Kingdom of Heaven and Han

Chapter 395 Bran
In the end, Xue Chengdao said: "After three days of rest in Yuanqu, we will cross the river and attack the rear of the Wushu Army. The target is Qianqiu Store!"

Li Songchen said: "There are continuous mountains between the north of Mianchi and the Yellow River, and the road is not easy to walk. If Wushu sends troops to guard the main road, it will not be easy for us to march. Besides, tens of thousands of troops cross the river, and the supply of food and grass is not easy."

Xue Cheng waved his hand: "How can it be possible for an army of tens of thousands to cross the river, and it is difficult to fill the stomach. I have 2000 people under my command, and you send another 5000 elite soldiers. A total of [-] people will go to the mountainous area north of Mianchi and wait for the opportunity. Don't worry, the remaining soldiers in this area All the common people in the mountains set up strongholds to protect themselves. If Wushu sent too few troops, the sheep would go to the tiger's mouth. If there were too many troops, there would be no food to eat. Until now, the Jin army has not dared to enter the mountain. If not, Yuanqu is not far from Mianchi. The Jin Army has already come to attack us. The mountains between the Yellow River and the Mianchi Valley are our natural barriers. With this barrier, we will have a battle with the Jin Army!"

After hearing this, all the leaders said yes.Staying in the cottage for the past few years, being forced to suffer by the Jin army, it is rare to vent my sullenness once.

Xue Chengdao: "In addition to the people who cross the river and enter the mountains, you'd better get some people in, together with our troops, to transport grain from the rear to Yuanqu. There are tens of thousands of us, and we need a lot of grain and grass. The governor came from Dengzhou Concentrate manpower to transport grain to Guozhou, and we will transport it to Yuanqu."

One of the most important reasons why so many troops came to Yuanqu this time was the lack of food in winter.The cottages came with soldiers, and Xue Cheng couldn't make them hungry.In fact, the army that can really fight is only five to six thousand people at most, and the rest are here to make money.Xue Cheng can take care of the food, but he can't let these people idle and go to the rear to transport food.

The grain and grass that Wang Xiaohun could use were not only transported from Dengzhou, but also captured from the Jin army after this victory.During the First Battle of Fuping, Zhang Jun concentrated his savings in Guanzhong and Sichuan and Shu for several years, and the Jin army captured a lot.After capturing Jingzhao Mansion, most of them fell into Wang Xiaolie's hands.

After ordering, Xue Chengdao: "It's rare for all the leaders to gather together today. I killed two sheep and prepared some wine and vegetables for everyone to drink together."

All the leaders were very excited when they heard this.

Hedong is a place where sheep are produced. To be honest, sheep are not uncommon.But these rebels are all with families, and most of the cottages are located in the mountains, which is not convenient for farming.Although they raise sheep, it is not easy to eat mutton.

For domestic animals such as cattle and sheep, in the impression of ordinary people, grasslands are definitely suitable for raising.Actually not.The areas that are most suitable for raising cattle and sheep are areas that combine agriculture and animal husbandry, and even purely agricultural areas are more suitable for raising cattle and sheep than grassland areas.Simply put, as long as the breeding method is appropriate, the Central Plains produce more than the grasslands.For example, the country that raises the most cattle is India, the country that raises the most sheep is China, and the second is India.Although Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang have the largest number of sheep raised in China's provinces and regions, they have a large territory.The places that really raise more sheep are Shandong, Henan, and Hebei.

The most important meat in the Song Dynasty was mutton, followed by pork.The mutton is mainly not imported from the north, but raised in the Central Plains itself.During the Tang and Song Dynasties, the breeds and breeding methods of sheep were basically finalized, and the cost of sheep was relatively low among livestock.However, the breeds and breeding methods of pigs are not as complete as raising sheep.Moreover, the domestic pig breeds in China are relatively small, grow slowly, and have high costs.Even in Wang Xiaolie's previous life, the price of mutton was cheaper than the traditional breed of pork raised in traditional methods, let alone before.

Industrialization has caused changes in the price of meat. One is pork, but the more obvious one is chicken.For example, in the Song Dynasty, under normal circumstances, pork was slightly more expensive than mutton, and the price of whole chicken was comparable to that of mutton.After industrialization, this kind of price is unimaginable.There will be such an impression that people use industrialized pigs and chickens to compare with mutton.In fact, not only traditionally raised pork is more expensive than mutton, but traditional breeds of native chickens raised in traditional methods are also more expensive than mutton.If you don't believe it, just ask how much the real traditional local chicken costs during the Chinese New Year.

This misunderstanding of taking it for granted will cause many jokes.For example, some people say that the heroes in "Water Margin" like to eat beef, which shows that they have a spirit of resistance.In fact, it is because the government prohibits the slaughter of farming cattle, and the legally sold beef comes from sick and dead cattle, which is of course cheap.Moreover, the government of the Song Dynasty set a limit on the price of beef, and it was not allowed to exceed [-] Wen per catty, which was much cheaper than mutton at [-] Wen per catty.The heroes like to eat beef, not because they have the spirit of rebellion, but because they were born in poverty and are generally poorer.

Some people also said that in the Song Dynasty, pigs were cheap meat, and people looked down on eating pork.Some people will use Su Dongpo's "Ode to Pork" written in Huangzhou as proof that "the noble will not eat it, and the poor will not understand how to cook it".In fact, in the era of underdeveloped transportation, each region has its own customs, and it is normal for eating habits to be different from other places. "Huangzhou's good pork is as cheap as dirt", which also surprised Su Dongpo.It is also said that the meat in the palace of the Song Dynasty was mainly mutton, but very little pork, which shows that the feudal landlords and nobles were extravagant.In fact, in terms of price, mutton is not more expensive than pork.There is a lot of mutton used in the palace, which just shows that people at that time liked to eat mutton.

Changes in the prices of pigs, cattle, and mutton are in sync with China's industrialization.Around the end of the 70s and the beginning of the 80s, the price of pork dropped rapidly, widening the gap with beef and mutton.

Similar to this situation, there is also Chinese baijiu.For a long time, some people insisted that Chinese baijiu was introduced from abroad, and it even became the mainstream for a while.Their main evidence is that the alembic was invented by the Arabs.Chinese baijiu would not be produced until the Arabs invented the distiller and introduced it to China.In fact, Chinese liquor has nothing to do with the distiller, but has more to do with the traditional Chinese steamer.

The characteristics of Chinese liquor are solid fermentation and solid distillation.In terms of production, these researchers have no idea what the production process of Chinese baijiu is like, and they take it for granted.Solid distillation, when the wine is produced stably, it is in a special state that neither alcohol dissolves in water nor water dissolves in alcohol. At this time, the density is the highest, about 53 degrees.This is the reason for the degree of strong liquor, which is generally between 56 and [-] degrees.The low-alcohol liquor on the market was obtained after the founding of the People's Republic of China through scientific and technological research by the state.In addition to low-alcohol liquor, there are bran koji and skewering methods.Bran koji ferments faster and costs less.The method of stringing incense is to obtain the characteristics of Chinese liquor through the low-cost liquid alcohol through the solid fermented distiller's grains.The purpose of these two scientific and technological breakthroughs is to save food.

Chuanxiangfa Baijiu is what people in later generations often call blended wine.Therefore, people who know wine say that blending is a normal process of liquor production, and it is the core technology of many large factories. People who don't know wine don't know what to say.The new national standard, Chuanxiang method baijiu is no longer allowed to be called baijiu, it must be clearly marked.Many people say that if it is not grain wine, it is not liquor, but it is not.It is because the Chinese liquor that is made by the string-flavored liquor lacks solid fermentation, the fundamental feature of Chinese liquor, and economic development makes the demand for low-priced liquor and saving food less urgent than before.

The Hedong Rebel Army is in many situations similar to the heroes in "Water Margin".When they go out and arrive at the hotel, they will also ask the waiter to serve a large plate of beef.Anyway, it has meaty taste and the price is cheap.With baijiu, they would never drink more expensive rice wine.These two groups lived in similar ages and had similar styles.Some people even say that the prototype of the heroes in "Water Margin" is the Hedong Rebel Army, and Liang Xing is Yan Qing.Because of the similar pronunciation of Xing and Qing, coupled with the influence of dialects, it is true that Liang Xing is often called Liang Qing.

When I arrived at the drinking place in Houya, I saw two soldiers busy slaughtering sheep.There was obviously more meat on the bones than normal, and they were neatly placed together.Even the internal organs of the sheep are cleaned up and placed in categories.

Seeing the doubts on the faces of Li Songchen and Liang Xing, Xue Chengdao: "These bones are very important to the governor. When we slaughter sheep in the army, the bones and offal must be sorted out and boiled into sheep soup in a big pot. There is a bowl of mutton soup to drink. I went to Ruzhou a few months ago and passed through Baisha Town. The mutton soup there is very delicious. The governor specially recruited a few skilled people from the town to join the army and teach them how to cook mutton soup."

Liang Xing nodded: "I see. This method is good."

Xue Chengdao: "Yes. No matter how rich you are, you can't let everyone in the army eat meat. Drinking a bowl of mutton soup often is also a good thing."

On the other side, soldiers are busy grinding millet and wheat into flour and brushing them carefully.There is a lot of bran that has been brushed and piled up into hills.

Liang Xing pointed to Xue Cheng and asked, "Control, what do those people want to eat? It took a lot of effort."

Xue Chengdao: "What they are going to do is the military rations tested in our army. The millet is ground, and then spread into pancakes. It is easy to carry, not easy to break, and easy to eat. The wheat is ground into white flour, and lard sand is added. Grain, fried into fried noodles. At the front line, hot water is delicious. And pancakes can be soaked in fried fried noodles, which is the most convenient and quick.”

Liang stopped listening, and opened his mouth in shock.After a while, he said, "Isn't this a waste of food?"

Xue Chengdao: "It's a waste of course. But the most important thing is convenience when fighting on the front line. We can't eat it like usual. On normal days, our army doesn't eat it. We will cross the river in a few days, and there are mountains in front of us. Be more prepared."

Liang Xing looked at Li Songchen, both of them couldn't recover.They stayed in the mountains for many years, hungry and full, how dare they think about such a thing?Maizi eats porridge most of the time, and white noodles can't be eaten a few times a year.Not to mention millet, I never thought of grinding it into flour.

After a while, Liang Xing said, "Guanzhi, after grinding the flour, what do we do with the bran?"

Liang Xingdao: "If we were in Dengzhou, the bran from the millet would be used to cook porridge. Most of the bran from the wheat would be used to feed the pigs. There is no way here, it is all given to the local people. Our troops are stationed here, and the people have helped a lot. "

Liang Xing thought about it.Said: "Control, I have a merciless request."

Xue Chengdao: "But it's okay to say. We are a family, why bother to hesitate."

Liang Xingdao: "People in our cottage have a hard life. In winter like this, many people have no food to eat. If it is convenient, let us take these bran back. It can be used as winter food and save many lives."

Xue Cheng couldn't help being stunned.I have forgotten that most of these cottages are not easy and have no food and clothing.After thinking for a while, he said, "There is no need for bran. In a few days, I will prepare more rice noodles, and you can take them home. As long as you keep in touch with Dengzhou, you don't have to worry about food and clothing in the future."

(End of this chapter)