Tana hugged little Battle and rode an elephant chariot from the south Mingde Gate of the Kaiping Acropolis into the imperial city, at this time it has been forty years since the destruction of the above, and the prosperity in the imperial city is no longer there, but it is just a large barracks, all of which are soldiers, at most there are family members of the army, and occasionally one or two caravans carrying grain.

Although Tana had already seen the grandeur and wealth of Nanjing, the capital of the Han people, she was still moved by the desolation and tragedy of her own capital. Walking through the ruins, she imagined the magnificent momentum of the place, and attached the architectural image of Nanjing to it, and explained it to her son one by one, the little guy listened to it with relish, and the pride in his chest suddenly appeared, and said to his mother: "The queen mother can rest assured, when I grow up, I will make contributions like my ancestors and revitalize Shangdu." ”

Tana nodded and said, "Good boy, you have to remember that you are a descendant of the Golden Family, and you must restore the glory of your ancestors." ”

Song Zhong set up the Governor's Office in the Huayan Temple in the northeast corner of the imperial city, where the courtyard is still intact and has not been affected by military disasters.

Zhang Shixing led the captain of Jinyi to be stationed in the Qianyuan Temple in the northwest corner of the imperial city, where only the main hall remained, and his subordinate Niu Er found a wooden board to temporarily set up a small room for him, and the rest of the people were on the top of the main hall, and the tent was set up in the courtyard, thinking that he would make do with it for a few days, and he would return to Beiping.

Tana's royal court is located on the high slope outside the Furen Gate at the north gate of the imperial city, formerly known as the North Garden, where the elm willows are luxuriant, and the golden lotus purple chrysanthemum is in full bloom, although it is barren, but also the scenery is beautiful. Tana ordered Batu and Arutai to lead their men to set up large camps on both sides of the iron banner canal, settle the people, and graze their livestock.

After waiting for a few days, Zhang Shixing wanted to visit Tana to see if she had arranged her subordinates properly, and he could return to Beiping as soon as possible and go on another business trip.

He was supposed to go straight to Beiyuan at the north gate of Furen Gate, but when he first arrived, he didn't know the path, he actually rode out of the west gate, and came to the outer city, which was far more lively than the imperial city, although the eyes were full of walls and collapsed houses, but the military dependents of the guard set up a shack on the ruins, and it was still full of people, Hu and Han were mixed, and there were hundreds of trees, and the shouts were continuous, and it seemed full of vitality.

Zhang Shixing asked the road, turned north, and was traveling, a carriage passed by, and a person in the car lifted the curtain and shouted: "Master Zhang." ”

Zhang Shixing turned his head and saw that this person turned out to be Sun Furong, a salt merchant he had met in Yangzhou before, and it was the capable guy Xiao Wu who drove the car. When he met his old acquaintance in a foreign country, he felt very cordial, so Zhang Shixing jumped off the horse and walked over, Sun Furong also got off the car, held Zhang Shixing's hand, and asked for warmth, and was very affectionate.

Sun Furong asked: "Master Zhang, how did you come all the way from Beijing to this bitter cold place?" ”

Zhang Shixing said: "This official escorted the king of Zhongning to open the Pingwei of the domain, so he came here. How did Sun Weng come here? ”

Sun Furong smiled and said, "Contemptible people are naturally here to do business. According to the law of our dynasty, the contemptible people will transport the grain here, according to the distance of the road, one stone to five stones of grain in exchange for a small (200 catties) of salt, and then the contemptible people will bring the salt to the two Huai salt farms, in exchange for salt to sell, so as to make a profit. ”

Zhang Shixing said with a smile: "Then how profitable is Sun Weng's trip?" ”

Sun Furong smiled and said, "Small business, small business." The contemptible people transported 10,000 stone of grain in exchange for 9,000 salt leads, that is, tens of thousands of yuan. ”

Zhang Shixing quipped: "It seems that Sun Weng has made a lot of profits." ”

Sun Furong shook his head again and again, sighed and said: "The money is cheap and expensive, I have a bunch of Daming treasure banknotes in my hand, I don't know what to do, this business is getting worse and worse." Master Zhang, this is not the place to speak, please go to the house. ”

Zhang Shixing waved his hand and said: "This official still has to go to the big tent of King Zhongning, and I will talk about it another day." ”

Sun Furong rolled his eyes, took Zhang Shixing's hand and said: "The contemptible people are very close to Master Zhang, and there is a good word to persuade him, I don't know if the old man is willing to listen?" ”

Zhang Shixing said sincerely: "I am friends of life and death with Mr. Qin, and Sun Weng is Mr. Qin's Dongweng, they are all a family, and if you have something to say." ”

Sun Furong said in a low voice: "It is not advisable to stay here for a long time, Master Zhang should leave quickly." ”

Zhang Shixing was stunned and said, "Where did Sun Weng say this? ”

Sun Furong looked around and said, "Please ask Master Zhang to get in the car." ”

Zhang Shixing heard him say solemnly, so he jumped into the carriage, Sun Furong also got into the car, and Xiao Wu was beside him.

Sun Furong said: "The governor of Song brought forty or fifty thousand horses to patrol the border, and at most he could only carry more than a month's rations, so how much grain could the king of Zhongning bring with ten thousand Mongolian families to come here to take up the domain?" There were more than 5,000 soldiers in Kaipingwei, plus their dependents, more than 20,000 people, and they consumed two or three hundred stone of grain a day. The 10,000 stone of grain I brought is estimated to be only enough for them for a month. At the time of the spring famine, the reserves everywhere are insufficient, I am still scraping together this 10,000 stones, now there are more than 100,000 people in Kaipingwei, where to get so much grain to make a living, I estimate that within half a month, there will be a food shortage, this city is mixed with Hu and Han, and there will be chaos at that time. So I advise you to leave early, and don't wade into this troubled water. ”

Zhang Shixing listened to his analysis, and couldn't help but secretly admire, so when it comes to big businessmen and seeking the country, they know the way of the world better than the literati and scholars in the court.

Zhang Shixing arched his hand and said: "Thank you Sun Weng for teaching, but you have the order of Qin under you, and you don't dare to leave without permission." Let's leave it at that, and we'll talk about it later. ”

Sun Furong couldn't persuade him, shook his head helplessly, opened an iron box on the car, took out a stack of treasure money, and handed it to Zhang Shixing: "There are too many things, brother, you help me spend flowers, otherwise it will be a piece of waste paper." ”

Zhang Shixing excused himself, then accepted it, hugged his fists and arched his hand: "Sun Weng is gracious, I will report later." ”

Sun Furong also clenched his fists and saluted: "Brother is polite, take care all the way, see you in the future." ”

Zhang Shixing turned around and jumped out of the carriage, rode his big black horse, and ran towards Beiyuan. The golden-domed tent of King Zhongning is set on a high slope in Beiyuan, which was originally the location of the Shangdu Brown Hair Palace, where the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty once held a "horse banquet" every year.

The so-called "deceptive horse banquet" refers to the unique feast of the Yuan Dynasty, after the cattle and sheep are slaughtered and dehaired, the internal organs are removed, and the whole cow or whole sheep is cooked on the banquet to show luxury. Trick horse, in Mongolian, means to a whole animal that has lost its hair.

Every year in the late spring, Emperor Yuan is fortunate to go to the capital, stay until midsummer June, simply select the auspicious day, gather the princes and ministers who serve in the capital, wear the royal grandson clothes, the clothes are golden, the belt is beaded and emerald, and the famous horse is decorated, and in the early morning, come to the North Garden. On the high slope, ear tents (palace tents) have been erected to accommodate thousands of people, and the emperor is also dressed to attend.

There is a large feast in the tent, the imperial kitchen serves the roasted whole sheep, roasts the whole cow, the kings, the relatives, and the ministers of the Su Wei are in front of the wine, and the rest of the people sit and drink together in the order of their positions. In such a mood, the emperor also rewarded his ministers at the banquet. If so, the feast will be held for three days. Each feast was spent on 2,000 sheep and three horses, and he spent nothing. The people who go to the banquet wear only Sun Hua's clothes change every day, so the "Horse Banquet" is also known as the "Sun Banquet". Only grandson, the meaning of one-color clothes in Chinese, means that the color and texture of the upper and lower clothes are the same. The people of the Ming Dynasty also called it "Trolling".

Yang Yunfu, a poet of the Yuan Dynasty, praised this banquet and said: "Thousands of officials rode to Shanjiao, and all of them had high golden saddles and pheasant tails. Dismounted and urged into the banquet together, and the jade guards changed their official robes. ”

Zhang Shixing came to the tent of the king of Zhongning, and Tana's attendants were making roast whole sheep. They come first

Dig a rectangular pit in the ground that is more than three feet wide, six feet long, and five feet deep, dig out the flue, smear the yellow mud, and make an oven. Build a stove in front of you and prepare firewood.

Kill a fat sheep in advance, clean it, smear it with salt and spices, sew the disemboweling place, hang it on the iron frame, put it in the furnace, and then seal the top of the furnace with mud, ignite the hearth, roast it, generally after about three hours of stuffy roasting, the whole sheep will be roasted, the outside is charred and the inside is tender, it is very delicious.

When Zhang Shixing arrived, the fat sheep had been roasted for more than two hours, and Little Battle stared at the top of the stove, drooling, waiting for the roast sheep to come out. Seeing Zhang Shixing, he pursed his lips and said unhappily: "What are you doing here, don't you know that I am roasting sheep, so you will come to share the food, I don't welcome you, we don't have enough to eat." ”

Tana was behind him, giggled when she heard this, patted Little Battle's shoulder, and said, "Okay, okay, my little prince, Zhang Tongzhi is not an outsider, what are you doing so stingy." ”

Zhang Shixing stepped forward and knelt down and saluted: "See King Zhongning, Queen Mother." ”

Tana raised her hand and smiled, "My son, get up." If you have anything to say, come in and say. Then he turned and entered the account.

Zhang Shixing hesitated slightly, then followed in, only to see Tana alone in the tent, and his face was red, and he didn't dare to step forward.

Tana beckoned, "My Ke'er, you're still so shy, come forward and reply." ”

Zhang Shixing reluctantly stepped forward, bowed down and asked, "Queen Mother, has everything settled here, and I have come to say goodbye." ”

Tana's face changed and she said, "Are you leaving so soon?" ”

Zhang Shixing nodded and said, "I want to return to Beiping for another business." ”

Tana sneered and said: "There is another business trip, it is nothing more than the emperor wants to cut the domain, and he ordered you to collect evidence, act at the opportunity, and arrest King Yan." ”

Zhang Shixing raised his eyes and glanced at Tana, after all, the princess of Xindao was long in the court, and her scheming skills were no less than those of Xu Mei, so he was reluctant to say more, so he was silent.

Tana sighed and said, "I advise you to stay here and not go back to Beiping." You are good at being the king of Yan, he has led the army out of the fortress several times, defeated many of our Mongolian ministers, and won countless victories, you know a little brocade guard, and how can you be his opponent, don't give your life in vain. Don't think that you have repeated your old tricks, captured King Zhou, and wanted to use this trick to deal with King Yan, I think most of them are wishful thinking, and that Song Dudu will not end well. ”

Zhang Shixing also sighed and said: "Staying here is also a dead end, it is better to return to Beiping, there is still a way to live, maybe the court and the king of Yan will turn war into jade silk." ”

Tana said angrily, "My Ker, what are these words, do you hate being with me so much?" ”

Zhang Shixing said with a straight face: "I don't dare to be humble." Has the Queen Mother thought about it, how many people are stationed in Kaipingwei at the moment, and how many days is enough food to eat? ”

Hearing this, Tana gasped, suddenly got up and said, "You're right. Then he ordered Arutai to be summoned urgently, and Batu and the two were brought into the account.