The Prosperous Era of Longwan

The fleet followed the north wind all the way south, and soon passed Zhenjiang and entered the Yangtze River waterway.

When the fleet arrived here, it was already far away from the city of Nanjing.

Before departure, Wei Guangde received a letter from Xu Bangrui, hoping that Wei Guangde could come to Nanjing before returning to Jiujiang so that they could meet first.

Although Xu Bangrui had known Wei Guangde for a long time, the two had never met by chance.

Although he had known Wei Guangde's general appearance from many people before, Xu Bangrui still wanted to see Wei Guangde first when things came to a close, so he wrote a letter to Wei Guangde before he left Beijing.

In the cabin, in addition to Wei Guangde's servants, Xu Huai was also among them. As a messenger, he delivered Xu Bangrui's letter and returned south with Wei Guangde.

They had already said hello in advance that Wei Guangde would disembark in Nanjing and then find a boat back to Jiujiang. Therefore, when the ship sailed near Nanjing City, the merchant ship carrying him turned around and approached Longwan Wharf.

In fact, some of the goods carried by the fleet must be unloaded in Nanjing, so naturally they are all stored on this ship.

After the ship docked and the berth was fixed, Wei Guangde and his party naturally disembarked first. After they left the dock, the dock coolies who had been waiting for them swarmed around the ship, waiting for the boatman to arrange work for them.

For these people, they have long been accustomed to such things. Large merchant ships often carry nobles they cannot afford to offend. They cannot rush over after the ship docks, but have to wait for the nobles to disembark and leave before docking. In the past, there was competition for loading and unloading goods.

Wei Guangde's current status is a bit embarrassing, and naturally he cannot go directly to Wei Guogong's mansion. However, Xu Bangrui naturally has another hospital in Nanjing, so it is easy to settle Wei Guangde.

When they got here, Xu Huai naturally led the way. Several carriages appeared from nowhere. Under Xu Huai's greeting, the group got on, the carriage curtains were lowered, and then began to drive towards the city.

Wei Guangde and the others were placed in a quiet courtyard on Sanshan Street. This was a property purchased by Xu Bangrui. It was actually quite close to the Wei Guogong Mansion. It was often used by him to entertain relatives and friends.

"This house is nice."

After Wei Guangde got off the carriage, he followed Xu Huai inside. It looked like a garden in the south of the Yangtze River. Although it was just an outhouse, it was as good as the Wei family's house in Jiujiang Mansion.

It can only be said that the background of a wealthy family may be like this. To Wei Guangde, it is a mansion, but to others it is just a separate courtyard.

"The original owner here gave the yard to the young master, and he made extensive renovations in the past two years to get what it looks like now."

Xu Huai explained on the side.

"oh."

Wei Guangde didn't want to care about the relationship between others and Xu Bangrui. It had nothing to do with him. Just pay off the debt, but Wei Guangde really took a fancy to this yard.

Xu Huai had introduced him when he got off the bus earlier. The courtyard was just a street away from Wei Guogong's mansion, very close. It was probably convenient for Xu Bangrui to find an opportunity to come over and meet him.

It was already afternoon. After settling down the people, Xu Huai said goodbye and went back to report.

In fact, when they got on the carriage, Xu Huai had already arranged for someone to report to Xu Bangrui. He only left to report the trip to Xu Bangrui.

In the evening, Xu Bangrui came over and set up a sumptuous banquet in the flower hall to entertain Wei Guangde, which was regarded as a welcome blessing for him.

This was the first time that Wei Guangde and Xu Bangrui had met. Wei Guangde's appearance was similar to what he had heard about. He was definitely not a match for Pan An in terms of face and appearance, but he was also handsome.

Perhaps because of his studies, he is used to being pampered, but he is not as dark-skinned as his elder brother Wei Wencai. At first glance, he looks like a guard soldier, and he is fairly fair.

Xu Bangrui was quite satisfied with Wei Guangde's appearance, as long as he would not let his sister be wronged.

In Wei Guangde's opinion, Xu Bangrui looks a bit like a pretty boy, but he can be said to be handsome and unrestrained. He comes from the Duke's Palace, and his temperament is naturally outstanding, but he feels a bit feminine.

But fortunately, when I saw Xu Bangrui's appearance and thought that his unmarried daughter-in-law was his biological sister, I guess the appearance was not that different.

rest assured.

The two of them ate, drank and chatted for a long time. When they were tipsy, Wei Guangde suddenly took out two red fruits from his sleeves and asked, "Brother, I wonder where these things in the garden come from?"

"You are talking about pepper. It was introduced from Zhejiang two years ago. It is said that it was brought by the Yi people. The flower is not very good, but the fruit it produces looks good hanging on the tree, so there are many flowers in the garden. Planted some.”

At first, Xu Bangrui didn't recognize what it was. After taking a closer look at the bald pen-shaped fruit, he remembered that it was not the kind of pepper that he saw only two years ago.

When he first saw it, Xu Bangrui thought the fruit was quite pretty, especially the large number of red peppers hanging on the branches.

It happened that the courtyard here was renovated at that time, and a few plants were planted here, but I didn't expect Wei Guangde to be interested in this thing.

"Oh, that's how it is."

Wei Guangde really didn't know that chili peppers were introduced from abroad. He always thought that this thing might still be hidden in the mountains without being discovered.

In the past, eating banquets was actually spicy, but the condiments used were mustard and ginger. The spiciness was naturally not comparable to that of chili peppers, and Wei Guangde was not used to it.

When he first came here today, Wei Guangde took a walk in the garden and saw a few small shrubs in the corner of the garden, with red peppers on their branches.

Wei Guangde wasn't sure at first, so he took one off and nibbled a little, just a little. The long-lost spicy taste filled the tip of his tongue, making Wei Guangde hooked on the spot.

But thinking that this is Xu Bangrui's yard, naturally I can't catch all the peppers on the branches. I just picked a few and hid them. I made up my mind to ask Xu Bangrui about the origin of these peppers and transplant a batch of these dwarf tree stumps back. There are chili peppers available.

Just thinking about it for a moment makes my tongue secrete a lot of saliva. I really miss the taste of chili.

But in my heart, I also secretly resented that these powerful people were occupying such a delicious thing. If I had known that there were chili peppers in the Duke of Wei's house, he would have come to propose marriage. He didn't have to give up the dowry, but he had to hand over all the chili peppers.

But, what do you mean by Xu Bangrui's words? To them, chili peppers are just beautiful to look at, not something to eat?

impossible.

Wei Guangde had the impression that Westerners were searching for spices all over the world. It was impossible not to know that peppers are edible and are a condiment.

But Wei Guangde soon came up with his own guess. It was possible that when the Yi people were trading with the Ming people, the Ming people just thought the things looked good, so they didn't bother to explain.

Wei Guangde touched his forehead and thought of the business opportunities. The condiments of the Ming Dynasty were still far less rich than those of later generations and were relatively monotonous.

With this chili pepper, you should be able to make a lot of money, right?

But thinking of this, Wei Guangde felt a little unsure.

Can people in the Ming Dynasty eat spicy food now?

Can they accept chili peppers?

Also, there is no technical content in growing peppers. I didn’t see that there were several pepper shrubs in the garden. They don’t seem to be trees, they can only be described as shrubs.

If you plant some land, the peppers produced in the first two years may be sold at a good price, but only if rich people accept the taste and are willing to spend money to buy them.

But within two years, others would follow suit, and then the market would flood and there would be no profit.

Forget it, let's do something good and help promote the cultivation of peppers. At least in the future, I can eat them whenever I want, instead of being like now where I have no money to buy them.

"Didn't those barbarians tell me how to use this thing?"

Wei Guangde asked, pretending to be surprised.

"Hey, it doesn't just look good, it's bright red, and my little sister likes it too."

Xu Bangrui never thought that this beautiful-looking fruit could be eaten. For people like them, eating is not something you can eat casually. Others will use it first and eat it without any toxicity.

In fact, people who are engaged in military warfare generally keep some traditions, such as this pepper. You must not eat the beautiful-looking fruit because it may be poisonous.

Because of this, Xu Bangrui has never considered letting people taste the fruit to see what it tastes like and whether it is toxic.

Wei Guangde blinked when he heard this. He didn't know how to say that the correct use of this thing is actually for eating and condiment.

Smacking his lips, Wei Guangde thought for a moment before saying, "This thing looks good, so I picked a few fruits."

Xu Bangrui's interest was also aroused by Wei Guangde at this time. He wanted to know what Wei Guangde had discovered. From the meaning of his words, it seemed that there were other uses for this pepper.

"What did you find? Here, if you have anything to say, you can say it directly. It's all from your own family."

Xu Bangrui couldn't help but speak.

"This thing is edible, and the taste is very unique. It is spicy, but the spiciness is very distinctive and delicious."

Wei Guangde was also unambiguous and said directly: "I also plan to order more peppers if there are more peppers here, but according to what you said, the house doesn't seem to grow this stuff specifically, so I don't think there are many. "

"eat?"

Xu Bangrui frowned slightly and looked at the peppers that Wei Guangde put on the table, "Has anyone ever eaten this? We all come from military families, so we should know that we shouldn't eat food randomly."

"When I got it, I took a bite. Apart from the spiciness, there was no other toxicity."

Wei Guangde replied without hesitation, will chili be eaten less in future generations?

As far as their hometown and many places in the country are concerned, there is no spicy food. It seems that except for some places along the coast where the food is relatively light, the banquet dishes may not use chili peppers. It is really hard for people in China not to use this thing. Common.

Having said this, Wei Guangde took out another chili pepper from his sleeve and placed it on the wine table.

This chili is slightly different from the two that Wei Guangde took out previously, and the difference is naturally that the head of the chili is missing. It was obviously bitten by Wei Guangde.

Of course Xu Bangrui would not think that Wei Guangde wanted to harm him. It would not be good for him. Although the two met for the first time, they still had a good conversation.

Wei Guangde was good. This was Xu Bangrui's impression. Just because the two families were married, he stood on his side without hesitation and even helped him eliminate his father Xu Pengju's Austrian aid in the palace.

This is not as simple as destroying his father's layout in the palace. In turn, it also shows that Wei Guangde's relationship in the palace can help him speak in the palace in the future when he and his brother Xu Bangning compete for the right to inherit the title. Increase the possibility of him attacking the prince.

As for Wei Guangde, he received thousands of taels of silver from others for nothing, so naturally he can't think bad of others.

Those who give money to themselves are good people.

Looking at the pepper that Wei Guangde wanted to drop, Xu Bangrui picked up the one next to him, put the tip of the pepper into his mouth and took a bite. Just a little bit, and suddenly his mouth was filled with a spicy and stimulating taste. Saliva secreted crazily from the mouth.

"Bah spicy."

Xu Bangrui spit out the bit of pepper on the ground. He immediately picked up the spoon and bowl and scooped two spoonfuls of soup into the bowl and drank it. Only then did he feel that the spiciness in his mouth was slightly relieved, but it was still spicy. He couldn't stand it.

"What does it taste like? It's spicier than ginger."

Xu Bangrui kept talking, but his eyes were looking at the pepper in his hand.

"hehe."

Seeing Xu Bangrui's reaction, Wei Guangde knew that in this era, people in the Ming Dynasty might not be able to accept the condiment of chili in a short time, because he had previously thought he could make money from it.

"I was like that at first too."

Seeing Xu Bangrui looking at him at this time, Wei Guangde had no choice but to put away his smile and said: "But with the second bite, you can feel the different flavors in the pepper. It's really delicious."

Seeing Xu Bangrui's disbelieving look, Wei Guangde didn't want to dwell on this anymore. He raised his hands and said to him: "Brother, from what you said, we still have this pepper in the house, but it's just an ornamental plant, right?"

Seeing Xu Bangrui nodding, he continued: "I wonder if you can help me collect the spicy and sweet peppers in the house and give them to me.

By the way, there are also seeds of these peppers. I also want to go back and find someone to plant some of them, so that I can produce them for my own use. "

"Do you really like this thing?"

Xu Bangrui still looked a little unsure. He really couldn't taste the good taste of this pepper. Except that it was spicy on the tongue, it was spicy on the tongue. He didn't want to try it a second time.

Wei Guangde nodded hurriedly.

"This thing is not valuable. The seeds seem to be the seeds in peppers. I have to ask someone for details on how to plant them. I don't know how to get this thing."

As for Xu Bangrui, he definitely doesn’t know anything about plant cultivation. It’s good to know about pepper seeds, because Wei Guangde didn’t know that pepper seeds are actually the pepper seeds in peppers. He thought he just broke off the branches of the bush and inserted them into the soil. .

"There are still some in the house. I'll just ask someone to collect all the grown peppers and give them to you. When these things first grew, they seemed novel, but after looking at them for a long time, they didn't look very good.

In the city of Nanjing, other places also have hot peppers. I'll help you find someone to get some when the time comes. But have you eaten this spiciness? "

Thinking of the taste in his mouth before, Xu Bangrui was a little speechless. This thing can also be eaten.

"Thank you very much, brother."

Hearing that Xu Bangrui was willing to give him all the chili peppers in Duke Wei's mansion, and also helped him find some chili peppers from other dignitaries' mansions in Nanjing City, he also helped him get some natural joy.

He didn't want too much for such a rare thing.

I went back to find someone who learned how to grow peppers. I planted some here in Jiujiang Prefecture and tried some in the capital to see if they could be grown successfully.