This day is the twenty-third year of the lunar month, and it is said that the god of sacrifice and delivery is made.

In ancient times, there was a saying that there were three officials, four people, four boats, and five families. That is to say, the twenty-third day of the lunar month is the time when the people who are in the public gate and the official government sacrifice and send the stove god, and the ordinary people's families must have the second day, that is, the twenty-fourth to celebrate this festival, and the people who beg for a living on the water must do it on the twenty-fifth.

Liu Yuan, as the king of Yuyang, is naturally an official family.

On this day, Liu Yuan asked Dian Wei to take Liu's mother, Cai Yong's family and Zhen Mi's family to Yuyang Wangfu before dark, and prepare to celebrate the festival together.

Of course, there are also Kong Rong, Cao Ying, Liu Biao and Liu Zhang.

At dusk, in the palace of Yuyang Wang, everyone worshiped the god of the stove together, and then sat together and ate hot pot.

Under the circular hollow in the middle of the large round table, there was a huge coal stove with an iron pot on it. The boiling water mixed with ingredients in the iron pot is steaming and boiling, and the table is full of raw vegetables and fresh meat.

At this time in the Han Dynasty, there were no chili peppers, but there were still peppercorns and peppers. Sichuan pepper is a Chinese specialty, and pepper was transported from the Western Regions through the Silk Road.

Liu Yuan helped his mother to sit on the main seat, and invited Cai Yong and his wife, Zhen Yi and his wife, Kong Rong and others to sit down together, and then sat between Cai Yan and Zhen Mi.

"Pour the wine."

The waiter on the side poured the wine, and the aroma of the wine suddenly filled the room. Liu Yuan picked up the wine glass and said with a smile: "Two fathers-in-law, Mr. Wenju, Brother Meng De, two cousins, everyone, please drink this cup to the full!" ”

"Please!"

Everyone raised their glasses and drank them all.

"Good wine!"

Cao Ying exclaimed and said, "It's a grade higher than the wine in the Hero Building!" ”

Kong Rong and the others also nodded yes.

Hero Towers are now spread throughout the Han Dynasty, regardless of north, south, east and west. It is famous for its fine food and wine. People who love wine like Cao Ying naturally often linger.

"You all know that this hero building is my industry, and the wine is also brewed in my Youzhou, so this is the best, of course, in my palace, hehehe"

"Haha, brother Xian, you can't hide your selfishness for your brother's drunkenness!" Cao Ying's face flushed and laughed.

"Don't worry, I'll let you have a drink tonight." Liu Yuan said.

"That's not good," Cao Ying shook his head: "When I leave Youzhou, the virtuous brother must contribute one hundred and eighty altars, otherwise I won't follow!" ”

"Haha, good, good!"

Liu Yuan picked up the chopsticks and said with a smile: "Come on, come on, how about you taste this hot pot." ”

Hot pot has long been prevalent with heroes in the building. Almost all of you here have enjoyed it. I didn't hesitate at the moment, I chose my favorite food one by one, put it in and scalded it for a while, and then started eating.

"I have a lot of cooking methods, but this hot pot is really a novelty."

Kong Rong said while eating, there was no taboo of 'eating without words', and he seemed to be very interested.

The diet of the Han Dynasty has developed greatly compared to the pre-Qin period. Not to mention the various spices that have been continuously transported because of the Silk Road, there are many ways to eat them.

For example, the food method of ging, boiling, and preserving.

Speaking of just one character, there was a sashimi in ancient times, that is, sashimi. Pork belly, raw meat slices. Nowadays, many people think that sashimi comes from Xiao Yueben, but in fact, in the Han Dynasty, it was already a mature way to use.

Kong Rong said, picked up another piece of fish, dipped it in a small disk full of ingredients, and put it in his mouth, looking satisfied.

A feast that lasted until the end of the day.

Like Liu's mother and other female dependents, they have already gone back to the house. Cai Yong and the others were also too strong to drink, so they left halfway, and now on the table, only Liu Yuan, Cao Ying, Liu Biao and Liu Zhang are left.

The four of them touched another glass, and Liu Yuan's face was drunk, but in fact, he had never been half drunk in his slightly squinted eyes. Now that he has almost completed his exercises, a little alcohol is useless to him at all. Even if it had some effect, it was completely evaporated by the strong qi and blood.

There were four people at the table, except for Liu Yuan, Cao Ying was also pretending to be drunk. Even Liu Biao is very sober, only Liu Zhang, who is really drunk.

"Cousin Zizihong," Liu Zhang staggered as he held the empty cup, his eyes misty, "Let's, let's go again!" ”

As he spoke, he put the empty glass to his lips as if there was a real drink, and drank it all in one gulp.

"Cousin, my father, my father said, I want to make an alliance with you, with you. Do you say yes or no, do you say yes? ”

Liu Yuan also pretended to be hazy and said: "Promise, why don't you agree, how can you not?" Your father is my uncle, and he is kind to me, and I am gracious to my uncle's words, and I, how can I not listen, I must listen, I must listen! ”

"Hehe," Liu Zhang smirked twice, and suddenly fell on the table, still muttering: "That's good, that's good." ”

"Uh," Liu Yuan burped and shouted, "Go one more, don't sleep, don't sleep." Kindness? Asleep? Uh, come on, send my cousin back to his room to rest, do you hear! ”

Then a waiter carried Liu Zhang down.

"Brother Mengde, Brother Mengde." Liu Yuan found Cao Ying again and said, "You, you don't want to join Youzhou, for my brother, I won't be reluctant." When the time comes, don't blame me for hitting you, cry, cry nose! Kindness! Cry! Oh, and cousin Jingsheng, you too. You, you're my cousin, aren't you? Alas? We're a family, a family. I, I still remember, that year, alas? What year is it? Well, I can't remember, what? What year? Brother Mengde, what year do you say? ”

Liu Yuan pretended to be too similar, and frightened both Cao Ying.

"Uh," Cao Ying paused for a moment and said, "I, how do I know, I'm not worthy!" ”

Load, be sure to load. In case Liu Yuan, this kid is also pretending, he must not show his feet.

"Tube, it doesn't matter what year he is!" Liu Biao waved his hand and slapped it on Cao Ying's shoulder, and all the greasy on his hands rubbed on Cao Ying's clothes.

"That's right! Yes, it doesn't matter what year he is! Liu Yuan said: "That year, uh, where did I just say?" Oh! I met you that year, by the way, it was in Uncle Liu Ji's house! Speaking of Uncle Liu Ji, I, I really miss him, he is very good to me, really, really good. I, I want to invite him to come to Youzhou, and I'm afraid that he will be old and inconvenient. Well, you go, when you go, I'll go with you, Luo, Luoyang. Go and meet, meet. ”

Liu Yuan was rambling and not being organized.

Liu Yuan said nonsense to himself, and then snapped and fell down.

As soon as Liu Yuan lay down, Cao Ying and Liu Biao suddenly perked up, and after pretending for a while, they heard that Liu Yuan's snoring had started, and they all became normal.

"Brother Jingsheng."

"Brother Mengde."

Both of them spoke at the same time, both of them a little embarrassed.

"You speak first." Cao Yingdao.

Liu Biao nodded and said, "Brother Meng De, I want to take this opportunity to reach an alliance with you to fight against Yuan Shu, what do you think?" ”

"The wolf smoke rises, and the rivers and mountains look north"

At this moment, Liu Yuan roared, startling the two.

The two hurriedly looked sideways, but saw that Liu Yuan just changed his hand and lay on his stomach, and they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Why did Brother Jingsheng say this?" Cao Ying said, "Yuan Shu is based on Yu and Yang, and there are many generals and a huge force under his command. Brother Meng De, the two of us border him at the same time, it can be said that my lips are cold and my teeth are cold, if my Jingzhou is broken by Yuan Shu, it will be your turn to Yanzhou next! ”

Cao Ying bowed his head slightly and said, "This is not bad. ”

When Liu Biao heard this, his spirits perked up, and he said: "Yuzhou is a large state in the Central Plains, with a large population and quite wealthy.

Liu Biao smiled and said, "If the two of us work together to divide Yuzhou equally, what about it?" ”

Cao Ying looked at Liu Biao deeply, nodded and said, "Okay!" High fives for vows! ”

"High five!"

Syllable!

The two looked at each other and smiled.

After forming an alliance, the two became familiar with each other, and Liu Biao said: "Cousin Zihong invited me and the two of us to come to Youzhou, hehe, I can't go home empty-handed, I have to ask for some benefits." ”

Cao Ying nodded approvingly, and said, "What does Brother Jingsheng think?" ”

"Horses!"

Liu Biao said softly: "Cousin Zihong has the grasslands of the Western Regions and monopolized the horse business of the entire Han Dynasty. Nowadays, even money can't buy a good horse! ”

Cao Ying nodded and said, "Not bad." To seize Yuzhou, if there is cavalry to help, it must be much easier. ”

"So, Brother Meng De, how much do you think you want?" Liu Biao asked.

"The more nature, the better." Cao Ying laughed.

"Brother Meng De, just kidding." Liu Biao said disapprerovingly: "Horses are a big advantage in Youzhou, how can Cousin Zihong easily destroy his advantage and build the Great Wall of others?" There must be a bottom line to this. ”

"Not necessarily." Cao Ying said: "We don't want it for nothing, take the money to buy it." ”

"Makes sense!" Liu Biao's eyes lit up, and he high-fived and praised.

"So, how about the two of us making a request to buy a horse at the same time?"

"Good!"

"Also, horses aren't enough." Liu Biao squinted his eyes slightly and said, "Brother Meng De has carefully observed the soldiers in Youzhou?" It is the fast catcher who guards the city and patrols the security, and the soldiers are equipped with good steel knives. By the way, there are also those mercenaries, who are also equipped with good blades. In my opinion, its quality is excellent, which is rare! ”

Cao Ying's eyes narrowed, and he secretly said that Liu Biao was really extraordinary, and he was very careful. Nodding, Cao Ying said, "Buy?" ”

"Buy!"

"And food." Liu Biao said again: "That Yuyang Ling Tian Kai once said that the total grain output in Youzhou this year has exceeded one-third of the heyday of the Han Dynasty. And my Central Plains has a series of natural disasters [***], and I need a large amount of food to appease the people, so why don't I buy some too. ”

Hey, pacify the people?

Cao Ying sneered in his heart, I'm afraid that it is stored as military food. But he was really moved by this, so he nodded and agreed.

The two talked softly like this, from Youzhou Academy to the Mercenary Guild, from newspapers and periodicals to foreign countries.

That Liu Biao even arose the idea of opening a mercenary guild in Jingzhou.

Cao Ying couldn't stop sneering in his heart.

Do you really think you're Liu Yuan? Dare to open a mercenary guild in a chaotic place like the Central Plains, it is purely to find death!

However, it is not ruled out that Liu Biao only lured him verbally, rather than that he himself wanted to open a mercenary guild.

As for newspapers and magazines and universal education, these two men could not even think of it.

This is not in the interests of wealthy families. As long as the two of them dare to move this thought, then I don't know how many people under his command will betray in an instant!

It wasn't until three o'clock that the two of them fully reached some terms on cooperation and alliance, and then they were satisfied enough to call the attendants and carry Liu Yuan away, while the two of them went back to their rooms to rest.

Liu Yuan was carried back to the bedroom, and immediately opened his eyes, full of energy.

(To be continued)