The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 453 Chat
It wasn't even evening yet, but the corn and chicken were already cooked.

Yue Fei held a boiled corn cob in his left hand and a piece of chicken on his right chopsticks. He took a bite from the left, then a bite from the right, and his tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly.

Corn is really delicious.

As for these 40-day fast-growing chickens, the meat is indeed very tender, but the oil flavor is a bit weak. However, for the poor ordinary soldiers of Yue Fei's army, they were just grateful to have meat to eat, and they didn't care whether the oil flavor was strong or not.

He couldn't help but think to himself: He sent so much grain to my son for free. Even if it was to win people's hearts, it still benefited our soldiers.

The hearts of Yue Fei's army cannot be won over!

He was confident that as long as Yue Fei was alive, the Yue Family Army would be as solid as a rock.

Okay, let's wait until evening and have a good talk with them to see what they really want.

The sun is setting...

The sun now hangs behind the mountain where Yue Fei's army is stationed, and the slanted sunlight only shines a little bit into the valley between the two mountains, creating dappled light and shadow that makes the world seem a little distorted.

Yue Fei, along with his generals Yue Yun and others, strode down the mountain.

Upon arriving at the designated location, they found that Lady Gong Er was already waiting there, with a young scholar standing beside her.

Yue Fei knew without guessing that this scholar was Yue Yunxuan, the mastermind behind the pseudo-Song state. Rumor had it that his power was greater than that of Gong Erniangzi, and even surpassed that of the pseudo-Song emperor Zhao Shi. However, this was just a rumor, and it was impossible to find out the truth with just a few spies.

Yue Fei was sizing up Yue Wenxuan, while the latter was also sizing him up.

Their eyes met briefly in mid-air... and neither of them looked away!

Yue Fei thought to himself: This young man dares to look me in the eye; he's quite bold.

Yue Wenxuan thought to himself: So this is what Yue Fei looked like. He had a standard square face, the most handsome face shape among Chinese people, or rather, the most down-to-earth face shape.

"Marshal Yue, I've heard so much about you."

"Young Master Yue, I have long admired your reputation."

The two exchanged only a few polite words before cutting off all further conversation. Yue Fei strode to the table and chairs prepared by Yue Wenxuan, sat down steadily, and the clanging of his armor as he sat down added to his imposing presence.

Gong Erniangzi, on the other hand, was not wearing armor, but only dressed in red. She smiled slightly, and seemed much less imposing.

But women aren't as competitive as men. If she's weak, so be it. She doesn't argue. Instead, she calmly picks up the teapot, pours Yue Fei a cup of tea, and smiles, "Marshal, please have some tea. This is a celestial tea recipe, light and fragrant, quite different from the teas of our world."

Yue Fei picked up his teacup, a slight wonder in his heart: What kind of strange tea is this? Why is it so clear?

This type of clear tea was not popular in the Song Dynasty. Instead, finely ground tea powder was first added directly to a teacup, and after the water boiled, it was poured into the cup. Then, a tea whisk was used to whisk the tea powder and water, allowing them to fully blend and form a smooth tea soup with delicate froth. Song people also added various unusual ingredients to their tea, such as: borneol, musk, ghee, milk, honey, salt, ginger, scallions, dates, orange peel, sesame seeds, roasted rice…

Therefore, the final product of tea in the Song Dynasty looked like modern milk tea, thick and viscous, with various strange colors and toppings.

No wonder Yue Fei couldn't understand Yue Wenxuan's modern green tea. However, not understanding it isn't a big problem; one sip and he would immediately understand the wonders of green tea.

He took a sip and felt a refreshing fragrance fill his mouth; he even had a taste of "ethereal beauty."

Seeing his expression, Gong Erniangzi knew he liked it, so she immediately took out a small money jar containing half a catty of tea and gently pushed it in front of Yue Fei: "This is tea from heavenly immortals. If the marshal likes it, please take this small jar back with you."

Yue Fei refused to accept the gifts, his expression serious yet polite: "I am not here today to drink tea and receive gifts. I, Yue Fei, would not dare to accept gifts from an 'enemy country'."

He deliberately emphasized the words "enemy country".

Gong Erniangzi remained silent, but Yue Wenxuan spoke up with a smile: "The Southern Song Dynasty regards the Northern Song Dynasty as an enemy, but the Northern Song Dynasty has never regarded the Southern Song Dynasty as an enemy. Does the Marshal know why?"

Yue Fei: "You have privately installed a false emperor and you still say you don't consider my Great Song Dynasty an enemy? I'm afraid the Seventeenth Prince is dreaming of seizing the Emperor's throne."

Yue Wenxuan shook his head: "Does it matter what the people above think? Let the Seventeenth Prince and the Ninth Prince fight to the death if they want. I only know that I am a descendant of Yan and Huang! You are also a descendant of Yan and Huang! Why should I fight with you? What if one day, the Seventeenth Prince and the Ninth Prince suddenly stop fighting, and they decide the throne by playing rock-paper-scissors, calling each other 'good buddies' and 'sixes sixes,' while their people are still fighting desperately? Isn't that ridiculous?"

Yue Fei: "..."

He came to the negotiations with a very serious attitude, but he did not expect Yue Wenxuan to suddenly make a joke at this time. For a moment, his tense atmosphere dissipated.

Yue Wenxuan continued, "I believe the Marshal has long heard about how Zhao Shi ascended the throne and was enthroned as emperor, right? Back then, when the Jin army ravaged Shandong, various rebel armies rose up, and Gong Erniangzi was one of them. She fought valiantly to preserve the peace of Jiaodong, and then wrote to Zhao Gou asking him to send troops to rescue her. What was the result?"

Upon hearing this, Yue Fei's expression darkened. He knew, of course, that Zhao Gou was unwilling to send reinforcements and instead wanted Gong Erniangzi to retreat to Jiangnan.

Yue Fei was both a scholar and a warrior, and he was well-educated. Ill-educated people are more reasonable than illiterate people, so he knew what was going on deep down. However, due to the premise of loyalty to the emperor, he could not admit it and could only argue that "that does not mean that someone can be enthroned privately and become emperor."

Yue Wenxuan: "So how did our founding emperor become emperor? How was the Song Dynasty established?"

Yue Fei: "..."

He suddenly realized: "So, you invited me here today not to discuss border issues, but to try and win me over, Yue Fei!"

Yue Wenxuan: "Oh dear, Marshal, you're overthinking it. I didn't mean that at all. We just got carried away with our conversation. Let's not talk about that anymore and get back to the main topic: the border issue."

Yue Fei: "..."

Yue Wenxuan continued, "When our army controlled the territory of Chuzhou in the past, we faced off against Zhang Jun's army from a distance, just like today when we confront Yue Family Army in Tongbai Mountain."

As he said this, Yue Fei thought to himself: Why is he suddenly bringing up Zhang Jun at this time?

Yue Wenxuan changed the subject: "But I didn't teach Zhang Junjun how to farm, nor did I teach him how to raise chickens... Does the Marshal know why?"

Upon hearing this, Yue Fei was secretly puzzled: Huh?
Yue Wenxuan smiled and said, "There is only one reason: Zhang Jun is an incompetent fool. I don't think he is interested in learning the new farming methods and chicken raising methods. Even if he does learn them, the benefits will not go to the soldiers and farmers, but will only be used to line his own pockets."

(End of this chapter)