Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 91 Yaya Jinda
"Beep——"

"Raise the gun!"

"Beep--"

"put!"

In early May, when Wuzhen was extremely disappointed with Chang'an, the Shandan soldiers insisted on training under the command of Liu Jilian.

The eight hundred elite cavalrymen from Shanzhou had only been in Shandan for ten days, but they had already integrated into the team and almost used all their strength when queuing for meals.

Shandan's training intensity of training once every two days and exercising once every five days has also gone from being extremely painful at the beginning to being very relaxed now.

Of course, this does not mean that they have adapted to the intensity of the training, but that Liu Jilong gave them too much.

"time to eat!"

"Dang Dang Dang——"

"gather!"

When the gong for dinner sounded, Liu Jilong also stood up from the school platform and blew the whistle to assemble.

At the sound of the whistle, the 1,400 people in the military camp quickly gathered and soon formed a large square formation.

Excluding the soldiers in Longshou Mountain, Qilian City and those patrolling the Shandan city defense, these are all the soldiers in training in Shandan City.

"Gather in one hour, then disband!"

"Beep--"

Liu Jilian blew the whistle to dismiss the troops, and soon the 1,400 men rushed towards the kitchen in a corner of the military camp like hungry wolves.

At this moment, all the brothers and comrades were thrown out of the window, and the most important thing was to eat first!
In less than ten breaths, before Liu Jilong even walked back to his seat, he saw that the thirty stoves in the cafeteria were surrounded.

The soldiers at the back could only line up, while the soldiers at the front had already picked up the wooden bowls as big as their faces and started to get their meals.

Liu Jilong's meal was brought in, and it was also a big pot meal prepared by the chief chef in the military camp.

Today's breakfast prepared by the chef consists of wild vegetables, fried mutton and a bowl of mutton soup.

The amount of mutton each person could get was not much, only one or two taels, but this was the best meal a soldier could have in that era.

Even the imperial guards could not necessarily eat such good meals. Only some soldiers with wealthy families could eat them regularly.

Although the Shanzhou troops who came to Shandan were all armored soldiers, the meals they ate in Shanzhou were simple corn rice and dairy products.

Things like mutton are something that can only be eaten before a war.

They have only been in Shandan for ten days, and Liu Jilong has already whetted their appetites.

Liu Jilong did not try to win them over, but treated them normally like the Shandan soldiers.

But even so, these meals still made them feel the most basic gratitude towards Liu Jilong.

"Guo Yi!"

Shang Duoluo, Zhang Chang and others came to the school platform with bowls in their hands to find Liu Jilong, and then each of them took a round chair that had been improved by Liu Jilong and sat down.

"Shang Duoluo, do the brothers in Shanzhou have any complaints these days? Is the training too intense?"

Liu Jilong asked knowingly. Shang Duoluo hurriedly took two mouthfuls of rice and swallowed them before saying:
"No, the brothers are all very happy. Some brothers even asked me when I would return, as they were worried that they would return too soon."

"I told them that we would not go back until winter at least, and they all hummed a song happily!"

Shang Duoluo explained with a smile, and Liu Jilong was very satisfied after hearing it.

He didn't need these eight hundred people to be loyal to him, as long as they remembered him in their hearts.

He just couldn't believe that these people, who had been used to a good life in Shandan, could continue to eat the dull meals in Shanzhou after returning.

Thinking of this, Shang Duo Luo also asked: "By the way, Guo Yi, haven't you finished the work in the city? When are we going to the east?"

"Yes, Guo Yi, if we don't take action now, the rainy season will come soon."

Zhang Chang and the others hurriedly asked after hearing this, but Liu Jilong nodded and said, "I wanted to announce it before the evening breakup, but since you asked, I'll tell you now."

"Tomorrow the army will take a day off. The 1st and 2nd Brigades of the 5th Regiment and the 2nd Brigade of the 6th Regiment will remain to guard the city. The remaining three regiments and the brothers from Shanzhou will gather at the north gate at 11:00 a.m. the day after tomorrow to march to the east!"

"Okay!" Upon hearing this, the generals responded excitedly, and they felt that the food in their hands smelled even better.

If they don't seize the population and livestock, how can they maintain their current good life?

With this in mind, everyone was preparing for the Eastern Strategy the day after tomorrow. Zhang Chang also asked, "Guo Yi, who will stay behind this time?"

"I won't stay behind anyway!" Chen Jingchong said quickly: "It was me last time, but I can't do it this time!"

"Li Ji and Ma Cheng, you two will stay behind this time."

Liu Jilong announced the military order, and the bright smiles on Li Ji and Ma Cheng's faces immediately disappeared.

Reluctantly, the two finally nodded and responded, "Yes, sir..."

Seeing the two of them reluctant, Zhang Chang was still thinking about laughing, but he saw Liu Jilong looking at him: "You go to Longshou Mountain to exchange Zheng Chu, let Zheng Chu go this time."

"Ah?!" Zhang Chang was stunned, and the smile shifted from his face to Ma Cheng and Li Ji's faces.

Because of Liu Jilong's words, Zhang Chang was unable to continue his tradition of eating two large bowls of rice for every meal, and for the first time in his life he only ate one bowl of rice.

It was a pity that even if he didn't eat, he couldn't change Liu Jilong's military order. The personnel for the Eastern Strategy were headed by Liu Jilong, followed by Jiu Juyan, Chen Jingchong, Zheng Chu and Shang Duoluo.

Geng Ming was stationed in Qilian City, Zhang Chang was stationed in Longshou Mountain, and Ma Cheng and Li Ji assisted Li Yizhong in garrisoning Shandan City.

As for Hu Siguang, he had already become the captain of Liu Jilong's personal guard, and basically went wherever Liu Jilong went.

After setting the tone, Liu Jilong handed the afternoon training to Jiu Juyan and the others, while he went outside the city and watched the people weeding the crops in the fields with Cui Shu.

In this era without machinery, weeding can be a very tiring job, especially around the rainy season.

The two-meter-wide official road was filled with wild grass dumped from the fields, piled up as high as a person's waist.

The hard work of squatting in the fields all day is much more tiring than fighting in a war and killing people.

Liu Jilong watched the horse-drawn carriage pull the weeds to the composting site for burning, and then looked at the reclaimed land in the distance.

In the direction of the reclaimed land, thousands of people could only use manpower to clear the weeds on the surface, and then clean the tree roots, gravel and stones buried in the ground and load them onto ox carts.

Gravel and stones can be used to build houses, while tree roots are transported to composting sites and burned.

After this, a clean piece of land was obtained.

But after that, the land needs to be deeply plowed to remove insect eggs.

This barren land has deep-rooted grass and hard soil, making it very difficult to cultivate.

Even if the land is cleared, only some crops such as hemp and beans can be planted. The fields can only be cultivated and planted in the next year, and the harvest can only be expected in the third year.

Of course, the above-mentioned families are those who use human power to open up the wasteland. Once they have animal power to help with the opening up of the wasteland, the time can be shortened.

"The gullies and canals of these wastelands must be planned in advance. There is a water conservancy map I drew in the inner hall of the government office. You can ask the Zhibai people and the people to dig the gullies and canals according to the map."

"Yes"

While walking in the fields, Liu Jilong gave instructions to Cui Shu beside him, while his eyes never left the vast reclaimed land.

As for land reclamation, Liu Jilong implemented collective unified land reclamation and then distributed land according to work.

Although it is unlikely that there will be cunning people in Hexi, once the environment becomes stable, people will want to change.

The herdsmen and common people who once worked hard under the whip of the Tibetans are likely to change because of the stable environment of Shandan, so distribution according to work is necessary.

“At the current rate, how many acres of wasteland can be cleared each month?”

Liu Jilong stood at the edge of the path with his hands behind his back.

Cui Shu was not flustered when he heard this: "We need to leave 1,500 people on the farmland to spread fertilizer and weed."

"Two hundred people stayed at the mine, and the rest of the people, except for children under ten years old, all participated in the reclamation."

"The rule set by the government is that every team of thirty people and ten animals must reclaim one acre of land every day."

"At the current rate, excluding rainy and snowy days, we can still open up about 50,000 acres a year."

After he finished speaking, Liu Jilong glanced at the crops in the fields in the distance and said, "We should be able to harvest the first batch of hemp by the end of the month. Thank you for your hard work."

"It's all part of my job, so why should I talk about it being hard?"

Cui Shu responded calmly, but Liu Jilong still tried to appease him, saying, "After we recover Fanhe, I will recommend you to be the county magistrate for your merits."

Cui Shu naturally expressed his gratitude for this, and Liu Jilong returned to the city after a few words of greeting.

When he returned to the inner hall of the yamen, Cui Shu had already sent someone to take away the water conservancy map, while Cao Mao was sitting on the steps maintaining his weapons and armor.

All in all, he has been following me for nearly a year.

He used to be skinny, but now Liu Jilong has raised him into a handsome and strong man.

"Guo Yi!"

Seeing Liu Jilong coming back, Cao Mao immediately stood up with a grin on his face. At the same time, he grabbed Liu Jilong's 18-jin iron spear with both hands, swung it twice before sticking it to the ground.

"Huh... I really don't know how you, Guoyi, can wield such a weapon." Cao Mao would accompany Liu Jilong to practice swords, guns, sticks and clubs every morning. As he ate well and had plenty of oil, the fifteen-year-old was already quite strong.

Although he is not very strong, he can still fight with some thin adults.

He also participated in many military wrestling matches. Although he never won, he had no problem dealing with ordinary people.

"Have you taken care of all your armor?"

Liu Jilong walked into the courtyard with a chuckle, took the spear from Cao Mao, and easily danced with the spear with one hand, alternating between his hands. The iron spear was as light as a feather in his hand.

Cao Mao looked at him enviously, and only after he stopped did he step forward to take the spear and put it back to its original position.

"Guo Yi, when can I go to Donglue with you?"

"When you become a middle-aged man, I will take you into battle."

Liu Jilong walked back into the hall and sat down to drink some water. Cao Mao followed closely behind him and asked, "Are you leaving the day after tomorrow?"

"Well, I'll probably be gone for ten days or half a month this time, so you should stay at the government office."

"Remember to practice and train every day when you wake up, and go outside the city to practice horse riding in the afternoon."

He gave instructions to Cao Mao as if he were giving instructions to a brother. Cao Mao also stood in front of him, listening with a smile.

But the two of them hadn't been chatting for long when they heard footsteps getting louder and louder.

Zhang Chang poked his head out, and seeing that Liu Jilong was not busy, he walked into the yard and bowed: "Guo Yi, a cavalryman from Longshou Mountain came to report that Gao Yaya from Shazhou has returned and will arrive in Shandan in an hour."

"Gao Jinda?" Liu Jilong didn't expect Gao Jinda to come back, and so soon.

"Guo Yi, how about having someone kill a sheep?"

Zhang Chang asked tentatively, but Liu Jilong shook his head and said, "Chicken, duck, pork, and mutton are all necessary, and the pigs must be castrated."

"Also, have someone get some white mushrooms, wild vegetables, and spinach from outside the city!"

"Yes!" Zhang Chang responded quickly, then turned around to make arrangements.

Seeing him leave, Cao Mao couldn't help but exclaimed: "Guo Yi, you really need to kill chickens, ducks, pigs and sheep. You yourself are not so extravagant."

Poultry and pork are extremely scarce in Shandan. Even though it has been almost a year since the city was recaptured, there are only about 200 native pigs in the city.

"You don't understand. Gao Jinda and his friends have suffered so much."

Liu Jilong was not in a position to elaborate. After all, few people in Hexi knew how much Gao Jinda and his men had suffered.

Seeing Liu Jilong say this, Cao Mao had no choice but to go downstairs to make tea for him.

Seeing this, Liu Jilong smiled and said, "Though those castrated pigs are not yet fully grown, they are already 70 to 80 kilograms. By then, they may not be able to finish eating them all, so we will have to eat the rest."

"It's a good opportunity for you to have a taste of this castrated pig, so you won't accuse me of being stingy."

As he spoke, Liu Jilong remembered that Shandan's chefs didn't know how to cook many dishes, let alone handle pig offal, so he stood up and said:
"Make some tea first, and then ask the brothers at the door to tell the officials of high rank in the city to come to the government office for dinner."

After giving the instructions, Liu Jilian walked out of the yamen and headed towards the south gate.

Outside the south gate is the pig farm arranged by Liu Jilong. More than 200 pigs are raised here. On weekdays, no one comes here except the dung man.

This pig farm is similar to some pig farms in rural areas in later generations. The difference is that the walls in rural areas are made of cement, while here only stones can be used to build walls.

Because Liu Jilong has strict requirements, the dozen or so pig farmers who are responsible for taking care of the native pigs clean the pig houses every day, so the smell is not too strong.

There are more than 200 pig pens, but only about 40 of them are now occupied, and most of them are piglets that were bred after they came to Shandan.

The black and ugly Eight-browed Pig is not as good-looking as the Yorkshire Large White Pig that was introduced into China later, nor does it produce as much meat or as quickly as it.

Liu Jilong personally selected a ten-month-old piglet. Starting from this batch of pigs, Liu Jilong had all of them castrated using the same technique he used to castrate sheep, so they no longer had such a strong smell of urine.

As for the more than 60 pigs originally in the city, they were already adults and their taste would not change even if they were castrated, so Liu Jilong raised them as breeding pigs.

"That's it. Just do as I say..."

After selecting the piglets to be slaughtered, Liu Jilong began to instruct a pig farmer to process them.

Under his supervision, the little black pig weighing less than 70 pounds was quickly bled, shaved with scalding water, and after a series of processes, all parts except the neck meat, adrenal glands, thyroid gland and other inedible parts were processed cleanly.

Among these, Liu Jilong paid special attention to making people clean their intestines and stomachs.

He didn't want to prepare a dish of "Nine-Turn Large Intestine" for Gao Jinda to taste. That dish should be left to Li Yizhong's father Li Wei.

Although he and Li Yizhong had a good relationship, he always remembered what Li Wei had done to him.

Thinking of this, the pig farmer also found a horse-drawn carriage. When loading the processed pork and offal onto the carriage, he muttered, "I've never heard that these things can be eaten..."

In response, Liu Jilong just smiled and did not explain.

Normal people naturally do not have enough spices to deal with these strong-smelling pig offal, but Liu Jilong is different.

He had not used up all the spices in the treasury. If he only provided for a few people, they would be enough for him to eat for two or three years.

Besides, Tubo has been expelled from the Western Regions, and the land Silk Road should gradually become unblocked, so some spices can still be eaten.

After returning to the Shandan government office with the pork, Liu Jilong called the chefs from the military camp and taught them how to process the ingredients.

The precious spices of this era are nothing more than seasonings in later generations.

Liu Jilong is a good cook, so he naturally knew how to handle it.

While teaching, he also explained to the chefs what cheap seasonings they could use to deal with the odor.
After a simple stir-fried meat, fried spareribs, and a pig-killing dish he learned in Yunnan in his previous life, Liu Jilong wiped his hands.

In front of him were three large pots of special dishes. As for the remaining chicken, duck, lamb and soup, they were left to the chefs to prepare.

In the past six months since he invented the iron pot, he has taught the chefs in the military camp how to cook, and they all know what to do.

Liu Jilong calculated the time and felt that Gao Jinda and the others would arrive soon, so he hurried back to the inner hall to change his clothes.

Even so, there was still a faint smell of cooking on him.

He was too lazy to hide it. After all, he was born a herdsman, so it was normal for him to have a slight smell of food.

"Guo Yi!"

Liu Jilong had just changed his clothes and walked to the government office when he saw Zhang Chang trotting over: "Gao Yaya and the others have arrived at the East Gate."

"Li Guoyi saw that you didn't come, so he brought them here personally."

"Okay, tell everyone to come to the yamen and have a seat for dinner!" Liu Jilong nodded in response.

Seeing this, Zhang Chang began to send people to notify.

At one time, more than seventy military officers of high rank in the city arrived at the yamen one after another. After all, they lived nearby, and Liu Jilong had notified them an hour in advance, so they all went home to wash up.

Liu Jilian led them to wait at the gate of the yamen. Soon they saw Li Yizhong coming with more than ten military officers and seven men in cloth clothes.

"Gao Yaya, this is my Shandan Zuo Guoyi Duwei."

Li Yizhong dismounted and explained to Gao Jinda with a smile. Gao Jinda also looked at Liu Jilong after dismounting.

In order to return to Shazhou, Gao Jinda chose the safe route to Fengzhou in the north, and then passed through the grasslands south of the desert. It took more than four months to reach Shandan.

Along the way, he met Wuzhen and told Wuzhen many rules and things in Chang'an, and Wuzhen also told him some things.

However, neither of them knew that Shang Yanxin had invaded and stabbed Hexi in the back.

Later, Gao Jinda encountered Uighur cavalry in the Juyan Lake in the north, and only then did he learn about the affairs of the Uighurs and Hexi.

During this period, he was received by Cheng Le, and learned about what happened in Ganzhou and the deeds of Liu Jilian.

Before he met Liu Jilong, he always thought that Liu Jilong was a tall, fat, and fleshy warrior.

But when he actually met Liu Jilong, he realized how wrong he was.

Liu Jilian was over six feet tall, with a strong back and slim waist, and an imposing appearance.

It was hard for Gao Jinda to believe that such a handsome man was a common warrior who came from a herdsman's family.

"Guazhou Liu Jilong, meet Gao Yaya."

When Gao Jinda was shocked by Liu Jilong's appearance, Liu Jilong did not have too many thoughts. He just admired Gao Jinda sincerely and lamented the hardships he had endured in the past two years.
If it were someone else, they would have run back to Shazhou long ago. How could they have endured two whole years of suffering?

"Ya Ya Gao Jinda, meet Liu Guoyi..."

After Liu Jilong spoke, Gao Jinda finally reacted. He bowed in return and sighed, "I never thought Liu Guoyi was such a resolute man. The Uighurs spread the story that you were as terrifying as a demon..."

"Haha..." Liu Jilong laughed heartily when he heard this:
"The Uighurs have only seen my silhouette, how many of them have seen my appearance?"

As he spoke, he turned sideways and made a gesture of invitation: "Hearing that Gao Yaya was coming, I personally cooked a meal for Gao Yaya, please..."

"This...thank you Liu Guoyi."

Gao Jinda didn't expect that Liu Jilong would actually cook for him. Regardless of whether the food tasted good or not, the act of cooking alone was enough to make him feel like he was "back home."

At Liu Jilong's invitation, he walked into the yamen, and more than 80 people at the gate also entered the yamen one after another.

However, they did not come to admire Gao Jinda, but to taste the taste of castrated pork...

(End of this chapter)