It’s windy and cold late at night, and the bonfire is blazing.
Some soldiers hunted two black muntjacs nearby. They disemboweled them in front of the mountain col, peeled them and pierced them with a spear before roasting them on the fire.
Fang Jun's eyelids jumped...
This thing would be considered an endangered animal on an international level in future generations, and it is possible to kill both of them and give them life sentences. The most important thing is that there is no oil, no sauce, and the fire is so strong. Wouldn’t it be a waste of natural resources to just bake it like this?
He quickly struggled to stand up, carrying a broken pine pole, and beat the soldier far away. He ordered someone to bring the iron pot for the march, put the iron pot on a stand on the fire, and placed it on the mountain col in the shade. The locals collected snow and melted it into water in a pot. The soldiers used a horizontal knife to chop the black muntjac with its internal organs into cubes, blanch it in warm water, then poured out the water, and collected another pot of snow water. , put the muntjac meat into the pot in cold water, cut the pine wood pole in his hand into small pieces about half a foot long with a horizontal knife, and threw them into the pot.
Watching the foreman take out a small bag of salt from his arms, pinch a handful with his fingertips and put it into the pot. Fang Jun couldn't help it anymore and stepped forward to give the fussy leader a kick, then reached out and pulled out all the bags, big and small, in his arms.
I opened it and smelled each one, poured the salt, cinnamon powder, star anise powder, and pepper powder into the pot, clapped my hands, and limped back to the campfire to lie down...
The gang leader almost cried, rubbing his hands and looking at Dugu Mou pitifully...
The food in the army is very simple. Just get some random food and put it in a big pot with water to cook. Anyway, everything is boiled. At most, a little coarse salt is added when conditions permit. Dugu Mou is a child of aristocratic family who has always been pampered and pampered. He is both a consort and a general, so naturally he has to have his own little stove.
The result was good, all the personal belongings of Dugu Mou in the hands of the gang leader were wasted by Fang Jun. There were three ounces of pepper in there. When marching in the field, they used this stuff to season the general, but it was all gone...
Dugumou looked up at the sky, not looking at the sad expressions of his subordinates.
Not to mention a small bag of pepper, even if it was a bag of gold sand played with by Fang Jun, Dugu Mou would not say a word...
One is that he doesn't dare. Who doesn't know Fang Erbangchui's temperament?
What’s more, it’s embarrassing. Fang Jun is one of the richest people in the world. He naturally has delicacies and fine clothes. If his body hurts even for a small bag of pepper, wouldn’t he be looked down upon by Fang Jun?
But how could his expression be hidden from Fang Jun's eyes?
Fang Jun said angrily: "Look at that potential! How can you still think that pepper can be used as gold as before? Let me tell you, the last time I went to sea, I discovered countless islands in the South China Sea, one of which is on There are pepper trees all over the mountains and plains, and the tallest one is three feet high! The fleet has sent soldiers to garrison the island. From then on, a steady stream of pepper has been transported back to the Tang Dynasty by sea, at least one million kilograms a year! "
"really?"
Dugu Mou and Li Junxian’s eyes widened!
Not only the two of them, but even Changsun Wuji was horrified and moved!
Is this kid bragging?
One million kilograms of pepper... That must be worth hundreds of thousands of kilograms of gold!
In the Middle Ages, pepper was not only expensive in China, but was also called black gold in Europe. Since ancient Roman times, spices have been synonymous with gold in many places, and pepper has been used as currency in Western countries for a long time. In other words, pepper can be used directly as money. For example, if you eat in a restaurant without money and give the boss a few peppers, the boss will never hit you.
What's more, pepper also caused European countries to kill each other...
In the 5th century AD, in order to demand gold and pepper, the leader of the Visigoths, Alari, led his troops to surround the city of Rome and vowed to massacre the city if they did not give pepper and gold. In the end, the Romans had to pay 5,000 pounds of gold and 3,000 pounds of pepper. Pepper, this made Alari withdraw his troops.
In order to grab more pepper, Europeans opened up new sea routes and eventually discovered and colonized the Americas. Until the 17th century, Europeans were still killing each other for pepper.
It can be said that the history of medieval Europe is simply a history of pepper...
For Changsun Wuji, how could he not know the value of pepper?
Dugu Mou exclaimed: "Editian! That Erlang really deserves the saying that his wealth can rival his country!"
Fang Jun curled his lips: "You're so rich that you can't rival the country! Can that belong to a certain person? All the overseas earnings belong to the 'East Datang Company', and there isn't much left if you divide them up. Besides, things are rare and valuable. , it is precisely because pepper is scarce that it is more expensive than gold. If it were all over the mountain, it would be worthless... By the way, your Dugu family also has a share."
Dugumou's pupils had turned into the shape of copper coins. As for what Fang Jun said about rare things being valuable, he didn't listen at all. In the consciousness of people in this era, even if pepper is everywhere, it is still pepper! Just like gold, even if the price drops all the way, it is still the same as gold!
Simple values make people in this era rarely realize the subtle fluctuations in prices. Only when natural disasters and man-made disasters strike do they suddenly realize that their family's money can no longer buy a bucket of rice...
Changsun Wuji was in a daze.
The revenue a pepper alone can bring is staggering, but what about glass? What about bamboo paper? What about silk? What about porcelain? The value of these things in the Central Plains is far less than that of pepper, but they have always been the highest-end luxury goods overseas. How much profit will the entire "Eastern Datang Company" make in a year?
The eldest son's family has accumulated family fortunes for generations, and it took a hundred years to achieve the status of the first-class noble family in the world.
But Changsun Wuji suddenly discovered that perhaps just by virtue of his family's share in the "Eastern Datang Company", he could easily earn far more than his ancestors had accumulated over a hundred years...
But the person in charge of the "Eastern Datang Company" in the family is the eldest son Sun Huan, whose existence he has always ignored...
Thinking of this, Changsun Wuji was suddenly shocked.
Mother!
Could it be that Fang Jun, the little bastard, deliberately let Chang Sun Huan take control of the "Eastern Datang Company" in order to enhance Chang Sun Huan's status in the Chang Sun family and thereby create a crisis in the Chang Sun family?
Sun Wuji, the conspirator, has never been afraid to speculate on everyone and everything with the deepest malice. He will first think of the worst angle in everything...
"So, don't worry about using up your pepper. Maybe when you wake up tomorrow, you will find that pepper is cheaper than rice... Take a longer-term view, be more open-minded, and don't always worry about the present. In this one-third of an acre, the world is huge and there is a lot of wealth. There are places where you can conquer cities and expand territories, and there are places where you can collect gold and copper and become the best in the world!"
Fang Jun kept confusing.
Generals like Li Junxian and Dugu Mou staying by His Majesty Li Er's side all day are considered overqualified and should be released to harm the barbarians. The older generation of commanders and generals in the Tang army, such as Li Xiaogong, Li Jing, Li Ji, Cheng Yaojin, Yuchi Gong, and Li Daliang, are gradually getting older. The new generation of famous generals such as Su Dingfang, Xue Rengui, Pei Xingjian, etc. are slowly rising. Xi Junmai, Cheng Wuting and others still need to be refined. Generals like Li Junxian and Dugu Mou will be effective once they are released. They can be the main force even in a century-old war like the Eastern Expedition to Goguryeo!
If you have the ability, don't do things at home. You have to go out and kill generals, seize flags, and attack cities and territories!
As long as famous generals continue to emerge from generation to generation, the martial arts of the Tang Dynasty will not be cut off, and its crushing advantage over the surrounding foreign races will be maintained for a long time.
The imperial examination is a good system. It can make poor families gradually rise and noble families gradually wither. All talented people in the world can be promoted and reused regardless of their origin. This is the foundation of the long-term prosperity of the empire.
However, there are also disadvantages to the imperial examination. Once studying is raised to a lofty status, "everything is inferior but studying is high", then it is also a kind of sadness. The situation of the nobles and the lowly military will inevitably take shape. Without the spirit of martial arts, the backbone of the Han people will be weak and their backbone will be gone. No matter how prosperous and beautiful the articles are, they still cannot be used as swords!
Fang Jun never wanted Datang to experience the sorrow of the Ming Dynasty in advance...
The mountain wind blew the aroma of meat far away, and Fang Jun personally used a soldier's horizontal knife to fork a piece of meat from the pot and handed it to Changsun Wuji.
Changsun Wuji hesitated slightly, and the entourage around him seemed to be facing a formidable enemy.
Changsun Wuji was not afraid of what Fang Jun would do to the meat, but eating meat in such a big way was definitely not in line with his status as a member of a high-ranking family, Zuo...
It's just that the smell of the meat is really tempting, and I suddenly feel very hungry in my belly. Besides, there is no need to pay so much attention when marching outside. Didn't I follow His Majesty Li Er in the army, so how could I be so reserved and self-respecting?
After hesitating for a moment, I made up my mind to reach out, but...
Fang Jun retracted his hand with a smile, took the knife and brought the meat to his mouth and took a big bite. His mouth was full of oil after eating, and he said vaguely: "Since Zhao Guogong is worried that the food in the wild is unclean, then I will I only have to eat it myself... Huhuhu, it's so hot... Huhu, if you don't eat it, I will eat it, it's so delicious..."
Changsun Wuji froze on the spot, his eyes widened, his face flushed, and he almost spit out a mouthful of blood!
