Lord: Start with a copy of Water Margin

It was the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. On the Laba Festival this year, early in the morning, the Pagoda Temple and the Lotus Temple cooked Laba porridge with small ingredients such as walnuts, pine nuts, persimmons and chestnuts, and gave it to the donors who came to the temple to burn incense.

Cheng Wan'er, Bai Zhi and Jin Cui Lian also went to the clinic to give everyone the Laba medicine prepared in advance. This Laba medicine is packed with Chinese medicinal materials such as Hu Tou Dan, Ba Shen, Tu Su, etc. into a small cloth bag. It has the effect of health care and disease treatment.

Ordinary people also use various grains to mix and cook to make eight-treasure porridge.

The abbot of the Lotus Temple, Yuantong, sent someone to deliver Laba porridge. After eating it, Cheng Wan'er thought it was the best. Zhao Zhen sent someone to ask for the recipe. The eight-treasure porridge cooked by the Lotus Temple really has some tricks. The various grains and beans are not put in at once, but added in batches.

First put kidney beans, and after a quarter of an hour, put red beans, peanuts, and lotus seeds. Wait for another quarter of an hour, and then put glutinous rice and rice. After another four incense sticks, add red dates; after another quarter of an hour, add candied dates and ginkgo nuts. Two incense sticks before serving, add icing sugar. Turn off the heat and let it sit for two incense sticks. Finally, sprinkle with osmanthus.

The heat is also particular. Each time you put in a certain ingredient, you must cook it for one incense stick on high heat, then turn it to a slow fire, and stir it all the time to prevent it from sticking to the pot.

After getting this recipe, Cheng Wan'er looked at it and combined it with her own experience as a herbalist. She felt that this was also a food tonic recipe. The food was diverse and reasonably matched. It had the effects of strengthening the spleen, replenishing qi, calming the mind, and nourishing blood. In addition to Laba Festival, it can also be boiled and eaten at home.

In Liangshan County, there were Xiao Rang, Pei Xuan and others in the county affairs, and there were many heroes in the army. Zhao Zhen did not need to bother to take care of many mundane affairs. After Laba Festival, Zhao Zhen entrusted the county affairs to Wu Yong and Xiao Rang, and took Cheng Wan'er and the other two and several accompanying spirit seeds back to the main world.

Zhao Zhen and his four companions stayed in Bailiu Village for a day, and then went to the house in Nanshi. Ji Qingwan and his four companions were a little embarrassed when they met Cheng Wan'er and her three companions. Fortunately, Ji Xuan and Jin Cuilian were smart and kept talking on both sides, and Zhao Zhen had greeted them in advance, so the first meeting was not too awkward.

At first, the seven people were clearly divided into two factions. When they met, they just smiled and nodded, and then missed each other.

But early in the morning of the second day, everyone was boxing in the yard, with exactly the same routine. In an instant, the seven people accepted the reality and tried to get along.

After that, the seven people gradually communicated more. With Bai Zhi's approval, Ji Xuan frequently fed Wangcai and put Wangcai together with the mastiff that Zhao Zhen brought from Gao Hu. Ji Minghan and Ji Mingdan loved the two little tigers.

What Ji Qingwan likes most is not the lion cat Yunxi that Jin Cuilian often holds, nor the auspicious white fox Baishuang, nor the three chickens. It is the little white snake wrapped around Bai Zhi's wrist.

This little white snake is a first-level when it hatches, and Bai Zhi does not allow it to eat meat. It is domesticated according to the recipe of medicinal snakes and fed with some medicinal herbs every day. Surprisingly, it has become more and more worldly.

Ji Qingwan, Cheng Wan'er and the other seven people became familiar with these spiritual seeds brought back by Zhao Zhen. Ji Qingwan and the other four talked about things in the main world, and Cheng Wan'er and the other three talked about things in Liangshan County.

As time went by, the streets of Chengwu County were much more lively than last month, and the New Year atmosphere became stronger and stronger.

Every household began to pickle cured meat, which can not only be used as New Year goods, but also can be stored until the summer of the following year. Most of the meat used is pork, mutton and fish. As the saying goes: "In the twelfth lunar month, you can salt pork, mutton and other meats, or make preserved fish, and they will not be damaged during the summer."

When it snows, wealthy families will hold banquets, make snow lions and snow mountains, and meet friends and sing songs. On sunny days, they will invite friends to stroll around Tian Street at night and watch dance teams to enjoy the Lantern Festival in advance.

Zhao Zhen has completely relaxed these days. Every day, he either plays with his wives and concubines at home, or goes to the streets with his friends, visiting many restaurants and stalls.

As New Year's Day approaches, every household cleans the house and prepares for the festival. Zhao Zhen accompanied his father Zhao Jin and his brother Zhao Xiang to worship their ancestors, welcome gods and offer sacrifices to Buddhas, and hang up New Year pictures and paste peach charms at home. On New Year's Eve, the whole family sits around the stove, drinking and playing cards until dawn.

After staying there for more than 20 days, Zhao Zhen returned to the fantasy world after New Year's Day.

The fantasy world is also full of New Year's atmosphere. On the day of his return, Zhao Zhen took out the stored fourth-level green water python meat and asked Zhu Fu to hold a banquet for civil and military officials. He celebrated with the village heads, managers, and military heroes.

The next day, Zhao Zhen had a secret meeting with Wu Yong and Xiao Rang. The two of them prepared themselves and would implement their plans after the Lantern Festival.

These days, [Blue-eyed Tiger] Li Yun and [Hidden Rabbit] Li Wang patrolled everywhere and captured two strangers in the wilderness. After interrogation, they confirmed that both were spies from Zhujiazhuang. They came to Liangshan County to investigate during the New Year's Day holiday.

It's a pity that the two didn't know much, and it's not known whether they were the only ones here to investigate. After a torture, Wu Yong did find out some secrets of the three villages of Dulonggang.

After repeated interrogation, seeing that no more useful information could be obtained, Wu Yong had someone apply gold wound medicine to the two and locked them up in a cell, waiting for the day of the expedition to offer sacrifices.

On the day before the Lantern Festival, Yang Lin finally brought [Out of the Forest Dragon] Zou Yuan and [One-horned Dragon] Zou Run back to Liangshan County.

Zhao Zhen asked Yang Lin, "Brother, why are you so late? I was so worried."

Yang Lin said, "Sir, please allow me to report. I rode non-stop to Dengyun Mountain to find you two brothers and told you about your place. Uncle and nephew Zou Run and Zou Yuan had also heard of your name, and heard that brothers Deng Fei and Shi Yong were also here. The two did not hesitate and immediately took people to join you."

"I heard that the great official was going to use troops in the spring, so he told me that two people in Dengzhou got acquainted with two heroes because of gambling. They lived in Shilipai outside the east gate of Dengzhou. The husband was called [Little Wei Chi] Sun Xin, and the wife was called [Mother Big Bug] Gu Dasao. They opened a hotel and killed cattle for gambling."

"I thought since they were heroes, I might as well get to know them and see if I could recruit them. These two people are indeed loyal, but unfortunately Sun Xin has a brother named [Sick Wei Chi] Sun Li, who is now the military commander of Dengzhou, so we can't go."

"After two days of feasting, the two introduced two more heroes. The two brothers were hunters, both used iron-tipped steel forks, and had amazing Martial arts. The elder brother is called [two-headed snake] Jie Zhen, and the younger brother is called [double-tailed scorpion] Jie Bao. "

"We drank wine in Sun Xin's store for another day. The next day, I went to the city to buy some fruits, sold two loads of wine, and killed a pig and a sheep to treat him. This delayed a lot of time. It's a pity that I never met Sun Tixia and his brother-in-law [iron caller] Lehe. I only left some incense and affection with Sun Xin and his wife, Jie Zhen, and Jie Bao brothers. "

After hearing this, Zhao Zhen turned from anger to joy and said, "So that's the case. According to the distance, the brothers should come back five or seven days after the New Year. We were worried."

Zhao Zhen then left the hall with Yang Lin and met Zou Run and Zou Yuan uncle and nephew on the parade ground.

Behind the two were eighty or ninety soldiers, and behind them were many old, weak, women and children.

After greeting, Zhao Zhen asked, "Brothers, are the women and children behind you family members?"

Zou Run replied, "Sir, these are the landless farmers hiding in Dengyun Mountain. Most of these followers I accepted came from them. I heard that you have a lot of land here and are recruiting farmers, so I brought all these people here."

Zhao Zhen said happily, "Yes, I am in need of farmers here. After registration, they will be distributed to each village to grant land. The soldiers brought by the brothers also need to be registered and sent to the Wanzicheng camp for training."

Zou Yuan said, "I heard from Brother Yang Lin on the way that since the two of us are willing to come, we have no second thoughts and will follow your orders."