Man Tanghong

Chapter 404 Pros and Cons
Li Yuanji took Ren Gui back to the main room of the jingshe, and Yang Miaoyan, who had already received the news, prepared a table of sumptuous food and wine.

There are wine and meat, all kinds of wild vegetables, and dried vegetables stored in winter.

A large table is full. If you count carefully, you can count ten plates and eight bowls. In short, it is very rich.

Although February is the season for planting and there are no seasonal vegetables, various wildflowers and weeds have already sprouted golden shoots.

As long as you make a little identification, you can extract a lot of wild vegetables that people can eat.

In this era when there are not many types of food and there are no green vegetables in winter.

But any woman who manages a house well knows how to find wild vegetables in different seasons and how to add a touch of green to the table at home.

Yang Miaoyan can be regarded as a woman who manages the family well. Although her status determines that she cannot find all kinds of wild vegetables by herself, she can order the servants in the house to find all kinds of wild vegetables. .

And ordered the cook to cook all kinds of delicacies.

Generally speaking, it is frying and cooking. As for frying, it is definitely not seen.

Even if Li Yuanji had quietly taught the cooking method to the cook in the house, it would be difficult for the cook in the house to make stir-fry dishes that suit Li Yuanji's taste.

The main reason is the lack of various condiments, as well as the lack of cooking skills that have been honed for hundreds of thousands of years.

Li Yuanji knows a little cooking skills, but he doesn't have the name of Yi Ya, and it's not easy to give it to the cook. He can only influence it subtly, and he can only search for it quietly, so that he can restore it quietly. Come up with a part of the stir-fry in his mind.

Maybe it's because I'm used to eating all kinds of delicacies from mountains and seas, maybe it's because my soul has always clearly remembered all kinds of delicacies from later generations.

So Li Yuanji looked at the big table made by Yang Miaoyan with a lot of food and wine, and didn't have much appetite.

Ren Gui was full of appetite, and after carefully putting a chopstick of cold seven-seven vegetables (shepherd's purse) into her mouth, she narrowed her eyes and started chewing greedily.

Looking at him, it seems that he is eating some rare delicacy in the world.

Li Yuanji was also aroused by his appearance, so he put a chopstick of cold seven-seven vegetables into his mouth, chewed a little, and frowned slightly after feeling a little bit of bitter taste.

Forcibly chewing the Qiqi dish in his mouth, and after swallowing it, he said to Ren Gui in doubt: "The Qiqi dish is not so delicious, why do you eat it so greedily, it seems delicious when you eat it of?"

Ren Gui finished chewing the Qiqi dish in his mouth slowly, took another chopstick to savor carefully, and then smiled and said: "It's not the taste of the Qiqi dish that I am greedy for, I am greedy for it." It's the first touch of green this spring."

Li Yuanji nodded with a dazed expression.

It turns out that the reason why Ren Gui eats so greedily is not because of how delicious Qiqi dishes are really, but because he is greedy for the first touch of green in the new year.

Ren Gui, as a person with both civil and military skills, and both civil and military attainments, it is reasonable to occasionally reveal her status as a literati.

Li Yuanji didn't know how many mouthfuls Ren Gui needed to satisfy his feelings, so he advised Ren Gui to eat more.

But Ren Gui only ate seven mouthfuls, so she stopped eating more.

Li Yuanji saw that there were still a lot of cold Qiqi dishes on the plate, so he couldn't help but said: "Why don't you eat more? You don't have to take care of me, I don't like the faint bitter taste of Qiqi vegetables."

Ren Gui stroked his long beard, and the old god smiled and said: "Although Qiqi vegetables are bitter, they have a sweet aftertaste, just like the green tea handed down from His Highness's mansion."

Li Yuanji was taken aback, and said unexpectedly: "Do you still know about green tea?"

Ren Gui nodded her head and said amusedly: "Since I want to join His Highness's door, I need to understand His Highness's preferences more or less. Naturally, I know the green tea that comes from His Highness's house."

Li Yuanji couldn't help smiling and said, "What do you think of green tea?"

Ren Gui smiled and said: "Although the taste is bitter, there is a sweet aftertaste. It means bitterness first and then sweetness. It's like life, which is worth savoring many times."

Li Yuanji suddenly felt that he had met a confidant, and immediately said with a smile: "It seems that you like green tea very much. Then when you return home, I will ask someone to prepare some for you."

Ren Gui was not polite either, she cupped her hands and said with a smile: "Then I would like to thank Your Highness."

Li Yuanji waved his hand, stretched out his chopsticks, and invited Ren Gui to continue eating.

Ren Gui smiled and shook her head.

I have been invited by Li Yuanji many times, so I had to tell the truth, "Although I like to eat Qiqi vegetables, I don't like to eat clear ones. I prefer to eat steamed cakes made of Qiqi vegetables mixed with wheat flour. .”

Li Yuanji was amused by Ren Gui all of a sudden, and he was more pleasing to the eye.

Because he has the same preferences as Ren Gui, he doesn't like to eat cold wild vegetables, but he likes steamed cakes made of wild vegetables mixed with flour.

It will be even more delicious if served with hot and sour sauce made of green and red peppers.

"Hahaha, since that's the case, next time you come over, I'll ask the princess to prepare more wild vegetable steamed cakes."

Ren Gui caressed her long beard, and jokingly said, "Your Highness, you can't spoil me like this, otherwise, after a long time, I will kick your nose and face."

Li Yuanji was even more entertained when he was teased. It was interesting to chat with a shrewd, witty, and measured person like Ren Gui.

Immediately, while chatting with Ren Gui, Li Yuanji invited Ren Gui to taste other food and wine together.

After drinking and eating, Li Yuanji ordered the maid to pack up the leftovers, and after serving two cups of tea, he began to chat with Ren Gui about business.

When they were on the road just now, they only talked about half of the topic they talked about, and they didn't continue to talk about it.

First, the road is cold and windy, not a place to talk, and it is easy to be frozen.

Secondly, if we go on, we need to say more, and it is not suitable to stand on the road.

So Li Yuanji took Ren Gui back to the main room of the jingshe, planning to have a deep talk after eating and drinking.

Now that I've eaten and drank enough, it's time to continue talking about the topic I didn't finish just now.

Li Yuanji held the tea cup, took a sip, and said slowly: "If everything you said is true, then everything that happened in the Nanyuan hunting ground today may be caused by my second brother. Calculated."

Ren Gui nodded without hesitation and said, "I think it's pretty close."

Li Yuanji's eyes fell on Ren Gui, and he said quietly: "In this way, even if I don't get angry with Kan Leng today, don't say those angry words, and don't force Kan Leng to fight with his life, Kan Leng will be seriously injured , and others as well?"

Ren Gui nodded and said, "That's true. Even if His Highness does not force Kan Leng, His Highness King Qin will try to force Kan Leng. Or let the people under him take turns to teach Kan Leng and others, and then Then, in the name of accidental injury, Kan Leng and others were severely injured."

Li Yuanji laughed at himself and said, "So, I have helped my second brother?"

Ren Gui shook his head and said, "It's not really helping His Highness King Qin."

Li Yuanji looked at Ren Gui suspiciously.

Ren Gui said seriously: "Your Highness helped me."

Li Yuanji pondered, savoring Ren Gui's words carefully, and roughly understood what Ren Gui meant.

If he hadn't been angry with Kan Leng and hadn't forced Kan Leng to go all out, then today's competition at the Nanyuan hunting ground would have changed from a desperate fight to a wheel fight.

If it was a wheel battle, it would be even worse if he lost, and it would be even worse if Li Shimin won.

Even if he and Li Shimin didn't intend to turn against each other, they still had to show their faces to each other.

Especially him, after the people under him were bullied by the wheel war, if he didn't give Li Shimin a face, it would not be in line with his personality, nor in line with the character he showed in front of the public.

But if he flirts with Li Shimin in order to maintain his personality and character in front of the public, and spread rumors that he doesn't agree with Li Shimin, then he will not be able to achieve the goal of reducing his sense of existence.

Now that Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng are fighting fiercely, any rumor that any member of the royal family has a disagreement with any of them at this time will be magnified and used.

For example, if there is a rumor that he and Li Shimin have a disagreement, then Li Jiancheng will probably take advantage of it.

Maybe it won't win him over, but it's still possible to find a way to draw him into the game and fight with Li Shimin in a small area.

Don't look at Li Jiancheng being frustrated and targeted every time when dealing with Li Shimin, you really think that Li Jiancheng has no means.

Li Jiancheng's growth is in the administration of officials, not in the art of war.

If Li Jiancheng used his strengths to avoid his weaknesses and gave up competing with Li Shimin in terms of military strategy, but instead used state affairs, civil affairs, and local officials to compete with Li Shimin, it would not be so easy for Li Shimin to defeat Li Jiancheng's plot.

Li Yuan insisted on supporting Li Jiancheng even when Li Shimin was so outstanding. In addition to maintaining the eldest son inheritance system and fearing that Li Shimin would not be able to tolerate Li Jiancheng when he took office, a large part of the reason was also because Li Jiancheng was very good at government affairs. .

Just think about it, if Li Jiancheng only had the status of the eldest son, and had no achievements in official administration, military art, and strategy, how could Li Yuan support him unswervingly?

Although Li Yuan regards his son as very important, it is not so important that he can ignore the future development and growth of the family business for the sake of his son.

Therefore, Li Yuan firmly supported Li Jiancheng because he could see Li Jiancheng's strengths and knew that if he handed over the family business to Li Jiancheng, Li Jiancheng would be able to develop and grow the family business.

If Li Jiancheng heard that he and Li Shimin were at odds, it would be easy to pull him into the water. He only needed to use some means to cause conflicts between the officials of Duji Province and the officials of Hebei Province.

Although Duji Province is now under the jurisdiction of the imperial court in name, in fact, almost all officials in Duji Province have a little relationship with Li Shimin.

So now Li Shimin said a word in Duji Province, which is more effective than Li Yuan.

This is why Xue Wanshu, Ma Zhou and others wanted the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, so they had to get Li Shimin's nod.

Because one end of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is in Luoyang, the central city of Duji Province.

And Hebei Province is under his jurisdiction. Once there is a dispute between the officials of Hebei Province and the officials of Duji Province.

He had to fight against Li Shimin anyway.

After all, Hebei Dao is now considered one of his basic plans, and it is impossible for him to give in to Li Shimin in the matter of Hebei Dao.

Duji Province was gradually built into another Shaanxi Province by Li Shimin, and Li Shimin would not let him in the matter of Duji Province.

(End of this chapter)