(Many thanks to ‘apharmy’, ‘Shhuangji’ and other old readers for their generous support and monthly support.)
Although Wang Junlin knew that this old Taoist must have ulterior motives for accepting him as his disciple and teaching him the skills so enthusiastically, he still couldn't help but said excitedly: "Thank you, Master."
The old Taoist nodded and said: "This is a Tao scroll. The exercises recorded on it are difficult to understand just by looking at the text. But if they correspond to this exercise diagram, you will know how to practice this exercise."
As he spoke, the old Taoist took out a roll of animal skin from his arms and handed it to Wang Junlin. Then he suddenly stood up, and without seeing him move, his body suddenly floated up and flew out of the window: "Don't worry, I can't.
I will kill you. My good disciple, we will meet again soon."
Wang Junlin looked at the window where the old Taoist had disappeared, his face extremely ugly. If it weren't for the scroll of exercise diagrams drawn on animal skins in his hand, he would have almost suspected that what he had just experienced was a dream.
Opening the animal skin the size of an adult's face in his hand, a human figure sitting cross-legged was outlined with simple lines. There are acupuncture points marked on various parts of the body, some of which Wang Junlin knew, and some of which he had never heard of. And in
There is a line connecting these acupuncture points, and Wang Junlin vaguely understands that this may be the so-called Kung Fu route.
He studied for a while, heard movement next to him, turned around and saw Cui Ruxue woke up with sleepy eyes, looked at Wang Junlin and said, "Lang Jun, why are you up?"
Wang Junlin sighed, put away the animal skin, put it under the head of the bed, and lay down.
…
…
At dawn the next day, Wang Junlin went to the post house to have breakfast with Changsun and his son, and then came to the backyard of his mansion. There was a stove used for making weapons. His steel knife and steel plate armor
It was built here by his own hands.
Now that he is going to the Western Turks, Wang Junlin is still worried despite Zhang Sun Sheng's explanation, so he plans to make another steel crossbow for himself.
He has been planning this matter for two months. The drawings and methods have been thoroughly studied. The steel is leftover from when Wang Junlin made steel knives and steel plate armor. Other materials have also been collected. It was originally planned to start in the near future. Now it is far away.
There are still seven days left before his mission to the Western Turks, which is just enough time for him to build a steel crossbow.
Changsun Sheng and Changsun Wuji, father and son, locked themselves in the room, facing a map with the locations of various tribes in Western Turks, as well as a booklet recording the population, army and other information of each tribe. They were so mysterious that they did not know.
Studying something.
As for Princess Xinyi, after taking the medicine prescribed by Wang Junlin and strictly following the three requirements mentioned by Wang Junlin, her acclimatization gradually eased and her body has basically recovered.
On the third day, Princess Xinyi called Wang Junlin over again on the pretext of asking Wang Junlin for a follow-up visit.
"Thank you General for your diagnosis and treatment. I'm feeling much better." The two met, and Princess Yicheng thanked Wang Junlin in person. The girl looked a little shy.
"Your Highness is very polite. It is a humble honor to be able to cure Your Highness's illness." Wang Junlin lowered his head slightly and did not dare to look at Princess Xinyi because he felt something else from Princess Xinyi's eyes, such as the onset of puberty.
…
"General Wang, I need your help." After a moment of silence, Princess Xinyi suddenly said.
Wang Junlin sighed secretly and said, "I'm afraid that my humble position won't help the princess."
Princess Xinyi showed a trace of disappointment on her face, but soon this disappointment was replaced by perseverance. She stared into Wang Junlin's eyes and said: "I know that my marriage to the Western Turks is a foregone conclusion, and no one can change it. Now I can only
I thought that after arriving in Western Turkestan, I would be able to live a better life, at least I would not die an unexpected death."
Wang Junlin was silent for a while and said: "Unless Her Royal Highness the Princess can grasp some real power in the Western Turks and have some Turkic warriors who are absolutely loyal to Her Royal Highness the Princess."
Princess Xinyi's eyes lit up and she said, "What do I need to do? Please ask General Wang to teach me."
Wang Junlin thought for a while, shook his head and said: "Now there is a national advisor in the Western Turks, named Bodo Dharma King, who is very resourceful and cunning. With this person beside Yehu Khan, the leader of the Western Turks, your highness's chances are very slim.
"
Princess Xinyi sighed slightly and said: "I have heard in the past few days that since General Wang became the guard of Gaotai City, he has worked hard to train his five thousand elite soldiers. Even the people of Gaotai City know that the general's five thousand troops are now one by one.
Like a man and a tiger. It can be seen that General Wang's ambition is not small, and he is preparing every moment for the future conquest of the Turks."
Wang Junlin secretly sighed in his heart, how could the princess selected by Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty Yang Jian to marry the Western Turks be an incompetent person? Her character, will, and mind must be the best choice, otherwise how could she survive in the wolf's den, and then
Find opportunities to do things for Sui Dynasty.
However, Princess Xinyi didn't know that Wang Junlin's hard work in training elite soldiers was not just for conquering the Western Turks.
Seeing that Wang Junlin didn't answer, Princess Xinyi said, "I want to make an agreement with General Wang."
Wang Junlin was a little surprised and said, "What agreement?"
Princess Xinyi said: "The general helped me gain a foothold in the Western Turks and gain as much power as possible. As the general said just now, I gained the allegiance of a group of Turkic warriors. And I helped the general to spread his power in the Western Regions and establish unparalleled achievements."
Wang Junlin shook his head secretly in his heart. The plan and agreement mentioned by Princess Xinyi were very unlikely to succeed. To put it bluntly, Princess Xinyi just wanted to persuade Wang Junlin to help him with all her strength.
Although he thought so in his heart, Wang Junlin did not expose it. Of course, he would not reject or agree with this plan.
Wang Junlin suddenly remembered that women of noble birth in the Sui and Tang dynasties seemed to have unusual desires for power.
Recently, for example, Queen Dugu is still alive, as well as the former Emperor Xuan Emperor Yuwen Yun of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, who is still alive and well, and the eldest daughter of Emperor Wen Yang Jian of the Sui Dynasty, Princess Leping Princess Yang Lihua. These two women had extremely powerful power and authority in the Sui Dynasty.
According to the original history, Princess Gaoyang and the famous Wu Zetian once rebelled during the Tang Dynasty.
The girl in front of her who was only fifteen or sixteen years old was naturally far from being comparable to these famous women in history, but Wang Junlin felt a sense of ambition and desire for power from her words.
Thinking of the frail and pitiful appearance of the sick Princess Xinyi whom he had just seen the day before yesterday, and seeing the resolute girl who was now recovering from her illness and started planning the Western Turks with great interest. Wang Junlin couldn't help but feel a lot of emotions in his heart. Could it be that this girl has overcome
Some of the fears after marrying a Turk, such as the poverty of the Turks, the barbarism of the Turks, the fact that the Turks make a Han woman feel endless shame, the tradition that the father dies and the son inherits the mother, and the brother dies and the brother inherits the sister-in-law.
This era is not only an era where heroes emerge in large numbers, but it is also an era where women are not inferior to men.
After a moment of silence, Wang Junlin suddenly said: "Most Turkic people are carnivores, but their cooking skills are really poor. After the princess goes there, she will definitely not be used to it. Moreover, the princess has just been seriously ill and is still weak.
It’s a time of great replenishment. I know how to cook mutton in several ways, why not make it today for the princess to try."
"People often say that a gentleman is far away from the kitchen, but I didn't expect General Wang to be able to cook." Princess Xinyi looked puzzled and didn't understand why Wang Junlin cooked mutton for her.
Wang Junlin indeed possesses exquisite cooking skills. This was forced out of him in a foreign country when he was a mercenary in later generations. He is used to eating Chinese food, and he also eats food from other countries and ethnic groups. It's okay to try it fresh.
If you eat it every day, it will be a great pain. For this reason, Wang Junlin spent some energy and time to learn to cook, and he did quite well.
Wang Junlin called on Rong Yue and Xiao Xue to help, and personally cooked a table of delicacies for Princess Xinyi, all of which were based on mutton.
"Mutton is actually a great tonic. The meat is considered to be the most delicious among animal meats. Moreover, mutton is warm in nature and sweet in taste. It can nourish qi and yin, warm the body and nourish the deficiency, stimulate appetite and keep fit. It can rectify qi, dispel evil, and cure fear of cold and heat.
, is a top-grade nourishing food that nourishes Yuanyang and is suitable for blood and Qi. It is especially effective against cold and heat attacks, uneven cold and heat, weakness of limbs, and weakness after childbirth. However, foreign barbarians such as Tuyuhun, Tujue, and Khitan do not know how to cook it.
The mutton that comes out often has a fishy smell that is hard to swallow.”
"Princess, come and try it. This dish is called hand-caught mutton. It involves selecting fat and tender sheep, slaughtering them on the spot, skinning them into a pot, and steaming them. Because after washing your hands, when you eat meat, you hold the meat with one hand and a knife with the other.
Cutting, digging, picking and slicing, the meat on the sheep bones is eaten cleanly, hence the name "hand-caught mutton".
"The preparation process of this kind of dish is simple and quick, only a small handful of salt is added, the heat is just right, the blood disappears soon, and the meat is cooked but not hard. However, it has a faint fragrance of vegetation, which makes people want to eat it.
"
After listening to Wang Junlin's explanation in such detail, Princess Xinyi, who was originally smiling, vaguely understood Wang Junlin's profound meaning, listened seriously, and asked He Shanggong and her maid to also carefully note down the method of doing it.
While she listened carefully to Wang Junlin's explanation, she also tasted it herself.
"It's obviously just mutton boiled in boiling water, but how can it taste so delicious? Could it be that the general put a secret recipe into the water."
Wang Junlin took a half-foot-long agarwood stick from Xiaoxue and placed it on the table, saying, "Just cook the mutton with the agarwood stick!"
Princess Xinyi took the finger-thick agarwood stick and looked at it, then gave Wang Junlin a slight salute and said, "I've written it down."
Wang Junlin did not hesitate to express his admiration for this beautiful sixteen-year-old girl. He was very pleased that Princess Xinyi understood the meaning of cooking mutton delicacies for her so quickly.
After eating the hand-caught mutton, Wang Junlin pointed to another fragrant dish on the table and continued to explain.