Tang Dynasty: Saving Lives and Helping Others, Li Lizhi Falls for Him

Half an incense stick later, the carriage stopped in front of Jishiju.

Shen Chang'an pushed open the courtyard gate and led everyone inside.

As soon as you enter the courtyard, that refreshing air hits you again.

Li Shimin took a deep breath and felt the fatigue from reviewing memorials for days vanish.

Empress Zhangsun and Li Lizhi were also invigorated, and even the advisors couldn't help but look around in amazement.

"Mr. Shen's courtyard is truly a paradise on earth," an aide exclaimed.

Shen Chang'an smiled but did not reply, leading everyone to sit down in the pavilion.

The pavilion was small and couldn't accommodate everyone.

Li Shimin, Empress Zhangsun, Li Lizhi, and Li Chengqian sat around a stone table, while Li Chunfeng, Yuan Tiangang, and several advisors sat on bamboo chairs nearby.

Shen Chang'an brought a kettle from the kitchen and brewed a bowl of tea for everyone.

The aroma of tea wafted through the air, and everyone held their bowls and drank, praising it repeatedly.

"Mr. Shen," Li Shimin put down his teacup, his gaze earnest, "those crops..."

"Please wait a moment, sir." Shen Chang'an stood up. "I'll go and fetch it right away."

He went into the pharmacy and carried out the prepared items one by one.

A cloth bag contained thirty or forty potatoes, with pale yellow skin and round shape. .

Another cloth bag contained thirty sweet potatoes, which were large and had a light red skin.

A bamboo basket contained about twenty tender ears of corn, their outer skins bright green and their silks still glistening with water droplets, clearly freshly picked from the ground.

Three oil paper packets contained mature corn kernels, golden and hard; these were seeds redeemed from the system.

There are also one hundred sweet potato vines that have been sprouted and wrapped in a damp cloth, with their roots... .

There was also a small bag of potato seeds—not the kind you eat, but specifically for seed saving; they were smaller, but with visible buds. .

Shen Chang'an laid out these items one by one on the stone table in the pavilion, immediately attracting everyone's attention.

"This is..."

Li Shimin's hand trembled slightly as he pointed at the pile of things.

"Corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes."

Shen Chang'an picked up a tender ear of corn, peeled off the outer husk to reveal the golden kernels, and said, "Please look, sir, this is corn. When it's tender, it can be boiled and eaten, and when it's old, it can be ground into flour to make pancakes or porridge. This tender corn was just picked from the field, and I'll cook it for you all to try later."

He picked up another potato: "These are potatoes. They can be baked, steamed, stir-fried, or cut into chunks and used in soup. These are for eating; the ones for seed are here—"

He pointed to the bag of small potatoes next to him, "They're smaller, but the sprouts..." "Plant it and it will grow."

He picked up another sweet potato: "This is a sweet potato. It's crisp and sweet when eaten raw, and soft and glutinous when cooked. The vines can be used to feed livestock, and the tubers are edible. These sweet potato vines—"

He pointed to the vines wrapped in a damp cloth, "Cut them into small sections, bury them in the soil, water them, and they'll grow. It's even more convenient than growing them from tubers."

Li Shimin picked up a potato, examined it from all angles, then brought it close to his nose to smell it, and frowned: "This thing... is it edible?"

"Don't worry, sir, I'll make it for you all to try in a bit," Shen Chang'an said with a smile.

An aide cautiously asked, "Mr. Shen, may I ask if the yield per acre of these crops is truly as you say?"

"Absolutely true." Shen Chang'an nodded. "Sweet potatoes yield over 2,000 jin per mu, potatoes over 1,500 jin per mu, and corn over 1,000 jin per mu. I have already tried planting them myself, and there is absolutely no exaggeration."

Several staff members whispered among themselves, discussing the matter.

Another aide asked, "Sir, could you please explain in detail how these crops are cultivated?"

Shen Chang'an took out several pieces of paper from his pocket, which were covered with dense writing.

"These are the planting tips I wrote down. Sweet potatoes can be propagated by vine cuttings. Cut the vines into small sections, bury them in the soil with the leaves exposed, and water them, and they will take root."

"Cut potatoes into pieces and plant them, leaving two or three buds on each piece. Bury them in the soil and cover them with three inches of soil."

"For corn planting, dig a shallow hole every foot, put two or three seeds in each hole, cover with soil and water."

He distributed the note to several staff members, who treasured it and carefully put it away.

"Sir," Li Shimin began, "how much land can these seeds plant?"

Shen Chang'an pointed to the items on the table: "One hundred sweet potato vines can plant one mu (approximately 0.16 acres); sweet potato tubers can plant two fen (approximately 0.02 acres); potatoes can plant three fen (approximately 0.03 acres); and corn seeds can plant two fen (approximately 0.02 acres). Including the potatoes saved for seed, the total area is about one and a half mu (approximately 0.06 acres). You can try planting them first, and if the results are good, you can expand the scale next year."

"That's enough, that's enough." Li Shimin nodded repeatedly. "Let's try planting it first. If it's really effective, we'll promote it next year."

……

After introducing the seeds, Shen Chang'an noticed that everyone still had doubts on their faces: Could these strange-looking things really be eaten?

He smiled slightly and said, "Please have a seat, everyone. I will prepare a meal for you to enjoy."

"Mr. Shen can cook?" Li Chengqian asked in surprise.

"I know a little bit." Shen Chang'an got up and went into the kitchen.

Inside the pavilion, everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.

"This Mr. Shen is truly multi-talented," an aide remarked.

Li Shimin held his teacup, his gaze lingering on the potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn on the stone table, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

In the kitchen, Shen Chang'an began to get busy.

He first prepared the soup base. He placed a large earthenware pot on the stove, added water, blanched pork bones and chicken carcasses, ginger slices, scallion segments, Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, and cinnamon. He brought it to a boil over high heat, then turned to low heat and simmered it.

Before long, a rich aroma filled the kitchen, attracting the curiosity of those outside.

Before long, a rich aroma filled the kitchen, attracting the curiosity of those outside.

In the kitchen, Shen Chang'an sliced ​​the mutton into thin slices and arranged them on a separate plate. He washed and chopped the cabbage, sliced ​​the radish, diced the tofu, peeled and sliced ​​the potatoes, diced the sweet potatoes, and cut the tender corn into sections.

With everything ready, Shen Chang'an carried the earthenware pot to the stone table in the pavilion and placed it on a small stove.

The soup in the pot was still boiling, the milky white broth bubbling and releasing a fragrant aroma.

Everyone inside the pavilion couldn't help but take a deep breath.

"What's this smell?" Li Chengqian's eyes widened.

"It smells so good!" Li Lizhi couldn't help but exclaim.

Li Shimin's Adam's apple bobbed, but he quickly composed himself, picked up his teacup, took another sip, and pretended to be nonchalant.

Several staff members made no attempt to hide their drooling.

Shen Chang'an arranged the sliced ​​meat, vegetables, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and tender corn pieces on the table one by one.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this way of eating is called hot pot."

Shen Chang'an explained, "It's about putting the ingredients into boiling broth to cook, then taking them out and dipping them in sauce to eat."

"Hot pot?" Li Shimin heard this word for the first time and looked at the bubbling ingredients with curiosity.

"Yes, there's a fire under the pot, and soup inside. The ingredients simmer and boil in it, hence the name hot pot."

Shen Chang'an took out a pair of long chopsticks, picked up a piece of pork, dipped it in the soup for more than ten seconds until it changed color and curled up, then took it out and put it in the bowl in front of Li Shimin.