It’s another New Year, and it’s been seven years since Su Ren came to Dahan. Half of the past seven years have not been able to celebrate the New Year with everyone. Even if they were together, they would be invited out on the night of the New Year, not from the Shuzhong Chamber of Commerce.
The merchants were Gongsun He's brothers. This year, Su Ren planned not to go there, but to stay at home with his wife and children.
He said he was spending time with his wife and children, but in fact, he had more than just his wife and children in his family. The total number of children, old and young, was not thirty, but twenty-eighty-nine. As in previous years, the large round table in the lobby had been spread out in a circle.
The chairs are next to each other. The Chinese New Year is a festival of reunion. The most important thing for Chinese people is reunion. The New Year is about reunion, the Mid-Autumn Festival is about reunion, and even the Double Ninth Festival on September 9 is about reunion. Otherwise, there would be no one less person planted everywhere.
of embarrassment.
There is another thing this year. Liu Che is here. Su Ren is not happy about Liu Che's arrival. At this moment of reunion, if an emperor does not reunite with his relatives in the palace, what does it mean to visit other people's houses?
Not only did Liu Che come, he also brought Wei Zifu with him. Now that Wei Zifu is here, how can the big family of the old Wei family not come? Therefore, the Su Ren family actually has two big families celebrating the New Year this year.
"Haha, you don't need to be polite. I'm just here to see Su Ren. You can do whatever you need to do. You should play and eat. Don't worry about me!"
What Liu Che said sounded nice, but who would do anything random when the emperor was sitting in front of him? Even the naughty Su Jian and the other boys sat quietly in their seats, acting as serious as little adults, completely annihilating the children.
nature.
Su Ren was the busiest today. As long as he was here, he would prepare the New Year's Eve dinner, which was considered as compensation for everyone. He came out of the kitchen with a basin of braised pork and shouted: "Here you go! The braised pork only has icing sugar."
It’s still not pure, it tastes a bit burnt when made, so just eat it as it is. Next year, when they come up with a purer white frosting, I’ll let you see my true craftsmanship.”
Looking at the sauce-red braised pork and smelling the sweet aroma of the meat, the little guys wanted to stuff their heads into the plate. They were all drooling for a foot long. Just as Luo Datou was about to reach out, he was slapped by Hawking.
, glanced at the emperor, and glared at Luo Datou fiercely.
Seeing that the atmosphere was not right, Su Ren coughed: "Well, Your Majesty, can we not join in the fun? Why don't we come to my study and talk while we eat, otherwise people will hate you!"
Dong Zhongshu frowned. He had never seen anyone talk to His Majesty like this before. He was about to open his mouth to reprimand. When Wei Zifu chuckled: "Your Majesty, Mr. Su said yes, they can't have a good meal here with you.
Give it to my concubine."
Liu Che scanned the group of little ones, and his eyes clearly told him to leave quickly. He sighed and said with a smile: "Haha, there are times when I don't feel welcome, so I'll go to your study!"
Liu Che walked forward, and heard a burst of cheers from behind, and then various sounds. When he turned around, those sounds disappeared immediately, as if they had never happened. Su Ren took off his apron and took Liu Che's arm: "Let's go! No more.
Someone will scold you when you leave! Look at your son-in-law's face, I wish you could go as far away as possible."
Liu Che glared at Su Jian, who quickly lowered his head. Dangli met Liu Che's gaze and looked over, not forgetting to shout: "Farewell, father!"
Su Ren expected such a result. In his previous life, eating with the leader was like this. As long as the leader was here, the delicacies were tasteless, but once the leader left, even drinking swill would be good. This is the atmosphere. A small leader is like this for the time being, and a big man
The emperor sat together without his legs sifting through chaff. It was already considered that people like the Su family had seen the world.
There was also a small table in the study, and several plates of delicious side dishes had been laid out. Su Ren specially selected some non-greasy dishes for the emperor to change his taste. The two sat down, and Su Ren said to Liu Fu: "There is a jar of wine behind the cabinet, which was from the year before last."
The buried ones were just dug out yesterday and are still drinkable, so I will let Your Majesty have a taste today."
Liu Fu nodded quickly to find it. Su Ren introduced the dishes on the table and praised his craftsmanship. After Liu Fu poured the wine for the two of them and drank a few glasses, it was time to eat.
chat.
Meat has always been a staple food for the Han people, especially those from wealthy families. Liu Che's favorite is the braised pork. He was unwilling to leave the big dining table just now because he fell in love with the braised pork brought out by Su Ren. He tasted it.
A piece of it, as Su Ren said, is sweet and greasy, yet still tender and crispy. It is indeed a delicious dish.
"Tell me about your plan. The Huns are not Yelang or Qiang people. They are savages. They will rob whatever they like. They will not do serious business with you at all. Past experience may not work." Liu Che said to him.
I was very satisfied with the braised pork and kept moving my chopsticks.
Su Ren is not interested in braised pork. He prefers vegetables. Unfortunately, he does not have suitable materials to build a greenhouse, so he can only eat some dried vegetables: "Business is all about mutual benefit. The merchants of the Han Dynasty in the past always thought of how to deceive the Huns.
Who will you rob if they don't rob you when others understand? I have always been a child in business, and it can only succeed if both parties feel it is reasonable. Although the Huns are barbaric, they are not vicious people, and they can still listen to the truth."
"If you think so, I guess you will suffer a loss."
"I wonder if your Majesty has heard of a saying? It is said that suffering is a blessing! As long as the Huns are willing to exchange war horses, we will suffer a little loss, and we will get it back when the army goes there in the future."
Liu Che nodded and laughed twice: "I am not a fool. Why have there been no Huns war horses in these years? My measures of seclusion are only secondary. The key is that the Huns are not willing to sell horses to us!"
Su Ren smiled: "That was in the past. I can change this situation if I go there. Your Majesty may not know that King Yougu Li of the Xiongnu has a bad relationship with their prince. They always want to kill each other. Fortunately, a friend of mine is
Prince Hun, you can make use of this matter."
"You mean Yu Shan?" Liu Che smiled contemptuously: "How useful can a prince who has been driven out of the Huns' court be?"
"The prince was also kicked out of the royal court. He was kicked out just because he did not have enough strength to compete with King Yougu Li. I will find a way to reverse it."
"Are you going to support Yu Shan!?"
Su Ren shook his head: "Support is out of the question, it's just mutual benefit!"
Liu Che finished the plate of braised pork, took a comfortable sip of wine, leaned on the chair, and raised the corner of his mouth: "You always like to take advantage of others. This is not a good habit. If I find out that you are also taking advantage of me, you
Have you ever thought about the consequences?”
Su Ren smiled and said: "Have I ever used your Majesty? Your Majesty is using me! Use me to attack the powerful, use me to pacify Lingnan, use me to subdue the Yuanshan bandits and exchange horses with the Qiang people. From the time I walked out of Laojun Temple, everything was there.
Your Majesty is taking advantage of it."
Liu Che also smiled: "You should be happy that you still have the capital to use me. There are so many people in the world who want to be used by me, but I still don't give them a chance! Of course, using you is not in vain. My daughter will give it to me."
Your son, I came to you on New Year’s Eve. As the saying goes, thunder, rain, and dew are all your kindness, and it seems you are the one who said this."
Su Ren looked annoyed: "What a mistake! If I had known now, I should have stayed at Laojun's Temple and not gone out, so as not to get into these troubles!"
Liu Che laughed: "It's too late! You can't go back now!"
There is a bronze bell in the academy, which weighs 1,300 kilograms. It was specially cast by Su Ren when he was building the academy. It will be rung every half hour to facilitate the teachers and students of the academy to know the time.
, and secondly, I also miss the bell tower time telling in later generations. The reason why it is designed to be half an hour is completely Su Ren's bad taste. He is not very used to the time yet, and prefers to use hours to calculate time.
The bell of midnight has just rang, and the academy is filled with joy. The new year has arrived, and all the students who have not gone home have dinner in the dining hall. This is a benefit that Su Ren gives to the students. Young people like to interact with young people.
People stay together, and besides, there is no such sumptuous New Year’s Eve dinner at home. This is the first year of the academy. Because of Chen He’s incident, the academy was once in a depression. Su Ren asked parents of students who were willing to come to the academy to come, and everyone was lively
Celebrate the New Year with great excitement and put an end to the bad luck in the academy.
There were a lot of people crowded on the playground, and the two horses had been harnessed. Li Gan and Huo Qubing stood together holding a semicircular iron fist. Behind them, a large crowd of spectators gathered. They had never seen this before.
The parents of the students were asking their sons what they were going to do. The children patiently explained to their parents what the pressure and resistance was, and the parents were confused.
Liu Fu opened his mouth to shout that His Majesty was coming, but Liu Che abruptly interrupted him. Liu Che said nothing, and under the protection of a group of guards, he passed through the crowd and occupied the best position.
As soon as Su Ren walked in, the students cheered again. People who had never seen Su Ren asked around quickly, and when they heard that this was Su Ren, they all showed surprised expressions.
Su Ren looked at Li Gan and Huo Qubing and waved his hands to signal everyone to be quiet: "Okay, since I promised you, let me show you what pressure is. Don't always think that there is nothing in the world we live in. In fact, breathing
This energy is very powerful!"
He winked at Li Gan and Huo Qubing. Li Gan and Huo Qubing looked at each other, and the two of them cooperated to align the two hollow semicircles. While everyone stretched their necks to study hard, Su Ren personally inspected the
Two hemispheres. The skills of the craftsmen in the palace are really good, so the two iron balls can be made to fit perfectly, and even the cowhide glued on top has no air leakage.
Zhou Jiande was the strongest, and his lung capacity was naturally not too small. With one sip, he sucked the cowhide tube connecting the hemispheres together. Su Ren pointed at the cowhide tube and said: "You have seen it! This cowhide tube has iron added in it.
The support bars are pressed together by the air, so the iron ball must not be separated."
Following Su Ren's voice, Li Gan and Huo Qubing let go at the same time, and the iron ball fell heavily to the ground. It did not fall in half as expected. The original two semicircles were still tightly stuck together. (To be continued)