Riding the wind of rebirth

“China has so many famous people. Who is this Deng Tong?” Mai Xiaomiao asked.

"Deng Tong was from Jiaozhou. We've been to Jiaozhou before. It has a well-developed water system. Because of his skills, Deng Tong was recruited into the palace in Chang'an and became a Huangtou Lang, who was in charge of managing boats."

"The emperor at that time was Emperor Wen of Han. Liu Heng was a kind and benevolent man, but he also believed in ghosts and gods and longed for immortality. Once, Emperor Wen dreamed of ascending to heaven, but no matter what he did, he could not reach the top."

"Just at this anxious moment, Emperor Wen of Han suddenly felt a force coming from behind him. He turned around and saw a yellow-haired boy pushing him from behind."

Emperor Wen of Han remembered the appearance of this yellow-haired palace guard, who was wearing a short, single-layered shirt with a belt tied at the back.

"After waking up from the dream, Emperor Wen went to the Jiantai Terrace west of Weiyang Palace. There was a lake there called Cangchi. Only the yellow-haired men there who needed to row boats wore short shirts with their waists across their backs."

Emperor Wen of Han looked around at the yellow-haired attendants below the platform and saw Deng Tong's figure and attire, especially his belt which was tied at the back, just as he had seen in his dream. So he summoned him to the platform and asked his name. It turned out that his surname was Deng and his given name was Tong, which sounded similar to "Deng Tong". Emperor Wen was very happy and believed that he was the one who had helped him ascend to heaven. After that, he favored him more and more each day, and rewarded Deng Tong more than ten times, totaling more than a hundred million coins.

One day, Emperor Wen ordered Xu Fu to examine Deng Tong's face. Xu Fu said, "Deng Tong is destined to die poor and starving." Emperor Wen was very angry and said, "It is I who can make Deng Tong rich, so how can you say he will be poor?" So he bestowed upon him all the copper mines, large and small, near Jiaozhou and allowed him to mint his own coins.

"At that time, many nobles were minting coins, but they liked to adulterate them with lead and iron to make a profit. However, the coins minted by Deng Tong were shiny, heavy, of uniform thickness, and of pure quality. From princes and ministers to wealthy merchants and commoners, everyone loved Deng Tong's coins. During the reign of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, Wu coins had an advantage due to their large issuance volume, while Deng Tong coins won with their superior quality. Therefore, the coins circulating throughout the country were basically Wu coins and Deng Tong coins."

"Emperor Wen suffered from a carbuncle, and out of gratitude for his favor and kindness, Deng Tong often sucked the carbuncle for him. One day, Emperor Wen asked Deng Tong, 'Who in the world loves me the most?' Deng Tong replied, 'There should be no one who loves you more than the Crown Prince.' Later, the Crown Prince came to the palace to inquire about Emperor Wen's condition, and Emperor Wen asked him to suck the carbuncle. The Crown Prince looked reluctant when he sucked the carbuncle, and afterwards, when he heard that Deng Tong often sucked the carbuncle for the emperor, he felt ashamed, but also resented him for it."

"Once Emperor Wen died and the Crown Prince ascended the throne, the empire would belong to Emperor Jing. Upon ascending the throne, Emperor Jing first dismissed Deng Tong from his post, seized his copper mine, and confiscated all his property. It's pitiful that Deng Tong, who was once richer than princes and nobles, became like a beggar when he fell on hard times, penniless, and in the end, he fulfilled Xu Fu's words and starved to death on the street."

"That Xu Fu is too amazing! He accurately predicted Deng Tong's fate, and even Emperor Wen couldn't protect him."

“Anyway, I’m speechless every time I see these records in history books,” Zhou Zhi said. “They’re too unbelievable, but when you think about it, no drama can compare to the bizarre reality, so you can’t help but believe them.”

"Actually, there is another good thing in Yingjing. We need to buy some later. It will be useful when we visit Xue Shanyang."

"What is it?" Mai Xiaomiao asked.

“A clay pot, a black clay pot, is the best for making old hen soup,” Zhou Zhi said. “I guess Aunt Yang has already brought the old hens up.”

“Yes, we have to buy it,” Mai Xiaomiao said. “You didn’t let the baby eat when the baby was in your belly, but now that the baby is born, the baby can eat properly.”

"What do you mean by 'don't let me eat'? It means that excessive nutrition is bad for fetal development, makes childbirth more difficult, and can easily ruin the mother's figure." Zhou Zhi was somewhat speechless: "You can't say that to your baby in the future, or he'll resent us early on!"

"Okay," Mai Xiaomiao said with a smile, "but will Mom tell me or not?"

Uh...

It's unclear when it started, but Mai Xiaomiao has begun calling Zhou Zhi's mother "Mom." Their video calls are surprisingly warm and natural, without any hint of embarrassment. She loves to boast about eating twenty eggs in one sitting when she was pregnant with Zhou Zhi. She doesn't understand why Feng Xueshan is controlling her diet while pregnant, so the idea that she's not feeding the baby well originated from her mother.

"Xiao Miao, sometimes you need to think about right and wrong, and not always unconditionally side with your mother..."

These words made Li Yijia and Huang Ruishan in the back seat chuckle.

Yingjing black clay pots are actually coal sand pots, the same material as common Chinese medicine pots. However, they are made in Yingjing with greater refinement, diverse shapes, and various capacities.

Unlike later generations who can buy these things online, the coal sand containers currently available elsewhere are really not as good as the ones here.

"Why do you call this thing a coal sand pot? Is it made of coal and sand?" Mai Xiaomiao asked curiously while picking out pots in Zhouzhi.

"No, this thing is made by mixing white clay, which is kaolin, with coal ash after combustion. The black color on it is actually soot, which is produced by throwing a handful of sawdust or pine branches into the kiln before firing. The resulting smoke forms a dense carbonized film on the surface of the pottery."

"The glaze of porcelain itself is a layer of glass with excellent stability that covers the pottery, achieving the effects of increasing the hardness of the surface, the chemical stability of the material, the temperature stability, and the ease of cleaning."

"Everyone knows about the stability of graphite, right? The black mark on the coal sand can actually achieve a similar effect. In my hometown, we used pine branches, so it is also called pine soot glaze. This is the oldest pottery surface treatment technique in China."

"The ancients were truly wise," Li Yijia praised her ancestors.

"This young man is an expert," the shopkeeper chuckled. "But how many people are in your family? You're buying for several people."

"It's mainly because it's a rare opportunity to come here," Zhou Zhi said. "Some of them are even being given away as gifts."

"Oh, you must know how to season a pot, right?"

"Where we're from, we boil coal-fired stoves to cook porridge once a day. What about here?"

“We’re the same.” The boss laughed: “You really know your stuff. A lot of young people these days don’t know how to do things.”

"Why do we need to cook porridge first?" Huang Ruishan had never done this before.

"Because coal pots are made of a relatively loose material to enhance heat retention and slow heat conduction, there are actually many pores on the surface of the pot. If these pores are not sealed, they can easily absorb flavors. The purpose of cooking porridge is to use the rice milk to achieve this effect, so that when it is used to cook other things, it is not easy for the flavor to be retained."

The boss gave a thumbs up: "That's exactly what I mean. Many people don't know how to season a pot themselves, and they blame the broth for retaining too much flavor, so they don't like it. Isn't that unfair?" (End of Chapter)