"Eat...eat melon seeds?"

Zhang Rang was taken aback. The emperor summoned so many important figures to the palace just to gossip?

"What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and go!"

Upon noticing Zhang Rang standing there motionless, Liu Hong couldn't help but glare at him.

"Oh, oh, here!!"

Realizing what was happening, Zhang Rang quickly and respectfully agreed, then hurriedly ran out of the hall.

Then Liu Hong turned to look at Cao Song and several agricultural officials.

"Gentlemen, please sit down!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!!"

After everyone was seated, Liu Hong looked at Cao Song and asked with a smile:

"Grand Minister of Agriculture, how is the experimental field progressing?"

"Your Majesty, the manure has indeed been effective. The seedlings in the 3,000 mu experimental fields are growing well and are much stronger than ordinary seedlings! According to our calculations, the spring wheat yield in the experimental fields may increase by more than 20% this year..."

Cao Song then excitedly began to introduce the experimental field to Liu Hong.

Nowadays, besides making money, Cao Song's most important thing is those thousands of acres of experimental fields. He goes there almost every day and knows the situation of the experimental fields like the back of his hand.

"Hehe~, very good! Thank you for your hard work, Grand Minister of Agriculture and everyone!"

After hearing Cao Song's explanation, Liu Hong nodded in satisfaction. Food is of paramount importance to a country; only when people have enough to eat can development proceed.

Cao Song hurriedly said, "Your Majesty is too kind. Increased grain production is a groundbreaking event that will benefit all people. We dare not complain about the hardship!"

Your Majesty, I only hope that this goal can be achieved as soon as possible, so that the people of our Great Han Dynasty and future generations will be forever free from the suffering of hunger…!

"The Grand Minister of Agriculture is right. We feel a great responsibility and wish we could bury ourselves in the fields every day, but we find joy in it..."

When the topic of increased grain production came up, several agricultural officials wore happy and hopeful smiles.

Originally, Cao Song and his comrades were only attracted by the emperor's words about erecting monuments and making a name for themselves for all time, so they devoted themselves to increasing grain production, hoping to leave a good name for themselves for all time.

As the Grand Minister of Agriculture, Cao Song and other agricultural officials naturally knew that grain was important, but they had no fundamental understanding of just how important it was.

However, after constantly walking through the fields and interacting with farmers every day, Cao Song and his companions witnessed far too much of the people's suffering and truly understood the importance of grain production to the people.

As long as they could increase grain production by even just 10%, it would feed millions of people. This had become a responsibility ingrained in the bones of Cao Song and others. They did not seek fame or fortune, but only to ensure that more people could survive.

Looking at the resolute faces and longing eyes of Cao Song and the other agricultural officials, Liu Hong also understood the great and lofty ideals in their hearts.

"On behalf of all the people of the world and future generations, I thank you all!"

As he spoke, Liu Hong stood up and solemnly nodded his thanks to Cao Song and the other agricultural officials.

"Your Majesty, as the Son of Heaven, how can you bow to us? It is truly unbecoming of us..."

Upon seeing the emperor bow to them, Cao Song and several agricultural officials hurriedly stood up in a panic and hid to the side.

Liu Hong chuckled, "Hehe~, it's true that I am the Son of Heaven, but I also need to eat, don't I? With your efforts, I and all the people of the world can eat more and eat better. You deserve this gift..."

"His Majesty.....!"

The emperor's favor and courtesy deeply moved Cao Song and his companions, and even Cao Song couldn't help but tear up.

Cao Song immediately stood up, looked at Liu Hong with a solemn expression, and said loudly:

"Your Majesty, I hereby swear to Heaven that I will dedicate my life to freeing the people from the suffering of hunger, and I will never waver until death!"

"To fight throughout one's life, until death do us part!"

The other agricultural officials immediately followed Cao Song, solemnly vowing to dedicate their lives to it.

"Very good!! I believe in you, and the people of the world are waiting for you!"

Liu Hong looked at everyone with a face full of emotion, and he saw a pure power and vision in their eyes.

This reminded Liu Hong of the old immortal from later generations, and of his grand ambition to "enjoy the cool shade under the rice plants."

What a lovely and respectable person he was.

Thinking of that blurry yet familiar figure, Liu Hong felt a lump in his throat, and two tears slid down his cheeks.

"Your Majesty...you...?"

When they saw the emperor suddenly burst into tears, Xi Zhicai, Cao Song, and the others standing nearby were taken aback.

In their memory, no matter what difficulties the emperor encountered in the past, he always had a strong and confident look on his face and could always solve things with a smile. They had never seen the emperor have such a soft side.

"I am fine. I was just too excited at the thought of all the people in the world being able to live without worry about food and clothing!"

Liu Hong smiled and waved his hand, then casually wiped away the tears from the corner of his eyes.

Xi Zhicai, standing to the side, gave Liu Hong a deep look, and he couldn't help but recall the scene when he first met Liu Hong.

Recalling the emperor's words about "the world," Xi Zhicai seemed to finally understand Liu Hong's deepest thoughts.

In Xi Zhicai's view, what the emperor always thinks about is the people of the world. All grand ambitions and the idea of ​​lasting for ten thousand generations are just secondary. Everything is just to make the people of the world live better.

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