Little Sizi came to my house and became the family's darling, and Li Shimin got anxious.

After preliminary preparations, the field ridges have been neatly trimmed.

The base fertilizer has been spread into the trench, and a thin layer of fine soil has been placed on top to isolate the fertilizer from the seedlings in direct contact. This provides nutrients without burning the delicate roots.

Li Yinxun led the little princess and Chengyang, walking barefoot on the soft paddy field ridges.

"Come on, let's line up."

As Li Yinxun took sweet potato vines out of the basket, she instructed the two girls, "Just lay these vines flat on the ridge, and pay attention to the spacing, about this far apart each."

The two little girls nodded seriously.

The two little princesses held onto the vines with their tiny hands, carefully manipulating them.

Guo Qian followed behind, holding a hoe, skillfully scooping up soil and pressing down the roots of the sweet potato vines.

After finishing this row, he straightened up and loudly addressed the dozens of Huangzhuang tenant farmers who were watching:

"Did you see that clearly? This is how you plant it: first, lay down base fertilizer, then cover it with a thin layer of soil, then place the vines, and finally compact it."

"Also, once the vines grow long enough, if the branches climb into the ditch, we'll have to manually pull them back and put them back on the ridge. We'll probably have to do this once or twice this season."

At this moment, Chengyang stopped what he was doing and tilted his head to look at Guo Qian.

"Uncle, why do you insist on moving it back? Can't it just grow wherever it wants?"

Li Yinxun wiped the light sweat from her forehead and explained to the little girl in the simplest terms.

"Silly girl, these sweet potato vines are like people; they're prone to getting playful. If you let them lie flat on the ground, lots and lots of tiny roots will grow from the nodes and burrow into the soil. Those roots will only steal the fertilizer from the soil and use all the nutrients to grow leaves, so no big sweet potatoes will grow underground. It's like a person trying to do two things at the same time, and as a result, they can't do either one well."

Upon hearing this, the little princess immediately objected.

With her little hands, still covered in mud, she put them on her hips and said, "I can eat and watch TV at the same time."

Laughter erupted instantly from the ridges of the field.

As the sun gradually rose higher, although it was not yet noon, the early summer sun was already quite hot.

The little princess and Chengyang ran for a while, and their little faces were covered with a layer of fine sweat. There was also a little dirt on the tip of their noses. They looked both disheveled and cute.

Li Yinxun felt a pang of sympathy, took out a tissue, squatted down, and carefully wiped their faces.

"Are you tired? If you are, let's call it a day and go home to rest."

The little princess waved her hand vigorously, "I'm not tired, I'm going to plant big sweet potatoes."

Li Yinxun looked up at Li Shimin and Empress Zhangsun, who were not far away, seeking their opinions.

Seeing the two nod with smiles, she didn't insist any further, and said gently, "Alright, if you feel tired, be sure to tell your aunt immediately."

On the other side of the field ridge, the scenery is quite different.

Li Tai, dressed in an expensive silk brocade robe, was covering his nose with a handkerchief, his brows furrowed.

Seeing his two younger sisters having so much fun playing in the mud, he couldn't help but advise Empress Zhangsun.

"Mother, this soil is dirty and the smell of fertilizer is unbearable. Why don't we let the younger sisters go back?"

Upon hearing this, Empress Zhangsun's face instantly took on an imposing and dignified expression.

"Qingque, look at the land beneath your feet."

"The common people toil day and night, facing the yellow earth and turning their backs to the sky, struggling to make a living in this muddy soil just to have a bite to eat. You, as a member of the royal family, enjoy the offerings of the people, yet now you despise the dirty soil that nourishes all people?"

"Go, take off that unnecessary outfit, go down to the fields, and you won't know how hard it is to earn a bowl of porridge or a meal if you don't experience the hardship of labor firsthand."

Li Tai blushed after being scolded and got off the ground.

This was not Empress Zhangsun deliberately making things difficult for her.

During the Tang Dynasty, the imperial family held a grand agricultural promotion ceremony every year.

Historical records show that Li Shimin personally plowed the fields in the imperial garden of Chang'an to demonstrate his respect for agriculture to the world; Empress Zhangsun also raised silkworms and picked mulberry leaves to set an example for the world.

Li Shimin paid close attention to the accounts of the Ministry of Agriculture, the harvests of official estates, and even the fertilizer reserves in various places.

Whenever he visited the suburbs, he would inquire about agricultural conditions, including droughts and floods.

Today's visit to the fields is not a spur-of-the-moment show, but a deep-seated reverence for the people's livelihood.

Just then, a voice explaining came from the field not far away.

It turns out that Guo Qian had already begun demonstrating corn planting.

"This corn prefers deep roots..."

Guo Qian's voice was loud and clear, and his explanations were easy to understand.

Beside him, Minister of Agriculture Dou Jing was following behind Guo Qian, his forehead covered in sweat but he was oblivious, quickly recording every word and action Guo Qian made.

Li Shimin strolled over, glanced at the booklet in Dou Jing's hand, and solemnly instructed her.

"Dou Qing, you must remember this in great detail. Every step, every detail, from spacing to depth, and even how to water and fertilize in the future, you must not miss a single word. This is not just about growing crops, it is the foundation of the nation."

Dou Jing quickly bowed in agreement, and her pen moved even faster.

After talking about corn, Guo Qian enthusiastically began to talk about the method of composting, how to ferment it, and how to make it into highly efficient farmyard manure.

Modern fertilizers are good, but they cannot be produced with the current level of industrial technology. Once the amount produced is used up, there is no subsequent replenishment, which will only make farmers dependent on them.

Moreover, blindly using the wrong formula without understanding the proportions can easily lead to soil compaction and salinization, which is like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.

In contrast, these are the technologies that truly belong to the present era of the Tang Dynasty, technologies that can be independently replicated and continuously developed.

As for cars, they were merely icing on the cake; for the Tang Dynasty, once the gasoline ran out, they were nothing but a pile of scrap metal.

Dou Jing looked at these divine objects she had never seen before, her eyes shining brightly.

A yield of 1,000 catties per mu!

If this could really be achieved, why would the people of the Tang Dynasty have to worry about starving?

As the Minister of Agriculture, I am responsible for protecting the food supply of the people. How could I not be excited at this moment?

Seeing Dou Jing's excited expression, Li Shimin gave the order in a deep voice.

"Minister Dou, select a few curved plows from this imperial estate and immediately send them to the Ministry of Works. Order the craftsmen to disassemble and replicate them, ensuring that they are exactly the same. Then mass-produce them. I want these things to appear on the fields of every prefecture and county in the Tang Dynasty in the shortest possible time."

"In addition, once the sweet potato vines have been cultivated into seedlings and the corn seeds are ready, they will be immediately distributed to official farms in various places for trial planting. After the grain is produced, the planting will be promoted to farmers in the private sector."

"Your subject obeys the decree!" Dou Jing responded loudly.

On the other side, the little princess and Chengyang, who had been working for a long time, were finally tired.

The two young maids, covered in sweat, climbed up the ridge of the field, using both their hands and feet, and sat down next to Empress Zhangsun, panting heavily.

Empress Zhangsun lovingly wiped their sweat, chuckling softly with emotion.

"My body is not as strong as it used to be. In just this short time, I feel sore back and aching waist. Farmers who work hard every day really have it tough."

Li Yinxun handed over the water bottle and comforted her, "Sister, there's no need to force yourself. There are tenant farmers in the fields, each with their own duties. We're just experiencing the process today. If we're really talking about farming, you two don't need to do it yourself. Taking care of your health is the most important thing."

As the sun rose higher, the group sat down to rest under the shade of a large tree by the edge of the field.