Chapter 134: Zhao Yu: Almost Exposed—I

…

After Zhang Chun sent Li Shishi to find a master of bedchamber arts, she personally directed her palace's skilled attendants to make her a cat-girl outfit.

'I wonder if this little native Zhao Yu can even appreciate such a fine thing?'

Zhang Chun put on the already-made cat ears and picked up a mirror to look.

In the mirror, her delicate, adorable cat ears swayed gently with her movements; her eyes sparkled with curiosity and anticipation, her lips curled into a playful smile, radiating a charm that was both seductive and mischievous.

Zhang Chun then picked up the exquisitely sewn cat tail and tied it around her waist; the tail seemed alive, swaying lightly with each step, adding to her grace and allure.

'Your Majesty's attire is truly delightful; I'm sure Your Majesty will love it,' said one of the attendants nearby.

Hearing this, Zhang Chun's confidence soared; she said: 'If the Emperor likes it, I'll make each of you a set, and trap him deep in my den of ten thousand demons.'

At that moment, Li Shishi returned.

Seeing Li Shishi come back, Zhang Chun paused and asked: 'Why are you back? Didn't I tell you to find a master?'

Li Shishi said: 'I found one.'

'Found one so quickly?'

Zhang Chun looked toward the doorway—and sure enough, there really was someone.

But 'How could it be her?'

Who was it?

Cui Nianyue, Li Lin's maid.

Zhang Chun looked at Li Shishi and asked: 'Is she a master of bedchamber arts?'

Li Shishi replied: 'She's older than I am, skilled in human relations, and has great prospects—so an old courtesan taught her, hoping she'd look out for us.'

Zhang Chun heard this and beckoned to Cui Nianyue: 'Come in quickly.'

Cui Nianyue entered and bowed to Zhang Chun: 'Your servant pays homage to Your Majesty.'

Zhang Chun smiled and said: 'Shishi says you know bedchamber arts you can teach me?'

Cui Nianyue hurried to say: 'Your servant dares not claim that; I merely know a small trick, perhaps useful.'

Zhang Chun knew people never acted without benefit, and she had long wanted to recruit all four famous courtesans.

So she said: 'You're not young anymore; how about next time you join me in serving the Emperor?'

To Zhang Chun's surprise, Cui Nianyue refused: 'Thank Your Majesty's kindness, but my affairs are entirely under my lady's command; I dare not decide for myself. I beg your pardon.'

Zhang Chun was both startled and puzzled; she asked bluntly: 'Then why are you here to teach me?'

Cui Nianyue said nothing of her true thoughts—that such tricks could never hold Zhao Yu's heart; to win his affection, one must cultivate virtue—and instead spoke openly: 'First, Your Majesty and my lady are close sisters; if Your Majesty has need, your servant has no choice but to help. Second, I naturally enjoy cultivating good connections; Your Majesty's future is bright, and if I have the chance to ally with you now, I naturally wish to form a good bond.'

Cui Nianyue's answer surprised and impressed Zhang Chun; she immediately tried to poach her: 'You're excellent. Why not come work for me? I'll never let you down. As for your lady, don't worry—I'll speak to her myself.'

Afraid Cui Nianyue would refuse, Zhang Chun added: 'You should know most of my attendants have already served the Emperor, and two are even pregnant—they've risen to great heights. If you come, you'll have your chance too.'

Cui Nianyue knew Zhang Chun was generous—'Le Jin Shunü'—and had already sent many women to Zhao Yu, helping many become pregnant.

To be honest, Cui Nianyue helped Zhang Chun precisely because of this.

But Cui Nianyue would never switch masters, for she knew trust and loyalty, once lost, were nearly impossible to regain.

So she politely declined: 'Thank you, Your Majesty, but my lady is carefree and easygoing; I truly cannot leave her side.'

Zhang Chun never expected Cui Nianyue to be so loyal; this made her admire her even more—and want her even more.

Knowing Li Lin as she did, if Cui Nianyue herself wished to come, Li Lin would not stop her.

But if Cui Nianyue did not wish to come, and Zhang Chun tried to forcibly take her, she might anger Li Lin.

With Li Lin's fiery temper, she might even beat Zhang Chun.

The key point: if Li Lin beat her, no one except Zhao Yu could stop that she-dragon.

Probably, even if they fought right up to Zhao Yu's door, he'd just spank them both equally—Zhang Chun wouldn't gain a single advantage.

Based on this, Zhang Chun said: 'Since your mind is made up, I'll tell your lady next time that you've grown up.'

This time, Cui Nianyue smiled.

To be honest, she truly liked Li Lin—generous and magnanimous, entrusted her with all palace affairs, never interfered, and trusted her completely.

But Li Lin's ambitions were too vast; she didn't know how to secure benefits for her own people, nor what they truly wanted.

With Zhang Chun's promise, and without being asked, Cui Nianyue said: 'I know a trick called the inverted golden hook…'

…

After the Song and Xia signed their peace treaty, a period of peace should have followed.

But after Zhao Xu died, Xia Zhu Li Qianshun took advantage of Zhao Yu's youth and low prestige.

Of course, this was also because the Song Dynasty continued to reclaim Qingtang Tubo, placing immense pressure on Western Xia.

—Li Qianshun could think with his heel: once the Song conquered Qingtang Tubo, their next strategic target would surely be Western Xia.

Thus, Li Qianshun had been secretly supporting Qingtang Tubo's forces hostile to the Song.

Moreover, Li Qianshun knew the Song Dynasty was now powerful; he must handle relations with Liao carefully, or Western Xia, standing alone against the increasingly strong Song, risked annihilation.

After consulting his advisors, Li Qianshun sent envoys to Liao, requesting to marry a Liao princess.

But at this time, Yelu Hongji was seriously ill and had no attention to spare for Western Xia.

With no choice, Li Qianshun could only save himself.

Indeed, Li Qianshun was no ordinary ruler—he had already won the recognition of Western Xia's civil and military officials in such a short time, wise and cautious as he was.

Though he had once bowed humbly before the Song's military might, he never forgot the humiliation of lost territory.

Since taking personal rule, Li Qianshun had established a national academy, recruited three hundred disciples to promote Confucianism and cultivate talent; he had also granted lands and honors to the families of great generals like Ren Duobaozhong, who died fighting Song troops.

Li Qianshun's peace with Zhao Yu was never meant to preserve his land and survive in quiet desperation; he sought time to train his troops and weapons, so that soon, he could avenge the Song Dynasty and erase the shame left by his mother, Empress Dowager Xiao Liang.

His younger brother, Li Lin, was the most vital pillar supporting his revival.

During Zhao Xu's reign, when Song troops first launched an expedition to destroy Qingtang, Li Qianshun had sent his general Ren Duobaozhong to reinforce them.

At the time, only sixteen-year-old Li Lin was among the Xixia reinforcements.

Although the Xia army had been repelled by the Song forces, Li Lin, during the retreat, used a powerful bow to drive back one of Miao Lu's deputy generals, forcing the Song army to withdraw and buying time for the Xia army's retreat.

Li Lin became famous overnight from this battle.

After returning to Xixia, Li Qianshun appointed Li Lin as Prince Jin and tasked Li Lin and others with retraining the army.

Li Lin fully absorbed the strengths of the Song army to reorganize the Xia forces, greatly enhancing their combat power.

Later, Xixia launched troops in coordination with the Qingtang Tubo forces to repel the Song army; as the Song's main forces were driven out of Shanzhou and Huangzhou, Qingtang Tubo, under the leadership of the new Zanpu Xisheluo Sa, reestablished its state.

After observing for some time and seeing that Zhao Yu showed no intention of relinquishing Qingtang Tubo, Li Qianshun married a princess of the Xixia royal family to Xisheluo Sa, making her his last consort.

Xixia and Qingtang officially became allies.

Subsequently, Li Qianshun dispatched the Xixia general Ren Duobaozhong to aid Xisheluo Sa, aiming to join forces with the Tubo troops to repel the Song army and seize Huangzhou, thereby extending Xixia's influence into Qingtang territory.

Because Li Qianshun clearly intended to interfere with the Zhao Song dynasty's recovery of Qingtang territory—even openly sending troops—Zhang Dun and Ceng Bu, who were recently in charge of northwest military affairs, decisively shut down all border markets with Xixia entirely and launched an economic war; relations between the two sides rapidly plummeted to freezing point.

Meanwhile, Zhang Jie reinforced the fortress construction along the Tiandu Mountain border between Song and Xixia; the Suirong Fortress and Huairong Fortress were both expanded during this phase.

War between Song and Xixia could break out at any moment.

Additionally, Song spies returned word that Li Qianshun had sent envoys to Liao, requesting Liao to send reinforcements to Xixia, as if making final preparations for the impending war.

Yet, first, the war between Song and Xixia had not yet officially begun, and Liao did not wish to provoke the Zhao Song dynasty into triggering the conflict prematurely; second, Yelu Hongji's health deteriorated day by day, and at a time when Liao might change rulers at any moment, Liao dared not lightly ignite war.

Faced with this crisis, Yelu Hongji finally relented and agreed to let Yelu Yanxi resume appointing officials below the rank of Grand General.

It is clear from this that Yelu Hongji knew his days were numbered and was preparing to pass the throne to Yelu Yanxi…

…

One day, Yuan Qingcheng's research personnel, dispatched to Jinghu North Road to cultivate rice, traveled seven straight days to deliver to Yuan Qingcheng a special rice plant.

This rice plant had large, uniform panicles, plump grains, and astonishingly contained over two hundred and thirty seeds—more than double that of ordinary rice.

Yuan Qingcheng rejoiced: "Could this be a naturally occurring hybrid rice?"

Male-sterile rice lines produce defective pollen and cannot self-pollinate to set seed, but they can be fertilized by pollen from other rice varieties to produce grain.

This makes it possible to combine desirable traits from different varieties through hybridization, thereby cultivating hybrid rice varieties with heterosis and significantly increasing rice yields.

Moreover, in hybrid breeding, using male-sterile lines as the maternal parent eliminates the tedious manual emasculation process, reducing the cost and difficulty of hybrid seed production and improving seed production efficiency, facilitating large-scale promotion of hybrid rice.

In short, with this special rice plant, Yuan Qingcheng could finally begin her research on hybrid rice.

Yuan Qingcheng, unprecedentedly, came to Zhao Yu herself to petition for rewards for the research personnel who discovered this naturally occurring hybrid rice.

Zhao Yu understood that Yuan Qingcheng wanted him to bestow generous rewards on this researcher to motivate others, so that she could control her team from afar and ensure they worked hard on research.

Zhao Yu immediately ordered Liu Mingda to draft an imperial edict promoting the researcher seven ranks and granting him ten thousand strings of cash, while also bestowing the title of Ru Ren upon the researcher's wife.

Yuan Qingcheng was greatly satisfied.

To be honest, Yuan Qingcheng was increasingly willing to work with Zhao Yu.

Zhao Yu deeply understood that grain was the foundation of the state and that the people's livelihood depended on food; he paid special attention to agriculture and thus always gave her maximum support and trust.

This was also why, whenever she achieved even a small success, she rushed to Zhao Yu to share the good news.

Only those who understood hybrid rice recognized the significance of discovering a male-sterile line; those who did not would not realize how great her progress was.

Receiving such lavish rewards from Zhao Yu for this achievement made Yuan Qingcheng feel slightly guilty.

So Yuan Qingcheng presented her other achievement: "Your Majesty, I have another method to increase grain yields."

Zhao Yu, absorbed in reading frontline victory reports, replied offhandedly: "Oh? Elaborate."

"??? "

Yuan Qingcheng's heart stirred: "That's not something a person from this era would say!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Zhao Yu realized his mistake and quickly corrected himself: "I mean—you may speak freely; I am all ears. Chun and Shi Yun often say this. Don't you understand?"

Upon hearing Zhao Yu had learned this from Zhang Chun and Ye Shi Yun, Yuan Qingcheng laughed at her own overthinking: "Of course—Zhao Yu frequently interacts closely with those four; it's perfectly natural for him to pick up a few phrases from the future."

Then Yuan Qingcheng proposed: "Your Majesty should establish a 'Fertilizer Administration'—local officials should organize the collection of manure and promotion of green manure, record the fertilization effects on different soils, and publish my newly completed 'Qingcheng Agricultural Treatise' to popularize the precise fertilization concept of 'using manure as medicine'…"

Yuan Qingcheng meant that while improving rice varieties was important, fertilizer was equally indispensable for high yields.

She proposed collecting manure, wood ash, and straw, mixing them into compost, and producing high-efficiency organic fertilizer through anaerobic fermentation (sealed pits) or aerobic composting (regular turning); here, biogas digesters could be built for lighting or cooking. Additionally, in rice-growing regions like Jiangnan, green manure crops such as purple clover and alfalfa could be promoted (sown in autumn, plowed into soil as base fertilizer in spring).

Yuan Qingcheng further suggested that the existing "rice-wheat" rotation could be expanded into a three-year cycle of "rice-wheat-green manure"; farmers could be organized to dredge mud from riverbeds or pond bottoms, dry it, and apply it to fields; and animal bones from slaughterhouses (rich in phosphorus and calcium) could be ground and fermented with vinegar or manure to produce bone meal fertilizer.

Finally, Yuan Qingcheng proposed experimenting with mineral fertilizers such as lime, wood ash, and natural phosphate rock.

Yuan Qingcheng predicted that if these methods were systematically implemented, grain yields per mu might increase by 20%–30%, significantly alleviating the Zhao Song dynasty's food pressure…

…

(End of Chapter)