Chapter 125 Xiangyang City Water Mirror Eight Qi, Chenliu County Fried Grasshopper
Xiangyang City, a post house.
The real Zhuge Liang was sitting in front of the window, holding a bamboo slip in his hand and reading the words on it word by word. This was a letter sent by his third brother Zhuge Jun.
Speaking of which, this is the first time I have received a letter from my third brother since the brothers separated.
Zhuge Liang was full of joy, but when he saw the above content, Zhuge Liang's face was solemn and he was greatly surprised.
As he had expected, Yanzhou was indeed in chaos. Cao Cao attacked Xuzhou, Zhang Miao, the prefect of Chenliu, betrayed, Lu Bu led the wolf cavalry of Bingzhou to surprise Yanzhou, and Guo Gong, the governor of Yuzhou, fished in troubled waters.
The whole Yanzhou seemed to have a sense of déjà vu.
But... brother Jun's letter mentioned that all these crises were resolved by one person.
Lu Yu, Cao Cao's shogunate hero Lu Yu...
This was the first time Zhuge Liang heard this name, and what shocked him even more than this name was the fierce means behind this name in dealing with the chaos in Yanzhou.
From setting up an ambush, to stabilizing the situation, and then to rescuing the Qingzhou soldiers, all of this happened one after another...
He was like a prophet who had not pounced. In fact, it was like he had compiled a big net, just waiting for Lu Bu to jump into it.
The whole Yanzhou chaos came in waves and went away calmly, without leaving any trace.
It's incredible, it's incredible. Zhuge Liang silently remembered the name "Lu Yu" in his heart. It seems... Jun's brother's letter mentioned that he is not very old, only three years older than Zhuge Liang. But at such an age, he is so...
Forget about being scheming?
Zhuge Liang read Jundi's letter many times.
Among them, Lu Yu's explanation of "Baigong" also made Zhuge Liang suddenly understand.
To be honest, Zhuge Liang is only thirteen years old this year. After all, he is still young. Even if he is a genius, he cannot do everything.
At the very least...he originally didn't attach much importance to the "hundreds of jobs".
This is also related to the fact that the Zhuge family has become prosperous over the years, and Zhuge Liang has been pampered since he was a child...
Many of the "Baigongs" were done by servants on their own initiative. The most intuitive feeling given to Zhuge Liang was that the "Baigongs" were useless and were made by servants.
But now I carefully read the letter from the third brother, Lu Yu's conclusion about the Hundred Works, especially the sentence "The sky has its timing, the earth has its energy, the materials have its beauty, and the work has its skill." Zhuge Liang suddenly felt that among the "Hundred Works"
The hidden knowledge of the university also gave him a strong curiosity about this knowledge.
"Lu Yu, what kind of young master is he?"
After a long time, Zhuge Liang put down the bamboo slips in his hand and muttered to himself...
Of course, Zhuge Jun also specifically mentioned in the bamboo slips that both Lu Yu and Miss Cai Yan took good care of him, just like a teacher treating his disciples with strict but caring attitude. Between the lines, Zhuge Liang could feel that his third brother was by their side, every day.
I benefited a lot in one day, both in terms of knowledge and experience.
In addition, Zhuge Liang automatically ignored another item mentioned by Zhuge Jun, which asked him and his two sisters to also go to Yanzhou.
Zhuge Liang is a very independent person. Over the years, he has already planned his future. To study under Mr. Shui Jing, who is famous in Xiangyang City and has real talent and knowledge, is the first and crucial step...
Zhuge Liang would never think that the path he planned would be inferior to Jun brother's "adventure" that fell from the sky!
"Brother Jun, the situation in Yanzhou is stable, and Master Lu and Miss Cai are taking good care of you, so I can rest assured as a brother."
At this point, Zhuge Liang raised his eyes and looked at the sky, and his voice continued. "It's just that Brother Wei still feels that even though Lu Yu has some talent and learning, he is still too young after all, and is far inferior to being proficient in the Eight Formations of Qimen."
, Mr. Shui Jing of Five Elements Numeracy...can learn more skills here."
"Brother Jun, let's wait and see. As a brother, I can't be sure... If I go on this thorny road, I will definitely be better than you. Let's wait and see. I hope we can compete with each other in ten years, and let's take a look at our brothers.
, whoever walks out on it is the right path, the right path!"
Having said this, Zhuge Liang planned to write a reply to Zhuge Jun...
But at this moment.
"Kong Ming..." Zhuge Liang's sister Zhuge Ruoxue broke in. "It has been confirmed that in the future, Mr. Shui Jing, Sima Hui, will select eight people from among the disciples to be closed disciples. The hermit Pang Degong and celebrities near Xiangyang
Huang Chengyan will also come to help my friends in the future."
"At the wine shop and tea stall, someone suggested that the reason why Mr. Shui Jing accepted eight disciples was due to an alchemist's advice to him. The eight disciples are the so-called Eight Wonders of Shui Jing! I don't know if this rumor is true.
Fake."
Zhuge Ruoxue recounted the information they had gathered. Obtaining this information cost them a lot of food.
call…
Hearing this, Zhuge Liang took a breath and asked, "Eldest sister, there must be many children from aristocratic families among the candidates, right?"
"As Kong Ming said." Zhuge Ruoxue nodded. "There are indeed many children from aristocratic families. Liu Qi, the eldest son of Liu Biao, the shepherd of Jingzhou, and Pang Degong's son will all participate, as well as Pang Shiyuan, a well-known young talent in the local area.
Shan Fu, who is known as the knight-errant swordsman...listed, there are more than a hundred people, it can be said that there are so many strong players, Kong Ming is sure to stand out from them..."
Are you sure?
Ha, Zhuge Liang smiled slightly. He only knew that Mr. Shui Jing was not interested in fame and wealth, and he would definitely not make an exception and accept him as a disciple just because of his family background. In the final analysis, he still had to compete for real talent and learning...
When recruiting disciples this time, Mr. Shui Jing deliberately added an age limit, which was to be under the age of Dancing Elephant.
We have reached this point now, and no one is absolutely sure, but... if we can't become one of the Eight Wonders of the Water Mirror, then the road will be narrow in the future!
Do you really want to return to Yanzhou in despair and join your younger brother Jun?
Although he thought so in his heart, Zhuge Liang still looked calm and composed on the surface. "There will be so many young talents tomorrow, haha. The eldest sister and the second sister should keep their eyes open and choose carefully!"
This... all of a sudden, Zhuge Ruoxue's cheeks turned red. How could this be so late? Does Kong Ming still have the time to make fun of his two sisters?
Is this a sure thing?
…
…
Yanzhou, Chenliu County.
Today, Lu Yu and Zhuge Jun did nothing but go shopping. They bought flax in the east market, rapeseed in the west market, tea seeds in the south market, and red dates in the north market.
While the drought has not yet arrived and food prices have not risen, Lu Yu really wants to stock up a few warehouses, but the key problem is that if you want to buy, you simply don't have that much to sell.
This is embarrassing. Food was already in short supply last year, and most of the food Lao Cao earned from robbing tombs was stored in Puyang City. As a result, food on the market is in short supply. Everyone is waiting for the big harvest in July today.
It's just... there's a severe drought in April, migratory locusts in June, forget about the harvest in July, it's really a bit uncomfortable.
As for...the reason why Lu Yu bought these strange ingredients was because he wanted to refine oil and vegetable oil.
If we dig deeper, it turns out that Lu Yu wants to fry grasshoppers! Everyone will fry grasshoppers!
Of course, it is not easy to achieve this step. Lu Yu thought, the locusts in Qizhou are at the end of June, so...April and May are the development period of locusts.
If you don’t take action during the development period, it will definitely be difficult to fight during the battle period?
It just so happens that the best way to deal with the development of locusts is not a hundred thousand duck army, but hundreds of thousands of people in Yanzhou and Xuzhou cities. They are much more powerful than the duck army.
Of course, there is a big premise, which is to let them do the same happy things as ducks and treat locusts as delicacies.
As a foodie in his previous life, Lu Yu had quite a lot of research on the delicacies passed down by China for thousands of years. For example... people of later generations simply regarded locusts as a delicacy. As for the preparation, first wash the locusts, fry them, and sprinkle some cumin powder.
, chicken essence, monosodium glutamate, and chili noodles can be eaten directly, and the taste of Youjiu will be even better.
According to the book "Edible Insects and Recipes", locusts contain 73.5% protein and 18 types of amino acids, with a total content of 20.3%.
In addition, locusts also contain vitamins B1, B2, E, A, carotene and rich multivitamins, four fatty acids and rich trace elements. Not only can they satisfy their hunger, they are simply a great supplement!
It can even revive a depressed man.
Lu Yu was relatively poor in his previous life. When he went to a restaurant, he could only order scrambled eggs with tomatoes. If he could eat a plate of fried locusts worth more than 70 yuan, it would be as happy as the Chinese New Year.
It's just that people in this era are still unable to experience this kind of food and happiness.
In fact, it is very simple to say so much. Lu Yu thought, anyway, he can't stop the locusts from eating the crops, so the human beings who can't bear it can only eat the locusts to vent their hatred.
Of course, there is a major premise here. Not every type of locust can be eaten. The most commonly eaten types are the Chinese rice locust and the East Asian migratory locust...
Among them, the most delicious and plump one is the Chinese rice locust. It has a bulging belly and a loud and pleasant sound. It is the kind found in the rice fields of Greater China.
Another thing to note is that if locusts cause a large-scale locust plague, they cannot be eaten. At this time, locusts swarm together and are poisonous!
So... it's simple. Since the "Seven States Locust" is at the end of June, then hundreds of thousands of people can catch the Chinese rice locust in April, May, and early to mid-June...
This thing reproduces very quickly and has high nutritional value. With the foodie nature of the people of Greater China, if not all are eaten, it can become an endangered protected animal.
Of course, if people are to voluntarily catch locusts and feed on them... Steaming, the unique cooking method of the Han Dynasty, will definitely not work, it must be fried... This is the so-called fried grasshopper!
To achieve this, the first step is to extract oil. The cost of animal oil is too high and the people cannot accept it, so the only option is to extract vegetable oil...
So today, Lu Yu took Zhuge Jun to four markets in order to purchase all the ingredients that could be used to extract oil.
"Look, sir, I have good flax here..."
A hawker saw Lu Yu dressed in silk and satin and thought he was a rich man, so he hurriedly greeted him warmly.
"I want it all...pack it all and send it to Cai Mansion in the east of the city." Lu Yu waved his hand and didn't bother to ask the price...
Flax is sesame in the popular sense. It was introduced to the Central Plains by Zhang Qian on his mission to the Western Regions. This stuff is very oily, commonly known as sesame oil. The amount of oil that can be squeezed out is very large, and Lu Yu is very happy to collect more.
"Sir, I still have three carriages of rapeseed here..."
"The rapeseed is very good, and all of it is sent to Cai's house. Also, if we can get rapeseed in the near future, I will take as much as I can."
Lu Yu's tone was still very domineering, and he was even more domineering when he paid...
All merchants like this kind of customer and want to kiss him.
Of course, rapeseed flowers are also an important material for extracting vegetable oil, and... there are many people who grow this thing, and the quantity is huge... There is a special chapter in "Qi Min Yao Shu" written by Jia Sixie of the Northern Wei Dynasty, which records in detail the rapeseed flower oil.
method!
In addition, Lu Yu purchased all the red dates on the market and tea seeds grown in the Jianghuai area, the former for jujube oil.
It is mentioned in the "Jujube Oil Method" in Volume 4 of "Qi Min Yao Shu": "Jujube oil is made by pounding the jujube seeds and applying it on the silk tape until it dries and looks like oil."
It can be seen that the brewing method of jujube oil is the simplest. This school has even been created in some places in Han Dynasty, but it has not been popularized. The tea seed oil squeezed from tea seeds has a strong tea aroma, and the method is similar.
All in all, Lu Yu spent a lot of money today, looting all the flax, rapeseed, red dates, and tea seeds that could be seen in the market... ah no, he purchased all of them.
Very arrogant and inhumane.
Zhuge Jun and his boys were shocked. Is it possible to buy things like this? Just buy them all without asking about the quantity or price?
The most important thing is that when paying, you pay five baht in a bag without asking if you need change!
Zhuge Jun felt that his outlook on life had gone awry. In his impression, the richer people were, the more stingy they were. As the saying goes, all money is made from money!
As the richest man in Xuzhou, the Zhuge family knows this very well...
He is very frugal. His second brother, eldest brother, and uncle are all frugal...
But Lu Yu seems to have a grudge against money, and he won't be happy if he doesn't spend it!
Of course, Zhuge Jun doesn't understand...
Lu Yu is also very distressed now. He is so poor that he only has money. A lot of gold, silver and jewelry are dazzling in the mansion all day long, which makes his eyes hurt.
The point is, although these gold and silver jewelry are very popular now, in fact... when there is a severe drought or locust plague generals, these things will not be able to buy a few grains. To put it bluntly, they are just paper...
Audiences who often play mahjong know that the first thing you win is paper, and the last thing you win is money.
Besides, even when there is a shortage of money, there is still Cheng Yu’s gold-hunting team, and there are more than 200 useless sons of Prince Jing of Zhongshan.
Not short of money, not short of money at all. Spending a lot of money now is just a waste of money.
Seeing the end, Zhuge Jun couldn't help but asked: "Master Lu, how much money does our family have?"
Well... Lu Yu thought for a while and answered truthfully. "It's probably enough to buy all the houses in Chenliu County. If you can't keep them all, you can be a little richer!"
Uh... Zhuge Jun was suddenly in a daze. He felt that the Zhuge family was quite rich, but it seemed... compared to Lu Yu, one was in the sky and the other was in the earth.
It's no wonder that the Zhuge family is engaged in serious business, while Lu Yu is engaged in unscrupulous business with no capital and huge profits.
"Then...Master Lu, why are we buying so much strange food? And these food...don't seem to be easy to satisfy."
According to Zhuge Jun's idea, even if you are collecting grain, you should also stock up on "grains" - rice, millet, millet, wheat, and bean sprouts... How can you stock up on flax, rapeseed, tea seeds, and red dates...
It’s not that these are bad, these things are not durable for storage!
"Haha..." Looking at Zhuge Jun's silly and innocent eyes, Lu Yu couldn't help but laugh out loud, and then reached out and knocked on his forehead. "Kong Ming, Kong Ming, why don't I say you are not enlightened? Read
There is no use in studying hard!"
"As the saying goes, only what you see on paper is shallow, but you must actually do it... I will tell you later, how to store the flax, rapeseed, tea seeds, and red dates we purchased?"
Thinking of this oil extraction, Lu Yu suddenly missed the smell of cooking...
He felt that when he came to a big man, the thing in his crotch was the most worthy thing... and the tongue was the most sorry thing.
Can a dish that is cooked without oil be called a dish?
The so-called cooking method of the Han Dynasty - steaming, from now on, take it away, take it away, and leave it alone!
Stir-frying over high heat, deep-frying and pan-frying are the kings of cooking!
…
…
Jingzhou, Xiangyang City.
Countless sycamore trees are like beautiful girls standing in the fields, holding bunches of gray-brown buds at the top of the trees, looking forward to the "spring breeze", the dream of gathering less and leaving more.
The villa of Mr. Shui Jing and Sima Hui is located in the countryside outside Xiangyang City. Zhuge Liang and his two sisters, Zhuge Ruoxue and Zhuge Ruolan, felt relaxed and happy here as they walked along.
At this time, the front of the village house was already crowded with students who came to be apprentices.
Seeing this scene, Zhuge Liang became more energetic. He knew that an entrance examination that would determine the future of these talents was about to begin.
A disciple of Mr. Shui Jing, the sorcerer who is rumored to give guidance, the future Eight Wonders of Shui Jing...