General Qin

The next day, in Zhao's Mansion in Xianyang City.

Zhao Tuo was wearing dark black dark clothes, standing with his hands behind his back, looking at a stone mill that was brought into the mansion by the servants.

"This was invented by the patriarch."

Zhao Tuo squinted his eyes, and first decided on the invention right of the stone mill.

It's not that he's talking nonsense.

There has always been a folk legend that Lu Ban invented the stone mill. It is said that the ancestor of all craftsmen took two hard round stones, cut dense shallow grooves on the stones, put them together, and turned them with human or animal power. It became a stone mill.

When Zhao Tuo made the giant cannon in the past, he said that he had read Gongshuzi's posthumous text, which was regarded by many people as the successor of Gongshuzi.

Now that he assigns the invention right of the stone mill to Lu Ban, if he still wants to transform it in the future, his behavior will be more convincing.

But, now Zhao Tuo just wants to use it to grind something to eat.

Such as tofu.

If Zhao Tuo makes tofu, it may become a very special delicacy in this era, and it can be sacrificed to his five internal organs temple, so that he can get comfort from this era when the types and methods of food are very poor.

Thousands of years later, when people are eating tofu on the dining table, they may still mention his anecdote about Qin general Zhao Tuo's research on tofu, and equate Zhao Tuo with tofu.

"Compared to tofu, pasta is more important. This is a good thing that can benefit the country, and it must be produced first."

Zhao Tuo's eyes sparkled, and he said to Lu Wan who just came to visit his mansion today: "Ah Wan, go and get the washed wheat and put it in the mill."

"only."

Like when Lu Wan was in the army, she bowed her hands and promised, walked over and drove the servants who were going to help aside, and walked to the stone mill with the wheat in the kettle.

Curiosity made Lu Wan couldn't help asking: "Gentleman, do you want to grind wheat to make pulp?"

As Lu Wan said, using wheat flour as pulp is a characteristic of this era.

Stone mills have been invented a long time ago. Although they are not popular in Qin, people of this era have mastered the technology of grinding grain into flour.

People generally use glutinous rice to grind flour, add honey and the like, and mix it together to make a dessert snack called jù nǚ, which is eaten by the upper class nobles.

At the bottom of Guishou, you can also buy wheat flour or rice flour, mix it in water, and drink it, commonly known as "pulp".

Porridge was a popular drink in the Qin and Han Dynasties. The government prohibited the common people below from drinking at will, let alone gathering together for group drinking. Therefore, the people full of wisdom have come up with a substitute of "pulp".

Naigong is not allowed to drink, but Naigong just mixes wheat flour and rice flour with water, so it is not against the law, right?

In addition to making "pulp", wheat flour has no other use, and the need for a stone mill makes the cost of this thing quite expensive.

The way people eat wheat is mainly to steam it to make wheat rice that is unpalatable, chewy and difficult to digest.

After eating a meal, the kind that Yi Ya squats for a long time.

Therefore, although wheat is one of the five grains, it is the food of the low-level common people and even prisoners and slaves.

Rich and noble families all eat rice and meat, and they have always looked down upon wheat. Under such influence, even the planting area of ​​wheat is not very large, and has always been disliked by people.

Zhao Tuo felt it was a waste when he saw it.

These people have no idea how great the potential of wheat flour is, and its plasticity exceeds that of any other food.

"Let's have a food revolution! In the food world of this era, create a storm that will change the world!"

Zhao Tuo stepped forward, and under Lu Wan's surprised eyes, he pushed the stone mill himself, feeling that the wheat was crushed and broken under the pressure of the stone mill, and finally became fine flour.

The reason why he turned the mill himself was not only that his hands were itchy and he wanted to try it, but he also wanted to feel what the stone mill of this era looked like, and to think about whether it could be improved in the future.

After a while, Zhao Tuo let go and asked the servants in the mansion to continue to grind the mill.

Seeing the servant struggling to push the stone mill in circles, Zhao Tuo was thoughtful.

In his mind, several ways to improve the efficiency of the stone mill and reduce the cost have already appeared.

But now is not the time to think about those.

After a while, the wheat had been ground into powder, and after asking the servants to remove the wheat husks, what appeared in front of Zhao Tuo was fine flour.

"Okay, send it to the kitchen for me."

Zhao Tuo was eager to try and swallowed his saliva. After eating corn and rice for several years, he could finally taste pasta again.

"Gentleman?"

Under the surprised eyes of many servants and Lu Wan, Zhao Tuo walked into the kitchen of the mansion with his head held high.

Although there is a saying in this era that "a gentleman stays away from the kitchen", its meaning is by no means as distorted by later generations, saying that a gentleman must never enter the kitchen.

It's because "a gentleman is like a beast. Seeing its life, he can't bear to see it die; hearing its sound, he can't bear to eat its meat. So a gentleman stays away from the kitchen."

If a gentleman does not enter the kitchen, he cannot bear to kill.

Zhao Tuo is not killing animals now, he just uses wheat flour to make food, even if it spreads, no one will say anything.

Not to mention that he, Zhao Tuo, was the Qin general who killed and beheaded on the battlefield, so how could he care about this kind of moral kidnapping.

Snapped! Snapped! Snapped!

After a while, there were bursts of crashing sounds in the kitchen.

That was when Zhao Tuo recalled the scene of the noodle maker making noodles he had seen in his previous life, beating his newly made noodles to make the noodles in his hands stronger.

"Ah Wan, boil the water."

"Today, we will eat noodles!"

...

Zhao Tuo was obsessed with making all kinds of pasta, and the government often sent people to buy wheat and ground wheat flour in Xianyang City.

Because it is not the season for wheat to mature at this time, the amount of old wheat on the market is not much. After all, ordinary people don't eat wheat, and most of them are included in official warehouses for use by prisoners and slaves.

Under such circumstances, Zhao Tuo's massive acquisitions seemed very abrupt.

Such behavior made many people who had been following him feel strange.

In the state of Qin, barley rice was generally eaten by prisoners and slaves because it was unpalatable and difficult to digest.

Ordinary families will not eat wheat as long as their lives are a little better, and they regard it as a lowly thing.

Not to mention Zhao Tuo, an honorable official who eats meat and drinks alcohol.

"Eat barley rice and drink barley milk?"

"This young master is also from the Zhao family. Isn't it enjoyable to eat meat and drink? Isn't millet and rice delicious? How could he like barley rice that prisoners only eat?"

"Hey, who knows, maybe Shao Shangzao would like to eat this kind of food that prisoners only eat."

Voices of doubt and sarcasm were never lacking. Even because of Zhao Tuo's continuous excellent performance in the war, countless people paid attention to him. His strange behavior spread throughout Xianyang unconsciously.

Many officials and nobles have heard the news.

Shao Shangzao Zhao Tuo didn't like rice and meat, but only liked to eat wheat.

Qiang Yan, who has been promoted to the title of You Geng, laughed at Zhao Tuo even more after hearing about this, saying that even the Qiang people don't eat barley. What a shame.

Under such circumstances, Zhao Tuo finally received the news from the palace.

"It turned out that the king asked Fu Su to whip Xiong Qi's corpse. The king is really ruthless. This directly made Fu Su and Xiong Qi completely break up. But Xiong Qi's appearance..."

Zhao Tuo's mind flashed back to Xianyang, the scene he saw when he checked Xiong Qi's body for the last time, he couldn't help but shuddered all over his body, and didn't dare to think about it.

"It's no wonder that Fusu hasn't sent letters for so long. I think he has been depressed for a long time. That scene probably left him with a psychological shadow, poor child."

Zhao Tuo shook his head, showing some sympathy for Fusu.

Then he began to write his reply to the princess.

In the letter, apart from explaining why she did not communicate during this period of time, the princess also expressed the feelings of some young girls and asked Zhao Tuo whether he had done something bad outside.

"I made something delicious for you."

In his reply, Zhao Tuo bragged about how delicious the pasta he made was going to arouse the girl's curiosity.

It's a pity that after the letter was sent, Zhao Tuo didn't wait for a reply from the palace, nor did he get an invitation from Fusu. Instead, he received an edict from Qin Wangzheng to let him enter the palace.

Zhao Tuo was shocked when he heard that it was Qin Wangzheng who summoned him.

He was still very afraid of being caught on the spot when he secretly sent letters to the other party's daughter.

Fortunately, what the envoy said next made Zhao Tuo feel relieved.

"Young Master Wei is leaving."

Zhao Tuo sighed.

It turned out that it was Wei Liao who was in the position of Bangwei, after finishing the final matters of the war against Chu, he formally requested to resign and return home.

Qin Wangzheng kept his promise and agreed to Wei Liao's request to leave.

He also invites ministers, ministers and generals to hold a banquet in the palace to bid farewell to Wei Liao.

Wei Liao had a lot to say about Zhao Tuo, and he also had the kindness of passing down the art of war, so Zhao Tuo naturally did not dare to neglect this farewell banquet.

He put on a luxurious dress and went to the Qin Palace for a banquet.

Qin Wangzheng valued Wei Liao very much, and this time the farewell banquet was held in the side hall where the celebration banquet was held before.

There were many people invited, except Wang Jian, who had returned to his hometown and was not there.

Wang Ben, Meng Wu, Li Si, Yao Jia and other generals and ministers were all among them, and even generals such as Qiang Yan and Li Xin came.

Zhao Tuo sits under Wang Ben as the young master, and he is considered to be at the forefront of the palace.

The host and guest are seated, after the music is played.

Qin Wangzheng sat upright and raised his mouth to toast Wei Liao.

"When Duke Wei entered Qin Dynasty, he once taught the widows not to love property. He bribed the nobles of the six countries to disrupt his plans. If he only lost 300,000 gold, the princes would be exhausted."

"According to Duke Wei's strategy, the widow disrupted the ministers of the six countries, weakened the strength of the six countries, and finally annihilated the five countries of Jin, Yan, and Chu today. This is all due to Duke Wei."

At this point, Qin Wangzheng said with emotion: "After the widow is about to destroy Qi, he and Wei Gong realized the old saying of 'the princes can be exhausted'. However, in the middle of the matter, Wei Gong abandoned the widow and left, which made the widow very sad It hurts."

I heard Qin Wangzheng mention the past.

Wei Liao also couldn't help feeling sad.

He assisted the king in front of him to grow step by step. With his help, the country named "Qin" swallowed up the other five countries step by step, and finally dominated the world today.

He, Wei Liao, put in countless painstaking efforts and efforts in it, so how can he be without feelings.

only.

Wei Liao raised his head and looked at the appearance of the king on the main seat.

In his mind, he remembered his feelings after meeting Qin Wangzheng and making friends with him more than ten years ago.

The king of Qin was a man, bee-like, long-eyed, cockroaches, jackals, seldom kind, but heart of tigers and wolves. I'm a commoner, but I often see myself under me. Sincerity makes the King of Qin achieve his ambitions in the world, and the world is all captives. You can't travel with me for a long time.

At that time, Wei Liao, after seeing through the essence of Qin Wangzheng, wanted to run away, but before he ran out of Xianyang, Qin Wangzheng noticed him and invited him back.

Qin Wangzheng's attitude was very sincere, and he didn't care about Wei Liao's escape, but instead appointed him as a national captain and in charge of Qin's military affairs.

This stay is fifteen years.

But these fifteen years did not make Wei Liao change his original opinion, on the contrary, he felt more and more that his judgment back then was correct.

Qin Wangzheng, when he was weak and poor, would humbly ask others for advice, but once he got his way, he would be extremely arrogant. No one in the world would be looked down upon by him.

If this king of Qin is allowed to unify the world, all people in the world will become his slaves.

In the past, Li Xin's attempt to defeat the general of Chu clearly showed this point.

After Qin Wangzheng destroyed Han Zhaoyan, he saw that he had the advantage of annexing the world, so he was very arrogant and indulgent. He didn't listen to any advice at all. He appointed Li Xin as a general, which eventually led to the defeat of Chu.

After the defeat, Qin Wangzheng became extremely humble in the predicament, went to Pinyang in person, and asked Wang Jian to come out of the mountain in a low voice.

This arrogance and humility is in line with Wei Liao's judgment of his character back then.

Seeing that Qin Wangzheng became more arrogant after annexing the countries one after another, he did not spare the power of the people at the head of Guizhou, and imitated the palaces of the six countries in Guanzhong, wasting the people and wasting money.

"This is just the beginning. If the world is unified, the king will definitely build more magnificent palaces and do more things to enslave the people."

"I can't persuade you, just leave, don't stay here for a long time."

Wei Liao secretly sighed in his heart, after he figured it out, the sadness in his heart dissipated, his face was calm, and he went to Qin Wangzheng.

"The minister is old, and he often feels dizzy in his daily activities. He is no longer able to bear the heavy responsibility of the king. Resigning this time is also to let the capable ones live. In the palace of the king, there are many good generals, but in the world, there are only weak and remnant generations. There is no need for veterans to set the world."

"Young Master Wei's words are serious, the widow can win the world, the power of Duke Wei is very strong."

Qin Wangzheng opened his mouth to comfort, but there was a smile in his eyes.

Just like what Wei Liao said, he still has good generals such as Wang Ben, Meng Wu, Feng Wuze, and Zhao Tuo under his Qin Wangzheng, but the only enemies left are the Qi Dynasty and the other two countries. That's why he readily agreed to the other party's departure.

One monarch and one minister have their own thoughts in their hearts, but they are harmonious on the surface.

When the monarch and his ministers are together, it is also a good time to get together and leave.

Because it was a farewell banquet to see off Wei Liao, not a banquet on a major occasion, so the atmosphere in the hall was very relaxed.

Zhao Tuo saw that all the generals raised their glasses to bid farewell to Wei Liao, and said some words of blessing.

Naturally, he was no exception, he raised his wine to Wei Liao and said, "Young Master Wei has taught me a lot, now I want to leave, and my boy is very sad, I should respect Wei Gong."

Wei Liao laughed, raised his scorpion with one hand, supported the white beard under his chin with the other, and said, "It's not about teaching. But your example of Zhao Tuo's back-to-back battle has taught me a lot. I also heard that you fought in the Huai River, Being besieged on all sides, defeating the 20,000 Chu army without fighting the rebels, after careful consideration, is really a great achievement. I still have to thank you."

After saying that, the two of them raised wine and drank.

At this time, Wei Liao suddenly thought of something, and he looked at Zhao Tuo strangely.

He has always paid attention to this young general, knowing that Zhao Tuo likes to do tricks, and he never does useless things.

"Zhao Tuo, this old man has some doubts about something, I wonder if you can help me?"

Hearing what Wei Liao said, all the others looked over, even Qin Wangzheng, who was sitting in the chief seat, looked here with some interest.

Zhao Tuo was startled, and hurriedly said: "Please tell me, Mr. Wei, the boy will know everything."

Wei Liao nodded and said: "The old man heard that you recently bought a large amount of wheat in Xianyang, and many people followed you to buy, which caused the price of wheat in Xianyang to rise by 1 cent. The old man is very curious, why did you buy so much wheat, Zhao Tuo?"

After Wei Liao finished speaking, before Zhao Tuo answered, someone in the hall burst into laughter.

"General Zhao buys wheat, of course he cooks it and eats it."

"Have you not heard, Mr. Wei, that there are rumors circulating in Xianyang City that Taoist Master Zhao Tuo doesn't like rice and meat, but only eats barley rice and drinks barley milk. His preference for food is almost the same as that of Qianshou."