"It's too hot."
Wan Zhang's first impression of the driver was that it was hot, even in October after winter, the sun was still hot during the day, and the winter clothes that had just been distributed could not be worn at all.Last year, an old Xiliang military commander who came to the car division said with a smile: "Really in the summer, this car division simply can't treat people, just after Pingdan was woken up by the heat, the chickens wilted and can't make a sound, and can not wear iron armor, it can be hot in a moment, as if it is the punishment of cannon branding, you and others are wearing felt hats, you see I was already black, and now it is even darker.""
Then how can the locals be so white?"
Many light men saw that the chariot girl in Jiaohe City had snow-white skin, and her appearance was not as exaggerated as that of the Hujie Hu people, which was an aesthetic acceptable to the people of Zhongxia.They were all impatient, but they didn't dare to act recklessly because of the harsh military law, and they heard that after going to Beiting, the Hu maid who was going to be sent by the Duhu Mansion was a Hun captured in the war two years ago, and they couldn't help but be disappointed."
The white ones are all nobles, hiding in those cave dwelling mud houses in Jiaohe City, and there are slaves holding umbrellas and fans, so they don't have to come out to work against the sun."
Speaking of this, the tun chief urged Wan Zhang and them to go out to work, Ren Du Hu is a shrewd person, even if they let them spend the winter in the driver's division, he didn't plan to let this group of able-bodied light men eat a day's white rice.Because of the hot weather, the grain of the Cheshi can be harvested twice a year, and the snow and water of the Tianshan Mountains are endless, gathered together in the valley, just as the backyard and granary of the Anxi Army before the development of the North Garden.Most of the Cheshi people lived in Jiaohe City, while the Han army was stationed in the stone fort north of Jiaohe, and the newly arrived light and evil boys were placed near the "Grape Valley".Grape ditch is a canyon on the west side of the flame mountain, more than ten miles long, and the red cliffs on the west bank of the valley face each other, like a screen cockroach.The ditch is surrounded by streams, and the snow water from the Tianshan Mountains is extremely clean, which is a weapon to cool off.Wanzhang in the Chang'an City in the food market activities, knowing that grapes are only nobles can afford to eat, this thing by Bowang Marquis Zhang Qian introduced to the Han Dynasty for decades, initially only planted as exotic rare fruits, by Emperor Xiaowu planted in the palace next to the view, and later some marquis also followed, leading grapevines to be planted in their respective estates.Xi'an Hou's grape trellis in Bailuyuan's home is more famous.But in Cheshi, grapes are like plum trees and mulberry trees in the Central Plains, they are commonplace, and there are many vineyards in this grape ditch, but unfortunately the grapes have already been harvested, and only the withered vines remain, so the light heroes are responsible for opening up new land and preparing for planting new vines and expanding vineyards in the coming year.Tun Chang said: "Originally, there were only a few, but last year, the king of the Cheshi was escorted to bury new vines and tree new frames, and it occupied half of the valley." ”The harvest season of the Cheshi grapes is between July and August of the summer calendar, this thing decays very quickly, and it must be preserved, either cut to make wine, or dried into raisins that are easy to preserve.The veterans of the Anxi army are also busy working, located on the sunny flat land outside the grape ditch, there are strange-looking houses, all built of mud bricks, but the walls are not sealed, but hollowed out everywhere, like bee eyes.This is certainly not a public toilet.Instead, Ren Du protected the raisin drying room built by the craftsmen of the Central Plains, and through the hollow holes in it, you can see that the drying rack inside is full of bunches of grapes.The bee-eye walls allow the shade to be ventilated and the grapes are quickly dried in the autumn heat and the hot air passing through the walls.They are no longer full and watery from the harvest, and the heat and the difference between day and night have changed the grapes wonderfully, and after more than a month of drying, the water evaporates, the sugar condenses in the shriveled raisins, and the air smells sweet and sour.The old soldiers were unloading the dried raisins and loading them on a donkey cart to transport them to the threshing floor, and the person next to Wan Zhang muttered: "The reason why we are not allowed to transport them, or because they are afraid that we will steal food, is that they are treated equally, and they are all Anxi Tiejun Robe Ze brothers, I think it is still different." ”Wan Zhang said: "There has to be a first come, first come, we followed the heroes before, and the young people who have just started also have to do some dirty work, and they are not hungry for us, don't complain, this grape can be sold for a dollar in Chang'an, a bunch of more than 100 yuan, which is what we can afford to eat?"
”However, when they returned to the camp in the evening, they found that they had added a meal, and a very large amount of raisins were added to the vegan roasted naan on weekdays, all of which were purple or brown.The complaints are suddenly gone, according to the price of Chang'an, a grain is a penny, and the light heroes are very careful and carefully taste the taste, although they will be tired of eating after a year and a half.Unbeknownst to them, most of these raisins were inferior semi-finished products, or even products that had fallen on the floor in a shady room and then swept up and washed.The really good raisins are being inspected by Ren Duhu and the Minister of State at this moment.Su You's family was originally a "Qin people" craftsman who was taken away by the Huns, and he came to the coach, helped Jiaohe City dig a well and became a nobleman, got a vineyard, and later relied on wit to help the old king of the coachman avoid death, and now he is the minister of the country.In the eyes of the newcomers, grapes are grapes, but in fact, there are many kinds, some of the sweetness is not high but suitable for winemaking, some are particularly sweet and suitable for fresh eating, and the grape seeds are small for raisins, and the grade and price difference is very large, but a university asks.Su You looked at the dry grapes in the shade room sent by the Han army, not brown or purple from exposure to the sun, but crystal clear yellow-green, with some transparent feeling, and when you lift it up in the sun, you can even see the flesh fibers inside.Green raisins, which are the hallmark of the best in the eyes of the driver, not only taste good, but also have an excellent appearance.In the past, hanging on the vine was still naturally dried, and the quality was often worse the closer to the outside, but the raisins that could not see the sun on the inside were the most perfect.Now Ren Hong has found a way to improve the quality, which makes Su Judah happy: "The general's method of drying in the shade can really show the most and best hues." ”Ren Hong smiled and didn't say a word, he directly copied the mature shade house shape in Turpan two thousand years later, how could it be bad?
Stuffed a few raisins into his mouth and chewed them carefully, so that people could quickly identify and classify them, and most of the best raisins had to be packed on a hunchback and transported to the Central Plains."
It is best to arrive before the Zhengdan Dynasty meeting in the first three years of this year, together with the jade of Khotan and Shache, as a tribute to the capital protectorate."
Jade and raisins, these are the two specialties that the Duhu Mansion can get their hands on, although grapes are also planted near Chang'an, but compared with Turpan, it is a younger brother!
Ren Hong has always believed that one-way trade is not sustainable, and the exchange of what is available is the long-term method, and it can also create some financial revenue for the Metropolitan Protectorate, and become self-sufficient as soon as possible.These desserts from the peerless region, as long as the emperor takes the lead in eating them as live advertisements, they will definitely be able to dislike a wave of popularity in the nine cities of Chang'an.It attracted the princes, princes and nobles to rush to buy.Just as the silk of the Central Plains can be sold for sky-high prices in Rest Rome, the more distant and rare it is, the more it will be regarded as a luxury to show off its status and wealth.It is too ugly to directly take the lord and steal the house and tell the people to eat, and it is also a way to use luxury goods to continuously cut the leeks of the princes and nobles.These thousands of emperors recognized by the horses and young men may be armed by the trade of small raisins.And in November, when the vineyards were cleaned up, the new vines had been buried in the ground, the raisins had been screened and stored, and the camel caravans belonging to the Imperial Protectorate slowly marched east with a large number of tributes."
Does the Driver need so many wells?"
Wan Zhang didn't understand this time, the work arranged by Du Hu was to dig a "well" on the oasis of the Cheshi, and there was more than one, digging a well every half a mile, more than ten zhang deep, this work can make the light heroes tired enough, compared to last month, taking care of the vineyard and trimming the ditch was just a warm-up.Among the 5,000 people, there is a song for 1,000 people, 250 people for a tun, and a team of 50 people.Each team was assigned the task of a deep well, and after ten days of drying, the well had been dug, and the light men were half tired to death, and the ditch keepers erected a wooden frame on the ground, and when they aimed it at the distance with a hook distance, Wan Zhang saw a little way.More than 100 wells dug by the light warriors were arranged in a straight line, extending from the acres of the Cheshi Oasis to the foot of the Tianshan Mountain, more than 20 miles away, where the snow water gathered.When the canal keeper asked the light heroes to go down to the well and dig a passage under the well according to the direction he had drawn, a light man from Zuo Feng Yi near Luoshui understood and said in amazement: "Tai Yi is above, and Du Hu wants us to dig a dragon head ditch in the car division!"
”PS: The second chapter is in the evening.