"Have a cup of tea before you go. It's a long way. Why don't you take a boat and go with the flow?"
By the river in Lantian County, Zhangsun Xin was greeting passersby.
It had been nine days since Bo Xie fell, and the weather was getting hotter by the day.
After the winter wheat was harvested last year, Zhangsun Xin bought a lot of it and hired people to peel and grind it into powder. He also made black bread and sold it for a coin.
He didn't want to go back to the court. What was the point of it? It didn't make money.
His position as Patrol Inspector could not be taken away by others. He bought three neighboring villas in Lantian County and connected them. Later on, he bought land from the government.
He continued to build houses and courtyards. This way, the area was bigger. There were fake mountains, small lakes, and pavilions in his house.
His family started several businesses. There were textiles, embroidery, sweaters, and farming.
His wife bought some barren land and treated it according to the methods taught in the newspaper.
With a test paper, he knew whether the land was alkaline or acidic and what was suitable for planting.
The capital office didn't have much saline land. He bought a few hundred mu of saline land. The saline level wasn't high. After soaking it in water, he planted dandelions.
Dandelion roots were medicinal herbs. Dandelion leaves could be eaten.
The leaves were used to make free soup. It was better than tea leaves and mung bean water.
The local people said that the soup was delicious. There were meat bones in it.
Zhangsun Xin's wife discussed the meat bones with the butchers in the county. They only wanted big bones with a little meat. The price was cheap.
After boiling the free soup for others, the bones were soft. They were crushed into powder and fed to the poultry.
The entire Zhangsun family realized industrialization and scale. Now that the people came to peel, they left him some extra bran.
His position as Patrol Envoy couldn't control people. He didn't care. He stood guard and talked to the passersby.
The passersby were obviously outsiders. They were different from the people in the capital office.
"How much?" The older one of the three asked.
"We don't want money. You came from there. Didn't you drink free soup or water on the way?" Zhangsun Xin was surprised.
He was in the north of Lantian County. They came from the south, passing through the village and the county. They didn't drink water?
From their accent, it seemed … they were from Lingnan? Zhang Jiuling's hometown?
No, how could Zhang Jiuling's fellow countrymen not know the rules of the capital office?
"You really don't want money?" A young man in his twenties asked. His lips were a little chapped, obviously dehydrated.
Zhangsun Xin nodded her head. She looked at him carefully and smiled, "Is it a father who brought his children to the capital? Going to Chang 'an? Have some soup. I'll give you some black bread. "
"Yes, I'm from Lu Zhou." The woman was not surprised that Lu Zhou recognized her.
Even though she felt that her acting was very convincing, in reality, she was always recognized by others along the way.
"It's so far away. You must have suffered a lot. Sit, don't be afraid. This official is Inspector Zhangsun Xin. Everyone knows that, right? "
Zhangsun Xin invited the three of them to sit down. He was afraid that they would die of thirst or starvation.
It was agreed that the Capital Magistrate would not allow such a thing to happen. It was Li Yi's will.
Even after the construction of the Ten Li Relay Station was completed, as long as one walked along the line of the relay station, one would not die of thirst or hunger.
As for not following the route of the relay station, why? Instead of taking the official road, he wanted to pave the mountain road himself?
Three bowls of soup were served first. The three of them blew on the soup and drank it slowly. They knew they could not rush the soup.
"Tell the madam if there are any wontons in the house. Bring 100 of them here."
When Zhangsun Xin heard that they were from Lu Zhou, he did not want to give them the black bread anymore.
His servant scurried away. The three of them had just finished half a bowl of soup when the servant returned on his horse.
"I've frozen the ones I made the day before yesterday. 100 large wontons with bone meat and scallion fillings," the servant said.
Zhangsun Xin shook his head. "The madam always likes to freeze things with the ice stored in the winter. It's a waste. Put them in the pot."
He knew what bone meat and scallion was. There was some meat on the big bones he bought, and he shaved some off. It should be called minced meat.
He dug an ice cellar in his house that was used to freeze things. Unlike other ice cellars, this ice cellar could store things.
His wife always put some things in the ice cellar to freeze. She said she could make more at a time so they did not have to make more when they were eating. It would be fine even if the food was frozen for ten days to half a month.
Doing accounts saved time. Unless they were selling ice, they might as well freeze things.
After the 100 wontons were thrown into the pot, Zhangsun Xin asked the three of them to pour away the unfinished soup.
"Did you come all the way to the capital to look for work? Did you run away because you can't pay the rent? "Zhangsun Xin asked.
"No, we're here to ask the court to open a Department of Shipping. They opened one in Guangzhou, and everyone went there. No one from Lu Zhou went there."
The woman was unhappy. 'We're not running away, and we don't pay the rent.'
"Do you know who you're looking for? Don't tell me you want to see His Majesty? It's not easy! "Zhangsun Xin smiled. 'Do you think you can find him just because you want to?
You can only go to the yamen, such as Wannian County. Will the court officials see you? '
"You've seen him?" The woman was not convinced.
Zhangsun Xin nodded. "You can tell? Apart from being an inspector, I'm also the Minister of Imperial Clothing. I can walk around the Imperial city. "
"I don't believe it!" The woman was doubtful that the person she met on the side of the road was an inspector and a Minister of Imperial Clothing. What was a Minister of Imperial Clothing? Could he meet the Emperor?
"What's there to not believe? Everyone, say something," Zhangsun Xin said to the commoners beside him.
Everyone laughed and nodded one after another to show that Zhangsun Xin was right.
"Miss, Inspector Zhangsun is indeed the Minister of Imperial Clothing. The Minister of Imperial Clothing is in charge of His Majesty's clothes and table."
"Inspector Zhangsun can't go back now, but he hasn't been demoted. He's still an inspector."
"If you want to see His Majesty, the only one who can help you now is Inspector Zhangsun."
The commoners helped to speak up. That's right, everyone knew about this. They also knew that Inspector Zhangsun tried to use the Qiangong Step Bed to go back, but he did not succeed.
"The wontons are ready. Bring a big bowl," the servant called out.
The big bowl was brought over. The servant filled it with wontons. They were big and there were 33 wontons in each bowl.
There was an extra one placed on a plate in front of Zhangsun Xin. Zhangsun Xin picked it up with his chopsticks and blew on it. He took a bite and blew on it again. Only then did he finish half of it.
He was worried that the others would be afraid when he gave them wontons, so he ate one first.
"Inspector, you don't have to do this." The older person understood and cupped his fist.
"Eat it. I know you can eat on the way." Zhangsun Xin nodded and ate the other half.
Such a big wonton, if it was a normal person from Li Yi's time, ten wontons would be full, except for those working at the construction site.
The three of them didn't stand on ceremony and ate with the soup. They basically ate one wonton in one bite.
It didn't take long for them to finish the soup. From the looks of it, they could eat another bowl.
"You can't eat too much at once. I don't lack a few wontons."
Zhangsun Xin said to the girl because the girl's eyes showed that she hadn't eaten enough.
"It's better than boiled rice." The girl praised.
The boiled rice she was talking about was rice from rice. After it was boiled and dried, it could be stored for a long time.
When they came out, they brought this kind of rice. When they were hungry, they would find half a bowl of water in the river and soak the rice in it. They just needed to add some salt.
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