Chapter 348: Zhang Chun Wants to Split the Cake

…

Upon learning that Zhang Chun had something important to discuss with them, Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao and Yuan Qing Cheng ended their argument and went together to Zhang Chun's palace.

When Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao and Yuan Qing Cheng arrived at Zhang Chun's palace, Zhang Chun and Li Lin were already there; only Ye Shi Yun had not yet come.

Zhang Chun took Li Lin, Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao, and Yuan Qing Cheng to her secret chamber and ordered the palace attendants to bring tea, fruit, and dried nuts.

After Li Shishi and her entourage left, Yuan Qing Cheng asked Zhang Chun: "What's so urgent that you summoned us all like this?"

But Zhang Chun still played coy, saying: "No rush—wait until Shi Yun arrives, then we'll speak together."

With that, Zhang Chun picked up her teacup and sipped slowly, calm and composed.

Lately, Zhang Chun had been feeling triumphant—her son Zhao Tang had repeatedly earned battlefield merits and was now quietly becoming the Imperial Prince with the most military achievements among them all.

Not only Zhao Tang, but Zhang Chun's second son Zhao Kai had also begun to shine on the front lines, his battlefield record now rivaling that of Zhao Di, Zhao Qing, and Zhao Shou—the most formidable warrior princes—and was quietly slipping into the top tier.

With her sons' glory elevating her, Zhang Chun had regained her swagger, reminiscent of when she once aspired to be the leader of the five women.

In truth, the reason all five women's sons were such formidable warriors was not only due to their mothers' superior guidance, but also because each had been assigned elite bodyguards and commanders.

Take Zhao Tang as an example.

The man protecting Zhao Tang on the battlefield was Yue Fei—if he couldn't deliver such battlefield results, that would be the real problem.

Recall: in history, Yue Fei was a master of strategy, capable of defeating larger forces with fewer troops, breaking cavalry with infantry, and achieving miracles at the battles of Yancheng and Yingchang; he excelled at strategic coordination, forging a grand plan linking the He Shuo region, causing the Jin army to lament, "It's easier to shake a mountain than to shake Yue's army." His tactics were endlessly adaptable—ambushes, steadfast defense—always precisely targeting enemy weaknesses and seizing full command of the battlefield. In military discipline, he ruled with iron will: "Rather freeze than dismantle a house; rather starve than plunder." This forged Yue's army into the people's "Army of Benevolence and Righteousness." Such cohesion far surpassed ordinary armies; soldiers were willing to die for him, and their combat power naturally dwarfed the norm.

Throughout Chinese history, few figures combined top-tier tactics, strict discipline, and noble conviction—Yue Fei was one of them.

With Yue Fei fighting for Zhao Tang, how could it be surprising that Zhao Tang achieved such extraordinary battlefield feats?

It wasn't just Zhao Tang—among all five women's sons, and indeed all of Zhao Yu's sons who had taken the field, each was accompanied by capable, battle-hardened generals—among them future luminaries like Yue Fei, Liu Qi, Yang Yizhong, Niu Gao, and Zhang Xian.

Li Lin, who understood armies and frontline warfare better, knew that although Zhao Yu's sons appeared impressive, most of them—including Zhao Tang and Zhao Kai—were merely above-average commanders. Their dazzling records stemmed not from their own brilliance, but from the exceptional men supporting them.

To the proud Li Lin, what was there to be proud of?

So Li Lin ignored Zhang Chun, who was once again trying to show off, and bluntly told Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao and Yuan Qing Cheng: "We've discovered a new continent—rubber, corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, chili peppers, and sunflowers have all been brought back."

Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao and Yuan Qing Cheng were overjoyed!

With rubber trees, the boost to the Industrial Revolution would be transformative.

Rubber's most immediate value lay in its natural advantages of elasticity and sealing. In industrial machinery, transmission joints and pipe seals had long relied on leather or metal—leather wore out quickly, metal was hard to adapt, both remaining persistent bottlenecks limiting machine efficiency.

Rubber products—whether drive belts or sealing gaskets—could withstand high-speed mechanical friction while tightly conforming to interfaces of varying sizes, drastically reducing machine failure rates and enabling steam engines, textile machines, and other core equipment to operate stably and persistently, boosting efficiency manyfold.

More crucially, rubber's insulating properties laid the foundation for the coming electrical age.

Previously, Song's electrical wiring had been hampered by limitations in conductive materials, preventing the development of electrical appliances; though electric lamps and telegraphs had been invented, they remained useless due to wiring problems.

Rubber's non-conductive nature made it the ideal outer coating for wires, eliminating the danger of current leakage and enabling electricity to be transmitted over long distances through cables—it would inevitably drive electric motors to replace steam engines as the new core power source of industry.

Moreover, rubber's plasticity would spawn countless new industrial components—from shock-absorbing tires and precision gaskets to wear-resistant conveyor belts and flexible hoses—these rubber-based parts would make machines more compact, run smoother, and vastly expand the applications of industrial equipment.

Put simply, from small items like wooden bicycles, hand carts, bicycles, and fine-spindle looms in textile mills, to large machines like automobiles and trains, all would see dramatic performance gains with the addition of rubber components.

One could say, rubber's arrival was like installing a "shock absorber" and "lubricant" for the Industrial Revolution, allowing this inevitable global technological transformation to advance more smoothly and deeply.

For Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao, the leader of the Industrial Revolution, acquiring rubber was like a parched land receiving rain—her long-held industrial blueprints finally had a foundation to take root.

Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao exclaimed excitedly: "With rubber, locomotive braking systems can leap to a new level, carriage suspension systems can be completely revolutionized, train speed and capacity will double. And wiring—at last we can abandon the layered resin-and-hemp wrapping…"

Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao listed dozens of rubber applications in one breath, eloquent and unrestrained.

Clearly, acquiring rubber had thrilled Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao immensely.

Yuan Qing Cheng was also delighted—though under her efforts, Song's grain production had already multiplied several times over and fruits and vegetables had become abundant, the introduction of corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes held transformative significance for Song's food security and social stability.

—These three crops were drought- and poor-soil tolerant, far more adaptable than traditional rice and wheat; they could take root in northern drylands and mountains, and also grow in southern hills and barren plots, greatly expanding the boundaries of arable land. Moreover, during famines, rice and wheat might fail entirely due to drought or flood, but potatoes and sweet potatoes, buried underground, possessed exceptional resilience and could serve as the people's "lifesaving grain." Their high yields would directly increase total food output. Test plantings showed that one mu of sweet potatoes could yield several times more than rice or wheat, meaning the same land could feed far more people, fundamentally easing the contradiction between Song's population growth and food shortages, reducing displaced refugees and stabilizing household registration, thereby providing a more abundant labor force for social production.