Chapter 56

Xue Xiang and Grand Tutor Xu went together to catch the Great King playing with fire; upon shouting "Your Highness," the innermost circle lifted two blackened faces—one was the Great King's beloved pet Winnie, the other was the Great King himself……

The Great King personally participated and presided over the roasting of the potatoes.

Before the potatoes were done, he already had a face full of black soot, and together with Winnie he raised his head; uh… they really do look like a family, one could say they are very much alike.

Even though the Great King was caught red‑handed playing with fire, he didn't mind and enthusiastically invited everyone to come over and wait for the roasted potatoes.

He also ordered: "Tong Hui, go tell those old men not to cry; their own planting surely can't be as good as what I, the king, plant, and they don't have such good land—having five or six thousand jin would already be not bad!"

Xue Xiang: ……

Grand Tutor Xu: ……

Your Highness, what are you saying? Don't you know that the current wheat yield per mu in the Great Jin is less than two hundred jin?

The Great King's composure comes from having earlier consulted Baiyang; he heard that their potatoes, with proper watering and fertilizing, usually yield ten thousand jin per mu, and his planted in the vegetable garden base average fourteen thousand jin, which is just normal performance—ordinary folks couldn't produce that much on their own.

Zhao Bao finally managed to get some clean water, squeezed in, and used a handkerchief to wipe the Great King's face.

Once the Great King had returned to his plump, snow‑white self, he had people call everyone over to gather around the fire, both to keep warm and to chat.

When everyone had gathered, the Great King raised his little neck and gave an airy lecture.

"I'm sure everyone has seen the yield of the potatoes I, the king, planted. This batch of potatoes, as long as they have no wounds, can be stored and will be used as seed stock; next year I will distribute them to everyone for planting. Even without land as good as mine, potatoes can grow. Following the planting method I just taught you, the lowest harvest will still be three to five thousand jin. If you have no land, reclaim and plant; as long as you work hard, no one in Youzhou will starve. Potatoes are a root‑stem plant; the best planting method is to cut chunks, let them sprout, and sow them. I will later have people specially train you in these methods. The You King's residence will provide you with seeds for one season; after that you must rely on your own seed saving to propagate year after year. In Youzhou, as long as you heed my words, I, the king, will not abandon you."

What a 'will not abandon'—hasn't Youzhou itself been abandoned before!

Youzhou City had already fallen into the hands of the Liaodong Xianbei a few years ago; the court once abandoned them. At that time, the pacifist faction opposed sending troops to retake the poor, troubled Youzhou City. After the newly arrived Marquis of the Eastern Capital took office at Shangguan Pass, he reorganized the border troops, fought back, and drove away the northern barbarians who had enslaved them.

Having lived as a homeless dog for half a year, they will remember it for the rest of their lives.

All the Youzhou people present were moved, and together they knelt and shouted, "Long live the Great King, Everlasting Joy!"

At first it was chaotic and uneven, but gradually it became uniform, chanting, "Long live the Great King, Everlasting Joy~ Long live the Great King, Everlasting Joy~ Long live the Great King, Everlasting Joy~"

Each shout grew firmer; seeing this scene for the first time, the Great King's eyes welled with tears, but he stubbornly held them back. Even Xue Xiang was deeply moved; at that moment he began to believe that this child before him could govern Youzhou well.

The ruler, officials, and commoners of Youzhou shared the black‑scorched roasted potatoes in the early winter wind, and they were blissfully content.

These people had never tasted anything better; the sweet, caramel‑fragrant roasted potatoes were enough to earn their endless praise, though the vegetables grown from the Great King's vegetable garden base were indeed even more delicious.

The Great King's first grassroots team‑building event ended perfectly.

The village chief of Yang Family Village returned home already past midnight; few of Youzhou's folks can go out by horse or cart, so the old man walked all the way home on foot, yet he wasn't tired at all—he was practically exhilarated.

His eldest son got up to open the door for him, then bustled about preparing hot water for the old man to drink.

It's already deep winter; traveling halfway through the night outdoors, one must avoid catching cold—his family simply can't afford to fall ill.

Yang Family Village lies downstream of the Malang River; this year's drought is the worst. After paying taxes, the little grain left must be carefully rationed to avoid starvation—fortunately the Great King granted a ten percent tax reduction, otherwise things would be even worse.

"Dad, the Great King made you go all that way for nothing—what exactly did you do?"

The old man didn't even have time to drink water before kicking his eldest son in the leg, shouting, "How dare you speak of the Great King like that! Is the Great King just some casual name you drop?!"

Yang Lao Da: ……

Afterwards, the old gentleman gave his son a full-round, 360-degree lecture on how handsome and noble the King was, how the King was a blessing to You Prefecture, how the King's potatoes could save countless lives, how the King had great benevolence toward You Prefecture, and so on and so forth.

Needless to say, when the King handed out a potato, Yang the village head already became a devoted follower of the "You King Sect".

The King also did not let down the repeated wishes of boundless happiness; he was constantly concerned for You Prefecture.

The next morning he summoned the Secretary of Works from the Interior Construction Bureau to inquire about the progress of printing technology.

The King copied and memorized things at White Poplar, then came back and wrote them up for them to study; several months have passed since then.

The Secretary felt a bit uneasy, replying, "Your Highness, because the skilled carpenters are illiterate, progress had been very slow; the block‑carvers have only just become somewhat familiar these past few days. They… find carving patterns much easier than carving characters."

"Then let's first produce a book; take this book back and copy it. I hope to see the first agricultural book of the Great Jin published before spring plowing next year." The King, calling himself semi‑illiterate, had no right to look down on the illiterate artisans.

The King planned to take the farming book he had obtained from the game, extract the planting section, print it separately, and sell it as the first printed book in his bookstore.

"Food is heaven to the people; teaching everyone farming techniques makes this first book very meaningful!"

Not only did the King want to open an official grain shop, but also a bookstore officially issued by the princely mansion.

Although the commercial street was not yet finished, the King had already decided on the main businesses for several shops.

First, open a shop selling small novelties brought in from overseas—selling things like sand‑painting pictures and music boxes. Bai Ge said they could simply source directly from the neighboring shop of whatever museum next to his house, with quality guaranteed.

While skipping class yesterday, the King even came up with a name for this shop: 【Myriad Phenomena City】. Indeed, he drew inspiration from the myriad realms, following that line of thought.

Next, open a grain store to stabilize You Prefecture's grain prices; when needed, as Mr. Zhao said, give the starving populace a lifeline. People could purchase cheap grain in limited amounts with their household registers; he had to have such a place.

Furthermore, just thought of today: open a bookstore!

Educating the populace is the King's duty.