"Boy, you are a rare visitor! I sent my envoy home a month ago, but you are only willing to come to see me today!"
In the spacious hall, the doors and windows were wide open, and He Basheng was wearing only a single piece of clothing, sitting with his chest exposed, still sweating on his face.
He pointed at Li Tai and laughed and scolded, while holding a pottery bowl of mung bean jelly in his hand, he swallowed most of it in one sip, and after a while he tasted it and said: "This powder is delicious and very cute. Is it really made by your village?"
Where can I find such a skillful cook? Add another bowl!"
"If uncle likes it, I will have it delivered every day. This jelly relieves the heat and moisturizes the intestines, and the flavor is better when the well water cools down the town."
Li Tai originally thought it was a bit shabby to bring only a jar of mung bean jelly to visit him. After all, He Basheng had helped him a lot. However, just after sitting down for a while, He Basheng ate three large bowls of jelly. It seemed that
Sent correctly.
"That's all, it's not easy for you to manage your property. There's no point in spending your manpower on renovating such treasures. Rough work is just one meal. It's a blessing to be able to sustain yourself. It's a waste to add bad taste to your mouth."
After hearing this, He Basheng waved his hand and said that in his opinion, such beautiful and delicious food must consume a lot of artificial materials, and he did not want to cause too much trouble to Li Tai because of his appetite.
"It's just ordinary ingredients, and the workmanship is not clever. I am afraid of eating in summer, so I prepared it to go with the meal."
Most of the older generation of Beizhen warriors came from poor backgrounds, and Kansai was not rich either. At least Li Tai saw that He Basheng and Shuo Hui were simple in style. After hearing He Basheng's words, he smiled and explained how to make jelly.
.
After hearing this, He Basheng's eyes couldn't help but shine: "Can you make exquisite meals in this way? Come and prepare the ingredients. Li Lang will teach me how to cook. You don't have to deliver them every day!"
Seeing that He Basheng really liked this taste, Li Tai explained the production process in detail. However, because the mung beans and other materials used needed to be soaked, and the starch precipitation after grinding also took time, more than ten hours, it was obviously not possible.
Freshly cooked food.
"You are still the famous people, you have so many ingenuities in your daily diet!"
He Basheng also understood the ingredients and workmanship, and couldn't help but sigh. He had mistaken the jelly for a recipe passed down from the Li family in Longxi.
"Life is long or short. If you want to prolong your life, you must maintain your health. But if you are careful, you can make delicious food from ordinary ingredients. You don't have to chase after delicacies. There are indeed some people in our village who are good at eating. I very much welcome my uncle to come and live here.
How many days.”
Li Tai said with a smile again.
After hearing this, He Basheng also smiled and said: "If it's just lip service, then you will be disappointed. I have no long-term commitments today, so I have plenty of free time to wander around in my hometown. But you won't be here for the rest of the month, so you are here to visit today.
Aren’t you just giving me a jar of powder to eat?”
"There has been no news from my lord so far. My son is stuck in the village for a living and has no time to go out to look for you. So I would like to ask my uncle how I can find out the news?"
Since Li Tai was not in a position to directly say that he had been studying the big spinning wheel during this period and working hard to overthrow their Western Wei regime, he first talked about the reason why people are humane.
Whether his father, Li Xiao, is alive or dead has indeed become a concern for him. Although he does not have trouble sleeping or eating, he occasionally dreams about it in the middle of the night.
"If you ask me about this matter, I have no idea. After the defeat at Mangshan, although Wang Sizheng was outside Hengnong City, several forts in western Henan were demolished by the Eastern bandits. The ears and eyes sent to Hebei also had a hard time communicating.
It is difficult to know with certainty whether your father is dead or not. I have also tried to inquire about it, but there is still no news."
Hearing what He Basheng said, Li Tai sighed again.
In the current situation, no news is good news. If his father is unfortunately caught by the Eastern Wei Dynasty and the evidence is conclusive, the clan members who stayed in Hebei will also be implicated. Now he is missing. Even if someone surrenders and confesses, there is still room for evasion.
.
After a great war, information exchange between the East and the West was not smooth, which was actually a good thing for He Basheng in front of him.
On the Mangshan battlefield, He Basheng fled like a dog chased by Gao Huan. His life was in danger for a time. Gao Huan was so angry that he killed He Basheng's relatives living in the Eastern Wei Dynasty soon after returning. After He Basheng heard the news,
Because of this, he contracted an illness due to grief and anger, and died the next year.
Whether it was to repay He Basheng's kindness or to hope that this one of the few people in the Western Wei Dynasty could rely on for a longer time, Li Tai also hoped that He Basheng could live longer.
Now that the news from east to west is blocked, Li Tai can't make any early warning. He changed the topic and said: "I'm here today, and I have one more thing to ask my uncle. I don't know how much hemp hemp has stored in his garden. If it is abundant and of no use for the time being, I will
If you want, buy a batch of them yourself."
"Ma? I really don't know these things. Although I have received a lot of garden property, it is managed by subordinates, so I have no time to ask. Since you are asking, I will ask the person in charge first. If there is any leftover, take it away.
That is, don’t call it buying and selling.”
After He Basheng heard this, he summoned a steward of the family and asked about the relevant matters.
"Zhufangyuan still has more than 7,000 kilograms of raw hemp materials stored in it. If I ask in the first ten days of the month, there are still more than 30,000 kilograms of raw hemp. But in the middle of the month, the Lord ordered the garden to store materials and transport them to the officials, so there are more than 20,000 kilograms of raw hemp.
"
Li Tai was disappointed when he heard the steward's answer, but he couldn't help but ask: "Is it already so difficult to maintain the imperial court?"
"Since the Great Western Inspection, which year has not been difficult? It's just that this year is more difficult. All the armies have lost their morale since Guandong, and Daxingtai has to plan a large military operation after the autumn. It is indeed urgent. I have received great favor from the country, and I have food and drink.
There is no need to accumulate too much, it is better to lose officials and use them to alleviate the current difficulties."
He Ba Sheng twisted his beard and sighed and said: "Even so, the difficulties are still small. Daxingtai wants to practice the pattern of donating and losing money, accepting things and counting merits, and first launches various government offices, in order to ensure the wisdom of the people."
Hearing that Yu Wentai was so poor that he wanted to sell his official position, Li Tai was moved again and quickly said: "Can I predict the reward situation?"
He Basheng said with a smile: "The charter is under discussion, it doesn't hurt to take a look. Xingtai Su Shangshu also mentioned that the reason for drafting the reward structure was inspired by Shu Hu's old plan in your preface."
He Basheng still feels that Li Tai's previous letter was based on his uncle Lu Shuhu's wisdom. Li Tai didn't bother to explain, so he took the document containing the reward and started reading.
This book order lists more than a dozen kinds of materials that are urgently needed by the industry, and marks how much each person and each household can pay, and what kind of official position each person will be rewarded for. It can be said that the price is clearly marked.
There are two main official positions: rural military commander and commander-in-chief, and these two levels of official positions happen to be the middle-level positions in the military structure of later generations. The commander-in-chief is the commander of the township regiment at the county level, and the commander-in-chief is at the county level. Each region has a limit.
How much is still undecided and is obviously still being discussed.
It seems that Yu Wentai has already begun to reorganize Guan Longhao's right part. The soldiers and horses are not moving, but the food and grass are first to prepare materials for the large-scale reorganization of Guanxi's powerful part and the rural soldiers.
Li Tai really wanted to take this opportunity to get a seat in advance, but thinking about his own pocket and looking at the donation prices, he could only shake his head secretly.
Among the more than a dozen materials listed here, one material caught Li Tai's attention, and that was ointment. If you lose 500 dendrobium of ointment, you can be awarded the post of governor.
Compared with other materials, which are often measured in the tens of thousands, this number seems to be relatively close to the people. And Li Tai happens to be thinking about oil extraction related techniques and industries, so he naturally gets excited when he sees this example.
"It seems that the imperial court is in urgent need of ointment. All other measures are in the tens of millions, but only if you pay an official of five hundred dendrobium, you can be awarded an official."
Li Tai pointed at the calligraphy and said with a smile.
"This is to reward the chiefs of the Muhu tribe from all over the world, so I lower my chances of losing."
He Basheng replied casually.
After Li Tai heard this, he was a little confused: "Since it is oil, it can be oil or ointment, so why should I be so kind to Chief Hu? I live in the countryside, and it is common for people to collect seeds and press oil. I guess there is a lot of oil among the people. How can I cultivate mulberry trees?
Even if your household is full of fuel, you won’t be given an official position?”
He Basheng replied: "If you go to the stage and push the rules, if you lose enough, you will be awarded. Naturally, there is no distinction between farming and pasture. It's just..."
"The gentleman knows one thing, but not the other. Folks can use enough oil to press it, and they won't store too much. All oil seed materials must be fat and moist. If the oil is full, there will be thalassemia. If you plant enough oil for one season, you will be poor."
, the work is detrimental to the three autumns. Therefore, when choosing seeds, people must weigh them carefully, use the amount for cultivation, and dare not plant indiscriminately, so they do not accumulate much."
The steward in He Basheng's mansion explained with a smile.
Li Tai suddenly realized after hearing this. He knew that planting soybeans can preserve the soil moisture. The tribesmen also suggested interplanting before, but they proposed to cut off the bean plants to cultivate the fields before sowing wheat. At first, he thought it was a waste of seeds and farming power. It turned out that
This is to ensure the fertility of the land.
"May I ask the manager, how much oil can be produced from each pressed oil seed material?"
Hearing that this steward was also very familiar with farming, Li Tai asked again.
After the steward heard this, he shook his head in embarrassment and said with a smile: "Although I know a little about farming, I am not deeply involved in the industry and I really don't know the details."
"Why are you asking these questions? Do you want to use this order to get an official position?"
When He Basheng saw Li Tai asking questions again and again, he frowned and said, "You have a good background, and there is no need to humiliate it by making such mundane tricks! Even if you hide for a while, you will eventually make a leap, so why should you follow such a complicated background?"
After hearing this, Li Tai hurriedly said: "You can support yourself with tools. If you are rewarded, use it. If you are not rewarded, hide it. How dare I seek power and humiliate the family reputation? Only because I came to the countryside did I know how difficult it is to establish oneself. I hope to be good to everyone, but I end up suffering.
disgust……"
He briefly narrated how he was ostracized by the big families in the village. He Basheng laughed after hearing this: "Didn't Shuhu teach you a clever way to build a business in the countryside? The village tyrants are tough, and you are not the only one who is troubled. We all
Guests are often troubled by this!"
Although it is said that in troubled times, a strong army and a strong horse are the best, but a strong dragon cannot overpower the local snakes. For example, when Gao Huan first entered Hebei, he still had to bow his head to show his goodwill to the powerful forces of Hebei.
Now that the pattern of fighting for hegemony between the East and the West has been formed, although the generals of Beizhen under Yu Wentai have their own factions, if they really dare to play against the powerful people of Kansai, they will not need the Eastern Wei Dynasty to attack, and they will be able to do nothing.
"What I owe is nothing more than material resources. If uncle can help me a little, it will be a big deal for this local tycoon!"
After Li Tai thought for a while, he said with a smile.