A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 283

Outside Lingzhou city.

On the side of Huanling Avenue, under the thatched shed, Mrs. Liu supported the noodle stall, making a living for another day.

There are a lot of business travelers coming and going, and from time to time, some tourists come in and ask for a bowl or two of chopped buckwheat noodles to fill their stomachs. The business is neither good nor bad.

"Mother, will the high officials come?"

Da Ya still remembers that last time, the young senior official not only ordered fourteen bowls of chop noodles at one time, but also fourteen large servings of mutton dumplings. A silver coin was awarded.

Later, they took it back to exchange it with the head of the village in the fort. When the head of the village heard about the origin of the silver coin, it was rewarded by the new governor of Yanzhou, so he exchanged it with [-] copper coins and was very polite to her family. Little, even the handyman was not sent to his house this time.

I also inquired a lot about the governor.

Although Mrs. Liu was not sure that it was the new governor of Yanzhou, seeing that the head of the village suddenly became so polite, he still didn't say anything.

From that day on, Mrs. Liu also hoped to meet this envoy to eat noodles again, but unfortunately, she never met again.

Lowering her head to clean up the dishes, the sharp-eyed Erya suddenly said excitedly, "Mother, the high officials are here again."

Mrs. Liu got up quickly, looked up, and sure enough a group of people came on horseback, among them was the young gentleman who rewarded her last time.

She quickly put down the dishes, wiped her hands vigorously on the apron a few times, and then walked towards the road.

"It's time for dinner, stop and rest, eat a bowl of chopped noodles before leaving."

Huaiyu saw the familiar stall and the woman, and stopped the horse with a smile.

"The buckwheat noodles you ate last time were very good. It's still the same. Each person will have two bowls of buckwheat noodles first, and then a large portion of mutton noodles."

"Okay." Mrs. Liu agreed happily, and quickly asked the maids to help knead the noodles, chop the noodles and boil the water.

After a while, the first cut noodles are chopped and put into the pot. After cooking, add cold water and simmered seeds and serve on the table.

Huaiyu picked up a big chopsticks noodle and put it into his mouth, it tasted just like that, the noodle was cooked very well, the texture was just right, and the saozi was also very fresh and smooth.

As they continued chopping over there, Mrs. Liu brought another sheep's head and a large pot of haggis soup.

"This is a gift." Mrs. Liu said without waiting for Liu Xu and the others to speak.

Huaiyu looked at the big sheep's head, the cooked sheep's head was brown, and it didn't look very good, especially the one with the grinning teeth.

It's not that bright red and attractive color, but it's a very original and authentic method, without any messy additions.

"This sheep's head is very delicious. It has been cooked thoroughly. Just tear off the meat from the sheep's head and dip it in our Shuofang green salt. It's delicious."

The sheep's head is not sliced, but eaten directly by hand. You can sprinkle some salt directly, or you can dip it in salt when eating directly.

It's so unpretentious and authentic.

The best ingredients are often cooked in the simplest way, but they can present the original deliciousness to the greatest extent.

The sheep of Shuofang are very famous, and even later generations of Ningxia Tan sheep are no worse than the same sheep.

Wu Huaiyu has eaten this kind of hand-pulled sheep's head before, and this kind of eating method is popular in the Western Regions Province. It is even delicious and cheap. It used to only cost 15 yuan a piece.

This woman is very good at doing business, no matter whether she has guessed Huaiyu's identity or not, at least Huaiyu rewarded her last time, this time she took the initiative to give her two dishes.

Huaiyu was also polite, took out his small Damascus knife, cut a few knives on the head of the sheep, then peeled off the lamb, tore it into strips by hand, and sprinkled a little dish of green salt as a gift from the proprietress.

Grab a piece of mutton head meat and put it in your mouth. Not to mention, it is not smelly or fishy at all, and the hot mutton exudes an excellent meaty aroma.

"Delicious, your craftsmanship is good. I have been in Lingzhou for so long, and I found that the craftsmanship at your stall is the best. It is unpretentious and pure in taste."

The woman was very happy when she got the praise, and even made more mutton dumplings.

Liu Xu praised it again and again, this is the best buckwheat noodles he has ever eaten.

The woman was a little embarrassed, "In our Shuofang, buckwheat is the most grown. The women here have learned how to chop noodles from their mothers since they were young. They all have the same skill,"

The buckwheat in Shuofang tastes better than the one in Guanzhong, just like the sheep in Tongzhou taste better than the sheep in Yongzhou.

Even Wei Siren, who came from a famous family, although he has always disliked the humbleness of this stall, he still enjoys eating this roadside stall again.

Huaiyu chatted with the woman as usual, asking about her family's spring farming.

The woman said that there is not much land at home, and it is almost done.Her family mainly grows buckwheat. Buckwheat is a crop that can be planted all year round, as long as it is ripe and harvested before frost. It can be planted in spring, summer and autumn, and the growth cycle is short.

The precocious ones only need about fifty days, and the general ones do not exceed three months.Although there are two seasons a year, they need more water and fertilizer, so in northern Shaanxi, they are usually planted for one season.

Liu's family's buckwheat is planted around the beginning of March every year, and the weather is good with enough rain.After the beginning of spring, the land should be tidied up first, and after finishing the land at home, it would be given to the landlord's house.

They don’t have much land of their own, and they mainly rely on farming the land of the landlord’s family. In addition to sharing the rent, they have to do some free work for the landlord’s family every year. To hand in some.

If there is a lack of oxen or plows, you can borrow from the landlord, and the rent will be deducted from the harvest.

Although Liu's family belonged to semi-owner farmers and were good citizens in the household of the imperial court, they were still bound by the landlord.

Farming the land, raising sheep and setting up stalls, the whole family tried to find ways to make more money from various fields, but in fact, they could barely make ends meet throughout the year.

Huaiyu asked, and found that Liu's family is not bad in their village, and many people are not as good as their family, with less self-owned land, more tenants, and even lack of living money income such as setting up stalls, and their lives are even worse. difficult.

Although this place is considered rich, after all, on the border, Liang Shidu in Shuofang and Turks in Hetao attack from time to time, and there are even many horse thieves and grassroots bandits.

The land in Bianzhou is very cheap, but it is still difficult for the poor to own their own land.

But this is home and root after all, so where can they go.

We can only rebuild our homeland again and again, and sow the seeds of hope in that land every summer and every year.

The people on this land, the biggest threat now still comes from the Turkic people and the Liang Shidu. The Liang Shidu will not be destroyed for a day, and the Turks will surrender for a day. Then, under the prosperity of this land, there will always be a crisis, especially It is for ordinary people.

Perhaps the complicated border situation brought a lot of benefits to the officials and soldiers of Lingzhou and Yanzhou in the past, but for the common people, there were only disadvantages and no benefits.

If the threat of war is not over for a day, they will always walk on thin ice, and they may fall into the ice cave at any time, or even lose their lives.

The more I talked with Liu Shi, the heavier Huaiyu felt.

It was difficult for mountain beards like Helian Jinzhu, but it was not easy for border Han people like Liu Shi.

When returning to the city, he packed some chopped noodles for Helian Jinzhu.

When Huaiyu handed her the still hot chopped buckwheat noodles, Helian Jinzhu burst into tears when she smelled the smell. Although she is Lishihu, her hometown is in Luliang Mountains, and buckwheat is the main food. The staple food is soba noodles.

She also watched her mother make this buckwheat noodles when she was young, and she was very skilled at chopping noodles when she was ten years old.

"The chopping of this noodles is really good. The roots are like silver threads, all of the same size, and the cooking time is just right. The mutton dumplings are also fresh."

Helian Jinzhu has already met his sister-in-law and younger sister, and they have been together for a few days.

Now they were sent by Huaiyu to Zhuangzi outside the city.

This kind of reunion and separation broke her down. Under Wu Huaiyu's step-by-step pressure, Helian Jinzhu has agreed to work for Datang, and now she is receiving professional training from Li Wujie to make her a double agent.

While eating noodles, tears streamed down his face.

Now that the sister-in-law and younger sister have met and settled down, Wu Huaiyu has signed a release document for them, so they will be exempted from being a Hakka girl. Now Wu Huaiyu owns the manor, but there is no need to do heavy things. I can raise my baby with peace of mind.

But the grandmother, mother and younger brother who stayed in Shuofang didn't know what was going on.

Since arriving in Lingzhou, there has been no news of them.

"Have you found any news about my mother and the others?"

"I have already sent people to Xiazhou. After you pass, there must be a result. Maybe you will be able to meet them again as soon as you pass."

Huaiyu comforted her, "Even if the thief Liang sells them, I will still find them and take them back and arrange them well.

You are working for the imperial court now, and the imperial court will not let you have any worries. "

Huaiyu took out a piece of paper.

"This is a voucher, [-] yuan for the settling fee. With this, you can go to the Hansi Gold Shop in Lingzhou to redeem it."

Helian Jinzhu took it, looked at the certificate of fifty punctures, and handed it back to Huaiyu, "Please pass it to my little sister for me, envoy,"

"I have a request. If I have an accident in Xiazhou, I hope Shijun can fulfill his promise and find my Azu, Aniang, and younger brother for me, and bring them to Lingzhou to settle with my younger sister."

Wu Huaiyu nodded.

"Don't worry, once you enter the six doors, everyone is brothers, your family is also my family, regardless of success or failure, we will settle your family for you.

If you have any arrangements for the [-] settling-in expenses, you can tell me directly, whether you can buy land or a house. "

Fifty thousand yuan is considered a good fortune in Lingzhou, and it may still be a lot of money for ordinary people. After all, it can buy seven or eight slaves or several horses.

"Buy ten acres of land and build a small house. I hope they can have a home."

Now Jinzhu's sister-in-law and younger sister are still Wu Huaiyu's trilogy, attached to Wu Huaiyu's name, but they can also have their own property and fields.

"After this mission, they are free."

Helian Jinzhu understood that she would be a member of the Six Doors from now on.

After eating the chopped buckwheat noodles full of hometown flavor and drinking the haggis soup, Helian Jinzhu calmed down, and she is now very calm.

"I'm ready and I can go to Xiazhou anytime."

Helian Jinzhu had a taste of seeing death as home, and she didn't have much hope for this trip.

"You don't need to do this. There will be many people accompanying you this time. There will be people who will respond to you both openly and secretly. You will be fine. If there is an accident, we will do our best to protect you."

Wu Huaiyu is still very fond of Helian Jinzhu, she has an aura that he appreciates, and if she is cultivated, this woman can become a gravitational officer in the Shuofang Bureau.

After all, there are not many women who can stay in a small black room for three days without spitting out.

(End of this chapter)