Three Kingdoms: Everything Can Be Gamified

Chapter 387 Not enough to eat

Liu Bei was very concerned about the lives of the people. There was a severe drought last year and he had nothing to do in Guanzhong, so he personally took the lead in fighting the drought.

I heard that there might be a locust plague this year, so I naturally expressed enough concern.

Of course, he would not say that he would believe whatever Zhang He reported, although that could be the case if possible.

In order to bring peace to a bowl of water, I consulted knowledgeable officials and people, and finally determined that there is a high possibility of a locust plague this year.

On this basis, the national war against locusts began, and this year's war was stopped for this reason.

The strategy given by Zhang He was so complete that neither Ju Shou nor Tian Feng could make any further modifications.

I just raised a question about whether cooked locusts can be eaten.

I still approve of hiring people to catch and even drive chickens and ducks to eat locusts in the fields.

In order to raise chickens and ducks intensively, it is even necessary to take the initiative to breed earthworms.

Locusts are similar to earthworms and can also be used to feed chickens and ducks. You can hire people to catch locusts and use them as feed for chickens and ducks.

"If it's edible, send someone to catch some. You'll know when it's cooked." Zhen Yi, who had returned to Chang'an and was promoted to chief agricultural officer, naturally supported Zhang He unconditionally.

When I asked people about it, I found that locust larvae could already be seen in fields and wild places.

For that amount, it is indeed abnormal.

The larvae can only jump but not fly, and are much easier to catch, but the quantity is relatively small, just like small shrimps.

Liu Bei gave an order and ordered his people to cook it according to the method of steaming, frying, boiling and roasting.

As for the cooking method of steaming, it really existed in this era, but the bamboo steamer was the result of Zhang He's promotion and can be regarded as a by-product of the bamboo paper industry.

Prior to this, cooking utensils such as steamers were mainly used for cooking in this era. The so-called distillation vessels excavated in Sanxingdui were just like this.

You don't need to think about it to know that simply steaming locusts is definitely a dark dish.

Even in later generations, the mainstream method is still deep-fried, otherwise it is fried, and roasting is also possible.

Considering that the common people rarely have so much oil to use, they always add salt directly.

Roasted locusts are obviously the most cost-effective, but the best taste is fried. After cooking, grilling or frying are also acceptable.

I can't say it's delicious, I can only say it's edible. As long as it's edible, what else do you need a bicycle?

After eating, there was no problem for an hour. Zhang Zhongjing was specially asked to check, and there was no problem.

"Since it's edible and there's no problem, let's spread the news that locusts are edible." Liu Bei waved his hand.

In fact, Zhang He had already said in the memorial that Liu Bei did a special test just to reassure Qunchen.

The result is the same as the memorial, which is somewhat of a waste of time.

But in this world, some time has to be wasted.

I also made two special dishes according to the two recipes provided by Zhang He.

After finding someone to take a bite and saying it was delicious, Zhen Yi plucked up the courage to eat it. She really risked her life to support Zhang He.

The deep-fried locusts are crispy and squidgy in the mouth. It has a flavor that I have never had before.

Maybe it's not particularly delicious, but as a dish cooked by locusts, Zhen Yi thinks it's acceptable and tastes pretty good.

Only at this point did Liu Bei try it himself. In fact, he had been curious about it for a long time.

"The taste is okay!" Liu Bei took a few bites, "It's just a little dry. It would be nice if I had some wine to go with it!"

As for how good it goes with meals, it's just like that. It's a good food and drink, and I couldn't help but want to drink two glasses.

Not to mention wine, barbecue, fried things, not to mention some drinks, who wouldn’t want to drink a glass of this iced Coke?
But now that we are in court, it is naturally impossible to really drink.

Liu Bei was somewhat uninterested. He took one or two more bites and then stopped using his chopsticks.

After becoming an emperor, apart from other things, in terms of food, is there anything he wants to eat?
He was just curious, so he gave this thing a try. Normally, he rarely encountered this thing.

Maybe after a few years, you will be tired of eating ordinary food and want to be curious, so you may be able to get in touch with some dark cuisine.

Anyway, Zhang He felt that the air-dried chicken, the lively donkey, the three-squeak, the roasted goose feet, and the roasted lamb were really invented by being so idle that it hurts.

There are some dark dishes, such as canned herring, stinky shark, stinky pork/mandarin fish, etc. The original intention of their invention was to preserve food for a longer period of time.

In times when food is scarce and means of preservation are limited, these can be life-saving rations.Closer to home, since officials were sure that the locusts were edible, relevant policies were naturally issued quickly.

Liu Bei personally inspected the counties in Guanzhong to promote the method of eating locusts.

The people below saw that the emperor was eating, so everyone naturally started to eat locusts.

Even the emperor has eaten the food, not to mention the common people, some wealthy families are even interested in it, mainly out of curiosity.

Finally, there was a special restaurant selling this thing. By coincidence, it was the two recipes provided by Zhang He.

When it comes to being the royal cook for the emperor, sometimes this is the only convenience.

If there are any new dishes, they can be put out for sale immediately. Everyone will naturally flock to them for the dishes that the emperor has eaten.

Of course, there are some exceptions this time, because this restaurant belongs to Zhang's Trading Company, or rather similar chain restaurants, which can be found in every state and county under the imperial court.

After all, the most powerful thing about Zhang's Trading Company is not its monopoly on animal husbandry and cultural and educational industries, or even its involvement in the catering industry.

The most powerful thing about it is that it has its own exclusive logistics supply line. Under this model, the cost of franchise operations will be further reduced.

Others can't grab it, and the cost can't be reduced. In the end, there is no other way to join the franchise.

But strictly speaking, the catering, mainly wine, business is under Zhang Fei's name.

Zhang Fei's lineage will stay in the Central Plains in the future, which naturally requires some industries to provide blood transfusion for the development of the Zhang family.

Unknowingly, this locust dish began to become popular in Guanzhong, and finally the price for purchasing locusts became higher and higher.

When people have free time, they go over to catch locusts and use them in exchange for extra money.

As for the children at home, the girls were driven out to catch locusts. After all, if they didn’t catch locusts, they would have to cut pigweed or briquettes.

Boys are sent to initiation, and anyway these days night schools and initiation classes are everywhere.

If you really don't have the conditions, you can eavesdrop and study outside, and then go to the library to study on your own. There are as many channels as you want to become self-taught.

Of course, there are still some people who feel that studying is useless and that taking good care of their own fields is the real benefit.

There are people like this in all eras. If a policy can take care of [-]% to [-]% of the people, it is considered adequate.

By the end of the Guanzhong area, the locusts had reached the point where there was not enough food for people to eat, so the chickens and ducks naturally couldn't get enough to eat.

By this time it was mid-February, and the locusts were beginning to grow.

The states and counties under Liu Bei's rule have naturally been almost wiped out.

The problem is that those forces outside the court's sphere of influence don't care much about this thing.

Naturally, the locust plague gradually formed and then began to spread.

The overwhelming locusts swept across the land, leaving no grass growing wherever they passed. This year is similar to last year, with a slight drought.

Seeing the large quantity outside, the businessman asked someone to go there to purchase.

The locusts that have become a locust plague have been proven not to taste very good. They can be eaten, but they are already disliked.

But it’s good to feed chickens and ducks, and the price is one-third of earthworms.

If it weren't for the enthusiasm of local people, merchants would even collect them for free, and a lot of people would send them over.

For these people, whether they can make money from selling it or why the other party takes it are not their considerations.

What they need is a reason to kill the locusts.

Tofu, in some states and counties adjacent to the imperial court, their locust plagues have been contained to a certain extent.

Cao Cao was also smart and realized that chickens and ducks could eat locusts. He introduced a lot of chickens and ducks early and immediately sent them out to exterminate the locusts.

For a time, Cao Cao's reputation in Xuzhou actually improved slightly.

However, Yuan Shu was unlucky, and it was inevitable that he would have no childbirth this year.

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(End of this chapter)