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

Li Shimin nodded and then asked, "How much cement will be used?"

Looking at the cement in front of him, Xiao Ran said, "This should be enough to pave a floor."

Li Shimin asked in surprise, "The entire floor of the palace?"

Xiao Ran looked shocked. "Uncle, what are you thinking? This isn't even enough to cover the floor of my house. I'm talking about the floor of an entire courtyard."

Then, Xiao Ran added, "Isn't this cement for testing? It's enough to build a small house. But let me make it clear first, the sturdiness of the house will depend on the thickness of the cement when applying the finish."

Li Shimin nodded, indicating that he understood.

However, we will need Xiao Ran's guidance on how to use it.

Having already inspected the cement, Li Shimin also wanted to give Qin Qiong and Qin Huaidao some private space so they could chat, so he took Xiao Ran with him.

Qin Qiong naturally understood Li Shimin's meaning. He pulled Qin Huaidao aside and asked, "How have you been lately?"

Qin Huaidao smiled and said, "Young master, that's excellent. As you can see, I've gained weight."

Qin Qiong immediately laughed, "Tell me something I don't know, what have you learned here?"

In fact, Qin Huaidao had studied quite a lot. He had a dabbling in everything, and even learned carpentry from craftsman Liu.

While Qin Qiong and Qin Huaidao were exchanging pleasantries, Li Shimin, upon hearing Xiao Ran mention that sweet potatoes and potatoes had already been planted in the fields, also became interested.

"Take me to see it."

So Xiao Ran took Li Shimin to the fields.

The villagers valued this land highly, and there were people guarding it almost every day. When Li Shimin arrived, some villagers did not realize who he was, but seeing Xiao Ran leading Li Shimin forward with a respectful air, they did not dare to approach.

The land in front of us was divided into several plots, and the ridges had already been laid out, each ridge perfectly straight.

A simple thatched shed was built at the edge of the field, with buckets, hoes and other items placed underneath.

Several villagers stood at a distance, not daring to approach, and whispered among themselves.

"This is it." Xiao Ran stopped and pointed to the ground in front of him.

"This area on the east side, about thirty mu, is planted with sweet potatoes, and the smaller area on the west side, about twenty mu, is planted with potatoes. They were all planted recently, using the best seeds we selected."

Li Shimin walked along the ridge of the field, the soil beneath his feet soft and loose, carrying the unique, invigorating scent of spring.

Looking at the plot of land in front of him planted with sweet potatoes and potatoes, Li Shimin said softly, "Xiao Ran, the new crops planted this year have been distributed, and most places have already planted these sweet potatoes and potatoes. According to your suggestion, potatoes have also been renamed 'Sizi Dou' (兕子豆).

“In previous years, people struggled to survive, but this year, the situation of starvation will be much better. Wait until tomorrow, the year after next, and the year after that! I’m afraid that no one in our Great Tang will go hungry anymore.”

Ordinary people spend their entire lives striving for nothing more than to have enough to eat and wear, and simply to survive.

Li Shimin was delighted at the thought of this autumn's harvest.

Xiao Ran said with a smile, "These things are drought-resistant and not picky about the land. Unlike rice and wheat, they are not delicate. They can be grown on hillsides and sandy soil as long as they are well cared for. Just like you said, Uncle, I'm afraid that in a few years, no one will go hungry anymore."

Of course, this is just a wishful thinking. To ensure that everyone will go hungry, we still need to look at reality.

However, Li Shimin was clearly caught up in this hopeful expectation, his eyes frequently gleaming.

The group walked around in the field. They couldn't really see anything, but Li Shimin was happy, even just looking at the bare land made him happy.

After walking around the field, Xiao Ran said, "These were all planted by the villagers. I also planted tomatoes."

In fact, the villagers also planted quite a lot, but they didn't plant them in a concentrated manner like they did with sweet potatoes and potatoes.

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin temporarily set aside the important national affairs on his mind and smiled, saying, "Sizi loves tomatoes the most. I don't know how happy she will be when the tomatoes are ripe."

Xiao Ran said with a smile, "Not only that, when we were planting tomatoes, Si Zi and the other little ones came to help. Si Zi was drooling just looking at the tomato seedlings."

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin immediately pictured the little princess's greedy expression and burst into laughter.

Xiao Ran and Li Shimin walked forward, with Cheng Chumo and Li Ke following behind at a distance.

The villagers saw that Xiao Ran was talking to Li Shimin and did not dare to go over, but they were quite familiar with Cheng Chumo and Li Ke, especially those whose families worked there.

So two bold villagers stopped the two men.

"Young gentlemen, who is that imposing-looking man? He looks somewhat familiar."

Li Shimin had lived here before, and most of the villagers had seen him, though they weren't very familiar with him. Although everyone knew that Li Lizhi and the little princess were princesses, Li Lizhi was approachable, and the little princess was adorable every day, always smiling sweetly at the villagers, without any airs of a princess.

Therefore, people have downplayed their status as princesses and naturally don't remember that Li Shimin was the emperor.

Cheng Chumo and Li Ke exchanged a glance, and without revealing Li Shimin's identity, they simply said, "That is the young master's elder."

Several villagers suddenly realized, "Oh, I see."

However, Xiao Ran always said that he came from the Western Regions, so how come an elder suddenly appeared?

However, the villagers were only curious about the relationship between Li Shimin and Xiao Ran, and they were very tactful and did not pry.

But what they speculate about in private remains unknown.

After answering the villagers' questions, Li Ke and Cheng Chumo hurriedly followed Xiao Ran and Li Shimin.

Soon, Xiao Ran led Li Shimin to his own vegetable garden.

The tomato vines have already started climbing.

“You’ve planted quite a lot,” Li Shimin said.

Xiao Ran nodded, "Yes, since we had a lot of seeds, we planted a few more. In addition, we also planted cotton."

However, it's impossible to tell anything from the cotton right now; we'll have to wait and see.

After inspecting the contents of the field, Xiao Ran led Li Shimin back to the living room and took out the freshly roasted tea leaves.

When they arrived in the living room, Qin Qiong and Qin Huaidao were also there.

Li Shimin unceremoniously invited Qin Qiong to sit down, saying, "Didn't you say this tea is delicious? I had less, but Xiao Ran had plenty. Please drink as much as you like! Remember to take some with you when you leave!"

Before Xiao Ran could speak, Li Shimin looked at him and said, "You shouldn't be that petty, right?"

Xiao Ran sighed helplessly, "I certainly wouldn't be that stingy, but there really isn't much tea, because we picked it ourselves from the mountain. But logically speaking, Uncle, you shouldn't be short of tea, right?"

The people of the Tang Dynasty were much smarter and more capable than Xiao Ran.

Those who have learned how to stir-fry tea can produce tea leaves that are no less delicious than Xiao Ran's.

After all, they can be said to be frying every day, so they don't have that many tea leaves to waste. They just fry the leaves directly, mainly to develop their feel and experience.

The new batch of tea leaves has already begun to be harvested, so Li Shimin should have no shortage of good tea. It would be even easier for Qin Qiong and the others to buy tea; they certainly have no shortage of tea to drink.

Upon hearing Xiao Ran's words, Li Shimin said, "How can they be the same? You personally processed this tea."

Xiao Ran understood Li Shimin's meaning; it was just a joke. He didn't argue and simply said, "Then let Uncle take them all." Since he wanted tea anyway, Xiao Ran had plenty of tea leaves and could make flower tea later.

Then, Xiao Ran said, "We'll have tea-infused chicken for lunch today."

"Tea-infused chicken?" Li Shimin looked puzzled.

Qin Qiong went on to say, "How can tea and chicken taste good together?"

Xiao Ran smiled and said, "You two just have to wait and try it. In addition to the tea-infused chicken, I'll also make some milk tea. I'm sure Si Zi will love it."

When it comes to milk tea, Xiao Ran thinks of tapioca flour, and then tapioca.

However, we don't have cassava at home right now, so if we want to make pearls or something, we'll have to wait until we go to the mountains to see what happens.

Just as the group was talking, Empress Zhangsun walked in gracefully.

Upon seeing Empress Zhangsun enter, Li Shimin immediately abandoned Xiao Ran.

"Guanyinbi." Li Shimin stepped forward to help Empress Zhangsun up.

Empress Zhangsun sat down with Li Shimin's help. She first looked Li Shimin over and said softly, "You've lost weight."

Li Shimin almost burst into tears upon hearing this.

Seeing a hint of tears glistening in Li Shimin's eyes, Xiao Ran suddenly remembered that Li Shimin seemed to have another nickname: "The Crying Emperor."

In fact, Li Shimin and Empress Zhangsun hadn't seen each other for a while, so Xiao Ran said, "Uncle, Madam, there's a study here where you can have a good chat."

There was a room in the living room, which was originally prepared as a study, but Xiao Ran rarely went there. He would only go to the study to record what he wanted to do.

Hearing Xiao Ran's words, Empress Zhangsun felt a little embarrassed. Li Shimin, however, was not polite at all. He helped Empress Zhangsun up and walked towards the study, clearly wanting to have a private conversation.

Xiao Ran exchanged a few words with Qin Qiong, and seeing that it was almost time, he said, "Uncle Qin, I'll go prepare some milk tea and tea-infused chicken."

Qin Qiong sipped his tea and nodded.

Xiao Ran walked all the way to the kitchen. He told the cook to make the tea-tea chicken, but he decided to make the milk tea himself.

He took a clean pot, first put water in and brought it to a boil. When the water was just starting to bubble, he added tea leaves and turned the heat down to low to simmer slowly.

Normally, black tea should be added, but Xiao Ran used green tea. Anyway, milk tea isn't without its own milk green tea flavor.

Then, the tea leaves unfurled in the water, and a rich aroma quickly filled the air.

After cooking for a while, seeing that it was almost done, Xiao Ran added two spoonfuls of sugar and then added milk and stirred it well.

Actually, milk tea is quite easy to make; the only thing that's not easy to master is the ratio of tea base to milk.

After it was done, Xiao Ran tasted it first. Apart from the lack of condiments, everything else was pretty good.

"Little Nangjun~ Grandpa~"

The little princess ran in from outside, her hair all disheveled.

Li Shimin and Empress Zhangsun were chatting about her recent situation and the current planting of new improved varieties. They lost track of time until they heard the little princess's voice.

Empress Zhangsun covered her mouth and laughed, "Sizi, your get out of class is over."

Li Shimin stood up and said on the surface, "She's really gotten too wild; she's lost all her princess-like demeanor."

His eyes were practically overflowing with joy.

The little princess ran into the living room first, followed by the Chengyang little princess and the others.

Several little ones rushed in all at once.

When Li Shimin saw that the little princess's hair was a bit messy, her clothes were covered in dust, and there was even dirt on her knees, his face immediately turned pale.

"Sizi!" Li Shimin walked towards the little princess.

The little princess tilted her head back and grinned foolishly.

"Grandpa~ Isn't this one really good to look at?"

The little princess held up a flower in her hand and said...

Li Shimin had no time to admire the flowers; he immediately knelt down to check if the little princess was injured. Empress Zhangsun also asked anxiously, "How did you get these injuries, Princess Sizi?"

This question was directed at Princess Chengyang and her friends.

Li Shimin also asked, "Has someone been bullying you?"

When he said this, Li Shimin narrowed his eyes slightly, displaying his imperial majesty.

Princess Chengyang stepped forward and said, "No, no one is bullying us."

Princess Gaoyang also said, "Sizi made this when she was playing hide-and-seek."

The little princess, unaware of what was happening, stared at Li Shimin with wide, puzzled eyes.

Just then, Xiao Ran walked in, and the little princess instantly abandoned Li Shimin and ran towards Xiao Ran.

"Little Nangjun~ Kangfafa~"

Xiao Ran also noticed that the little princess was all dirty and asked with a smile, "Where have you been running around?"

Actually, the little princess isn't usually like this, but lately she's been playing a lot with the children in the village, running around every day, and sometimes she inevitably gets dirty. But today is the first time she's done this.

Xiao Ran looked at the dirt on the little princess's knees, "Did Sizi fall down?"

As he spoke, Xiao Ran lifted up the little princess's trouser leg and found that there was nothing wrong with her knee.

Princess Chengyang explained clearly, "We were playing hide-and-seek just now. Sizi hid in a room full of clutter and got dirty. Her knees were hurt because she didn't squat down properly while picking flowers and fell down."

She really did fall, but knowing that no one was bullying the little princess, Li Shimin was much relieved.

Xiao Ran looked at the little princess and asked, "Does Sizi's leg hurt?"

The little princess shook her head.

Actually, she was picking the flower when she accidentally knelt down. The surrounding ground was soft and muddy, so it didn't hurt at all, except that her pants got dirty.

After Empress Zhangsun understood what had happened, her furrowed brows relaxed, and she called for Hongxiu to come and take the little princess to change her clothes.

Not only the little princess, but all the little ones, including the Chengyang little princess, need to be replaced.

It's almost time to eat, how can I wear clothes covered in dust?

So Hongxiu took the little ones to change their clothes.

After changing their clothes, the little ones were clean and tidy again. (End of Chapter)