Drive to the Tang Dynasty, where supplies are refreshed daily!

The next day, Li Shimin arranged for people to come and remove most of the saltpeter.

I had initially thought about doing something with it, but after discovering the drawbacks of using saltpeter to make ice, I gave up on that idea.

It's true that the process is simple, but the efficiency is truly appalling.

The house has enough for most needs, and the refrigerator is just passable.

Following Xiao Ran's suggestion, Wang Ji also arranged a special lesson.

The first period in the afternoon.

The afternoon sun slanted across the open space outside the school, warming the stone slabs, but the space was filled with rows of low wooden stools and various shaped "containers".

The coarse earthenware basins, fine porcelain cups, wooden bowls, and even small copper spoons brought by children from home were all displayed, making it look like a small market.

Xiao Ran, Li Lizhi, and Princess Yuzhang stood to the side, watching the children chattering and gathering in the groups they had been assigned to, their eyes full of smiles.

"I'm the group leader! I did this with Sizi last time, so just listen to me!"

Princess Chengyang spoke to the three young girls in her group, still clutching the short-handled wooden spoon she had used last time, looking quite like a little teacher.

The group next to Third Sister was even more lively. A little boy was carrying a rough ceramic basin that was bigger than his face and was huffing and puffing as he put it on a low stool.

Third Sister quickly reached out to support it: "Put it down slowly, don't drop it. Our basin is big, we'll just add a little more saltpeter later."

Yan Yao and Di Renjie's group was the quietest. Di Renjie divided the ground saltpeter into small cloth bags, giving one to each person, and specifically instructed them:
"Pour it slowly when you sprinkle it, don't spill it on your clothes like Yao Niang did last time."

Yan Yao blushed and slapped him, but still helped the little girl next to her open the cloth bag slightly: "See, this way it won't leak."

The little princess also became a helper, holding up her little porcelain cup to show the team members: "Look, everyone~ it's like this~"

"Everyone, pour half a basin of well water into your own basin, be careful not to spill it!"

Xiao Ran stood in the middle, and as soon as he finished speaking, the children got busy.

Some used small ladles to scoop water, while others simply poured it from buckets.

Another young girl poured too much water, and it overflowed. The group leader quickly wiped it up with a cloth, saying as he did so:
"It's alright, it's alright. We'll pour less next time and take our time."

Li Lizhi and Princess Yuzhang were not idle either; Li Lizhi helped the short child hold the basin.

Princess Yuzhang then distributed clean wooden spoons prepared in advance to each group, to prevent the children from touching the saltpeter with their hands.

Once the water was poured, the group leaders began instructing their members on how to sprinkle saltpeter.

The little princess from Chengyang taught her group members to "pinch the corner of the cloth bag with their fingers and shake it gently."

One of the girls was shaking so hard that saltpeter dust got onto her nose, causing her to sneeze and making the whole group laugh.

Third Aunt's basin was large, and she carefully calculated the amount of saltpeter to add, and had the group members take turns stirring it, "Everyone has to try, so that the ice will freeze evenly."

Di Renjie observed from the side and noticed that one of the group members was stirring too fast, so he quickly said, "Slow down, like drawing circles, otherwise the water will splash out."

A moment later, a child exclaimed, "The side of my basin is cold!"

Everyone crowded around to look, and sure enough, they saw a layer of fine frost on the outer wall of the rough pottery basin.

One of the bolder children reached out and poked it, but quickly pulled back because it was so cold, yet he laughed so hard his eyes disappeared.
"It's so cold! It's really going to freeze!"

Xiao Ran walked over, squatted down, and said to the children, "This is because saltpeter can secretly take away the heat from the water. Once the heat is gone, the water turns into ice."

The children nodded as if they understood, but watched even more intently.

Some even lay on the ground, staring at the bottom of the basin to see if ice crystals had grown.

The most excited were the first group; the members of Chengyang Little Princess's group were the first to notice the ice crystals in the small porcelain cup, and they ran over holding the cup:
"Sir! Look! It's frozen!"

The children all gathered around, looking at the translucent ice crystals in the cup, and asked all at once, "When will ours be ready?"

"My basin is big, won't the ice be even bigger?"

Li Lizhi smiled and helped them take out the ice and put it in a small bamboo tray: "Everyone gets some, take your time, the ice will wait for you."

The water used to make the ice is clean well water and is safe to drink.

So once it's finished, everyone can try the chilled drinks.

The weather is already hot, and all the children are happy to eat this.

Looking at the lively scene before him, Xiao Ran was filled with emotion.

These children are usually exposed to farming and studying in the village. How could they have the opportunity to do something as novel as "turning stones into ice" by hand?
If it weren't for this special arrangement, they might never have known that ice in the summer could be made by their own little hands.

“It seems like the young master hasn’t been to class for a long time!” Princess Yuzhang said from the side.

"It has indeed been quite a while." Xiao Ran nodded.

Textbooks are constantly changing, and whose class you attend depends entirely on who has the time.

Yan Liben used to teach a lot of art classes, but recently he hasn't been around, so there haven't been any art classes.

Sun Simiao's medical classes were similar, held every few days.

Xiao Ran and Li Lizhi, who used to attend classes, have been busy with other things lately and have been attending classes less often.

"Alright, put your things away, don't lose or damage them."

"Put them all in one place first, and don't forget to take them home after school."

After class, Xiao Ran didn't forget to give him a few words of advice.

Seeing that Xiao Ran was about to leave, a group of children rushed up and surrounded him.

The little arms and legs were packed tightly together, some tugging at his clothes, others standing on tiptoe and looking up at him.

A little boy, holding an empty wooden bowl, said in a clear, cheerful voice, "Young master, can we have a lesson like this again next time? It's much more fun than reciting the Analects!"

"That's it!"

The little girl next to her quickly chimed in, "The song the teacher taught us last time, I sang it to my mom when I got home, and she praised me for singing well! Making ice today was even more fun!"

Di Renjie stood outside the crowd, unable to squeeze in, but he looked at Xiao Ran with anticipation in his eyes.

He also felt that listening to Xiao Ran tell these interesting stories was much more interesting than keeping his head down and doing arithmetic.

"Young master, let's do one more!" Princess Chengyang shook his sleeve. "We won't argue, let's just watch you make one more thing, okay?"

The little princess came over and rubbed her head against his arm: "Little Nang-kun~ Are you in class~"

Unable to resist being pestered any longer, Xiao Ran chuckled and squatted down, patting Si Zi's head: "Today's classes are over. If you keep playing, you'll be neglecting your studies."

"But I have class tomorrow, so I'll teach you something new then, okay?"

I thought the kids would agree, but to my surprise, none of them wanted to wait: "We have to wait another day! We want to play now!"

As he spoke, he moved closer to him, and the other children echoed him, making a noisy commotion that made the warmth in the open space even stronger.

Li Lizhi stood by and watched for a moment. Seeing that the children were clinging on more and more tightly, she took two steps forward. Her voice was a little deeper than usual, but without any anger: "That's it for today. Go back to class!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the noisy crowd fell silent.

Princess Chengyang was the first to let go, stuck out her tongue, and tugged at the sleeve of the little princess next to her.

The two little princesses were somewhat wary of Li Lizhi, the eldest sister.

Emperor Taizong and Empress Zhangsun would not hit the two little princesses, but when they misbehaved and caused trouble, Li Lizhi would really beat them.

Princess Sizi blinked, looked at Li Lizhi, then at Xiao Ran, slowly loosened her grip on his clothes, and moved closer to Third Sister.

Seeing that the two princesses had behaved themselves, the other children dared not bother them anymore, and some even whispered, "See you tomorrow, young master Xiao."

They then dispersed in twos and threes.

A little boy took a couple of steps, then turned back and waved to Xiao Ran, who smiled and nodded in response. Once most of the children had left, Li Lizhi looked at Xiao Ran helplessly: "These children, only the young master is willing to spoil them."

Xiao Ran's eyes were full of smiles: "They also find it novel. Usually, classes are mostly about memorizing and writing, so it's normal for them to be a little clingy since they rarely have the chance to play with things."

Princess Yuzhang walked over and added with a smile, "That's right! Even Di Renjie was waiting eagerly from the side just now, which shows how attractive your lesson is."

"If it were me, I would also like the young master's class. It's not just singing and playing games, but also storytelling and hands-on activities, which children enjoy."

Compared to that, Xiao Ran's class was indeed more interesting.

Xiao Ran is the most popular teacher.

People from other villages have mostly gone back home, but they still come to ask if they don't understand something.

The price of tomatoes has remained stable at around 200 coins.

Many families are continuing to replant tomatoes.

I regret not planting more before.

This stuff is much more expensive than corn.

When Xiao Ran and the other two returned to the courtyard gate, they saw that there was an extra carriage.

"Has Uncle arrived?" Xiao Ran asked casually.

“No!” Princess Yuzhang shook her head, denying it.

“It’s not Grandpa’s carriage; it must belong to someone else.” Li Lizhi could also tell that it wasn’t her family’s.

Xiao Ran didn't know much about these things.

But it's clear that those who use horse-drawn carriages are all high-ranking officials and nobles.

The group entered the courtyard and saw several people sitting next to Sun Simiao.

Xiao Ran saw Li Jing and a woman.

Sun Simiao took the woman's pulse.

“It was Uncle Li who brought his wife to see the old gentleman,” Li Lizhi said softly.

Xiao Ran didn't know Hong Fu Nu, but Li Li Zhi did.

Upon hearing that she was Li Jing's wife, Xiao Ran knew her name.

The woman in red was not wearing the embroidered gold-trimmed ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) that was common among noblewomen.

She wore only a short, dark blue cloth blouse with a slightly narrow skirt to make it easy to get up and move around. A black leather belt was tied around her waist, with only a palm-sized copper medicine pouch hanging from it. Even her hairpins and ornaments were extremely simple.

Her hair was tied up with only a plain silver hairpin, and there wasn't even a pearl flower at her temples, yet she didn't look shabby at all; on the contrary, she exuded a neat and capable air.

She sat upright, but not in the stiff, formal manner of wealthy women.

With his back straight, his hands rested gently on his knees, his knuckles clearly visible, and a faint callus visible between his thumb and forefinger.

Those weren't calluses from embroidery needles; they looked more like marks left from years of wielding a sword and reins.

Seeing Xiao Ran and the others return, Li Jing greeted them with a smile.

"Uncle!" Xiao Ran called out.

Xiao Ran sat down and chatted with Li Jing.

Li Jing had also praised the tomatoes highly, saying that they were in high demand and difficult to buy in Chang'an.

Xiao Ran had a great fondness for these famous figures from the Zhenguan era.

I don't know why, it might be because of Li Shimin.

It feels like this period has seen a surge of talented people, and they are all quite good.

Xiao Ran remembered that there were military books in the RV. "Uncle, wait for me."

Li Jing nodded, "Okay!"

Xiao Ran returned to his room, closed the door, and went to the cave.

Take out the book "New Book of Military Strategy" from the RV; it's Qi Jiguang's military treatise.

Xiao Ran didn't know if it would be useful to Li Jing, or if he was interested in it.

Xiao Ran also tore out the first few pages, which had nothing to do with the military treatise but were about Qi Jiguang.

"Uncle, I have a book here. I wonder if you would be interested?" Xiao Ran handed the military treatise to Li Jing.

Li Jing curiously took it, much like Sun Simiao when he first saw a book on Tai Chi.

The characters on the book that Xiao Ran took out were too small and too stiff.

The books in the Tang Dynasty were all handwritten, so they certainly couldn't be like this.

The texture is different, and you don't read it vertically from right to left.

Habits are even the opposite.

Li Jing was indeed not used to opening it.

"Nephew, this book is quite special; it's a military treatise!" After a quick glance, Li Jing realized it was true.

"Yes!" Xiao Ran nodded.

Although his identity was not revealed, Xiao Ran already knew that Li Shimin had mentioned it to others before.

At first, Li Jing didn't take it seriously, but gradually his expression changed.

Li Jing pinched the edge of the book page with his fingertips. At first, he felt a little awkward because of the horizontal printing order, and only glanced at two pages at random.

But when his gaze fell on the sentence, "The value of an army lies not in its quantity but in its quality; if the army is not of high quality, then its quantity is of no use," his fingertips suddenly stopped.

His relaxed brows slowly furrowed, and even his breathing unconsciously became lighter.

He no longer "flipped through the pages," but examined each line carefully, his fingertips gently stroking the ink-printed pages.

This paper is more sturdy than the Xuan paper of the Tang Dynasty. Although the characters are small, they are all clear, without any errors or blurriness found in handwritten copies.

But at that moment he couldn't care less about these "special" things; all his attention was drawn to the contents of the book.

The other hand, which had been casually resting on her knee, unconsciously clenched into a fist, her knuckles turning slightly white.

"...In training soldiers, courage must be trained first, followed by skills. If courage is lacking, no matter how skilled one is, one will still be timid in battle."

Li Jing uttered the sentence softly, his voice carrying a subtle, almost imperceptible tremor.

When he looked up at Xiao Ran, the initial composure was gone from his eyes, replaced by urgency and seriousness. “‘Training courage’ actually starts with the sergeant leading the team on daily patrols and night watch? Instead of just relying on pre-battle speeches?”

As he spoke, he quickly turned to the next page, his gaze falling on the words, "Rewards and punishments must be timely, on the ground, and directed at the real people. If they are delayed until after returning to camp, there will be no encouragement in rewards and no deterrent in punishments."

Shocked, he realized that although he valued rewards and punishments, he usually dealt with them after the battle, never considering the word "real-time".

If soldiers are praised immediately for their minor merits and corrected on the spot for their minor mistakes, their spirit and sense of awe will naturally grow day by day!

As a general who had experienced countless battles, Li Jing naturally saw the value in this book.

Xiao Ran couldn't understand it, but Li Jing certainly could.

The contents of the book are unlike anything I've ever seen in previous military treatises.

Li Jing considered himself well-versed in military strategy, but he never expected to miss such a masterpiece.

The more I read, the more excited I became. (End of Chapter)