Chapter 168: Sky Screen Live Streaming System (43)

The Daliang People beneath the Sky Screen were greatly inspired.

The nobles and aristocrats with Warm Spring Manors were no longer limited to soaking in hot springs for pleasure or hosting banquets for amusement; instead, they transferred workers from their farms to the Warm Spring Manors, having them plan out vegetable plots and Orchards to see if they could grow fresh melons and vegetables in the dead of winter.

The royal family, for whom "all under heaven belongs to the King," cast their gaze even further beyond the Imperial Villas.

Great Liang was so vast that there were certainly more Warm Springs used by nobles for winter heating than just those few in the outskirts of Jingcheng.

The royal family needed a large number of people to search for Warm Springs within the territory of Great Liang, and once found, to hire local farmers to cultivate fields and engage in Planting grain and vegetables around the springs.

In the short term, they could not learn from the Heavenly Palace or find ways to significantly increase grain production, but if they could utilize the Warm Springs to grow another crop during the biting winter winds, wouldn't that provide the common people with an extra portion of food?

At the same time, the lowest-ranking commoners would have one more place to earn money during the winter when they could not find work.

All of Great Liang suddenly became busy.

……

Xie Yang and her nephew were not idle either—

On the third day of the lunar new year, they went to soak in hot springs;

On the fourth, they experienced a rural market;

On the fifth, they went to eat a traditional rural banquet—it was the ninetieth birthday of her cousin-uncle, and they ate from noon until evening;

On the sixth, the eldest granddaughter of her cousin-aunt got married, and she followed her uncle, aunt, and other relatives to crash a hundred-table wedding banquet held at a five-star hotel;

On the seventh, her cousin treated them to a 3D giant-screen movie—an interstellar sci-fi film about Mecha combat.

If the dazzling array of goods at the modern rural market, the festive liveliness and endless dishes of the rural banquet, and the brilliant lights and exquisite food of the hotel wedding banquet left the Daliang People full of praise and overwhelmed, then the 3D interstellar sci-fi movie truly left the court officials and commoners of Great Liang stunned.

【Is this real? Do the people of the Heavenly Palace live on a ball?】

【It is true; previously, when the Little Marquis and the Princess went to visit a place called the 'Celestial Museum,' it was mentioned that the people of the Heavenly Palace live on a celestial body called 'Earth.'】

【Living on a ball is one thing, but how can there be so many similar balls? Didn't we see only a few during the last tour?】

【The four directions and the vertical are called space, and the past and present are called time! No wonder it is called the universe! How marvelous, how marvelous!】

【So the dense spheres in the universe are actually the stars we see when we look up; could it be that our Great Liang is also on one of those stars?】

【Looking at it this way, the Heavenly Palace is not the Immortal World, and there are no immortal palaces in the sky.】

【Could it be that above our Great Liang there is also a thick layer of clouds, and outside the clouds is the boundless universe?】

【The sun rising in the east and setting in the west is not because the sun is moving? But because the ball we live on is rolling?】

【Will those visitors from beyond the sky one day come to our Great Liang Driving 'Mecha' as well?】

【They probably will...】

【……】

This discovery left the Daliang People feeling both shocked and terrified by the countless planets in the vast universe.

They already found it difficult enough to guard against the foreign tribes at the border, and now there was an extra group of visitors from beyond the sky who could descend from above.

How terrifying those things called "Mecha" were!

Wherever they went, nothing could withstand them!

A wave of a mechanical arm, and high-rise buildings were destroyed; a stomp of a mechanical foot, and living beings were plunged into misery!

The commoners were terrified, and the nobles were no better off.

When foreign tribes invaded, one could still close the city gates, or if that failed, retreat to other cities.

But with an invasion by visitors from beyond the sky, how could this war be fought?

They could not block them, and there was nowhere to run... those behemoths called Mecha could destroy a city with a single step.

The core team of the imperial court gathered again for a meeting.

Only this time, from the Emperor to the ministers, everyone locked their brows in collective worry.

But worrying was useless; with the current military strength of Great Liang, facing the Mecha of the visitors from beyond the sky was no different from a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

After worrying for a long time, neither the Emperor nor the ministers could come up with a strategy, so they simply stopped thinking about it.

Had they not seen that even the people of the Heavenly Palace were discussing the topic of "what to do if aliens invade" when they walked out of the cinema? It was clear that even the people of the Heavenly Palace had no solution for those visitors from beyond the sky.

Great Liang was even more backward than the Heavenly Palace; what effective method could they possibly come up with?

It would be better to first let the soldiers at the frontier eat their fill; driving away the covetous foreign tribes from the borders of Great Liang was the top priority!

Xiao Yanze looked at the Minister of Revenue: "Spring is almost here; have the Fish-Rice Symbiosis fry and rice seeds all been prepared?"

The Minister of Revenue: "Replying to the Emperor, they have all been prepared! Even the Warm Spring planting has entered the trial stage."

Xiao Yanze nodded with satisfaction and looked at the Minister of Works, asking about the progress of promoting the Water Wheel and the Biogas Digester.

"Replying to the Emperor, after the successful trial of the Water Wheel, the blueprints have been distributed level by level and will be popularized to all counties and towns before the farming season at the latest. Artisans have also been arranged to go to each county and town to promote the Biogas Digester."

Immediately after, the Minister of War reported on the recent military training situation.

Ever since they learned the military posture and formations of the Heavenly Palace army, the spirit and energy of the soldiers had improved, and the effectiveness of the training had increased significantly.

The passionate roars and shouts during training were extremely intimidating to the foreign tribes outside the pass; the other side not only stopped attacking the city but actually retreated several hundred feet.

"Good!"

Xiao Yanze's cold, clear brows relaxed.

With so many methods to increase grain production added this spring, one or two of them would surely be effective.

As long as they were effective, one day they would be able to fill the granaries and ensure the people of Great Liang had enough to eat and wear!

……

Since they had made the trip, Xie Yang and her nephew stayed in Fenglu City until the tenth day of the first lunar month before returning.

They reserved four days for the journey and left two days for her nephew to finish his winter break homework, with school reporting on the sixteenth.

The first-grade student's winter break homework did not consist of purely written assignments; half were manual tasks, and half were check-in tasks.

Manual tasks—two handwritten posters were completed during the New Year, and reading check-ins were kept up every day; currently, only the museum check-in remained to be done upon returning.

So, leaving two days to complete the final check-in task was enough.

The Wen family truly could not bear to see them go back.

But for the sake of their studies and work, Beijing was undoubtedly better, so no matter how reluctant they were, no one suggested having the two children transfer to schools in Fenglu City.

They only silently prepared a mountain of food; the hot food made right before departure was for them to eat on the road, while the smoked chicken, Preserved Duck, cured meat, and sausages were for them to steam or stir-fry after returning home.

In addition, there was wine brewed by the uncles, storage baskets woven in their spare time, handmade insoles made by the aunts and wives of the uncles, and scarves and gloves they had knitted; they even got some cashmere yarn to knit thin cardigans for the aunt and her two nieces to wear in the spring and autumn, which would be mailed to Beijing once finished.

The many cousins also gave plenty of things—food, drinks, clothing, and daily necessities; the trunk was packed full and still not finished, so the large packages finally had to be tied to the roof of the vehicle.

This was only because they had inadvertently discovered that Xie Yang had surprisingly great strength; otherwise, they would not have considered loading the roof.

After all, there were plenty of hands to help load it, but once they arrived home, taking it down would have to rely on Xie Yang alone.

"If you drive yourself next time, I'll have your cousin come pick you up."

"Right! I'm planning to buy a Recreational Vehicle with the second and third brothers, and drive the Recreational Vehicle to pick you up," the eldest cousin replied with a smile.

A Recreational Vehicle?

Xie Yang's eyes lit up; why hadn't she thought of that?

"You don't need to buy one; I'll go order one later, and next Spring Festival I'll pick you all up to go to the southern coast for a few days!"

The eldest aunt and the two uncles laughed upon hearing this: "Fine, as long as you are willing to come spend the New Year with us, anything goes!"