On the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month, after breakfast, An Ning fiddled with all the pig heads and bones in the house and found that there were still four pig heads. An Ning kept two to eat on the second day of the second lunar month, and then cleaned the remaining two and put them in the pot. Because of the large bones eaten during this period and those given away, there were about four large bones of pigs left, and An Ning put all the remaining large bones into the pot.
Only the two pig heads and five pig ribs were left. The ribs could be stewed slowly, and An Ning thought of smoking the big bones after cooking them.
Two pig heads and so many large bones filled two large pots. An Ning added onions, ginger, peppercorns, star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves, soy sauce and white wine into the pots and started to light a fire. Because the stewing time was quite long, An Ning put a few large pieces of firewood in the stove.
After the water boils, skim off the foam in the pot and continue stewing for about half an hour.
After the pig's head and big bones were stewed, An Ning removed the meat from the pig's head while it was still hot, and then drained the big bones. She then poured out the old soup from the pot, cleaned the pot, and then added a proper amount of oil and some brown sugar to the pot, then put the iron grate in, and arranged the big bones.
Because there were too many bones, they could not be smoked in one pot, so they had to be smoked several times. An Ning arranged the big bones, then lit the fire. When green smoke came out, she changed to a low fire and smoked for a while before turning off the fire. When there was no more smoke coming out of the pot, she could pick out the big bones.
When An Ning picked out the first pot of bones, An Dashan came back from cleaning the rabbit cage. An Dashan smelled the fragrance of the bones and said, "Ning Ning, what did you make? Why does it smell so good?"
An Ning picked up a large bone, put it in the bowl, and said, "Dad, try it. This is called smoked bone. It's a new way of eating it that I came up with."
An Dashan didn't hesitate. He washed his hands, then took the bowl from An Ning's hand and started eating.
After taking a bite, An Ning asked, "Dad, is this delicious?"
An Dashan nodded and swallowed the meat in his mouth, then said, "It's delicious. It tastes different from stewing, but it's also delicious."
An Ning finally felt relieved. She picked up another bone and put it in another bowl. She handed it to An Dashan and said, "Dad, when you finish eating this bone, send another one to my mother and I will continue smoking it."
An Dashan nodded and said, "I'll take it to your mother right away." Then he took the two bowls and left.
An Ning smoked the pork three more times before he finished smoking all the bones and pig heads.
After everything was smoked, An Ning took a piece of bone to taste it. It was her first time and unexpectedly it was quite successful.
So at noon, An Ning didn't cook any other food, but just made a pot of thick corn porridge.
After the porridge was cooked, the smoked bones were placed in a small porcelain bowl, and a plate of pig head was cut. The family sat around the table, gnawing on the bones and drinking the fragrant corn porridge.
While An Ning was happily having lunch, the border was in a bloody battle. The barbarians had several heavy snowstorms this winter, and countless cattle and sheep were frozen to death. The barbarian leader then united with the surrounding tribes to launch another war.
The border commander, Zhenyuan Hou, was also a man of his own ideas. He knew the character of the barbarians, so he made preparations early. He first sent a team of soldiers to ambush in the woods five miles away from the border. An Yong was in this team. Then he spread the false news that the military camp was infected with the epidemic. In order to make the barbarians believe that the military camp was really infected with the epidemic, he also bought herbs in the surrounding areas and captured many doctors to come to the military camp.
The barbarian leader was also a cautious man. After many attempts, he finally gathered his troops and launched a large-scale attack.
Marquis Zhenyuan stood on the city wall and gave an order. Dense arrows fell from the sky. The barbarians quickly raised their shields to block them, but some arrows were not blocked and shot towards the barbarian soldiers behind the shields, causing them to wail.
When the barbarian leader saw this, he quickly ordered: "Attack!"
Suddenly, the war drums sounded, and the barbarian soldiers began to attack under a hail of arrows, holding a shield in one hand and a dagger in the other.
After a round of arrow rain, the barbarian soldiers had already reached the bottom of the city wall, and the large siege vehicles had been pushed out.
Marquis Zhenyuan waved his hand and a second round of arrows rained down. This time, because the barbarian soldiers were already within the range, the lethality of this round of arrows was greater than the first.
The barbarian soldiers were fearless, and when one fell, another came up. After a while, some barbarian soldiers climbed up the wall along the ladder. The soldiers on the wall did not show weakness, and took up their spears and pierced the soldiers who climbed up the wall, then threw them hard, and the dead soldiers fell off the wall.
When the war was at a stalemate, Zhenyuan Hou said to the messenger beside him: "Fire a signal flare."
The messenger fired three fireworks into the air in succession. General Li, who was lying in ambush in the woods, saw the signal flares, stood up, stretched his numb body, and shouted, "Brothers, follow me!"
General Li's military orders were passed down layer by layer by messengers, and then this group of soldiers rushed out howling like hungry wolves.
When the barbarian leader heard the report from the soldiers in the rear, he realized that he had been deceived. He cursed loudly, "This treacherous villain," and then ordered, "Retreat!"
The messenger quickly sounded the horn to call back the troops, but it was too late. The rear was surrounded tightly and they could not break out at all.
Marquis Zhenyuan saw this scene from afar on the city wall. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly, revealing an imperceptible smile. Then he ordered: "Open the city gate and follow me out of the city to meet the enemy." After that, he picked up his weapon and walked to the city gate first.
The city gate opened, and the vanguard army rushed out howling. The barbarian soldiers who were retreating in panic turned around and were so frightened that they raised their weapons to block in a panic. However, how could the frightened barbarian soldiers be a match for our soldiers who were in high spirits? They were beaten to pieces in the first encounter.
After all the vanguard troops came out, Marquis Zhenyuan rushed out on a tall horse, wielding the black axe in both hands and ruthlessly reaping the lives of the enemy soldiers.
Under the cover of his personal guards, Marquis Zhenyuan quickly arrived in front of the horse of the barbarian army leader and attacked with weapons in hand without saying a word. The guards around the barbarian army leader were not to be trifled with either and stood in front of the horse of the barbarian army leader.
Seeing this, the guards around Zhenyuan Hou immediately dealt with the barbarian soldiers around them and dealt with those guards. The barbarian leader was not a soft persimmon either, and he swung two big axes and started fighting with Zhenyuan Hou.
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