At night, the sky is covered in snowflakes like goose feathers, enveloping the city in a chaotic world.

Liu He, who had been carefully "repaired" by Zhao Ai'er, was refreshed at this time, wearing a black coat, standing in the yard and looking up at the sky, and occasionally snow flakes fell on his cheeks and neck, which would melt quickly, as if there were teardrops on his face.

Liu He suddenly remembered that the night when he lived in the worst of his previous life, his limbs were weak and roasted by the scorching heat waves, and he was weakly spread on the concrete floor of the rental house covered with bamboo mats like a big cake, and his mouth was wide open, like a fish about to suffocate out of the water.

"It's good to be alive!" Liu He came up thoughtfully.

Zhao Ai'er didn't know when she had come to him, and after listening to Liu He's slightly sad sigh, her eyebrows frowned slightly, as if she couldn't figure out how Liu He could be so sentimental when she was so young.

"Childe, can you tell me about your time in Chang'an?" Zhao Ai'er said softly.

Liu He did not answer this topic positively, and said: "Sister Ai'er, don't call me son in the future, it sounds a little angry." Before my father returned to Jicheng, he gave me the table name, which is 'Shiren', and you can call me the table word directly in the future. ”

Zhao Ai'er nodded and said to herself: "Shiren, those who can help the troubled world are the great benevolence." Master Taifu's expectations for you are not low. ”

"Sister Ai'er, it's cold outside, let's go inside. I invited Wei Caopeng to eat hot pot with him tonight, and he should be on his way here at this time. ”

"Hot pot? What kind of fresh food is this? ”

Zhao Ai'er followed behind Liu He and asked with some curiosity.

"Hehe, this is Ben Gongzi's exclusive secret method, you have a good mouth today!"

Soon after the two entered the house, Wei You walked in with snowflakes all over his body.

Liu He got up and greeted: "Wei Caopeng, today is Chinese New Year's Eve, but I really don't want to worry about you accompanying me to stay in the city fortress far away here." The kid asked people to prepare thin wine and a table of side dishes, and it happened to be accompanied by Zhao Beijia's respected sister, and he was drunk tonight! ”

Zhao Ai'er also got up and saluted Wei You, and said, "The little woman has seen Wei Caopeng!" ”

Wei Yu returned the salute and said to Liu He with a smile: "Gongzi is polite, it is an honor to be able to guard Macheng with you, why bother to say it." I'm so curious about the hot pot you mentioned that I've only eaten half full for lunch! ”

After a few pleasantries, the three of them were still seated separately, each with an empty dining table in front of them.

Liu He said to Tao Kuan, who was guarding the door: "Tao guard, you can go to the bottom of the pot!" ”

Tao Kuan, who had been waiting outside, responded with a "command", and ran to the kitchen in the backyard with a click.

In a short time, a few guards walked in with a tray in their hands, on which was placed a brass object with a thick round center, a pointed cone at the top, and a cylindrical bottom.

In the middle of the copper pot was a thick white soup, which was tumbling and exuding a rich fragrance, and the white mist quickly escaped in the room, arousing everyone's appetite.

Tao Kuan put the copper pot in front of Zhao Ai'er and explained in a low voice: "This is the copper pot that Gongzi recently asked the coppersmith in the city to make, saying that it is used to eat hot pot." There is red-hot charcoal in the bottom compartment, so the goddess doctor should be careful not to get burned. ”

Zhao Ai'er had rescued Tao Kuan, knew this guard, and smiled and thanked him for his explanation and reminder.

Liu He urged: "Guard Tao, don't talk too much, hurry up and bring all kinds of seasonings, vegetables and meat dishes that have been prepared, by the way, and warm wine." ”

When the guards returned to the back kitchen to continue serving the food, Liu He explained to Wei You and Zhao Ai'er: "The copper cooking utensils I asked people to make are inspired by Xiandou, but they are better than Xiandou. The size of the fresh bucket is too small, there is not much charcoal underneath, there is not much thick soup in the pot, and the heat transfer effect is not very good. It's not difficult to make this kind of copper pot, the key is how to match the ingredients and seasonings to make beef bone soup, and I'll show you when they bring the ingredients later. ”

After a while, Tao Kuan led the guards into the house again, this time the tray was full of all kinds of cleaned and processed ingredients, including thinly sliced beef and mutton, dog, chicken, rabbit, greasy fish fillet, Chinese cabbage, spinach, carrots, leeks and other vegetables, as well as specially seasoned pepper dishes, garlic dishes, green onion dishes, aged sorrel dishes, and minced salt dishes.

Beef and mutton were bought from the butcher's shops in the city, the fish was caught by the people who entered the city from the water of revenge, and the rest of the meat and vegetables were brought back from the nearby village by the merchants who returned to the city to sell.

Compared with the hot pot of later generations, the hot pot that Liu He asked people to buy may lack small ingredients such as chili, monosodium glutamate, chicken essence, soy sauce, etc., but all the meat and vegetables are pure natural and pollution-free ingredients, and the taste will definitely not be bad.

When the guards filled the table in front of Wei You and Zhao Ai'er with all the ingredients, the two realized that Liu He seemed to have put a lot of effort into today's meal.

Liu He picked up a slice of moderately thick mutton with bamboo chopsticks and gently put it in the thick soup and soaked it.

"The white soup in the pot is the beef bone soup that I have asked them to stew on the fire since last night, and before it is served, a little tangerine peel, Sichuan pepper, ginger slices, garlic and minced salt are added to it, which is suitable for eating on such a cold and snowy day, which can dispel the wind and relieve the cold! There are several seasoning Fluttershy in front of you, which you can add to your liking or use the ingredients straight from the pot. ”

Liu He said as he took out the scalded lamb slices, then dipped a little pepper and diced garlic, and swallowed them in his mouth.

Seeing this, Wei You hurriedly picked up his chopsticks and fiddled with them, and the worms in his stomach were almost up to his throat.

Zhao Ai'er was a little more reserved, carefully picked up a few slices of spinach, and put them in the pot.

Liu He, who had already eaten a piece of mutton, hurriedly reminded: "Sister Ai'er, first soak the mutton, you can add flavor." Those vegetables are eaten lightly after eating meat and feeling tired! ”

Next, the three of them were eating hot pot and drinking low-alcohol wine, and the atmosphere was relaxed and pleasant, until the time came.

In the room where the guards lived in the front yard, there was a different scene, and I saw seven or eight men who were five big and three thick men gathered in front of a large copper pot that was set up, and one by one stretched out their chopsticks to scoop all kinds of vegetables in the pot, eating sweaty and oily.

One of the guards said: "I think many people still enjoy eating around a large pot, like the kind of eating method of one person and one small pot in the middle courtyard, which is really not refreshing!" ”

Another guard: "You know a fart!" We are all rough people, so we use this rude way of eating, Gongzi, Wei Caopeng, and the goddess doctor are all Sven people, how can we get together and pound them in a pot like us! ”

Yan Laosi scolded with a smile: "You two donkey balls, you can't hold your mouth if you have delicious food!" Hurry up and go out of the house to change the brothers on duty in the courtyard and come in and have a few drinks! ”

There was a loud laugh inside the house, causing several guards outside the house to scratch their ears and cheeks.

The courtyard is so lively that the rest of the city is also enveloped in the joyful atmosphere of the New Year. Although there were several battles in the Macheng area not long ago, and many people were killed and wounded, the people in the border fortress have long been accustomed to such a living environment, as long as the city is not broken and the home is still there, when it is time to be lively, we still have to find a way to be lively.

A few days ago, several military tuns ranked high in the city's cleaning inspection, and they were rewarded by the promise of the son, and they don't have to be on duty tonight, they can eat meat and drink wine with confidence, brag and chat, and talk about women with homesickness.

Where there is a reward, there will be a punishment.

The few tuns at the bottom of the ranking were naturally pushed to the head of the city and were responsible for standing guard at night. However, they were not completely unlucky, because Childe felt that the overall cleaning task in the city had been done well, so he was very kind and allowed them to catch up on sleep tomorrow morning, so that they did not have to get up early in the morning to boil water and cook.

Macheng spent the last day of the year in a peaceful atmosphere, and the rest of the border cities also had their own characteristics, and under the careful planning of the young commander, they also spent an unforgettable Chinese New Year's Eve.

Zhao Yun organized soldiers in Ningcheng to carry out games and competitions such as juju, lifting tripods, and lifting pillars, and the winning teams and individuals received various rewards; Xia Houlan organized soldiers to compete in archery, sheep grabbing, and wrestling in Takayanagi; Li Yan organized the soldiers in Quang Ninh to read and write, shout slogans, and learn how to speak to the Xianbei people......

Liu Yu feasted the guests in the Jicheng Prefecture Governor's Mansion, invited the state officials and the gentry and wealthy parents in the city together, and thanked everyone for their efforts and dedication to the state in this year.

Kebineng, the leader of Xianbei who had withdrawn from his tribe after all the hard work, was like a lone wolf in this cold winter night, hiding in his tent and drinking horse wine bowl by bowl. The thought of the dead loyal subordinate Suo Nu and the many good men of the tribe made Kebineng feel like he was stabbed in the chest with many knives.

Looking back on this trip to Youzhou, Kebineng felt that he had made several mistakes. The first mistake was to underestimate the enemy, thinking that the Han army was too cowardly and cowardly, when in fact the Han army was not only cunning and despicable, but also fearless; The second mistake was to believe Yan Rou easily, and he led him by the nose and walked forward a few steps, although he took revenge on Yan Rou fiercely, but there was no possibility of cooperating with Yan Rou in the future; The third mistake is that we have done too little to spy on the intelligence of the Han army, and I never thought that so many smart and hard-working commanders would suddenly emerge in the Han army.

After this setback, Kebi was able to fully realize the shortcomings of his tribe, and he secretly made up his mind to temporarily shift the direction of the strategy to the west and north, and never come to Youzhou to provoke Liu Yu before his strength arrived.

When Kebi was reflecting and reflecting with a heavy heart, Yan Rou, who rushed back to Baishan's lair, was crying and complaining to his brother Yan Zhi with a sad face.

"This Ke Bineng is really insidious and cunning, he actually chose to withdraw from Youzhou from the direction of Baishan, and along the way, he also robbed a lot of property and cattle and sheep from the Wuhuan tribes of Baishan, which made me lose face among the Wuhuan people!"

Yan Zhi couldn't help but shake his head and smile bitterly when he saw his brother's angry appearance.

"Big brother, you have already read the letter that Lord Liu asked me to send you, what are you going to do in the future? Do you just let him manipulate and manipulate? ”

"Alas, with the current situation, he can only be at his mercy. This time, the Wuhuan departments were seriously damaged and needed time to recuperate, and I couldn't disobey Liu Yu's old puppet for the time being. ”

"I heard that Liu Yu intends to let his son Liu He serve as the captain of Wuhuan Colonel, I wonder if the eldest brother thinks that after this person takes office, it will be easy to deal with?"

"Hmph, it's just a stinky kid! I am not afraid of his father Liu Yu, so why am I afraid of a gentleman like him! ”

"Big brother, don't think like that! In my observation, this Liu He is much more difficult than Liu Yu, and he is definitely a sinister and cunning person! ”

PS: I suddenly found out that I forgot to recommend tickets yesterday...... But fortunately, the book friends all remember Nandao, which makes my heart warm.