Mrs. Qin Xiangguo

044

In all fairness, in terms of face, Lu Buwei has made enough gestures.

He arranged a separate garden for his father-in-law Zhao Liang, and sent several swift servants to take care of him.Lu Buwei also sent two maids to Zhao Weizhen, but Zhao Weizhen who traveled here is not used to others taking care of food and daily life, unless necessary, she still likes to handle personal affairs by herself.

The maids should let them relax, it was Lu Buwei's money to support them, Zhao Weizhen didn't feel sorry for them.

Anyway, no one knows how to close the door of the house.

So the person who came to pass the message in the afternoon was simply Wei Xing himself.

"Madam." Wei Xing entered the door: "The caravan from Bashu has returned, and the master asked Madam to come and have a look."

Bashu caravan?

"Warring States Policy" has a saying: "The fields are fertile, the people are rich, the chariots are tens of thousands of rides, millions of people are fighting, the fertile fields are thousands of miles away, the accumulation is large, and the terrain is convenient. This is called Tianfu, and the world is also a powerful country." During the period, the Sichuan Basin was rich and rich, and it was known as the Land of Abundance.

During the Warring States Period, Bashu was an important granary for the Qin State, providing a solid logistical foundation for the Qin State to unify the six countries.

Moreover, there are many good things in the Sichuan Basin. Zhao Weizhen is really curious about what special products the caravan can bring over.

hateful.

Lu Buwei is really smart enough: for other reasons, Zhao Weizhen would not bother to talk to him.

"Then let's go." Zhao Weizhen got up: "Let me go and have a look."

When she came to the front yard with Wei Xing, she saw an endless stream of servants coming and going, carrying boxes into the mansion one after another.Seeing Zhao Weizhen approaching, Lu Buwei hurried forward with his sleeves in his hands.

He said cordially: "I heard from Wei Xing that Madam was very concerned about food when she was in Handan, and added a lot of new recipes to the restaurant. If you are interested, the caravan sent a lot of wild game today. Madam would like to have a look." ?”

Zhao Weizhen: "..."

Forgive her, a modern person who came back from the epidemic era, and couldn't help being shocked when she heard the words "mountain delicacies and wild game".

However, the breeding technology in the pre-Qin period was not so developed, and the productivity was insufficient, so it is understandable that there would be wild game on the table.

But Zhao Weizhen still murmured in his heart: She may not be able to say anything.

"Let me see." Zhao Weizhen said.

But after the servant opened the box, Zhao Weizhen realized that he was thinking too much.

Li Bai wrote a poem: The road to Shu is difficult, and it is difficult to go to the blue sky.From Bashu to Xianyang, the terrain is extremely complicated and precipitous, relying entirely on horse-drawn carriages and feet, even if it is fast, it will take two or three months.Therefore, among the mountain treasures that were sent, there were no weird protected animals that Zhao Weizhen imagined, and most of them were dry goods.

After all, even in winter, the prey would have already rotted away after being transported.

"I sent a lot of dried vegetables, seeds, and mountain mushrooms that are rare in the Central Plains." Wei Xing said, "It is said that the mountain mushrooms are extremely delicious even if they are only stewed with plain water."

Mountain fungus!

Zhao Weizhen's eyes suddenly lit up.

In this era when there are no spices and condiments are extremely scarce, what can be more refreshing than mountain mushrooms!Zhao Weizhen just regained his energy, and then realized the problem: Not all bacteria can be eaten.

"Um……"

She leaned in front of a bunch of mushrooms and looked at them for a long time.

Our country has a vast land and abundant resources. In addition to Yunnan, Sichuan also produces many fungi.Zhao Weizhen looked horizontally and vertically, and from a large box of mushrooms, he could vaguely recognize one or two species that had been eaten in modern shabu-shabu, and the others were...

Mushrooms don't dare to eat indiscriminately, it's fine if you see a villain, and it's a matter of minutes to eat people up.

"Are these the locals would eat?" Zhao Weizhen asked cautiously.

Wei Xing didn't understand either, so he simply brought in the locals from the caravan.

The latter explained to Zhao Weizhen in a mouthful of bad words, and helped Zhao Weizhen choose several kinds of mountain mushrooms, saying that they would also eat them at home.

That's it!

Zhao Weizhen looked at the selected Shanjun with satisfaction.

"Take these to the kitchen." She ordered: "Wash and chop, throw it into the steamer and simmer. After the water boils, you can add chicken and taro, and season with a little salt."

"That's it?" Wei Xing asked in surprise, "Don't you need to add soy sauce, ma'am?"

"No need." Zhao Weizhen was full of confidence.

Stewed chicken with mountain mushrooms is delicious enough with a little salt, but seasoning with soy sauce will lose the characteristics of the mushrooms.

After all, it is adjacent to Bashu in the south. I didn't expect that when I came to Qin, I could eat more!

Zhao Weizhen watched Wei Xing run away with the fungus in his hands, and in his heart he pushed aside the dark clouds to see tomorrow.

There is nothing more exciting and joyful than delicious food. Zhao Weizhen completely left behind the stuffy fire that Lu Buwei arranged for himself.

Seeing that all the caravans were sent out by him, the crime of arranging himself would be avoided.

Zhao Weizhen looked left and right again, and picked out ingredients that he confirmed were safe and easy to make from a large pile of mountain products.

"Wei Sheng." She ordered: "These, these, and these, you can see for yourself, Xianyang Palace, Huayang Palace, and Mr. Zichu will give you a few copies each. If you don't know how to cook, ask them to dispatch The servants came over and asked me or Wei Xing."

Wei Sheng glanced at Lu Buwei secretly, seeing that he didn't respond, he quickly agreed: "Yes, ma'am."

As for Lu Buwei?

Who is Lu Buwei?Is it important to have stewed chicken with mountain mushrooms!

Zhao Weizhen turned around happily and went straight to the kitchen: The sky is big, the chicken can't be stewed for her!

There is no pressure cooker these days, and the steamer is made of ceramics, so it can be regarded as slow stewing in a casserole.When it was time for dinner, Zhao Weizhen ordered his servants to take half of the pot of stewed chicken and send it to his father's yard, and then put the remaining half pot into tableware and send it to the main room together with a few side dishes.

You can sleep in separate rooms, but you can't eat separately.

When Zhao Weizhen finished commanding in the kitchen and followed back to the main room, Lu Buwei had already been waiting for a long time.

He also ordered Wei Xing to bring a jar of brand new steamed wine.

The food and wine vessels were placed on the long table, and Lu Buwei looked at the steamed wine with a smile: "This wine is also brewed from rice in Shu, and it tastes different from the wheat wine in Handan. Although it is not as fragrant as madam's steamed wine, it is not Wei Wei. I think it has a special flavor, so I invite my wife to taste it."

Zhao Weizhen nodded: "Okay."

Lu Buwei raised his hand: "Madam, please take a seat."

In the pre-Qin period, the meal sharing system was implemented, and it was often one case per person, sitting in a tight seat.

But in informal occasions, and at home, there are not so many rules.

Wei Xing opened the wine jar, Lu Buwei poured wine for Zhao Weizhen himself, and then politely toasted: "I respect Weizhen for this cup, Xie Weizhen stays in Handan. During the four years of separation, Buwei has not missed a single day for Weizhen, and today he finally got Fulfill your wish and reunite with Weizhen."

Zhao Weizhen found out that Lu Buwei is a well-deserved businessman.

No matter how other people shake their faces or how they don't want to see him, he can still do his face-saving work beautifully, and he can't find any faults.

In the previous correspondence, he had written all the good things, but now he talks face to face, and the scene of rainbow fart is called a person without drafting.

Zhao Weizhen admired this from the bottom of his heart: Anyway, she couldn't do it.

As the saying goes, don't hit a smiling face with your hand.

Lu Buwei respected Zhao Weizhen in his words and demeanor, and Zhao Weizhen had no reason not to raise his glass.

She also picked up the wine vessel and took a sip.

The wine is good wine. After the rice wine is brewed, it has been filtered to some extent.The taste is very similar to the self-brewed rice wine that Zhao Weizhen tasted in modern times: the taste is slightly bitter, with a sweet aftertaste at the end, the alcohol concentration is not high, but it is soft and gentle, and the rice fragrance is strong.

But this level, in the pre-Qin period, should be a high-priced wine that could be presented to the palace.

With the rice wine in his throat, Zhao Weizhen put down the wine vessel without haste: "What do you want to say today?"

Lu Buwei's hand stopped.

Just knew there was something to say.

Zhao Weizhen: "I've been back for a few days, and I've had several meals, but you've never made a toast. Today's toast must have something important to say."

"It's nothing important."

Lu Buwei smiled: "It's just that Buwei thinks that there should be a good wine in the altar, and I wish my wife a successful school."

Zhao Weizhen raised his eyebrows.

So what I want to talk about is meeting King Qin during the day.

After the two drank, Zhao Weizhen put down the wine vessel.

"Do you not mind?" Zhao Weizhen asked.

"What should I care about?" Lu Buwei asked back.

"It's another man." Zhao Weizhen said: "My mother-in-law is so bold that she wants to be an official in the same dynasty as me. I'm afraid she was frightened."

Lu Buwei couldn't help laughing.

He was good-looking, his handsome eyes were slightly bent down with a smile, and he looked quite gentle and harmless.

Zhao Weizhen traveled here, but he has never seen a living Confucian scholar.But Lu Buwei's appearance is quite different from the pre-Qin Confucian scholars imagined by later generations.

"Buwei is a businessman." Lu Buwei said, his voice was clear and casual, as if Zhao Weizhen was talking about some kind of joke: "I know that the world is bustling with traffic, and the pictures are just two things: one is fame, and the other is profit. If Weizhen has plans, Buwei is not afraid, if Weizhen has no plans, then Buwei... is really afraid."

At the end, Lu Buwei shivered a few times on purpose.

Zhao Weizhen followed suit and raised the corners of his mouth.

"So today in Xianyang Palace, Wei Zhen said what was in his heart, not only did Bu Wei not mind, but he let out a long sigh of relief, just—"

"only?"

"It's just that there is a gap in Weizhen's chest, but it's not easy to think about it." Lu Buwei said.

This is what it means to communicate work with yourself at the dinner table.

Zhao Weizhen doesn't mind either: How many things have been done at the dining table throughout the ages?

She didn't respond in a hurry, but slowly picked up the tableware in front of her, and took a sip of the chicken soup with mushrooms.

Today's poultry are mostly free-range, not as fat as later breeds, so there is not much fat in the chicken soup, and a layer of fat is hardly visible. On the contrary, it adds meaty flavor while retaining the freshness of the mountain mushrooms.

Delicious!

Sure enough, just adding a little salt is delicious enough!

The hot chicken soup enters the belly, which greatly satisfies the taste buds and warms the whole body.This kind of delicacy made Zhao Weizhen feel better.

Next time I have a chance, I can make some stewed chicken soup with mountain mushrooms for Xiao Yingzheng to drink. It is nourishing and delicious. Zhao Weizhen is really afraid that other cooks can't make it well.

For this chicken soup, she was not in a hurry to end the meal.

"You tell me what to do?" she asked.

"Four words: Draw it slowly."

After getting approval, Lu Buwei continued: "Weizhen is a good way to run a school. One is to build up your reputation, and the other is to cultivate students who support you. Your students, as well as the family background behind the students, are all related to you. You have a natural alliance, and it is easier for them to support you. After Qin Wangji, it will be much easier for you to find a suitable time to mention entering the court as an official."

Zhao Weizhen gave a soft "hmm".

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, it was popular to "raise scholars and use scholars".The monarch of the public office "respects the virtuous and enables the capable", recruits people from all over the world, and recruits talents to himself.In the back, some nobles with assets and status also began to open the gates of the mansions to recruit Luomengu.

Aristocrats like Lord Mengchang and Lord Pingyuan have many allusions such as "chicken crowing and dog stealing" and "Mao Sui recommends himself" because of the large number of followers.

Even in history, Lu Buwei raised three thousand followers, wrote books and biography, and had the famous "Lu Shi Chunqiu".

Whenever the monarch and the head of the family encounter any problems, they can throw them to the retainers, and then it is time for these daily food, clothing, and reading resources to be returned by the noble retainers.

Lu Buwei said so much, and the meaning is very different from the tradition of "raising scholars": the students she leads today will be her supporters tomorrow.

The teacher-student relationship is no less an alliance than a marriage relationship.

but……

It's easy to understand, but Zhao Weizhen thinks it's not so easy.

Especially in Qin State.

"It won't be that simple." Zhao Weizhen pointed out directly: "Qin Wangji has experienced the period when the Queen Mother Xuan interfered in the government. He is very sensitive. Otherwise, Qin Wangda can allow me to run a school directly in the government."

Why did Qin Wang Yingji give the prince a place in his Huayang Palace?

His meaning is very clear: these talents are cultivated for the later generations of Qin.

Lu Buwei laughed again, and lowered his voice: "I was in Qin for four years, and Prince An Guojun became seriously ill four times."

Zhao Weizhen: "..."

She glared at Lu Buwei, but the latter tilted his head as if joking.

"Lu Buwei." Zhao Weizhen said, "You are so brave."

His implication is: A hundred years after Qin Wangji, and a hundred years after Crown Prince An Guojun, then these people were not trained by Zhao Weizhen himself?

"If you have no guts, you can't do business." Lu Buwei said with a smile: "It's just that I'm so brave, I'm afraid I can't scare Wei Zhen who asked the King of Qin for an official position, right?"

Zhao Weizhen refused to budge: "I'm surprised."

Lu Buwei: "Oh?"

Zhao Weizhen: "Surprised that you will tell me this directly."

He is Lu Buwei!

This guy always acted like he was letting the wind and the rain hit me. No matter how many good words he said in his mouth and letters, Zhao Weizhen didn't take it seriously.

but now……

Lu Buwei's words really shocked Zhao Weizhen.

Knowing that he made a toast today to get close to him, but Zhao Weizhen didn't expect Lu Buwei to be so sincere.

He has a lot of knowledge, and he has analyzed the situation and future planning for Zhao Weizhen. Although there is something to say, it is not the most important thing.

Most importantly, by being so outspoken, Lu Buwei is proving that he trusts her!

The subtext of waiting for the prince to die of illness would be torn apart.He believed that this kind of truth that he was determined not to tell others, he was willing to share it with them.

This guy... Zhao Weizhen couldn't help but look at Lu Buwei more.

It is said that people who do business are gamblers, and now Zhao Weizhen understands a little bit.

It was these two eyes that made Lu Buwei seem satisfied.

"Why are you surprised?" Lu Buwei said: "I have been separated from Weizhen for four years, but you and I never need to explain. What Weizhen does, I can understand what I want to do, and Weizhen also understands what I want to do." Connected with my heart. If I am not honest with you in this way, I will not be able to say it."

This is true.

Zhao Weizhen does not care that he pleases him, but as a teammate and political accomplice, Lu Buwei is definitely a good candidate.

So she thought about it and raised her glass.

"That's why I should respect you." She said happily: "I have given you enough money and assets in the past four years, and never asked why. It was also a great help in the matter of Marquis Chunping's escape."

"This matter should not be Wei Xie Weizhen."

Lu Buwei quickly followed suit and raised the wine vessel: "This glass of wine, and then to my wife."

After speaking, the two drank it tacitly.

Putting down the wine vessel, Lu Buwei's expression turned guilty: "Buwei has to apologize to Wei Zhen."

Zhao Weizhen: "Huh?"

Lu Buwei: "When he first entered Xianyang, Buwei was terrified. He just wanted to do things without making mistakes and gain a firm foothold as soon as possible. Those who arranged Weizhen were for the convenience of doing things. I really feel sorry for Weizhen."

Fine.

It is sincere to apologize directly.

There are fine wines and delicacies, and people confess and show their loyalty. Zhao Weizhen is not a mean person, and what he did is understandable.

"It's smart." She commented: "Those who have a handle will not be easily feared by others."

Lu Buwei's eyes lit up: "Madam understands me."

Smart people know that exposing their "handle" is a good talk if it is harmless.

He left the laughing stock of henpeck to all Xianyang people, as if such an old and cunning rich businessman is no big deal.

Gee tut.

Zhao Weizhen couldn't help sighing in his heart: Lu Buwei knows how to manage people too well.

Let alone in the pre-Qin period, even in the 21st century, it is easy for him to become famous.It is not uncommon to be a big boss in the entertainment industry by following your own template to create ten or eight idols.

terrible.

And Lu Buwei didn't know what Zhao Weizhen was thinking.

Seeing that Zhao Weizhen's expression of indifference all the time was much more relaxed, he felt that today's goal had been achieved.Lu Buwei raised his glass again: "Weizhen is of great help to me, and I will do my best for Weizhen. If you are in Xianyang, if there is anything that needs Buwei's help, Weizhen just say it."

"Well, I don't owe me anything anyway." Zhao Weizhen said.

"what?"

"It's nothing."

In Handan, there are many rumors about you, so you can be considered as helping me.

Zhao Weizhen muttered in his heart, but changed the subject neatly: "If you want to help, there is indeed. Since Prince Qin ordered Mr. Chu to screen the list of school-age children, can you walk around it?"

"Before screening?"

Lu Buwei thought about it for a while, and nodded simply: "If Weizhen is willing, you can first invite suitable schoolchildren to come over and have a look. If Weizhen has selected it, I will go to each house to ask."

"You and Mr. Zichu are looking for some suitable schoolchildren, please come here at once." Zhao Weizhen said: "But I didn't choose."

Lu Buwei: "What?"

Zhao Weizhen: "Let the political son choose first."

This is for Xiao Yingzheng to choose friends, and even future close ministers, so of course Xiao Yingzheng has the final say!