"The nine-fold emperor goes to the dust, Yuliu is still ruthless in spring.
Now that I don't care about my concubines, I know I have let Ma Wei people down. "
Wei Zhuang's "Composition on the Beginning of Spring"
—I am the dividing line —
According to the customs of this era, the morning meal after the Chinese New Year gets up again is a five-scented plate with Tusu wine and gum teeth.
Wuxin plate is a cold dish of five kinds of spicy vegetables. "Wuxin makes the five internal organs, that is, green onion, garlic, leeks, brassica, and coriander", which is now: green onions, garlic, leeks, mustard and coriander. Su (Shi) once said that when he was eating food, he felt that the east wind was precipitously cold.
Tusu wine is said to be the invention of the famous doctor Hua Tuo in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. It is made by dipping into the wine with Chinese medicines such as rhubarb, atractylodes, cassia twig, fangfeng, prickly ash, aconite, and aconite. So, with the five kinds of spicy dishes, the taste is really touching.
Soon the last remaining sleepiness and drowsiness were driven away without a trace. In contrast, the more normal ones are gum teeth. The so-called "饧" is the syrup that has been filtered through steamed malt juice and then boiled to make a concentrated syrup. Except for a little turbidity, it is no different from the maltose that is common in later generations.
This is also the only time most ordinary people can taste a little sweetness throughout the year. Although Jiaofang is a popular food, it is still played out by the qualified and wealthy people.
For example, it is heated and poured on a pile of dried fruits such as roasted green beans, melon seeds, raw kernels, almonds, walnuts, and hazelnuts, and then frozen outside to form "Wushan" with different flavors. Then hit and eat with a small hammer.
Or take it and boil it with chyle (coarse cream) and tea powder to make green porridge. Or spread it on freshly baked steamed cakes or cooked cakes, sprinkle with a layer of chopped preserved fruit and butternut, and sandwich them to eat "Mu Bing".
In the Tang Dynasty of this era, although Wang Xuance had already violently beaten the generation of Brahmin "overlords" Alonashun in North Tianzhu and Zhongtianzhu, and when he tied them back to the Taimiao, he brought the native "shimi" (earth sugar) production method And craftsmen.
However, it is also limited to areas suitable for planting sugarcane in the Lingnan and Jiannan areas, and has been a rare tribute and specialty product for hundreds of years. Nowadays, under the rule of the Taiping Army, it is finally expanding the planting, and it has been promoted to Annan, Hunan, Jingnan, Jiangxi and other places, and it has become a large-scale fist product for foreign profit.
Although there is still no way to sell it all over the street like later generations, at least it can be used as a treatment for army soldiers and their families; in wartime and high-intensity service conditions, one or two refreshing and satisfying hunger every day; Three to five kilograms of benefits will be given again during the New Year's Day.
Of course, at the same time, the other side of the world is on the European continent in the early days of the Dark Age in the Middle Ages. Most villagers and serfs do not know what sweetness is. The natural honey produced in the forest is still a luxury item exclusively enjoyed by noble lords and high priests.
Fortunately, after eating these symbolic appetizing breakfasts, the gastrointestinal and taste functions were finally fully awakened, and the late lunch dinner was also put on the table.
First is the Jiugong Keke, which is like a large copper hot pot. Different grids contain chicken, duck, goose, rabbit, fish, shrimp, crab and mussel, pig, cattle, sheep, deer, and other soups made with different ingredients. And in the big round grid in the middle, there is white soup boiled from various dried fungi and sea vegetables, which is used to cleanse and wash the taste.
Then there are crispy raw honey moxibustion (pig, cow and sheep) three tendons, boiled dumplings made of egg whites and shrimps, boiled meatballs with bamboo shoots and mushroom meat; steamed meat rolls with egg paste; fried eel with silver silk, snails Dry torn sugar crab. . . . .
The last staple food served is the sweet steamed custard made of pumpkin, bean paste and chestnut noodles. There are a lot of crushed nuts and candied fruit sprinkled on it, which looks very delicious.
It's a pity that Zhou Huaian can only use it by himself here. Because the other women were not tired and tired and couldn’t even lift a little finger; they played pot, pub (throwing dice), shuanglu, guessing poetry, and playing money (guess the face) when they were watching the year last night. )、Shooting the duck was crazy, and now I am still taking a rest.
Commander Yu, who was on duty, also brought a group of corresponding officers, officers in the army, counselors, and staff members. He walked in without squinting and reported on the routine official affairs and military and military situation in accordance with the degree of importance.
But now Zhou Huaian, who can basically consume energy storage and trace adrenaline to keep multi-tasking thinking and responding synchronously, even noticed that the upper limit of the energy bar in his vision for a long time has increased by a little bit. The energy reserves and overall physical activity of the appendages have decreased.
"It's easy to degenerate easily..."
He couldn't help but sigh that he had signed his increasingly cursive font on a execution order.
This is the last large mountain stronghold in the Funiu Mountains that separates the Nanyang Basin from the Eastern Henan Plain—Lingbaozhai. Therefore, the prisoners and trophies are quite rich.
There are not only the remnants of Ding Zhuang who have fled from various mountain villages and cottages, but also a lot of remnants from the background of powerful households who merged with them on the plain. There are even more than a dozen people from Henan Province. Court officials with different missions or belonging to the town.
There are also thick stacks of commissions and personal reports from various lang generals, miscellaneous generals, governors, soldiers and horses, and town officials. There are also valuable money and property, as well as some of the old and new goods that have been accumulated over the past dynasties.
But what is surprising is that there is also an envoy from the Guanzhong Daqi court. This is a bit weird, but it's not surprising. Under the rule of the rebel army for a long time, the more the better, the more good and the different.
Among the last two thousand prisoners, a small half of them were judged to have no value in subsequent reforms and needed to be executed. The reason is very simple, because they need to be responsible for the old and weak women and children who disappeared quickly in those city walls.
Although it is said that many of them are crying and screaming, they are willing to use their past experience and skills to continue to contribute to the Taiping Army for redemption; but under the rule of the Taiping Army today, there are more loyal and reliable families with relatively good loyalty and reliability. The choice is simply not necessary for these beasts and cannibals like them.
Compared to the first day of the new year, the mass execution order with only cold numbers left, the news from the Henan side from Luyang Pass made people feel better.
First of all, Zhu Zhen, the messenger sent by Mr. Zhu to greet him, had arrived in Xiangzhou before the New Year’s Pass. He also brought a large number of seizures and trophies from the winter battle in Henan, including more than a thousand horses. The horses of the Northland were all obtained from the fighting Wei Bo army, and many of them came from the Yanshan horses from Youzhou.
After repelling Wei Bojun in Huazhou, he now also owns two sites, one large (Chenzhou and Huazhou) and one small (Heyang Nanguan), and he is initially considered to have a firm foothold in Henan.
Then, the contact with Cao Xiang after staying in the Tianping Army also opened up a special channel a year ago; starting from Yuncheng Yunzhou in Lisuo, heading south to Juye County, along the traditional water transportation route of Wuzhang River, to the west Pass through the newly regained Caozhou territory and arrive at the territory of Chenzhou, a site controlled by Zhu Lao Sanxin;
If you take the road to the Wenchengzha in Yanshan Mountain, Xuzhou Yaochong, which is also under the control of the Rebels, you can reach Ciqiu County, Tangzhou, on the edge of the Taiping Army. An idle hand arranged in the early years, with the follow-up promotion and investment, has now greatly improved the surrounding situation of the Taiping Army.
Although the Tianping Town owned by Cao Xiang seems to be a bit weaker than the newly emerging Zhu Laosan, after defeating Wei Bojun and regaining the majority system of Tianping, he still sent corresponding thanks and gifts through this channel. The traded goods included the frame and honor guards that he personally seized from Wei Bo Jiedu Han Jian.
But more importantly, as long as these two forces are relatively friendly and have a certain degree of mutual benefit and dependence, they can continue to be maintained in Henan/Kanto; then the Taiping Army will not be afraid of military pressure and threats from the Kanto region in a short time. .
In this way, as long as the Taiping Army exports some aid materials and equipment, it can concentrate resources to continue to sort out the internal and silent gathering forces, and only maintain the three places of Yuzhou, Yangzhou and Runzhou, and it is good to be on the east and west fronts.
Then came the news sent by Wang Xingkong from Wuguan. Great changes have taken place in the variety and quality of reciprocal goods passing through Shangluo Road. The population who fled southward in the pass seems to have been obstructed and intercepted by the local rebels, and the population has dropped sharply; it is even said that the outflow of scholars and craftsmen has been restricted in Chang'an City.
Does this mean that there have been some changes and contradictions within the Daqi court headed by Huang Chao, which even affected the attitude towards the Taiping Army? It's a pity that Gao Yu's operation and layout time in Chang'an City was too short, and he could not get anything deeper.
—I am the dividing line —
In the city of Chang'an, Gao Yu, the plenipotentiary external representative of the Taiping Governor, also embarked on the road to the banquet among the chariots and horses who responded. However, under the control of his arbitrary and indulgent expression, there was a bit of anxiety and doubts.
Because during this period, he suddenly discovered that he was under strict surveillance and disguised restrictions. The original atmosphere and environment of getting rich from all sources seemed to be tightened suddenly.
These people who were responsible for monitoring and restricting him even appeared in front of him without fear and swaggered through the market. And in secret, there are several groups of people from different backgrounds working at the same time.
Therefore, apart from the public activities of routine greetings, table presentations, and conferences, he can hardly send people to secretly communicate and do more other things. Thinking this way, he arrived at Huiyuan Tower on the bank of Qujiang.
At this time, a group of unkempt beggars swarmed from the left into the bald flowers and trees. They immediately surrounded the white copper-rimmed and vermilion carriage that Gao Yu had stood up on, and slapped the wall of the box to beg for it.
Although they were quickly dispelled by the escorted sergeant, they still left a lot of indecent black handwriting on the carriage; and Gao Yu could only wave his sleeves away with expression of resentment and helplessness. Boarded the brightly lit tall building, but he was secretly relieved.
Then, among the group of beggars who dispersed as birds and beasts, Xiaodi Pan, a former member of the boy camp from Shannan, also tightly pinched the newly added paper ball in his filthy palm. Soon after, he appeared in front of a ditch near the city wall.
He walked in cautiously along the dry and frozen channel. A short while later, one of the three to five scavengers under the city wall dragged a rope from the frozen drainage ditch and finally pulled out a muddy bamboo knot.
After another day, the secret text strip hidden in the bamboo knot was confirmed by Wang Xingkong in Wuguan, and then handed over to a messenger riding a fast horse. However, as the front foot set off and the back foot followed one after another, it was a group of envoys proclaimed by the Daqi court. (End of this chapter)