Zhao Yanhao chatted casually with the two Ryukyu officials, and then saw the guards starting to serve the dishes. The first ones were a few cold dishes - water clouds, hijiki and the like. It is worth mentioning that sea grapes, a piece
The grains do look like grapes, but they are a kind of seaweed. When dipped in vinegar made from seaweed, the feeling of the grains popping out when you bite them is very strange. However, they have no taste themselves and can only be regarded as...
Appetizers.
Then a small plate of tofu cake made from island tofu was served. It looked soft and looked a bit like fermented bean curd. Zhao Yanhao picked up a large piece and put it in his mouth. It was not salty or sweet, but also had the spiciness of wine.
I thought to myself that this thing is so delicious, I have to season it before serving it. Add some light soy sauce, chili oil, etc.
Hemp Balancing looked at it with a look of distress. Zhao Yanhao felt puzzled. After asking Zheng Jue, he found out that this stuff was used by Ryukyu people as a nourishment for high-ranking officials and nobles after illness. When eating, they always use chopsticks or toothpicks to pick out a little bit. It is particularly precious.
.
Zhao Yanhao thought this was too stingy. Although soybeans are not grown in Ryukyu and soy products are "precious ingredients", there is no shortage of fish, shrimp and seafood here. As a dignitary, it is still guaranteed to consume enough protein. Since
I cherish it so much that I will give you a box of Tianchu Jiangyuan fermented bean curd as a gift, which is guaranteed to make your face glow and stay healthy forever.
The officer brought some more dry goods, and Zhao Yanhao quickly recognized them as dried bonito and tuna. At this time, it was his turn to feel sad: "Such good things are actually made into dried food!"
However, Ryukyu cannot be preserved in such a warm environment. In addition, there is also a very typical Okinawa dish today: the weird bitter melon fried island tofu. However, in the old time and space, because of the U.S. military garrison, the bitter melon fried lunch evolved
This goes well with meat.
Next on the table was a meat dish called ham: three pieces of skin-on pork stewed with soy sauce and awamori wine. It tasted very much like Dongpo pork. Ryukyu cuisine is deeply influenced by Chinese food, so it is quite popular.
It has a Chinese color. So far, this dish suits Zhao Yanhao’s appetite the best.
After enjoying the rich Ryukyu customs, I thought it was time to show off the "Great Song Cuisine". In the Ming and Qing dynasties, envoys had always brought chefs to cook Chinese cuisine at the canonization ceremony to reflect the vastness and richness of the heavenly kingdom.
In order to open the eyes of the barbarians in these vassal states and admire the great country, Zhao Yanhao also took a few chefs from the cooperative restaurant with him when he set off.
Zhao Yanhao clapped his hands, and Zheng Jue shouted twice in Ryukyu language. Wu and Ma saw several servants quickly bringing up several dishes of "Chinese cuisine": one was piled on a white porcelain plate.
Yellow scrambled eggs stained with some kind of red juice, and there are a lot of pulpy red pulp-like things in them; one is green tender pods fried with bacon; and another is flower-like, which I have never seen before.
White and green vegetables.
Ma Baling picked up a piece of fruit pulp with chopsticks and took a long bite. It tasted sour and sweet, and he immediately felt his appetite was whetted. Then he tasted the green pods, which were sweet and tender. Finally, the flower-like vegetables were white, hard and crispy, and green.
They are rotten and soft, and taste different in their own way.
"The Great Song Dynasty is indeed rich in products and people," Ma Pingping marveled, and then bowed and said: "I forgive you for being bold, and I sincerely ask the envoy to bear with me and give our country some of these vegetable seeds..."
"Although there are many people asking me for seeds, this is the first one who wants vegetable seeds." Zhao Yanhao thought to himself. Since he is willing to plant seeds, he naturally wants them. After all, this will also be a supply point in the future.
Immediately, he agreed: "Ma Oyakata is so polite. Vegetables and grains are grown near the Nakijin Commercial Building. I hope Ma Oyakata can help me a lot! These seeds and other things are naturally not a problem."
"The lower officials are very frightened..." The old man looked grateful.
The two then had an in-depth conversation about how to promote agricultural cultivation in Ryukyu and increase the existing varieties of fruits and vegetables in Ryukyu. In fact, Ma Balance was more concerned about how to increase Ryukyu's food crops - or crops that can preserve fruits.
Yield.
After Ryukyu was conquered by Satsuma, although Ryukyu maintained a certain degree of independence, it was completely controlled economically by Satsuma. Before releasing King Shonei, the Satsuma clan not only forced Ryukyu to cede Kikai, Amami and other five islands, but also carried out siege on the entire Ryukyu kingdom.
After the "land inspection" was completed, the "rock height" of Ryukyu was set at 123,000 koku. Among them, 35,000 koku from the five northern islands that were ceded were collected as one's own; 88,000 koku from the southern part were returned every year.
Eight thousand koku must be paid to Satsuma. Fifty thousand koku is for the King of Ryukyu's own use, and the rest is used as official salary.
Not only that, the Satsuma Domain also forced Ryukyu to pay a large amount of tribute every year. In order to meet the demand for tribute, Ryukyu had to implement a poll tax system nationwide. Under such intense oppression, Ryukyu's food supply has been insufficient, and the people have been chronically hungry for a long time.
In China, we can only rely on sweet potatoes to barely satisfy our hunger. Therefore, Ma Balance has always been concerned about increasing food supply.
Wu Xiangxian saw that the two of them were chatting enthusiastically, but he didn't know anything about agriculture. He couldn't say anything at all, so he seemed a little embarrassed. Taking advantage of the gap between the two of them talking, he bowed and said: "I forgive you for being rude. Although our country
We know that the Great Song Dynasty was a kingdom of heaven, but we don’t know where the Great Song Dynasty is today?”
Ma Pingping secretly wondered how young and energetic this Yu Diji was, and wondered whether he would offend the envoy - but he himself was also very curious about who this "Great Song" was.
"Please take a look." Zhao Yanhao asked Zhao Kui to bring him a map of the Asia-Pacific region in the Lingao edition of "Four Continents".
"Ha?" Wu Xiangxian was greatly surprised. The map was so beautifully drawn! And the scope involved was far beyond his imagination. Wu Xiangxian could only search in vain for the word "Ryukyu" on the map.
"The main island of Ryukyu is here, this is Amami Oshima, and this is Mount Yae." Zhao Yanhao pointed to a few small dots on the map and said, then he drew a small circle with his fingernail on the southernmost tip of Kyushu, "This is Satsuma.
Fan." He pointed his hand downward again and placed it on the Australian continent that was marked in the wrong place and the terrain was completely unrealistic. "This is where Australia is good."
Wu Xiangxian was almost speechless in shock. The large island named Australia by the canonized envoy looked not only a hundred times the size of Satsuma Domain, but even larger than the Ming Dynasty on the map.
"After Yashan, our ancestors floated to the sea with their families, and traveled to the South China Sea, thousands of miles away, where no one could reach. They encountered a large continent, and there was a large Australia in the continent, so it was named Australia. After the ancestors landed, they rebuilt China. The ancestors thought about the pain of the country's subjugation, which was in Gao.
It has been ten generations since we talked about empty talk, so we did not establish imperial examinations, but focused on natural science. It has been passed down to this generation. Because we miss our homeland, we headed north to China with Wang Shizhong and Ma Zhongshu as our leaders."
Zhao Yanhao pointed to Hainan Island, Guangdong Province, the southern part of Taiwan Island, and Jeju Island.
"This is also our territory of the Song Dynasty."
Wu Xiangxian was shocked when he saw Kaohsiung on the map. "I didn't expect that the country would be so close to our country's Yonaguni Island."
"It's only a three-day voyage to Ryukyu by our country's big ship."
"Three days!" Wu Xiangxian was surprised again. On weekdays, Ryukyu people take a boat to Kagoshima. Including supplies on the way, even if there is a favorable wind, it will take at least a week. In addition to steamers, Australian firearms are also
Extremely sharp. If we were to fight the Satsuma clan, and the Satsuma warriors came from a long distance, there would be no chance of victory. Thinking of this, Wu Xiangxian couldn't help but ask, "If our country is in trouble, how will the superior country deal with it?"
"Since Ryukyu is a vassal of our Song Dynasty, if there is any difficulty, we will naturally help you with all our strength." Zhao Yanhao laughed, and then spread his hands, "If we can't protect the vassal, wouldn't it be a big joke in the world and ruin the elders?"
The reputation of the hospital and the people?”
"It is far better to take refuge with the Australians than in Satsuma or the Ming Dynasty!" Wu Xiangxian suddenly had an idea in his mind, and an incredible idea flashed across his mind.
If you think about it carefully, it goes without saying that Satsuma squeezed the country to the point of "knocking the bones and sucking out the marrow"; what about the Ming Dynasty? Although Korea was saved from the Japanese in the past few years, the political power of the country has become increasingly decadent in the past few years, and it is obviously not sustainable for a long time.
Object to rely on.
Wu Xiangxian then carefully inquired about various situations in Lingao, including steamers, cannons, and the food and clothing of the naturalized people. Zhao Yanhao had memorized the latest version of the prisoner's instruction manual before, and so far
I still remember some of them, and I read some answers to frequently asked questions used in foreign trade before leaving, so even though the answers to key questions were ambiguous, they were still eloquent. All kinds of novel things opened Wu Xiangxian’s eyes and made him full of enthusiasm.
His face was filled with excitement, and he didn't realize until the guard came over to turn on the lamp that it was already completely dark outside.
When Wu Xiangxian and Ma Pingping saw that it was getting late, they called them naonuo and hurriedly bowed and said goodbye.
Zhao Yanhao ordered his men to bring some vegetable seeds and give them to Ma Baling. "I will ask the cadres in charge of agriculture to visit me someday." Ma Balming almost knelt down in excitement, "Thank you so much for the envoy from the Song Dynasty..."
Zhao Yanhao took out several popular science and customs notes books such as "Little Knowledge on Objects", "Old Things in Australia", and "Lingao Wild Language" and gave them to Wu Xiangxian, who accepted them with great gratitude. Then the following two
People bow to say goodbye.
"This young man surnamed Wu is very discerning. It seems that he is very likely to become a pro-Australian person," Zhao Yanhao said with a smile. Suddenly something occurred to him and he quickly asked Zheng Jue, "Is he the chief minister of Yudi?"
"Chief, in fact he is the crown prince of Haji Kanji, but they are very optimistic about him as the king's regent. Haji Kanji is already a sure thing."
"Sure enough, it's him... I didn't expect to meet two 'Ryukyu greats' in one meal," Zhao Yanhao smiled awkwardly, "I hope this dear friend will not come up with the theory that Australia and Ryukyu have the same ancestors..."