Chapter 457: The Ministers of the Great Powers
Yeluhon brought wheat cooking methods from the Central Plains and spread them around. This is also the task given to him by Jeruzhen and Jerod Light.
In fact, the cooking method of wheat is very simple, you only need to press the dehydrated wheat into flour with a stone mill, and then mix it with water to make a dough, which is the basis of everything. Although Yelu Deguang also brought the method of fermentation, the Khitan people found it troublesome and directly put the dough into the fire to bake, and the baked cakes were dry and hard, although they had the fragrance of wheat, but they were difficult to swallow.
The clever Khitan people will not give up, and after tearing these cakes and soaking them in cow and goat milk, the taste is unbelievable. Many people who have eaten dry cakes and milk for the first time are almost about to cry, there is such a delicious thing in the world.
Nowadays, this has become the most basic food of the Khitan nomads, because flour is easy to preserve, unlike fresh meat that will spoil, and a sheep can be exchanged for a lot of flour, which can be eaten for a long time. Not only does it taste very good, but it also has a lot of portions.
Of course, nomads still have to eat beef and mutton, but now beef and mutton is no longer their only choice. In the past, nomads often ate barley, but the taste was extremely poor and difficult to swallow. Although they still invented many cooking methods, barley has always been highland, not only in small quantities, but also not in good taste. It is hardly comparable to wheat.
Almost the entire Khitan knew that this was the introduction of wheat by Yelu Deguang under the mind of Master Zongxin, and changed the cultivation time, and the wheat that was supposed to be cultivated in winter to survive was replaced by spring cultivation, and the result was that the wheat miraculously adapted to the Khitan climate, and the yield was very high. Now the Khitan has begun to have peasants, and they are no longer pure nomads.
Wheat plus some vegetables, this makes the life of the Khitan people more abundant, not as monotonous as before. And it also makes their lives more satisfying because there are more delicious things that become their staple food.
In fact, the Khitan had just suffered a big defeat, and their own emperor Yelu Deguang also died in the Central Plains. But Jerod left behind a large field of wheat before he died, and he was harvesting when he died. This is also the last gift left by Yelu Deguang to the clansmen, all Yelu Deguang has a very high status in the hearts of the Khitan people, but it is a pity that he died too early, otherwise no one doubts that he can unify the world.
Yelu Deguang's death was undoubtedly a great blow to the Khitan people, but their lives were not affected in the slightest, and they were better off than before anyway. This is all out of Yelu Deguang's love for the Khitan, and even if he dies, he will leave a huge fortune to his clansmen.
One of the reasons why Yelu Deguang dared to lead the army to Cangzhou at that time was that he thought that he had reached the peak as an emperor, and he also thought that he would die, but even if he died, he did not have any worries, because he had left the Khitan people with the foundation to defeat the Central Plains, that is, wheat.
The Khitan has always relied on imports for food, and only the rich can afford to eat rice and wheat, and the Khitan is located in the extreme north, and water resources are scarce, so it is difficult to grow rice. But when the nomads turned to social development, they had to have a pillar industry, and it had to be agriculture, otherwise the soldiers could not go on expeditions.
Even so, the Khitan people still fought in the south and the north, plundering everywhere with war, and established the Liao State with this point. But this is not a long-term solution, if you want to go on an expedition or fight for a long time, you must have food reserves, which can even be said to be the foundation.
If food had to be imported, the country would have no future at all. The ferocity of the present will one day decline, so it is necessary to have basic food as the backbone.
Zongxin's contribution to the Khitan was too great, and just four words changed the status quo of the Khitan. So the first time Yeluhong saw Zongxin, he knew how important he was to the Khitan, so Yeluzhen wanted to kill Zongxin countless times, but he couldn't do it every time...... Except for some factors that must be considered, it was Zongxin's contribution to the Khitan that made Yeluzhen reluctant to kill him.
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The large army went all the way west to the city of Toyoshu. Along the way, it was originally the emperor's luxury carriage as the central point, but later this central point slowly shifted, and the central point became Zongxin's carriage. Because Jerod was driving the car for him...... Yelu Anduan sat next to Yelu Zhen, and Yelu Cha and Yelu Bon were on the left and right, almost driving away all the eighteen horsemen of Youyun, so the generals all ran to the vicinity of Zongxin's carriage.
The reason why they came here was very simple, because Guo Huai was lecturing Tianya. Yeluzhen and Yeluan Duan each had a person by their side, and they used their pens to quickly record every word that Zongxin said, trying not to lose a single sentence. The reason is very simple, because the content of Zongxin's lectures to Tianya is too concise, and every lesson seems to refresh their cognition.
Now Yeluzhen finally understands why the eldest brother Yeluhong said that he wants to drive for Zongxin for a lifetime, if he is not the Shenwu King of the Khitan, Yeluzhen wants to drive for Zongxin for a lifetime.
In the end, even Yelu Ruan drove the carriage to the side of Zongxin's carriage and opened the window to listen to Zongxin's lecture. Sure enough, he was a high-ranking monk, and after listening to his class, Yelu Ruan felt that his life had been in vain.
Zongxin and the other monks have one thing in common, apart from the bald head, this is the only place where Zongxin resembles a monk, he likes to play mysteries. But Zong Xin's puzzles are different from ordinary monks, his puzzles are very brain-training, even if he can't think of an answer, after listening to Zong Xin's explanation, the nearby generals feel that they have become smarter.
Being smart is always one of the greatest compliments to people, no one wants to be stupid, and being smart or not is almost all innate. But Zongxin made these people change their minds, because after listening to Zongxin's class, many people feel that they are getting smarter and smarter, and if they continue to listen, will they become extremely smart?
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Soon, the brigade came to the outside of Toyosu City. Yelu Ruan had sent an envoy to the city to negotiate, but the messenger brought the news that the 5,000 men and horses were led by Yelu Anduan, the king of Khitanming, and wanted to bypass Fengzhou City and enter the desert. As to why this group of men and horses was going to the desert, the messenger could not provide any information, but hoped that the city of Fengzhou would provide some food and water, and preferably some wine, which would be recorded in the account of King Yeluanduan, and would be doubled after the return journey.
In fact, Yelu Nguyen's troops were not short of food or water. After all, it was the Khitan Emperor's troops, and the Khitan was originally rich and the people were poor, so how could the Khitan Emperor be short of money and food? But this army was in the name of Yelu Anduan, and they had no intention of attacking Fengzhou City.
Many people don't understand Yelu Ruan's intentions, but a few old fritters know what the hell Yelu Ruan is doing when they hear it.
When ordinary people hear the news, they directly think that this is a robbery, a very peaceful and legal robbery. Ming robbed the city of Toyosu for the rations of 5,000 people. A person is calculated according to three catties of grain a day, and 5,000 people are 15,000 catties a day, and they need 450,000 catties of grain a month, which is also thousands of taels of silver.
Will Toyosu Castle provide these food and drinks? A few thousand taels of silver is not much, but it is not much. But in the face of Yelu Anduan, the king of Khitan Ming, the city lord of Fengzhou had no way at all. After Yelu Ruan succeeded to the throne, the status of Yelu Anduan, the king of Ming, rose sharply, he had mastered most of the Khitan military power, and now the king of Ming can call the wind and rain in the Khitan, and no one dares to stop him.
No matter how powerful Fengzhou City is, no matter how high Feng Hui's martial arts are, he is only a small role in front of King Yelu Anduan. If King Ming intends to set foot in Fengzhou, there is no need for Fengzhou to resist at all, and he may be able to die a happy death by going out of the city and surrendering directly.
The reason why Yelu Ruan asked the envoy to say this was to make Feng Hui think that this was just a robbery, and deliberately let Feng Hui know that this group of people was going to enter the desert, so that Feng Hui could not take precautions. In fact, Feng Hui's troops at this time naturally exceeded this army, but Feng Hui did not dare to oppose the Khitan Ming King, even if he defeated the Ming King's troops, even if he killed the Ming King, the small Fengzhou City could not withstand the strong suppression of the Khitan at all.
The king of a small country cannot afford to provoke the minister of a big country. What's more, Yelu Anduan is strong, Feng Hui knows very well in his heart, maybe it won't be long before Feng Hui is no longer a minister, but a king. Therefore, Feng Hui must accept this blackmail, and even send these things to the barracks with a smile.
In the early autumn, it is normal for the Khitan people to come to their own place to fight the autumn wind, but I didn't expect that this time it was the Ming King Yelu'an who came to ask for this money. Fortunately, this time it was the autumn wind, not the grass valley.
Playing the autumn wind is the saying of the Han people, and hitting the grass valley is the custom of the Khitan. Fighting the autumn wind is just asking for money under pretext, but beating the grass valley is completely burning, killing and looting. So Feng Hui was very worried, very scared, although the strong Khitan army only had 5,000 people, it might not be able to defeat the 20,000 soldiers and horses in Fengzhou City, because the Khitan was famous for its courage and good fighting, and the Khitan border was not far away, and he could send troops to help at any time.
Grievances are certain, but Feng Hui would never dare to offend someone like Yelu Anduan. It's just that Feng Hui didn't understand why Yelu Anduan would come here with five thousand men and horses to fight the autumn wind. Of course, Feng Hui thought more about when this group of people would leave, hundreds of thousands of catties of food were nothing, as long as these people were willing to leave, he was willing to give him more money.
Feng Hui was more worried that after giving them food and wine, they would stay here and not leave. It's not that Feng Hui can't afford to raise 5,000 soldiers and horses, and it won't cost much to raise an extra 5,000, but he is worried about the businessmen in Fengzhou City, if there is an army stationed near Fengzhou City for a long time, then Fengzhou will not want to do business. In order to protect themselves, all businessmen will find a way to leave this place of right and wrong.
After hearing that Yelu Anduan was going to enter this desert, Feng Hui was very happy and wanted to get out of this desert...... Even the locals may not be able to do it, if this group of people really wants to go in, Feng Hui will raise his hands in favor.