Han Qian secretly summoned Feng Xuan in Guanyue Tower, and while Gao Bao was discussing the matter, Han Daoxun was listening to Fan Xicheng in the state office reporting on the life experience of Mrs. Xi that he had learned about, and said with emotion:
"So she is the daughter of Gao Long, the sole heir of the Xi family that was exterminated?"
"Young Master may not know the life experience of the Xi daughter, do you want me to tell you?" Fan Xicheng said.
"Why do you need to say it? If this kid hadn't already thought about the two moves of Feng Xuan and Xi, how would he have suggested that I lead the wolf into the house?" Han Daoxun sighed lightly and said with a wry smile.
Seeing that the head of the family was so sure that the young master must know the life experience of the Xi daughter, Fan Xicheng suddenly understood what the overall plan of the young master Han Qian was.
Xuzhou has a vast territory and sparsely populated areas, and the local surnames dominate the place. However, it was only thirteen years since the founding of Da Chu. Border states and counties such as Xuzhou were mostly controlled remotely, not to mention that there was Tanzhou in the middle. This caused the guest residents to
The low recognition of the new dynasty also turned Xuzhou into a backwater.
In order to stir up the stagnant water in Xuzhou, it is necessary to open up trade routes and induce refugees to flood into Xuzhou in large numbers.
And this must first obtain permission from Tanzhou.
Otherwise, even if Tanzhou keeps a low profile and no longer wants to attract the attention of the court, it only needs to set up checkpoints at key passes such as Yuanshuikou to prevent refugees from flowing into Xuzhou. No one can say that Tanzhou is not good.
After all, the imperial court also strictly prohibited people from moving around at will.
In order to obtain Tanzhou's acquiescence, it is necessary to provide Tanzhou with sufficient benefits and temptations.
The biggest temptation is that the head of the family, Han Daoxun, acquiesces to Tanzhou to secretly send a large number of troops to sneak into Xuzhou and form a force secretly directly controlled by Tanzhou through reclamation and other matters.
Tanzhou's large-scale extension of its tentacles into Xuzhou will form a mutual restraint with the local surname forces headed by the four surnames. It is not ruled out that the conflicts between them will intensify and worsen. The head of the family, Han Daoxun, can make good use of this and can alleviate it.
Under their own pressure, they can even do something through the power of checks and balances, but no matter who wants to gain a foothold in Xuzhou, they still have to rely on hard power.
And because Tanzhou's power in Xianghu Lake is too strong, if they really want to lure a wolf into the house, it is hard to guarantee that one day they will end up being self-defeating, and eventually Tanzhou will occupy the magpie's nest, and all four surnames will be taken over by Tanzhou.
Fan Xicheng gradually realized the young master Han Qian's intentions, and he didn't think that the young master would really be willing to make a wedding dress for Tanzhou on that day.
By using Feng Xuan and Xi's daughter to secretly cultivate his own power, and supporting Yang Qin and others to form a boat gang, young master Han Qian will seize the initiative in counterattacking Tanzhou and the local forces in Xuzhou in the future.
The right is the key to preventing Tanzhou from becoming a wedding dress.
Even if Tanzhou knew the life experience of Xi's daughter, as long as it could not guess that Feng Xuan would actually be used here, it would not realize the real intention behind the young master Han Qian's strategy of luring the wolf into the house - and the young master
Lord Han Qian kept the Xi family's daughter by his side, and then secretly ordered Feng Xuan to recruit the Xi family's children secretly, which would also ensure that Feng Xuan could not escape his control in the end.
After thinking about all this, Fan Xicheng was deeply shocked by the calculations of the young master Han Qian, and couldn't help but think about the ultimate goal of the young master Han Qian. He hoped that the master of the family, Han Daoxun, could become Ma Yin, and he could become the Tanzhou Festival
Is the prince Ma Xun the same character as Du Shi?
Fan Xicheng glanced at the slightly gloomy face of the family leader Han Daoxun, but in the end he did not ask this question.
Fan Xicheng thought to himself that when the young master Han Qian suggested luring the wolf into the house the night before, he did not take the initiative to mention the life experience of Xi's daughter, and the head of the family specifically ordered him to inquire about Xi's daughter's life experience. The father and son were actually secretly competing with each other.
How stupid would he be if he punctured the window paper?
Of course, Fan Xicheng is also worried. There may only be two or three thousand Xi clan members left. Even if the young master Han Qian recruits all these people through Feng Xuan and the Xi clan's daughters, he will only be able to gain three to five hundred strong people.
If Yong can use it, can Mantis Arm really compete with Tanzhou, which actually controls nearly two million people?
…………
…………
Even though there was still a lot of work left at nightfall, Han Daoxun also set a rule for himself that he would not rest until the day's affairs were completed. However, all the officials were also hungry, so Han Daoxun still allowed them to go home and have a full stomach before returning to the state office to work overtime.
add a bit.
The state government is only responsible for providing lunch to the officials in Yingmao.
Han Daoxun didn't want to break the rules, so he took Fan Xicheng back to his back home Furong Garden for dinner.
Han Daoxun wanted to have a quick meal and then went to the front office to handle official documents. He never wanted to return to the west courtyard of Furong Garden. Han Laoshan had not prepared anything and no one was around. When he asked Qingyun, he found out that Han Qian was messing around in the back kitchen.
As a result, no one in the house has dinner ready yet.
Han Daoxun also wanted to see what Han Qian was fussing about, so he and Fan Xicheng walked to the back kitchen. Across the aisle, they heard Han Laoshan yelling with regret: "Little ancestor, if you want to eat braised duck tongue, buy one."
Hundreds of ducks have been slaughtered, how should I clean them up?"
Braised duck tongue?
Fan Xicheng was confused, wondering if he could stew a hundred duck tongues to make a dish?
Isn’t this too luxurious?
Although Han Daoxun did not wear robes or eat light rice, he always paid great attention to frugality. His meat diet was mainly bacon. He slaughtered a hundred ducks just to make a braised duck tongue. What kind of opera was this?
Fan Xicheng saw that the owner of the house had a calm face and followed him to the kitchen. He smelled the aroma of brine boiling from a distance, which was quite exciting.
Then he saw that in the narrow courtyard of the back kitchen, there were actually hundreds of ducks covered in blood on the reed mats where grains were dried.
He was directing people to rinse a clay pot about a foot high with boiling water.
"First rinse this jar with boiling water, then rinse it with boiling brine, and finally store the brine and wait for it to cool down before sealing it. The brine can be stored for a long time. Don't be lazy and save this work; boil the brine.
You need to add more oil, at least you should see a thick layer of oil float after canning. And once you taste the brine and it becomes sour, don’t be reluctant. A bad stomach will cost you your life..."
Han Qian instructed Han Zhou and the two cooks on how to cook and seal the brine. At the same time, he called Zhao Ting'er and Xi Lin wrote down what he said.
Seeing his father and Fan Xicheng walking over, Han Qian smiled and said:
"Today I went to Guanyuelou for a banquet, and some of the braised dishes turned out to be a bit sour. I thought that my father would not be able to eat good braised food in Xuzhou in the future. Then there would really be no point in being a governor. I thought about me these days.
There was nothing special to do, so I taught Han Zhou and the others how to boil the brine - after the brine is boiled, the duck tongue needs to be simmered over a slow fire to get the flavor, and dinner will have to wait for a while."
"Young Master was at Guanyue Tower at noon. He ate several dishes that were not to his taste. He got so angry that he almost demolished Guanyue Tower!" Zhao Ting'er lost no time in complaining.
Han Qian was determined to use Xi Rong, and Zhao Ting'er had the biggest objection. Seeing that she had been holding it in for a whole day without mentioning it, now he wanted to find a way to show off his temper. He couldn't help laughing and jokingly said to his father:
"Xi Rong thought those duck dishes were too rough. Guanyuelou used such things to fool the young master and me. If I didn't have any temper, then why would I have followed my father all the way to Xuzhou to take up the post? Why?
"
Han Qian deliberately mentioned Mrs. Xi's maiden name. Seeing that there was no doubt in the eyes of his father and Fan Xicheng, he knew that his father also knew about Xi Yin's life experience.
Xi Rong was not very familiar with Han Qian's character, so she didn't know that his casual words could hide so many twists and turns.
When she saw Han Daoxun, she stood aside and Fan Xicheng came to look at her. Especially after Fan Xicheng entered the yard, he looked at her several times. She also felt embarrassed. It seemed that after meeting Feng Xuan and Gao Bao today, Han Qian was in Guanyue Tower.
The fuss is really related to her.
"You killed a hundred ducks just to braise a few plates of duck tongue?" Han Daoxun asked.
"How can it be so wasteful?" Han Qian said, "Duck gizzards, duck livers, and duck hearts can also be eaten braised, but the duck meat I bought today is a bit raw and not tender enough. I copied it from "Zhou Xuetang Letters"
I’ve made a few sweet-scented osmanthus ducks based on the recipe, but the taste may not be authentic, so don’t mind it too much, father.”
"...Everything has been going well for you these past few days, and you should be in a good mood. There is no reason to bother Guanyue Tower, which has nothing to do with you." Han Daoxun was the one who knew Han Qian's nature best, so he didn't believe that he said it so easily and asked.
, "Don't pretend to be an idiot. What are your plans?"
"If my father wants to spread his reputation for excessive taxation and arrogance, he must have some iconic words," Han Qian said with a smile. "Now our family kills a hundred ducks just to make one dish. It is very prestigious to spread the word."
Are you cool?"
"..." Fan Xicheng was stunned, thinking what kind of explanation and style was this?
Han Daoxun stared at the bloody ducks all over the yard, frowned and thought for a while, then asked: "Do you want to encourage people to raise more ducks and poultry in Xuzhou as a father?"
Han Qian slapped his thigh and laughed, pointed at Han Laoshan and others and laughed and scolded: "You idiots, you haven't figured it out for most of the day. You really don't have as bright a mind as my father!"
He smiled and said to his father, "What's good above will be worse below. I went up the Yuan River the day before yesterday and saw that the silts on both sides of the bank are very wide. Even if the embankments are built to build fields in the future, there will definitely be a lot of ponds filled with small fish, shrimps and crabs."
There are so many snails and earthworms growing there, but there are very few people raising ducks and poultry in the villages on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, so it is a pity that they can't do their best. I don't know if my father has seen it, but I think if my father just relies on an official letter to ask for space at this time,
People changing their customs are far less effective than eating extravagantly in our houses. It is more effective to eat in a new way! The extra slaughtered ducks can't be eaten all, so they are all smoked and dried to make cured meats, which are shipped to Jinling for sale.
! The cause of the commotion in Guanyue Tower today is that they can improve their duck-making skills and encourage Xuzhou to develop a culture of duck-eating, so that duck-raising will become more popular."
Only then did Fan Xicheng realize that the young master's actions were all because he was trying every possible means to expand the trade scale from Xuzhou to Jinling. He really wanted to use the name of the family master to the extreme.
Han Daoxun shook his head and smiled bitterly. He had promised to take on the reputation of being an evil official after arriving in Xuzhou, but he did not expect that Han Qian would really use him for everything.
Han Qian said with a smile: "I'm going to try out some roast duck dishes today, and we'll serve them together later. If my father has some unfinished business, I'll just go and handle it first, and I'll keep it for you later so I won't disappoint you."
Han Qian wanted to stir up the stagnant water in Xuzhou. He hoped that the larger the scale of the direct participation of Xuzhou in commerce and the influx of refugees, the more beneficial it would be. However, no matter how rich Xuzhou’s products are, whether they are medicinal materials, tea, cinnabar, etc., they are limited.
Regarding the population, currently the scale of those that can actually be transported out of Xuzhou and sold is quite limited.
The rise of any industry in Xuzhou can directly stimulate the expansion of trade with Jinling.
He thought about the industries that could directly induce ordinary people in Xuzhou to participate in them, but the results were very limited in a short period of time. One of them was to take advantage of the characteristics of the Yuan River flowing through the Duantan section of Qianyang County to raise ducks and poultry.
.
Even if weaving canvas and tarpaulin can become an industry, it is still limited by the limited scale of local cotton and linen planting in Xuzhou, making it difficult to truly form a pillar industry in a short time.
This is true for growing tea, mining and smelting minerals.
As long as the custom of eating ducks can flourish in Xuzhou, even if there are not many duck seedlings in Xuzhou, boat gangs can traffic them from Yuanshui or even the coast of Dongting Lake, allowing ducks to be raised and smoked in Xuzhou in a short time
It forms a scale.
Han Qian was worried about these things, and it was naturally difficult for Han Laoshan and others to understand, but after all, his father was a person like Wang Yu, Yang En, Shen Yang and others, so he could still understand his intentions with a little thought.
, he didn’t need to bother to explain anything.
Of course, if Xuzhou can develop a local duck-eating flavor, it will be more conducive to the rise of the duck farming industry. Han Qian wants to make more roast duck dishes in Xuzhou during this period to promote them. This is why he is making a fuss today.
The purpose of Guanyue Tower.
Otherwise, he doesn't really like eating duck, so why bother spending so much time on it?
Jinling's sweet-scented osmanthus duck is one of the best, as well as the roasted duck that is commonly eaten in the north, both of which have hundreds of years of history. However, Han Laoshan's mother-in-law and several servants usually do not eat so carefully and do not know the specific cooking methods.
Even Guanyuelou, known as the best chef in Guizhou City, the sweet-scented osmanthus duck and roasted duck they cooked today were quite ordinary.
Han Qian met Feng Xuan and Gao Bao at noon, and specially pulled out the chefs of Guanyuelou for questioning, only to find that the Jianghuai cuisine and northern cuisine they learned were not sophisticated enough, so he specially ordered them to copy the recipes and bring them to him in the afternoon.
Go back to Furong Garden to think about it.
When Han Daoxun went to Xuzhou this time, the most important thing in his luggage was a collection of books. There were many literati who copied many recipes in their notebooks - it is true that literati are foodies.
Han Qian, Zhao Ting'er, and Xi Rong searched for recipes in the afternoon and compared them with the recipes copied by Chef Guanyuelou. They discovered that Guanyuelou had not sterilized the marinade thoroughly enough during storage and did not use more oil.
It is the key to the fermentation of braised meat so that it becomes sour. However, the methods of Osmanthus Duck and Roasted Duck are suspected of cutting corners, missing one or two procedures, and the taste is completely changed.
While Han Qian and Zhao Ting'er studied the recipes, they asked Han Laoshan to take people to buy ducks. However, eating ducks is not popular in Xuzhou. There are only two duck shops in Dongcheng Market, and both of them can't even stock a hundred ducks.
, I still went out of the city to collect them for a long time, and in the evening I finally collected a hundred ducks and returned to Furong Garden to slaughter them.
By the time Han Qian had prepared some braised duck dishes and sweet-scented osmanthus duck, it was already dark and everyone was hungry, but they didn't dare to complain.
After Han Qian tasted it himself and felt satisfied, in addition to the dinner that had been prepared at home, he called Han Laoshan over: "Now, I will send a bowl of each of these to Guanyuelou and ask their boss and chef to try it."
, I will find another restaurant tomorrow to make a mess!"
Han Laoshan couldn't laugh or cry when he saw that Han Qian used this method to forcefully recommend the roasted duck dish, and asked: "Young master, if you keep tossing for a few more days, will our family really be hated by people and gods in Qianyang City?"
"Go, I have worked hard to help this restaurant improve its cooking level, but they are not grateful. What else do you want?" Han Qian glared at Han Laoshan and asked him to do as he was told and stop being verbose.