Autumn is passing quickly, and winter in the north has arrived early. (.) This winter has seen a lot of rain and snow. From the winter months to the twelfth lunar month, heavy snow and light snow have alternated almost continuously. Even if it doesn’t snow, the weather will be gloomy. By the time December
In the middle of the month, it was finally sunny.
From the watchtower, the white snow turns the vast land into a pure white. This expanse of whiteness stretches as far as the eye can see. Farmland, fields, rivers, woods or hills have all turned into a snow-white world, and the vast whiteness has been connected to the sky.
the end of
On the horizon that is unknown how far away, the blue of the sky and the white of the earth draw clear lines, which makes people fascinated. They can't help but want to go over there, to the end of Kyushu, and go deep into the endless world called the Great Wilderness.
Heaven and Earth, Exploring the Stone · 4 Explore the Unknown World.
"Teacher, disciple, farewell!" On the road at the entrance of Dayuan Village, Mo Yin led his entourage to bid farewell to Yuan Shi, "Although I really want to stay with the teacher and listen to the teachings, the winter and spring festivals are important events of the country, and disciples cannot
I dare to be negligent. I hope the teacher will forgive me."
"You and I are called master and apprentice, and we are brothers, so why are you so polite!" Yuan Shi said with a smile, "In winter, we offer sacrifices to our ancestors to thank our ancestors for their blessings; in spring, we offer sacrifices to heaven and earth to pray for a good harvest. This is as important as war.
As for the matter, as the crown prince, of course you should rush back to participate in the sacrifice - in fact, if I hadn't been unable to leave, I should have attended originally..."
He was right. The winter and spring festivals were the highest and largest sacrifices in the country. As a senior official of the country, according to the etiquette established by the Holy King in the past, he should indeed participate. But the Holy King had already
He has been dead for many years, and the emperor's authority has long been weakened with the continuous decline in strength. In a place like Beidi, which is almost on the border of Kyushu, who will take etiquette and law seriously?
Only relatives of the Mo family can participate in the grand ceremony of the Guzhu Kingdom. Not to mention Yuan Shi, a new official who has only been in office for a few months. Even though he has made countless contributions to the Guzhu Kingdom, Jiang You, who is the head of the country's most important ministers, has been
Deliberately supporting the Stone Story·4 Open, not allowing him to participate!
Jiang You will naturally be a little dissatisfied with this, but no matter how dissatisfied he is, he can't go against Mo - even the monarch can't do such a thing, let alone him.
"Little stone! What do you think this is?" Old Jiang You said angrily beside the hot stove. "When you want to do something, just come to us foreign officials; when you want to sacrifice, just support us."
Come on...don't we, as officials of Lone Bamboo Kingdom, even have the qualifications to participate in sacrifices?"
"Uncle Jiang, don't worry about it. You've been doing this for so many years." Yuan Shi doesn't care much about this. He is an atheist. Even though he is indeed in a world with immortals, monsters and magic at the moment,
He also still has an atheistic heart. In his opinion, neither ancestors nor heaven and earth promote production. Prosperity and people's livelihood are more important.
No, let alone important matters such as people's livelihood, those things are not even as good as the broth being cooked on the stove!
For Yuan Shi, there are many benefits of being an official. The biggest benefit is that the monarch gave him a set of ritual utensils. There are four types of ritual utensils in this set, including a cauldron for cooking soup, a gui for eating, and a set of ritual utensils.
A washbasin for washing your face and a bell for playing music. But Lone Bamboo Country is very poor and does not produce copper itself, so a set of more than ten ritual utensils is reduced to four. If placed in those prosperous countries
, I think you will be laughed at.
But in fact, even among these four ritual vessels, Yuan Shi only used three of them.
The tripod can be used to cook soup, broth, fish soup, vegetable soup... It can also be used to cook porridge. Although it seems a bit unhealthy to use bronze vessels to stew soup, it is not commonly used after all, so there is no need to worry too much; it can be used for washing
Washing your face and hands is necessary every day; of course there is only one bell that cannot be used to play music, but it is enough to be used as an alarm in the watchtower... The only thing that is not used is the gui, because he is not used to it at all
This kind of thing is easy to use with a wooden bowl...
"Little stones, that's not how ritual utensils are used..." Jiang Youran persuaded him. From the perspective of an old man who is familiar with etiquette, Yuan Shi's purely pragmatic approach is really inconsistent with etiquette, and ritual utensils should be used more solemnly.
That’s right!
But after he drank the broth cooked by Yuan Shi in a cauldron, he stopped saying such things.
He could only shut up, because even a highly respected elder would be unconvincing if he drooled while looking at the soup in someone else's pot.
The village used to use pottery, which was not strong and made cooking very inconvenient. Since getting the bronze tripod, Yuan Shi has used it to cook almost every day. Jiang You's biggest hobby in his life is eating and drinking. Since he stays here
There was good food and drink, so naturally he was too lazy to leave.
Anyway...the little things that the monarch arranged for him are not worth mentioning at all!
The air-dried animal meat is fat but not greasy, and is stewed with wild vegetables such as ginger, onion, leek, and so on. The aroma is astounding. When the broth is slightly boiling, the green vegetable leaves are also rolling with the milky white soup, which makes people feel excited.
Just looking at it will whet your appetite.
The broth is paired with thin porridge made from millet seeds. After being crushed by a stone mill, the millet seeds become easier to boil and make the thin rice porridge appear a warm golden color, with even a floating layer on the surface.
The viscous rice milk is refreshing and thick when combined, and a refreshing fragrance spreads between the mouth and nose.
With such a delicious meal in front of him, how could Jiang You be willing to leave! He wouldn't leave even if you chased him away!
After eating and feeling warm all over, Jiang Youye couldn't help but take out his treasures and offer them as a tribute - the gourd he carried contained a strong sour, slightly sweet, and slightly alcoholic taste.
drinks.
"This is wine, a treasure brewed by the psychic white ape from fruits. Although it tastes a bit weird at first, you will feel very comfortable once you get used to it. It is warmer than hot water. Drink some, and your internal organs will be affected.
It's warm, and your head will feel a little light... That feeling is really wonderful!"
Yuan Shi watched Jiang You carefully drinking "wine" and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
"Little guy, what are you sighing for?" In the spiritual world, Yuan Shigong couldn't help but ask.
After getting along with him for this period of time, he already knew Yuan Shi's personality very well. Although this young man was extremely intelligent, his nature was not contaminated by wisdom at all. He was definitely not the kind of bad person who used his wisdom to tease and laugh at others.
The reason why he sighed so long was probably because he discovered something that made him sympathetic and sad.
"I know a way to make wine that can make much better wine than this. But I can't make wine for him... so I sigh."
"How to make wine? If you listen to me and practice hard, you will be able to go deep into the wilderness in up to ten years... As long as you are careful to avoid those wild beasts, there are many spiritual springs in the wilderness that can flow out wine. The wine in those wine springs
, this kind of monkey wine is unmatched!”
"Do you think I have that much free time?"
"...Then why don't you use your own method to brew wine for him? I think you have a good relationship with him. Since we are friends, what's the harm in brewing wine for him?"
"Alas! My brewing method uses grain as raw material, and it takes a lot to brew wine!"
“What’s the harm in consuming grain?”
"Grains are food, and food is for people to eat. Our Guzhu country is not rich in products, so how can we waste so much food?"
"How can brewing be considered a waste? Isn't it natural for people of status to enjoy it?"
"...You and I still don't get along..."
This small episode did not affect the chat between Yuan Shi and Jiang You. They ate and drank - of course, what they drank was Yuan Shi's thin porridge cooked with wild vegetables and millet seeds. Jiang You's monkey wine was not easy to get.
, I could only take a sip occasionally - soon the meat in the cauldron was finished, and the porridge in the small wooden bucket was also finished.
Jiang You put down his bowl and chopsticks, burped, stood up and moved his body, letting out a long sigh of contentment.
"Little Shitou, you really know how to enjoy life!" He said sincerely, "I am originally from Lu Di, and my hometown has always been famous for its food that is never tired of fine food, and the food that is eaten is fine."
Kyushu is the hometown of gourmet food. But compared to you, the cooks in my hometown can only be regarded as laymen!"
"Then what you are saying is that when the world becomes peaceful in the future, even if I resign and go into seclusion, instead of being a doctor, I can still be the best chef in the world?"
Jiang You was amused by Yuan Shi's words, and couldn't help stroking his beard and laughing: "You are already a doctor at the age of seventeen, and you will definitely be in a high position in the future. Even the courts of the Five Marquises and Nine Uncles may not be able to accommodate you, I'm afraid.
It is possible to ascend to the emperor's court, or even to split the soil and become a prince. How can there be any reason in the world for a dignified king to retire and become a cook?"
"Even if you don't become an official or a marquis in the future, but live in seclusion in the countryside, you will definitely be a sage famous in the world. There must be your family among hundreds of families, and you must be a sage among all sages - said
He may still be the most sage in the world! The status of the great sage in the world is no less noble than that of the king of a country. Then even if you are willing to deign to be a cook, who will dare to let you cook shamelessly? "
So Yuan Shi couldn't help but laugh.
A world that is so peaceful that the world-famous wise men can work as chefs with peace of mind... it will definitely be wonderful!
"Then I have to work harder! If I don't work harder, I won't be able to bring peace to the world until I die, and then it will be even more impossible for me to realize my dream of being a chef!"
"What a great idea! It's a pity that I won't be able to see it anymore... If you really become a wise cook, you must come to my grave and tell me!"
For a time, the room was full of laughter, and the two sages of Guzhu Kingdom, an old man and a young man, formed a friendship that lasted forever.
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Sorry, I still couldn't write another chapter of the big adventure today.h!!!
