When Crown Prince Zheng and Lord Changping returned to Wu, the dock was crowded with people who came to greet them.
Many common people temporarily put aside their work and crowded on both sides of the river to welcome Crown Prince Zheng and Lord Changping.
The common people didn't know how to welcome him, so they waved "ritual vessels" made of branches, leaves and flowers as they did in the past when worshiping gods, and screamed Chu songs that Zhu Xiang could not hear clearly.
At that moment, Zhu Xiang had a vision of the dragon and lion dances that would be seen in dragon boat races in later generations.
Ying Xiaozheng stood at the bow with his head held high and chest puffed out, nodding to the people welcoming him from both sides of the strait.
Zhu Xiang stood behind Ying Xiaozheng. He knew he shouldn't laugh at this scene, but he still felt like laughing.
Zhu Xiang asked, "Zheng'er, how does it feel to be truly loved by the people?"
Ying Xiaozheng was puzzled: "People? They are not people, they are common people."
The Book of Songs, Ya, Tianbao says: "All the common people are your virtues." The "common people" in the Warring States period referred to the nobles. The "common people" were the people. The so-called "common people" was originally two words combined.
Zhu Xiang blinked his eyes and said, "Now many nobles have become commoners, and many commoners have surnames due to military merit. Even the nobles have their surnames unified, and it is possible that the common people will become commoners. Why don't you give surnames to everyone in the world in the future, Zheng'er?"
Ying Xiaozheng pondered: "This is a good idea to win the hearts of the people. But will it cause opposition from the scholars?"
Zhu Xiang said: "You only gave the world a surname, but you didn't give the world a specific surname."
Ying Xiaozheng looked strange: "Uncle, this seems to be empty talk."
Zhu Xiang laughed: "No. Think about it again."
Ying Xiaozheng glanced with dissatisfaction at his uncle who had entered the teaching mode again, frowning and thinking hard.
Zhu Xiang raised his hand and gently rubbed Ying Xiaozheng's eyebrows with his calloused hands and thick knuckles, as if he was a military general who often held weapons.
Ying Xiaozheng relaxed his frown: "There's nothing wrong with having wrinkles. It makes you look more mature."
Zhu Xiang smiled and said, "Only young people want to mature. When they really grow up, they wish they could stay young forever."
Ying Xiaozheng thought of the fear of death that the great Ying Zheng in his dream had. He wanted to frown again, but his uncle's calloused fingers rubbed away the wrinkles on his brow.
Itchy and a bit annoying.
Ying Xiaozheng had no choice but to try hard to relax his brows.
"I've thought of it." Ying Xiaozheng said, "By granting surnames to people in the world as a king, it means that all common people in the world can become nobles of Qin, that is, the people of the six kingdoms are also Qin people."
After thinking about this, Ying Xiaozheng said excitedly: "Giving people a surname is giving them a name; giving people land is giving them profit. Giving people fame and profit will win their hearts!"
Zhu Xiang clapped his hands for Ying Xiaozheng and said, "Zheng'er can go out now."
Ying Xiaozheng said unhappily, "I've been a disciple for a long time... Look! A warship! The teacher is coming to pick us up in a warship! Teacher!"
Ying Xiaozheng stretched out his arms and waved at the huge warship.
Looking at Ying Xiaozheng's childish attitude, Zhu Xiang smiled and shook his head, then imitated his nephew and waved to Li Mu.
Li Mu stood at the bow, looking at his friends and students who were still as overly lively as before. He smiled and sighed, feeling relieved.
After Zichu ascended the throne, his personality did not change much, which is why Zhu Xiang and Zheng'er remained so lively.
"We can just wait until we get to the dock. Why bother sailing out?" Zhu Xiang complained after climbing onto the deck of the warship. "Sailing out a ship is very expensive, right?"
Li Mu said calmly: "We just had a battle with the Chu fleet."
Zhu Xiang: “…”
Zhu Xiang looked around and saw the soldiers, who still smelled of gunpowder, grinning at Changping Jun in a naive way.
"We just fought a battle?" Zhu Xiang was shocked. "The Chu State still has a fleet?"
Li Mu said: "Of course there are. The Chu fleet and the Wuyue fleet have fought each other, but after Wuyue was destroyed, the Chu fleet was abandoned and mostly used to transport supplies. When I build the Qin fleet, Chu will also start to rebuild its fleet."
Ying Xiaozheng hadn't been to the warship for a long time. He was touching things here and there, looking restless, and asked, "Isn't there a civil strife in Chu? Why did the King of Chu send the fleet?"
Li Mu said calmly, "They probably knew you two were coming and wanted to scare you. They have the time to do this, so the peace talks should be successful soon."
Scare us? Zhu Xiang and Ying Xiaozheng looked at each other and then laughed.
Does the State of Chu still want to rob them on the Yangtze River
Maybe it's not robbery, it's just to scare them, preferably to scare them into something bad.
"Is it Xiang Yan or Chunshen Jun?" Zhu Xiang asked, "This is a bad idea. Maybe Zheng'er and I are timid and we are really scared."
Li Mu shook his head: "I don't know, and there is no need to know. Do you want to hang out on the warship for a while, or go back to Wucheng earlier? The people in the city have been waiting for you at the dock for a long time."
Zhu Xiang said: "Of course we should go back quickly."
Ying Xiaozheng nodded: "Go back first, and then come to the warship. Teacher! Tell me the legend of your thousand cavalrymen defeating the State of Chu!"
Li Mu was puzzled: "When did I defeat the State of Chu with a thousand cavalrymen?"
Ying Xiaozheng was also puzzled: "Huh? But I heard others say so in Xianyang."
Li Mu said: "I submitted documents for all my war experiences, Zheng'er should have seen them."
Ying Xiaozheng said: "I have seen it, it was a thousand cavalrymen who defeated the State of Chu."
Li Mu: “?”
Ying Xiaozheng: “?”
The two of them stared at each other, and Zhu Xiang couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Obviously, there is a difference in your understanding." Zhu Xiang said with a smile, "What Zheng'er said is that you led the cavalry to run back and forth in the heart of Chu."
Li Mu realized: "Oh, that? I didn't defeat the State of Chu, and I didn't capture the capital of Chen."
Ying Xiaozheng insisted: "We have already penetrated the Chu State, why don't you cry out for victory?"
Zhu Xiang had just stopped laughing when he couldn't help laughing again.
Li Mu's dazed look and Ying Xiaozheng's stubborn look are so funny.
At this time, who could tell how famous these two people were outside
Li Mu and Ying Xiaozheng had a futile and boring discussion about whether or not a thousand cavalry could defeat the State of Chu.
Zhu Xiang stood with his hands behind his back and looked at the various weapons on the warship, especially the gunpowder weapons.
He turned to the master and apprentice who were discussing this and said, "Using a trebuchet to throw gunpowder cans is too inefficient. Have you ever thought of using Qing... using Jijin to cast a large barrel and use gunpowder to push stone or iron balls?"
Li Mu and Ying Xiaozheng paused in their discussion, then sighed together.
Li Mu said: "Let's discuss these matters in private."
Ying Xiaozheng said: "Uncle!"
Zhu Xiang said: "Oh, OK."
Zhu Xiang remembered that neither Li Mu nor Zheng Er allowed him to talk about his ideas about war and weapons in public. He continued his "sightseeing" and sorted out some of his "weird ideas" to tell Li Mu when he got home.
The pier was crowded with people, and some people were even dyeing paper into colors and making colorful clouds and flowers to liven up the atmosphere.
There was no paper in Nanchu originally. After Zhu Xiang came, the raw materials for papermaking in Nanchu were extremely sufficient. Now it seems that paper has become more common, otherwise it would not be used to make colorful clouds and flowers.
However, before the mechanization of papermaking, paper was still relatively expensive for ordinary people. The fact that the people of Wucheng used paper to welcome Zhu Xiang back not only shows their love for Zhu Xiang, but also shows that Wucheng is now quite prosperous.
Han Fei and Li Si, who were temporarily acting as prefects of Wujun, came to greet him.
Both of them have become much darker and thinner, but their bodies look more lean and healthier, and there is more calmness and less sharpness between their eyebrows and eyes.
Especially Li Si, who used to have a bit of sarcasm on his face, but now he looks much more graceful.
"Your Highness, Duke Zhu Xiang, thank you for fulfilling your mission." Han Fei said proudly.
Ying Xiaozheng was surprised: "You don't stutter anymore!"
Han Fei said slowly: "Speak slowly, in short sentences, and don't stutter."
Ying Xiaozheng put away his surprise. Oh, he's still stuttering.
Li Si was a little embarrassed: "The documents, account books and case files have been sorted out, and are waiting for the Crown Prince and Lord Changping to review them at any time."
Zhu Xiang smiled and said, "Why are you so nervous? After Zheng'er and I come back, won't you two still have to continue working? Do you still want to tire my Zheng'er?"
Han Fei said: "Mrs. Changping is in Nanyue and will be back soon."
Ying Xiaozheng's eyes almost popped out of his head: "What? My aunt went to Nanyue? Why? Nanyue is a barbarian land, it's too dangerous!"
Li Mu was also puzzled: "Xue Ji went to South Vietnam? Is it because I gave South Vietnam cotton seeds as a gift?"
Zhu Xiang was speechless: "You don't even know where the snow has gone?"
Li Mu said, "Xue is very opinionated. I only sent a team of guards to protect her. What? She was angry because she didn't wait for you to return in time?"
Zhu Xiang laughed: "Don't be angry. Zheng'er and I will wait for her to come back."
Ying Xiaozheng said: "I am a little angry. What is Nanyue? Why does my aunt care about Nanyue and not me? No! I want to go to Nanyue to find my aunt!"
Li Si said quickly, "Mrs. Changping has sent a letter saying that she has already left Nanyue and should be back in Wujun tomorrow."
Ying Xiaozheng was satisfied and said, "Okay, then my uncle and I will go to the dock to pick up my aunt tomorrow. Uncle, I'm hungry."
Zhu Xiang sighed and said, "Okay, okay, uncle will go change his clothes and cook for you."
Ying Xiaozheng said: "We caught so many fish, let's eat fish today."
Zhu Xiang said: "You really never get tired of eating this."
Han Fei hurriedly advised: "Prince, Duke Zhu Xiang is tired from the journey, and there is a cook at home..."
Ying Xiaozheng interrupted, “For my uncle, cooking is a rest.”
Zhu Xiang said to Han Fei, "I'll go. You haven't tasted my cooking for a long time. Han Fei, Li Si, do you have any dietary restrictions?"
Han Fei and Li Si hurriedly said no.
Zhu Xiang nodded and went to change clothes first, without asking Li Mu about his dietary restrictions.
What can a soldier who is on the march avoid eating? Li Mu eats whatever he cooks.
Li Mu crossed his arms, looking helpless.
Zhu Xiang and Ying Xiaozheng refused the Wujun people's welcome banquet because they were tired from the journey. But after Zhu Xiang returned home, he personally cooked the welcome banquet for himself. Isn't it because he was tired
Ying Xiaozheng also went to change clothes and pack his luggage, and took Li Mu to see the appointment edict of King Wang Zichu of Qin.
From then on, Li Mu was known as Lord Wucheng.
Han Fei and Li Si looked at each other.
Han Fei asked: "Wu Chengjun's appointment edict? Don't you need to burn incense, bathe, change clothes, and kneel to receive it?"
Li Si said: "How should I know?"
The two future leaders of the Legalists sighed to each other.
The Legalists attach great importance to rules and regulations, but what should they do if the people above them are too lax
I can only pretend I didn't see it.
"Li Si, you are afraid of fish bones and have dietary restrictions. You are lying."
"Why do you say you should avoid fish bones? If you are afraid of fish bones, just eat slowly!"
"hehe."
"What are you laughing at!"
"Hmm? What?"
Han Fei was very confused. Was he just expressing his joy that Li Si finally got to eat fish
Li Si looked at Han Fei's confused expression and got so angry that he hurt himself again.
Zhu Xiang changed her clothes, casually tied her hair into a big bun on top of her head, covered it with a net bag, and started cooking.
Although he is the chef, he is just the chef. The heavy work like cutting and washing vegetables is done by the cook in the family, so it is not tiring.
Ying Xiaozheng had spent a lot of effort to catch the fish, so Zhu Xiang couldn't waste any of it.
He scraped the fish scales with the back of a knife, washed them clean, coated them with egg batter, and fried them until crispy, making a delicious dish to go with wine.
Cut the fish into thin slices, boil the fish bones into soup, add sour cabbage, sour radish, sour pepper, and then pour a pot of steaming pepper oil. Sour fish is the most classic fish delicacy.
Pick out the fish balls, fish intestines, fish stomachs, etc., grind them up, mix them with egg liquid, and steam them. The steamed eggs have the fresh taste of fish, just like eating crab roe and sea urchin.
When Ying Xiaozheng was fishing, he refused to let go of even the smallest fish, even those as big as his thumb. He looked as if he wanted to catch so many fish that he would have no descendants.
The thumb-sized small fish were hollowed out and cleaned, and then fried in soybean oil until crispy. Then a powder dipping sauce was made with chili powder, cumin powder, soybean powder, etc. After frying the small fish, Zhu Xiang immediately ate two fish to taste the flavor.
"Uncle! You're eating secretly!"
Ying Xiaozheng, who was already grown up, jumped out from the kitchen door and criticized harshly.
Zhu Xiang picked up the largest fried fish and dipped it in the sauce, blocking Ying Xiaozheng's mouth: "The cook tasted it, how can it be called stealing?"
Ying Xiaozheng crunched the crispy little fish, licked his lips, and secretly ate two more before leaving the kitchen with the few remaining fried fish.
Zhu Xiang shook his head, feeling that he had failed to educate his greedy nephew properly, allowing him to steal food since he was young.
Zhu Xiang cooked; Ying Xiaozheng served the dishes; Li Mu peeled some fresh fruits and placed them on the table, which looked good and relieved the greasiness.
Han Fei and Li Si looked at each other and once again thought about whether they should learn some cooking skills.
So embarrassing!
Fortunately, they will have the job of pouring wine and tea later.
After Ying Xiaozheng brought the dishes, Li Mu started the banquet without waiting for Zhu Xiang to arrive. He and Ying Xiaozheng drank sweet rice wine while eating fried small fish and fried fish scales.
Han Fei and Li Si didn't dare to eat it.
Zhu Xiang hasn't even arrived yet, how can they start eating
When Zhu Xiang finally brought out a few dishes of stir-fried seasonal vegetables and stir-fried beef, Li Mu and Ying Xiaozheng had almost finished the fried fish and fried fish scales.
Han Fei and Li Si looked at Zhu Xiang awkwardly, worried that Zhu Xiang would be angry.
But Zhu Xiang acted as if he didn't see it and said, "Stop eating snacks and eat your meal."
Li Mu poured Zhu Xiang a cup of sweet rice wine and asked someone to take away the plates of fried fish and fried fish scales.
Han Fei and Li Si then realized that the fried fish and fried fish scales were not considered a full meal. They were "snacks" that Zhu Xiang served to Li Mu and Zheng'er because he was afraid that they would be hungry.
They were both very depressed. Why didn't the Crown Prince and Wu Chengjun say anything? Not everyone knew what Zhu Xianggong was doing!
They regretted not trying the fried fish and fried fish scales.
"The pickled fish you make is still the most delicious." Li Mu picked up a piece of tender fish meat and put it into his mouth, chewing and swallowing the bones together.
The sauerkraut fish is sour and spicy, but not too spicy. It makes people salivate, sweat breaks out on their backs, and feel refreshed.
Ying Xiaozheng was a big foodie who loved heavy flavors and didn't care about dining elegance. He just used a big wooden spoon to scoop up a full ladle of sauerkraut fish soup and fish meat and ate it with white rice, without any regard for taste.
But Han Fei and Li Si looked at Ying Xiaozheng eating with great concentration and thought that maybe Prince Zheng's way of eating was the most "refined" way to eat sauerkraut fish.
Should pickled fish be eaten with rice
Zhu Xiang saw what the two were thinking and said, "Both pickled fish soup with rice and noodles are delicious. I prepared both."
Han Fei and Li Si looked at each other again, and then, encouraged by Zhu Xiang's eyes, they became a little more "unbridled". Li Si scooped rice and Han Fei served noodles. Although there is not much difference between the north and the south in food nowadays, the tastes of these two people have already been clearly differentiated like the northerners and southerners in later generations.
Li Mu filled his stomach a little before chatting with Zhu Xiang.
Li Mu talked about the many minor and tedious wars in Wujun, Nanyue and Chu. Zhu Xiang talked about the many changes in Qin after Zichu took the throne.
As they talked, Li Mu began to talk about some interesting customs of Nanyue that he had seen; Zhu Xiang complained that King Zichu of Qin was not mature at all, and Prime Minister Lin Zhi was even more so, and that Cai Ze was really having a hard time.
Han Fei and Li Si listened to Zhu Xiang complaining about the Prime Minister of Qin, and they both lowered their heads and dared not say anything, and wanted to cover their ears.
Ying Xiaozheng spent most of his time eating, occasionally raising his head to interject a few words, either agreeing or refutation, and cursing the mediocrity of the court.
Li Mu said, "Abandon the city? This King Qin is quite decisive."
His expression clearly showed that he was very satisfied with the current King of Qin.
Zhu Xiang could finally relax a little.
However, the King of Qin and Zhu Xiang had a deep friendship, and it is possible that Zhu Xiang's future would be even more difficult.
Li Mu raised his head and drank the wine.
(End of this chapter)