Zhu Yunwen felt that while Zhu Yuanzhang was still in charge of the overall situation, the Ming Dynasty was currently extremely powerful.
If he were to devise a plan and accomplish this task, it would not only be a personal achievement but also solve the food problem for the people of the Ming Dynasty. It was something that absolutely had to be done.
After making up his mind, Zhu Yunwen couldn't help but smile.
Once a solution is found, solving the people's food problem will only be a matter of time.
Thinking of this, Zhu Yunwen felt much better.
As it was getting dark, the post station was still some distance away.
So Zhu Yunwen decided to find a village nearby and stay with a family for the night.
Upon entering a village with a relatively large population, a commander of the Imperial Guards was the first to enter the village and find a reasonably well-off family.
He then offered to pay for the room and stay for one night.
The people were very hospitable, so they readily agreed to let Zhu Yunwen and his entourage stay overnight in a farmer's house.
This family's yard is quite large, and although there aren't many rooms, they can squeeze in and live comfortably.
The farmer was a rough, dark-skinned man in his thirties. He had a woman in her mid-twenties and two children, a boy and a girl, aged three or four.
At night, ten Imperial Guards stood in the courtyard, ready to guard against any possible accidents.
Inside the house, Zhu Yunwen and Zhao Qingzhu sat at the table, while the twenty-five-year-old woman smiled as she prepared the meal.
It was called a meal, but it was actually just a little bit of noodles mixed with rice in a pot, with water added, to make a pot of rice and noodle porridge.
Then the woman took out a handful of fresh wild vegetables from the bamboo basket and said with a smile:
“Our mountain area is not like the city. These wild vegetables are some I picked in the mountains this afternoon. I don’t know if you two gentlemen will be able to eat them.”
Zhu Yunwen smiled and stepped forward to take a look. Although he didn't recognize the wild vegetables, they were something that city dwellers liked in later generations, and sometimes a pound of wild vegetables could fetch a very high price.
Zhu Yunwen then said, "This stuff is actually quite delicious."
The rich man smiled, put a handful of wild vegetables into the rice porridge and cooked it for a few seconds. After it was cooked, he ladled two bowls for Zhu Yunwen and Zhao Qingzhu.
Then he said to Zhu Yunwen:
"Young master, what are those brothers outside eating? This rice porridge is all they have; I'm afraid it won't be enough."
Zhu Yunwen smiled and said, "Don't worry about them, they all brought their own rations."
In fact, the dry rations these Imperial Guards carried with them were much tastier than this rice porridge.
Zhu Yunwen picked up the bowl and took a sip of the rice porridge. To be honest, the taste was not very good; it was very bland and had a bitter taste of wild vegetables.
This wild vegetable itself isn't very tasty; it only becomes delicious after being cooked with various seasonings.
However, it's clear that these farmers are lucky to have anything to eat, let alone any seasonings.
It even seems like they didn't add much salt.
Although Zhu Yunwen found it difficult to swallow, he still finished the bowl of rice porridge.
After putting it down, he smacked his lips and said:
"It's quite delicious."
Zhao Qingzhu, who was standing to the side, also quickly finished off a bowl of rice porridge.
She licked her lips and said, "Mmm, it really tastes good!"
Zhu Yuntong couldn't help but glance at Zhao Qingzhu, thinking: Are you serious?
The woman was very happy to receive such praise from them.
Then she went to the pot and scooped out a small half bowl of rice porridge for each of the two children.
Zhu Yunwen stood up and glanced at the pot. There was nothing left in it. He felt a pang of sadness. He watched as the two children held their bowls and ate the half-full bowl of rice porridge. They even used their fingers to scoop out the remaining bits and pieces to eat.
Zhu Yunwen felt a pang of pity, so he took out the dry rations he had brought and gave them to the two children, saying:
"Are you still hungry? Big brother, there's more good food here."
The two children had clearly never seen the pancakes Zhu Yunwen had taken out before, and their eyes lit up immediately.
Zhu Yunwen carried dry rations made of flatbread with meat filling inside.
Because of the cold weather, it won't spoil for more than ten days after it's made. When you want to eat it, just take it out and roast it over a fire.
The meat filling seeps out its oil, making the whole pancake even more fragrant.
The two children had never tasted such a delicacy before. Each held a cake, reluctant to eat it.
The little boy then gave the cake to his mother and said:
"Mom, you eat most of it, and I'll take the rest."
The little girl ran behind the stove and said to her rough-looking father, who was tending the fire:
"Dad, you eat."
"If Dad doesn't want to eat, you eat it!"
The man smiled and gave the pancake to his daughter.
Zhu Yunwen and Zhao Qingzhu felt somewhat distressed. Zhu Yunwen knew that solving the people's food problem was of utmost urgency.
In the small farmhouse, the two children gave their parents the best food they had ever seen.
Zhu Yunwen sighed and said, "Heat it up over a fire and eat it."
The woman and the man nodded gratefully to Zhu Yunwen, carefully holding the cakes with tongs and baking them over the fire for a while.
When it's piping hot and the pork fat is sizzling inside, take it out immediately, use a rusty kitchen knife to divide it into several portions for the two children, one piece for each of them.
The two children, still very considerately, gave the pancakes to their parents. The little girl looked at her father and said:
"Dad, you eat first, eat more, you still have to work for Master Zhang tomorrow."
The man shook his head and said, "I'm not hungry, half is enough for me. You can have the other half."
Zhu Yunwen gave a helpless bitter smile, then stood up and said to the Imperial Guards outside:
"Take out any extra cakes you have on you."
The Imperial Guards all carried a lot of meat pies, so they took out a lot of them, leaving only enough for a day's rations.
All the other cakes were placed on the table.
There were more than thirty meat patties.
The two little ones stared wide-eyed in surprise.
Zhu Yunwen said with a smile, "Now you don't have to worry about not having enough to go around, right? Here, one for each of you, eat as much as you want!"
However, the rough-looking man stepped forward and said to Zhu Yunwen:
"Young master, this is unacceptable! If you give us our rations, what will you eat?"
Zhu Yunwen smiled and waved his hand, saying, "We still have to travel tomorrow. There will be towns along the way, so we can just buy some food then. Don't worry about it, you guys eat."
The man and woman kept thanking Zhu Yunwen, for these meat pies were the most delicious food in the world to them.
Even the Zhang family probably doesn't eat there very often.
But they suddenly had more than thirty pancakes.
The two little ones stopped arguing and each grabbed a pancake, taking big bites and eating with great joy.
Seeing this, Zhu Yunwen's face showed a satisfied smile.
Perhaps this is what we call a sense of accomplishment.
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