Chapter 1486: Her Highness the Princess (32)

“Elder Sister, I'm not afraid of hardship. Even these elderly officials are willing to work in the fields. Am I, Lü Qing, a man in the prime of my life, supposed to be afraid?” Lü Qing held Tang Xi's hand and said softly, “Princess, I understand your concern, but my mind is made up. It's only been ten days. If I quit now, I don't know how many people would laugh at me.”

He hooked his finger around Tang Xi's and lowered his voice. “Princess, this matter is very important to me.”

Tang Xi recalled the plans between the Third Prince and Lü Qing and could only give up trying to persuade him to leave.

Her imperial brother was right. If they remained ordinary princes and princesses, they would spend their lives bound by restrictions.

But once the great undertaking succeeded in the future, she would become the Emperor's younger sister and Northern Xia's Grand Princess. At that time, she would be even more glorious than Tang Guo.

Tang Xi no longer tried to stop him, and Lü Qing returned to working in the fields.

It had been almost ten days. Though he ended each day exhausted and aching from head to toe, he had gained something.

Over the past few days, there had been crops that were planted directly from seeds. He secretly memorized the methods and quietly took some away.

Three months would be enough for him to collect quite a lot.

Once the time came, he would recruit talented people and teach them these methods. There was no reason they wouldn't be able to cultivate high-yield crops and develop new varieties.

For the sake of his grand ambitions, Lü Qing worked with extraordinary diligence.

Completely unaware that Tang Guo had seen every one of his little tricks clearly.

After watching for a while, Tang Xi found herself unable to continue and bade Tang Guo farewell before leaving.

As the sun climbed higher, the several officials from the Ministry of Agriculture who had been working in the fields hurried back to the shade.

Tang Xi had indeed seen those officials enter the fields, but she had no idea that their main purpose was to observe the crops' growth, record their developmental patterns, and document the environmental temperatures each day.

They weren't actually plowing fields like Lü Qing.

Once the scorching sun rose high, they would promptly return to the shade and discuss with Tang Guo which crops should be grown in which locations.

At the beginning, Tang Guo had simply provided the necessary seeds, but if they wanted a long-term solution, they had to teach people how to fish rather than simply hand them fish.

Therefore, the work of cultivating seeds had to be left to these people to experiment with gradually.

She already possessed mature techniques. She only needed to offer occasional guidance and steer them onto the right path, which was far faster than having them grope blindly on their own.

“Your Highness, in this minister's opinion, the grain and vegetable seeds cultivated here have already reached a high level of maturity. It is time to begin promoting them.”

“Over these past months, the seeds we've collected should be enough for the first batch of villagers willing to give them a try.”

Even if they provided seeds and cultivation methods, not all commoners would be willing to abandon their original crops and dedicate their fields to these new varieties.

If the experiment failed and the harvest was poor, people could starve to death.

“Then let them be promoted. Start from the Imperial City and gradually spread outward.”

“Then tomorrow, during court, this minister and the others will present the matter to His Majesty.”

Tang Guo smiled and nodded. “You have all worked hard these days. Thanks to your daily records, we've been able to select the best seeds and determine the environments and temperatures most suitable for their growth.”

“How could we compare to Your Highness? Without Your Highness, this place would still be barren land. Everything achieved today is because Your Highness keeps the common people in your heart and wishes for them to have enough to eat and warm clothes to wear.”

After both sides exchanged a round of professional flattery, the officials left with their record books in hand, chatting and laughing as they went.