The setting sun was blocked by tall branches and distant mountain peaks, and the light dimmed. The cold wind was still howling. Although there has been no heavy snow in the past few days, the snow has not stopped.
Walking on the snow on wooden clogs, listening to the creaking sound, it was very interesting. Li Shan carried the wooden box and walked to the village entrance not far away, accompanied by several guards. He still didn't see anyone, so he shouted angrily.
Voice.
Several figures emerged from behind the tree. Fan Shiyi, the leader, smiled and said: "I just said that the husband will not forget."
"If it weren't for Zhao Da's reminder, I would have really forgotten you guys." Li Shan scolded with a smile: "Zhao Da said it when he saw it was wontons... Fan Shiyi likes to eat wontons the most."
Fan Shiyi opened the wooden box, grabbed a dumpling and stuffed it into his mouth, then smiled at the limping Zhao Da.
Dumplings in the Sui and Tang Dynasties are no different from those in later generations, except that they are not called dumplings, but wontons. In Li Shan's impression, wontons in later generations have square wrappers, and those with round wrappers are called dumplings.
"Yeah, it's very fragrant. It's made from mutton stuffing." Fan Shiyi clicked his tongue twice and swallowed three or four in the blink of an eye.
Today is New Year's Eve, and most of the guards have gone home to reunite. However, Su Dingfang and Wang Junhao have made a rule before that night patrols in the village and noisy sentries outside the village can be stopped. Li Shan doesn't want to break the rules, so he asked the kitchen to prepare dumplings and personally
Delivered one by one.
"Slow down." Zhao Da bent down and took out a few gourds from the wooden box and handed them over, "There is still soup."
Li Shan looked at this scene with a smile. In addition to Su Dingfang, there are several other marriages that have been decided next year. For example, Fan Shiyi is about to marry Zhao Da's sister.
Today, there are five to six hundred households in Sun Moon Lake, with hundreds of young and middle-aged people, and their origins are also very complicated. Some people from Shandong, Hedong, Guannei, and Shuozhou have married daughters of the Zhu family, and some have married foreign girls.
All in all, integration through marriage is the most direct and effective method.
In this regard, Zhu Wei, Ling Jing, Wang Junhao and Zhang Zhongjian have all done this deliberately.
After Fan Shiyi and others had finished eating, Li Shan asked someone to put away the wooden box and said, "Look at the weather, it might snow at night. I will ask someone to bring some cotton-padded jackets over later."
"Don't worry, the entrance to the village is ready." Fan Shiyi wiped his mouth, "Mr. Lang goes back first, he has to go to court tomorrow morning."
Li Shan smacked his lips, he really didn't want to go... I'll probably have to stay up until the afternoon for the court meeting tomorrow.
When we got back to the house, the food had been prepared. Today, the menu was ordered by Li Shan himself. The chef was transferred from Dongshan Restaurant, and there were three tables full of food. One table was for the female family members in the side room, and two tables were in the main room.
In addition to the common dishes, there was also beef, which was specially sent by Yuan Junzhang who still lives in Sun Moon Lake... This person has been in Beijing for more than half a year, and he is very aware of the importance of the King of Handan in Chang'an.
"I'm finally back." Zhang Wenguan was gearing up and shouted: "Today I want to see how much wine Mr. Huai has!"
Zhang Wenguan was very worried about the whipping he received.
"Don't be greedy for the cup." Zhang Wenxi reprimanded: "Tomorrow Huairen will go to the court meeting. It's not a small matter to be disrespectful on the first day."
Li Shan chuckled and said, "Zhigui... Brother Wenxi has nothing to do tomorrow. He will not take up his post until after the Lantern Festival."
Zhang Wenxi's face froze, and he saw that his younger brother was looking over with malicious intent... Li Shan's guess that day was correct, it was indeed Zhang Wenxi who uttered those two lines of the poem.
Today is New Year's Eve. The fathers of the Zhang brothers are far away in Hedong. Li Shan simply invited them to come. The rest are all residents of Zhuangzi, such as Ling Jing's family, Su Dingfang's mother and son, Wang Junhao, his mother, and his younger brother.
"Let's all serve it to the table." Li Shan glanced at it a few times, "Where is Sanlang going?"
Zhang Zhongjian, who was walking out, paused and hesitated without replying. Wang Junhao on the side hugged his shoulders, "We fought side by side against the enemy that day, but today we are so coquettish?"
Li Shan introduced to Zhang Wenxi: "Zhang Sanlang was originally a soldier of Shuozhou and joined the army. The battle of Cangtou River was his design and planning to trap the Turks and achieve a great victory."
Zhang Wenxi smiled and nodded, extending his hands to greet each other, thinking that the King of Handan was really thoughtful. Meeting him at night would be like encountering a ghost.
Ling Jing, who had already sat down, stroked his beard and smiled. Regardless of others, Zhang Zhongjian may not be like Su Dingfang, but he is much better than Wang Junhao. It is a pity that this appearance... Huairen is willing to use it.
Several families, including the Zhang brothers, Zhang Zhongjian, Qu Silang, Zhu Ba, Zhou Erlang, Qi Laosan and others, sat at two full tables. Li Shan raised his glass and said: "This year's war in the North, we will defend the stronghold and pursue the pursuit northward.
If it weren't for you, how could you succeed?"
Everyone stood up with their cups in hand, and the table was silent for a while.
"Many old friends died in Shuozhou, and their spirits are not far away. We should drink this glass of wine together."
Everyone spilled half of the wine on the ground and drank the rest in one gulp.
"It's a pity that Brother Huairen will go to work in the fields after the new year. If there is a war next time, you should bring your younger brother with you." Zhang Wenguan said with a smile: "Prancing a horse and whipping a whip, this is a man's ambition."
Wang Junhao smiled and said: "Why don't you follow Lang Jun to Tongzhou next year?"
"Aren't you going to farm?"
Ling Jing took a piece of meat, chewed it, and said slowly: "Wherever Huairen's footprints have been, there are many disputes and frequent wars."
Li Shan's face turned dark. They are all members of his own family, so why bother exposing me?
Zhang Wenguan laughed so hard that he talked about old things in Shandong with Zhang Wenxi who didn't know why... He swore to analyze the situation, but everyone turned a deaf ear.
Li Shan forcibly changed the topic, "It's a pity that Brother Wenxi will take office after the Lantern Festival, otherwise I would like to invite people to praise him."
Zhang Wenguan asked curiously: "Isn't it Brother Dingfang?"
"Brother Dingfang is going to Sanyuan, Yongzhou to meet his bride on those days." Li Shan said with a smile, "Zhigui will also come to help."
"Ahem." Zhang Wenxi coughed twice, "After the Lantern Festival, my second brother will either go to Yangcheng or follow someone to Huating."
Zhang Wenguan has gone crazy in Chang'an in the past two years, and no one cares about him at all... Zhang Wenxi has decided not to let his younger brother participate in next year's scientific examination. Don't be embarrassed and just study for a few more years.
Li Shan cast a sympathetic look and said, "In February next year, there will be several weddings in Zhuangzi. Jun Hao, Zhu Ba, and Zhou Erlang are all going to get married."
Zhang Wenguan was speechless. He couldn't let people get married in the first month of the year. Generally speaking, weddings were not allowed in the first month.
Li Shan turned his head and whispered: "Still want to go to Huating?"
Zhang Wenxi nodded, "If it weren't for Huairen, I'm afraid the county magistrate would be hard to come by. How could we change it again?"
"Although the general manager has not yet been decided, there will be a Lingzhou Road march in the pass next year." Li Shan glanced at Zhang Wenguan, "Why don't we go to Yangcheng?"
"No, go to Huating." Zhang Wenguan was determined. If he really wanted to go to Yangcheng's father's place, he would probably get a beating first.
Zhang Wenxi thought for a while and said softly: "Since we are preparing troops in the pass and Huating is located in Longzhou, there should be no danger."
"I don't know who the marching commander will be." Zhang Wenguan said casually: "A few days ago, I thought it would be Brother Dingfang."
Ling Jing shook his head. Although it has not yet been completely decided, the plan of the Qin Palace has been successful. Either Li Shenfu, the king of Xiangyi, or Ren Gui, the Duke of Guan Guo... This is Li Yuan's old friend, who had been with Li Jiancheng in his early years.
We have a very good relationship and are direct members of the East Palace.
Next, it depends on the command ability of Ren Gui or Li Shenfu... King Qin seems to be very confident about this.
Li Shan was too lazy to think about that for the time being, so he raised his glass and said, "I won't say anything else tonight, everyone, have a drink!"
Li Shan drank until late that night. Li Shan regretted not getting a mahjong or poker game in advance. He thought he might be able to get a set of Three Kingdoms to play later.