Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 98 Nine Turns Large Intestine
"Everyone, please take your seats!"

"Xie Guoyi..."

Inside the Shandan government office, when Liu Jilong spoke cheerfully, military officers from more than ten tables inside and outside the main hall of the government office took their seats one after another.

In the main hall, at the round table, Li Wei glanced at the furniture around him and nodded:
"The tables, chairs and stools in this government office are quite unique."

"Haha... I asked someone to do these things during my free time. I wonder if you are sitting comfortably?"

Liu Jilong asked with a smile, and Li Wei nodded: "It is much more comfortable than the crescent chair and the Hu chair. This dining table is also more spacious than the ordinary dining table for group dining."

"More than that." Liu Jilong raised his hand and turned the plate on the round table, and the plate began to creak.

Li Wei narrowed his eyes and observed, while Liu Jilong simply explained: "There is a layer of boards under the table, and there is a wooden ball between the upper and lower boards, so the dining table turntable can be turned."

"With this dining table turntable, you only need to turn the turntable with a little force to make the ball move along the concave ring and push the turntable to rotate."

Liu Jilong said this and started to demonstrate.

This thing sounds impressive, but it is actually the turntable used on restaurant tables in later generations, just simpler.

"It's a nice table for dining together." Li Wei was only curious for a moment, then he stroked his beard and said nothing more.

Seeing this, Liu Jilong secretly mocked himself in his heart: "Old Jimao, let's see how you can pretend to be noble later!"

While mocking in his heart, Liu Jilong also smiled and looked at the chef standing not far away: "Serve the food!"

"Yes……"

The chef nodded in agreement, then quickly walked back to the yamen's kitchen.

In less than half a cup of tea, more than a dozen soldiers began to carry plates of food into the main hall, announcing the names of the dishes as they put them down.

“Shandan Roast Duck…”

"Shandan pig-killing dish..."

"Shandan..."

Under the report of more than a dozen soldiers, many famous delicacies in later generations were served on the table, including various meat dishes such as beef, mutton, donkey, pork, chicken, duck, goose, and seasonal vegetables.

The delicious aroma of the dishes made Li Wei salivate and he couldn't help swallowing.

Li Wei knew the ingredients of most dishes from their names, so when the last dish was placed in front of him without the name, Li Wei immediately asked, "What is this..."

"This dish can only be understood, not described." Liu Jilong said quickly:
"This dish is the main course, so the other person must be the first to eat it."

He made a gesture of invitation, and Li Wei picked up the chopsticks with an eager appetite, picked up the bright red meat and examined it carefully.

He sniffed lightly and frowned slightly, but found no clues.

Seeing him like this, Liu Jilong secretly mocked him in his heart: "Old bird, I have worked hard to remove the odor while maintaining the original flavor."

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong also said with a smile: "Eat quickly, my friend. If you don't eat it quickly, it will get cold."

"Hmm..." Li Wei looked at it for a long time but couldn't figure out what it was. He could only put it carefully into his mouth and chew it slowly.

It didn't matter that he chewed it, but the next second Li Wei's facial features wrinkled.

He looked at Li Yizhong, Jiu Juyan, Cui Shu, Chen Jingchong, Liu Jilong and others at the dinner table. He wanted to vomit but was too embarrassed to do so. For a moment, he felt in a dilemma.

"My dear, how is it?" Liu Jilong asked Li Wei with shining eyes. As soon as Li Wei opened his mouth, a slight stench immediately emanated from the dining table.

"This……"

"Um……"

Li Yizhong hesitated, but Jiu Juyan just held his breath.

Li Wei also smelled the extremely stinky smell, so he quickly shut up and responded, "This is not quite to my taste."

"Oh..." Liu Jilong nodded as if he suddenly understood something: "I guess the cook downstairs didn't do a good job, so let's go down."

After that, he stood up and motioned for the chef to come over. When the chef came over, he immediately complained to him, "What's wrong with this dish? Didn't I ask you to take care of Li Biejia's appetite?"

"Damn it..." The chef bowed and apologized repeatedly, and Li Wei saw the situation escalating, so he could only suppress his nausea and swallow the thing in his mouth.

The disgusting feeling and smell hit his brain together, making him unable to help but show a retching expression.

Fortunately, he stopped in time and did not make any retching sounds.

Even so, he still covered his mouth with his sleeves, and his Adam's apple kept moving, as if he would vomit if he couldn't control himself.

As he suppressed his nausea and tried hard to swallow the thing in his mouth, his eyes were already a little moist.

At this moment, he looked like someone who had vomited after a hangover.

He looked straight at Liu Jilong, who, upon seeing this, passed a dish of stir-fried meat to Li Wei and said, "This dish is much better than the previous one. You can try it."

Faced with Liu Jilong's recommendation, Li Wei, who had experienced it once, was very cautious.

Seeing this, Li Yizhong took the initiative to use the serving chopsticks to pick up a piece of stir-fried pork and tasted it: "This stir-fried pork tastes so delicious."

"If castrated pigs were not so scarce in the city, I would really like to taste such delicacies every day."

Li Yizhong's words made Li Wei let down his guard. He tentatively picked up the serving chopsticks, picked up a piece of meat and vegetable, and put it in the bowl to taste.

When he put the tender stir-fried meat into his mouth and chewed it, the expression on his face suddenly blossomed: "This dish..."

As if he suddenly woke up, Li Wei swallowed the food and praised, "This dish is really delicious!"

"Yizhong said it's called stir-fried pork, so what's the name of that dish just now?"

Li Wei thought of the disgusting and inedible thing just now, while Liu Jilong said with a smile:

"That dish was just made. It's called... Nine-Turn Large Intestine."

"Of course, since it was just made, the chefs' skills may not be very sophisticated yet, so it may taste a little unpalatable."

"But the other dishes on the table, except for these beef dishes, are all traditional dishes. There is no possibility that the cooking skills are not skilled."

While Liu Jilong was explaining righteously, he was laughing in his heart.

If he wasn't afraid of Li Wei getting angry, he really wanted to tell Li Wei what flavor he had reserved in the Nine-Turn Large Intestine.

"Forehead……"

Li Wei looked a little embarrassed. He could only try not to think about the taste of that disgusting thing. He nodded and started to work on the other dishes on the table.

Fortunately, the other dishes were very delicious, and their texture and flavor were richer than all the dishes Li Wei had eaten in the first half of his life.

For a moment, he couldn't stop eating.

That look reminded Liu Jilong of a friend in his previous life who was "exiled" to the peninsula and had to eat coarse food.

Although the nobility in the Tang Dynasty had begun to use iron pots, the main characteristics of their diet were still steaming, roasting, frying and deep-frying.

The iron pans that Liu Jilong had made were more suitable for stir-frying. Whether in terms of the utilization of ingredients or the richness of the taste of the dishes, the dishes of this era could surpass those of Shandan under his rule.

Sometimes he thought, if he had come not to this era, but to the Kaiyuan or Zhenguan period more than one hundred or two hundred years ago, he might not have joined the army, but would have tried to run a restaurant to make a living.

It's a pity that this idea is just thought. He has already adapted to fighting on the battlefield and is destined to not be able to live the life of an ordinary citizen.

"Liu Guoyi, let's drink together!"

Li Wei was in high spirits while eating and he also put aside his pride and took the initiative to toast Liu Jilong.

Although Liu Jilong still held a grudge in his heart, his resentment had been somewhat alleviated.

In addition, he knew that Zhang Huaishen wanted to ease the conflict between him and Li Wei, and Li Wei also lowered his face to toast him, so he naturally could not refuse.

He clinked glasses with Li Wei, then drank the rice wine in the glasses.

After going back and forth like this for a few times, the two of them finally talked things out.

After all, there are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests.

No matter how much Liu Jilong holds a grudge, he must always put immediate interests first.

Li Wei was naturally aware of this principle, which was why he glanced at the layout of the main hall at the beginning.

After seeing that Liu Jilong only set up the main table in the main hall and the rest of the tables were in the courtyard seven or eight steps away, he already had an idea in his mind.

At the moment, the two of them were toasting each other, and most of the people sitting at the main table were Liu Jilong's men, so he didn't hide anything.

He clinked glasses with Liu Jilong and said with a smile, "Liu Zhechong, do you know what the consequences will be if the news of your great victory in Donglue is reported to Dunhuang?"

"I'm all ears." Liu Jilong drank the rice wine with a smile, but he was very calm in his heart.

Li Wei naturally knew what Liu Jilong was thinking, so he said straight to the point: "The position of Zhechong Duwei must be held by you, Liu Zhechong, but the other positions are uncertain."

"This time, the Dongluo Liangzhou victory killed or wounded more than half of the Fanhe and Jialin armored soldiers."

"Instantly, the troops in these two cities were drastically reduced, and the cities were empty."

"Although it is still difficult to capture cities and territories, Jialin and Fanhe have a population of more than 30,000 and a herd of more than 100,000, which is as rich as Gansu."

"In the past few months, Guasha has been arguing about whether to march east or west. Originally, everyone thought that marching west was more appropriate, but with your great victory in the eastern expedition to Liangzhou, Fanhe and Jialin are like fat meat in front of us, and we have to eat them."

"As a result, the wind direction of Guasha will turn to the east."

"The wind is blowing eastward, and the Jiedushi and Governor Zhang are naturally happy to see it, but Shandan, as the gateway to the east, will also become a stage for competition among various parties."

"The positions of county magistrate, county assistant, county lieutenant, and chief clerk are either held remotely or concurrently, or are vacant."

"Before, Shandan was dangerous, so everyone avoided it. But now Shandan is in the limelight. What do you think will happen?"

After Li Wei finished speaking, he continued without waiting for Liu Jilong to speak:
"Although Liu Zhechong has run Shandan in an ironclad manner, if dozens of Zhibai are transferred from the west to fill the vacancies of these four chief officers, what will you do, Liu Zhechong?"

As he talked about what might happen in the future, Liu Jilong became a little uneasy.

Although he has been actively running literacy classes, the pace is ultimately too slow.

The reason why he had always wanted to occupy a city was because the troops under his command were not enough for him to control an entire state.

As for Liangzhou, he always regarded it as his springboard, rather than having the delusion of occupying Liangzhou.

The area of Liangzhou was destined to be controlled by Zhang Yichao or Zhang Huaishen. If he wanted to control a state, he could only develop towards Minzhou and Taozhou.

As long as he devotes himself to development for a few years and has a team capable of governing several states, he can then recover the six states surrounding Minzhou, recruit refugees and bandits from Shandan, and control the entire Longnan area.

He has not thought about what to do next, because taking Liangzhou is the key to his plan.

Anyone who hinders him from recovering Liang Province is his enemy.

Therefore, when it comes to recovering Liangzhou, whoever can help him is his friend.

Li Wei's words were very clear, so Liu Jilong did not play dumb, but put down the wine glass and calmed down:

"What do you think I should do now, Li Biejia?"

"Hehe..." Li Wei chuckled, but in his heart he re-examined Liu Jilong.

Before this, he disliked Liu Jilong, so Liu Jilong was full of shortcomings.

But now that the two sides are going to cooperate, Liu Jilong's strengths begin to shine.

Not to mention anything else, just the speed at which he grows is staggering, not to mention the current social practices.

"I will report your achievements in governing Shandan to Dunhuang. If this still cannot stop those who are interested, then I will ask to come to Shandan and take charge, and no longer serve as the county magistrate from afar."

"But don't worry, Shandan still puts you first in everything. Just think of me as coming here to enjoy two years of peace and quiet."

"On the matter of conquering Liangzhou from the east, I hope Liu Zhechong can also support me."

Li Wei's words made Liu Jilong frown. He didn't think it through at first, but after a few breaths he knew Li Wei's intention.

After all, Li Wei's lineage is just a side branch of the main family, and as the main family grows stronger, the side branch will definitely leave and become a side branch in the future.

What Li Wei wanted was to rely on his position and his own recommendations to gain a firm foothold in Liangzhou.

By then, although the Li family of Shazhou is still the main family, Shazhou has a population of only more than 20,000 people after all.

On the contrary, as long as the Liangzhou Li family does not make any mistakes in their development, their prospects will be better than those of the Shazhou Li family no matter how you look at it.

After thinking it through, Liu Jilong did not hesitate, but decisively poured wine into his own glass, then raised the glass and looked at Li Wei.

Li Wei smiled upon seeing this, and without further words, he raised his glass and clinked drinks with Liu Jilong.

The cooperation between the two parties was thus reached, and at least before the entire territory of Liangzhou was recovered, their cooperation was as solid as a rock.

They didn't believe anything could go wrong.

Even if the Guasha people were blinded by greed, they could see that Liu Jilian was an indispensable part of recovering Liangzhou.

Without him, if someone else were to take his place, we might not be able to achieve the great victory in Liangzhou.

In comparison, the position that Li Wei was seeking was in jeopardy.

If he doesn't take action first, by the time Guasha reacts, it will not just be his family that is trying to win over Liu Jilong.

Liu Jilong also understood this principle, but he did not think of waiting for a good price.

He is protected by Zhang Huaishen in Ganzhou, and the Cao family to which Cao Yiqian belongs is just a small family, and it is not easy for it to maintain its current status.

Now as long as Li Wei stands on his side, there won't be any big problems to embarrass him.

As for what the people on Guasha's side intend to do, it is still unknown, but no matter what, anyone who hinders him from regaining Liangzhou will be destroyed.

Thinking of this, he continued to clink glasses with Li Wei.

Time passed slowly, from afternoon to dusk, and the banquet slowly dispersed.

Liu Jilong asked Li Yizhong to send Li Wei to rest, while he summoned all the people he trusted to the inner hall of the yamen to discuss matters.

It was getting dark, and the candlelight in the inner hall made the room dim.

Liu Jilian sat in the main seat, the first person on the left was Jiu Juyan, followed by Chen Jingchong, Ma Cheng and Li Ji.

The first one on the right is Cui Shu, followed by Shang Duoluo who commanded the Shanzhou army, and Zheng Chu and Hu Siguang who returned in triumph.

Cao Mao was guarding the door to the inner hall. Although he was young, he had a sword on his waist and was walking back and forth.

Looking at everyone, Liu Jilong slowly spoke:

"Everyone here is someone I trust."

After these words were spoken, everyone in the hall straightened their backs, and Shang Duoluo of the Shanzhou army felt a breath rushing from his back to his forehead.

Although he belonged to the Shanzhou Army, he always admired Liu Jilian, but he did not dare to express it due to his status.

Now that Liu Jilong's words had confirmed his position in Liu Jilong's heart, he was naturally excited.

Glancing at everyone, Liu Jilong continued, "Recovering Liangzhou is my top priority in Hexi right now. Although the Eastern Strategy was a great victory this time, Liangzhou is still strong."

"The shortest and safest way to reach Liangzhou in the east is to cross the Yanzhi Mountain."

"It's just that this road has been in disrepair for nearly ten years. If we want to move east, we have to repair it."

"Shandan now has sufficient manpower, so Cui Shu will recruit civilians to expand and repair this official road from today."

"After this battle, Zheng Chu, you should also take up the post of lieutenant. I order you to lead 200 elite cavalry to guard the laborers who are repairing the road."

"On this official road, a post station and a beacon tower will be built every ten miles to store fresh water and food in advance so that the army can move eastward in the future."

After he finished speaking, Cui Shu and Zheng Chu did not respond. They just stood up, bowed to him, accepted his order, and then sat down.

Seeing this, Liu Jilong turned his gaze to Shang Duoluo: "Shang Duoluo, although you are from Shanzhou, you are only a comrade-in-arms in my eyes."

"I will exchange the Donglue herd for food this time, and you will escort them to Shanzhou."

"With this batch of grain, Shanzhou will be able to survive until the autumn harvest."

"But this time when you go to Shanzhou, I hope you can persuade Shang Jiedushi to increase the number of Shandan's troops in Shanzhou. The armor will be provided by Shandan. After retaking Liangzhou, the armor and helmets will be returned to Shanzhou."

Liu Jilian knew very well that it would be slow to take over Liangzhou relying solely on the power of Hexi.

But if Shang Bibi from Shanzhou joins, the speed of taking over Liangzhou will be accelerated.

Although there were only more than 20,000 foreign people in Shanzhou, based on Liu Jilian's understanding of Shang Bibi, as long as Shang Bibi had enough food, he could definitely lead Shanzhou back to its peak.

Although Shanzhou was once the territory of the Tang Dynasty, the Han people in the northwest are now in decline, and necessary compromises are inevitable.

Putting aside the compromise over Shanzhou and taking the lead in recovering the Helong area is what Liu Jilong should do.

As for the Helong land occupied by the monk Bi Bi from Shanzhou, Liu Jilong would naturally recover it in the future.

Facing his gaze, Shang Duoluo stood up without hesitation, bowed heavily in response, and then sat back in his seat.

Seeing this, Liu Jilong stood up and said:
"Taking Liangzhou is only the first step in our mission, recovering Helong is our goal!"

"From now on, the army will change its drill schedule from two days to one day, and from five days to three days."

"On every training day, we must kill a hundred sheep to reward the troops, and there will be enough food!!"

(End of this chapter)