Qin Official

Jadeite is a product of Lingnan, and it is already well-known in the Central Plains. It complements the white jade, and is favored by the nobles' courts. Hei Fu does not need to explain, and those who can understand will naturally understand.

Yesterday, after eating the "Emerald White Jade Soup", Heifu showed Qin Shihuang how to order the tofu with brine, which was written in all the history books, and there was no need to boil it again in the newly built tofu shop next to the big well in Jimo City.

This is one of the fruits of farmers' hard work in Jiaodong for half a year. The raw material is soybeans, which are native to the Central Plains and have a long history. The beans grown in Jiaodong have a higher yield than those grown in the Central Plains. Four hundred years ago, Guan Zhong introduced "Rong Shu" from Shanrong. It was a famous introduction of alien species, and "Winter Onions" were also introduced. What Heifu asked the farmers to do in Jiaodong was actually similar to Guan Zhong's, only more sophisticated and complicated.

In addition, under the promotion of Heifu and the Mohists, stone mills have become commonplace in Guanzhong, and all the conditions for preparing bean juice and tofu are complete. The rest is just that Heifu opened the door to a new world for the farmer through an "accidental" incident.

That was in autumn, and now it is mid-November. A few months have passed, and the tofu technology has been explored and matured.

Of course, it is natural that the process of preparing tofu arouses sighs from the officials who have never seen this scene before. Even Zhao Gao's younger brother, Lang Guan Zhao Cheng, suspected that the things produced in this way were poisonous.

Heifu's response was to drink a bowl of sweet tofu cake sprinkled with sugar in front of him, wipe his mouth, and nothing happened. Zhao Cheng had no choice but to keep his mouth shut. In the end, many ministers tried some. Some liked it sweet, some liked salty, and so on.

Today, Heifu invited Qin Shihuang to visit the vegetable garden outside the city. This prosperous "Agricultural Science and Technology Park" in Jiaodong was named "Dazhai" by Heifu. He didn't know why.

In Dazhai, Xu Sheng, the leader of the farmer’s family, brought his disciples to visit Qin Shihuang and introduced him to him: “I dare you to tell me that ordinary vegetable gardens, from palaces in Xianyang in Guanzhong to frontier fortress military camps, mostly grow these types of vegetables. "

Xu Sheng clapped his fingers and counted them to the emperor one by one: "Kwai, leek, wild garlic, green onion, and hyacinth. These five vegetables can be seen everywhere. Among them, sunflower is sweet, leek is sour, hyacinth is salty, and hyacinth is bitter. , green onion..."

As for other mustard greens, celery, etc., they are mostly regional and not widely popular.

"It's just that once we enter late autumn..."

Xu Sheng pointed to the bare vegetable garden along the way and shook his head and said: "All five vegetables are excellent, except sunflower. Those planted in June and July can be picked in autumn and can be soaked in salt to make spinach. Those planted in August and September will be harvested in Mengchun." It is picked in the middle of the month, so in the cold spring, the only fresh vegetable that can be eaten is sunflower. But in Jiaodong, the weather is cold, and most of the sunflower vegetables often freeze to death because they cannot survive the winter. I can’t even eat a few meals of the sunflower sprouts made in autumn... …”

Because the yield of sunflower is so small, it is a drop in the bucket for the long winter in the north.

Even if sunflower is like this, once winter comes, other vegetables will not be edible.

Among the accompanying officials, no one asked about the joke of "why not eat minced meat". The Qin Dynasty adhered to the principle that "the prime minister must be from the state, and the fierce generals must be from the army." Even a clan like Ziying had been at the grassroots level. Although he didn't know the season of vegetables, he at least knew that during the long winter, Here, the boring food of ordinary soldiers and common people:

For three months, the empire's millions of households and hundreds of thousands of soldiers could only rely on a little dry salty bean paste to feed their unpalatable corn rice every day. Some families are not prepared enough and have finished eating the sauce, so they can only eat salt with lumps of salt. The worst is the family that cannot even afford salt. Can you imagine the life of not eating anything every day, just two meals of light rice washed down with cold water? What...

At this time, both the soldiers and the people in the garrison did not dare to think about meat, but even if they had some vegetables to improve their meals, it would be a great luxury!

So don’t underestimate the vegetable basket, it is something related to people’s livelihood. Once you find that the price of vegetables in the market has increased, people's lives will be difficult.

At this time, Heifu took Xu Sheng's words and said to Qin Shihuang: "But in Jiaodong, through the unremitting efforts of farmers, they found a vegetable that can be used in all seasons. It is more cold-resistant than sunflower, has a larger yield, and tastes better... …”

Qin Shihuang understood: "Is this the 'song' I ate the day before yesterday?"

"It's exactly the wisteria!"

Qin Shihuang was used to eating big fish and meat, so the occasional meal of "Emerald White Jade Soup" was quite novel.

And to be honest, under the cooking of the imperial chef, the pot of soup tastes very good, the tofu is smooth and delicious, and the green water spinach is also very delicious. In terms of Qin Shihuang's taste, it is better than the water shield in Guanzhong, Kui and celery in Bashu, etc. The dishes must be delicious.

After the imperial doctor Chen Wujiu and others tasted this dish, he thought that the cold and sweet taste of wucai could nourish the stomach, promote fluid production, clear away heat and detoxify, and even advised Qin Shihuang to eat more...

At this time, everyone happened to walk to a vegetable patch, where mallows and water spinach were planted.

It snowed just last night, and in the snow-covered ground, the mallows next to it were wilted, but the cabbage was still intact, because it was a new vegetable that was planted in August or September. It contained a little unmelted snow, but it was still full of energy.

Xu Sheng said with a smile: "The reason why this thing is named Siong is because it does not wither in the winter, grows all year round, and has the characteristics of pine. Different from other vegetables, Siong tastes especially delicious after being frosted."

With that said, the group of people went to the house next to the vegetable field and opened the cellar. There were many pieces of cabbage stored in it. Although its appearance was quite different from the Chinese cabbage of later generations: it was a loose leaf rather than a ball. , and its size is far less than a cabbage weighing more than ten kilograms.

But this was already a scene that Heifu was familiar with. He had been to the northern countryside and had seen the scene of people harvesting cabbage in winter.

At the same time, Xu Sheng also lamented: "Although the ancients ate Chinese rice for a long time, this vegetable was only used as a wild vegetable in the past. People occasionally ate it to prepare for famine years. Fortunately, the Jiaodong County Sheriff reminded me that this vegetable was still intact in the cold winter, and it might be possible to try growing it. We just found it and planted it. Unexpectedly, the tripe weed we got has thick and large leaves, is as green as jade when mature, and is sweet in taste. It tastes no worse than sunflower!"

Although the body shape and taste still need to be improved, it is not easy to select better varieties from several wild species in less than a year.

Although farmers are professionals in farming, they do not have a modern scientific research system. They can only use Shen Nong's method of tasting hundreds of herbs, constantly accumulating experience, carefully finding non-toxic food maps among many plants, and then through continuous domestication and cultivation. Cultivate, select the best from the best, and ultimately promote planting.

Heifu could only use his experience in his previous life in the countryside to casually mention some possible points: for example, mixing Chinese sativa with mustard, because they both seem to be from the "cruciferous" family and can be hybridized, which may repeatedly improve the quality. , I hope that one day, I can cultivate Chinese cabbage for future generations...

Heifu did this not for his own appetite, nor to please the emperor's taste, nor to add dishes to the tables of dignitaries!

But I hope that in the long winter, in all the cold corners of the empire, the soldiers of Guizhou who can only chew dry rice can have a bowl of delicious cabbage soup, or the pickled cabbage that they never tire of...

Mencius said that chickens, dolphins, dogs, and pigs are all animals that have not lost their season, and people in their seventies can eat meat...Heifu cannot guarantee this, but at least some new things that are easy to popularize will be appreciated by the emperor after drinking a bowl." "Emerald Cabbage Soup" can add a little flavor to the ordinary people's lives.

Thinking of this, Heifu asked Qin Shihuang for his contribution to the farm: "Your Majesty, I heard that in ancient times, people had diseases and unknown medicines and stones. Shen Nong studied the growth of grass and trees, observed their cold, warm, flat, and hot properties, and identified their king. The righteousness of ministers, assistants, and envoys was to encounter seventy poisons in one day, and the gods transformed them, so they wrote them down to treat the people, and the way of medicine began from then on."

"Today, farmer Xu Sheng and others also tasted hundreds of herbs, selected and planted weeds, and wrote down the cultivation process of each attempt on paper, so that their disciples can imitate them. If every household can eat this vegetable in the future, It’s also a great example of good governance!”

"It is indeed good governance."

Qin Shihuang nodded, and at Hei Fu's request, he gave Xu Sheng and his farm disciples rewards, titles, and land. However, after Xu Sheng's disciples thanked him, he said, "Your Majesty, I have something to report!"

Although Xu Sheng had a bad record of supporting Lu Buwei and escaping from Guanzhong, that was in the past. Qin Shihuang was still kind to him, nodding and saying: "But it doesn't matter."

Xu Sheng confessed and talked about a past event...

"Your Majesty, in the past, Fan Chi, a disciple of Confucius, asked to learn farming. Confucius said, I am not as good as an old farmer. Please learn to be a gardener. Confucius also said, I am not as good as an old farmer."

"After Fan Chi went out, Confucius said to the other disciples, What a villain, Fan Chi! If you are good at etiquette, the people will not dare to be disrespectful; if you are good at righteousness, the people will not dare to disobey; if you are good at faith, then the people will not dare to be disrespectful. . If this is the case, the people from all over the world will arrive here carrying their sons in swaddling clothes. Why should they learn to farm in person?"

Confucius believed that he trained his students not so that they could grow crops and vegetables in the future, but to become officials and meat eaters. As long as they became officials, everything would be solved.

Confucianism also believes that people in higher positions do not need to learn knowledge such as growing crops and vegetables? As long as you pay attention to etiquette, righteousness, and trustworthiness, it is enough!

In short, Confucian education has never been to cultivate workers, but to cultivate hard workers.

But the farmer's family happened to take the completely opposite path to them. There is even a legend that the founder of the farmer's family was Fan Chi, a disciple of Confucius, the "little man" whom he despised!

It’s no wonder that farmers were once despised and belittled by Mencius and other Confucian masters. They couldn’t even squeeze into the Jixia Academy. They could only find a way out in the weak Teng State and go to the distant Qin State to find opportunities...

Xu Sheng glanced at Hei Fu, and Hei Fu's eyes were full of encouragement.

Heifu told Xu Sheng that just like the peasant chapters in "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals", they should write down this "tasting of herbs" process, teach their disciples, and let the world know at the same time...

"You know etiquette when you have a solid warehouse; you know honor and disgrace when you have enough food and clothing! Farming and garden matters are not the way of a villain, but like Confucian poetry, etiquette and music, it is a university question related to people's livelihood!"

This was the encouragement Xu Sheng had never received, so he mustered up the courage and asked Qin Shihuang:

"Your Majesty, the way of the villain, which is despised by the Confucian scholars, is actually the practical learning of our great Qin Dynasty. This is a great blessing for the farmers and the world. I dare to ask your Majesty to make people like Fan Chi want to learn in the farm. He is a 'little man', and as a disciple, he will learn from us. After completing his studies, he can become a field officer and help His Majesty spread the solar terms and agricultural times, the techniques of composting and fertilization, and promote the cultivation of water spinach and other things..."

Qin Shihuang and the ministers were stunned. At this time, Hei Fu also stood up immediately and said:

"That's right, Your Majesty, just as the Prime Minister said that day in Linzi when discussing the compilation of books and history. Today, it has been decided that a decree will be issued. The common people will be in charge of agriculture and industry, and the scholars will study the decree and remove the prohibitions. There is already a study of decree in the public schools. , however, in addition to this, we should also establish the learning of workers and peasants! Let these useful learnings, such as cabbage and tofu, be spread all over the world and benefit Guizhou! Let those who regard the past as different from the present see what Shennong did. Da Qin can do the same thing, and do it better than in ancient times!"