Diqin Designer

Chapter 46: Not Everything Is Known Accurately in the Future

Although many historical books record that Qin Shihuang was cruel, few say that he treated his meritorious officials harshly. He truly rewarded those who had made contributions.

Like Li Si in history, "Li Si's eldest son You was the governor of Sanchuan, and all his sons married Qin princesses, and all his daughters married Qin princes."

How generous is this to Li Si?

When Li Nian heard that Ying Zheng wanted to reward him, the idea he had at lunch came to his mind. It would be better to do it today than to wait for another day. Since the First Emperor was here today, he might as well tell him. He said, "I do have something I want to ask of you, Your Majesty!"

Li Nian told Ying Zheng that he wanted to cook with an iron pot.

Ying Zheng said: "I agree to your request, but all the ingredients must be safe."

Li Nian said: "Thank you, Your Majesty, I know!"

Ying Zheng said: "If you make delicacies, please prepare some for me!"

He also wanted to know what kind of dishes Li Nian, a person from the future, would cook.

After getting the permission from the First Emperor and returning to Liuying Palace, Li Nian thought about what dishes he could cook. The dishes he knew were all based on pork. However, at that time in the Qin Dynasty, pork was considered cheap meat with a strong fishy smell, and people of noble status generally did not eat it.

Thinking of pork, he seemed to want to have a pig castrated. He had taken it for granted that day that the reason pork in ancient times tasted fishy and unpalatable was because the pigs were not castrated. After going back and searching on the search engine, he found that this was not the case.

There is a tradition of castration of livestock in ancient China. As early as the Shang Dynasty, people castrated pigs. The castrated pigs were called "豮" or "豚".

Thinking about how he had said shamelessly in front of the First Emperor that castration of pigs could reduce the mutton smell in their meat, but how could this be promoted in the Qin Dynasty, Li Nian couldn't help but twitch his face.

The reason why the pork smells fishy at this time is not because of whether the pigs are castrated or not, but because of the pigs’ diet and the environment in which they are raised.

Unless he can find a way to ensure that all the pigs in the Qin Dynasty have good food and shelter, it will be difficult to change.

I can try raising a few pigs in Liuying Palace, but if you want to popularize it in Daqin, forget it. People can't eat well, how can I expect pigs to eat well?

You can find cooking methods for other meats on search engines, but most of them require seasonings from later times, and there are not many types of seasonings in the Qin Dynasty.

Thinking of seasonings, Li Nian discovered several points that were overlooked in daily life. The salt and sugar of this era seemed to be of poor quality, and soy sauce, thirteen spices and other things were not available yet.

These things do not necessarily require the technology of later generations, they can be made with materials from this era, people at that time just didn't discover them, such as tofu!

But don't announce these things to the First Emperor with solemn promises. Just report to him when the time comes. It won't be too late to explain in detail after the actual product is made, in case problems like castration of pigs arise again.

Let’s see what we can cook tonight.

After reading the bamboo slips sent by Guo Dian, which recorded the ingredients and seasonings available in the palace kitchen, Li Nian decided to try making a few random stir-fried dishes.

I don’t know when chili peppers will become popular in Daqin. As a Shu person in later generations, the taste will be much less without chili peppers.

In a flash, five days passed and the time for the conversation agreed with the First Emperor every five days arrived. This time it was not at night, but at noon. Li Nian was invited to the Zhangtai Palace by the First Emperor.

Entering the hall, Li Nian saw that it was still the First Emperor and Meng Yi. He was curious why the First Emperor didn't tell others about his affairs and brought others along?
But he also understood that this was because the First Emperor did not trust him yet.

Yes, how could a qualified monarch believe him so much? Even if he believed that he came from the future, he would not necessarily believe everything else he said.

Maybe the First Emperor was doing something he didn't know about, trying to verify what he said. Glancing at the hall, there were tables and chairs!
This time he finally didn’t have to kneel anymore. He changed his life in Daqin and took the first step!
Seeing Li Nian looking at the table and chairs, the First Emperor smiled and said, "I see that you are quite uncomfortable every time you kneel down, so I specially put the table and chairs here today."

Li Nian immediately said: "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty!"

After taking his seat, Li Nian was about to say that his method of castrating pigs was useless against the Qin Dynasty, but the First Emperor asked a question first: "Do you know Zhang Han?"

Zhang Han?

How could you not know?
Famous general at the end of Qin Dynasty!

The main reason why Li Nian knew Zhang Han was not because of history, but because of the anime that had been released for many years but had not yet been completed.

In the film, Zhang Han is in charge of the Shadow Secret Guard and seems to have an ambiguous relationship with Tianzong Xiaomeng. There is a scene where Zhang Han meets Xiaomeng, who is bathing. The white...

After searching in his mind, Li Nian couldn't find out what Zhang Han was doing at this time. How did the First Emperor know about Zhang Han, and why did he ask him?
After asking the question, Ying Zheng paid attention to Li Nian. He saw that he was surprised at first, and then seemed to be thinking about something. It seemed that he knew Zhang Han.

Only when people face emergencies can their subconscious reactions reveal their true inner thoughts. Ying Zheng uses this to judge whether Li Nian is honest.

Li Nian nodded and said, "I know that Zhang Han was a famous general in the late Qin Dynasty. He was once ordered to save the Qin Dynasty from collapse. Unfortunately, he was obstructed by people like Hu Hai and Zhao Gao in the court, and the enemy he encountered was the unparalleled overlord Xiang Yu. In the end, he had no choice but to surrender to Xiang Yu."

"Zhang Han was once the Minister of the Imperial Household. He was quite capable and was also an excellent commander of troops in battles. He was the one who suppressed the Chen Sheng rebellion."

Ying Zheng nodded, and did not ask any more questions about Zhang Han, nor did he ask who Xiang Yu was or how Zhang Han became a general from a junior minister. He said, "You seemed to have something to say to me just now?"

Li Nian said, "Your Majesty, you have a keen eye. I just wanted to tell you something. I beg you to withdraw the decision to castrate the pig!"

"I am an ignorant minister who did not know that the Qin Dynasty already has a method for castrating pigs. I made such bold statements in front of the king, but I did not expect that I would end up making a fool of myself."

After Li Nian mentioned this matter that day, Ying Zheng also asked someone to investigate and found that the practice of castrating pigs that Li Nian mentioned already existed in the Qin Dynasty.

He deliberately didn't tell Li Nian, just to see what Li Nian would do next, would she continue to make big statements in front of him, or would she decisively admit her mistake after knowing it?

Li Nian didn't know that the Qin Dynasty had a method of castrating pigs, which also confirmed his idea: the information Li Nian knew in later generations might not be correct!

Ying Zheng said meaningfully: "It seems that future generations don't know everything accurately!"

Li Nian deeply agreed and reflected, "It is true. A thousand years have passed, so even if there are history books, there will inevitably be omissions. It is also my fault. I did not understand it clearly and then made suggestions to the king."

Ying Zheng said: "No one is perfect, so let's get over this!"

Li Nian stood up and thanked him: "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"Sit down!"

Ying Zheng looked at Li Nian, who was also sitting on a chair, and said, "Five days ago, I told you that today we will discuss why the Great Qin Dynasty fell and how to avoid it. I want to know all the reasons that led to the fall of the Great Qin Dynasty!"

During these five days, in addition to making a globe, inspecting the progress of the papermaking project, presiding over a competition between old and new plows, and writing health and wellness tips to the First Emperor, Li Nian was also preparing for today's question-and-answer session.

He searched a lot of information related to the demise of the Qin Dynasty on the engine, summarized and refined it, and added his own thoughts after coming to this era. Today is the time of Tao and the First Emperor.

(End of this chapter)