The group of people soon arrived outside the Mingde Gate. Pei Yuan suddenly sighed, feeling really sympathetic to the emperor Shi Jingtang.
Luoyang is too dilapidated to be the capital, but how much better can Kaifeng be? It has also experienced many wars and been ravaged!
Especially in the battle of the Tang Dynasty to destroy the Liang Dynasty more than ten years ago, Kaifeng Prefecture bore the brunt and was wiped out by the Silver Spear Army, which made great contributions to the later Tang Dynasty to destroy the Liang Dynasty.
Then Zhuangzong Li Cunxu's Shatuo Ya'er Army became angry and pretended that no one had made any meritorious service, so they looted the area around Kaifeng again.
When Li Cunxu finally made Luoyang his capital, in addition to showing that he was the orthodox of the Tang Dynasty, Kaifeng was too badly damaged to be able to assume the role of a capital city.
But he didn't expect that Luoyang could no longer stand up. After more than ten years of repairs in the Later Tang Dynasty, it was finally surpassed by Kaifeng, who had recovered his health.
The palace where Shi Jingtang currently lives is the palace of the Zhu family of the Later Liang Dynasty. This palace was originally rebuilt on the office of the Xuanwu Jiedushi in the late Tang Dynasty and was short and small.
Although it is currently the only masonry building in Kaifeng, it is completely incomparable to a real palace.
After entering the Mingde Gate, we walked a few steps and arrived outside the Daning Palace. This palace, which was rebuilt after the official office of the Xuanwu Jiedushi Envoy, was called Jianchang Palace in the Later Liang Dynasty.
Shi Jingtang renamed it Daning Palace two months ago. Even the Wende Palace, where the emperor originally rested when he went to court, was renamed Daning Palace.
Never in the past dynasties has the Wende Palace been renamed to such a strange name, but Pei Yuan knew why.
Daning Daning, Shi Jingtang wanted to find peace for himself!
"Officials of the Song Dynasty, the palace attendants in a certain palace are all in a hurry and have solemn expressions. Is it Ye City..."
The Song officials mentioned by Pei Yuan were the chamberlains Shi Jingtang brought to Kaifeng from Luoyang.
This man originally served Li Siyuan, Emperor Mingzong of the later Tang Dynasty. After Li Congke killed his adopted brother Li Conghou and a large number of his adopted father's descendants, he felt that Eunuch Song was an eyesore, so he sent him away.
After Shi Jingtang entered Luoyang, Eunuch Song took advantage of his old relationship with Shi Jingtang and fawned over him. Soon he became a close friend of Shi Jingtang. He didn't have much power for the time being, but he was still well-informed.
During the questioning, Pei Yuan thrust a small jade pendant into Eunuch Song's hand. Eunuch Song looked straight into the distance, squeezed it quickly with his right hand, and then lifted it slightly, and the jade pendant quickly disappeared into the wide sleeves. middle.
This was specially arranged by Zhang Zhao for Pei Yuan. In addition to its own value, a jade pendant can be exchanged for ten pounds of Hexi white sugar and one pound of rock sugar at any Sogdian shop in Kaifeng City that sells Hexi goods.
These two items are quite valuable hard currency in today's Central Plains. You can earn more than ten dollars by changing hands casually, not to mention that it costs nothing.
Eunuch Song looked at Pei Yuan with a smile and a little admiration.
"Shilang Pei had a clever plan. If Fan Yanguang from Yecheng had a disobedient heart, he has raised a flag to rebel in Yecheng. The rebels are coming south. The saint has been worried about this and has not had a good meal for several days."
As he said this, Eunuch Song let out a long sigh. It was obvious that Fan Yanguang's rebellion made him, a person who didn't know much about military affairs, feel a bit scary.
This Fan Yanguang was no ordinary person. He was a fierce general who went to the battlefield with Li Siyuan, Emperor Mingzong of the later Tang Dynasty. Yecheng was the territory of the Tianxiong Army. The Jiedushi of the Tianxiong Army used to have a name, Wei Bo Jiedushi.
Although Wei Bo's Silver Spear Army was hit hard by successive emperors because of excessive military democratization, it is now basically extinct.
But without military democratization, the combat effectiveness of Wei Botian's army is still very terrifying.
Moreover, they also have a big feud with the Hedong soldiers of Shi Jingtang's group. When it comes to fighting the Hedong soldiers, it is estimated that Wei Bo Tianxiong's army will be able to explode 200% of its combat effectiveness.
At the same time, Fan Yanguang was also related to Li Congke, the late Emperor of the Tang Dynasty who died by self-immolation at Xuanwu Tower in Luoyang a few months ago. His daughter married Li Congke's prince Li Chongmei and became his princess.
When the Xuanwu Tower self-immolated, Fan Yanguang's daughter and son-in-law died together, and they had long hated Shi Jingtang in their hearts. Once the rebellion was successful, would all the people close to Shi Jingtang still be able to eat good juice?
. . . .
In the Daning Hall, Shi Jingtang was relatively calm. At least from his face, there was no trace of any nervousness or anxiety.
However, Pei Yuan still felt something unusual, because Sang Weihan, who usually looked at him with a picky nose and eyes, not only did not have a horse face, but also made an exception and managed a smile.
"The minister presented Hexi delicacies a few days ago, and today I finally have some free time, so I invited the minister and Sang Xiang to enjoy it together."
Shi Jingtang said to Pei Yuan with a smile. It must be said that his appearance as a courteous and virtuous corporal was indeed a bit like a master.
The so-called offering of delicacies has always been a way for vassals to express respect for the emperor of the Central Plains.
Of course, presenting delicacies does not mean preparing the food and presenting it to the emperor, but sending the ingredients, cooking methods and even the cook to the palace, and then the cook will prepare the food and present it to the emperor under the supervision of the emperor's confidants.
The delicacies presented by Pei Yuan on behalf of Zhang Zhao were actually very simple. One dish was Anxi cheese lamb chops, which is made in Anxi and is quite different from the lamb chops in the Central Plains.
One dish is braised pork with rock sugar. This is the new thing Zhang Zhao brought. It is actually the sweet Dongpo pork.
Historically, it was invented by Su Dongpo, a delicious old fat man, and the improvers were famous chefs of the past dynasties. It was only fully developed in the late Qing Dynasty.
Finally, there is a drink, salty milk tea and sweet tea made with Hexi brick tea and butter.
You see, he said that he was presenting delicacies to the emperor, but Zhang Zhao actually wanted to take over the emperor's golden sign and open up sales for Hexi's three major specialties, white sugar, rock sugar and tea bricks.
Among them, white sugar and rock sugar were intended to open up sales to wealthy families in the Central Plains, while tea bricks were intended to open up sales to Khitan and other northern nomads from Shi Jingtang.
After all, according to Shi Jingtang's status as the emperor, Lord Yelu Deguang would send him various gifts from the Central Plains every year. Zhang Zhao hoped that from the tens of thousands of gifts every year, Chazhuan would follow him northward as the protagonist.
At this time, the meal-sharing system was still adopted, and the rules between monarchs and ministers were not as big as those in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The three of them cooked more casually, and the food was divided in advance and served by the servants.
Shi Jingtang first tasted the salty milk tea, which was not much different from the butter tea of later generations.
For ordinary people, the taste is a little strange when drinking it. Ghee is a taste that must be constantly exposed to before you can get used to it.
But Shi Jingtang was born in Shatuo, and his ancestors may even be Sogdians, so he was still very accustomed to this taste. After drinking it several times in a row, Pei Yuan felt a little tired, but Shi Jingtang didn't think so at all.
"I heard that this tea brick was made by Zhang Junzhang himself? Yes! It tastes very good, and the tea brick is also easy to preserve.
The taste of this milk tea is much better than that of boiled tea soup, but the quality of the tea leaves is a little worse. "Shi Jingtang drank and commented at the same time.
The tea soup at this time is really a soup. In addition to tea leaves, coarse salt, mutton fat, pepper, nutmeg, ginger, garlic, orange peel, red corn, etc. must be added. The taste can kill people!
What Zhang Zhao made was called milk tea. In fact, compared with the current tea soup, the butter tea was simply refreshing and salty or sweet.
Although Pei Yuan didn't like it, Sang Weihan still had to admit that the tea bricks, milk tea and sweet tea in Hexi were indeed better and less boring than the tea soup.
"How can the bitter cold land in the Hexi frontier be compared to China? Hexi tea bricks are just sold to barbarians everywhere, but if some famous Chinese tea can be made, it may be sold to the nobles of the Liao Dynasty!"
A smile appeared on Shi Jingtang's face, and he quickly understood what Pei Yuan meant.
That is, good tea leaves can be used to make high-quality tea bricks and sent to Yelu Deguang and other Khitan nobles. Pei Yuan did not say it directly because he was concerned about his face.
Pei Yuan glanced at Sang Weihan and saw that Sang Weihan wanted to speak, so he quickly spoke before Sang Weihan could speak.
"Now that we've had milk tea, I'd like to invite everyone to try Hexi Braised Pork with Rock Sugar. This is a dish invented by Zhang Sikong. Hexi is poor, but this dish is very rich!"
Sang Weihan was blocked and could only lower his head and continue drinking tea, but he was thinking in his heart. Since this tea brick, milk tea, and sweet tea are suitable for people in the northern grasslands to drink and are conducive to preservation, the production method must be made in Hexi. Just hand them over.
Shi Jingtang hadn't thought of this yet. When he heard Pei Yuan's strong recommendation, he gently opened the lid of the clay pot with rock sugar braised pork in front of him. Suddenly, a meaty aroma mixed with a rich sweetness spurted out from the pot. .
"It's actually pork meat?"
Shi Jingtang was surprised. He didn't expect that the delicacy offered by Hexi was pork.
Although pork was relatively popular at this time, the upper classes did not eat it much.
This is because pork was a cheap meat in ancient times. First of all, the breeding environment was relatively poor, and it was far less clean than the sheep grazing on the hillside.
This makes pork more susceptible to various parasites. If you don't pay attention to the fact that the meat is not fully cooked, you can make people sick.
In addition, the pig castration technology at this time was not yet mature, and it was often the case that pigs could not survive after being chopped.
This is very deadly. It is difficult to feed the meat if it is minced. The meat smells like urine if it is not minced.
And if it is not done, the interval between estrus of pigs is relatively short. Once in estrus, they will become thinner, they will not be able to be contained, and sometimes they will hurt people. Therefore, pork has never been able to become a stable and reliable supply of meat.
"Hey! Why is the pork so plump?" Sang Weihan also opened the lid of the rock sugar braised pork, and his eyes were attracted by the thick fat of the braised pork.
Fat is a good thing in this era. Three pounds of ordinary lean meat can’t buy one pound of fat.
"Returning to Sang Xiang, this pork meat is taken from the black pig that is unique to Hexi. The meat is plump and plump. It is most suitable for braised pork. It also has no fishy smell. Please try it with Sang Xiang!"
Pei Yuan looked at the surprised eyes of the two people and said with some pride. When he first came into contact with Zhang Zhao, he was also so stunned that he almost thought that Zhang Zhao had come from some kind of immortal.
How could there be a child in this world who could not only lead troops to fight, but also know how to be a king, could make tea bricks, milk tea and braised pork, and finally castrate pigs?
Why did Zhang Zhao slaughter pigs? In fact, he doesn't know how to do it, but he knows how to do it!
Because before time travel, he often followed some weird UP owners on the Shushu video site, including a weirdo who specialized in sterilizing wild boars in areas where wild boars were infested.
Therefore, although he has never done it in practice, he knows how to do it. After sterilizing the knife, he directly catches the piglet, pinches the penis with the balls, makes a slit, and then squeezes the balls out directly. that is.
There is no need for anesthesia, and there won't even be much blood. Just pay attention to sterilizing the knife and doing a little suturing.
So under his guidance, after hundreds of innocent piglets were killed and maimed, the pig-raising craftsmanship in Liangzhou area advanced rapidly, and there were even pig-raising craftsmen who specialized in making a living from slaughtering pigs.
However, currently we can only breed boars, and we are still gaining experience in the more complicated craft of breeding sows.
Since Pei Yuan said that this was Hexi black pig, Shi Jingtang no longer cared about it being pork meat.
He stretched out his kuaizi and pinched it gently, then put a piece of rock sugar braised pork wrapped in red sugar liquid into his mouth.
Immediately the emperor's eyes lit up. The braised pork in his mouth was alternately fat and lean. The lean meat was not as rough as ordinary pork. Instead, it was slightly soft when chewed and had a very good taste.
Not to mention the fat, it was soft, like a ripe red apricot, and melted away with just a sip.
The plump fat exploded in the mouth, a satisfying feeling of fat that could only be obtained by creatures at the top of the food chain, flooding the mouth from the inside out.
Taking advantage of this explosive fat flavor and taking another sip, the sweetness brought by the orange-red syrup instantly filled the entire mouth.
This kind of sweetness is completely incomparable to the faint sweetness of ordinary brown sugar. This is a rich sweetness that is completely different from honey.
The gap between people's diet at this time and that of later generations is still quite big. In the eyes of later generations, the big fat meat that is too greasy, plus the extremely sweet syrup, is simply the culprit of the explosion of calories and the shape of the body, and is unhealthy. Standard pronouns.
But in this era where most people have trouble eating enough, fat meat and extreme sweetness represent the highest level of enjoyment.
Shi Jingtang finally understood why Pei Yuan said this dish was extremely rich. Because people who are not rich and wealthy cannot eat and cannot afford such dishes.
The room suddenly became quiet. Although Pei Yuan had eaten a few times in Hexi, he didn't get to eat this dish often.
Not to mention Shi Jingtang and Sang Weihan. Although they had seen a lot of the world, they were still shocked and speechless when faced with this kind of culinary essence that exceeded hundreds of years.
After a long while, Sang Weihan finished eating a large jar of braised pork with rock sugar, then he stopped and let out a long sigh.
"Hexi has such good syrup and such good pork meat. Zhang Sikongdang will be very rich!
On the contrary, China today is in dire straits waiting for new developments, money and food are in short supply, and governing the country is even more difficult than in Hexi. I wonder when will a saint be as wealthy as Zhang Sikong? "
Pei Yuan despised Sang Weihan in his heart. This Sang Guoqiao was not sighing, nor was it a compliment. It was actually arousing Shi Jingtang's covetousness for Hexi white sugar and rock sugar.
Maybe it doesn't take this person to be very seductive, Shi Jingtang also obviously noticed this. He looked at Pei Yuan with burning eyes. Although he didn't say anything, his meaning was obvious.
Pei Yuan could only leave the table. He saluted Shi Jingtang and said, "When I came from Hexi, Sikong had given instructions that although the techniques for making white sugar and rock sugar in Hexi are secret recipes passed down from ancestors, they should not be revealed to others easily.
But China is Sikong's homeland, and Tang'er in Longyou, Hexi Province, is proud to serve his motherland.
Now that the country was newly established and everyone in the imperial court was looking for money, Zhang Sikong understood the righteousness and was willing to hand over the exclusive right to sell Hexi white sugar and rock sugar in China to the imperial court.
In the future, white sugar and rock sugar will no longer appear in the hands of other merchants east of Tokyo. "
At this time, China in the narrow sense refers to the Central Plains. Pei Yuan was granted the official position of Minister of Household Affairs Department by Shi Jingtang, so he could call Shi Jingtang a minister.
Shi Jingtang and Sang Weihan looked at each other. Zhang Zhao was obviously using the exclusive sales rights of Hexi white sugar and rock sugar east of Tokyo in exchange for Hexi rock sugar and white sugar to be sold smoothly in other places.
Sang Weihan thought about it for a moment, then nodded indifferently. Although this person is shameless, his talent in governing the country is actually very good.
Before Shi Jingtang entered Kaifeng, he silenced Shi Jingtang.
He claimed that he would farm and cultivate mulberry trees to fill his warehouses, open trade routes to enrich his wealth, train farmers and raise soldiers to accumulate wealth, and serve the Khitan in a humble manner to secure the country.
In fact, although Shi Jingtang and Sang Weihan were quite shameless, their shamelessness was more out of helplessness.
The two of them were not born lowly and were willing to surrender to the Khitan, but they were forced by the fear of death and the current situation.
Both of them knew very well that if they wanted to save their heads and secure their seats, the biggest threat was not the Khitans, but the unruly generals and tooth soldiers.
Although the Khitans wanted to be Shi Jingtang's father and extorted a large amount of money, they would not rush to take Shi Jingtang's life or take away his throne.
But around Shi Jingtang, the warriors who had been accustomed to making troubles and rebellions for decades or hundreds of years, besieging Shangguan and even plundering the emperor, were the demons who could kill Shi Jingtang at any time.
For example, currently, although Shi Jingtang entered Kaifeng and became the emperor, this emperor's status is not even as good as when she was the military governor in Hedong.
Only a few months after entering Kaifeng, Fan Yanguang raised a flag to rebel in Yecheng, north of the Yellow River.
And within the city of Kaifeng, Yang Guangyuan, the rebel general who had killed Zhang Jingda, the Northern Recruiting Envoy of the Later Tang Dynasty, and supported Shi Jingtang, had actually taken control of Kaifeng's city defense.
Shi Jingtang's Hedong tooth soldiers were too exhausted in the war and were unable to fight against Yang Guangyuan. Yang Guangyuan even openly went to Bianjing City to find fortune tellers, asking them to see if he had the appearance of an emperor?
It was so blatant that Shi Jingtang couldn't even punish him even if it was said on his face that I wanted to rebel.
In the vassal towns outside, in addition to Fan Yanguang directly raising the flag to rebel, An Chongrong, who was dissatisfied with his humble service to the Khitan, had also long ago rebelled. Fu Yanrao, the brother of Tongzhou Jiedushi envoy Fu Yanqing, Huazhou Jiedushi envoy Fu Yanrao was also kidnapped by the rebels. Rebellion.
Even Liu Zhiyuan, who Shi Jingtang himself stayed in Jinyang, Hedong, had second thoughts. In order to weaken Yang Guangyuan's power, Shi Jingtang secretly sent angels to Jinyang and asked Liu Zhiyuan to dispatch 4,000 Hedong Ya soldiers to Kaifeng to balance Yang Guangyuan's power.
However, the order has been issued for more than five months. Shi Jingtang has not seen a single Hedong Yamen soldier and said nothing, and Liu Zhiyuan has not even given an explanation.
There are domineering warriors inside, and there are rebellions by the vassal government outside. As long as the confidants are exposed outside, they will immediately become unreliable.
In this case, Shi Jingtang, who had already had the miserable experience of being forced to hang himself by Li Congke, naturally would not care about his face.
He would not even think about how much harm it would bring to future generations. What he and Sang Weihan were thinking about now was how to save their lives.
Only after stabilizing the Khitans and embracing the Khitans, Shi Jingtang had time to slowly accumulate strength.
This is called holding the Khitan's thigh to command the princes.
"Zhang Sikong understands righteousness so well, and he is really setting an example for foreign ministers. Years ago, the Tang Dynasty consecrated Zhang Sikong's great ancestor Zhang Taibao as the founding Duke of Nanyang. A saint should follow the example and confer Zhang Sikong as the Duke of Nanyang."
The ancestral secret recipes had all been brought out, and of course it was impossible to ask others to share them, but Zhang Zhao gave the exclusive rights to operate the business, and he had to show it, so Sang Weihan thought of the title of Nanyang Founding County Duke that Zhang Yichao had received.
Pei Yuan was almost speechless. The exclusive right to sell white sugar and rock sugar was replaced by a Nanyang County Duke who could only earn dozens of shilumi a year and was deducted.
What's the use of a county official who can't even pass it down from generation to generation, let alone hereditary replacement?
"Minister, I would like to thank Your Majesty Zhang Sikong. Zhang Sikong often said that his lifelong ambition is to imitate his great-grandfather Zhang Taibao and surrender the six counties of Hexi to the country.
I never thought that now that the six counties have not surrendered, everyone would generously grant the title of Duke of Nanyang. I really deserve it! After I return to the post house, I should send someone to report back to Zhang Sikong in Liangzhou immediately.
However, based on my understanding of Zhang Sikong, Sikong has always believed in the saying that no reward will be received without merit, so it is unlikely that he would even express his gratitude. "
Yin and yang are weird, avoid the important and take the easy, right? Who can't do it? You're a bullshit talent!
Shi Jingtang shrank slightly. Pei Yuan's words were hidden in words. On the surface, they were saying that Zhang Zhao had a noble character and was not rewarded for his merits.
In fact, he was telling Shi Jingtang that Hexi white sugar and rock sugar are produced in Hexi, and not everyone can make them.
Zhang Zhao could give the exclusive rights to the court, but he could also veto it at any time, or refuse to implement it.
The so-called surrender of the six counties of Hexi to the country was on the surface to explain Zhang Zhao's life aspirations to Shi Jingtang, but in fact it was to say that Zhang Zhao's request, that is, if Hexi Jiedushi was envoy, he would not be able to get Long Wangshu.
Zhang Zhao, who had thousands of elite soldiers and ruled millions of people, only wanted to be a Hexi military envoy like his ancestor Zhang Yichao Taibao.
If the court could not meet such a small request, then why did he surrender the six counties to the country and give Shi Jingtang so many benefits?
"Ah! By the way, I have something that I have yet to report to Your Majesty!"
Pei Yuan seemed to have just remembered something and pretended to be panicked.
Shi Jingtang took a deep breath and waved his hand, "Yuying, please speak!"
Pei Yuan looked a little presumptuous this time and looked directly into Shi Jingtang's eyes and said: "When I left, His Royal Highness Li Shengtian, the great sage and great king of the great dynasty of Anxi and the great dynasty of Jin, had already sent envoys to Liangzhou.
His Royal Highness the King of the Jin Kingdom is Zhang Sikong's uncle. The Jin Kingdom was able to encompass the Western Regions and overwhelm Persia, Tianzhu and other countries, thanks to Zhang Sikong's power.
It is a pity that Sikong has not yet been able to clear the way back to his motherland, and the envoys from the Kingdom of Jin cannot come to Tokyo to congratulate His Majesty.
This is really sighing! If Hexi can be connected to the country, and Anxi, a prosperous country with a population of four million people like the Jin Kingdom, comes to the court, His Majesty will definitely be able to show his power! "
'Gudong! Shi Jingtang couldn't help but swallowed his saliva. Historically, when he was unable to secure his seat this year, he impatiently sent envoys such as Gao Jujie and Zhang Kuangye to Khotan.
What for? Isn't it just to use the opportunity of canonizing Li Shengtian to show that Shi Jingtang is a righteous king?
Since Tubo fell into the four towns of Anxi, Anxi, which the Late Tang, the Later Liang, and the Later Tang were unable to control for two hundred years, has returned to the national territory. Doesn’t it mean that he is Shi Jingtang’s destiny?
You see, the emperors of the late Tang Dynasty, Zhu Quanzhong and Li Cunxu, were inferior. Only I, Shi Jingtang, could recover Anxi!
Thinking of this, Shi Jingtang couldn't calm down anymore. He looked at Pei Yuan and asked, "Is what Yuying said true? Is Sikong's ambition really to surrender the six counties of Hexi to the country?"
"I will never dare to speak falsely. This sentence is true. If there is any untruth, please behead me!"
Pei Yuan said with excitement, but in fact he had no emotion at all.
Not to mention the shameless Sha Tuoer who deceived Shi Jingtang, he was a kind gentleman. In order to get Zhang Zhao the position of Hexi Jiedushi, he could deceive without blushing or heartbeat.
Shi Jingtang was silent for a moment, constantly fighting between heaven and man in his heart. He really did not want to confer the official position of Hexi Jiedushi to Zhang Zhao.
Because Hexi and Hedong have always been the places where the country has produced elite soldiers and generals, but now Longyou is occupied by everyone in the Momo, and the court is unable to control it.
If a Hexi Jiedushi with strong troops and horses appears in Liangzhou, the annexation of Longyou will definitely be a matter of time.
In this world, there is a Hedong Jiedu Envoy, which is enough to give the Central Plains court a headache. If there is another large Hexi Longyou Jiedushi Envoy, how will the life be passed?
Just when Shi Jingtang was hesitating, shrill screams were heard in the distance, and a tall and strong man burst into the Daning Hall with a cry, startling the three people who were eating.
Shi Jingtang shouted and jumped three feet high. He looked towards the entrance of the hall in horror, thinking that there was a military riot.
Sang Weihan dodged behind the screen at an extremely fast speed.
Pei Yuan: "......"
In an instant, the three people who had been eating and chatting just now left him, who was not so sensitive, sitting alone and messy behind the crotch.
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
How about my fragment? Do you want to praise me? (It’s really not that I want to break the chapter! It’s just that I haven’t figured out how to write the subsequent plot.)
