The next day, in Zhao's Mansion in Xianyang City.
Zhao Tuo was wearing dark black clothes, standing with his hands behind his hands, looking at a plate of stone mills that his servants had brought into the house.
"This was invented by our ancestor."
Zhao Tuo squinted his eyes and first determined the right to invent the stone mill.
It's not like he was just making random remarks.
There has always been a legend among the people that Lu Ban invented the stone mill. It is said that the ancestor of all craftsmen took two hard round stones, cut out dense shallow grooves on the stones, put them together, and used human or animal power to make them turn. It became a stone mill.
When Zhao Tuo made the giant cannon in the past, he once said that he had read the legacy of Gongshuzi, and many people regarded him as the successor of Gongshuzi.
Now that he has assigned the right to invent the stone mill to Lu Ban, if he still wants to transform it in the future, his behavior will be more convincing.
But now Zhao Tuo just wants to use it to grind something to eat.
Such as tofu.
If Zhao Tuo could make tofu, it might become a unique delicacy in this era, which could be offered to his five internal organs temple, allowing him to get comfort from this era where food types and methods are very poor.
Thousands of years later, when people are eating tofu on the dining table, they may also mention the anecdotes about Qin general Zhao Tuo's research on tofu, and equate Zhao Tuo with tofu.
"Compared to tofu, pasta is more important. This is a good thing that can benefit the country, and it must be produced first."
Zhao Tuo's eyes were bright and he said to Lu Wan, who happened to be visiting his house today: "Awan, go get the washed wheat and put it in the mill."
"only."
Just like when he was in the army, Lu Wan accepted the promise, walked over and pushed aside the servant who was about to help, and walked to the stone mill carrying the wheat in the cauldron.
Out of curiosity, Lu Wan couldn't help but ask: "Gentleman, do you want to grind wheat to make pulp?"
As Lu Wan said, using wheat flour to make pulp is a characteristic of this era.
The stone mill had been invented a long time ago. Although it was not popular in Qin, people of this era had mastered the technology of grinding grain into flour.
People usually grind glutinous rice into powder, add honey, etc., and mix it to make a dessert snack called ju nu, which is eaten by the upper class nobles.
In Guizhou Province at the bottom, you can also buy wheat flour or rice flour, mix it in water, and drink it, which is commonly known as "slurry".
Juice was a popular drink in the Qin and Han Dynasties. The government prohibited the people below from drinking alcohol at will, let alone drinking in groups. Therefore, people full of wisdom came up with "pulp" as a substitute.
Nai Gong was not allowed to drink, so Nai Gong mixed wheat flour with water and drank it. Isn't it against the law?
Apart from making "slurry", wheat flour has no other uses. In addition, it requires the use of stone grinding, making this thing quite expensive.
People's main method of eating wheat is to steam it to make wheat rice that is difficult to eat, chew and digest.
The kind where you eat one meal and then squat for half a day.
Therefore, although wheat is one of the five grains, it is eaten by the lower class people and even prisoners and slaves.
Rich people all eat rice and meat, and have always looked down upon things like wheat. Under this influence, even the planting area of wheat is not very large, and it has always been disliked by others.
Zhao Tuo saw it and felt deeply wasted.
These people have no idea how great the potential of wheat flour is, and its plasticity exceeds that of any other grain.
"Let's have a food revolution! In the food world of this era, there is a storm that will change the world!"
Zhao Tuo stepped forward, and in Lu Wan's surprised eyes, he pushed the stone mill himself, feeling the wheat being crushed and cracked under the squeeze of the stone mill, and finally turned into fine flour.
The reason why he grinded the stone himself was not only because he had itchy hands and wanted to try grinding, he also wanted to feel what the stone grinding was like in this era and think about whether it could be improved in the future.
After a while, Zhao Tuo let go and asked the servants in the mansion to continue grinding.
Looking at the servant struggling to push the stone mill in a circle, Zhao Tuo was thoughtful.
Several ways to improve the efficiency of stone grinding and reduce costs have emerged in his mind.
But now is not the time to think about that.
After a while, the wheat was ground into powder. After letting the servants remove the wheat husks, what appeared in front of Zhao Tuo was fine flour.
"Okay, take it to the kitchen."
Zhao Tuo was eager to try it and swallowed his saliva. After eating rice and corn for several years, he could finally taste pasta again.
"Gentleman?"
Amid the surprised looks of many servants and Lu Wan, Zhao Tuo walked into the kitchen of the mansion with his head held high.
Although there is a saying in this era that "a gentleman stays far away from the kitchen", its meaning is definitely not as distorted by later generations, saying that a gentleman must never enter the kitchen.
But because "a gentleman is like an animal: seeing it alive, he can't bear to see it die; hearing its sound, he can't bear to eat its flesh. Therefore, a gentleman is far away from the kitchen."
If a gentleman does not enter the kitchen, he cannot bear to kill.
Zhao Tuo is not killing animals now, he is just using wheat flour to make food. Even if word spreads, others will not say anything.
Not to mention that Zhao Tuo was a Qin general who killed and beheaded people on the battlefield, so how could he care about this kind of moral kidnapping.
Snapped! Snapped! Snapped!
After a while, there were crashing sounds in the kitchen.
It was Zhao Tuo recalling the scene of the noodle master making noodles he had seen in his previous life, beating his newly made noodles to make the noodles in his hands stronger.
"Awan, boil water."
"Today, let's eat noodles!"
…
Zhao Tuo was obsessed with making various kinds of pasta. The government often sent people to buy wheat and grind wheat flour in Xianyang City.
Because this is not the season for wheat to mature, there is not much old wheat on the market. After all, ordinary people do not eat wheat, and most of it is included in official warehouses and used by prisoners and slaves.
Under such circumstances, Zhao Tuo's large-scale acquisitions seemed very abrupt.
This behavior surprised many people who had been paying attention to him.
In the Qin State, wheat rice was generally eaten by prisoners and slaves because it was unpalatable and difficult to digest.
As long as ordinary families have a slightly better life, they will not eat wheat and regard it as a despicable thing.
Not to mention a noble minister like Zhao Tuo who eats meat and drinks wine.
"Eat wheat rice and drink wheat syrup?"
"This young master is also from the Duke of Zhao family. Doesn't it feel good to eat meat and drink alcohol? Doesn't the millet, millet and rice taste good? How could he like the wheat rice that only prisoners eat?"
"Hehe, who knows, maybe the young master likes to eat food only eaten by prisoners."
There was always a lack of doubts and sarcastic voices. Even because of Zhao Tuo's continuous outstanding performance in the war, countless people paid attention to him. His strange behavior spread throughout Xianyang unknowingly.
Many ministers and nobles heard the news.
The young master Zhao Tuo did not like rice and meat, but only liked to eat wheat.
After hearing about this, Qiang Yu, who had been promoted to the title of You Geng, even laughed at Zhao Tuo, saying that even the Qiang people did not eat wheat rice, but Zhao Tuo, a dignified young man with the title of You Geng, actually liked to eat this kind of food. It was really Shame on you.
Under such circumstances, Zhao Tuo finally received news from the palace.
"It turns out that the king asked Fusu to whip Xiong Qi's body. The king is really cruel. This made Fusu and Xiong Qi completely break up. But Xiong Qi's appearance..."
Zhao Tuo's mind flashed back to the scene he saw when he finally inspected Xiong Qi's body back in Xianyang. He couldn't help but shuddered all over and didn't dare to think about it at all.
"No wonder Fusu didn't send a message for so long. He must have been depressed for a long time. That scene probably left a psychological shadow on him, this poor kid."
Zhao Tuo shook his head and felt some sympathy for Fusu.
Then he began to write a reply to the princess.
In the letter, the princess not only explained why there was no communication during this period, but also talked about some of the girl's emotions and asked Zhao Tuo whether he had done anything bad outside.
"I made you something delicious."
In his reply, Zhao Tuo boasted about how delicious the pasta he made was, hoping to arouse the girl's curiosity.
Unfortunately, after the letter was sent, Zhao Tuo did not wait for a reply from the palace, nor did he wait for Fusu's invitation. Instead, he received an edict from Qin Wangzheng to let him enter the palace.
Zhao Tuo was shocked when he heard that it was King Qin who had summoned him.
He secretly exchanged letters with the other party's daughter, but he was still afraid of being caught red-handed.
Fortunately, the envoy's next words quickly put Zhao Tuo at ease.
"Your Majesty is leaving."
Zhao Tuo sighed.
It turned out that Wei Liao, who had finished handling the final matters of the war against Chu during his tenure as Bang Wei, formally requested to resign and return.
Qin Wangzheng kept his promise and agreed to Wei Liao's request to leave.
He also invited all the ministers and generals to hold a banquet in the palace to say goodbye to Wei Liao.
Wei Liao had many suggestions for Zhao Tuo and had been favored to pass down the art of war. Naturally, Zhao Tuo did not dare to neglect this farewell banquet.
He put on his luxurious clothes and went to the Qin Palace for the banquet.
Qin Wangzheng valued Wei Liao very much, so the farewell banquet was held in the side hall where the celebration banquet was held before.
There were many people invited, except Wang Jian who had returned to his hometown and was not there.
Wang Ben, Meng Wu, Li Si, Yao Jia and other generals and important ministers were among them, and even generals such as Qiang Yu and Li Xin came.
Zhao Tuo, who was a young nobleman, sat under Wang Ben and was considered to be at the forefront of the palace.
After the guests and hosts are seated, the music ends.
King Qin Zheng was sitting upright, raising his head and toasting to Wei Liao.
"When Wei Gong entered Qin, he taught me how to love property and bribed the powerful ministers of the six countries to disrupt his plan. If he only loses 300,000 gold, the princes will be gone."
"I followed Wei Gong's plan, disrupted the ministers of the six kingdoms, weakened the six kingdoms, and finally annihilated the three Jin, Yan, and Chu kingdoms today. This is all the result of Wei Gong."
At this point, the King of Qin's political speech was sentimental: "I was about to destroy Qi, and I fulfilled the old promise of 'the princes can be exhausted' with Duke Wei. However, halfway through, Duke Wei abandoned me and left, which made me feel confused. It hurts."
I heard Qin Wangzheng mention the past events.
Wei Liao couldn't help but feel sad.
He assisted the king in front of him to grow up step by step. With his help, this country called "Qin" gradually swallowed up the other five countries, and finally dominated the world now.
He Wei Liao put in countless efforts and effort, so how could he not have any feelings?
only.
Wei Liao raised his head and looked at the king on the main seat.
He remembered his thoughts after meeting Qin Wangzheng and interacting with him more than ten years ago.
The King of Qin was a man with accurate bees, long eyes, noisy birds, and the sound of jackals. He was little kind but had the heart of a tiger and a wolf. I am a commoner, but I see that I am always under my skin. Sincerity makes the King of Qin achieve his ambition in the world, and the whole world will be captives. Don't travel with him for a long time.
At that time, Wei Liao wanted to escape after seeing through the true nature of Qin Wangzheng, but before he could escape from Xianyang, Qin Wangzheng noticed him and invited him back.
Qin Wangzheng's attitude was very sincere and he did not care about Wei Liao's escape. Instead, he appointed him as a state captain and in charge of Qin's military affairs. This moved Wei Liao very much. From then on, he stayed in Qin and seriously assisted Qin Wangzheng.
This stay lasted for fifteen years.
But fifteen years have not made Wei Liao change his original view. On the contrary, he feels more and more that his judgment back then was correct.
When Qin Wangzheng was weak and poor, he would humbly ask others for advice, but once he succeeded, he would be extremely arrogant. No one in the world would be put in his eyes.
If this King of Qin is allowed to unify the world, all the people in the world will become his slaves.
In the past, Li Xin's actions as the general in charge of attacking Chu clearly demonstrated this point.
After the Qin Dynasty destroyed Han Zhaoyan and saw that he had the advantage of annexing the world, he became very arrogant and could not listen to any advice at all. He appointed Li Xin as a general, which ultimately led to the defeat of Chu.
After the defeat, Qin Wangzheng became extremely humble in the predicament. He went to Pinyang in person and asked Wang Jian in a low voice to come out of the mountain.
This arrogance and modesty were in line with Wei Liao's judgment of his character back then.
And seeing the King of Qin becoming more arrogant and arrogant after annexing other countries one after another, not caring about the people of Guizhou, and imitating the palaces of the Six Kingdoms in Guanzhong, wasting people and money, this is a sign that this king has begun to turn all the people into slaves in his hands.
"This is just the beginning. If the world is unified, the king will definitely build a more magnificent palace and do more things to enslave the people."
"I can't persuade you to leave immediately. You can't stay here for a long time."
Wei Liao sighed secretly in his heart. After thinking about it, the sadness in his heart disappeared, his face was calm, and he bowed his head to the King of Qin.
"I am old, and I often feel drowsy in my daily actions, and I am no longer able to bear the heavy responsibility of the king. This resignation is also to let the capable people take up their posts. There are many good generals in the palace of the king, but in the world, there are only the weak and remnants of the Qi Dynasty. There is no need for veteran ministers to control the world."
"Your Majesty's words are serious. A few people can conquer the world. Your Majesty's power is very great."
Qin Wangzheng opened his mouth to express relief, but there was a smile in his eyes.
As Wei Liao said, now he has Wang Ben, Meng Wu, Feng Wuze, Zhao Tuo and other good generals under his command, while the only enemies left are the Qi Dynasty and the Qi Dynasty. In this comparison, he no longer needs Wei Liao. I was confused, so I readily agreed to leave.
Each monarch and his ministers have their own thoughts in their hearts, but they appear harmonious on the outside.
When the king and his ministers are together, they should gather and part ways easily.
Because it was a farewell banquet to see off Wei Liao and not a banquet for an important occasion, the atmosphere in the palace was very relaxed.
Zhao Tuo saw all the generals raising their glasses to bid farewell to Wei Liao and saying some blessings.
Naturally, he would not be an exception. He raised his wine to Wei Liao and said, "Wei Gong once gave me the gift of teaching. Now that I want to leave, I feel very sad. I should pay respect to Wei Gong."
Wei Liao laughed, raised his 卮 with one hand, and held his white beard under his chin with the other hand: "Teaching is out of the question. But your Zhao Tuo's example of fighting against the odds has made me gain a lot. And I heard that you fought in the Huai River, Being surrounded on all sides, the 20,000 Chu army defeated the rebels without a fight. If you think about it carefully, it is really a great achievement. I must be grateful to you."
After saying this, the two of them drank the wine.
At this time, Wei Liao suddenly thought of something, and he looked at Zhao Tuo strangely.
He had always paid attention to this young general and knew that Zhao Tuo liked to make surprises and never did anything useless.
"Zhao Tuo, I am quite confused about something. Could you help me clear my mind?"
Hearing what Wei Liao said, everyone else looked over, and even Qin Wangzheng on the main seat looked at it with some interest.
Zhao Tuo was startled and said hurriedly: "Master Wei, please tell me. I should tell you everything I know."
Wei Liao nodded and said: "I heard that you recently purchased a large amount of wheat in Xianyang, and many people followed you to buy, which actually caused the price of wheat in Xianyang to rise by one yuan. I am very curious, why did you, Zhao Tuo, buy so much wheat?"
After Wei Liao finished speaking, before Zhao Tuo could answer, someone in the hall burst into laughter.
"General Zhao buys wheat and naturally cooks it to eat."
"Don't you think Wei Gong heard that there is a rumor circulating in Xianyang City that Zhao Tuo doesn't like rice and meat, and only likes to eat wheat rice and drink wheat slurry. His food preferences are almost the same as those in Guizhou."
