The escorting Qin soldiers discovered that their commander, General Meng Wu, suddenly joined the team of Duke Xiang of Zhu and Prince Zichu one day, and ate together around the pot that Duke Xiang was cooking.
Although General Meng would go to eat for free in the past, he would always eat alone with the bowl in his hand.
Lin Zhi put his arm around Meng Wu's shoulder and said, "Welcome to join us."
Meng Wu was busy eating meat and didn't want to pay attention to Lin Zhi. Zi Chu couldn't help laughing and joined Lin Zhi in teasing Meng Wu.
When Zichu first left Xianyang, he tried to get along well with Mengwu, but Mengwu was very businesslike and, although he was very respectful to him, he did not show any intimacy.
Zichu was only the grandson of the King of Qin and could not show any intention of winning over the Qin generals, so Zichu kept his distance from Meng Wu.
Unexpectedly, Meng Wu still failed.
However, if it weren't for Lin Zhi, a thick-skinned and black-hearted man, they would not have been able to make friends with Meng Wu just because of a few words.
Zhu Xiang disagreed with Zichu's judgment: "Is it possible that General Meng has long wanted to make friends with us, but has not found the opportunity? If General Meng really does not want to make friends with us, then Lin Zhi's joke of 'getting on the pirate ship' is useless. He is only loyal to the King of Qin, and everything we say now can be known to the King of Qin, so it doesn't matter if he reports it to the King of Qin."
Zichu didn't believe it at first. But after a few days, Mengwu pestered Zhu Xiang and listened to Zhu Xiang's story. He believed it.
Zichu complained to Lin Zhi, "General Meng surrounds Zhu Xiang like butterflies surround a flower. Is Zhu Xiang that fragrant?"
Lin Zhi smiled and said, "General Meng seems to like listening to interesting stories, but Zhu Xiang has a lot of strange stories in his mind. If I didn't know everyone Zhu Xiang knew, I would have thought that Zhu Xiang had hooked up with the novelist again."
Zichu also laughed and said, "It will probably be soon. Didn't Zhu Xiang promise General Meng that he would write down his stories and publish them in a book?"
Meng Wu not only likes to listen to stories and gossip, but as a military commander, he is also very obsessed with food.
In the past, Zhu Xiang had trouble ordering him around, but after they became friends, they were no longer polite. They went up the mountain to catch rabbits, went down the river to catch fish, and exchanged chickens and ducks from villages and towns. Meng Wu provided Zhu Xiang with fresh food every day.
While plucking the chicken feathers, Zhu Xiang wondered whether he was on the road or having a picnic.
Meng Wu circled around Zhu Xiang, getting very impatient waiting for food.
Zichu and Lin Zhi were pointing fingers at Meng Wu, and were given a sidelong look by Zhu Xiang.
"You are so free, why don't you come and help me?" Zhu Xiang said, "Boil water, wash rice, pick vegetables, don't be idle!"
Zichu and Lin Zhi had no choice but to roll up their sleeves and join in cooking.
Among the Qin soldiers who were escorting him was a cook who was in charge of cooking. He was hesitant to speak, not knowing how to fight with Lord Changping for the right to cook.
In the end, he lost the opportunity to cook to please the nobles and could only cook for his colleagues.
When leaving the border of Zhao State and about to enter Qin State again, Zhu Xiang asked Meng Wu to buy some wine and worship towards the east.
He told Lin Gong that he was leaving Zhao this time and would probably not return to Zhao before Qin unified Zhao.
After the memorial service, Zhu Xiang looked at the wine spilled on the ground and was reluctant to waste such precious wine, so he dug out the wine mud and prepared to make beggar's chicken.
Now the lotus flowers in the pond have bloomed. Zhu Xiang took out the lotus leaves and lotus pods, marinated the chicken bought from the farmer with salt, put lotus seeds into the chicken's stomach, wrapped it with lotus leaves, and then sealed it with wine mud, and roasted it with a fire.
Zhu Xiang also asked Meng Wu to smash the hard dried meat into pieces and cook it into a paste together with dry food and fresh wild vegetables.
By the time they finished their porridge and filled their stomachs, the simple version of beggar's chicken was ready.
The simplified version of beggar's chicken is tender and juicy. Although it is only coated with salt, the fragrance of lotus, lotus leaves, and lotus pods mixed with the aroma of wine stimulate the sense of smell and create an illusion on the tongue, as if the taste of the chicken has many more layers and is much more delicious.
"I've never eaten this dish before!" Lin Zhi was very dissatisfied. "I have wine and lotus flowers at home, but you've never cooked this dish for me!"
Zichu also nodded. Zhu Xiang was really dishonest.
Zhu Xiang said: "Wine and water are precious, and mixing them with mud is a waste. You don't lack delicious food, so don't waste it like this."
Lin Zhi rolled his eyes and said with a smile: "So, you have a more wasteful way of eating?"
Zhu Xiang said: "Yes, we use the soup made from dozens of chickens to boil the vegetables, then discard the chickens and the soup, and only eat the vegetables."
Lin Zhi was puzzled: "…Is it delicious?"
Zhu Xiang said, "It's just the taste of vegetables cooked in ordinary chicken soup."
Lin Zhi was even more puzzled: "What's the point of wasting it like this?"
Zhu Xiang spread his hands: "To show off my wealth."
Lin Zhi patted Zichu on the shoulder and said, "Go and give it a try when you become the King of Qin."
Zichu raised his foot and kicked. Do you want me to be a tyrant
But he was also curious about how much food could be wasted.
Zhu Xiang gave them examples of bean sprouts stuffed with meat, chicken tofu pudding, boiled cabbage and other Kung Fu dishes, as well as a meaningless way of eating seafood soup by cooling it into jelly and making flowers, then melting the flowers in boiling water to make seafood-flavored soup...
Lin Zhi was greatly amazed and kept patting Zichu on the shoulder, asking Zichu to try it after becoming the King of Qin.
Zichu rolled his eyes so hard that it hurt.
He suspected that Lin Zhi came to Qin not to help him and Zhu Xiang, but to become a traitor and destroy Qin from within.
"So-called luxurious dishes are made by using a bunch of expensive ingredients in different ways. Whether they taste good or not is another matter, the important thing is the trouble." Zhu Xiang was talking nonsense, "I'll roll out a piece of dough for you, cut it thinner than a hair, fry it in oil and drizzle it with honey. It will be a noble dish, more noble than frying the dough directly."
Meng Wu couldn't help but interrupt: "Hearing what Chang Pingjun said, why do I feel that these nobles are just self-satisfied fools?"
Although Zhu Xiang felt that Lin Zhi was seriously ill, he still cooperated by sobbing a few times.
Meng Wu's expression was distorted. Zichu turned his head away, obviously disgusted by these two people.
Zichu complained: "Instead of pretending to be disgusting, why don't you threaten him? If he continues to address me in such a polite way, you won't let him eat the food Zhu Xiang cooked!"
Lin Zhi said: "A fight is only interesting if both sides are evenly matched. It's boring if both sides are crushed."
Zichu objected: "Crushing is the most fun, and it's best to win without fighting."
Meng Wu breathed a sigh of relief. Okay, the attention is no longer on him.
However, when he saw Lin Zhi and Master Zichu arguing, he felt a little envious.
The King of Qin was strict, and the nobles rarely entertained each other. Meng Wu's father came to Qin from Qi, so he was more careful to be a "lone minister". Meng Wu had no friends around him to play with.
"General Meng, how about we catch some fish and have grilled fish tomorrow?" Zhu Xiang ignored his two best friends who were arguing again and said while crunching on some chicken cartilage.
Meng Wu: "Ah, okay."
While Meng Wu was being teased by Lin Zhi and was hesitating whether to call Zhu Xiang by his name, Zhu Xiang and others returned to Qin.
Zhu Xiang took out paper and charcoal pencils and began to record the conditions of soil, water sources and vegetation along the way. If he saw a problematic farmland, Zhu Xiang would find the farmer and teach him how to solve the problem.
"I am Zhu Xiang, Lord of Changping. The King of Qin ordered me to inspect the fields and guide you in farming." Zhu Xiang took out the King of Qin's edict and really took the excuse of leaving Qin as his job.
Zichu reminded him that it was just an excuse. Zhu Xiang shook his head and said, "Since the Lord has issued an order, even if I do other things in the middle, I must complete the work well."
Zichu said: "Perhaps the Lord wants you to return to Xianyang as soon as possible?"
Zhu Xiang continued to shake his head: "Your Majesty has treated me well, so I should do my best."
Zichu: "..." Okay, it's better to go back later. When they return to Xianyang, they will not be so free.
Lin Zhi was very supportive of Zhu Xiang. Although he was ready to be a minister of Qin, the people of the six states knew how depressing it was to be a minister of Qin. Why not be free for a while
Meng Wu watched Zhu Xiang take out the Qin King's edict. Since the Qin King had not issued any new edict, he had no choice but to cooperate with Zhu Xiang.
He was also very curious, having heard that Lord Changping had great experience in farming, as if it were a supernatural thing. How far must one go to be considered supernatural
Soon, he agreed with the evaluation of "miraculous".
Zhu Xiang only needed to take a look at the situation in the field to explain the problem in detail and find a solution. The words he talked about soil pH, plant virus and fungal infection, pollination and seedling thinning to increase fruiting rate, etc., sounded like incomprehensible to Meng Wu. But with these difficult words, he always convinced the farmers to follow his methods.
Some of Zhu Xiang’s guidance may not produce results in a short period of time, but some can produce results the next day.
As a result, Zhu Xiang's reputation rose steadily on his way back to Xianyang. After that, before Zhu Xiang even entered the village, the village elders would be waiting at the entrance of the village, sorting out the problems of the village fields and waiting for Zhu Xiang to solve them.
Zhu Xiang couldn't actually solve most of the problems, but even if he couldn't, he could tell the farmers what the problem was and how to avoid it in the future.
Soon, county governors and magistrates from various places also came out of the city to greet him. If there was no other important matter, the county magistrates would often follow Zhu Xiang to the fields and listen to Zhu Xiang's communication with the farmers with a worshipful look.
Knowing how to farm may not be a big deal, but knowing the soil, vegetation, and all crops thoroughly and knowing the causes of all farmland problems is a miracle.
Meng Wu didn't know anything about farming, but he discovered that Zhu Xiang might be able to lead troops.
With Zhu Xiang's grasp of geological, geographical and weather conditions, as well as his extremely terrifying ability to gain the trust and dependence of others, he is already qualified to be an excellent general.
Zhu Xiang only showed his usual farming skills. He did not think he could understand all the problems of farming, but just said some general things.
For example, if a plant is infected by a virus, but we don’t know what virus it is, this cannot be called understanding the problem, right
It’s just that in this era, his general answer was considered astonishing, which made others deify him.
Zhu Xiang was not only guiding the farmland, but also observing the people's situation in Qin.
The society in Qin was very oppressive. Farmers could only go home after farming and could not do anything else. On the ridges of the fields in Zhao, there were often wanderers and small vendors. You would never see such things in Qin.
There were no smiles on the faces of the farmers, as if they were machines that only knew how to farm. There was no vitality in the towns, and even every detail of commodity transactions was regulated by Qin law, and any violation would result in corporal punishment.
It is no wonder that the extremely oppressive Qin State declined rapidly after unifying the world. Even if Qin Shihuang were still alive, the repeated peasant uprisings would have destroyed this huge empire.
But Zhu Xiang also noticed that in Qin Guo's suppressed and numb expression, he could actually show a hint of happiness.
After thinking about it, he understood the reason.
Most of the Qin State was governed by the county system, and even the feudal lords did not have much administrative power over their fiefs. Therefore, compared with the tax farming system in other countries, the taxation in Qin was more stable, and as long as there was no famine, farmers could ensure that young and middle-aged people would not starve to death.
The Qin State was also very powerful, and even if it occasionally lost a war, its hinterland would basically not encounter war. In this chaotic world, not experiencing war would increase your sense of happiness a lot.
Even if farmers encounter a famine and cannot get enough food, they still have the option of joining the army and making contributions to support their families. Therefore, they will not despair because of hunger.
So the people of Qin now think they are happy. They also think that it is right for Qin to continue to wage wars. They support the King of Qin and think that this will make their lives better.
But after the unification, the Qin Dynasty failed to live up to their expectations.
(End of this chapter)