Deposed? I couldn't be happier! I wouldn't even be a dog to the crown prince.

In the Imperial Garden, those civil officials who used to only know how to compose poems and compose couplets and who considered themselves romantic and elegant have all gone mad.

Forget about civility and propriety; all of that was thrown to the winds in the face of the temptation of yielding thousands of kilograms per mu.

Without Li Shimin giving an order, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and even Wang Gui, who had just been mocking them, all lifted the hems of their official robes, not caring that the mud would soil their expensive silk. They were like groundhogs just released from their cages, sticking their butts out and frantically digging in the dirt.

"Found it! I found another one!"

"My God! This one is even bigger than the last one! It's like a sweet potato that has come to life!"

"Don't push me! I was the one who wanted this land first!"

Dirt flew everywhere, and shouts of surprise rose and fell.

Li Chengqian stood at the edge of the field, holding a blade of grass in his hand. He watched as these usually well-dressed bigwigs fought tooth and nail over a few potatoes, and a playful smile appeared on his lips.

"Tsk tsk, look at their breathing. Didn't they just say it was poisonous? Now they're all more anxious than rabbits!"

He turned to look at Xu Xiao beside him and gestured with his lips.

"Old Xu, go help these old folks with their stiff arms and legs. Don't let them break their backs from exhaustion, or Father will ask me to reimburse their medical expenses again."

"promise."

Xu Xiao chuckled and waved his hand. Dozens of Imperial Guards who had been waiting rushed forward. At this point, they didn't care about their status and immediately helped to clear the area.

Half an hour later.

A corner of the once desolate Imperial Garden has been turned upside down, with even an earthworm being dug out to bask in the sun.

On the open ground, the potatoes piled high with soil had formed a stunning little mountain.

Golden yellow, round and plump, exuding the unique fragrance of soil.

"Bring the scales! Quickly, bring the scales!"

Li Shimin's face was covered in mud, and his dragon robe was smeared with dirt, but he was completely oblivious. His eyes were bright and he was staring intently at the pile of potatoes, as if he were staring at a group of stunning beauties.

Several young eunuchs, carrying a large scale, stumbled and ran over.

"Report—!"

The eunuch in charge of weighing the animals was hoarse from shouting so much; his voice trembled uncontrollably.

"The first basket weighs 120 jin!"

"The second basket, 135 jin!"

"The third basket..."

As the numbers were announced one by one, the ministers in front of the Taiji Hall, who had spent their lives calculating, were practically spinning out of their minds.

Dai Zhou held a small notebook in his hand. With each stroke he made, his hand trembled. By the end, he had collapsed to the ground, his lips trembling like leaves scattered in the wind.

"How much...?"

Li Shimin grabbed Dai Zhou by the collar and asked urgently, "What's the total? What's the yield per mu (unit of land area)?!"

Dai Zhou swallowed hard, stretched out a few fingers with difficulty, and his voice was hoarse as if he had just swallowed a handful of sand.

"Your Majesty, this land, after being measured, is less than one acre, about eight-tenths of an acre."

"Total output... 3,200 jin."

"The yield per mu is equivalent to... 4,000 jin!!!"

boom--!

The moment this number was announced, the scene fell into a deathly silence.

Immediately following was a burst of heavy breathing.

Four thousand catties!

It's not 400 jin, it's 4,000 jin!

In the Tang Dynasty, even the best paddy fields, cultivated meticulously for a year, would only yield three or four shi per mu, which translates to a maximum of three or four hundred jin.

And this so-called "potato," which can be casually thrown into the field and hardly cared for, yields ten times that of rice and wheat?!

What does this mean?

This means that as long as they plant one crop, no one in the Tang Dynasty will ever starve again!

This means that the famine problem that had plagued China for thousands of years has been completely ended in the hands of this eight-year-old prince!

"Thump!"

A muffled thud broke the silence.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw that Fang Xuanling, the prime minister of the court and usually the most composed man, had knelt down without any warning.

He didn't kneel before Li Shimin, but instead knelt before Li Chengqian, who was leaning against a tree, looking utterly bored.

"Prime Minister Fang, what are you doing..." Li Chengqian was startled and quickly moved aside. "Don't do this, I'm not dead yet, I can't accept such a grand gesture."

"Your Highness!"

Fang Xuanling raised his head, and his face, which was usually full of wisdom and strategy, was now covered in tears.

He raised his hands high, trembling as he held a potato, as if it were a sacred object.

"This is a divine object! This is a divine object that has saved countless lives!"

"This old minister has read through countless historical records, and since Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs, I have never seen such a high-yield grain!"

"Your Highness may seem unruly, but in truth, you have the well-being of all people at heart. This acre of potatoes is worth more than a million soldiers, more than ten thousand taels of gold!"

Fang Xuanling kowtowed heavily, his voice choked with emotion yet resounding with conviction:

"Your Highness, you are truly the reincarnation of Shennong! Heaven blesses the Tang Dynasty! Heaven blesses our Emperor!"

"May Heaven bless the Tang Dynasty! Long live the Crown Prince!"

With Fang Xuanling leading the way, Du Ruhui, Wei Zheng, Cheng Yaojin... all knelt down in a rush.

Even those civil officials who usually disliked Li Chengqian knelt down sincerely at this moment.

In the face of absolute food security, all political disagreements are utter nonsense.

A saint is one who can ensure that people have enough to eat!

Among the crowd, only one person remained standing, appearing out of place.

Wang Gui.

The head of the Taiyuan Wang family was deathly pale, his body trembling as if in the cold wind.

He looked at the mountain of potatoes, his eyes filled with despair and fear.

It’s over.

It's all over.

What enabled powerful families to control the imperial court?

Isn't it just that they monopolize grain and salt?

Now, Li Chengqian has created this monster that yields 4,000 jin per mu. Once this stuff becomes widespread, who will still buy their ridiculously expensive old rice?

Grain prices are bound to collapse!

The grain they hoarded in the granaries will become worthless rotten grain!

"Impossible...this is impossible..."

Wang Gui muttered to himself, as if possessed, "This is sorcery...this must be sorcery..."

"You son of a bitch!"

Cheng Yaojin slapped him on the back of the head, making him stagger. "You old bastard, the facts are right in front of you, and you still dare to be stubborn? Believe me, I, Old Cheng, will bury you in the ground as fertilizer!"

Wang Gui was jolted awake by the slap, but he preferred to faint instead.

Because he saw the look that Li Chengqian was giving him.

There was no triumph in that gaze, only a knowing mockery and coldness.

It's as if to say: You can't take it already? The real show is just beginning.

Li Shimin was in a state of extreme excitement at this time.

Clutching two potatoes in his hands, he excitedly spun around in circles, repeatedly chanting, "Four thousand catties... four thousand catties... My Great Tang Dynasty is saved! My people are saved!"

Suddenly, he stopped abruptly, his eyes fixed on the potato in his hand with a feverish intensity.

"Since it's food, it's definitely edible!"

"I want to taste this divine delicacy myself!"

After saying that, he didn't even wipe off the mud, and opened his mouth to bite into the raw potato.

"Shut up!"

The shout startled Li Shimin so much that he almost dropped the potato.

Li Chengqian rushed forward and snatched the potato away with lightning speed.

"Father, are you out of your mind?!"

Li Chengqian looked terrified. "This stuff is poisonous if eaten raw! It won't kill you, but it'll give you diarrhea to the point of questioning your existence, and it can even cause hallucinations!"

"If you eat it, tomorrow at court you'll be sitting on the dragon throne, performing the Whirlwind Dance. The sight is too beautiful for me to bear!"

"poisonous?"

Li Shimin turned pale with fright and quickly spat out the mud in his mouth. "Then...how do we eat this?"

He looked at the pile of potatoes, and his eyes became longing again.

Such good stuff, if we can't eat it, wouldn't that drive us crazy?

"Simple."

Li Chengqian snapped his fingers and a bright smile appeared on his face.

"Xu Xiao, set up the pot and start a fire!"

"Today, your son will show Father Emperor and all of you what the culinary delights of the Tang Dynasty are all about!"