"There are many precious fruits in China, and they are called grapes again. When the summer passes through the autumn, there is still lingering summer heat. If you wake up after being drunk, you will eat it while covering up the dew. It will be sweet but not sweet, sour but not sour, cold but not cold, and taste long and juicy."
It can relieve irritability and quench thirst. It can also be brewed into wine, which is sweet and easy to get drunk and wake up easily. Dao Zhigu has already salivated and swallowed, but it is the evil of eating it himself! The fruits of other prescriptions are better than those of others!"
——Cao Pi's "Edict to the Group of Doctors"
Wei Wen Cao Pisu had a special liking for Pu Tao (grapes).
Just like the Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty who loved donkeys and drove the bridle by himself, which caused the capital to imitate him, everyone in the Wei State regarded grape as a delicacy. Therefore, when the Hexi Corridor still belonged to the Wei State, various counties and counties also introduced improved grape varieties from the Western Regions.
Planting may be used by the government to show favor to the nobles of Luoyang, or it may be used by merchants to pursue profits.
As for Xu Zhi, who was born into a wealthy family, the fermented glutinous rice he mentioned was the wine made from Pu Tao.
However, Zheng Pu couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when he saw it.
For him, this kind of slightly sour grape wine is not as refreshing as the machine wine brewed in his own Shifang mulberry garden, which is more refreshing and has a long-lasting taste.
But Zhuge Qiao liked this thing quite a lot.
When he saw Zheng Pu entering the office, he stood up to greet him and said jokingly: "Why is Mr. Zheng so late in coming? It's rare that you treat guests with grape wine and don't come here with all your heart!"
Fei Yi, on the other hand, had the same faint smile on his face as before, and stretched out his hand to introduce it.
It also made Zheng Pu a little surprised: Why is Fei Yi here?
There are only two urgent matters in Zhangye County today.
One is to urge Li Shu to farm to provide military supplies, and the other is to guard the breeding of military horses in Shandan Pasture, in preparation for the Han Dynasty's future expansion of cavalry. As a prefect, Zhuge Qiao also has a duty to patrol the pasture after spring plowing.
But according to common sense, after Wei Yan, Ma Dai and Jiang Wei all supervised the troops, Fei Yi, who was actually in charge of Liangzhou's government affairs, should not have left Guzang County. After all, the army's subsequent food supplies or unexpected incidents before the battle
All emergency decisions require him to be in Guzang County at all times.
"The weather was hot, so the journey was very slow in order to prevent the followers from being burned by the sun and making them dizzy. This made Lord Ge wait for a long time."
He smiled and apologized to Zhuge Qiao. When Zheng Pu came in and sat down, he raised his hands and said to Fei Yi, "I didn't expect that I would be able to gain the respect of Brother Wen here. I'm so happy!"
"Heh~~"
Fei Yi chuckled softly and nodded in greeting, "I happened to be here a few days ago to supervise the transfer of the war horses of General Ma. I heard that Zijin was coming, so I stayed for two days. There were some things that I couldn't decide on.
Please ask Zijin for more details."
Hey, why are you asking me?
Could it be that he went against the Wei Dynasty and sent more troops to the fortress of Manyin?
Zheng Pu, who had a vague understanding in his heart, raised his eyebrows slightly when he heard this, with doubts in his eyes.
"It's just a trivial matter, nothing urgent."
But Fei Yi did not say it clearly immediately, but waved his hand and said with a smile, "When Zijin has finished taking care of his affairs, it will not be too late for you and I to talk to each other again." At this point, he paused briefly and returned the favor.
Pu Tao Niang, who was sitting on the table, said jokingly, "With this wine in front of me, no matter how eager I am, I won't dare to disturb the happiness of you all!"
"Hahaha~~"
As soon as he said this, everyone laughed.
They didn't say anything else, they all sat down and exchanged glasses with each other happily, talking about their long separation.
During the banquet, Zheng Pu also asked Zhuge Qiao whether the wealthy families in Jiangdong were pursuing Pu Niang. After learning the answer in the affirmative, he began to wonder whether this product could be used to gain wealth from Jiangdong to benefit Bashu's exhaustion.
However, Fei Yi on the other side interrupted his fantasy.
Having worked in Hexi for nearly two years, he had long known that grapes were grown here, but the fruit yield was not abundant and winemaking was labor-intensive.
Fei Yi roughly estimated that the same amount of manpower would produce less income than raising cattle and sheep.
Especially since the journey from Hexi to Jiangdong was long, the grape wine transported there would have to be sold at a sky-high price to the court in order to make a profit. Nowadays, wars in Jiangdong were also frequent, and luxury goods other than war horses and other strategic materials were in short supply.
Naturally, serious matters cannot be neglected.
Zheng Pu explained in detail the original intention of hiding troops among the people and the structure of the bow and arrow society.
In fact, there is nothing to say.
Before his arrival, Fei Yi, Zhuge Qiao and others had seen the document issued by the Prime Minister's Department and had considered it themselves. The only two prerequisites were to make Li Shu believe that the government was not recruiting troops in disguise, so they could not be recorded in the document.
First, when the officials of the counties in Hexi issue decrees, they must first make a promise to the three elders in the county and countryside. The bow and arrow society will only protect the peace of the county and will never go out of the county to fight.
Another reason is that the government cannot force Li Shu to join the bow and arrow society, but participation is voluntary, so as to prevent Li Shu from treating the bow and arrow society as extra corvee.
However, no participant cannot enjoy the benefits of tax reduction and exemption.
As for other trivial matters, such as preventing powerful right-wingers in the county from seizing the opportunity to gain power, and preventing those who dominate by force from injuring others or causing trouble, etc., it is up to the county governor and the head of the society to always be vigilant in the future.
After saying this, the sun has turned to the west.
Zhuge Qiao and Xu Zhi found a reason to leave the table first, leaving room for Zheng Pu and Fei Yi to whisper.
Fei Yi, who had previously claimed that the matter was not urgent, took out a piece of silk from his sleeve and handed it over without waiting for Zheng Pu to ask questions.
Zheng Pu took it and looked at it, only to realize that it was a letter from the Prime Minister.
After the defeat of Jiangdong, Sun Quan also asked people to write a letter of credence, informing Wei of the establishment of Wuhuan Tuqi again, and reminding the prime minister that he needed to make preparations in advance.
This move was not Sun Quan's intention to practice the alliance between the two countries and worry about the loss of goodwill on the part of the Han Dynasty.
Instead, they hope that the Han Dynasty can prepare early so that the war in the northwest of Han and Wei can last longer.
This also makes Jiangdong's Yin attack on Huaiyou more likely to win: as long as Wei State still uses troops in the northwest, it will miss the best opportunity to rescue Huaiyou.
As for the Han Dynasty, as long as it persists until Jiangdong Yin attacks Huaiyou, Wei will stop its troops and return.
Because once Jiangdong is completely occupied by Huaiyou, Wei's hinterland in the Central Plains will be unsafe.
Whether it was out of the desire to appease the powerful families in Guandong or to protect the safety of the hinterland of the Central Plains, Cao Rui put aside the war in the northwest and transferred his troops to the Huaiyou battlefield.
After all, no matter how strong Wei's national power is, it cannot support a situation where two fronts are fighting with all their strength.
But, when does Sun Quan plan to send troops?
Although based on Jiangdong's previous habit of deploying troops when the water in the tributaries of the rivers rose, it can be roughly concluded that Sun Quan would mobilize his troops in July or August of autumn; but he had just suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Jiangdong's soldiers, could he fight again in a short period of time?
After reading the letter, Zheng Pu felt uneasy in his heart for a long time.
This battle was a decisive strategic battle between Han and Wei, and it was related to the ownership of Liangzhou and even Longyou.
One wrong step and you'll be doomed!
All the achievements of the Han Dynasty's Northern Expedition in the past ten years have been turned into nothing!
He didn't dare to place his hopes on Jiang Dong.
The same is true for the Prime Minister.
Therefore, at the end of the letter, he asked Fei Yi how many more soldiers, horses and grains Liangzhou could recruit to rush to the Fortress of Guanyin.
