When Ren Hong walked into the hall, the messy cup and plate had been removed.All the people in the east and west seats were watching him.There are the expectations of Xu Fengde, Xia Dingmao, and Su Yannian, the scrutiny of Chen Pengzu and Xi Chongguo, and the suspicion of Wu Zongnian.There is also the front main seat, Fu Jiezi's scrutiny!
Facing these gazes, Ren Hong walked to the center of the hall and said to Fu Jiezi with a look: "Hanging Spring Zuo Ren Hong, I have seen Fu Gong, Fu Gong asked Ren Hong to entertain all the officials, and now everyone is full of food and is resting in the house." ”"When you hear the sound, especially Sun Shiwan's snoring, this guy can fall asleep."
Fu Jiezi's words caused everyone in the mission to laugh, and he said: "Not only is the banquet properly entertained, but this banquet is also well arranged. ”Ren Hong glanced at Dongxi's boss and elders, and said, "After I discussed with Xu Qifu, it was made by Xia Qifu himself, and the second and third sons of Hanging Springs also sold a lot of power. ”Xia Dingmao hurriedly said: "The old man has no other talents, and it all depends on Ren Hong's guidance." ”"It's okay with the subordinates."
Xu Fengde, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke, and said with a smile: "Dare to sue Fu Gong, it is all Ren Hong's strategy, and this reception is also being organized by Ren Hong." ”Ren Hong was a little surprised, of course Xia Dingmao would do his best to help him, but he didn't expect that Xu Fengde would make the work so thoroughly, and he made a note of the old man's goodness in his heart.Wu Zongnian heard this and said: "Ren Hong, if it is really as Xu Qifu and Xia Qifu said, there are not a hundred or eighty places I have passed through over the years, and I have never seen such a capable assistant as you." ”"It's just the duty of the subordinates."
Ren Hong said with his hand: "In the past, the Hanging Spring was located in a remote area, the shortage of ingredients, and the failure to entertain good guests, often reprimanded by the Governor, the subordinate as a member of the Hanging Spring, was ordered by the husband to assist the East Kitchen, naturally in his position to seek his own government, thinking about improving it, so there are these ways to eat." ”Wu Zongnian touched his beard and said: "Make the chicken at night, make the raccoon dog hold the mouse, and make the dog guard the household, all use their energy."
But you are so almighty, you have done all three.Why hasn't such a capable assistant been promoted?
Dunhuang's Gong Cao and the post supervisor are negligent, no wonder you put pen to paper, and don't want to do it for a long time. ”During the whole process, Fu Jiezi didn't say much, just listened silently, but Ren Hong knew that he was the backbone of the mission, and he was the person who affected his career Ren Hong said: "Fu Gong, although these dishes are delicious, they are all small ways, satisfying the appetite for a while, and there is no great benefit to state affairs, except for one exception!"
”Fu Jiezi said: "What you said, could it be this roasted naan?"
”"He saw that?"
Ren Hong was slightly surprised, and immediately said: "Yes, this naan cake seems ordinary, but in fact, it is a matter of military affairs!"
It is related to the future of the Han in the Western Regions!
”Hearing this, Wu Zongnian frowned: "You son, how can this thing have anything to do with military affairs?"
”Ren Hong said: "Please listen to the deputy envoy to listen to Hong's detailed words, I heard that the Western Regions go to the Central Plains far away, divide the north and south roads, out of the north near Hu, there are often Xiongnu for the Kou, rob and kill the messenger."
Out of the south, there is a lack of water and grass.I heard that when Emperor Xiaowu was the emperor, the Han envoys sent hundreds of people to Dawan and other countries, but because of lack of food, more than half of the people died" Wu Zongnian bowed slightly, and the envoy group who had just finished the envoy had a deep understanding of this.There is no way, the Western Regions are too big, the land is vast and sparsely populated, and the oasis city-states are often separated by hundreds of miles or even thousands of miles!
As the so-called wild clouds have no cities, rain and snow have connected the desert, many places do not have the conditions for cooking, so they can only use dry food to satisfy the hunger of the mission west out of Yumen, and the food must at least last until it crosses the Bailongdui and arrives in Loulan Country before it can be replenished.But you can't pin all your hopes on the other party, because the Western Regions are close to the Xiongnu, and there are more servants and captains who chase the king every day to settle in, so the countries of the Western Regions are more afraid of the Xiongnu than the Han, and the Xiongnu enter and exit their own backyards in the Western Regions, and will collude with bandits to rob and kill Han envoys!
Therefore, if the messenger's chariot is not loaded with enough dry food, life and death will depend on the face of the person.Ren Hong continued: "Dozens or hundreds of envoys are so embarrassed, not to mention thousands or tens of thousands of Han troops going west, it is even more difficult. ”"When the subordinates went to Xiaogu County, I heard the old soldiers who had participated in the battle of Dawan with the general of the second division, and finally stayed in Dunhuang, said that the first time to attack Wan in 104 BC in the first year of Taichu, the most difficult thing was not to fight, but the road was far away, lack of food, and the soldiers did not suffer from war, but from hunger!"
At that time, Li Guangli was ordered by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to march west with 6,000 horsemen and tens of thousands of evil youths from the county.The Han army could only get food and drink when they captured the city, and if they couldn't capture it, they had to leave there within a few days.In this way, it was lost all the way to the west of the Green Ridge, and before the capital of Dawan was seen, the Han army had already lost its combat effectiveness, and only a few thousand people followed, starving.Li Guangli also coaxed, without Huo Qu's desperate strategy, he traveled around the gate of Dawan and returned empty-handed.The first time to attack Dawan, so tragic failure, Li Guangli with less than three-tenths of the army back to Dunhuang, so angry that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ordered it not to cross the east of the Yumen Pass, at that time the Yumen Pass was not in Dunhuang, but located in Yumen County, Jiuquan County, that is, the place where the Tiehan King Jinxi showed his might.And when it came to the second expedition, the Han army learned a lesson.As a veteran of that war, Fu Jiezi knew best: after a year of preparation, the Han Dynasty poured the strength of the whole country and sent 180,000 soldiers to develop the Hexi Corridor, build roads, and move the Yumen Pass to the west of Dunhuang, and Lieting Barrier to Lop Nur.Then, the newly recruited army drove 100,000 cattle, more than 30,000 horses, and countless donkeys, camels, and other things, carrying rice and grain, and followed Li Guangli on the expedition.Seeing that the Han army was strong, most of the states in the Western Regions opened the city to greet them, except for the Luntai resistance that they didn't think clearly, and the Han army successfully arrived in Dawan.But the embarrassing thing is that a year later, the war ended, and on the way back, there was another problem with food.The countries of the Western Regions had little food and could not supply the Han army, so Li Guangli had to divide the army into several waves and return to China from the north and south of the Western Regions.But because of the serious problem of corruption among officials, many people still starved to death and became a leader in the Western Expeditionary Army, Fu Jiezi personally experienced these things, it was glorious to die on the battlefield, and it was glorious to die of illness and starvation in the yellow sand!
Ren Hongdao: "After hearing this, the subordinates secretly thought that this was because the dry food carried by the Han army at that time was 糗糒 qiǔbèi, which was really not enough to satisfy hunger. ”Corn is the corn that is dried after cooking, and millet is the staple food of the Central Plains, but anyone who has eaten millet knows that this thing has a huge disadvantage, that is, it is not eaten.The millet eaten by soldiers with great physical exertion in a month is often more than 1 stone, which is equivalent to 30 kilograms in later generations.It is an exaggeration to dry up one kilogram of rice a day, but in ancient times, when there was a shortage of non-staple foods, it was just an ordinary amount of food.In recent decades, with the increase in the area of wheat in Guanzhong and Hexi, the dry food of the mission has more wheat noodles, and the wheat is cooked and ground up, similar to the Tibetan tsamba znba in later generations, stirred into a paste with water, or kneaded into a ball to eat.The calories are much higher than that of dry rice balls, and there are more wheat in the Western Regions than millet, so you can buy and make them at any time, but the taste is really indescribable."
So the subordinates referred to the practice of Hu cakes in the Western Regions, and tried to make baked naan with the people in Hanging Springs."
Like a salesman, Ren Hong introduced the advantages of baked naan: "This thing is not only easy to make, easy to carry, and will not be damaged if stored for ten days and a half."
And it's easy to feel full when you eat it, it's not easy to get hungry, and the taste is better than glutinous rice" Ren Hong is confident in naan, the people of the Western Regions Province have spent two thousand years voting with their mouths, proving that naan is the most suitable staple food in the desert oasis."
Hanging Springs is dedicated to this thing today, when Fu Gong goes to the Western Regions again in the future, or when the Han soldiers go west out of Yumen, it is indispensable to march thousands of miles, and this can be used as military food!
It can solve the problem of lack of food!
”Deputy envoy Wu Zongnian has been dissatisfied from the beginning, to Ren Hong After speaking, his face was solemn, he stood up and said to Fu Jiezi: "If this thing is really so good, Fu Jun" The situation of the mission, Wu Zongnian could not be clearer, Tianma died of illness unexpectedly, and the main task failed, although under Fu Jiezi's arbitrary decision, they risked beheading the Xiongnu envoy in Qiuzi, but it is still unknown whether they can make up for it.It's also a coincidence, I met the baked naan in the hanging spring, and I was simply sleepy and came to the pillow!
Although Wu Zongnian eats this roasted naan and tastes average, it is indeed better than glutinous rice and ordinary Hu cakes, and may really be used as military food.The legations need merit, all the merit that can convince the imperial court!
It was the same as Ren Hong expected, but the strange thing was that Fu Jiezi was not impatient, he only looked at Ren Hong with a slight smile, and said lightly at the end: "Enough food, foot soldiers, I naturally understand this." ”"But let's go out first and see how this thing is baked, and then it's not too late to make a judgment!"
In Ren Hong's opinion, unlike Wu Zongnian, who is full of scholarly flavor, Fu Jiezi does have the demeanor of a general, and he was not panicked before, but now he suddenly heard that there was a merit, but he did not show surprise."
No wonder he's a good man."
After making a special trip to the naan pit outside the hanging spring, watching the complete naan baking process, and checking the required materials in detail, Fu Jiezi was thoughtful."
It looks really easy.But the voice changed again: "However, although this thing is delicious and simple, it remains to be verified whether it can be stored for so long as you said, enough to be used as military rations!"
Xu Qifu!
”"The subordinates are here."
Xu Fengde gave up."
I want to bring a basket of naan, the way back to Chang'an is far away, no less than the west to Dawan, and when I get to Chang'an Hanque, I will know how long this baked naan can last, whether you are meritorious or not!"
After saying that, Fu Jiezi looked back at Ren Hong and smiled: "By the way, do you know how to ride a horse?"
”"Yes!"
Ren Hongying said: "As a child of Hexi, I am often troubled, how dare I not learn to drive and horse?"
”Obediently, fortunately, in the past six months, Ren Hong has learned these two skills with the stableman and the stableman who are in charge of the stable.Fu Jiezi nodded: "Good, the sun is still early before setting, before leaving, let everyone rest for a while, you can go out with me." ”"No!"
The rider Xi Chongguo asked: "Fu Gong, do we also want to go together?"
”Fu Jiezi smiled and said, "No need, I have something to say, I have to ask Ren Hong alone." ”Fu Jiezi stepped on his tall Wusun Xiji horse, and Ren Hong borrowed an ordinary stagecoach from the stableman.When leading the horse out of the stable, Ren Hong didn't know Fu Jiezi's purpose, so he said: "Dare to ask Fu Gong, where is this going?"
”Fu Jiezi looked in the direction of the Flame Mountain in the southwest: "Go and see the place where I almost buried my bones back then." ”"Go to Ershi Spring!"