Chapter 449: Celebrate New Years Eve for Li Yuan in advance
Zhang Yang walked into his warehouse and looked at the few green onions. He put them in the sun. After all the green onions were eaten, he went up to the mountain to pick wild green onions. In the middle of winter, would there be any green onions on the mountain?
It is one thing to spend money at home like water, but materials in the Tang Dynasty are still expensive and scarce, including onions, ginger, and garlic.
These daily necessities are particularly scarce in winter, especially since my daughter-in-law made a big fanfare this year to make steamed buns for the whole village, which resulted in almost all the green onions being squandered this year.
Seeing the pride on his wife's face, Zhang Yang felt sad, "Daughter-in-law, the winter season is not over yet."
Li Yue nodded and said, "It will pass. It will be fine next spring."
Zhang Yang said melancholy, "In the future, we will have to cultivate more fields and replenish supplies."
A man walked out of his house. It was a lively time in the village, and the children's classes were suspended these days. Zhang Yang looked at Niu Chuang, who was taking a group of men and women from the village to Chang'an City to sell cloth.
The work in the village has also come to an end. After all the cloth is sold, there will be income, and work will start again next year to continue making money.
Zhang Yang looked at the fields. At first, he thought about building a greenhouse. In terms of heat preservation and light transmission, the cost has always been a big problem.
No matter how wealthy you are, you can't use cotton cloth to build a greenhouse. How much cotton cloth is needed for thousands of acres of land?
The cost is too high, and it’s hard to say whether the effect is good or not.
Zhang Yang raised his foot and stomped a piece of mud hard, "Technology, technology! Go to hell with your Central Plains aristocratic families and aristocratic clans. You all study here and there, can't you do something for the people's livelihood? I still want to study polymer materials, right?"
"
"They are all bastards, a group of bastards who only care about themselves. They keep saying they are doing something for the world, for the country, and for thousands of people. I have no problem eating green onions!"
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The yelling and cursing was loud, and Sun Simiao, who happened to be passing by, stepped forward out of curiosity and asked, "Cong?"
Zhang Yang straightened his clothes, "Does Divine Doctor Sun also do research on onions?"
Sun Simiao stroked his beard and nodded, "Of course the old Taoist knows about onions. Onions can also be used to treat wounds. Crush the onions and brew them with water to clean the wounds. There was a guy in the Sui Dynasty who once said that you can extract the juice and apply it on the sores.
That’s when the bleeding stops.”
Zhang Yang took a breath. The ancients still had a lot of imagination when it came to practicing medicine and treating diseases. Onions have a bactericidal effect, but whether they can stop bleeding seems to be different.
"Can it really stop bleeding?"
Sun Simiao snorted coldly and said, "Cleaning the wound will naturally help regulate the spleen and stomach, but stopping bleeding may not."
Zhang Yang folded his hands and nodded, "That's right. If you use onion juice to clean the wound, wouldn't it mean that you can keep the onion fragrance after use?"
"That's natural."
"Can you bear it when you are hungry?"
Sun Simiao was suddenly speechless again.
Onions have many uses in ancient times. Ever since Shen Nong tasted herbs, people have been using onions for various purposes.
Some people use onions in medicinal classics. In terms of edible value, the people of the Tang Dynasty, especially the powerful, did not like onions that much.
This thing tastes spicy, and green onions can be used as medicine or as a vegetable.
Just as a vegetable, the rich and powerful would not eat onions as vegetables, let alone consider the qualitative changes that would occur when paired with some meat, rice and noodles.
Sun Simiao stroked his beard and said, "I don't think it's appropriate to use onion juice to clean wounds. In the past, some people used onion juice when using medicine, and their wounds were extremely itchy. Your alcohol is not as useful."
"I think so too."
Sun Simiao recited an unknown medicinal book and left with steady steps.
Speaking of which, I don’t know how old this old immortal has been since he arrived at Lishan Mountain.
There will also be a banquet held in the village to entertain Li Shimin's family.
Every time Li Shimin came to the village, he consumed a huge amount of food in this small place, especially when he had a family with him.
The screams of the pigs spread throughout the countryside, and it seemed that the pigs were being killed.
Zhang Yang was inspecting the village and was counting the existing property in the village. There were two adult pigs and six piglets in the pigpen.
There are about twenty chickens in the chicken coop, and there are still six that can be killed and eaten. There are still thousands of eggs. In the winter, there is no need to worry about these eggs hatching chicks. The villagers will also use these eggs.
Take it out and sell it for some money.
No matter how wealthy your family is, supplies are still a top priority, especially when the seasons change. This situation is even more obvious. In winter, only cold-resistant spinach and cabbage can be eaten.
Zhang Yang clasped his hands and looked into the distance. He didn't know how well they had accomplished what he had told the Persians to do. Did they find potatoes? Even if they didn't, they could still find peanuts and peppers.
"What are peanuts?"
Hearing the words behind him, Zhang Yang looked back and said, "Your Highness, King Wei, did I just say something?"
Li Tai nodded, "You just spoke, talking to yourself."
Zhang Yang still frowned and looked into the distance.
Li Tai asked again, "Are peanuts delicious? What are potatoes?"
"A kind of ingredient. With potatoes, the Tang Dynasty will never be short of food. If it doesn't work, sweet potatoes will do. I asked the Persians to take care of it. I thought they could find cabbage. Can they find it?
Other good stuff.”
"Ingredients that can make the Tang Dynasty have no shortage of food? Seriously?"
With the current population and food quantity in the Tang Dynasty, there are more acres of cultivated land than there are people.
Ten years of war were fought at the end of the Sui Dynasty, and the country was pacified at the beginning. After Li Yuan ascended the throne, it took another five years to quell the chaos in various places.
The population is greatly reduced and productivity is insufficient.
Now that Li Shimin is on the throne, he is right to encourage the development of people's livelihood, promote population growth, and reduce taxes to boost the population.
In other words, what Datang needs to improve most now is productivity, and productivity is the first priority.
The Tang Dynasty's food reserves can currently cope with it. After the drought in the third year of Zhenguan, successive years of bumper harvests have given the Tianhan Khan great confidence.
So much so that now Li Shimin is a little distracted.
"Brother-in-law! You haven't answered me yet."
Zhang Yang came back to his senses and said, "There are still many treasures in the far west waiting for us to explore. I don't know if your father is interested in sending people out to sea to find treasures."
Li Tai walked back and forth, "It is recorded in the classics that since ancient times, only one out of ten people who went to sea has never come back. Some people say that there is Penglai Fairy Island overseas. I think there is no such thing. These
Most likely he died at sea."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "His Royal Highness King Wei is right. In fact, I think so too. In the future, if His Highness King Wei wants to usurp the throne, he can let the prince go to sea and let him think that overseas is really true.
There are immortals there, so that we can seize the throne of the crown prince without any bloodshed."
After a long moment of silence, another gust of cold wind blew by, and Li Tai said in a deep voice, "Although the prince is not as intelligent as me, he is not that stupid."
Chatting with my brother-in-law, I walked out of the village and came to the blacksmith workshop.
Zhang Yang looked at the compass in front of him, and saw that there was no change so far, and the results were better than before.
Taking out this bronze mirror from Li Tai, alloy casting was already in use as early as the Pre-Qin Dynasty.
Zhang Yang suspected that this bronze mirror used alloy technology. Because of the endless wars in the past dynasties, many of the casting techniques of the time were lost.
Knowing that the King of Wei was here, Master Jiang walked outside the blacksmith workshop.
Seeing Li Tai's frowning face, he asked in a low voice, "May I ask if this little Zhang has made His Highness the King of Wei angry?"
Li Tai waved his hand quickly, "He did not bully me."
Master Jiang said with a straight face, "I haven't bowed to His Majesty the King of Wei yet."
Zhang Yang quickly bowed and saluted.
"No need to salute. If anyone dares to salute me in the future, I will interrupt..."
Looking at his brother-in-law, Li Tai swallowed his words again and had to lower his body to return the favor. Damn it! This is so bullying.
What exactly is this brother-in-law’s hobby?
Zhang Yang took out a drawing and said, "Master Jiang, this is the next research goal of our blacksmith shop."
Looking at the drawings and thinking for a moment, Master Jiang tugged at his beard and asked, "What is this?"
"This thing is called a spring. In short, it is an elastic iron coil. His Highness the King of Wei painted it like this. By casting, the cross-section of the iron coil was increased or reduced, and the load-bearing capacity of the spring was adjusted.
.”
After hearing what he said, Master Jiang nodded, "As expected of His Highness the King of Wei, he can think of such weird and rare things."
Li Tai's face drooped, his eyes were dull at the moment, and his brain was in a shutdown state.
Zhang Yang further explained, "His Royal Highness the King of Wei also said that you can try to mix other materials to improve the toughness during casting. How to do it specifically needs to be explored by many master craftsmen."
Master Jiang saluted Li Tai, "Your Highness, King Wei, don't worry."
While saluting, he also pulled Zhang Yang to salute with him.
It's okay to just pretend, but I still want to put this shameful name on my head.
Li Tai pulled Zhang Yang's sleeves and walked out of the blacksmith's workshop. Zhang Yang was not allowed to come to the blacksmith's workshop in the future. It was too torture.
Master Lao Jiang holds the blueprint in his hand and is full of fighting spirit.
"Master Jiang, the young man who is following His Royal Highness the King of Wei is named Zhang?"
Master Jiang nodded, "Just call him Xiao Zhang. When he was in the west of the city, he always asked others to call him that."
Someone else said, "I heard that the county lord who holds the princess's land is also named Zhang."
"Yes, it seems that it is also the age of twenty."
Everyone's eyes turned to Master Jiang.
"What do you think I'm doing to you, old man? This guy was so poor back then that he came to Tiehukou and was so poor that he could only eat a piece of cake for a day. How can he be a county marquis? Don't even think about it."
After hearing this, everyone was relieved of their doubts. They were all simple and kind-hearted people who just kept their heads down and worked.
In these days, as long as you have the skill of forging iron, you will never go hungry. If you are not in Chang'an City, even in the state capital outside, you need such craftsmen.
"Master Jiang, this Xiao Zhang is now working as a disciple of His Highness the King of Wei. Will he become an official in the future?"
"His Royal Highness the King of Wei's disciples must also have official positions, and maybe they can support Master Jiang in his old age in the future."
"If it's better, I can give Master Jiang a chance to rekindle his life as a widower."
Listening to the joking around, Master Jiang glared at him, and then everyone continued busy with the things at hand.
Lishan's dinner party began. In order to celebrate New Year's Eve for Li Yuan in advance, Li Shimin also transferred manpower from Taichang Temple.
Taichang Temple is in charge of rituals and music. A group of maiko danced in front of Li Yuan's house, and there was constant sound of bells and drums.
Zhang Yang came with Li Tai, and the banquet was grand.
Sitting down next to his wife, Zhang Yang looked at the dishes in front of him, a pot of braised pork, then a pot of spinach and mutton.
The most indispensable thing nowadays is mutton. The contracted grasslands on the grassland have as much mutton as they want, and they can’t sell them all.
Noticing her husband's distressed look, Li Yue whispered, "The queen mother said that salt has been produced in the Tubo Salt Lake, and it is all fine salt. She said that Lishan will send some to us next year, and it will probably not be less than
One stone.”
At the current price of salt, one stone of fine salt costs about ten guan.
Compared with coarse salt, fine salt is more expensive, and salt is still indispensable for soy sauce.
Having said this, Zhang Yang felt much better.
The night breeze kept blowing. Zhang Yang took off his coat and put it on his wife, stroking her belly and asking, "Will it be cold?"
Li Yue was wearing a thick coat, "It's not cold, it's very warm."
There is no alcohol at tonight's banquet. Except for Li Shimin and his wife, there are only a group of children.
As soon as the dance ended, the children started to make a noise.
Li Zhi stood in front of people and read poems.
Mr. Ouyang Xun and the teacher were also present.
The more high-profile the banquet is this time, the better. At least the people in Chang'an City will understand that His Majesty is celebrating New Year's Eve in advance for the Supreme Emperor.
The banquet ended after half an hour, and Li Shimin kept talking to Li Yuan.
During this period, Li Yuan was smiling all over his face. It seemed that the father and son had a good chat.
It wasn't until midnight that the banquet dispersed.
Zhang Yang walked side by side with his wife, followed by Xiao Wu and Xu Hui.
It's rare that the little devils in the palace don't live at home.
The queen also did not want the children to disturb her too much because Li Yue was pregnant.
When I walked to my residence, everything around me became quiet again, and there was only the sound of wind in my ears.
Zhang Yang opened the door and saw that Aunt Yang had prepared a heating stove. There was a kettle on the stove and the water was already boiling.
The little bear also returned home. Aunt Wang fed it food. The bear opened its mouth and ate very ferociously. It must have been starving.
Walking into the home, Li Yue and the two little girls took off their coats and sat by the stove to warm their hands and feet.
God, it snowed again at this time.
Zhang Yang frowned and looked at the night sky, "The snow this year is good. The auspicious snow heralds a good harvest. The next year will be another good harvest."
Li Yue handed over a bowl of tea, "Husband, drink tea. The meat and vegetables at the banquet are too greasy."
The villagers are simple. To the women in the village, the greasier the food is, the more affluent the place is. The same is true for the royal family, so it naturally reflects the generosity of Lishan.
South of Lishan Mountain and three thousand miles to the east, Luoyang City is still prosperous at this moment.
In a courtyard, Li Bin stood with a group of children from aristocratic families and told about his experiences along the way. He shouldered the important task entrusted to him by His Highness the King of Wei.
In front of these children of the aristocratic family, he said bad things about the current Khan. The more he belittled the Khan, the happier these children of the aristocratic family were.
As long as he can win their trust, Li Bin doesn't mind speaking more lawlessly.
It has been a month since I arrived in Luoyang, and I don't know what the arrangements were for His Royal Highness King Wei. After asking around, these children of the aristocratic families found that there was actually a person like Li Bin in the clan.
You can fabricate a clan member out of thin air. How powerful is His Highness the King of Wei?