According to geographical mapping, Taihe Palace cannot be counted to be within the territory of Hu County or Wannian County. It is located at the foot of Zhongnan Mountain, facing Chang’an from a distance andhad the advantages of facing both north and south. The distance between Hu County to Taihe Palace is about the same as from Chang’an City to Taihe Palace. Nonetheless,  this does not affect Li Yuanying’s plan.

Since you are already visiting, why not ride a horse around Hu County? Go pick some grapes and taste some watermelon. Wouldn’t that be nice? Yuanying is full of confidence in the future development of Hu County and took Wei Shu to observe the melons with great interest. Surprisingly, his system that has seemed to have disappeared for a long time decided to pour cold water on him and alerted that the melon might not be too sweet or too red.

He saw them and they were just a little bigger than a fist after growing a few days and felt  puzzled. Isn’t it supposed to be big, sweet and juicy? Why isn’t it sweet or red now? The system introduced him to this melon species and said that because it was introduced from the west, it is called watermelon ^[1]Watermelon in Chinese literally translates to Xi = West, Gua = Melon. Although it has already been artificially selected for generations, it is not perfect yet. For example, there is corn in this era, but the corn kernels is shriveled and small, making them no different from ordinary weeds.

Li Yuanying asked the system what is artificial selection method.

The most common artificial breeding method is to select  the best seeds from each generation. If you want big grains, pick big grains. If you want juicy seeds, pick juicy seeds. If you want a red fruit, choose a red one; there is also a common grafting method,  which is to pair a branch of one fruit tree to another. For example, if a fruit is delicious but is prone to disease or grows slowly, then connect it with another that is resistant to cold and disease. Much later, another technique called cross pollination became popular creating more varieties to choose from. And much later again,  you can even modify the animals and plants according to your own liking.

As for the techniques to do so, the system refused to disclose them as they are technologies of the far future.

But it was enough. Yuanying thought and copied down what the system said and asked someone to inform Dong Xiaoyi to try it out. Yuanying also haggled with the system: “Didn’t you say it is necessary to have a control group in any research? Get me some of those big, red watermelon seeds you mentioned, and I will plant some as reference so that we have a direction.”

The system felt that this was a reasonable request. Anyway, they have already given him corn and peanuts, what’s another watermelon. Since the boy had not chosen his reward for the dinosaur fossils project,  the system opened a redemption channel for him so that he can freely redeem the type of watermelon seeds he wants.

Li Yuanying was dazzled by what he saw and was envious of the life of people in the future: “They can eat in so many ways!” There are watermelons with seeds, seedless, red, yellow, and so on. There are flower skin, yellow skin, and green skin. Let’s now look at how to eat it. It’s suitable for juicing, scooping, and freezing! There are also people who have enough time to carve flowers out of watermelons!

Because he could only choose one, Yuanying looked around and gave up picking a seedless option. He instead chose a seeded watermelon that is juicy with thin skin. He must ensure that Dong Xiayi is able to grow and collect his own seeds, otherwise all his effort will be in vain. Having received a batch of seeds, he passed them to Dai Ting and told him to send them to Dong Xiaoyi. If the weather is not right, move them into the greenhouse. In short, he must be successful in growing them.

Dai Ting took a look and saw that these are also  watermelon seeds but they looked slightly different. He nodded and didn’t ask any more questions. All the freedom and everything that he has now is given by Li Yuanying. If Li Yuanying lives well, so will he and if Li Yuanying suffers, he will not be able to get away from it too. Therefore, he will never question him or betray him, these include receiving things of unknown origin.

Dai Ting took the order and left. Yuanying left things as it is, after all he has done all that he could. Now he will just have to wait and see if the group is able to create something. Reality was that the bait he threw was attractive. Hu County might not be big but it has many well-off families. Within just a few days, Prince Teng replaced the whole county government and exposed the Yin family’s hidden assets. Many thinks that it is not going to be easy to mess with. The young prince. Who knows what he would do next, will he repeat his old tricks?

As a result, they were going to reluctantly claim a pavilion or something but when they wanted to do so they found out that all has been claimed. Not by residents of Hu County but by merchants from neighbouring county.  When these foreign merchants heard about this initiative, they tried asking if they could also be included. Turns out they could. The county government said that although the initiative was created to give the people of Hu County an opportunity, they  will not turn down others. They gave foreigners a chance to claim smaller buildings and left the big ones to the people of Hu County!

Come on, if you don’t claim a big guy, wouldn’t it mean that you are not sincere?!

But the foreign merchants still gathered around the county government office and refused to leave. They all said that if Hu County residents could not afford it, they can sponsor everything as they do not lack money.

How intolerable?!

If these foreigners really took the bug chunk, how can the Hu County elders hold their heads high in front of villagers? Also when there is competition, they now think that this is a great project to be a part of. The servants sent to register on behalf of wealthy families hurriedly went back to ask for advice. Finally, the heads of the family came in person. This time they didn’t care about the size of the building. Just grab first, otherwise they might not get anything later!

Li Yuanying quietly led Yan Lide to watch the scene of families competing and encouraged him to make a painting out of this so that big brother knows the love of Hu County’s citizens for their Emperor.

Yan Lide firmly refused.

Li Yuanying had no choice but to do it himself. He painted a work called <<People’s love for the King>>  and sent it to Chang’an along with his note which sung praised  of the Hu County for the Emperor. This note is less of an official excerpt asking for instructions on renovating Taihe Palace as it is a fancy letter of praising His Majesty his diligence and utmost concern for the long-term stability of the Tang Dynasty! People are not emotionless like objects, they see how hard the Emperor works and wants to appreciate him with practical actions! In order to prove that this mission doesn’t waste any resources, I hereby attached a drawing named <<People’s love for the King>>. Look how happy the subjects are about spending their money, they all looked cheerful with no hint of being forced! If you’re still not convinced, do ask Yan Lide who witnessed everything with his own eyes!

Li Yuanying letter is not a personal one but an official court document He is now the acting magistrate of Hu County, how can he not try out this channel for submitting letters? It’s impossible, you need to try everything fun at least once!

While his official letter is still travelling o the road, news had already reached Chang’an. Many firmly believe that this is all Li Yuanying’s deceptive speech and he is someone shameless and unreasonable. He not only forces people to give him money, but is also picky about names.

Seriously, who is going to be willing to just give you money like that? Do money fall from the sky?

Everyone was waiting to watch drama but news the next day was all about how Li Yuanying secretly ordered Dai Ting to collude with a group of foreign businessmen which resulted in wealthy households in Hu County being restless and competitive. They all started fighting to donate, afraid that their opportunity will be snatched away by foreigners. This method of coercion is quite brilliant!

People were impressed and they focused their attention on Wei Zheng. Will Wei Zheng protect his future grandson-in-law this time? How is this behavior different from robbing others? It’s unreasonable to ask citizens to pay for a palace refurbishment.

Wei Zheng accepted everyone’s gaze but remained silent. Firstly, no money from the treasury was used, next  no civilians were randomly recruited, and finally no one has complained. He is not a fool, why would he come forward?

In fact, Yuanying had share his plans much earlier to Wei Zheng about how this renovation benefits the country. After all we are making the wealthy pay and benefiting the working class like craftsmen and artisans. Once we bring action to the county, the economy will be restarted.

In the future, Hu County can be used as a model example for external display. When the Tibetans and Turks visit, they will be led here to appreciate the delicious and fun things in Tang.

Speaking of this, Li Yuanying felt quite regretful that his third nephew only visited Tibetan Empire for a few days. How can he play to his heart’s content with so little time? It’s a pity brother forbade him from joining, otherwise he will visit every corner of that country!

Wei Zheng thinks that it is best to tie the boy down to a place nearby, otherwise he might climb over the snow-capped mountains of Tubo and then play around in Licchavi ^[2]part of present day Nepal.

Therefore, Wei Zheng decided to turn a blind eye to Li Yuanying’s misbehavior, pretending to not see it at all.

Wei Zheng was as immovable as a mountain and others despised him. Tsk! I knew that Old Wei is the most cunning. You only criticize those that the Emperor approves of and then you even get rewarded for doing it!  If you see a thunderbolt, you stay far away and not say a word!

Li Er also heard about Li Yuanying’s instigation towards the people of Hu County. Although he felt that his method was a bit… not very respectable, it is a good thing if their Summer Palace gets renovated for free?! If his brother is successful, wouldn’t Li Yuanying’ promise of “going to Mount Tai without spending a penny from the government” come true? By then, Wei Zheng cannot object anymore!

All parties held stood still with no action and Li Yuanying’s letter was delivered to Chang’an on scheduled in a calm atmosphere.

Notes from the author:

Little Prince: Make trouble, make trouble!