On December 30, the fourth year of Jian'an, the last day of the fourth year of Jian'an, basically the entire Han army, except for the necessary security forces, went on holiday.
Everyone has been in a state of eating and drinking since the morning, which is very enjoyable.
On weekdays, the main meal in the morning is thick vegetable porridge, which can be served as a side dish. Xili Hulu is a delicious and filling meal, and it also protects the stomach. Having said that, who can refuse more delicious and high-end food for breakfast? What about the options?
For example, the pure meat porridge is full of meat, and the fragrant fried flatbread.
Not to mention rare food such as meat porridge, the soldiers were surprised to find that when they bit into the fried flatbread, the fried flatbread was filled with a thin layer of meat. It tasted so fragrant and delicious that they couldn't stop eating it.
Soldiers are like this, and officers are similar.
Among the Han army, the food standards for officers were not much higher than those for soldiers, because the food given to the soldiers was already very good.
Therefore, Guan Yu often imitated Liu Bei and ate with the soldiers. He would eat whatever the soldiers ate.
Guan Yu himself was not a person who cared about his appetite. Of course he was willing to eat some food, but he would only deal with a few bites if he didn't have it.
Generally when marching and fighting, Guan Yu is unlikely to eat the fine delicacies prepared by his family in Luoyang City, unless it is a festival. Even if it is a festival, such a sumptuous meal like this one is really rare.
So Guan Yu was in a high mood. He got up early in the morning and ate three bowls of meat porridge with the soldiers, and ate three pancakes. He gnawed the pancakes and drank the meat porridge. He was very full and felt warm all over. So comfortable on this cold winter day.
When he was almost done eating, he caught a glimpse of Guo Jia holding a bowl and chatting and laughing with a few soldiers, drinking porridge while laughing, so he became interested and went over to sit with Guo Jia.
"Looking at how happy you are eating, this kind of food should be very common for someone from your background, right? You must have eaten better things, right?"
Guo Jia turned around and saw Guan Yu and chuckled.
"The Guo family is a big family. There are rich families and poor families in the family. My family is just a small branch of it. It is not a rich family. It just wants to make ends meet.
I'm lucky. I haven't been hungry since I was a child. But if you want to eat big fish, big meat, dragon liver, phoenix marrow, etc., then you are overthinking it. In ordinary times, you can eat better and eat some rice. Order meat dishes.
If the year is bad, my family will have to live frugally. If we can't eat dry food, we will eat watery food. We will eat a few watery meals a day. Whether we are hungry or not, we just feel like our legs are wandering when we walk and we don't have any strength. "
Guan Yu nodded and took a bite of the pancake in his hand.
"This is not easy. In the previous world, I never went hungry since I was a child, which is a good thing that many people can't dream of. My family is relatively well-off, but when times are bad, hunger is common and there is not enough food. When eating, you must work hard to eat.
The elders in the family say that it doesn’t matter if a child goes hungry for a few times, and he can make up for it later, but if the strong laborers don’t have enough to eat, no one will do the work in the fields, and everyone will have nothing to eat, and serious children can only eat a few meals. Having a full stomach and being able to drink and eat meat will have to wait until you follow the general. "
Hearing this, Guo Jia looked at Guan Yu deeply.
"I didn't expect that a figure like General Guan had ever suffered from hunger."
"Guan is not a great person. Without the guidance and support of the general, Guan might still be on the run, not knowing where to go. He might be dead."
Guan Yu sighed and looked at Guo Jia again: "Fortunately, I met the general like you, and that's how we are today... Forget it, let's not talk about this. Today is a happy day, let's talk about some happy things. , have you ever eaten mutton stew?”
Guo Jia shook his head.
"I've eaten roasted lamb, and I've eaten boiled lamb, but I've never eaten braised lamb. How do I cook it?"
"Before the wok came out, we had never eaten it. Only then did we have this method of stewing red stew."
Guan Yu smiled and said: "It seems that this is also the credit of the general. He felt that the existing seasonings were too monotonous, so he asked someone to get something called soy sauce. It is said to be made from beans as raw materials. It tastes extremely delicious. , put a little in when cooking meat dishes, it will be more delicious.”
"Really? I told you why the pork was so delicious when the general gave him a banquet. I didn't dare to ask what was going on. I see."
Guo Jia smiled and said: "Then I have to taste this delicious food today! Hey! I didn't expect that I could eat such good food in the army! The general is really willing to give it up!"
"Isn't that right? The production of soy sauce is not high now, and some of it is used by the army, so there is no need to sell it. You kid is lucky to catch up. You have to eat more meat this time, otherwise it will be bad next time. I don’t know when it will be.”
Guan Yu smiled and patted Guo Jia on the shoulder.
Finally it was noon and the main meal was about to begin.
The old fireman in Guan Yu's army started preparing very early. When he saw that the time had come, he turned on full fire and led his men to carry the wok to perform the Eighteen Subduing Dragons.
More than two hundred woks were started at the same time, and the entire Huotou Army camp was suddenly filled with flames and aroma. The sound of stir-frying and the sound of oil popping were extremely pleasant, which made the Han soldiers who were watching the excitement drool and their eyes tremble. Straight.
The strong aroma of meat-scented oil exploded with the fire, filling the entire Han army camp, and then gradually spread outwards. A gust of cold wind blew the strong smell farther away.
The soldiers of the Yellow Turban Army who were guarding the defense line on the hill woke up early in the morning from the cold.
On the last day of the fourth year of Jian'an, I don't know if it's good news or not. Anyway, the snow has stopped, and they don't have to worry about their newly built wooden house being crushed due to heavy snowfall.
But what followed was a sudden drop in temperature, and they didn't have any warm clothes, but they weren't enough.
As the saying goes, if it snows, it will become cold if it doesn’t snow. This is especially true in the south of the Yangtze River. There is enough water vapor in the south of the Yangtze River, so the snow does not melt as slowly as in the north of the Yangtze River. The snow in the south of the Yangtze River melts quickly, and what follows is a sudden rise in temperature. The temperature dropped very quickly, and it was normal for the temperature to drop by seven or eight degrees in one night.
With the Yellow Turban Army's means of keeping out the cold, it was okay to get through the past few days, but it was more difficult to get through today.
So they could only move their bodies and keep breathing. It seemed that by doing this, they could warm their frozen hands and their bodies without shivering from the cold.
The colder it gets, the more they look forward to eating something hot to keep their bodies warm and their heads full of hot food.
But it was the Chinese New Year, and I was looking forward to having something good to eat. When it was time to eat, all I had in hand was a simple bowl of gruel and half a piece of cake.
It was quite warm, but the resentment in everyone's heart could not go away at all, so a group of people squatted together with porridge bowls, drinking porridge and complaining at the same time.
"Why is it still gruel? Today is the New Year's Day. I heard that those people above can eat meat. Why is it our turn to only have this gruel? Just stuff this little thing into our stomachs, and it will be gone in a while. How to fight?"
"Who says it's not? But it's good to eat some. I heard that except for the people above, those in the mountains can only eat one meal a day. At least we can still eat two."
"I think so. It's good to be alive. I was the only one in my entire team who survived. The others were all burned to death. It's good to be able to eat a bowl of porridge alive and keep warm. I think so. Do more."
"That's what I say, but...these damn Han soldiers have been eating meat every day these days. Where did they get so much meat? It tastes so good..."
A Yellow Turban soldier holding a bowl of porridge sniffed and swallowed uncontrollably. There was a mixture of hatred and envy on his face, which was very complicated.
In the past few days, these people on the front line smelled the rich aroma coming from the Han Army camp every day, and looked at the steaming and bustling scene at the Han Army camp. Tears of emotion shed from the corners of their mouths and eyes, and they were completely under control. Can't live.
They imagined the scene of the Han army eating meat, and then looked at the bowl of gruel in their hands, and the feeling of disparity in their hearts became worse day by day.
(End of chapter)
