Chapter 75 What I Saw in Leping (Part 3)…
If Guo Jia were to translate Xi Zhicai's expression, it would most likely mean -
We are friends, don't you know that you are just making excuses for yourself or you really think so?
Even though it has been more than three years since Xi Zhicai left Yingchuan for Leping, it is not difficult to see from the letters between the two places that the other party is still the same person.
Therefore, it was not surprising at all that Guo Jia followed up on the words "books are food" and, after claiming to invite him to a welcome meal, he set up such a feast on the table in front of him.
On the side closer to him were proper meals, while on his side were a row of thread-bound books.
“……”What is a bad friend?
If not, no one would dare to admit it!
Of course, Xi Zhicai couldn't help but look at the handful of chicken feathers as a souvenir in front of him with a stiff smile. When he looked at Guo Jia, he felt that he had met his worthy opponent.
This kid is still as inhuman as before!
But overall he had the upper hand for the hosts.
Xi Zhicai thought to himself with a hint of self-consolation.
He put the bizarre gift aside and slowly used the wooden spoon to stir the glutinous rice balls in the bowl in front of him.
It would have been fine if the aroma of fermented glutinous rice wine was mixed with the light fragrance of osmanthus, but Xi Zhicai knew how to entertain guests very well and served the guests Dongpo pork with just the right amount of fat and lean meat, smashed cucumber, and stewed spare ribs with turnips.
When Guo Jia saw someone bringing up another dish of pheasant and sunflower seeds, his eyelids jumped.
The dozen or so books were still neatly placed in front of him, separating him from the wooden bowls and basins.
"Is this how Zhicai entertains guests?" Guo Jia asked as he picked up a book in front of him.
"Although Marquis Qiao has taken you to Dongpo Garden, people other than Leping cannot see what is in front of you." Xi Zhicai raised his chin, signaling him to pay attention to what was written in the book in front of him.
Guo Jia lowered his eyes and looked at the book in his hand, and saw that it was a re-copied copy of Si Sheng's book. 1
If it were just that, it would be fine. Si Sheng's book was written in the late Western Han Dynasty and is a book on agricultural planting and breeding. Although he had previously studied the art of reading Confucian classics, he had also read through them because of his wide range of interests.
But the book of Si Sheng in his hand now is a little different.
Since the recording method of books does not have to be restricted to bamboo slips, the recording method is no longer limited to words.
And pictures.
In fact, what Si Shengzhi recorded was the farming experience in the Yellow River Basin, especially in the Guanzhong Plain. Considering the distance between Luoyang and Leping, most of the crops that can be grown in Luoyang can also be grown in Leping.
On his way to the county town, he saw the scene of the autumn harvest having been completed. However, judging from the remnants he saw at that time and the dishes in front of him, what was recorded in the book probably touched on the farming affairs in Leping.
Therefore, the method of dividing fields and urinating seeds mentioned in the book has been practiced in Leping.
It is for this reason that the text, which was originally only a few lines, was expanded and annotated at the back, and pictures were added to facilitate understanding, and the effects that have been implemented were marked.
Taking the district field method as an example, in order to achieve the effect of drought resistance and increased production, the book states that the district fields are divided into 15 towns across the strip, and deep ditches are dug one foot apart across the towns. This visual representation is undoubtedly easier for county residents to understand than text.
Guo Jia flipped through the book and saw that the storage of seeds was recorded in the same way.
After copying and supplementing Si Sheng's book, there was an appendix that described the method of growing yam in Leping.
Unlike the simple harvest described by Xi Zhicai in the letter, several steps in the planting process recorded in the scroll appear to be quite complicated.
As he watched, he sighed in his heart. Behind the settlement of Leping, it took a lot of effort to mobilize manpower and complete all these projects. He didn't know how Qiao Yan convinced people.
Because of the illustrations, the book was quite friendly to someone like him who knew nothing about farming. He had unknowingly turned to the end of the book, so he put it back in front of him and picked up another one.
This is also a book that focuses on practicality.
After Wu Pu, Hua Tuo's disciple, arrived in Leping, because Qiao Yan supported him in collecting medical records in Bingzhou and provided him with medicinal materials, Wu Pu reciprocated the favor and did not mind using the surgical skills and surgical drawing skills he learned from Hua Tuo to record other things.
For example, slaughtering a pig.
This seems to be a kind of surgery.
Although the practice of castrating pigs existed during the Shang and Zhou dynasties, it is unlikely that anyone had recorded it in this way in a book before, and had even provided detailed picture descriptions.
Associated with this is the construction of pig pens and the way pigs are raised.
This is also something that in Xi Zhicai's letter only the result was left, but the actual process was quite complicated.
Seeing this, Guo Jia couldn't help but look at the guy opposite.
After not seeing each other for three years, Xi Zhicai still came to such a county to work for others. Surprisingly, his complexion looked healthier and rounder than before.
Xi Zhicai apparently felt no guilt about the Spring and Autumn style of writing in his letter. He even picked up a piece of greasy Dongpo pork under Guo Jia's gaze and enjoyed the food calmly. It was obvious that he was enjoying the convenience brought by this job.
Guo Jia felt a little annoyed after reading this, but he still reached out and opened the third book.
This is a book of medical skills, but what is special is that it is a book of medical skills for women. It collects prescriptions related to gynecological diseases recorded in Shennong's Herbal Classic, as well as case records during consultations provided by Wu Pu.
Considering that both male and female students can study in this county middle school, it is easy to understand why such a special book on medical skills was compiled.
Because of this rich recording method with both pictures and texts, Guo Jia did not realize that he had unknowingly turned to the end of the book, and then opened the fourth book.
Different from previous agricultural and medical books, this is a book of instructions for the construction, maintenance and renovation of agricultural machinery using the keel turntable as an example.
Perhaps because of the disassembly diagram, Guo Jia even had the idea of making it himself.
But he immediately shook his head, rejecting this interest.
He is not cut out for that.
What cannot be denied is that under this recording method, people are indeed more likely to receive information and be influenced by it.
Being able to come up with this way of communication, Qiao Yan, the Marquis of Leping, is truly a true pragmatist.
He put the book back and picked up the fifth one.
With the preparation of the first four books, he almost forgot his original idea that Xi Zhicai was not loyal enough to treat his guests with books.
Just to see these first four books, his trip to Leping was worthwhile.
He was not surprised to see that the fifth book recorded methods for preventing and controlling locusts. What was recorded there was exactly the prevention and elimination strategies that Qiao Yan had ordered one by one during the previous locust plague in Bingzhou.
Previously, I had only heard that under the influence of the locust plague in Sanfu in the second year of Zhongping, the surrounding states suffered heavy losses, except Bingzhou, which was spared because of Leping Hou.
Now it seems that this "escape" was by no means a lucky coincidence, but was indeed a battle that was well prepared.
The sixth book that was opened later contained the basic songs of Leping's common characters.
But when I turned to the seventh book...
Guo Jia clearly saw the word "cement" written on the cover, but when he opened it, it was blank.
He immediately looked up at Xi Zhicai and asked, "Did you get the wrong book?"
"How could I do such a thing as taking the wrong book?"
Xi Zhicai was already having dessert after dinner.
He had previously said that he wanted to make cakes with yam, and now he did it in front of Guo Jia.
The still hot yam cake was mixed with the sweet aroma of honey. As he broke the cake open, the sweet aroma spread more and more.
Guo Jia's previous statement that he was hungry was just an excuse, but now he was really tempted by the smell.
However, the guy opposite him was completely unaware of this.
While eating, he replied seriously, "I am now agile and smart, so I will never make such a mistake. It's just that you are just a passer-by in Leping, so how can you tell us everything we have here?"
"The previous ones are fine. A lot of them have been spread by word of mouth in Bingzhou. It is good for the people's livelihood after all. But there are some things that should not be said."
This is not entirely because Guo Jia might turn around and aid the enemy because of what he learned.
Although Guo Jia looks like a somewhat reckless guy, Xi Zhicai still believes in his character.
He just knew very well that what Qiao Yan had done in the past two years was somewhat inappropriate for outsiders to know, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
Take the college house they are in at the moment.
This house looks ordinary at first glance, but it is actually made of bricks.
But unlike ordinary blue bricks, the red bricks used were produced under Qiao Yan's command with fewer manufacturing processes.
Because of these red bricks, a lot of costs were saved in building the college in Leping County and the houses on the mountain for the Black Mountain Army to live in.
It's not even just the Montenegrin Army.
Two years ago, Chu Yan started to bring yam, which was difficult to store in the county, outside and brought back a considerable number of refugees.
Even Cui Lie, Qiao Yan's supervisor, was unaware of this group of refugees. Qiao Yan hid them by imitating the northern nobles' way of building a fortress, and they were engaged in a business in Leping County that was relatively unknown to outsiders.
Of course, for them, having a place to live and having enough food to eat is already the best thing in the world.
However, Qiao Yan considered that although red bricks did save costs, they were too eye-catching in appearance, so he "invented" cement.
To be precise, it is traditional cement.
Xi Zhicai had been shocked countless times by Qiao Yan's actions, so how could he realize that, no matter what the reason, developing indigenous cement was a very bizarre thing.
According to the ideas that he was instilled with, she first developed honeycomb coal because of the problem of coal combustion efficiency, and then she thought of making red bricks with coal gangue and clay, and developing cement with limestone, clay, iron ore and coal. It was really a one-stop business.
In the end, the final result was that in this Leping area, the red brick house that was covered with curtains during construction was soon coated with a layer of cement on the outer wall, and then a layer of paint was applied, and finally became the low-key and solid appearance that Guo Jia saw.
Guo Jia accepted this reason well.
He thought about it and realized that if Xi Zhicai directly mixed a book containing some Leping secrets among these books, he could guarantee that because of his interest in this way of recording, he would open it without any precautions. Then he would be forced to stay here because he had spied on things he should not know.
But having said that, after having read those six books, it is really difficult to have no curiosity about the blank book.
He flipped the blank page in his hand again and again, feeling a sense of uneasiness no matter how he thought about it, but he was still trying to maintain his previous thoughts -
He couldn't just decide on his direction like that.
Yes, no!
The next moment, the blank book in his hand was taken away by Xi Zhicai.
"You really don't know how expensive firewood, rice, oil and salt are. Although this book bound with mulberry paper has not yet been copied into the text, it is not available everywhere. There is no need for you to go through so much trouble." Xi Zhicai waved his hand when he said this, and someone came to remove the empty plate in front of him and the book in front of Guo Jia.
"Come on, I'll take you to see other places in Leping where you can meet outsiders."
“……”Guo Jia did not stand up.
It doesn't matter if the book was taken away, it wasn't his in the first place.
But he still had some of the temper of a teenager at this moment, and he immediately uttered a few words through gritted teeth, "I haven't eaten yet!"
After weighing the pros and cons of continuing to tease his friend with the words that books are spiritual food and continuing to complete the task of helping Qiao Hou to trick people into falling into the trap, Xi Zhicai smiled and said, "Give him a plate of soup noodles."
Soup cake is not a cake, but a name for noodles at that time.
Due to Qiao Yan's own preference, the chefs in the academy are accustomed to pulling the noodles into sheets rather than strict strips, which is more in line with the name of soup noodles.
The soup noodles were made in a semi-dry and semi-wet state. The soup base was the turnip and pork ribs soup that was on the table earlier, and the topping was chopped pork with fat and lean parts.
Guo Jia was already growing up, and he had longed for Leping's food. When the soup noodle entered his mouth, Guo Jia didn't bother to care what his bad friend thought. He quickly picked up the bamboo chopsticks and scooped up the soup noodle thoroughly, including the soup base. He felt that it was easy to understand that Xi Zhicai had become a little fat.
After eating and drinking, he stood up leisurely and said, "Let's go and see other places in Leping."
He thought that he had been frightened enough when he saw Leping Academy as soon as he entered the city, and there would not be anything else that could make him lose his composure.
But it turned out that he was still too young.
After walking around Leping County for a while, he realized that the sense of cleanliness he felt as soon as he entered the county was related to the drainage ditches and culverts that had obviously been renovated.
Judging from the time when Qiao Yan arrived here, it was not easy to achieve such improvement in basic conditions.
To be precise, the fact that she could mobilize the county residents to accomplish this task meant that her prestige in the local area had reached an extremely terrifying level.
But except for the soldiers outside the county, such as Fu Gan who were running in training, the county did not have a militarized look.
Guo Jia stood under the eaves for a while, looking at the fire burning in the sugar cake shop opposite, which was brighter than ordinary stoves. The hawker quickly handed the baked cakes to the two children waiting outside the door.
The two children paid the bill contentedly, and walked to the next door while eating the biscuits. There was a clothing shop in the county, and their mother was the owner of the shop.
Another peddler carrying a large box passed by on the street. He had a sign hanging on his body that was the same as the one painted in front of the gate of Leping College. After being stopped by the shop owner, he took out a few cubes from the box and made a deal with the other party.
Guo Jia heard what they said in their conversation, that is, soap.
Of course he knew soapberries.
There are records of it removing dirt in Shennong's Herbal Classic. When Xi Zhicai mentioned that "soap" is also used to remove dirt, he asked, "What is the connection between this thing and soap beans?"
"It doesn't matter." Xi Zhicai replied slowly, "This is actually a product of our Leping pig farming industry. It got this name because its effect is similar to that of soapberry. I also put it in the place where you are staying temporarily."
When he arrived at his accommodation, Guo Jia realized that not only the soap looked unfamiliar to him, but even the tool for rinsing his mouth looked a little special.
He held the strange-looking object in his hand and fell into silence with the ointment in the box beside him.
Thinking about the many new and strange things he had seen in Leping today, he had a strange premonition that this was definitely not to be used in the way he had inherently known.
But it would be too embarrassing for him to go to Xi Zhicai to ask at this time!
He gritted his teeth, dipped the brush into the ointment and mixed it into the water, stirred it evenly, smelled the willow, ginger and faint asarum scent in it, and thought that this should be similar to mouthwash, so he just used it. 2
Guo Jia did not realize that he had done anything outrageous. He just felt that he had finally successfully completed the experience of the first day in the city and lay down on the bed in the guest house.
I don’t know if it’s because the fighting power displayed by Leping gave people enough sense of security, or perhaps it’s because of the positive attitude shown in the entire county, but Guo Jia was able to get a good night’s sleep today during his journey since leaving Yingchuan.
I slept until I woke up naturally.
Because he went to bed early, when he got up, the dawn had been delayed a lot in this autumn day. When he pushed the door and walked out into the yard, there was only a hint of white in the sky.
He simply walked out of the yard.
The entire Leping County was still in the silence before dawn, with only the occasional crowing of roosters and occasional noises coming from the houses.
Guo Jia himself was a little surprised that he could wake up so early and was not even troubled by the bizarre scenes he saw here in his dreams.
But at this moment, he suddenly thought of the misunderstanding that happened yesterday, and subconsciously looked towards the mountains in the east.
At this glance he couldn't help but notice something unusual.
Because his eyesight was still good, he could clearly see a color moving on the mountain path.
It was a ball of fiery red color.
This scarlet cloak fluttering in the mountain breeze looks like a fluttering red flag when its owner is riding a horse instead of walking.
Even though the distance made it impossible for him to see the horse or the person on it, he had an almost intuitive feeling that this might be the Marquis of Leping.
But the figure quickly disappeared from his sight, leaving him with no way to verify his judgment.
Qiao Yan didn't know that her guest had seen this scene. She just rode her horse along the mountain path as she had developed a habit in the past six months, until she stopped at the top of the eastern mountain.
The direction where the mountains extend towards the north is where her special fortress and workshop are located. Extending to the south is a village behind the mountains and fields.
And in front and below her was the Leping County city that was gradually coming to life in the dim morning light.
What Guo Jia saw when he walked around the county yesterday was different from other places. From this bird's-eye view, even the Leping Academy did not seem to be anything special.
But as the owner of this place, Qiao Yan seemed to be able to tell with his eyes closed which direction the first hawking in the county would come from.
"This is Leping today..."
She looked towards the wisp of smoke rising in the morning light below the mountain. Her eyes seemed to be lit up by the rising sun, gradually spreading to her entire young face and turning into a wanton smile, "It's also my Leping."
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