, one of the three imperial palaces of our Han dynasty."

Weiyang Palace!

At that moment, the father-and-son pair of Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao wore identical expressions of awe.

They had truly crossed the span from the fifteenth year of Hongwu to the fifth year of Yuan Shou.

As for Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, he was not currently in the Xuanshi Hall handling affairs; instead, he was at the official residence of the Grand Commandant of Agriculture.

Grand Commandant of Agriculture Yan Yi was accompanying Liu Che to inspect the seeds brought back earlier, and they were flanked by Palace Attendant Sang Hongyang.

"Grand Commandant, I wonder how those seeds are doing."

This...

Yan Yi glanced at Sang Hongyang beside him, both of their faces bearing expressions of helplessness.

Some time ago, he had been summoned into the palace by the Emperor. Originally, he thought it was to discuss matters regarding the Wu Zhu coins, but to his surprise, the Emperor produced several crop varieties with bizarre shapes that even he had never seen before.

Ordinarily, this would not be unusual. After all, the crops of the world were as numerous as carp in a river, and even as the Grand Commandant of Agriculture, he could not possibly recognize them all.

What caught Yan Yi's attention was what the Emperor said next.

These crops yielded a thousand catties per mu.

For Yan Yi, who managed the entire financial and agricultural grain of the Han dynasty, this was simply an impossibility.

The finest fields in the Han dynasty yielded at best around two to three hundred catties; how could there possibly be a crop yielding a thousand catties per mu?

Even myths and legends would not dare to boast so wildly.

His first thought was whether His Majesty had been deceived by charlatans.

Of course, he also knew that if he told the Emperor this directly, His Majesty certainly wouldn't believe him. It was better to let the ultimate result speak for itself.

"Your Majesty, the seeds of these crops have already been planted. They will sprout in a few days, and by then, the yield can be verified."

Liu Che nodded repeatedly nearby. Ever since he handed the thousand-catty-yield seeds over to Yan Yi, he had been coming over every two or three days to inspect their growth progress.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, Crown Prince requests an audience outside the residence."

Hmm?

That rebellious son actually dared to return.

He had run off to the eatery on a whim, leaving Liu Che with no way to visit it himself.

Suppressing his rising anger with great effort, Liu Che said through clenched teeth,

"Let him enter."

As Liu Ju stepped into the hall, Liu Che saw that his Crown Prince was followed by two other individuals.

Judging by their attire, they appeared to be ordinary commoners.

However, Liu Che's gaze fixed upon the elderly man among the two, while the old man, at that exact moment, looked back at the Emperor through the ages who had written his name into the history books.