After dawn, the officers opened the tents to wake up the sleeping soldiers. When the soldiers rubbed their still confused eyes and lifted the curtains, there was already a world of ice and snow outside.
The hills in the distance, the fields and woods nearby are all covered with white snow, and the vast whiteness makes people feel indescribably comfortable.
The wind and snow did not stop completely. Snowflakes were still falling, but they were much smaller than at night. The wind also gradually stopped.
The snow is as thick as the calf, and if one steps on it, one foot will be like a snow hole.
It is warm after frost and cold after snow. This is not true at all.[
The temperature outside was much colder than last night, a bone-crushing cold.
The soldiers were not intimidated by the cold and rushed out of the tent excitedly. Taking advantage of the short time before breakfast, they rolled snowballs like they did when they were children.
The peaceful military camp suddenly began to boil, full of life, with people having fun, those feeding the horses, and those cleaning up the tents. It looked chaotic, but everything was going on in an orderly manner.
Peng Dachui and other thieves were placed in two tents, and no one was watching over them. After hearing the noise outside, they got up quickly. But they didn't know what to do, so they had to stand there and watch the Liao army fight there.
.
Shi Dayong did not restrain the fighting soldiers. Like his subordinates, he also had a childlike innocence hidden deep in his heart. If he had not been a general, he would have joined the snowballing team.
In the distance, a group of sentinels were on routine vigilance.
Suddenly, an unpleasant stench followed the direction of the wind and penetrated into the nose of the soldier who was playing in the snow. The smell was indescribably disgusting, fishy, and seemed to be the stench of a rotting corpse.
Smelling such a foul smell so early in the morning, the soldiers were immediately disappointed. Each of them frowned and looked in the direction from which the smell came.
Not far away from the wind outlet, there were four large pots steaming out, gurgling and no one knew what was being cooked. Obviously, the stench the soldiers smelled came from these four pots.
"What's cooking in the kitchen? It's so smelly?"
"You won't ask us to eat this smelly stuff, will you?"
"No food?"
""
The soldiers who didn't know what was going on asked each other, and some even wondered if the army had run out of food.
"Stop guessing, what's cooking in the pot is horse meat."
The wolf cavalry knew about horse meat, and when they saw the Changping soldiers making wild guesses, they told them about bringing horse meat to the camp last night. But like the Changping soldiers, no one expected that horse meat was actually
Such a bad smell.
"Why does horse meat smell like this? Is it edible?"
Someone among the Changping soldiers asked, but the wolf cavalry had never eaten horse meat. They had only heard from the elders that horse meat had a strange smell. As for the strange method, no one knew. After all, they were cavalry.
, in this world, unless they are in desperate situations, cavalry will not slaughter their own horses. Naturally, they also explore the strange smell of horse meat.[
The more no one answered, the more curious the soldiers became. Gradually, the curiosity about horse meat replaced the smell in their noses. All the soldiers, including the wolf cavalry, rushed towards the four cauldrons, thinking
Know what the horse meat cooked in this pot looks like.
However, the smell of horse meat was so unpleasant that many Changping soldiers couldn't stand it after smelling it for a while and ran away.
The team leader, Chen Laoshi, was born in a military household in Ningyuan. Because of his old age, he could not go to the battlefield, but as a military household, he had to obey orders in the army. Originally he was just hanging around and fought several battles with the Liao army, but
One is not to come back in defeat.
When Shi Dayong first arrived in Songshan as a garrison, he counted the army sergeants and selected the young and strong ones to reorganize into battalions. He eliminated a group of those who were too old. Chen Laoshi and other seven or eight old military households in their fifties were
, was sent to the kitchen by Shi Dayong.
Later, the kitchen was incorporated into Li Dashan's supply camp. In the battle outside Dalinghe City, the supply camp was almost completely wiped out. Then the Battle of Xiaoling River and the Jinzhou Defense War occurred one after another. This supply camp never had the opportunity to reorganize.
Then, Shi Dayong led his troops to Beijing to present prisoners, and he did not bother to reorganize the supply camp, so he brought Chen Laoshi and other veteran military households in the palace to be responsible for boiling water and cooking for the soldiers who went south. He originally thought that after returning to Jinzhou,
After setting up a supply camp and sending these veteran military households home, the Emperor unexpectedly issued an imperial edict and ordered the Jinzhou Army to go south to Shandong to quell the rebellion. This disrupted all Shi Dayong's plans, including Chen Laoshi and other veterans.
The military households could only follow them all the way south.
Although they could not go home, Chen Laoshi and other military households did not complain. After all, they were sent home by General Shi. They were still military households in the guard station. They would still be working as coolies for other officers. They might as well be here in Songshan.
In the army, at least, you have enough food and enough money. Although you don't have much money, you can still add some oil and salt to your family.
Since going south, whenever he set up camp, Chen Laoshi always wanted to cook some meat for the general and his brothers, but the food provided by the place rarely provided meat, let alone any living animals.
This is not because the localities are unwilling to supply, but the fact is that the weather has been bad in various places in recent years. The crops grown in the fields have not yielded much, and people are running out of food. There is no food left to feed livestock, such as cattle.
They are all the property of wealthy families, and the government strictly prohibits slaughtering them. Therefore, wanting to eat beef is basically a fantasy.
Therefore, being able to cook a meal of meat for the brothers is the biggest wish of several veteran military households including Chen Laoshi.
This time, I finally got my wish. Although it was horse meat and the taste was unpleasant, it was still meat.
Therefore, seeing that the soldiers were disgusted with the smell of horse meat, Chen Laoshi directed the old military households to use big shovels to turn the meat in the pot, and said to the soldiers with a smile: "Brothers, don't dislike the smell of horse meat."
It smells bad, but it tastes delicious. I guarantee you’ll want the next one after your last meal!”
"Chen Laoshi, you are so stupid. This horse meat smells so bad, who would be willing to eat it?" The speaker was General Manager Song Qing, who was covering his nose with his hands.
Seeing that it was Mr. Song, Chen Laoshi smiled hurriedly and said: "Mr. Song, you don't know this. You know that stinky tofu is just the same as horse meat. It smells stinky and tastes delicious! Come on, come on, this
The meat is already cooked. If Mr. Song doesn't believe it, come and taste a piece. You'll know after you eat it." After saying that, he picked up a piece of horse meat with a shovel and brought it to Song Qing.
The horse meat was square in shape and looked cooked. If you put your nose to the nose and smell it, it didn't seem that smelly.
Song Qing picked up the piece of horse meat hesitantly, but because it was a little hot when it was just taken out of the pot, he changed his hands.
"Chen Laoshi, is this horse meat really as delicious as you said? If it's not delicious, I'll settle the score with you." Song Qing was still a little doubtful about the taste of horse meat.
Chen Laoshi slapped his chest as if he was sure, and said with a smile: "Master Song, just be patient, eat, eat."
Seeing that Chen Zhenshi was so sure, Song Qing couldn't help but feel moved. In addition, a group of soldiers nearby also urged him to have a taste, so he lifted the piece of horse meat to his mouth, chuckled and said, "Okay, I'll do it for my brother."
Let’s try it.”
After saying that, he opened his mouth and was about to put the piece of horse meat into his mouth. Unexpectedly, as soon as the meat reached his mouth, his arm was hit hard and the piece of horse meat fell to the ground.
"Who!"
Song Qing was a little annoyed and turned around to see who was so bold. When he turned around, he found that they were a few strangers. They were wearing ordinary people's clothes and were not from the military.[
"Who are you? Where are you from? Why did you take off my flesh? You are looking for a beating!"
Song Qing was furious. He didn't know about the general recruiting thieves in Qiushui Town, so when he saw that several common people dared to attack him, he naturally became angry.
The man leading the charge was pale. He was naturally Peng Dachui. He did not answer Song Qing's question. Instead, he shook his head and said, "Master Jun, this meat cannot be eaten."
"Uh? You can't eat this meat?" Song Qing and the Jinzhou soldiers were all startled.
Chen Laoshi was anxious, pointed at Peng with a shovel, and cursed: "Where are you from, a wild man? You dare to say that my horse meat is inedible! Have you ever eaten horse meat? If you haven't, don't mess around."
It’s a joke, I’ve never heard of horse meat being inedible. Hey!”
"I'm not saying that this horse meat can't be eaten, but" Peng Dachui didn't know how to explain to the Liao army. He simply bent down and squatted down to pick up the piece of horse meat that fell on the ground, then took it in his hand and tore it hard, then pointed towards it.
Song Qing and the soldiers said: "Look, this meat has not been fully cooked and there are blood stains in it. If you eat it now, you will be poisoned!"
Everyone looked at the torn horse meat, and sure enough, there were still blood streaks in the middle that had not been cooked through.
The first time Chen Laoshi cooked horse meat, he thought it was cooked together with beef and mutton. Seeing that the outside was almost cooked, he thought the inside was also cooked, so he dared to take a piece of it and give it to Song Qing to try. Now he saw that the meat was not yet cooked.
I couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. But I couldn't blame him, because horse meat was old and difficult to cook.
But being undercooked doesn't mean it can't be eaten, but it has some blood streaks left, so why shouldn't it be eaten? If you said the meat was poisonous, Song Laoshi wouldn't believe it even to death. Horses are not the same as cattle and sheep. They all eat grass.
How can it be poisonous? Even the mule that is a cross between a horse and a donkey is not poisonous!
Seeing Song Qing and a group of sergeants looking at him with doubts in their eyes, Song Laoshi was so anxious that he pointed at Peng Dachui and shouted: "If you say it's poisonous, it's poisonous!"
Peng Dachui opened his mouth and was about to say something when he heard Shi Dayong's voice coming from his ear. "Old Song, he is right. This horse meat is poisonous. However, if it is boiled, it will not be poisonous. If it is not boiled, it will not be poisonous."
If it's overripe, the poison won't come out and you won't be able to eat it."
Shi Dayong smiled and walked through the soldiers and came to the pot. Then he glanced at Peng Dachui, nodded and said: "If it hadn't been for your reminder, I would have almost made a big mistake and harmed my brothers. I will remember this feeling."
Already."
Peng Dachui did not speak, but turned around and led a few of his men out of the crowd.
"General, what do these people do?" Song Qing still didn't understand the identities of these men.
Shi Dayong revealed their identities and asked Song Qing and others not to make things difficult for these horse thieves. Then he told Chen Laoshi not to rush to get the horse meat out of the pot and to cook it over a high fire for half an hour.
Of course, Chen Laoshi didn't dare not do what the general said, and he hurriedly shouted to several old military households to add more firewood.
Half an hour later, the meat in the pot was cooked through. When I poked it lightly with a shovel, the meat melted into the thick soup.
The smell of horse meat was no longer smelled, and was replaced by a strong fragrance.
During the march and war, the food was not that particular, and there were almost no condiments, except for salt and garlic.
In order to allow his subordinates to eat horse meat with peace of mind, Shi Dayong took the lead in fishing out a bowl of horse meat and ate it with garlic.
Seeing the general taking the lead, the soldiers naturally no longer had any doubts. At that moment, hundreds of people were eating meat and drinking soup, and they were happily eating.
Shi Dayong did not forget to ask Chen Laoshi to fill a bucket of horse meat for Peng Dachui and the others, and Peng Dachui and the others were not polite.
The person who implemented it, Dayong, did not know that the horse meat was not edible before it was cooked, but Cao Bianjiao suddenly remembered and hurriedly told him.
Because I stayed up half an hour longer, the departure time was later than Chen hour.
At this time, the wind had completely stopped and the snow had basically stopped, with only a few small snowflakes floating down.
Just as he was about to order the whole army to set off on the road, the Sentinel Cavalry came flying over with two soldiers from the Beijing camp.
Seeing Shi Dayong in general uniform, the two soldiers from the Beijing camp immediately saluted, then took out a letter and handed it to Shi Dayong respectfully, saying: "We are from the Shenji camp, and we have given it to the general on the order of Eunuch Gao.
Send a letter."
A letter from high dive?
Shi Dayong frowned slightly, opened the fire seal on the letter, took it out and read it. After reading it, his face changed a bit.
Jiang Wanli saw him at the side and asked nervously: "General, what did Gao Qiqian say in the letter? Are you going to hold us accountable for beating his horse supervisor?"
"No." Shi Dayong shook his head and grinned: "Eunuch Gao has good intentions in this letter."
"Good intentions?" Jiang Wanli was startled: What kind of intentions do you have to raise your potential?
Shao Wu, Cao Bianjiao, and Li Dashan also rushed over after hearing the news. They were all surprised when Shi Dayong said that Gao Qiqian had good intentions.
Shi Dayong handed the letter to Jiang Wanli and said calmly: "Gao Qiqian's letter said that our road east to Dengzhou has been blocked by the rebel army Chen You. Chen You has five thousand rebels under his command. Gao Qiqian said
Qian asked me not to attack rashly, otherwise there would be a risk of defeat."