Qin Fang couldn't suppress the joy on his face when he heard Du Ke admit that he was his teacher. He pouted and said, "Yes. Knowing that the teacher was coming, my wife cleaned up the yard in advance. She was afraid that the yard would not suit the teacher's taste. She was worried."
Du Ke said with a smile: "The guest should follow the host's wishes. As long as I have a bed, I can sleep at the foot of this beast mountain."
Shen Lixian and Du Ke were old acquaintances, and this was the first time he had seen Du Ke being so friendly to others. Therefore, he looked at Qin Fang curiously: "Lord Du, is this the General Qin that the Emperor praised so much?"
Du Ke said proudly, "Yes, that person is Qin Fang. Come on, Lixian, let me introduce you. Qin Fang is Shen Lixian, the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Revenue. Lixian, that person is Qin Fang, the General of Wude, who is highly regarded by the Emperor."
Although the Ministry of Revenue's deputy minister was a seventh-rank official, Qin Fang knew Shen Lixian's identity. Du Ke had already introduced him in his letter. He was the emperor's brother-in-law, the late Empress Shen's elder brother, and the son of the Marquis of Cheng'en. Therefore, Qin Fang did not dare to treat him as an ordinary seventh-rank official. Qin Fang calmed down his excitement and said to Shen Lixian: "Sir Shen."
Shen Li's first impression of Qin Fang was that this young man was really tall. Tall means military commander, and many people would associate it this way. He likes to look directly at people. Of course, because of his status, he can look directly at anyone in the capital. The emperor's brother-in-law, how can his status not be high? Of course, whether the status is high or not depends on whether the emperor gives face, but the emperor gives face to the Shen family.
Qin Fang gave Shen Lixian the impression of being tall. Perhaps Du Ke had not told him on the way here that Qin Fang was tall, so Shen Lixian was quite surprised. He smiled and said, "I have met General Qin. I heard that General Qin has found ore and has learned a method to make ice from saltpeter. It is of great benefit to the country and the people. I admire him."
Qin Fang said hurriedly: "Master Shen, you are too kind. As a citizen of Qi, it is my honor to do something for the court and the people of Qi." Qin Fang was a long-winded person when writing letters and memorials. But when chatting face to face, he was definitely not a boastful person. In fact, he could rarely bring up topics on his own initiative.
Shen Lixian: "General Qin is too modest."
Du Ke: "Okay, you don't have to be polite. I've been waiting for two hours and I'm very hungry. Let's solve some livelihood issues first."
Qin Fang said, "Why don't we go back to the General's Mansion first? My wife asked the kitchen to make mung bean soup today. The iced mung bean soup tastes especially good. The teacher and Lord Shen are here at the right time."
Du Ke: "What are you waiting for? Let's go."
Yang Haiyan didn't know Du Ke had arrived. Fortunately, when Qin Fang took Du Ke back to the general's mansion, he had already asked the soldiers to hurry back to the general's mansion to inform Yang Haiyan. He took Du Ke in a carriage, so it would be slower.
According to modern time, it was already three o'clock in the afternoon. Yang Haiyan had woken up from her nap and was making cold noodles with Aunt Lian. She used sweet potato flour, mixed it with peanuts, spicy cabbage, shredded potatoes and shredded radish, and then chilled it in ice cubes for a better taste.
The only drawback is that there is no coriander in it.
The cold noodles were just freezing when the guards arrived and said, "My lord, there are a group of common people outside the general's mansion. They are the new citizens of Qi State."
Yang Haiyan was stunned: "Why are they here? What's the matter?"
The guard said, "They are carrying some food, including game, vegetables, etc., for the general and the county lord."
Yang Haiyan listened and said hurriedly: "Then welcome them in. Aunt Yu, go prepare some tea, Aunt Lian, let's go to the hall."
"yes."
Yang Haiyan was waiting in the hall for the new citizens to come in. There were quite a few people, both women and men, and they all looked energetic. When they arrived at the entrance of the hall, they did not carry anything in, but came in one by one, putting down their backpacks and baskets.
"Your humble servant greets the Madam." They didn't know that Yang Haiyan was already the village lady, so they greeted her according to the title they used when they were acquainted with each other.
Yang Haiyan said: "Everyone, please get up quickly. Although everyone looks a little tired, they are still energetic. It can be seen that they are living well after settling down, right?"
The leading man said: "My life is much better than when I was at the border. Thank you ma'am for your concern."
Yang Haiyan smiled and said, "The general and I are relieved that you are doing well. We are just worried that you will not adapt to the environment of Qi Kingdom. However, if you are wronged in the village, don't endure it. As long as you are right, the general and I will stand by you."
The man said: "With the general here, we have not suffered any injustice. The villagers and the village chief have taken good care of us and allocated land to us. We are grateful to the general for everything... We have discussed it with several families and know that the general and his wife do not need anything, but this is our intention, so please go first, madam."
At that time, a woman said, "Madam, do you remember me? My child was only six years old. He was sick and refused to take medicine. You used candies to coax him to take medicine. Now he is very healthy. Madam, these things are to thank you for saving his life. Please don't refuse."
"Yes, ma'am, this is our intention."
"Mrs… "
All the new citizens started talking, fearing that Yang Haiyan would refuse.
Yang Haiyan did not intend to accept it at first. She just knew their intentions, and they had just settled down here, so it was not easy to have something. However, when she saw the melon in the basket on the ground, she was stunned. Isn't this a cucumber
Yang Haiyan calmed herself down, and after thinking for a while, she said: "Since it is your kindness, I will accept it, so that you can rest assured. But in a few days, the crops in my manor will be harvested, and then I will send some to you, and you can't refuse." Doing this is also to prevent someone from making things difficult for Qin Fang in the future and accusing him of bullying the people.
When everyone heard what Yang Haiyan said, they all smiled and were very happy.
Yang Haiyan walked to the door, pointed at the cucumbers in the basket and asked, "What are those long green things? Fruit?"
"Ma'am, it's cucumber." The speaker was the woman who spoke first.
“Hugua?” Yang Haiyan remembered that she had read an ancient Chinese novel in which it was mentioned that cucumbers were brought to the Central Plains from the Western Regions by Zhang Qian during the Western Han Dynasty, and were called Hugua at the time.
And here, it is also called Hugua.
Yang Haiyan was puzzled: "I have never seen cucumbers before, but where did they come from?"
The woman quickly explained: "Don't worry, ma'am, cucumbers are edible. They are a specialty of our Hu people."
Yang Haiyan was even more confused: "Hu tribe?"
The woman said, "Madam, you may not know that we are not from the same tribe. We migrated for generations and lived at the border. Generation after generation, we were born at the border. But in fact, our ancestors were from multiple tribes.
The tribe of our people is called the Hu tribe. Cucumbers are unique to our Hu tribe. In the past, the Hu people migrated everywhere and could not carry too many things with them, but they carried cucumber seeds with them. Because cucumbers only take about 60 days from sowing to harvesting, the time is short and they are easy to grow, so we Hu people carry them with us. However, the biggest feature of cucumbers is that they are full of water but have no taste. "The woman said, picking up a cucumber and taking a bite. The sound was crisp, and Yang Haiyan wanted to eat it.
The woman continued, "Don't worry, ma'am. We Hu people have been eating cucumbers for generations. They are edible."
When Yang Haiyan heard this, she couldn't help wondering if the Hu tribe in the story were the Western Regions people in the real world. However, she didn't ask for confirmation, as there was no need. "In that case, thank you, elder sister. I just happened to have not eaten any healthy food. The weather has been very hot recently, so it's just right to eat something with some water."
The woman felt relieved when she saw that Yang Haiyan no longer had any doubts.
Those people didn't stay long. Yang Haiyan took the things, they drank a cup of tea, and then left in a hurry.
As soon as they left, Yang Haiyan said, "Madam Lian, take the other things to the big kitchen, and take the cucumber to the small kitchen in my yard."
Aunt Lian was a person who could judge people's taste. Seeing Yang Haiyan like this, she knew that Yang Haiyan might like this cucumber very much. She arranged for someone to send these vegetables to the big kitchen, and she carried the basket of cucumbers to the small kitchen.
Back in the small kitchen, Yang Haiyan washed two cucumbers, then cut half and gave it to Aunt Lian: "Aunt, try it. How does it taste?" As she spoke, she also took a bite of the remaining half.
Nanny Lian followed suit and ate it: "It's very crisp and has no taste." To be honest, she couldn't get used to this tasteless food.
Yang Haiyan finished half a cucumber in a few bites. She said, "I have an idea."
Then, she cut another washed cucumber into shreds and mixed it into the cold noodles.
Aunt Lian looked at it and asked, "Can I eat this?"
Yang Haiyan smiled and said, "Wait a minute." After mixing it, she brought two small bowls over and picked up a small bowl for herself and Aunt Lian respectively, "Come, try it."
Needless to say, the originally bland cucumber tasted different after being mixed with the cold noodles. Aunt Lian exclaimed: "You can eat cucumber like this, it tastes really good."
Yang Haiyan said: "Yes, I thought cucumbers and radishes had no taste, and that they might be good as a condiment if cut into shreds. I didn't expect it to be so good." She was pretending so much that she even felt embarrassed.
"My countryman... My countryman..."
The master and servant had just eaten a few bites of cold noodles when the guards' voices came from outside the courtyard. Aunt Lian hurried out: "What's the matter? Are there any rules for shouting and yelling like this?"
The guard apologized, "Please don't be angry, Ma'am. A soldier from the military camp came outside and said that the general sent him to inform the county lord. He and Lord Du Kedu arrived soon. Lord Du has been waiting for the general at the foot of the Beast Mountain for more than two hours and has not eaten yet."