The big man has a living father

Chapter 33 Winter is coming
Outside the main hall, Liu Ju was playing with a paper windmill by himself. This was what Huo Hai taught him to do when he was doing the hot air rising experiment.

When he saw Huo Hai, he waved and said hello, then jumped and played with the windmill by himself.

The wind is strong now, so you don’t need to run, the windmill is still turning.

Liu Ju held up the windmill and sang: "The big windmill is turning with a creaking sound,
The scenery here is so beautiful

The sky is beautiful and the earth is beautiful

And there are happy friends together..."

Cao Xiang, who was waiting here with Huo Hai, was very pleased: "Your Highness is so happy. Where is the tune of this little song? How come I have never heard of it before?"

Huo Hai said calmly: "The tune of Pingyang County."

Cao Xiang turned around and said suspiciously: "Really? The tune of our Pingyang County? Why haven't I heard it before?"

Huo Hai: "I wrote it. Where have you heard it?"

Cao Xiang laughed loudly, then turned around and said, "It's a pity that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will not have a happy friend."

At this point, Cao Xiang came back to his senses and stared at the eunuch: "Come here!"

The eunuch hurried forward: "Marquis of Pingyang!"

Cao Xiang: "Why is the Crown Prince playing here? What if he catches a cold? Why isn't the Crown Prince at my aunt's place?"

The eunuch bowed his head and said, "Marquis Pingyang, the Queen is ill. It seems she has a fever and a cold. We are afraid that the Crown Prince will be infected, so the Crown Prince has not been in the Pepper Room today. Because the Crown Prince will attend the banquet later, I brought him here. The doctor told him to get some fresh air, so he did not go into the palace."

Huo Hai: "I see that His Royal Highness is wearing quite a lot of clothes, so he should be fine."

Just as Cao Xiang was about to speak, he was called away by the eunuch.

In the court, three people who fought with Huo Qubing were conferred the title of marquis, and forty officials with the rank of Qianshi were conferred the title of marquis.

However, these people only hold nominal positions and have no real power, otherwise the entire capital would not be able to accommodate so many people.

But once Liu Che was happy, he would reward him with a huge sum of money.

The one who received the largest reward was Huo Qubing, a full 100,000 gold!

One hundred thousand gold coins is one billion coins! Or, one million strings of cash, so terrifying.

Huo Hai waited alone for a while, and then a eunuch came to lead the way: "Master Huo, please come this way. The court meeting is over and the banquet is about to begin."

……

Various horses and carriages were parked in the large square of the Weiyang Palace.

Huo Hai's carriage slowly approached.

The gleaming inner wall of the axle and the blackened wheels did not attract anyone's attention.

At this time, it was almost night under the cold wind and many grooms were shivering with cold.

Some strong and healthy guests started exercising in the square, using their body heat to fight the cold.

One of them called out to the other: "Did you see that car just now? It should be the logo of the Huo Mansion, right? Is that the car of the second young master Huo?"

The person next to him pressed his legs: "Probably."

The person next to him looked at the carriage and said, "The people in the carriage should be the Four Heroes of Maoling, right? Why don't they get off the carriage to move around, but get into the carriage instead?"

The guest next to him also murmured: "Yeah, isn't it cold?"

A group of people: "Let's go and visit them."

The Four Heroes of Maoling are very famous now.

You should know that aristocrats and scholars often engage in performance art.

But, when they do these things, it's performance art, but when others do them, it's a capital crime.

The Four Heroes of Maoling are them.

Previously, the four of them followed Huo Hai to cut down trees and peel off their bark in Maoling, intending to warn the Emperor to be more frugal. How brave were they?
More importantly, among the hundreds of people following the Second Young Master Huo, only four had the courage to stay.

Therefore, the Four Heroes of Maoling have become legendary among the retainers and are considered internet celebrities.

After a group of people gathered together, someone knocked on the carriage and asked, "Excuse me, is this Brother Xiang?"

Everyone knows that among the four heroes of Maoling, Xiang Xu was the leader in terms of literature, and Huangfu Hua was the leader in terms of martial arts.

On the carriage, the thick door curtain was lifted, and sitting inside was Huangfu Hua.

Huangfu Hua was about to come out after opening the door curtain, but when he saw too many people gathered around him, he could only bow and say, "Brother Xiang is not in the car today. I am Huangfu Hua."

Everyone greeted Huangfu Hua happily. A group of people introduced themselves to each other.

After a while, someone asked, "Brother Huangfu, why are you staying in the car? Aren't you cold?"

Huangfu Hua looked back at the stove in the middle of the carriage and shook his head.

A group of retainers looked at the stove on the car and were surprised: "The Huo family treats us so well?"

"My goodness, you kept burning charcoal while you were on duty waiting for the second master Huo? How much does this cost!"

"Look at the size of this furnace. If we have to wait that long, we'll have to burn at least eighty cents' worth of charcoal."

There are three types of charcoal: white charcoal, black charcoal, and bamboo charcoal.

White charcoal is made by burning wood directly in the fire, with a layer of white ash on it. This kind of charcoal needs high temperature to burn, so the fire must be very strong. On average, 100 kilograms of wood can only produce 10 to 20 kilograms of charcoal.

Black charcoal is made by sealing the furnace and using high temperature to carbonize wood. Although the wood consumption is slightly better than white charcoal, it takes a long time to burn, so the price is slightly higher than writing wood.

The third type of bamboo charcoal has a lower cost, but the problem is that bamboo charcoal is only produced in Shu. The cost of transporting charcoal from Shu to Chang'an increases several times, making it more expensive than black charcoal.

This is the price in the countryside. If it is transported to Chang'an, the price will increase several times.

And no matter which one, the efficiency of heating is not high, so the quantity is the key. Heating a day costs about 80 coins, which is almost the price of 20 kilograms of meat or 30 or 40 kilograms of mutton.

Eighty coins of charcoal a day is a small matter, but what about more than a hundred days in winter? Tens of thousands of coins!

A fat sheep costs only one thousand coins, and a strong cow costs only six thousand coins.

Huangfu Hua laughed: "What charcoal? This is coal, it's not that expensive."

One of the retainers jumped up and said, "Oh no, Brother Huangfu, the coal is poisonous! We can't burn it indoors, come out now!"

……

Huo Hai was one of the few people who had little to do with the war but was able to sit in the main hall and participate in the dinner.

It would be wrong to say that Huo Hai did not participate in this incident. After all, Huo Hai stabbed ten fleeing Hun soldiers.

However, Huo Hai was only surrounded by Huo Guang, Jin Midi and others.

The second generations of other ministers were sitting in the side hall.

Huo Hai looked at Jin Midi and asked, "How are your horses doing? Can you become an official?"

Jin Midi nodded confidently: "It should be fine."

Huo Hai: "Work hard. Although it is called raising horses, the Horse Supervisor is raising horses, and the Grand Marshal is also raising horses. Strive to become one of the Three Dukes."

Jin Midi was immediately humbled. Three Dukes? He was the son of a surrendered Hun general, and his father had died. How could I touch him?

But Huo Hai just said that he didn't care about burying it, and turned to look at Huo Guang: "Third brother, how have you been recently? Every time you come home, I'm not here, and I don't see you when I go home."

Unlike Huo Hai, Huo Guang lived in the General of Cavalry's Mansion because he had to go to the palace on duty every day and it was close to work.

When Huo Hai went to the General of Cavalry's mansion, he didn't meet him.

Huo Guang whispered, "Brother, the emperor will be out soon. If you make a noise at this time, the Imperial Censor will see you. You will be reported to the emperor."

Huo Hai was happy: "Why would I be afraid of him?"

As he was talking, Liu Che and Cao Xiang came out. Cao Xiang returned to his seat by himself, and Liu Che sat at the main table: "Soldiers, let's drink together! Congratulations on your victory! Congratulations on the victory of the Han Dynasty!"

After the leader raised a glass, the toasting game began. Everyone else drank their own glasses. Only those with high status, high positions, and titles of general and marquis were qualified to toast Liu Che.

Huo Hai also started drinking.

This thing, a whole little sweet water, can be said to be fermented glutinous rice without the sweetness.

But the palace may not be good in other aspects, but the barbecue is pretty good.

Just like the United States in later generations, everything else is rubbish, but the big pieces of grilled meat are tender and juicy.

Huo Hai never expected that when eating barbecue in formal occasions, there would be a small plate with dip in the bowl, called dye, for dipping the food in.

The banquet lasted for a long time, almost an hour had passed, many people were drunk, and a strong man walked in from outside the door.

Huo Hai: "Who is this person?"

Liu Ju, who ran over to play with a wooden whistle next to Huo Hai, said: "It's my uncle, General Wei Qing."

Wei Qing? I didn’t expect to see Wei Qing in such an occasion.

But why is General Wei so late?

(End of this chapter)