Chapter 632 First Blood

  The sky is drifting with heavy snow.

Crown Prince Chengqian complained to Qin Lang about his suffering like beans poured out of a bamboo tube. Naturally, Chengqian at this age could no longer be that honest and well-behaved little Chengqian. He had grown up, especially since the emperor had not been in Beijing for two years. It set him free.

  Qin Lang smiled and listened to his complaints, completely understanding his feelings. The young prince, at the time of puberty, must be more lively and active. In his heart, he worshiped Qin Lang as a young man who led the army to fight, so he often learned to ride and shoot, and occasionally went out to shoot and hunt. As a result, Yu Zhining and others felt that this was not doing his job properly, as if he had committed a heinous crime, and sometimes even said that he was Qin Ershi.

The small treasury of the East Palace is very full. Chengqian who has money in his hand will sometimes be extravagant when spending money. He often rewards the people around him, or sometimes the expenses are generous. There was even a period of time when I was learning about architectural design, and I was itching to design a few houses by myself, so I used money to get people to buy materials and build them in the East Palace. Because of this, Zhang Xuansu called him Yang Guangdi Two.

  Playing polo has to be trained, playing chess has to be persuaded, even playing the pipa has to be criticized, Cheng Qian just wants to say that it is too difficult for the prince to be a prince.

  Especially these few teachers who claim to be from the 18th bachelor’s degree, they also like to open their mouths and give direct advice regardless of the occasion, which often makes Chengqian very difficult to step down.

   Chengqian was angry and aggrieved. As a prince, they asked him like a saint.

   "Your Highness don't want to talk to these old fellows, they are just admonishing and seeking fame." Of course Qin Lang also respected the knowledge of these people, but these people are old scholars who really don't understand how to teach and guide an adolescent prince.

  Their starting point is good, to persuade and guide the prince, not to do good because it is small, and not to do evil when it is small, but the problem is that education is also divided into methods and methods.

In particular, Qin Lang felt that many of the prince's actions were not wrong, such as practicing the six arts of a gentleman, learning to ride and shoot chariots, learning piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, etc., which are all very good, but Zhang Xuansu and others sometimes think that only learning Confucian classics It is useful, and learning other things seems to be complicated.

   Chengqian studied architecture, studied manufacturing design, and did some practice, they felt that they were playing with things and losing their ambitions.

   "Actually, even your royal father can't do what they wish, so don't take it too seriously."

  When Chengqian heard Qin Lang's comfort, he suddenly felt that he had finally found a bosom friend who could speak his mind and resonate with him. Saburo understood me best.

Even if he is outside, he can plan a steady stream of money and silk income for Donggong, and can recruit and recommend many talents for him. He is always thinking of him, and he can understand him in everything he does. He is not like those old men. .

"Don't think about it all the time. Your Highness just needs to keep one thing in mind. They are the teachers assigned to His Highness by the saints to teach the classics. Let them say what they say, and let them remonstrate with you. You have to keep smiling Accept it humbly, don't contradict it."

   "What about your heart?"

   "Your Highness is grown up now, and knows right and wrong, good and evil, so he knows what is right."

   "Wouldn't it be obedient to obedience?"

"You can't use this word. We respect these great Confucian gentlemen, but it doesn't mean we have to listen to them completely. Well, let's not talk about it. It's snowing today. Your Highness just rest here with me. I'll let someone kill you Sheep, let us both have two cups of hot pot with mutton, let's eat and chat."

  As soon as Cheng Qian heard it, he couldn't help but smile.

Since the emperor returned to Chang'an, several teachers from Zhang Xuansu Yu Zhining, not to mention accusing him of black complaints in front of the emperor, made Chengqian very uncomfortable. To put it bluntly, this is the first time the emperor has said that about him. He was so wronged that he was going to die, but he felt that his father was alienated from him, and he couldn't understand him anymore.

Some words can only be hidden in my heart, the year is approaching, and there are too many things in the court. Although the emperor does not need to supervise the country and regent after returning home, he still has to study government affairs every day. He had to participate, and even the emperor always asked him for his opinions on various affairs in the court, which made him very tired.

  So as soon as he heard that Qin Lang had returned to Beijing, Cheng Qian was in high spirits and ran over immediately.

  He really didn't want to go back right away.

   "How about we pick a sheep and kill it ourselves?" Chengqian asked.

   "Just let the kitchen do the killing of sheep."

"Anyway, it's nothing, you can do it yourself." Chengqian seemed very interested in this, which made Qin Lang a little puzzled, what's the point of killing a sheep, it can be seen that he is eager to try, thinking that maybe at this age Boys, maybe a little hyper on things like blood.

"All right."

Qin Lang didn't directly refuse Chengqian, so he took him to the side of the house. The Pingkangfang Qin Mansion covers an area of ​​more than 200 mu, which is several times larger than the five-star fortress he built in Diezhou. It has a special kitchen and a The place that is dedicated to keeping cattle, sheep and chickens is just for the freshness of the food.

When the two came to the sheepfold, Qin Lang taught Cheng Qian how to choose sheep, what kind is suitable for eating, and which piece of meat is suitable for how to cook. Cheng Qian listened with great interest. Those who don't really like things like sages, Confucian classics, etc., are not interested in writing poems or fu and studying rhymes.

   It would be better if Qin Lang told him about the breeds of sheep and the cooking of mutton here. Picking a big fat sheep, Chengqian volunteered to enter the sheepfold but captured the big fat sheep.

  He rolled up his sleeves, very excited and happy.

Qin Lang looked at his earnest concentration in chasing the sheep in the sheepfold. When he finally managed to catch the sheep and dragged it out, he looked like a noble prince of the empire, but he was much more. Divide the smoke and fire.

   "Teacher, teach me **** this sheep."

  Qin Lang waved away the shepherd and butcher, and personally instructed Cheng Qian to do it.

  As an old glutton, Qin Lang is of course also an excellent cook and butcher. He is very skilled in killing sheep. When he was in Longyou, he often did it himself.

   "Teacher, do the Turkic people, Tuyuhun people, and Dangxiang people on the grassland kill cattle and sheep every day for meat?"

"That's impossible. Unless it's a nobleman, a family of ordinary herdsmen usually has four or five members. If the conditions are good, there may be a few slaves. Under normal circumstances, they raise two to three hundred sheep, and then Raise dozens of cows, a few more horses, maybe a few more camels, a few dogs, and that’s it, if you kill cattle and sheep every day, how long will your family be able to last?”

   Chengqian was a little surprised, Yu Zhining and other teachers would not tell him these things.

   "Then what do they eat?"

"The herdsmen raise sheep and cattle, but they are reluctant to eat them. Usually, they just kill a sheep to eat during the festival. Or in winter, the sheep are frozen to death before eating, or before the winter, some rams are killed in advance to eat them. Save forage for the winter. But if there is no war on the grassland, the general herdsmen will sell the excess rams and bulls before the winter, instead of eating them."

Qin Lang instructed Chengqian to cut open the intestines and cut the meat, while telling him the living habits and ways of the herdsmen on the grassland, "The main reason why the grassland is called the grassland is that there are no crops to grow there. In most places, crops cannot be planted, and even in many places, trees cannot grow, only grass grows. It is impossible for people to eat grass, so cattle and sheep are raised, and cattle and sheep eat grass, while people drink milk from cows and sheep.”

"Shepherds milk milk every day, cow milk, goat milk, even horse milk and camel milk. Therefore, the livestock raised by herdsmen are mainly female animals, because they can give birth and produce milk. Herdsmen will eat various dairy products, such as fresh Whisk the milk to make ghee, or process the milk to make Naipizi milk tofu, etc.”

   "Don't herdsmen raise pigs?" Chengqian asked.

   "Well, some fishing and hunting tribes in Liaodong know how to raise pigs and deer. Relatively speaking, raising pigs on grasslands is not as good as raising cattle and sheep. It is more efficient and easier to raise cattle and sheep to eat grass and then convert them into milk."

   "Aren't horses the most raised by herdsmen?" Cheng Qian was like a curious baby.

"The herdsmen raise horses, but generally the number of them is small, because horses are difficult to raise. Even for the herdsmen on the grassland, the cost of raising horses is very high. Horses eat a lot, and they pay more attention to it. Unlike cattle and sheep, which are easy to raise and manage, so the general herdsmen raise the most sheep, followed by cattle, and only a few horses, and some even only raise a few mounts.”

  Because on the Turkic and Tuyuhun pastures, the herdsmen have to switch to the pastures every year for the winter. They are nomadic for chasing grass, not for sedentary grazing, so it is not worthwhile to raise pigs.

Herdsmen are actually in very difficult conditions on the grasslands, less than one or two out of ten Han people in the Central Plains. They herd sheep and cattle, mainly eat cheese, and generally cannot afford meat. If there is no war and the border market is smooth, they can sell fur milk. Cool cattle and sheep, etc., can live a fairly reluctant life.

If the border market is unstable, the cost of exchanging salt, tea, pots, bowls, needles, etc. will be extremely high, and life will be even more difficult. Not to mention, the herdsmen on the grasslands also have to pay taxes to the nobles and sweats. The high beef leg tax even reached a quarter, and one had to be handed over to raise four cattle and sheep.

"The grasslands are dominated by nomads, and the livestock are basically all their belongings. They are most afraid of heavy snowstorms. Once the early frost and heavy snow, the pastures die, and the cattle and sheep freeze to death, it will be difficult for the herdsmen to survive. So once the grasslands In a catastrophe, either the tribes will plunder each other, or they will have to go south to plunder the Central Plains. This is also the reason why there are many wars on the border in ancient times, all just for survival."

   This is the first time Chengqian has heard this angle to explain the border troubles of the northern Hulu.

"The herdsmen on the grassland live by chasing water and grass, but they don't run around randomly. They choose two pastures with better geographical environment based on the experience of generations. Pastures, pastures are very far apart, sometimes hundreds of miles or even thousands of miles away. When changing fields, it is very hard and dangerous. If there is a mistake, a snowstorm may wipe out the hard work of several generations. Therefore, the grassland All the ministries are desperately protecting their pastures, and conflicts and wars are breaking out on the grasslands all the time in order to compete for the pastures."

  Generally, grassland herdsmen are self-sufficient, eat milk and meat, wear fur and live in felt tents, but they still have to trade with outsiders, such as salt, tea, sewing, pots and bowls, etc.

   But no matter what, only nobles on the prairie can live a decent life. Those who are poor and flattened can't afford meat, so they just barely survive. They are really not as good as the farmers in the Central Plains in the peaceful years.

  (end of this chapter)