After having fun in Xiangzhou, Yuanying finally returned to Chang’an.

Because of the girls, it was impossible to travel too fast on the road. When the party returned to Chang’an, the weather was already turning chilly. He hurriedly return the girls to the Emperor, saying that he has fulfilled his mission and brought them home safely!

Although His Majesty do receive letters from time to time, he was still displeased that they cross the  border to Xiangzhou and scolded Li Yuanying. He loves both sides, so he will be upset no matter who was hurt.

Yuanying took his scolding obediently. After the Emperor was done, he ask if the mine in Taiyuan is big, and if it was, could he get some.

“You’re still thinking about iron ore?”

Iron has been a controlled item since ancient times. Iron is a key ingredient to make weapons and armor, and can also be used to make farming tools. Therefore, they can only be controlled by the Imperial court, and no one is allowed to touch it privately.

Yuanying didn’t care about weapons and armor. His team uses whatever the court gave them and there was no need to make special arrangements. He told the Emperor a rather extravagant idea: “I want to make a batch of pots,I need  lots of iron!”

“What kind of pot?”

Li Yuanying gestured to the Emperor Li. The kind that was round and concave in the middle. He told him about the use of this pot: “This pot is thinner than a copper pan. It can be placed on the stove for stewing, boiling or frying! Heat the fire quickly, add hot oil to the pan, and stir-fry. It’s convenient! The dishes fragrant and makes people’s mouths water.”

If he didn’t have the opportunity, Yuanying wouldn’t have this idea, but now he wants to try his luck.

He saw this cooking method in <<Qimin Yaoshu/Essential Techniques for the Welfare of the People>>.  After reading, he became inspired and ask Lady Liu to try it out. But the copper pan was not convenient to use. Lady Liu tried several times before she succeeded. Yuanying then asked the system if there are more convenient for cooking and quickly replicated it.

Since then Yuanying comes home to all kinds of stir-fried dishes. It smelled so good!

But if he wanted to make a few pots with iron, he can. But if he wanted more, his hands are tied.

Yuanying was worried that Li Er wouldn’t believe him, so he vowed that he could ask the kitchen staff to take his pot and try it out and he will send 2 of Lady Liu’s people to guide them.

His Majesty became curious and really took the pot and made Yuanying eat lunch with him. Afterwards, Yuanying’s pot was confiscated!

Yuanying complained to Lady Liu: “I made it for my mother, but my brother snatched it away. Too much!”

“It’s rare that His Majesty likes something, what’s too much? Others want to send things to His Majesty but can’t.”

Yuanying grumbled that he’s not someone who wants to send things to the Emperor and he didn’t have to please him that way. Fortunately, Li Er promised that if the iron mine is big, he will make a batch of pots for him exclusively for Feng Thai Restaurant!

This is of course not because His Majesty favored his younger brother Li Yuanying, but because it is related to their plan for Mount Tai.

Since such iron pots are not available for sale yet, this cooking business will be uniquely theirs. Now he is secretly scheming to secure a batch of these pots, so that he can expand his business along the way to his new fiefdom. When it’s time, he can expand his food business uniformly and make some fresh money!

With money, the road to Mount Tau can be built. Feng Thai restaurant has established a firm foothold, and the business is booming. With that, they will have a place to eat and sleep. It won’t be long before the road to Mount Tai is unlocked!

Under Li Yuanying’s hard lobbying, Li Er reluctantly gave in. However, many are watching the new

mine, and it won’t be easy to operate in secret. His Majesty promised that he will ask his men to get him some iron from another mining site.

After the two brothers conspired to make iron pots, they felt a kind of secret happiness. It feels good to do things in secret!

As for whether they will be criticized after the incident is exposed, both brothers agreed that since this is not the first time they are being condemn, it won’t be much of an issue!

Because it’s hush hush business, Yuanying didn’t even tell mother but only inform Dong Xiaoyi to identify a group of trusted blacksmiths to practice the pot-making skills and strive to make them all in one go.

Yuanying made arrangements for everything and waited eagerly for the Emperor to order him to leave for his fiefdom, but there was none.

Yuanying tried to find out from Wei Zheng and got to know that the civil officials, the military genrals and  the Emperor were all fighting over  whether to attack Goryeo.

Yuanying was shocked: “It’s been so long, there’s still no decision?” He remembered that they were discussing about this even before he left for Taiyuan.

Some time ago, he received a letter from Silla, not from Dai Ting but by Jin Shengman.

Jin Shengman wrote that Dai Ting didn’t return for Tang or stayed in Silla, he left for Goryeo.

She didn’t know what Dai Ting was doing but he would send people to look for her from time to timel She heard from her servants that Dai Ting seemed to be doing business with Goryeo, often bringing back boatloads of goods and working hard.

Although she constantly got news about this, Jin Shengman has never seen Dai Ting again and she was getting a little worried, so she wrote a letter to Yuanying.

Yuanying didn’t know how Dai Ting was doing it, but he is excited when he heard about the cargoes. Dai Ting also returned with a full load when he came back from Gaochang. If he used ships to load, wouldn’t he be able to bring back even more treasures?

Thinking that he is leaving for Tengzhou soon, Yuanying wrote a letter to Jin Shengman, requesting that she inform Dai Ting to ship the stuff directly to Tengzhou. Henan Road, where Tengzhou is located, is just across the sea from Silla making it shorter and convenient!

The war in Silla is in a temporary ceasefire so he sent someone to deliver it at full speed.

Yuanying was convinced after listening to Wei Zheng’s many talks about not attacking Goryeo. He volunteered to speak to the Emperor under Wei Zheng’s suspicious gaze.

The Emperor was still in anger. He wanted to personally lead the army to attack Goryeo and show off his power and skills but so many people are against this!

When he was inform about Li Yuanying seeking an audience, the Emperor thought he must be here to talk about leaving so he became even more unhappy. Nonetheless, he allowed the boy to enter.

Li Yuanying ran in and sat down, and went straight to the point: “Brother, are you still arguing about whether to attack Goryeo?”

Li Er glanced at him: “Yes.”

“In my opinion, we must fight! They are not taking Tang seriously. How can we not teach them a lesson for being so shameless!”

Li Er snorted: “Wei Zheng doesn’t think so.”

Wei Zheng has been harassing him every day saying that it is wrong to attack Goryeo and it is even more unwise to personally lead the army! He is only in his forties. Will he never be able to show his prowess on the battlefield again?

“If you ask me, we should have fought in the early spring, but it is not suitable now.”

His Majesty looked at him.

“If we leave now, it will be Winter by the time we reach Liaodong. Won’t the soldiers be cold? If you want them to not be cold, you have to prepare thick winter clothes. That is no small amount of money. And I heard from Li that it’s easy to to defend a Northern city in winter. Once water is poured on the city wall, it will freeze. Not only will the city wall be much thicker but it will also be slippery and difficult to climb. It will take effort to attack the city! So it’s a loss to attack them in winter.”

It was the first time Li Er heard this perspective, and it made sense!

Li Yuanying even took out a pen and started listing down all the expenses. Think clothes, food and accommodation in winter. The final result was a very huge number!

When Li Er saw this budget, he thought that if the Ministry of Revenue saw it, they will definitely be more determined to oppose the conquest of Goryeo.

“It seems that you also think we shouldn’t fight.” This kid even went around in circles to explain why, he’s really quite capable!

“I think we can’t fight in winter, it’s best to do it in summer. Think about it, if we set out in spring, no one will need thick clothes and it will be much easier to travel. By the time we reach Goryeo, it will be summer, and the weather so hot that they may not even need clothes, because they don’t want to wear them at all!”

Li Er scolded, “At the very least, armor must be provided!” How can you let people go to the battlefield shirtless? He has been in the army for many years, he can’t mistreat the soldiers.

Yuanying muttered, “I’m just saying. Anyway, if we set out in Spring, food will be cheaper and soldiers can eat better and be more energetic, so they will be motivated to fight! Goryeo is such a small place, we can finish by summer and return before winter!”

His Majesty felt that although Li Yuanying’s starting point is all about money, it’s quite valuable insights.  

He nodded, “Okay, I understand what you mean.”

It means you can leave now.