Chapter 244: Tofu And Cheering Up
Yun Ce heard a sense of death in Zhou Chengming’s words.
There was still a little bit of life in them, and that was the word ‘more’ in this sentence.
This showed that Zhou Chengming still wanted to fight one more moment in his heart.
The last time Iron Enclosure Pass received supplies was the batch sent by Cao Kun, and that supply was ten months ago. In these ten months, Iron Enclosure Pass had never requested supplies from the court, nor had anyone proactively supplied them with materials.
Wu Tong now gave all the stolen goods to Yun Ce, hoping he could continue to provide some help within his power to Iron Enclosure Pass. It was clear that the court in Chang’an now basically had nothing left.
The country has rotted to this point; from the Emperor to the local vassal lords, none are innocent.
They did not support Iron Enclosure Pass; instead, they accused Iron Enclosure Pass of being isolated beyond the border for many years, consuming provisions in vain, draining the Great Han’s blood, fattening a group of ruffians, making no progress for a hundred years, losing battles and humiliating the country, allowing the Gui Fang people to requisition grain from conquered territories all the way south along the East Sea coastline, causing the Eastern Province to rot and the people to have no means of livelihood.
Advancing, they could not kill the Gui Fang and bring glory to the Great Han; retreating, they could not ensure the stability of the Great Han’s territory and serve as its iron wall. All day long, they only knew how to eat their fill in the city and do nothing, becoming rice bugs of the Great Han.
Yun Ce felt that this was wrong, and not providing provisions and materials was also wrong. At least, for that broken place of Iron Enclosure Pass, with its broken climate and broken environment, when the wind and sand came, everything tasted like eating dirt.
So, the next day, Yun Ce ordered the harvest to begin, and everyone entered the autumn harvest season.
1 The beans at Yun Clan Villa were growing very well, especially in the huge bean pods; with a slight squeeze, bean grains the size of ping-pong balls would pop out, which was joyful just to look at.
1 This time, Yun Ce did not personally go to the ground to harvest the beans. Instead, he soaked a lot of beans the night before; after soaking and swelling, the beans looked even bigger.
1 Fortunately, Yun Clan Villa had the huge grindstone from grinding elephant pig meat back then. After throwing the round beans into the grinding hole, thick soy milk soon appeared.
1 Watching Yun Ce scoop filtered soy milk from the wooden bucket with large spoonfuls and pour it into the large pot to boil, Zhou Chengming laughed on the side, “The military has no time to make such complicated food.”
1 Yun Ce forgave Zhou Chengming’s ignorance and continued to stir in the large pot with the shovel. This thing had to be cooked thoroughly, but not allowed to burn, otherwise the tofu made would have a strong burnt taste and be inedible.
1 Doggy controlled the fire and the boiling time. The first pot of soy milk boiled by Yun Ce was milky white. He grabbed a handful of sugar into a bowl, added a spoonful of soy milk, and handed it to Zhou Chengming, saying, “This is no worse than horse milk, cow milk, or sheep milk.”
1 Zhou Chengming smilingly took the large bowl, and after one sip, his eyes lit up. He looked at the busy Yun Ce, sat on the side having a sip now and then, watching Yun Ce add some slightly yellow and clear water to the large pot.
1 Immediately, many flocculent substances appeared in the soy milk in the large pot. As Yun Ce added that water while stirring in one direction, the flocculents grew more and more, gradually condensing into tender blocks.
1 Yun Ce scooped a bowl of tofu pudding from the large pot, added chopped fried preserved vegetables, some chili oil, some crushed fried beans, and handed it to Zhou Chengming who had just finished the soy milk.
1 Zhou Chengming took the rice bowl and ate it with a spoon. Yun Ce did not look at Zhou Chengming but focused on scooping the tofu pudding from the large pot into wooden grids lined with Yi Tree Gauze.
2 A full pot of tofu pudding filled seven or eight wooden grids without a drop left. Yun Ce covered the wooden grids with wooden boards, placed prepared stones on top, and seeing water continuously overflowing from under the wooden grids, he picked up a bowl of tofu pudding, sat beside Zhou Chengming, and ate it with slurping sounds.
2 “The main reason beans are not valuable is that eating too many causes gas. If you take the beans back and make them into this, no matter how much you eat, it won’t cause gas.
2 Moreover, let me tell you plainly, although eating this is not as good as eating meat, it’s not much worse than meat and is the easiest for the intestines and stomach to accept.
2 Stewed with the various dried vegetables, pickled vegetables, and preserved vegetables that are most numerous in Iron Enclosure Pass, just add more oil and salt, and it’s a good meal.”
2 After finishing the tofu pudding, Zhou Chengming looked at the wooden grids pressed with stones by Yun Ce and said, “No shortage of salt, short of fat.”
2 Yun Ce put down the empty bowl, took Zhou Chengming to an empty room that kept emitting loud bangs, and saw two strong men pushing a thick wooden beam suspended in the air high up, then suddenly letting go. The thick wood slammed hard onto a wooden wedge, and as the wooden wedge went in two inches deeper, yellow bright fat seeped out from the wheat straw package behind the push board.
2 Zhou Chengming touched the fat with his finger, put it in his mouth and smacked it for a moment, then said to Yun Ce, “Not as fragrant as sesame oil, nor as good as beast fat.”
2 Yun Ce sighed, “After heating, there’s no raw oil taste you dislike. The tofu pudding you just ate had this in it; did you taste any bad flavor?”
2 Zhou Chengming nodded, “Indeed no strange taste.”
2 Yun Ce sighed, “At this point, you’re still so picky?”
3 Zhou Chengming said, “You’re from the ancestral land. Wu Tong told me, coming here, whatever good things you want, just ask for them.”
3 Yun Ce sighed, “The ancestral land doesn’t have many good things. At least, the farmland here is something the ancestral land doesn’t have.”
3 Zhou Chengming picked up a swollen bean from the ground and said, “This thing isn’t there either?”
3 “There is, but different in size. This one bean is at least the size of twenty beans from the ancestral land.”
3 “What about wheat?”
3 “Same acre of land, here yields eight thousand catties per mu, one thousand catties in the ancestral land is already good.”
3 Zhou Chengming pointed at the red date horse wandering in the courtyard and said, “Does the ancestral land have Thunder Smoke Beasts?”
3 Yun Ce nodded, “The ancestral land’s three best Thunder Smoke Beasts are barely the same size as this guy.”
3 Zhou Chengming seemed addicted to asking and asked again, “Does the ancestral land have ferocious enemies?”
3 Yun Ce exhaled, “Yes, eighty years ago, we suffered a catastrophe, losing thirty-five million people to drive the enemy away.”
4 “Were the enemies very powerful then?”
4 “Not very powerful. We harmed ourselves for many years first, and they took advantage to attack us, reaching the point where if we didn’t drive them away, the nation would be exterminated. Fortunately, the ancestors, in the most perilous time, went through arduous and glorious battles to drive the enemy away.”
4 “Ever despaired?”
4 “Some despaired, even defected to the enemy. Most did not despair and fought the enemy inch by inch to the death. The blood of thirty-five million people almost dyed the ground red.”
4 “And now?”
4 “Now we’re very powerful; everyone fears us launching a massive offensive against them.”
4 “So, the Great Han won’t perish, right?”
4 “No, if you all die in battle, the Divine Dragon will bring people from the ancestral land to continue fighting.”
4 “Would the ancestral land people also fight to the death here with the Gui Fang people? Can they win?”
4 Yun Ce looked at Zhou Chengming and said, “Do you know what status I have over there?”
5 Zhou Chengming said, “Not lower than your current status as heir to the King of Changsha, right?”
5 Yun Ce shook his head, “The ancestral land has no kings or nobles; they all died in battle when the catastrophe came. I’m the legitimate son and grandson of the Great General, or more accurately, a good-for-nothing playboy.”
5 Zhou Chengming stared at Yun Ce for a long time, unwilling to move his eyes, and only after getting tired of looking said, “A good-for-nothing playboy comes here and turns into a killing god who beheads three thousand on the battlefield…”
5 “The conditions here are too good, plus there’s Ancestral Fire and Shehuo for warmth. There, rivers flood at every turn, the earth dragon turns over; you have to be extremely careful to live well.”
5 Yun Ce saw that what needed to be said was said, and the mood needed to be stirred was stirred. If Zhou Chengming still had that dead look from when he first arrived, he could go die. Yun Ce had no time to keep chattering with him; the defenses of Yun Clan Villa were not completed, and the reforms at Jin Suo Pass were not finished either.
5 Coming to the place where the tofu was placed, he removed the stones on top, lifted the Yi Tree Gauze, and a large block of slightly yellow and tender tofu appeared before the two.
5 Yun Ce patted it, and the tofu trembled; it still had a bit too much moisture. He casually broke off a piece and handed it to Zhou Chengming, then took a piece himself and chewed it heartily.
5 Eating the tofu, Zhou Chengming watched the people of Yun Clan Villa busy in the wilderness and asked, “If the Gui Fang people come to attack, will you run?”
5 Yun Ce shook his head, “No, the land here is reclaimed by me, the grain here is planted by me. No one can drive me off my land, not even the Divine Dragon.”
5 Zhou Chengming stuffed the remaining tofu into his mouth and said indistinctly to Yun Ce, “I’ll go harvest grain too. Yun Ce, coming here has made my mood exceptionally good.”
6 As soon as Zhou Chengming left, E Ji hurried over, ignoring Yun Ce first. She sniffed hard on the tofu, then imitated Yun Ce by breaking off a piece to eat. She punched Yun Ce’s arm angrily and growled lowly, “As early as in the Royal Hunting Ground, I told you this is a means to make a living for the child. You gave it to unrelated people?”
6 Yun Ce was in a bad mood too, pinched E Ji’s cheek, and said, “You stinking woman, what do you know? It’s come to this point, and you’re still thinking about your few trifles.
6 If they can hold out one more year, we’ll harvest twice as much grain. When warfare breaks out, we can gather a lot of people and things, and finally build Yun City. A broken tofu-making technique given to them is nothing.”
6 Hearing Yun Ce say this, E Ji immediately quieted down. She grabbed Yun Ce’s hand and slapped her own face with it, saying, “If you want to do big things in the future, Young Master, just tell me. You know I’m not that petty.”
6 Yun Ce said angrily, “You’re not petty? In the world, whose mind is smaller than yours.”
6 “I’m just afraid that as a man, Young Master has big hands and might accidentally leak the family’s benefits to others. Since it’s for doing big things, this concubine naturally won’t be stingy.
6 In a bit, let An Ji and the others come get the tofu. It’s really delicious. I ate it in the Royal Hunting Ground last time and can’t forget it. I’ve been hoping Young Master would make it again.”
6 Chapter 1
