Niu Jinda had gone mad. He grabbed his saber and chopped at another vat. The blade struck the ceramic vat, shooting out a trail of sparks, but the vat didn’t break. He simply punched the vat body with his fist, and the ceramic vat shattered with a crash. His bleeding hand frantically dug through the mud and sand. When his fingertips seemed to touch something, his movements immediately slowed. He used both hands to brush away the soil, and a potato was revealed. Overjoyed, he turned to dig through the remaining soil. When a pile of earth was cleared away, the withered yellow potato stems and leaves with their roots appeared before everyone. The roots were covered with potatoes. Counting carefully, there were over ten of various sizes—some fist-sized, others egg-sized, a whole string of potatoes strung on the root vines like grapes.

Old Niu touched this one, touched that one. Who would have thought this tough man whose hands were like iron pincers would have such a gentle side? Tears streamed down his ravine-lined cheeks. The purple robe that had been so imposing just moments ago was covered with mud, the white jade belt coated with dust, the court tablet tossed aside. This dignified pillar-general was crying like a baby in its first month—quite unseemly.

Li Chengqian no longer had the image of a Crown Prince. He lay prostrate on the large vat, both hands desperately digging out soil, looking exactly like a large prairie dog.

Old Cheng was relatively refined. He took a hammer and smashed the ceramic vat, then learned from Yun Ye by grabbing the stems and leaves and pulling upward, extracting a string of potatoes. His hand casually grabbed in the soil and pulled out a sheep-head-sized potato. Cradling the enormous potato, he just grinned foolishly.

When Yun Ye went to dig the last vat of potatoes, Old Cheng stopped him: “Save it for His Majesty to dig.”

Seeing Old Cheng’s meaningful look, Yun Ye suddenly understood. When flattering, one must do it completely—absolutely cannot leave the flattered party hanging, as this would affect the flattery’s effectiveness.

The four vats of potatoes totaled thirty-one jin and six liang, forming a large pile on a table covered with hemp cloth. Around it, four general-level guards in full armor stood with their backs to the table, sabers in hand, horse-spurs flashing with cold light. Even more exaggerated, one held a chain hammer, with two zhang of iron chain wrapped around his body, radiating murderous aura. People didn’t dare approach—Yun Ye estimated even ghosts wouldn’t dare approach.

The highest-yielding crop in history had been born. The fifty-shi yield drove these fellows mad. Li Chengqian’s entire body shook uncontrollably, his mouth trembling unable to speak. Niu Jinda alternated between crying and laughing. Old Cheng gulped tea, his face entirely purple.

Their state affected the entire Left Military Guard camp. All personnel were in combat readiness: swords unsheathed, horses saddled, bows strung. Teams of soldiers patrolled back and forth. Anyone who approached within a hundred zhang of the camp without reason would be killed without mercy.

Zhangsun Chong and Li Huairen looked at Yun Ye as if seeing a ghost. Cheng Chumo patted Yun Ye’s shoulder and laughed heartily, constantly boasting to his comrades: “How’s my brother? When he says he can make someone near death live, they live. When he says there’s grain that can yield fifteen shi per mu, he produces fifty shi. Who dares not believe his words?”

“Your Highness, may we now conduct the edibility test?” Seeing everyone finally calm down somewhat, Yun Ye quickly stepped forward to report.

“Lord Yun, how should this test be done, what is its purpose, and why is it necessary?” This was Li Chengqian’s one flaw—he always had to ask everything clearly and have it explained to him item by item. Cheng Chumo was much better—told to eat, he’d eat; told to do something, he’d do it, never asking why. Who knew where Li Chengqian learned this bad habit of getting to the bottom of everything?

“It’s cooking them to eat, to see if there are any adverse effects, such as poisoning, diarrhea, or other negative consequences from human consumption. After all, this is a new grain. Necessary edibility testing is an indispensable step. If there are no such adverse reactions, then large-scale planting can proceed. Otherwise, this would be a devastation of human life.”

First elevate everything to the height of humanity, then state one’s own request—this way success comes more easily. Sure enough, after a moment’s thought, Li Chengqian asked: “Who will Lord Yun find to do this experiment?”

“Since the potatoes were cultivated by this humble subject, naturally this humble subject will taste-test them. If the number of people is insufficient, adding Lieutenant Colonel Cheng Chumo is also acceptable.”

Hearing Yun Ye say this, Little Cheng grinned from ear to ear and quickly stepped forward with an air of righteousness: “This humble subject is willing to be a taste-tester.”

“The auspicious treasures are not many to begin with and must also be kept for seed. Two should be enough to test the effects. May Lord Yun take two for consumption?” After speaking, he personally went to the table and took two one-jin potatoes and handed them to Yun Ye.

Yun Ye received the potatoes, thanked the Crown Prince, grabbed Cheng Chumo, and ran toward his own tent. Truth be told, before harvesting the potatoes, Yun Ye had already put beef on to stew. By now it had been a full hour—surely the beef was already stewed to tenderness. Adding the potatoes now, a pot of fragrant potato beef stew could be served. Just thinking about it made his mouth water.

Arriving at the tent, Yun Ye skillfully peeled, cut into chunks, washed away the starch with water, then dumped it all into the clay pot, covered it with a lid, and turned to say to Cheng Chumo: “Smelling the aroma of beef stewed with potatoes, even immortals can’t sit still. My teacher made it a few times before. Every time, little brother ate it completely clean, even wiping the bottom of the plate with rice before giving up. Today we brothers will have a good feast.”

Cheng Chumo beamed with delight, swallowing saliva and nodding repeatedly. Food that the most finicky eater in the entire Left Military Guard, Yun Ye, couldn’t forget—how bad could it be?

Like magic, he produced a flask of wine, took a swig from the spout, then passed it to Yun Ye. Yun Ye took a big gulp—grape wine, sweet and sour, far beyond what that dishwater could compare to.

The potatoes in the clay pot had already stewed to a golden color, emitting an enticing rich aroma. He grabbed a handful of wild scallions and tossed them in, stirred a few times—success. Using a spoon, he scooped up a piece of potato and brought it to Cheng Chumo’s mouth. Little Cheng swallowed it in one bite, hopping from the heat but unwilling to spit it out. The potato melted in his mouth, soft and fragrant, soaked with beef broth—truly a delicacy of the world. Just as the two brothers were eating forgetfully, one bite for you, one for me, they didn’t notice at all that people had filled in behind them. Each received a slap on the back of the head before the two were awakened.

“Unfilial thing! Having delicious food and not calling this old man.” Old Cheng seized the spoon and cupped his hands toward the Crown Prince.

“Let this old man taste it first before discussing this matter.” After speaking, he scooped up a large spoonful, stuffed it in his mouth, closed his eyes to savor it carefully, occasionally shaking his head in praise.

“An auspicious treasure is indeed an auspicious treasure—both delicious and filling. Let this old man taste another bite.” After Old Cheng finished speaking, he scooped another large spoonful. Just as he put it in his mouth, he heard the Crown Prince swallowing saliva and saying: “This prince also wishes to taste it.”

Cheng Chumo quickly ran over and got another spoon, holding it with both hands to present to the Crown Prince. Li Chengqian also scooped a large spoonful from the pot, blew on it to cool it, and ate bite by bite. Who knows what flavor he tasted, but in any case, the frequency of his scooping increased faster and faster.

Niu Jinda also scooped a spoonful and put it in his mouth as if tasting dragon liver and phoenix marrow.

One clay pot of potato beef stew wasn’t much to begin with. How could it withstand everyone tasting one bite after another? In an instant, not even the broth remained.

Li Chengqian embarrassedly wiped his mouth and said to Old Cheng: “What does Uncle Cheng think?”

“Good stuff, truly a good grain—both filling and satisfying hunger, extraordinarily high yield, not particular about soil, can be planted in dry land. Young Yun says it can be stored in cellars for a year. What’s rare is that it’s extremely delicious. Our Great Tang has indeed obtained a tremendous auspicious treasure. Congratulations and felicitations.” Old Cheng naturally boasted extravagantly.

Everyone didn’t feel Old Cheng was exaggerating and kept chiming in, all saying General Cheng spoke reasonably.

“The Great General speaks most correctly. Surely Father Emperor is also waiting somewhat anxiously. This prince will immediately submit a memorial stating what was heard and seen, requesting merit for Lord Yun. I wonder if the two uncles could co-sign? This prince decisively will have five hundred Left Military Guard elite soldiers escort the remaining vat of auspicious treasure to the capital to present to His Majesty in person. As the matter is of great importance, may General Niu lead the troops?”

Niu Jinda and Cheng Yaojin cupped their hands in agreement.

The next day, Niu Jinda led five hundred elite soldiers, pulling the large vat with the excavated potatoes, setting off toward Chang’an amid rolling dust.