The unexpected harvest of pumpkins made Zhang San very happy. As long as the first wave of pumpkins are cultivated well, there will be endless pumpkins to eat in the future.
After dinner, everyone went back to their rooms to rest. Xie Hua'er came to the room, closed the door, then went to the desk, unfolded the paper, and started to write a letter to Xie Yun in the distance, telling the story about the pumpkin and her master.
Say something.
There was nothing to say all night. The next morning, Zhang San saw Li Tai in the living room. This fat man seemed to have gotten fatter after the New Year.
"Xiao San, long time no see, what have you been busy with recently?" Li Tai and Zhang San sat side by side, greeting each other cordially like old friends.
"What can I do? I just have to work around all day long. Xiaosi, you have had a good year this year. You are getting stronger and stronger." Zhang San joked.
Li Tai enjoyed Zhang San's casual chatting very much. He was used to hearing flattery all day long, and it was rare for someone to talk to him like this.
"Haha, a man must have some meat, but you are as skinny as a bamboo pole." Li Tai also replied with a smile.
"I call it good body management. I advise you to take it easy. Eating too much fat is not a good thing."
"It doesn't matter. If everyone was like me, then our Tang Dynasty would have created a prosperous age. Unfortunately, most of the people are sallow and thin, but you Zhangjiacun people are very strong." Li Tai suddenly became worried about the country and the people.
He stood up and sighed after finishing speaking.
If Zhang Sanxin was just like you, then it wouldn't be a prosperous age. It would just be a fat man's empire. Li Tai probably doesn't have this awareness of obesity.
"Xiaosan, although we haven't spoken a few times, and we were a little unhappy at first, you may not believe it, but I can find a feeling of sympathy with you."
After hearing what Li Tai said, Zhang San thought: Of course I don't believe it.
"I believe it. When I see you, I feel like you are one of the same people." Zhang San replied inconsistently.
"Haha, that's so good. I won't leave at noon. I'll just have a meal with you. Is it okay?" Li Tai laughed.
"My home is your home, you can come and have dinner anytime you want."
"To be honest, I heard from Chang Sun Chong that your food is very delicious, especially the white wine, so I'm going to experience it today."
"It's easy to say, I'll have the kitchen prepare the food, and we'll get drunk at noon."
Today at noon, since Li Tai had to eat at home, Zhang San asked Aunt Song to cook more dishes and asked Aunt Li to bring out two jars of white wine from the wine cellar.
Li Tai opened the sealed wine jar, took a deep breath, and exclaimed: "The wine is really good!"
"Later, I'll drink it with the pork head meat. I'm sure it will make you feel great." Zhang San laughed when he saw Li Tai's drunken look.
Since there were outsiders at home today, Xie Huaer and Xiaomei did not come to the table to eat. Xiaoyu and Suxin usually ate in the commune canteen at noon.
Looking at the table full of colorful and fragrant food, Li Tai's appetite increased greatly. He couldn't help but pick up a piece of shiny braised pork and stuff it into his mouth.
"Hmm... smells good! This braised pork is so delicious." Li Tai's eyes lit up and he nodded in admiration.
"I'm telling you, there's no one who doesn't like anyone who comes to our house for dinner. Come and let's go." Zhang San was pleased when he heard Li Tai's praise. He picked up the wine glass and drank with Li Tai.
"Eh... ah... tsk, tsk, this wine is really enjoyable. It's better than what I drank at my father's place. As promised, you will bring me two jars before leaving." Li Tai made various sounds of enjoyment in his mouth.
The voice, if he didn't know Li Tai's identity, Zhang San would have thought he was some country bumpkin who had never seen the world.
"It's easy to say. If you like this wine, I'll bring you some more." Zhang San replied cheerfully.
If women want to become friends, it may only take a shopping trip; the way for men to enhance friendship is often to play a basketball game or sit down and have a drink together.
The two exchanged glasses and chatted all over the world, especially Li Tai who frequently heard the beautiful poems from Zhang San's mouth and was even more amazed.
"Xiao San, with your literary talent, wouldn't it be too unworthy to stay here? Why don't you go into the court and make more contributions to the Tang Dynasty?" Li Tai put down his wine glass, already feeling drunk.
"Haha, I have a lazy temperament and can't achieve great things. It's good enough to be an idle lord. Besides, where I am, as long as I focus on the Tang Dynasty, what does it matter? It's just that the division of labor in society is different."
Zhang San was also a little drunk and said with a smile.
"The division of labor in society is different?" Li Tai pondered for a while and seemed to understand.
"If you live high in the temple, you worry about the people; if you live far away from the rivers and lakes, you worry about the king. It's nothing more than this." Zhang San remembered this sentence in Yueyang Tower and recited it casually.
When Li Tai heard this, he suddenly got goosebumps all over his body and his hair stood up. He chanted this sentence repeatedly and praised it: "Good! If you live high in the temple, you worry about the people; if you live far away in the rivers and lakes, you worry about the people."
Jun, if everyone in our Tang Dynasty thinks like you, Xiaosan, why worry about not being prosperous!"
After saying that, Li Tai seemed to remember something and sighed.
"Xiaosi, that's ridiculous, are you worried about anything?" Zhang San said modestly, and seeing Li Tai sighing, he couldn't help but ask.
"The Tang Dynasty is about to have a war with the Turks. Unfortunately, I don't know who leaked the news. The Turks learned about our army's food and grass transportation route in advance and attacked our army's food and grass. Although they were discovered in advance, they also caused heavy losses."
Zhang San was also very worried when he heard this. The soldiers and horses were not moved, and the food and grass went first. In ancient marches, the food and grass supplies were robbed halfway. It was not easy to raise them again and transport them to the front line.
Without food and grass, it will be a disaster for the soldiers on the front line.
"Actually, food and grass were easy to deal with, and we didn't suffer too much loss. The main reason was that the raid destroyed almost all of our army's salt. Without salt, the soldiers would not have the strength to fight. My father was very worried about this.
." Li Tai continued.
It is actually difficult to obtain table salt in this era. In addition to sea salt, the salt produced in some salt wells can be mined and eaten.
Zhang San actually wanted to start a salt business at first, because in the early Zhenguan period, the salt and iron monopoly system had not yet been implemented.
However, many of the salt wells that have been discovered are controlled by family members. Zhang San has never seen the salt mine, and no one in the Tang Dynasty will eat the salt mined in the salt mine. The main reason is that there is no way to remove the metal elements in it.
Although Zhang San knows how to remove those harmful metals, Zhang San does not dare to touch it because of his strength. If he touches this cake, he will probably die miserably.
"You don't have to worry too much, the emperor will definitely be able to think of a solution." Zhang San didn't expect that the first time he heard the border news, it would be bad news.
"Oh! You don't understand. It's hard to raise salt to send to the front line now. I heard that border soldiers secretly ate mineral salt, and the result was very ugly deaths. Now the soldiers on the main line have almost no salt to eat, and they can only be jealous.
Bu, if this continues, this expedition will be in vain."
Zhang San was very puzzled after hearing this. There should be some salt wells in the north, right? Besides, there is also sea salt in Shandong. Li Shimin only had to give an order and it would be fine.
"Why can't we raise salt? Our Tang Dynasty is a vast land with rich resources. There are many salt wells in the north and sea salt in the east. Can't we just raise money again?"