In the previous years, Li Mingjin's birthday gifts to Emperor Tiansheng were sent to the capital in advance.

　　What kind of gifts did Li Mingjin give to Emperor Tiansheng?

　　Either it was a small object carved by himself, or it was a local delicacy he found when he went shopping on the street. Sometimes Li Mingjin was too perfunctory, he just went to get a tree root, planed it, changed the shape, and sent it to Emperor Tiansheng.

　　This kind of thing was actually regarded as a treasure by Emperor Tiansheng, and he looked forward to Li Mingjin's gift very much every day.

　　At that time, Li Mingjin didn't understand why Emperor Tiansheng liked his gift, so Luo Shuyu told him that eating too often culinary delicacies from mountains and seas, and  occasionally eating plain porridge with side dishes could become a delicacy in the world.

　　The gifts he had given to Emperor Tiansheng in the previous years were all thought of by Luo Shuyu and him together, and it could be said that they racked their brains to win the favor of Emperor Tiansheng, so it was no wonder that Emperor Tiansheng was looking forward to his congratulatory gifts now.
[费尽心思 fèi jìn xīn si: to rack one's brains (idiom); to take great pains to think sth through]

　　As soon as Li Mingjin stood up, everyone's eyes fell on him. They wanted to know what kind of weird things he made for Emperor Tiansheng this year.

　　Other people would give either calligraphy and painting or ancient literature. Emperor Tiansheng also liked it, however there was no new ideas, it was difficult to escape from thousand articles, same rule, but there was no blunder.
[千篇一律 qiān piān yī lǜ: thousand articles, same rule (idiom); stereotyped and repetitive; once you've seen one, you've seen them all]

　　Emperor Tiansheng looked forward to it.

　　What kind of gift would he receive today?

　　Li Mingjin didn't think that he would be treated like this, but the more he was like this, the more he felt that his position was becoming more and more important, and his hard work these years was not in vain.

　　Li Mingjin talked a little more now than before: "Father, what I bring today is actually a special local product from Gucheng. When you see it later, don't think that I'm poverty-stricken."

      Emperor Tiansheng beaming with smile, and he became less patient with him: "All right, other people are quick and easy, but you are the most verbose, let me take a look quickly."

　　Li Mingjin: "Father, what are you in a hurry for? My gift is not as precious as everyone's."

　　Emperor Tiansheng became more impatient with him: "Hurry up."

　　Li Mingjin clapped his hands, and someone behind him began to bring the gift to the front.

　　Before Emperor Tiansheng could see it, the people who sat near the gate snickered.

　　More than a dozen plates were presented, and each plate there was a familiar crop!

　　Rice, wheat, red dates...

　　Emperor Tiansheng saw the gift, and then he asked Li Mingjin what he meant: "The third child, what is this?"

　　Li Mingjin: "This is the birthday  gift I want to give to my father."

　　Emperor Tiansheng was very puzzled: "Say something," Soon he knew that Li Mingjin was keeping listeners in suspense.
[卖关子 mài guān zi: to keep listeners in suspense (in storytelling); to keep people on tenterhooks]

　　Li Mingjin didn't care about other people's laughs at all, because what he said next would make them ashamed.

　　Li Mingjin pointed to the first plate with the new rice that had just been pounded, he said, "Father, this is the new rice grown in the south area of Gucheng, and this rice is also a new variety. The yield per mu is 300 catties."

　　Emperor Tiansheng stood up straight away, he wanted to order the eunuch to bring the rice to him, however he decided to go down and have a look, it was faster: "Can it really produce 300 catties per mu?"

　　The land in Gucheng lacked water, but rice could still be grown, which was already amazing. However he didn't expect the yield to be even better than that in the south!

　　Li Mingjin said: "Yes, I dare not lie to my father, but this was the yield from last year, and this year's hasn't been harvested yet, so I don't know the latest yield yet."

　　Emperor Tiansheng exclaimed: "Is there a special method?"

　　Li Mingjin: "Over the years, the officials who are familiar with farming have developed a new method."

　　Emperor Tiansheng kept nodding his head. The increase in rice yield was really shocking. He used to be a person who cared about the common people. However, over the years, he was often made to forget his original intention by those people who wanted to seize power. Now he was brought back to the past by Li Mingjin. He felt that his blood boiled. The common people of Daxia finally could eat their fill.
[热血沸腾 rè xuè fèi téng: one's blood boils (idiom); burning with righteous indig-nation]

　　There were other crops left. Emperor Tiansheng asked about them one by one, and Li Mingjin answered them one by one. Everything was based on numbers. Emperor Tiansheng really listened to what he said carefully. This was a very direct achievement.

　　The people who were still ridiculing and laughing before, now they didn't dare to show their faces. No matter how bizarre the ancient literature other people presented before, still couldn't get a sincere smile from Emperor Tiansheng, however Li Mingjin could make Tiansheng Emperor Tianhuai laugh heartily with his intuitive achievements.

　　Li Mingjin had the opportunity to bring this matter up alone in the court, and if he did this he could win the support of the officials below, but he didn't do it. He put these in front of Emperor Tiansheng and gave him as a gift.

       Wasn't this also a strategy? It was a strategy for him to put these in front of Emperor Tiansheng as a gift, so it seemed that he was indisputable, and he would rather use these to curry favor with Emperor Tiansheng than to increase his weight in the competition in the court.

　　By doing so, he won the heart of Emperor Tiansheng. This strategy was really good.