A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 180

(Thank you for your reward!)
The imperial chef has prepared a sumptuous imperial meal.

These royal chefs did not simply kill a sheep and slaughter a cow to make a feast of whole cattle and sheep. That was too simple, and it did not show the level of the royal chefs of the Tang Dynasty, nor did it show the national strength of the Tang Dynasty.

They cooked a goose with great care.

Tang people like to eat geese, and each one costs two to three thousand.

Today, the royal cooks cooked geese for Tuli Khan, but when passing the meal, the royal cooks brought in two sheep.

Just now Tuli heard from the chef that he was eating goose today, why did he bring in sheep?
The chef of Yushan is a fat man, there is no one who is not fat, and a cook who does not steal food is not a good cook.

"Today's imperial meal is called Hunyang Shihu,"

The fat cook has a good eloquence, and he explained this famous dish very well. Today, there are ten guests and guests, and the fat cook brought a fat live goose in advance, and removed the hair and internal organs.

Another sheep was slaughtered, the skin was peeled off, the internal organs were removed, and the glutinous rice and spices seasoned in advance were stuffed into the stomach of a sheep.

Slaughtering a sheep again, still peeling and removing the internal organs, and then stuffing the prepared goose into the belly of the sheep.

This goose is not simple. There is a chicken stuffed in the stomach of the goose, and pigeon eggs are stuffed in the stomach of the chicken.

Just like nesting dolls, sheep nests goose, goose nests chicken, chicken nests pigeon eggs.

Put the sheep on the fire to roast.

Rinse with various seasonings, and after the mutton is cooked, take out the goose in the lamb belly.

Li Shimin was very forthright. Today he roasted two sheep, one with glutinous rice and one with a goose.

The fat cook brought the first sheep to Li Shimin, took out the goose from the sheep's belly, took out the chicken from the goose's belly, and took out the egg from the chicken's belly, put the pigeon's egg on a delicate white porcelain plate, and served it to the emperor.

Then he put the chicken that had taken the eggs into a plate and sent it to Tuli.

Then split the big goose soaked in suet and full of spices, and there are ten guests in the tent, one for each.

Huaiyu also got a large piece of roast goose.

Then there is the grilled lamb and glutinous rice.

To be honest, it looks quite novel, and the taste can only be said to be good, but not outstanding.

The goose roasted in the lamb belly is relatively fresh and tender, but it is soaked in a lot of suet, which makes it a little greasy, and the spices are obviously too much, which somewhat conceals the original deliciousness of the ingredients.

The pigeon eggs should be pretty good, but it's a pity that there is only one, and the emperor has it all.

A sheep died suddenly, Huaiyu thought it was okay, but Tuli Khan was shocked.

The little Khan on the grassland also leads many tribes, and the most indispensable thing is cattle, sheep, horses, and camels. It can even be said that he eats meat almost every day on the grassland, but he has never eaten this kind of practice.

One set of one thing, really fresh.

But the fat cook said that he was in a hurry today and had no time to prepare, otherwise he would have to roast another camel and put the sheep in the camel's stomach...

This dish is a little too loaded with eggs.

Although it is not as exquisite and beautiful as other famous court dishes, Tuli and his two nobles were shocked by using the sheep that are often eaten on the grassland to make this way of eating.

When Huaiyu ate roast goose, he disliked the greasy food.If you eat roasted lamb, you think it’s dry, so it’s better to cut it into kebabs and put a piece of sheep tail oil on it. It’s more fragrant and tender. If you roast lamb’s kidneys wrapped in oil and roasted sheep’s eggs, it will be more delicious. It’s a waste of this one. Sheep is a big goose.

Tuli was very satisfied.

It was the first time to eat such an extravagant dish, and I also felt that the emperor was flattering him.

Li Shimin also ate big pieces, the guests and the host ate their mouths full of oil, and talked happily.

The glutinous rice in the lamb belly was also greasy.

The ten people in Hunyang Hushen's tent only ate part of it, and the rest was rewarded to Li Shimin and Tuli's guards. Those guards were not too greasy, and thought it would be great to be able to eat this royal meal and famous court dishes. Glory.

Li Shimin sent Tuli to the boat on the shore, and broke a willow branch for Tuli. He also said that the wind was strong, so he untied his brocade robe and put it on Tuli.

That kind appearance is really like a brother.

But Huaiyu was quite calm beside him, so what about his own brothers? Li Shimin was a murderer, Jian Jiancheng and Yuanji's bones were not cold yet.

The two said goodbye reluctantly.

Tuli returned to the north bank of the Wei River by boat. Li Shimin watched the Taotao of the Wei River for a long time, and the smile on his face gradually disappeared.

The emperor strolled along the south bank of the Weihe River, Fang Xuanling, Gao Shilian, Du Ruhui, Qin Qiong, Zhou Shaofan followed, Wu Huaiyu and An Yuanshou still wore helmets and armours, and held thousands of swords as attendants.

The monarchs and ministers didn't speak, just strolling along the river like this, seeming to digest food, and also seemed to be planning bigger things.

Taking advantage of the special relationship between Xieli and Tuli's uncle and nephew to separate and win over each other, this step went relatively smoothly. In the seventh year of Wude, Li Shimin used it once when he was ordered to make peace, and Tuli was also very cooperative.

Now Tuli is still that Tuli.

Xieli is naturally still that Xieli.

It's just that for Li Shimin, the opportunity for peace talks has appeared, but he hesitated a little bit. The two battles in Xianyang and Sanyuan made Li Shimin feel that the Turkic people are not really strong.

At the foot of Chang'an, people from all walks of life are gathering now. If they really want to fight, the chances of winning are still very high, especially with such a rebellious boy like Tuli, the chance of winning is even greater if they only focus on Jieli.

It is a bit of a pity to let the Turks go after such a peace negotiation. It will be even more difficult to deal with the Turks in the future.

Fang Du seemed to have guessed what the emperor was thinking, but no one said anything.

Whether to fight or draw, the final decision must be made by the emperor, and they have analyzed everything that should be analyzed.

"Let's go back to Beijing."

Li Shimin walked by the river for a full afternoon, and finally went back when it was dark.When he returned to Beijing, there was no hesitation on Li Shimin's face, and his eyes were full of determination.

Huaiyu knew that Li Shimin finally decided to negotiate peace.

This young emperor still intends to end the military disaster in front of him as soon as possible. Whether this choice is right or wrong, Huaiyu does not comment well. Li Jing sent troops to attack the Turkic Khan Court and captured Jieli alive, which was a shameful act.

By the fourth or fifth year of Zhenguan, Doumi only cost three or four dollars. Although there is also a reason for the shortage of money, which caused money to be expensive and things cheap, but in the fourth or fifth year of Zhenguan, it was indeed much more stable and wealthy than during the Wude Dynasty. too much.

All of this is because the world is brought to an end, the war is over, the people can farm with peace of mind, and the merchants can trade goods in the world.

"Huaiyu, do you think it's the right thing for me to make peace with Jieli?"

"Am I cowardly?"

Huaiyu shook his head, and said to Li Shimin who was in front of him: "The momentary tolerance is not cowardice, but for the sake of moving forward better. Your Majesty has the world in mind, so he can endure humiliation like this. This is definitely not something ordinary emperors can do."

"Emperor Wu of the Han reigned for 54 years, but he spent 44 years attacking the Xiongnu, and he was able to defeat the Xiongnu because when he came to the throne, he took over the powerful Han Dynasty that had experienced the rule of Wenjing.

His Majesty put an end to the chaos, took orders in the face of danger, and took over the Datang, but it was a Datang that had just ended the separatism and hegemony of the Central Plains, and had not yet been able to recuperate and restore the people's livelihood and national strength.

But I believe that today's concession is worthwhile. Within ten years, His Majesty will be able to wipe out the Turks! "

"ten years!"

Li Shimin sighed, ten years is not a long time,
Emperor Wu of the Han reigned for 54 years, but he spent 44 years fighting the Huns.

"I hope that ten years from now, we will be able to get rid of today's shame."

"Your Majesty, ten years is just the worst prediction I have made. In fact, I thought that with Your Majesty's bravery and the bravery of my Tang soldiers, ten years will be half the price, five years at most. We will be able to defeat the Turkic Khan Court, bring Xieli back to Chang'an, and let him dance and drink with His Majesty's palace banquets in the future!"

It is not without precedent for a Turkic Khan to accompany the emperor of the Central Plains to drink and dance. For example, Chuluo Khan Daman of the Western Turkic Dynasty once accompanied the emperor to drink and dance during the Sui and Tang dynasties.

Back then, the Western Turkic Apo Khan Daluo was captured alive by Qimin Khan’s father, Mohe Khan, and the Western Turkic people established Nili, a descendant of Datou Khan, to succeed him. Nili’s wife, Xiangshi, was from the Central Plains and gave birth to a son Daman .After Nili's death, Daman succeeded him as Chuluo Khan.

There is no way to govern the country in Chuluo, and there are many rebellious tribes. Yang Guang visited the west and called Chuluo to meet him, but Chuluo did not come. After a big defeat, Yang Guang sent Xiangshi to persuade Luo to enter the court.

After Chu Luo entered the court, Yang Guang divided his tribe into three groups and moved them inward, leaving Chu Luo in the capital.

After Yang Guangjiang was murdered, Chu Luo returned to Chang'an, attached himself to Li Yuan, and made him the king of Yi County. From then on, he became a frequent guest of drinking and dancing at Tang court banquets.

But later, Eastern Turkic Shibi Khan formed an alliance with Tang, and one condition was to kill Chuluo, because his grandfather was Mohe Khan who was in the Western Expedition, and he died during the Western Expedition.

The next day, Li Shimin sent Zheng Yuanxuan and Cui Dunli across the river to negotiate a peace in Jieli camp.

In Jieli’s Khan Tent, the leaders of the nobles from the Southern Expeditions gathered together, and Tuli really took the lead to stand up and support the talks with the Tang people. With him as the leader, the other tribes also expressed their willingness to regard peace as the most important thing, as long as the Tang people are willing to give money and silk gold Silver and they are willing to retreat.

On the same day, Zheng Yuanxuan and Cui Dunli reached a verbal agreement with Jie Lixian. During the period of peace talks, both sides ceased their troops and stopped fighting.

Turks from all walks of life in Guanzhong retreated to the area north of the Wei River and west of the Jing River, between Xianyang, Jingyang and Liquan.

Hong Luqing and Pei Guogong Zheng Yuanxuan held peace talks in Jieli camp every day. The two sides had a very difficult negotiation on the terms of withdrawing troops. Fortunately, a verbal agreement was reached, and they both suspended their troops for the time being.

And Li Shimin was not idle either.

Every day he met with the heads of various Turkic tribes and dignitaries on the south bank of the Weihe River. These leaders were all led by Tuli. Li Shimin's envoy met in secret and lured them to come to the south bank to meet the emperor.

Li Shimin was also very polite and generous to the big and small leaders who came to pay their respects, such as Lijin, Jielifa, Chu, and the chief. They all issued imperial edicts and bestowed official titles.

Reward officials bestow titles, and pieces of purple robes and jade belts are given out.

There are also carts of gold, silver, silk, etc. to send out, and they have agreed to trade with each other. Anyway, as long as they follow the Emperor of Tang Dynasty, they will not treat them badly.

There is no need for them to do anything, just get close to each other.

Li Shimin's move was very powerful. He rewarded these leaders, but he didn't ask them to betray Jieli or anything. He just mentioned the early alliance between the Tang and Tu families, hoping to continue their friendship.

Every time Li Shimin met with these chiefs in secret, in addition to rewarding officials with titles and purple robes and jade belts, he would also treat them to a meal, and at the end there was a small program reserved for Huaiyu and An Yuanshou to fry fish with palm thunder.

Every time these palm mines, which Huaiyu personally improved, were thrown into the Wei River in front of these Turkic leaders, and then there was a loud bang, a high water column was splashed, and fish were turned up in the water. It can make the faces of those leaders change drastically, and they will also respect Li Shimin more.

It's just that every time they make a request to get a few palm thunders, they will be ruthlessly rejected by Li Shimin.

Just show it to you, how can you really give it to them.

By the end of August, Tuli and other peacemakers had already taken up the majority. They even went back and forth between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait openly. Yudai appeared in Xieli's Golden Wolf tent to participate in the discussion.

In the face of calls for a unanimous agreement to withdraw troops, although Princess Yang of Ke Dunyicheng is still blowing pillows on Xieli, Xieli has already understood that things must not be violated.

Xieli asked Zheng Yuanxuan to tell Li Shimin, and agreed that the two sides would meet at Weiqiao the next day for an alliance!
When the news was sent back to Chang'an, Li Shimin also heaved a sigh of relief. The invasion that started in June was finally coming to an end. At that time, Huaiyu was standing beside Li Shimin with a sword in his hands. When he heard the news, he also felt relieved. Damn it! The Turks should have gone away long ago.

(End of this chapter)