New Song Dynasty: My Wife is an Imperial Princess

Meanwhile, Tang Qian, who was stationed at the Youzhou government office, was unaware that he had inexplicably gained two concubines. He was discussing cotton planting with He Ming, a member of the Song Dynasty envoy in charge of land reclamation.

After a grueling two-month journey, the Yang family of Suicheng finally delivered the cotton seeds and the lychee candy that Tang Qian had requested to Youzhou.

Unfortunately, there were far too few seeds. Even if all of them were planted, this year's harvest would not be much, but it would be more than enough to meet the needs of the princess's residence.

The seeds collected can be kept for planting again next year. However, according to the plan, by then he will be in Guangling City. Whether the new city lord of Youzhou will still manage the city according to his arrangements and plans is not within his consideration.

Based on Tang Qian's understanding of Wanyan Xun, after Wanyan Xi followed him south, he would definitely not hand over the management of Youzhou City. Even if Liaoyang sent a new city lord to take over, the final outcome would either be that Wanyan Xun would become a puppet or die a violent death, with no trace of his body.

Having witnessed Tang Qian's methods, Wanyan Xun, wanting to secretly expand the Youzhou army, would surely emulate Tang Qian's management style and properly manage Youzhou City.

In this way, Tang Qian felt that his efforts over the past six months had not been in vain. At least in the near future, when the Song and Jin dynasties ceased hostilities, Youzhou could still serve as a trading hub, a central point connecting the two countries.

Due to the war, wheat was not planted that year. This is why the princess's mansion required the twelve tribal leaders to exchange grain for glassmaking technology. Now, Tang Qian has also brought Champa rice seeds from Jiangnan. Even if the northern climate is not suitable for rice cultivation at this time, it is always good to harvest more grain.

"Cotton is a must-plant crop. The remaining farmland can be used to plant rice. Even if the harvest is bad, it's still much better than no harvest at all."

After all the officials in the hall had left, Tang Qian took the whole bag of lychee candy sent by the Yang family back to the Tang family residence.

Since it was a whole sugar cake, it was inedible. Tang Qian could only break it into pieces, put it in a pot, add water to melt it, evaporate all the water to form sugar syrup, and then roll it into small sugar balls, sprinkle a layer of fine flour on them, and then call Rong'er over: "Send some to the princess's mansion so that they can have a taste, and keep the rest for your young lady."

Rong'er popped a sugar pill into her mouth, and a sweet aroma filled her entire mouth, prompting her to exclaim, "Delicious!" Looking at the dozens of sugar pills on the tray, she pointed to the remaining sugar cubes and said, "There are so many, we can't possibly finish them all. Why don't we send some more over?"

Tang Qian carefully wrapped the remaining sugar cubes in silk cloth, looking very concerned: "I have a great use for these, so don't even think about taking them."

Seeing Tang Qian's guarded attitude towards her as if she were a thief, Rong'er glanced at him sideways. It's just some candy, isn't it? Who really cares?

Her glance only heightened Tang Qian's guard. He immediately clutched the bundle to his chest and headed out to the study in the backyard, leaving Rong'er furious, hands on her hips: "Young master, are you bullying me? Do you think I'm that greedy?"

"The taste of these sugar pills seems a bit strange; they don't taste like regular icing."

Inside the princess's residence, Wanyan Xi tasted a sugar pill that Rong'er had brought her. "However, although this thing is delicious, it seems a bit wasteful to have someone bring it from so far away."

If Tang Qian had this thing sent from a thousand miles away to Youzhou just so that a few of them could have a taste, it would be far too extravagant.

“I think that everything my husband does has a deeper meaning, and perhaps we are just too ignorant to understand it.”

“You’re quite confident in your husband.” Wanyan Xi glanced at Zhao Yingluo. “But that makes sense. Tang Qian’s actions are beyond the comprehension of ordinary people. Perhaps those things are really of great use to him.”

Zhao Yingluo then curved her eyes into crescent moons: "Since His Highness has made up his mind to leave with us, we must have complete faith in him. After all, a man is like the sky; only if he doesn't collapse can we have a place to stand."

Clearly understanding the hidden meaning in Zhao Yingluo's words, Wanyan Xi's weak reply was tinged with shyness, but more so with worry: "It seems too early to talk about these things now. Let's wait until everything has settled down before discussing them."

Zhuo Luwang returned to his tribe to prepare for the southward march with the army. Wanyan Xun trained the Youzhou army to strengthen the city's defenses, and various constructions within the city were proceeding in an orderly manner. With the help of several colleagues from the Song Dynasty, Tang Qian completely became a hands-off manager. For the next period of time, all he needed to keep an eye on was the experimental ship being built at the dock by the canal outside the city.

The craftsmen from Jinling lived up to his expectations, and with the manpower provided by Youzhou, after two months of intensive work, the boats were already taking shape and could easily carry more than a hundred people on inland waterways.

After installing the last transmission gear in the engine room at the bottom of the hull, Tang Qian had five strong young men step on the foot pedals to test the engine. Although the wooden propeller outside the boat did not rotate fast, it was still able to propel the boat slowly forward in the water.

Tang Qian was full of praise for the craftsmen's skills as his innovative design was brought to life, while Li Shu, the general manager of the shipyard, looked solemn.

"With the propeller below the waterline and the connecting rod protruding through the hull, will the ship leak water while sailing?"

Tang Qian wasn't overly worried about the question he raised: "Without rubber, some leaks are inevitable, but as long as the amount of water isn't too large, there won't be any major problems."

There were two purposes in building this ship: first, to convince Wanyan Xun that his plan to cross the sea would definitely succeed; and second, to provide a means of transportation for his family to escape. Once the whole family was on this ship, they could travel south along the canal all the way to Guangling City. Even if Wanyan Xun wanted to chase after them, he would have no other ship to use.

“There’s another problem.” Li Shu pointed to the bottom of the cabin. “The engine room is at the stern, and there’s another cabin above it. How can you control the engine without any visibility? What if you’re not heading in the right direction? Wouldn’t you just crash or run aground?”

Without answering, Tang Qian led Li Shu directly to the engine room, picked up an iron hammer, and went to an iron pipe that was standing upright in the middle of the cabin and protruding from the ceiling. He raised the hammer and struck it a few times, and a crisp sound immediately reverberated.

Soon, a response came from above. Tang Qian turned to Li Shu and asked, "I wonder if Brother Li has understood?"