A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 430

The spring breeze is proud of horseshoe disease, seeing Chang'an flowers in one day.

The Xinke Scholars are indeed very proud. Shangguanyi and Li Yifu have endless banquets these days. This is because the Hongnong Yang family and the Taiyuan Wu family have already taken the lead and announced the happy news of their engagement in a high-profile manner.

"The Yang family is quick to attack," Cheng Yaojin sighed. He also had a crush on Shangguanyi, but it was a pity that Yang Gongren took the lead.

"We also know that Dong'a Cheng's family is no match for his Hongnong Yang family, so there is nothing we can do."

Lao Cheng is about to leave Beijing to take up his post, and today he specially invited Wu Huaiyu to dinner, there are Tongzhou sheep and Qujiang goose.

The old Cheng family’s manor by the Qujiang River raised many geese. Tang people like to eat sheep and geese. Goose is very expensive. Some geese can only be worth a sheep. Some people even raise fighting geese. It is said that it is worth five hundred guan, and can be worth twenty horses.

Goose is expensive, and goose feathers and goose down are also valuable. The Cheng family has goose feather fans and goose down quilts, which are good things for the Cheng family to give as gifts, and they can't be bought in the market with money.

It is popular among nobles to eat sheep and geese, and even geese are the pets of the gatekeepers. Moreover, the geese used in weddings in ordinary people's homes are too difficult to get, so geese are used instead.

The old Cheng family's roast goose today uses the Eight Immortals dish, a recipe passed down in the palace.

The eight parts of the head, neck, breast, wings, palm, gizzard, and liver are cooked separately, with different heats and seasonings, and finally a delicate roast goose eight immortals plate is placed on a delicate Yuezhou celadon plate.

The goose skin is crispy and golden red in color,

Pick up a piece of goose breast, the meat is very thick and fat, bite it into the mouth, and push it up to the mouth, full of meat and aroma,

Wu Huaiyu, who has always liked food, couldn't help but feel a bit of Cantonese-style roast goose aftertaste.

When he thought that roast goose and stewed lamb were the ultimate delicacies of old Cheng's family, he clapped his hands mysteriously and asked Bodhisattva to serve them.

When the dishes came, they were still mysteriously covered.

"This is a good thing. I am guarding in Luzhou, and it is a special product brought back from Shu."

The lid was lifted, and a few pieces of meat were placed on the exquisite Xing kiln white porcelain plate.

It is very fat and thick, the outside is burnt, and the sauce is poured on it. It doesn't look like a fried steak.

"Could it be burning bear paws?"

"It's a bit close, but it's not a bear's paw. It's a specialty of Sichuan."

Sichuan specialty?
Is it?
"This is an iron-eating beast. Some people say that Pixiu is actually this thing. I heard that in ancient times, they all ate iron. It was Chi You's mount. Later, Chi You was defeated and retreated to the southwest. These iron-eating beasts gradually changed in Shu. Eat bamboo. These things look very simple and honest, black and white, but when they go crazy, even tigers have to avoid three points, and an iron-eating beast can even fight a pack of wolves..."

Huaiyu looked at the pieces of barbecue in front of him with a look of shock.

Someone actually eats such a cute guy.

This is for future generations, and that is called the prison-bottomed beast.

"Try it, it tastes good, and it's specially fried with honey."

"Uncle Cheng, did you bring some live iron-eating beasts back from Shu?"

In the end, Old Cheng actually nodded.

"Well, indeed, I think this thing is quite rare. When I came back, I specially bought a few of them and brought them back to Chang'an all the way, but the sage gave me a good reprimand, saying that he had issued an edict before, not allowing donations from all over the world. Hawk dog, of course this iron-eating beast can't do it, and fined me forty catties of copper."

Old Cheng wanted to show the emperor a rarity, to please the emperor, but he flattered the horse's leg, and the emperor didn't want this iron-eating beast, so Lao Cheng simply killed it and ate it.

Wu Huaiyu sighed.

Some people actually eat iron beasts. In the eyes of Tang people today, especially in the eyes of the Southwest Liaoman, this thing may be an ordinary beast, but in Wu Huaiyu's heart, there is still a bit of special affection.

"All slaughtered?"

"No, this is the first one. I specially slaughtered it for you today."

"Uncle Cheng, can I make a request to you, can you sell me the remaining iron-eating beasts?"

Lao Cheng waved his hand, "Why are you being so polite with Uncle, but it's just two Sichuan iron-eating beasts. If you care about Uncle, I will send you home. Anyway, your house has a big garden. I brought two For Laijing, one was slaughtered today, and the remaining three will be given to you.

However, although this thing actually eats miscellaneous foods, and also hunts and eats meat, it mainly eats bamboo. We don’t have so many bamboos in Chang’an, and it would be quite troublesome to transport bamboo from the south of Lingnan. "

"The three iron-eating beasts, how much can they eat? It's just that they are cute in black and white," they said.

"If you really like it, when Uncle Cheng returns to Luzhou, I'll catch and bring you some more, as much as you want, but the road is far away and it's hard to travel. Then I'll get you two Pixiu cloaks."

"Let's taste it quickly, while it's hot, this thing tastes good, eat it like a bear."

·······
Went to Cheng Cheng's house, and brought back three iron-eating beasts. Huaiyu was very excited, so he asked the steward to quickly enclose a piece of land in the garden, build a Pixiu house for them, and take good care of them in the future.

After Fan Xuanfu and others in the mansion heard about it, they all came to take a look.

Wu Huaiyu's tigers and chows were very unfriendly to the three new fat bears, and kept attacking and guarding them, faithfully protecting Huaiyu.

When Huaiyu's wives and concubines saw the three fat guys, they couldn't help liking them. They looked so cute on the outside. Who would have thought that they were beasts in the mountains that could compete with tigers and wolves. Broken wolf head.

"Hurry up and get the bamboo off the cart to feed them."

From Lao Cheng's house, he also brought all the bamboo that his family had prepared earlier.

In Cheng's house, they were eating on the plate. Fortunately, they met Huaiyu and rescued them under the knife. Unfortunately, the other one was gone.
Huaiyu tasted a few dishes made by the Iron-eating Beast. The cook of Cheng's family is really good.

"What kind of beast is this, how did it grow like this?"

"Black and white are not white. I have seen black bears, brown bears and even white bears, but I have never seen black and white bears."

"I think that although the beasts grow big, you can see how cute they are when they eat bamboo, and they don't peel the skin when they eat bamboo."

"Why do bears eat bamboo?"

"My God, they eat all the old bamboos."

Huaiyu's nine-year-old student, Pei Xingjian, even exclaimed, "They eat poles!"

Rough dry bamboo is really no different from a shoulder pole, but in their hands, it has become a delicacy, and they are familiar with peeling off the bamboo skin, and then eating it.

The hard bamboo is in their mouths, just like eating sugar cane.

"I have eaten a kind of bamboo rat before. It has big front teeth. It is said that it eats bamboo specially. Someone specially brought it from the south and gave it to Prime Minister Qin."

Chen Runniang looked at the iron-eating beasts sitting cross-legged on the ground and eating bamboo, "Looks like a few big cats."

"Are there any cats like bears?"

When they knew that Huaiyu wanted to keep these Pixiu from Sichuan in the back garden of his home and build a special garden for them, they all agreed.

Huaiyi is about to leave Beijing soon, so he came to sit with his brothers, and he was surprised to see the three iron-eating beasts. He couldn't help but remind Huaiyu, you are young and ambitious, with a high position and authority, and countless eyes are staring at your every move. Keep three beasts at home, and beware someone will impeach you.

Huaiyu smiled, "Who's family keeps a few pets? Do you know the pets raised by my teacher Yongkang Gong and his wife?"

"I've heard of it." Huai Yi smiled.

Li Jing and Zhang Chuchen had a very special pet, not a dog or a goose, but a tiger, a very smart and obedient tiger that had been tamed.

Li Jing was ordered to fight against Xiao Xian, and led several cavalry to take office. When passing through Jinzhou, he met Deng Shiluo, a local barbarian, who led tens of thousands of people to live in the valley. In that battle, he also captured a tiger.

The tiger was originally a pet raised by the barbarian king Deng Shiluo, but it was a deadly beast on the battlefield, and was named a vanguard general by Deng Shiluo.

At that time, due to Xiao Xian's control of the fortress, the Tang army was hindered and unable to advance. Li Yuan mistook Li Jing for staying behind on purpose and asked Xu Shao to execute him.

Li Jing was imprisoned and became inmates with the tiger. Later, Xu Shao got a request from Li Jing's uncle Li Hongjie to write a letter to intercede for Li Jing, which saved Li Jing from death.

Li Jing, who was released, took the tiger with him. He took the tiger, which he had cooked during the detention period, to the south to conquer Xiaoxian and pacify Lingnan, and finally brought it back to Chang'an and kept it at home.

The first time Wu Huaiyu saw a big tiger in Li Jing's backyard, unlocked and unlocked, walking around the courtyard leisurely, she was really shocked.

The tiger was very psychic, and could understand what Li Jing and his wife said. When Li Jing and his wife were drinking tea and chatting, the tiger would lie at their feet like a big cat, and even turned over to expose its belly for them to scratch.

"Brother, I am going to serve as the governor of Shaozhou in the south of Lingnan. I have a suggestion."

"Erlang, tell me."

"Shaozhou (Shaoguan) is in the north of Guangzhou, and further north over the Dayu Mountains is Qianzhou (Ganzhou) in the south of the Yangtze River. Shaozhou is newly established, and the land is small and remote, with many mountains. Many barbarian tribes in the mountains are uncivilized and the transportation is inconvenient. It is not easy to make political achievements in Shaozhou, the third uncle was in Shaozhou for a year before, and he did a good job of persuading Sang Kenong, but you need to make a breakthrough."

Huaiyu's suggestion to his elder brother is that after arriving in Shaozhou, find a way to raise funds, mobilize the people, open up Dayuling, build a Meiling passage, and connect Zhangshui in Jiangxi to the north and Zhenshui in Guangdong to the south. Connect the two important waterways of the Yangtze River and the Pearl River.

Water and land are connected, so Shaozhou, a remote and backward mountainous area at this time, will naturally become rich.

After all, the south of Shaozhou is Guangzhou. Although it is in Lingnan, it is an important sea trade port and the core of Lingnan. Although it is in Lingnan, the coast is close to the river. It is also the core of Lingnan. From Hunan to Li, and from Hunan to Guiyang, especially with the help of the canal Lingqu, it has been the land passage between the Central Plains and Lingnan for thousands of years, and Guizhou has therefore become an important gateway for the Central Plains in Lingnan , Up to now, Guizhou is also a strategic place alongside Guangzhou and Jiaozhou.

Shaozhou also has such potential. Although it is unrealistic to open a Gan-Guangdong Canal under the current conditions, it is not difficult to build a Meiling passage. A section of Meiling Road connects the Ganjiang River and the Pearl River, which can also realize land and water transfers. Open up a gold business route.

"There are many plums on Dayuling, which is an important throat connecting the north and south of Wuling. I have found out about it. The most important thing to open a Meiling commercial road between the mountains that is more than ten feet wide and more than [-] miles long is to open a Twenty feet long, three feet wide, and ten feet high,

As long as the money and food are in place, the project can be completed in two months. "

"After you arrive in Shaozhou, hurry up and investigate, and then submit a report to the court. At that time, I will help you to deal with it. I will get you a special fund and arrange a batch of road construction for you. The craftsmen go there, and when the road is open, I will arrange people to go there to mine and smelt, etc."

Huaiyi immediately became excited when he heard that, if what Huaiyu said was true, then he, the governor of Shaozhou, already had a great achievement waiting for him.

"The road can really be built?"

"Dayuling originally had an ancient road. It was a mountain road opened during the Qin Dynasty's southern expedition, but after the war, it was unbearable to walk. Everyone is used to going from Hunan to Guangxi,"

Huai Yi didn't know what to say.

This is a brother, a father and son fighting a tiger, a brother, he, the governor of Shaozhou, has not yet taken office, and his brother has already helped him plan a big political achievement.With Wu Huaiyu, an important minister in the court, especially Duzhi who is also in charge of the state's finances, it is not a problem at all to give him money for road construction.

The opening of this trade route is not only the achievements of the brothers, but also a golden trade route. The opening of any new trade route can bring new wealth.

Shaozhou has many rich minerals, such as iron ore, lead mine, coal mine, copper mine, silver mine, and even rich Danquan. Danquan is a very magical thing, because iron can be turned into copper through the water of Danquan, which sounds amazing. It is miraculous, but it was discovered by Ge Hong as early as the Jin Dynasty.

Danquan, in fact, is natural copper sulfate. Pig iron is soaked in Danquan water, and iron is replaced by copper.

In the Song Dynasty, Shaozhou had the largest copper mine in the country at that time, with an annual output of 600 million jin of copper at its peak. Of course, it could have such a large output. In fact, the biggest reason was that the iron ore mining and smelting in the Song Dynasty was very developed at that time. Only high-quality pig iron can produce enough copper through the gall copper method. Without iron, no matter how good the pot is, it is useless.

Now Datang is very short of metals such as gold, silver, copper and iron, and the amount of mining is not high, so the court also encourages folk mining. Although the method of leaching copper in Danquan has been researched long ago, it has not been really practical. If Wu Huaiyu is captured in Shaozhou by then Iron ore was mined in the area of ​​Shaozhou, and then the iron was smelted and taken to the Cen water in Shaozhou for leaching.

The benefits here are absolutely astonishing.

Although Shaozhou is said to be a newly established state, it is relatively remote, but looking at the names of the two local mountains, Yinshan and Yushan, you can know that this place is actually rich in resources. In addition to the abundant natural springs of Cen Shui, there are all treasures there.

It's just that the traffic is not very convenient now. To get to the Central Plains by land, you have to go to Guizhou to go to Hunan, or go to the sea from Guangzhou to go by sea.

It will be different if we can directly connect Dayuling, Jiangxi, and Yangtze River, especially if the roads in the mountains are connected, it will be convenient for mining and so on.

The brothers chatted for a long time, and Wu Huaiyi became more and more excited as they chatted, and wished he could fly to Shaozhou immediately and have a big fight right away.

(End of this chapter)