Further words would be useless. As long as everyone was in good spirits, that was enough. Li Er laughed heartily and returned to the palace with the confused Empress Zhangsun. The princes, commandery princes, and dukes also took their wives full of questions back home. This was a game between men. If you lost, you had to accept it. The Li Family had good sportsmanship—no one beat their spendthrift wives in front of others. The Emperor said this matter was an elegant affair and should be conducted more often in the future. The princes deeply agreed. Mountains and rivers always meet again. Everyone lived in the tiny city of Chang’an—who wouldn’t run into whom?

Li Tai returned to the academy with Yun Ye. Sitting in the carriage, he kept asking Yun Ye why, for mere tens of thousands of pounds of kelp, he cried so sadly. If money was really needed, just sell it to him. A few thousand strings of cash weren’t worth exhausting such effort. Moreover, doing this would be quite embarrassing. He himself was someone who placed great importance on face.

“Rules. Rules are very important, Qing Que. We live in a collective, so we can’t only consider ourselves. When doing a good deed, we must maximize its benefits and also maximize the benefiting population. This is the foundation of doing a good deed that will be remembered for generations. Kelp needs to be accepted by the people of Chang’an. The fastest method is for the imperial family to accept it first. This thing isn’t just being sold for one year. From now on, every year kelp will be sent to major cities like Chang’an, Luoyang, and Yangzhou. This is a new industry. For every new industry, we must carefully nurture it so it gradually grows into a towering tree. When the tree matures, it will bring us countless benefits. The coastal people benefit from kelp, the people of the Central Plains have one more vegetable, and in the future the state will also collect substantial taxes from it. So I’m unwilling to force growth. I’d rather let everyone gradually accept it, not hesitating to use a few clever tricks. Remember this, Qing Que. When you encounter new industries in the future, don’t interfere with them—at least don’t harm them. When caterpillars haven’t yet metamorphosed into butterflies, we can’t tell good from bad.”

Li Tai’s rebuttals to Yun Ye had long become routine: “What if the caterpillar doesn’t grow into a butterfly but grows into a fly instead? I cultivate countless caterpillars, and in the end they all grow into flies and become scourges. Wouldn’t that yield nothing?”

“That depends on your wisdom. My wisdom is sufficient for me to distinguish what is good and what is bad. Your wisdom isn’t enough yet, so it’s normal for you to raise more flies.”

Toward Li Tai, Yun Ye never concealed his thoughts. He said whatever was on his mind, never particular about his manner of speaking or his language. Li Tai had also grown accustomed to this, so when he was with Yun Ye, he too was very casual.

The carriage didn’t go to the academy but turned halfway toward the Ba River. The Lingnan Navy was stationed there. Entering the military camp, Li Tai’s attendants were stopped outside the camp gate. This was the rule. Yun Ye personally signed the authorization document allowing Li Tai to enter the military camp. This was also the rule. Though it seemed like completely unnecessary formality, Yun Ye and Li Tai executed it meticulously. Liu Renyuan in the military camp also had no intention of omitting any of these procedures.

Without looking at other things, Yun Ye took Li Tai to see those slaves without tongues. After this period of recuperation, these people had finally gained some semblance of humanity. Seeing Yun Ye, they knew to prostrate themselves on the ground in respect and knew to be grateful to these yellow-skinned people for their kind treatment.

Three hundred thirty-four people—this was the number who had arrived alive in Chang’an. Some had died one by one during the journey because after their bodies had previously suffered extreme abuse, they relaxed slightly and succumbed.

Yun Ye carefully examined their mouths, confirming that each of them had no tongue. He said to Xiao Cangsheng following behind: “Tell them, if any are literate, I want to hire them to do some written work.”

Xiao Cangsheng loudly conveyed Yun Ye’s words to those people. Not one person stepped forward. That made sense—the people of the Caliphate wouldn’t allow a literate person to board a ship.

Seeing no one step forward, all shaking their heads, Yun Ye nodded and said to Xiao Cangsheng: “Xiao Cangsheng, you now have a choice. You will immediately become a sixth-rank official of the court. The possibility of advancement in the future will be great, but you’re destined to live your life in unknown obscurity. However, an enfeoffed wife and sons will be no less than others. Your entire life will be under court supervision. Every word you speak to others and every action you take will be recorded. Consider it and answer me. I’m only giving you one day.”

“My lord, please bring Hua Niang over. That’s my only condition. The rest doesn’t need consideration. I’ve spent half my life striving toward the goal of becoming an official. Never mind not being able to see people in the future—even if you locked me alone in a prison cell, as long as I can wear official robes and my descendants become children of officialdom, there’s no problem.”

Li Tai looked curiously at Yun Ye and Xiao Cangsheng communicating with each other but didn’t understand what was happening. Seeing Yun Ye order someone to give Xiao Cangsheng two hundred strings of cash and let him go to Chang’an to enjoy himself comfortably for a month, he finally asked: “Ye Zi, today’s matter must be very important. Neither you nor I have the right to arbitrarily appoint officials, but you just spoke with great confidence. Could it be Father Emperor has already authorized you?”

Watching Xiao Cangsheng depart, Yun Ye shook his head, pointed at those slaves, and said to Li Tai: “There’s an extremely secret matter that requires these people to do it. Xiao Cangsheng is the only channel for communicating with them. Unless the imperial family has a more reliable candidate, I wouldn’t use him. Does your family have this kind of specialized language talent?”

Li Tai shook his head: “No, at least I haven’t heard of any. These people who cannot communicate with the outside world are indeed the best candidates for secret matters. You still haven’t said what exactly it is.”

“I accidentally discovered a devil. With this thing, all fortified cities will only become rubble. You can call it divine thunder—a kind of divine thunder that humans can control. I’ve made some, but its power should be able to be even greater. These things will need you to research yourself. For public and private reasons, I can’t touch this thing again.”

Li Tai’s face turned deathly pale. He recalled again the scene of Yun Ye sitting atop Taiji Palace with lightning striking all around. It was precisely because he saw Yun Ye’s appearance like a descended deity that his determination was strengthened to seek treasures in those unknown domains.

“Can humans covet divine power?” Li Tai looked around to ensure no one was present before carefully asking Yun Ye.

“Qing Que, if you go look in temples and Daoist monasteries, you’ll know—gods are actually all human. Your family’s ancestor Laozi was initially also human. It was only later that he was placed on the altar by his descendants and thus gained various incredible abilities. Divine abilities are actually all granted by humans. I’m only telling you this because you’re probably the only one in this world who can understand. When your learning deepens another step, many troubles will arise. When you continuously pursue things to their roots, you’ll strangely discover that all gods and ghosts can be explained through physics.”

Li Tai was the person in all the Great Tang closest to a modern person. Through continuous learning these years, he constantly took secret pleasure in discovering the secrets of the gods. Now hearing that he too could master divine power, he trembled all over with excitement.

Yun Ye couldn’t possess these powers—Li Tai was very clear about that. He was equally clear that as long as he took on this task, he would likewise be cut off from imperial power. That thing wasn’t important. He only wanted to see what kind of power the gods truly possessed.

Two family generals from the Yun household lifted down from the ship a box sealed with fire lacquer. After checking that the seal lacquer was intact, Yun Ye took a key from around his neck and carefully opened the box. Seeing that the thick bamboo tubes wrapped in oiled paper inside were still dry and intact, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. This was gunpowder he had personally mixed on the ship—the most powerful kind.

After arranging everything and pulling Li Tai to witness it, they headed toward Chang’an. Yun Ye insisted the cart carrying the gunpowder stay far away from him. The surrounding guards also had to be few—no more than three. Every time an incense stick burned down, they had to stop and inspect the situation. Stopping and starting, they didn’t enter the imperial city until nightfall. The box was placed by Yun Ye in an open area where no one else was permitted to approach. Li Tai specially found the commander of the guards and requested that the defense level be raised even higher.

Li Er finished his evening meal and was preparing to rest, planning to take a walk in the garden to relax. He heard the palace attendant report that Prince Wei and Marquis Lantian were requesting an audience but weren’t coming to his bedchamber—instead they waited in the front hall without entering. When had these two boys become so polite?

Without delay, he came to the front. He saw Yun Ye and Li Tai sitting shoulder to shoulder on the wide steps with their arms around their knees, staring blankly at a box. Around the box were guards holding swords, and the commander of guards also stood nearby in full armor. This was too much. Even the rarest treasure wouldn’t be worth such mobilization.

With his hands behind his back, he coughed lightly. Hearing the sound, Yun Ye and Li Tai immediately stood up to receive the Emperor.

“What is that?” Li Er pointed at that box.

“This subject used it to beat drums in Lingnan.” Yun Ye answered properly. Li Er must know about the heavenly god beating drums. These days he hadn’t asked, but was actually waiting for Yun Ye to explain. He believed Yun Ye wouldn’t deceive him on such matters.

Striding to the front of the box, he reached out to open it. “Your Majesty, wait!” Yun Ye hastily called out to stop him. Li Er didn’t know the danger involved. If something happened, it would be troublesome. Moreover, he’d also called that guard holding a lantern to come closer since it was too dark to see clearly.

It must be said that Li Er had a good habit—he listened to advice. After Yun Ye stopped him, he indeed stopped moving. Yun Ye opened the box and lifted out a thick bamboo tube to show Li Er.

“Just this thing? You relied on this thing to chase wild beasts all over the mountain?” Li Er looked down on Yun Ye’s crude workmanship. He didn’t even select two good sections of bamboo—it was all scarred and pockmarked. The bamboo opening was carelessly stuffed with a section of wood, nailed very tightly, with only a small hole from which a long gray paper cord extended. It was completely unlike the divine implement he had imagined.

“Set this thing off. I want to hear how the mountain god beats drums.”