Fang watched Li Shimin's retreating back, feeling his father-in-law's attitude was a bit off.
However, since he had achieved his goal, he didn't overthink it and followed Li Shimin down three decks.
At the stern, Li Tai was enthusiastically explaining the differences in the Great Tang to Song Yingxing.
Everything described filled Song Yingxing with anticipation. Seeing Fang Er approach, he excitedly asked,
"Master Fang, are the things His Highness Prince Wei mentioned all true?"
Fang Er, not knowing what they had discussed, asked back in confusion, "What things?"
Song Yingxing looked at him expectantly, "Cement roads, diesel vehicles, helicopters, large fishing boats – are these all real?"
"Hahahaha, everything Mr. Song mentioned is certainly true!"
"Not only that, but also a bridge spanning the Yellow River!"
"Of course, and high-yield grains, which is what Mr. Song pursues. The highest-yielding crop in the Great Tang now can produce forty shi per mu in spring planting and thirty shi in summer planting!"
Fang Er was referring to sweet potatoes.
Although Chen Zhenlong had brought sweet potato vines back from Luzon at this time, and Xu Guangqi had vigorously promoted them, their yield was incomparable to later varieties.
After all, that was the result of centuries of cultivation and improvement.
Song Yingxing stood there murmuring to himself.
"Forty shi per mu in spring planting, enough to feed a family of four for a year!
How many people could this feed? Has the populace of the Great Tang become so prosperous?
Why, why could the Great Tang a thousand years ago achieve this, yet the Great Ming a thousand years later still has so many hungry people?"
Seeing Song Yingxing's reaction, Li Tai thought he didn't believe Fang Er's words, so he smiled and said,
"Master Song, when you go to the Great Tang, I will have someone take you on a helicopter to see around. Then you'll know if it's true!"
"Yes, yes, it must be. This old man must see the prosperous Great Tang you speak of with his own eyes!"
Song Yingxing nodded repeatedly. These matters held an appeal for him far beyond that of ordinary people.
Regarding the matter of titles, Li Shimin had already agreed. The remaining task was to consider what title to grant, which didn't need to be rushed. It would be fine to decide after returning to the Great Tang.
Two days later, the yacht sailed from Tianjin into the Lu River and followed the waterway directly to the outskirts of Beijing.
This river was the main waterway between Tianjin and Beijing, and many merchant ships were stunned by the yacht's speed upon seeing it.
After everyone disembarked, a few special forces soldiers were left to guard the yacht, while merchants gathered around, pointing at it.
Fang Er was long numb to such unworldly stares. He, along with Li Shimin and others, entered the Forbidden City under Chonglou's guidance.
The imperial guards at the Chengtian Outer Gate, upon seeing them, panicked and ran into the palace.
"The Em-Emperor! N-not good! His Majesty Emperor Taizong, he's back again!"
They shouted loudly as they ran.
Inside the Imperial Hall, Zhu Youjian was sitting on the imperial steps, listening to Fan Fucui report on work. Hearing the panicked shout, he was so startled that he rolled off the highest part of the steps like a tumbling donkey, landing in the middle of the hall.
His appearance was truly pathetic.
Picking up the imperial crown that had fallen to the ground, Zhu Youjian nervously asked the guard, "Taizong is back?"
"Yes! He's probably already entered the Chengtian Gate by now!" the guard nodded repeatedly.
Zhu Youjian got up from the ground and paced back and forth in the Imperial Hall a few times before calling out.
"Butler Wang, quickly, bring what I've prepared!"
Wang Chengen, outside the hall, heard this and hurried to the rear palace. Before long, he returned to the Imperial Hall with two young eunuchs carrying a wooden chest.
When the chest was opened, it contained a set of cotton armor worn by border soldiers!
Zhu Youjian had someone help him remove his elaborate dragon robe, put on the cotton armor underneath, and then put the dragon robe back on over it.
Only after completing this did he feel a bit more at ease.
"Your Majesty, your face, your face?"
Wang Chengen looked him up and down for a long time before suddenly pointing at Zhu Youjian's face.
Zhu Youjian quickly felt his face. He had prepared his body, but what about his face?
"What face?"
Just then, Li Shimin's voice suddenly came from outside the hall, startling Zhu Youjian so much that he almost collapsed onto the ground.
"Damn it, how did he get here so quickly!"
"Your Majesty Taizong, you are back! Quick, quick, please be seated. This servant will brew some tea for you~"
Wang Chengen, seeing this, quickly changed the subject and led Li Shimin toward the dragon throne.
Only then did Zhu Youjian breathe a sigh of relief, feeling quite displeased with the guards at the door. *Damn it, why didn't they announce it with a shout?*
"I want good tea~ The clear spring Longjing I had in the south these past few days was excellent!"
Li Shimin sat down on the dragon throne nonchalantly and instructed Wang Chengen.
"Clear spring?"
Wang Chengen looked bewildered. That was something servants drank. Did this Taizong actually like it?
Fang Er covered his face, thinking that he had drunk Song Yingxing's clear spring and was still thinking about it!
Song Yingxing drank clear spring because he was poor.
He quickly said to Wang Chengen, "Your Majesty is joking with you. Go and brew two pots of pre-Ming Longjing."
Tea, in the Great Tang, was a hodgepodge of ingredients.
Peppercorns, star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves – if one had money, they couldn't resist adding all sorts of spices.
Therefore, the true flavor of the tea could not be appreciated, and Li Shimin had no concept of what tea tasted good.
Try drinking the water used to boil tea eggs every day; what flavor could you possibly discern?
Song Yingxing, who had been following them, watched this scene and was completely stunned.
Emperor Taizong, Li Shimin!
Although he hadn't personally seen the Great Tang yet, he was already seventy percent convinced of Li Shimin's identity.
Zhu Youjian, the current Emperor Chongzhen, when faced with this man, acted like a mouse seeing a cat, almost collapsing from fright just hearing his voice. Was it really that exaggerated?
Du Shi and her brothers, Song Shihui, who were standing nearby, didn't even dare to breathe.
To think that in their lifetime, they would see the current Emperor!
And that middle-aged man who had been acting so casually in their home was actually Emperor Taizong.
Now, with two emperors in the same hall, could this be considered "two dragons playing with a pearl"?
Uh, no, should it be "one mountain accommodating two tigers"?
Or no, "one mountain cannot accommodate two tigers unless one is male and the other is female"!
How should this situation be described?
The brothers racked their brains but couldn't figure out how to express their feelings.
"Venerable Ancestor Taizong, I wonder if you had any gains from your journey south this time?"
Zhu Youjian, mustering his courage, walked up to Li Shimin, bowed his body, and spoke as humbly as Wang Chengen did before him.
Li Shimin heard this, stared at him for a good while, and then suddenly laughed and patted him on the shoulder a few times.
"Hahahaha, Venerable Ancestor Taizong, I really like this title!"
"It seems my beating you wasn't in vain. You've finally started to catch on!"
"Hahahaha~~~"