Chapter 259 Zeng Ziqian is causing trouble again! ! ! !
"Did a few pigs really come in?" This was the first question the old man asked when the grandfather and grandson met each other after returning to Zeng's house.
Zeng Sanlang had already anticipated the reaction from the capital, and he grinned, showing his white teeth.
Of course, Old Master Zeng would not think that his grandson sent a few pigs to show off his grandson's wife's achievements like outsiders did. He only reminded her, "The tribute must be presented to the palace on New Year's Day. You have attracted a lot of attention this year. The censor has been quite free recently and is watching you carefully."
Sending a live pig into the palace, if you insist on making it up, you can barely accuse him of being disrespectful to the emperor and being indecent in front of the emperor. But having said that, seeing the old man smiling, you can also know that he is not worried.
…
New Year's Day is the first day of the lunar calendar, and all officials in the capital must attend. The quota of officials in the capital of Da Qi was less than full, with barely a hundred people. This New Year's Day in December was particularly different. In addition to the officials in the capital, there were more than 300 provincial governors. Moreover, before the morning court, the Taifu Temple had displayed the tributes from various states on both sides outside the palace. Before the morning court began, more than 400 officials entered the palace according to their rank, and walked through the tributes on both sides of the aisle.
People's livelihood was in decline, and the emperor had also made it clear that the principle of offering tribute to the emperor was to let the land be used as tribute. But who would really treat the things presented to the emperor casually? Therefore, the six pigs in the wooden cage that were grunting and pushing their way into the palace before dawn, after having been bathed yesterday and having their deep sleep disturbed today, were particularly conspicuous when they saw hundreds of strangers lined up to come.
All the officials knew that these were tributes from Shezhou without even looking at the signboards next to them. They couldn't help laughing when they passed by the six large wooden cages, and they were all waiting to watch the show when the tribute was presented in Shezhou.
There were more than 300 states, and each state took turns to pay tribute. Every time they arrived at a state, servants would carry the tribute into the palace. Ginseng, deer antlers, brocade and silk were no longer rare. The officials in the palace were only waiting for Shezhou to be sung. Even the emperor had heard about the tribute from Shezhou, so he naturally guessed the details and was happy to see with his own eyes whether the castrated pigs really grew as fast as An Qi had reported.
Amid great anticipation, Cen Xi sang the tribute presented by the Shezhou governor. The shoulders of all the officials in the hall, who were holding tablets and lowering their brows, began to tremble suspiciously. Zeng Ziqian stepped forward, and the servants behind him entered the hall. He did not need to look back to hear the squealing of pigs behind him.
All the civil and military officials in the court could no longer hold back their laughter, and their suppressed laughter turned into loud laughter.
As Zeng Laotai had expected, an imperial censor really popped up, and the charges were even more extravagant than Zeng Laotai had expected. The emperor was in a very good mood, and said with a smile that it was a tribute day, so why couldn't live pigs be used as tribute? He waved his hand and had everyone line up, stretching his neck to look at the pigs.
"My dear, this tribute is fresh."
Zeng Ziqian also dared to accept it, thanked him and praised him, saying: "The six pigs I presented are indeed unique."
The officials laughed again. The emperor was decisive in killing people on the battlefield, but he was known for his friendliness to his subjects in the court. Some mischievous people laughed and said, "A pig is a pig. What else can be unique about it? Could it be that it is imitating the Wang family of the Western Jin Dynasty and drinking human milk?"
Zeng Ziqian glanced at him and said, "Master Lin, you are joking. The people of Shezhou have only been able to fill their stomachs with bean rice this autumn. As a local parent, how dare I be so extravagant? This pig's special feature..."
He kept it a secret and said to the Taifu Temple Secretary beside him: "Please read the list of tributes from Shezhou."
This was originally the job of the Taifu Temple Secretary, and he knew very well what was unique about this pig. He suppressed the smile on his lips, looked serious, and unfolded a scroll in his hand and began to read.
"In the fourth year of Wuding, the governor of Shezhou paid tribute: four castrated pigs of seven months old, two breeding pigs of seven months old, 200 kilograms of artificially cultivated yam, 60 kilograms of Daxingzhuang vermicelli, 60 jars of Daxingzhuang fermented bean curd, 60 jars of Daxingzhuang meat jerky, and 60 jars of Daxingzhuang meat floss."
Everyone in Daxingzhuang hadn't reacted yet, but when the emperor heard about the meat floss and jerky, a barely visible smile appeared in his eyes.
It has to be Zeng Saburo!
But what are vermicelli and fermented bean curd?
The thought only flashed through his mind. What was more interesting at the moment was the expressions of the civil and military officials below.
The word "劁" brought a strange look to the faces of the civil and military officials who had been laughing happily just now. Dozens of officials standing in the front turned their gazes to the arms of the six pigs, and those standing slightly behind stretched their necks.
Four castrated pigs and two breeding pigs.
Six pigs were lined up in three rows in the hall, two by two each. Interestingly, four of the slaughtered pigs were in this row and two were in the third row. When the civil and military officials saw the difference between the pigs, they all felt a chill in their crotches. Someone even opened his mouth to scold, "Zeng Ziqian, what is this hobby of yours?"
A good pig was castrated? If you are a man, you can't bear to see this!
Zeng Ziqian looked at the old man who was over fifty years old, but he did not recognize him. He thought he was an official appointed by the emperor after he came to Beijing, so he smiled and said, "My lord, you did not listen carefully to the list read by the Minister of the Ministry of Finance. There are four castrated pigs of seven months old and two breeding pigs of seven months old. Please take a look at these six pigs."
The old man didn't understand: "What does this have to do with you castrating the pig?"
The emperor raised his eyebrows. This old man is not very smart.
Li Yu had already figured out what was going on. He cleared his throat and said, "Master Liu, the six pigs are all seven months old. Take a look at their physiques."
Lord Liu and the officials who had not reacted like Lord Liu before all looked at the six pigs again. Even if they were not familiar with economics, they could tell at a glance that there was a big difference in physique between the four castrated pigs and the two non-castrated pigs.
Some officials who had been waiting to see the excitement for a few days suddenly realized that Zeng Ziqian was causing trouble again! ! ! !
The emperor took in the officials' reactions and asked the ministers below, "Who knows how much a seven-month-old pig weighs?"
This one sentence stumped more than 400 officials, not just the officials in Beijing, but most of the officials from other provinces who were sent to serve as provincial governors. They either looked at each other in confusion or lowered their heads. Only a few of the officials in Beijing and other provinces knew something about it. Among the officials in Beijing, those who knew something were originally commoners, who had rebelled against Dagan a few years ago and later surrendered to Da Qi.
After all, the officials in the court are either from aristocratic families or from scholarly families. How many of them have climbed up from the bottom of society? There is a particular lack of civil servants. The children of aristocratic families don't even bother to eat pork, let alone see what a pig looks like, what stage it is in, and how big it is.
Besides, even if there were, wouldn't the farm and forest affairs be handled by the tenants and servants in the manor? Why would they be needed? So no one could answer for the moment.
The emperor looked around and said, "I don't need to talk about the officials and military officers in the capital. Please tell me, governors of various provinces. The people's livelihood depends on you. Do you know anything?"
The court was extremely quiet. After a few moments, a provincial governor stepped out from the back of the procession and said, "I think I can explain it."
"Meizhou Governor, Lu Jiang?"
"yes."
"Tell me."
After the emperor said this, Lu Jiang began to speak. His words were quite modest, but he spoke quite logically. In a few words, he implicitly mentioned that he had purchased livestock from the common people and distributed them to the people for breeding. He also went to see them. Then he reported the approximate weight of a seven-month-old pig. Those who raised it poorly weighed about 80 kilograms, while those who raised it better could weigh 100 kilograms.
The more than 300 provincial governors in the palace were regretting their decision so much. First there was the provincial governor of Shezhou, and then there was the provincial governor of Meizhou. It was rare for them to return to the capital, and they were all stuck in the mud.
The provincial governors were concerned about their future and the emperor's favor. The emperor's confidants in the capital took the weight reported by Lu Jiang to heart. The Minister of the Central Secretariat Xue Yan could not help but ask the Minister of the Imperial Household Department who was in charge of the tribute, "How much do the six pigs that Governor Zeng presented weigh?"
These were weighed when they were received and inspected that day. The Taifu Temple Secretary said, "Two boars were weighed a few days ago. One weighed 110 catties and the other weighed 115 catties. The four castrated pigs weighed between 190 catties and 200 catties."
The whole court was in uproar.
Those who can serve as officials in the court, especially those who can be appointed in the new dynasty, are either meritorious or talented. There may be those who are pedantic and ignorant of economics, but there are definitely no stupid ones. For pigs of the same seven months old, the weight difference between castration and non-castration is 70 to 80 kilograms. What does this mean?
About seventy or eighty kilograms.
Even though pork, except for suckling pig, slightly older pigs always have a fishy smell, people don't like to eat them, but the common people eat them.
Xue Yan was a little excited: "Master Zeng, are your four pigs really seven months old?"
Zeng Ziqian smiled and said, "How dare I deceive you?"
That's true.
Xue Yan also felt that he was asking nonsense out of disbelief, so he turned around and asked, "Are there any particular rules for castrating a pig? Can any pig be castrated? Can a pig die of an injury? And I see that your uncastrated pig is more than ten pounds heavier than the one reported by the Meizhou governor, but are there any tricks in the breeding method?"
Throw out a bunch of questions.
Zeng Ziqian was just asking questions, so he gave a general answer, and then he bowed to the emperor on the throne and said, "Your Majesty must have just heard about the tribute from Shezhou that I brought to the county this time. Many of the names on the list have the words Daxingzhuang. In fact, not only fermented bean curd, vermicelli, meat floss, and meat jerky come from Daxingzhuang, but also the artificial cultivation method of yam, the method of pig castration, and the method of pig breeding all come from the Sang family of Daxingzhuang."
Li Yu remembered Sang Luo and asked, "Master Zeng, are you talking about the Sang family who presented the curved plow?"
"That's right." Zeng Ziqian smiled and said, "Ms. Sang is very concerned about agriculture and is good at research. She uses astragalus to cultivate the land for crop rotation. She cuts astragalus and adds a small amount of bran or bean dregs to cook and feed pigs. The pigs grow faster than if they only eat other grasses."
"She also experimented with this method of castrating pigs at home and reported it to the government. I am afraid it is just a coincidence. My wife brought a batch of sows to Shezhou that had not been sold. She raised them in her own farm and got dozens of piglets. She used this as an experiment to prove that this method is indeed feasible. Now the people around Daxing Village have followed this method of castrating pigs after leaving strong breeding pigs. I think that with the same method of raising pigs, castration can produce more than 90 kilograms of white meat in seven or eight months than without castration. Such a method should be introduced to the capital, and after being tested in the capital, it should be promoted to various states of Daqi, because there is a matter of offering live pigs as tribute to the emperor."
The emperor was already laughing heartily. He stood up and walked down a few steps, circling the castrated pig and said, "This pig is a good gift! The silk, satin, and rare toys only went into my private storehouse, but the method of castrating pigs and the method of growing yam are provided to the people of Da Qi. The curved plow and the tribute from Shezhou are the best tributes I have received this year."
Zeng Ziqian bowed and said, "There is another thing. According to Sang, the quality of the castrated pork is delicious, and the smell that most people dislike is gone. Sang slaughtered an eight-month-old castrated pig. Half a month ago, because he wanted to make meat jerky for His Majesty, he could not be careless in the selection of ingredients, so he asked my wife to borrow a six-month-old castrated pig to slaughter. My wife's servant brought back a piece of meat and cooked it. It was indeed as she said, the quality of the meat was much better than ordinary pork."
"Is there such a thing?" Not only the emperor, but even the ministers were surprised. The emperor looked at the six pigs, then turned to the Minister of the Imperial Household and said, "Have someone carry these six pigs away. Keep four of them alive, and select two to be castrated and slaughtered immediately. It's getting late, so today I would like to invite all the ministers to come and try out how fresh the castrated pork is."
The Minister of Taifu Temple naturally agreed. The six pig brothers spent half a day on a tour of the Emperor's Palace in the Great Qi Palace. They were then carried out respectfully by the servants. Of course, they were about to face different destinies.
The morning court session of Da Qi lasted until the afternoon. A group of people who used to hate the smell of pork actually had a pork feast that day.
Not to mention, they mustered up their courage to see if it was really as magical as Zeng Ziqian said. They ate it all and tasted it carefully. The taste that they disliked was really gone...
Those who were laughing at Zeng Ziqian a few days ago were chewing the braised pork in their mouths, which was sweet, soft, fat but not greasy, completely different from mutton and the taste of mutton was incomparable. Then they looked at the emperor on the throne with a smile on his face. Zeng Ziqian, a provincial governor, was directly granted by the emperor to sit beside him.
The curved plow, the method of castrating pigs, and the planting of yams.
In the fourth year of Wuding, Zeng Ziqian became the center of attention in the entire Da Qi officialdom.
All the civil and military officials had the same thought in their minds: who on earth was the Sang family of Daxing Village in Shezhou? Why didn't they have such a person under their command?
I give up.
I am totally convinced!
I am so impressed by Zeng Ziqian's luck that I want to kneel down!
…
The emperor was in a very good mood as he ate the braised pork. After years of fighting in the wars, he was not as pampered as those civil servants and had eaten a lot of pork, but this was the first time he knew pork could be so delicious.
As he ate the meat in his mouth, his mind was still full of the economy and people's livelihood. He thought about how ordinary people could have such delicious food on their tables, and that raising pigs for eight months could produce more than 230 kilograms of meat, which could be used to fertilize more than 20 carts of manure for fertilizing the fields.
Thinking even more about the paper mills he had opened in several states, which had helped the imperial court out of difficulties and earned huge sums of silver for the national treasury, he truly felt that Sang Luo was a lucky star sent by God to Da Qi.
Sang Luo, Sang Luo, how should I reward you this time?
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