My cultivation disguise has been exposed by Xiao Sizi.

The voice just fell.

"Whoosh."

The hundreds of tenant farmers sitting on the edge of the field stood up in unison.

No one was chanting slogans.

No one picked up a hoe.

It was just a few hundred people standing in a wall.

Skinny as a rake, yet indestructible.

Lu Gui's hand, holding the whip, froze in mid-air. His fingers began to tremble.

He looked at this group of peasants who were used to being beaten and scolded.

I felt fear for the first time.

He retreated repeatedly.

He retreated to the side of the horse and hurriedly climbed onto its back.

With a tug on the reins, they fled in disarray.

……

Qin Wangfu.

East side courtyard.

Flames shot into the sky.

The heatwave distorted the air.

A small, half-person-high clay blast furnace was emitting a deep rumble.

Li Tai was shirtless.

The plump, white flesh glowed reddish under the high temperature.

Sweat streamed down his stomach.

He pressed down hard on a huge leather bellows with both hands.

"Huffing and puffing—"

"Sixteenth Brother! The heat is still a little off! The molten iron isn't bright enough!" Li Tai shouted.

Under a large locust tree in the corner of the courtyard.

Li Chen lay in the rocking chair.

An open book was covering his face.

"Air intake duct," Li Chen's lazy voice came from under the book, "Add a hollow mud pipe around the outside of the furnace. Let the outside air circulate around the furnace wall, heat it up, and then blow it in. That's called a hot air furnace."

The bellows stopped.

Li Tai was stunned for a moment.

My mind raced through the possibilities.

He slapped his thigh. "Brilliant! Cold air entering the furnace lowers the temperature, while hot air makes the fire burn even brighter!"

He scrambled to the side, grabbed some yellow clay, and started kneading a pipe.

Two incense sticks later.

The pipes are installed.

Li Tai pulled the bellows again.

"call--!"

The color of the flames shooting out of the furnace mouth changed.

It changed from dark red to orange-red.

Finally, a dazzling bright white light shone through the center.

Inside the crucible, the originally viscous molten iron instantly transformed into flowing mercury.

It was blindingly bright.

Li Taisong opened the bellows handle.

He plopped down on the ground.

He wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand, which was covered in black ash.

A black mark was smeared on his face.

"Sixteenth brother. What's wrong with your brain?" Li Tai stared at the furnace of molten iron and muttered to himself.

Li Chen did not take the book down.

"Get to work. Don't slack off."

Light footsteps could be heard at the courtyard gate.

Cui Wanqing walked in.

Today she wore a plain-colored long dress.

There were no extra accessories.

Clean and efficient.

She stopped three steps away from the rocking chair.

"Your Highness. Prince Wei."

"Speak." Li Chen turned over.

"The tenants at the estates of the Lu family and the Cui family of Boling have all gone on strike," Cui Wanqing said calmly. "The land is all lying fallow."

Li Tai laughed heartily.

Get up from the ground.

"Serves them right! They tried to fool us with scrap metal!"

Cui Wanqing pulled a thick stack of papers out of her sleeve.

"This morning, four powerful families sent people to me. They want to buy curved plows." Cui Wanqing looked at the paper in her hand. "They are willing to use the deeds to ten imperial estates as collateral. They want to buy ten thousand plows at once."

Li Chen reached out and removed the book from his face.

He sat up.

Looking at that stack of land deeds.

"We won't accept the land deed," Li Chen said.

Cui Wanqing was puzzled.

"Your Highness, this is a perfect opportunity to annex their land."

"Land needs people to cultivate it for crops to grow. Taking over the land means we'll have to manage it, which is troublesome." Li Chen picked up the teacup beside him. "Tell them we can sell them plows."

He took a sip of water.

"A plow, five hundred coins. No credit, cash only."

Cui Wanqing gasped.

He sold it to the people for fifty coins.

Sold to a prominent family for 500 coins.

A full ten times.

Will they buy it?

"If they don't buy, the land will grow weeds. If they can't pay taxes in the fall, the court will punish them. They have no choice." Li Chen put down his teacup.

The knife that doesn't draw blood goes the deepest.

……

Chang'an City.

Pingkang Square.

A quiet private teahouse.

The head of the Lu family sat by the window.

Opposite them was the head of the Cui family of Boling.

A pot of fine pre-Qingming Longjing tea.

Nobody touched it.

The tea has gone cold.

"Have you paid?" asked the head of the Cui family of Boling.

"Payment done," the Lu family patriarch said hoarsely. "Five thousand taels of silver. For ten thousand plows."

"What a brilliant move to undermine our foundation." The head of the Cui family of Boling closed his eyes, his wrinkles deepening. "In agriculture, we've failed. These farming tools of the Tang Dynasty will henceforth belong to the Prince of Qin."

The head of the Lu family suddenly opened his eyes.

A fierce glint flashed in his eyes, like that of a trapped beast.

"Farm tools belong to the King of Qin. But the world is not entirely ruled by the Li family."

He picked up the cold tea and drank it all in one gulp.

"Farming is a peasant's job. The foundation of a noble family has never been the land."

He pointed out the window to the bustling streets of Chang'an.

"Next month. The imperial examinations will be held in the spring."

The head of the Cui family of Boling's eyes widened in shock. "You mean..."

"Book."

The head of the Lu family uttered a single word.

"The King of Qin may be able to forge iron, but could he forge the Four Books and Five Classics? The court needs to select officials, and scholars need to take exams. Ninety percent of the classics in the world are in the hands of a few families!"

He stood up.

Place both hands on the table.

"Pass on the message. Starting tomorrow."

"All bookstores, paper shops, and writing implement shops owned by Shandong gentry families. The prices of the Four Books and Five Classics, writing implements, paper, and inkstones will be ten times higher!"

"I will make it so that the poor scholars of Chang'an cannot afford a single sheet of paper or a single page of a book. I will show Li Shimin who truly holds the reins of the nation's scholars!"

……

The next day.

West Market.

An unassuming bookstore.

A scholar wearing a faded long gown stood in front of the counter.

He clutched a small string of copper coins in his hand. His hands were red from the cold.

"Shopkeeper, give me a copy of the Analects. And a ream of the cheapest yellow paper." The scholar placed the coins on the counter. His voice was gentle.

The shopkeeper didn't even look up.

He fiddled with the abacus for a bit.

He pushed the string of copper coins back.

"not enough."

The scholar was taken aback.

"When I came to check yesterday, it was still fifty coins. This is exactly fifty coins."

The shopkeeper then looked up at him.

His eyes were cold.

Like looking at a blade of grass by the roadside.

"Yesterday is yesterday. Today, five hundred coins. Paper is not sold separately, two taels of silver per bundle."

The scholar's face turned deathly pale instantly.

He stared blankly at the counter.

My hand unconsciously loosened its grip.

"Splash!"

The string of copper coins broke apart. It fell to the ground and rolled into the mud.

The scholar squatted down.

Go collect those copper coins.

My fingers touched the cold, muddy water.

He didn't cry, but his shoulders started to tremble uncontrollably.

There are no books.

There is no paper.

The imperial examination system.

It’s over.