Chapter 2687: Superior Varieties

Is she that kind of person?

Manbao enunciated each word carefully, “We were clearly having a delightful conversation!”

As they were speaking, the Emperor and Empress arrived. Everyone in the hall stood up and positioned themselves properly, waiting to greet the imperial couple.

The Emperor smiled and gestured with his hand, “Please be at ease, my lords. On this joyous occasion, I celebrate with all of you, as well as with all the common people.”

The Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet was not held every year. Previously, it was the mourning period for the Empress Dowager, so the Emperor did not even hold a New Year’s Eve banquet, let alone a Mid-Autumn banquet.

Later, there were many matters to attend to, and after the mourning period ended, the Emperor rarely held palace banquets. This year, since various vassal states came to present gifts, this banquet could be considered the largest.

The Emperor smiled and let everyone sit down. After delivering the festival blessings, he said, “Please have the emissaries of the vassal states come forward.”

The emissaries from the various vassal states had been waiting in each of the side halls. Separated by tall walls, they could only faintly hear the sounds coming from Wude Hall, but they couldn’t hear clearly.

Many of the emissaries who came were not newcomers, so they were somewhat familiar with the procedure. Knowing the Emperor had not yet appeared, they realized the voices they heard were mostly the laughs and cheers of the officials and their families who had entered in advance.

Upon hearing the thrice-repeated chants of “Long Live the Emperor,” they knew the palace banquet had officially started and started to straighten their attire and the gifts they had brought.

Soon enough, an internal attendant came to summon them, as the Emperor wished to see them.

This time, the Emperor placed the most importance on the emissaries from Tubo.

In recent years, the relationship between Great Jin and Tubo had been quite good. Major conflicts were absent, and minor skirmishes were essentially local disputes, not worth discussing in court.

Technically, the current king of Tubo was almost like the Emperor’s son-in-law.

The princess sent to Tubo was selected from the imperial family by the Emperor, granted the title of princess, and sent over. They shared the bond of father-in-law and son-in-law.

The Emperor hoped the relations between the two countries would remain harmonious, especially now as he planned to take military action against Goguryeo. He wouldn’t appreciate a pincer movement from Tubo during his campaign; that would be distressing.

As for the other vassal states, the Emperor maintained a consistent stance: if you behave, I will remain cordial; if you are mischievous, I won’t hesitate to raise my stick.

Luckily, apart from Goguryeo, and Silla and Baekje who couldn’t attend for various reasons, the other vassal states were relatively compliant.

At the banquet, the Emperor skipped over Goguryeo and rewarded the other vassal states, especially Tubo. He specifically mentioned his affable daughter, asking the King of Tubo to treat her well, and rewarded them with large quantities of silk and porcelain.

The Tubo emissary immediately added, “The princess hopes to receive more good seeds from the Heavenly Khan to plant near the palace, perhaps to be able to enjoy food from her homeland.”

Back when the princess married, she brought with her quite a number of good seeds, but this request was fortuitous. If Tubo could have more things from the Central Plains, the connection and affection towards the Central Plains would only deepen. Therefore, the Emperor agreed generously.

He directly ordered the deputy minister of the Ministry of Agriculture to prepare some good seeds for the Tubo delegation, including millet seeds, wheat seeds, and bean seeds. They only needed to bring a little of each as seeds don’t require much quantity but should be diverse.

Hearing that seeds were needed, Manbao immediately thought of the rice seeds she was still experimenting with. For years, the experimental fields her brother and Datou were cultivating never stabilized. Even if one season was particularly bountiful, the seeds saved for the next year were still uneven.

She had discussed it numerous times with Doctor D, who believed the environmental differences between the two places were significant and that she lacked enough original seed varieties.

She first glanced at Bai Shan, who also happened to be looking at her, evidently reminded of the often problematic experimental fields in Pu Village.

Manbao then sat up straight and said, “Your Majesty, I have heard that Tubo is very cold and has many seeds different from ours. I wonder if the Tubo envoy could give us some?”

The Tubo envoy, upon hearing this, thought the lady did not want to give them anything. Seeing her wearing an official robe, he grew somewhat displeased, “The Heavenly Khan hasn’t refused us, but who are you to come between the princess and the Heavenly Khan’s father-daughter relationship?”

Realizing his misunderstanding, Manbao hurriedly wanted to explain, but Bai Shan gently placed his hand on hers, raised his head with a smile, and said to the Tubo envoy, “The envoy misunderstood. Lord Zhou genuinely believes Tubo is resource-rich, and good seeds are rare treasures, so he wishes to request a few, with no other intentions.”

The annoyed Tubo envoy retorted, “Then tell me what good seeds we have in Tubo?”

It was because they lacked variety that they sought good seeds. Before coming, their king and princess had instructed not to request much in terms of other rewards such as gold, silver, jewels, and ceramics, but to request as many good seeds as possible.

They heard that in recent years, Great Jin developed a type of wheat with good yield, outperforming the varieties the princess had previously taken to Tubo, and they wanted that.

Bai Shan said, “Millet seeds, wheat seeds, any will do.”

Hearing this, the Tubo envoy was even more displeased and directly appealed to the Emperor, “Heavenly Khan, are your officials deliberately making things difficult for us? Who doesn’t know that our Tubo is barren and not conducive for growing crops? The yield from three acres of our land isn’t as much as one of yours, so how could they be considered good seeds?”

“It’s precisely because we don’t have them that we ask the Heavenly Khan for them. If the Heavenly Khan is unwilling, just tell us so directly, and we won’t ask anymore.”

The Emperor furrowed his brow slightly. Although Bai Shan and Zhou Man’s words were somewhat inappropriate, they were indeed his officials, and the Tubo envoy’s unreasonable conduct was giving neither him nor Great Jin face.

Bai Shan smiled and said, “The envoy underestimates himself. Tubo’s seeds might not yield as much as ours, but as long as they are seeds, they have advantages. For example, Tubo is cold and dry, so your seeds must be hardy against cold and drought—that’s their superiority. As long as they have strengths, how could they not be considered good seeds?”

Manbao nodded repeatedly. Seeing Bai Shan no longer stopping her, he also secretly gave her a wink while gently tapping her hand, prompting her to quickly address the Emperor, “Your Majesty, my elder brother and nephew have allocated over ten acres in my estate fields for experimental farming. They attempt to plant various rice seeds from different regions to find the best one. For years, numerous issues have arisen, and we’ve struggled to pinpoint a better seed. I thought perhaps the seed variety is too limited, and maybe we should try seeds from the highlands.”

She glanced at the Tubo envoy and smiled, “It was only when the envoy requested good seeds that I remembered, perhaps sowing highland seeds alongside seeds from other regions might yield unexpected results.”