Soon after Yuan's arrival in the kitchen, he prepared several dishes and sent them to the hall, a finely cut fish with lotus leaves on a plate, a gourd stewed pork, a lamb tripe soup and a box of fresh vegetables, and the main food was steamed rice balls.

In addition to Li Tai, the main guest, more than a dozen of his entourages also dined outside the hall, with cold utensils, cage cakes, and a full pot of haggis soup.

Li Tai looked at the delicate dishes on the case, and felt more and more that Lu Rou's family should be quite poor in Chang'an. Although the lotus leaf and gourd utensils for eating are novel and interesting, in other words, the host may not even have decent lacquer tableware.

And these ingredients are also common, and the price is not high. Like that simmered meat, the mutton is minced and simmered together with dried eggplant, and then served in green gourds and steamed in water, without any expensive seasonings, only the heat and waiting technology make the ingredients full of flavor.

Li Tai paid attention to these details, not because he looked down on his cousin, but because he had a good impression of this cousin-in-law who was born in the Northern Wei Dynasty.

The so-called Qiao woman is difficult to cook without rice, probably the family rarely entertains so many guests, and the family itself is not wealthy, and there are not many ingredients in reserve, but they still work hard to clean up the meals and treat the guests well.

Although this meal is not rich, Li Tai is also full of human touch. Lu Rou and his wife really treated him as a long-lost reunion and close relatives, neither ostentatious nor complaining, revealing a warmth in the plain.

What made him a little embarrassed was that the gift he had given for his visit this time was provided by Horbat. He wanted to give his well-behaved cousin and niece a precious and interesting meeting gift, but he didn't have a suitable gift on him.

After the meal, Li Tai sat in the hall with Lu Rou and his wife, chatting about the past while drinking tea, mainly because their husband and wife were talking, Li Tai was listening, and occasionally asked about their daily life in Chang'an.

Originally, he was worried that it would be a little embarrassing to meet these relatives who had never met and did not have a deep relationship, but after chatting, he gradually liked this warm atmosphere at home.

Another hour passed in the afternoon, someone from the Cui family arrived, telling the lord that the lord of Lang had known that his deceased relatives had come to visit and were returning from the official office, and brought a carriage and invited Lu Rou's family and Li Tai to be guests together.

Cui's family is located in the north of Chang'an City, a large mansion covering an area of several hectares, which is not so much a mansion as a manor. Straddling the city and beyond, the manor house itself was part of the city's defenses, but it still pales in comparison to the one on its east side.

"There is Zhang Wugong's residence in Beijing, and then to the east, Xu is where the imperial city is located."

Lu Rou pointed to the larger mansion and said to Li Tai, who couldn't help but look at this mansion that was not inferior to a military city after hearing this.

Zhang Wu's public name is Yuwen Dao, the second person in the Yuwen family, and also the most relied on son and nephew of Yuwentai.

Li Tai, Lu Rou and their entourage dismounted in front of Cui's house, while Yuan's mother and daughter rode into the inner house through the side door.

Although the two brothers Cui Qian and Cui Ji held their own positions in the Western Wei Dynasty, they still followed the rules of the Hebei clan, and the brothers did not separate from each other, and the two families lived together in this mansion. It's just that Cui Qian is in Weibei and is not in Beijing.

The Cui family's mansion is much more magnificent than Lu Rou's house from the façade alone.

This is also normal, although they returned together from the Southern Dynasty Liang, there are still differences in their careers in the Western Wei Dynasty. Lu Rou was more inclined to be a scribe, and after coming to the Western Wei Dynasty, he also served as a civil servant in Daxingtai for several years, and then also served as a civil official such as Zhongshusheren in the court.

The Cui brothers were already quite martial, and the official positions they held after entering the customs were also both civil and military, and they also directly participated in several major battles between the two Wei Dynasty to accumulate military exploits.

Today's Cui Ji official lives in Jingzhao Yin and is the commander of the capital, in charge of the Gyeonggi military and government, and his brother Cui Qian serves as the assassin of Yingzhou, although he is only an overseas Chinese, but the scope of power is far wider than that of Lu Rou's Zhongshushe.

If Kansai newcomers want to improve their economic status, the first is to obtain it through military merit, and the second is to operate based on the local area.

Li Tai deeply felt that the difficulty of rural management was not small, Lu Rou did not have the ability and way to obtain military merits, and the title of Western Wei Dynasty was not given a real seal at all, only relying on the intermittent income of the Western Wei Imperial Court, coupled with the harvest of pastoral tenant rent, it is natural that the living environment is not as good as that of the Cui brothers.

As a result, Li Tai felt that he was not in a hurry to seek an official position, and if the real country was not yet established, he would be entangled in official affairs, and he would have to live in poverty like his eldest cousin Lu Rou in the future, waiting for Daxingtai to happily pick up clothes for himself to wear one day.

If he didn't seek self-reliance in the countryside first, not to mention that there were few good opportunities to brush up on military exploits in the next few years, even if there were, the one hundred and ten strong men of his family would not be able to sustain the consumption of a few tough battles.

Several protégés of the Cui family welcomed in, led the two to the middle hall to sit down, and chatted for a while, before a middle-aged man wearing an official robe strode into the hall.

This middle-aged man is 1.9 meters tall, his arms are thick and grown, he walks with a tigerish style, and his beard under his chin is quite thick, looking like a brave general. If it weren't for Lu Rou and all the protégés in the hall standing up to salute, Li Tai almost didn't guess that he was the master Cui Zhi.

"Boshan has seen and made a king."

Before, he was still hesitating whether to call the other party's cousin or brother-in-law, but seeing that Cui Ji was also very official at home, he simply called it this way.

Cui Ji nodded to Lu Rou first, then looked Li Tai up and down a few times, and said with an interested smile: "The former Daxingtai sent a Xiongwen to Zhufu, and I was also fortunate to read it.

Zigang told me that you are fighting in the township, and you are young and considerable, so I want to invite you to see you in the future. I was also very happy when my family came to sue me before, and I was disturbed again when I was leaving, so I made you wait for a long time. As you can see, my pro-party Yu Xi has indeed added a young man, which is really exciting! ”

Lu Rou stuttered a little when she spoke, but Cui Ji was at the other extreme, and her mouth was as abrupt as a machine gun, making people completely unable to speak.

waited until Cui Ji finished speaking, and Li Tai said again: "Make the king praise falsely, Boshan is ashamed." Fortunately, I was in the hometown of the old man, and I don't know the information of my relatives, and I came to see it now, which is really rude. ”

Cui Ji walked into the hall and sat down, raised his hand to signal a few people to sit down, and frowned as soon as his eyes turned: "Where is Amo?" The elder is in the hall, but he didn't come to visit? ”

When the protégé in the hall heard this, he hurriedly retired and went out, and introduced a child with a tiger's head and a tiger's brain.

The little boy stood outside the hall and struggled to come in, and when he noticed Cui Ji's gaze in the hall, he suddenly became extremely calm, and obediently lowered his head and walked in and whispered, "Aya......"

"Swallowing mud in your mouth and tongue, and your voice is low? On your knees! ”

Cui Ji was still talking and laughing, but when he saw this little boy entering, his face suddenly fell, and he scolded him: "The parents are not here, relatives and friends are visiting, you are in charge, why don't you see it?" Quickly confess to your cousin! ”

"Cousin?"

The little boy didn't dare to look at his father, glanced at Lu Rou, and didn't dare to ask if his father was wrong.

Cui Ji became very irritable when he saw this son, stood up and went down to the hall to mention that the little boy fell on Li Tai's side, and apologized to Li Tai: "This dog is stupid, let Thirteen Lang laugh." This is your cousin who is the in-law Li family, don't you quickly kowtow and ask for sin! ”

Li Tai looked at the child's frightened appearance, and was a little embarrassed for a while: "Xiaolang is immature, and it is inevitable that he doesn't know people." With this serious tutor, it will be excellent for a long time. ”

"Thirteen Lang, you don't have to excuse him, who doesn't have a clumsy teenager? Could it be that after ten years of waiting for him to open the door, my house can open the door to gather with relatives and friends? ”

Cui Ji kicked his son again, and then returned to the seat.

When Li Tai saw this wild and serious tutor, he couldn't help but feel that this little cousin was a little pitiful, he was beaten like this since he was a child, and what a big psychological shadow he would have to leave in the future!

After Cui Ji returned to the table, he asked about Li Tai's recent situation since he entered the customs, and especially talked about the matter that Jing Zhaoshi came to ask for advice before: "That Hu Nu is really disgusting, deceiving me and accusing me of being a disciple. With such turbidity, how can it be recommended? Only the reward of the great line is clear, and his family has merit, and I can't take it lightly, and I don't want to use it lightly. ”

When Li Tai heard this, he couldn't help but mourn for the historian again, provoking someone who was not good, provoking me, and ruining his wealth could not avoid the disaster. Although this big cousin is a little impatient in his personality, he is also resentful, and he can still cover it.

When he presented the gift prepared by He Batsheng, Cui Ji stroked the bow and fell silent, and only sighed for a while: "The situation is urgent, so the feelings are cold." It's not my fault, but it's also sad.

Since we don't get along, I don't want to leave things behind. Seeing that you have broad shoulders and strong arms, I don't think it is Zigang and other only luck pen and ink flow, and later the family will set the bowstring and transfer it to you, hoping that you can not disgrace the old master. ”

When Li Tai heard this, he also felt that Cui Ji was quite sad about the gradual distance from He Batsheng. They chased He Batsheng from Jingzhou all the way to the Southern Dynasty and returned, the love was naturally deep, even if there was any knot, it was not something he could unravel, so he nodded in response.

Although Cui Ji has a straightforward personality, he also has great official authority, and when Li Tai talks to him, he feels that he is not as harmonious as his eldest cousin Lu Rou, and there are some estrangements between them, and they can't get closer quickly emotionally, so the topic is a little boring.

Li Tai simply took out the official document book that he had shown to several Hui in Beihua Prefecture before, and briefly introduced the industry that he and He Batsheng and several Hui were going to engage in.

After seeing the real thing and listening to Li Tai's introduction, Cui Ji was also greatly moved, and at the same time frowned: "Haven't done it yet?" From now until October, will you be able to supply 10,000 copies of the booklet? If so, you've done me a great favor! ”

"At present, there is still a lack of papermaking ...... in the technique"

"It's not a problem, there is no shortage of papermakers in the household, Thirteen Lang will bring it back tomorrow morning and work as soon as possible! I am not greedy for the wisdom of the younger generation, take away your assets, and the county government will buy them in quantity and give them in real terms. ”

Cui Ji put on a businesslike attitude, and said with a straight face: "There is only one request, before this year, only Beihuazhou and Jingzhao can be supplied." Until next year, you'll be free to work. ”

Li Tai naturally will not refuse this request. Not to mention that the current production capacity is still uncertain, even if the production capacity is enough, you must take care of your family first.

After talking about this matter, Cui Ji took the book and read it carefully, and after a while, he suddenly took out a bamboo cane from the side of the case, pointed at his son and scolded: "Look at your cousin, you don't have the protection of your relatives, and you don't have to support your family and stand on your own." This book is beautiful, and it makes academics sigh even more! Before entering, he received a penalty, and then returned to the house to copy, and was not allowed to stay in the hall to eat. ”