Chapter 429: The Sweetness of the New Year
When Xie Zhan returned to the south, he also received news of the Wuhuan invasion of the northern border and the snow disaster in Yanmen. He also learned that Zuo Anmin was not involved in these two incidents.
Regarding these two matters, Xie Zhan decided to wait and see and not intervene.
"Tell someone to keep an eye on the progress of the war in the north." Xie Zhan gave the order.
"yes!"
Xie Zhan's brows knitted tightly. The outcome of this battle in the Northern Territory was crucial. A victory would be enough to convince the Northern Territory's top generals, Yan Zheng and Fu Jiangong, to secure their positions. A defeat would likely lead to the Emperor re-employing the Qin family.
If the emperor uses the Qin family, and the northern border falls back into the hands of the Qin family, then wouldn't the Qin and Lu families occupy the northeast and northwest at the same time?
Thinking of this, Xie Zhan frowned even more tightly.
After a long time, he sighed and decided to stick to the original plan and wait and see.
The northern border was too far away from him, and there was Yanmen, which was three or four thousand miles away from the south. Such a long distance dispelled all his thoughts.
Of course, even if he had any ideas now, he couldn't get involved.
The only thing he can do now is to develop the South and consolidate the South.
Xie Zhan knew very well that the South was where he could make his living and the capital to compete for the world in the future.
Pingzhou
Pingzhou is located in the northeasternmost part of Dali. It is too remote and has poor information access.
Therefore, the war in the north and the snow disaster in Yanmen had little impact on the people in Pingzhou.
Moreover, the New Year is approaching, and even heavy snow cannot stop people’s enthusiasm for celebrating the New Year.
People are busy preparing New Year's goods, sweeping the house, pasting window flowers, making pancakes, and steaming buns. The whole family works together, and the New Year atmosphere is full.
After the Little New Year, every household put up bright red paper-cuts on the windows.
Looking from a high place, the touch of red in the snow is full of the flavor of fireworks.
This year is a year of bumper harvest. When people send the Kitchen God to heaven, they are all hoping that next year will be the same as this year, or even better.
Because of the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce's strong rise and its super money-making ability, its employees and related prefectures and districts received very generous New Year gifts.
Zhou Yuanhua was a skilled itinerant physician who was visiting a small village in Jizhou when Liaodong County became famous thanks to Lü Desheng. A squire he knew, upon learning that Lü Desheng was planning to build an academy in Liaodong County, took his son and went there to admire his reputation.
He was envious and thought that Pingzhou also had many good medicinal herbs, so he could go and have a look. Besides, he was a traveling doctor, so where to go was not a big deal. So he came to Liaodong County.
After arriving here, he found that people with abilities or skills were treated with great courtesy here. He just happened to treat a patient when he arrived in Houcheng. When the government officials found out, they not only found him a place to stay, but also rented very cheaply. Later, they helped him open a clinic in Houcheng.
He had clearly stated that he was only visiting Houcheng and wouldn't stay long. These people didn't care and just smiled as they got the job done. They also said it didn't matter, and that he could stay as long as he wanted. They didn't force him, and just hoped that he could treat the people in Liaodong County during his time there.
He was a traveling doctor, and normally wouldn't refuse a patient's request. But Liaodong County was toxic, wasn't it? Not only did he have to treat patients, but he was sometimes even asked to treat animals?! It was outrageous!
And then, nothing happened. He has been staying here until now, and judging by the current situation, he will most likely spend the New Year in Houcheng.
Zhou Yuanhua looked at the New Year gifts sent by the government early in the morning: rice, flour, grain, oil, and a long piece of bacon. He felt a little crazy. How could he leave? Ah!
He's a traveling doctor. If a traveling doctor doesn't travel around, how can he be called a traveling doctor?!
Just then, someone knocked on his door.
Another person came to see him for medical treatment, and Zhou Yuanhua was speechless. It was clear that everyone in the prefectures and districts had been on holiday because of the heavy snow, and even the government offices were on rotation. He also wanted to take the opportunity to rest for a few days.
Outside the door, Jing Lao San knocked on it and shouted inside, "Doctor Zhou, Doctor Zhou, are you there? Open the door quickly!"
He was a feeder at the ranch, and the ranch had always had a rotation system, with two people working in teams. Today, it was their team's turn, and when they were taking over, the older man in front of them told them that one of the pregnant mares they were looking after was about to give birth, and asked them to be more careful.
He listened carefully and kept an eye on the situation. Half an hour ago, the mare became agitated, and he noticed something was wrong. He told his companions to take good care of the mare, and then he ran to find Doctor Zhou.
"Screaming!" Zhou Yuanhua cursed as he opened the door. It's New Year's Day, and they're still not quiet!
"Why are you here again?" Zhou Yuanhua was even more speechless when he saw Jing Laoer.
"Doctor Zhou, there's a mare at the herdsman who's about to give birth, but she's not feeling well. Please come with me to take a look."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuanhua subconsciously went back to get the medicine box.
After he took the medicine box, he slowly stopped and said, "I treat people, not animals!" Zhou Yuanhua emphasized again.
Jing Lao Er nodded. "Okay, okay, I know. Doctor Zhou, let's go. This mare has been agitated for half an hour. Is she okay?"
Doctor Zhou rolled his eyes, it seemed that everything he said just now was in vain!
"Lead the way!" he said unhappily.
"Doctor Zhou, let's go this way!"
…
The Qin family was also preparing for the New Year, doing thorough cleaning, making sugar-coated melons, cutting window decorations, worshiping the Kitchen God, making tofu, slaughtering chickens and ducks, making blood sausage, and bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new.
For the sake of the New Year, almost the whole family participated. Like the children, Lu Songli was driven around in circles.
At this moment, the Qin family is making glutinous rice noodles.
Together with the children, Lu Songli watched with curiosity as Qin's mother and several sisters-in-law made malt sugar and glutinous rice noodles, occasionally lending a hand.
At that time, people had to make many snacks themselves, unlike later generations where people could buy whatever they wanted to eat with money.
In order to make this snack, the Qin family prepared it early.
First, you need to make malt sugar. The first step is to select wheat from the current year with large, plump grains. After cleaning, soak it for a day and a night. Then, remove the wheat and spread it on a gauze-lined winnowing basket. Cover it with a thin gauze cloth to block out the light. Mist it three or four times a day to keep it moist until the wheat sprouts and grows to about a finger's height. Then, pull it out and set aside.
The malt is then cleaned and chopped.
Then put the glutinous rice that has been soaked for two hours into the pot and cook it into glutinous rice.
After the glutinous rice has cooled slightly, mix it with the chopped malt and put it in the house to ferment.
After the fermentation is complete, squeeze out the juice with gauze. Put the juice into a large pot and boil it over high heat, then turn to medium heat and stir constantly. When the juice in the pot turns into the color of syrup and can be scooped up with a spatula, the malt sugar is ready.
In short, it was quite troublesome, but Lu Songli, like the children, enjoyed watching it with great interest.
When the first pot of glutinous rice noodles came out of the pot, everyone shared two pieces.
"Aunt Liu, these glutinous rice noodles are so fragrant and sweet." The children squinted their eyes with happiness.
No child can resist the allure of sugar.
Lu Songli ate a piece and smiled happily. Sugar can secrete dopamine, so eating sugar can make people happy.
At this moment, two pieces of glutinous rice noodles were suddenly stuffed into Lu Songli's hands. She looked up and saw Qin Sheng whispering to her, "Lili, eat it."
Lu Songli picked up one of the pieces and handed it to his mouth.
Qin Sheng grabbed her hand and said, "Lili, I don't like candy."
Lu Songli insisted that he eat it.
In her later life, she had eaten all kinds of sweets. She didn't crave sweets in her heart. But how could people in this era not like sweets?
At that time, the main sugar was maltose, followed by sucrose and natural honey. Sugar at that time was more difficult to obtain than in later times.
It is no exaggeration to say that in this era, some people have never eaten a bite of sugar in their entire lives, which shows how scarce sugar is.
Seeing that she insisted, Qin Sheng could only open his mouth helplessly.
Qin Sheng held the glutinous rice stick in his mouth, his mouth felt sweet, and his heart felt sweet too.
At this time, Qin Han had finished eating the glutinous rice noodles that were given to him. He walked over and sat next to her, holding his little cheeks with both hands, and said with a look of aftertaste, "Aunt Liu, the candy is so delicious."
"Yes." As he spoke, Lu Songli smiled and ate the other piece. This was his token of appreciation. Accepting other people's kindness at the right time would make the relationship between the two parties closer.
Sure enough, Qin Sheng was happier when he saw her eating it than when he ate it himself.
Qin Han sighed and said, "It would be great if I could eat candy every day in the future."
The other children had also finished eating, and when they heard what he said, they all responded in a flurry.
"Impossible. It's good enough to eat it occasionally."
"Yeah, eating candy every day? What good things are you thinking about?"
Lu Songli just listened quietly. If the children's wishes were placed in the future, they would actually be quite simple, but now, they are difficult to be satisfied.
Many people from the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce went out, and some of them traveled all over the country. When they saw some good crops, they would get some seeds and send them back.
There were no sugar beets at that time, otherwise they could grow a lot of sugar beets and use them to make sugar.
There are sugarcane plants in the south, and sugarcane can be made into sugar. Unfortunately, the Northeast isn't suitable for growing sugarcane. Otherwise, she would have to get some sugarcane tails back for cuttings.
Lu Songli suddenly thought of the Li people, to whom Xue Xu belonged. They couldn't grow sugar in the Northeast, but the Li people could. Furthermore, once sugarcane grew, it could be made into sugar blocks, which made it easier to transport.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
