Chapter 258 Entering Beijing
It is impossible not to show off. From Zeng Ziqian's point of view, the war has just ended and everything needs to be rebuilt. Right now, the first priority of the Great Qi is to nourish and keep the people safe.
The same feeding method can make pigs grow an extra 80 to 90 kilograms of meat within half a year. This is a good thing that benefits the people. With the curved plow making Sangluo famous in various states, Zeng Sanlang is eager to make Sangluo's name known again in Da Qi.
This is not only the trademark of Shezhou, but also the spirit of Da Qi, which has its own political significance.
Although Sang Luo did not think so much, she understood the benefits of it. In ancient times, if one had no family background to rely on, reputation was actually a very good amulet.
After figuring this out, she cooperated. She thought that apart from the one her family was experimenting with, the earliest piglets castrated by the people of Shezhou seemed to be born in August. Now it was far from time to be slaughtered. She was afraid that the government office didn't know the difference in taste, so she told them about it.
After hearing this, Concubine Fan's eyes lit up: "Is there such a thing?"
Sang Luo nodded: "You forgot that I killed a castrated pig in June."
Concubine Fan was overjoyed. The nobles had never eaten pork and mostly ate mutton. What they disliked was the strong smell of pork. Castrated pigs could actually get rid of this smell.
"That's great. This tribute is even more interesting. I'll have to talk to Sanlang about this when I get back." Then he said to Sang Luo, "You're really good at keeping secrets."
"I didn't know at the time. Isn't it true that you only know after you eat it? I didn't make a special trip afterwards. I thought I knew everything I needed to know when the next batch of pigs were slaughtered. I didn't expect that this could become a tribute."
After saying that, he asked Concubine Fan what she needed to prepare.
In fact, there was nothing she needed to prepare specially. Concubine Fan came here only to give her a list and asked her to deliver the things to the state government office early in the morning of November 9th, and the government would pay the money.
When Sang Luo heard that it was the ninth day of the eleventh month, there were only three days left, and she was worried that she wouldn't be able to get all the things together. But after taking the list and taking a glance at it, she breathed a sigh of relief. The honey, fermented bean curd, meat floss, meat jerky and vermicelli chosen by the provincial government were not much, only sixty portions of each.
Most of the stocks in the warehouse are fresh, and the honey is also durable. Only the jerky and meat floss make Sang Luo a little embarrassed. It’s not that there is not enough time to make them fresh, but the raw materials are not good.
If they were to be sent to the palace, the raw materials naturally had to be better, but the pigs that Sang Luo had bought from the government office were not very big, and the next generation of piglets that had been castrated were less than three months old. Not only could she not bear to kill them, but even if she did, the quality of the meat would be much worse.
Previously, it was only sold in her own shop. The people of Da Qi had never tasted what uncastrated pork tasted like. With the processing and seasoning methods, the taste difference was not that big. But she was hesitant to send it to the palace.
When Concubine Fan heard her worrying about this, she laughed and said, "Don't worry. I have some in my farm and will have someone deliver it to you soon. Just find a butcher to wait for it."
Sang Luo was stunned: "Has she been castrated?"
Concubine Fan nodded with a smile, and said, "The livestock and poultry I brought here were purchased from Taiyuan. Some were big and some were small. At first, I had no experience, and some of the small ones died of disease on the way. Later, I went to Chenliu to replenish them. Therefore, the first batch of pigs I brought from Taiyuan were much larger. However, when selling livestock and poultry to the people at that time, the price was naturally calculated according to size and weight. At that time, most people couldn't even afford to buy a two-month-old piglet, so how could they afford to buy a big one? I placed the big ones on my farm and had them raised by others. When I heard about the pig castration, there were piglets on the farm soon, so I really had suitable ones."
Having said that, Concubine Fan did not delay any longer. She played with the two children, put a pair of small silver bracelets on each of them, and then said goodbye and went back.
Sang Luo had never thought that she could receive two pairs of silver bracelets. When she was about to say something, Concubine Fan stopped her and said, "It's a meeting gift. It's not very heavy. It's just for good luck. Please don't refuse. I'm not used to these."
Sang Luo was not used to this either, so she simply smiled and thanked him. She only saw him off to the door, and Concubine Fan asked her to stay, saying, "The child is in the room, go back."
Chen Ning and Xu Wenyin went to the city. The four girls had their own small businesses. Chen Ning had been almost tied up at home in the past two months since she gave birth. It was a rare opportunity for her to go out today. Sang Luo did not look for anyone but looked around. She saw Chen Tie and called him over, asking him to go to the next village and ask Zheng Dalang and his brother to come and help kill a pig.
…
In the winter of the fourth year of Wuding, the first winter of the Great Qi Emperor's reign in the capital, the city of Chang'an in November was quite lively.
Since mid-November, caravans from various counties and prefectures have entered Chang'an city one after another. Daqian also has a tribute system, and the people in Kyoto are very familiar with it. In the past, tribute would be delivered to the capital in October every year. Daqi was perhaps unified only this year, and taxes were exempted for three years. Many counties and prefectures were even conquered this year, so it would be a little later.
Every day, there were convoys from outside the city or from the docks, passing through the East Market and heading to the nearest markets of the imperial city. There was the Zhuzhou Jinzouyuan established in the previous dynasty, which was where the governors of various states lived when they came to the capital to report on their duties, report on affairs, or offer tribute. The people of Chang'an could see a lot of excitement when they went in and out of the East Market.
Although the Great Qi was newly established, the tributes sent by the prefectures and counties to the court were still very particular. Apart from other things, the packaging was quite exquisite. After all, it was called tribute, and it definitely didn't look rustic. Although the quantity and the display were much better than the previous tributes, who would dare to neglect the things offered to the emperor? In short, the things must be good, and the packaging was absolutely exquisite.
The people of Chang'an, who were used to this, saw something unusual on November 23rd.
Isn't it an outlier?
There were six horse-drawn carriages. Judging from the official uniform of the leader and the uniforms of the escorts, one could tell at a glance that these were tributes from the prefectures and counties to the capital. But what were they sending?
There were six wooden cages on six carts, and in the cages were six pigs, four large and two small, that had come from far away but were still in good health!
pig!
I have seen people offering rare and precious animals as tribute, but I have never seen people offering pigs as tribute to the emperor.
As soon as this group of people entered the capital, people on the street stopped one after another, some covered their mouths and laughed, some whispered to each other, it was so lively.
"The color of the leading official's uniform is the rank of the sixth rank? The governor's official? Which state is this from?"
"The pigs are well-raised, but don't we eat pork? Would you eat pork?"
There was an idle man, so he smiled and said to his companion: "Let's go and take a look."
Many people followed the convoy, watching the excitement along the way. However, this group of people, perhaps because they arrived late or something, did not go to the Jinzouyuan to rest, but went straight towards the imperial city.
Before the tribute entered the palace, it was first handed over to the Taifu Temple for inspection and safekeeping. Once it entered the imperial city, ordinary people could not see the hustle and bustle. However, when the six live pigs entered the imperial city, they passed by many government offices along the way. The pigs in the cage made a few grunts from time to time, but the officials inside were not alarmed, and the gatekeepers of the government offices all followed the sound.
Isn’t it new to see live pigs entering the imperial city?
Everyone was guessing what they were here for, and those who were closer to Taifu Temple saw the convoy parked in front of the temple.
Tribute?
Everyone was dumbfounded.
The prefectures and counties below are quite poor this year, but they didn't bring many pigs as tribute, right? Or live pigs!
Which state are you from? How could someone be so stupid?
…
Taifu Temple, the Secretary of Taifu Temple who had been very busy in recent days heard that more counties and prefectures had come to send tribute, so he went out to greet them. The convoy had already entered the courtyard, and he was dumbfounded when he saw the tribute.
The same thoughts popped up in my mind as the gatekeeper who saw the caravan last time said - Which state is this person from? How can he be so stupid?
He soon found out because the chief officer of Shezhou who led the team had already smiled and bowed to him, introducing himself.
Shezhou.
Shezhou, let alone the Taifu Temple Secretary who received the Shezhou Chief Secretary, really had an impression of Shezhou. First, a peasant woman presented her plow and said "I wish Chang'an would be prosperous", so Jianye City was renamed Chang'an City; later, the wife of Shezhou Governor, Fan, sent grain, poultry and livestock for thousands of miles, and was commended by His Majesty and was conferred the title of a third-rank lady.
Because of this, the officials' families in Chang'an City suffered a lot during that period, and the country folk outside Chang'an City benefited a lot from it.
The Taifu Temple Secretary looked at the six fat pigs in the cage. Besides the officials, there were also two pig farmers following the car...
He looked at the Chief Secretary of Shezhou again, and he felt speechless.
The Shezhou Chief Clerk had just introduced himself as He, and the Taifu Temple Secretary asked, "Sir He, are these six pigs the only tribute from Shezhou this year?"
Your Majesty wants to avoid wasting money and manpower, but Shezhou is too unrefined, isn't it? Or is it to create momentum for Madam Zeng again? Are you sure this will really create momentum? Will it not have a counterproductive effect?
He Changshi smiled and said, "Of course there are other tributes, but since it is inconvenient to take the pigs by water, I will take them first, and my master will take the other tributes and go by water later."
The Minister of the Imperial Household smiled and said, "Then let's check the registration."
"Thank you."
The Taifu Temple has its own set of regulations for inspecting tributes. They must be carefully inspected first, and if they are grain or livestock, their weight must also be checked.
The Minister of the Ministry of Finance had never seen a pig so closely in his life, so he could not see anything. However, his subordinate next to him noticed something was wrong after watching it for a while. The subordinate was dumbfounded: "How come this pig is not complete? It's still missing... or..."
The Minister of the Imperial Household looked at him, then looked at the spot where his subordinate was staring, but he didn't understand, so he turned his head and asked the subordinate, "What's missing?"
The subordinate had a very strange look on his face. There happened to be another cart with a smaller pig on it, with its butt facing them. He cleared his throat and motioned the Taifu Temple Secretary to look over there: "Take a look, what's different?"
The Minister of the Imperial Household turned his head and said, "..."
That shape, he had never seen a pig before, but those two... shapes, even though he is a seven-foot-tall man, he knows what they are.
The corners of Taifu Temple Secretary's eyes and mouth twitched uncontrollably. He swallowed and looked at Shezhou Chief Clerk: "He Changshi, what do you mean?"
"Don't misunderstand, sir. The pigs we want to offer in Shezhou are castrated pigs. You just need to register them truthfully. My lord will explain the reasons in the New Year's Day Palace."
Two officials from Taifu Temple: “…”
As subordinates waited for their superiors to speak, the Taifu Temple Secretary looked at the calm Shezhou Chief Clerk and twitched his lips: "Register as it is."
In just two days, the news that Shezhou's tribute this year was a few pigs spread among the three provinces, six ministries, nine temples, five bureaus, and various courts in Beijing. Of course, only a few people knew about the strangeness of the pigs, but even so, Zeng Ziqian and Concubine Fan had already become famous among the officials in Beijing and outside the capital before they arrived in Beijing by water with other tributes.
He arrived in Chang'an on November 25, the last day for paying tribute, and handed in several carts of tribute to the Taifu Temple. When he left the imperial city, officials were on duty. Along the way, he met many officials who knew him. Each of them stopped when they saw him. Some of them were talking and laughing with each other, while others greeted him openly.
"Master Zeng has returned to the capital? He brought tribute to the capital? I heard there were a few fat pigs. Are they the ones that your wife sent from Taiyuan to Shezhou at the beginning of the year?"
That smile was so playful.
Zeng Ziqian seemed to not understand the ridicule in the words, and smiled and cupped his hands: "Shezhou is poor, and can't come up with anything precious. I'm sorry to make you laugh."
Someone laughed and said, "Don't worry, Ziqian. His Majesty knows the situation in each state this year and will not blame you. However, I'm afraid that you won't be able to receive the same recognition and reward as before. Ziqian, you should go back to comfort your wife and not let her down."
Zeng Ziqian smiled and clasped his fists in response.
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