Chapter 175 Another fellow from Guanzhong! (asking for monthly votes)
Li Xiang had no good idea about how to convince Li Shimin.

That's why he adopted the strategy of procrastination. He first asked Li Shimin to go to the navy with him to take a look. When he could think of a comprehensive solution, he would ask him to go to Goguryeo together.

We really have to go to Goguryeo, after all, it concerns Li Xiang's big chess game.

As soon as he entered the military camp, Li Shimin looked up and saw the eight big words.

"Unity and seriousness, liveliness and tension?" Li Shimin pondered over these two sentences carefully. The more he pondered, the more profound their meanings seemed to him.

Li Xiang smiled and explained to Li Shimin: "Don't underestimate these eight words, old man. They all have their own profound meanings."

"Oh?" Li Shimin became interested and asked, "What is the meaning?"

Li Xiang pointed to the big words and explained: "Unity refers to the harmony and unity within the group. It emphasizes the cooperation and coordination among group members and working together for a common goal."

"Seriousness refers to the serious attitude towards work or tasks, requiring strict compliance with rules and regulations, and being rigorous and meticulous in work to avoid mistakes."

"As for liveliness, it means maintaining a positive mental state, encouraging innovation and breakthroughs, and making work and life full of vitality and enthusiasm."

"The so-called tension refers to maintaining a high level of vigilance and a sense of urgency, which means the pursuit of efficiency and quality, as well as proactive responses when faced with challenges."

Li Shimin stroked his beard, nodded and said, "Well, these words are very good, and they are just right for use in the military camp."

"In fact, it is not only applicable to military camps, but also to the imperial court and various government offices." Li Xiang spread his hands and said with a smile.

Li Shimin nodded in agreement, looked at him twice, and then entered the military camp with Li Xiang.

The navy’s camp was not like Zhou Yafu’s army at Xiliu, where they refused to allow the emperor to enter.

It was exactly afternoon now. Led by their personal soldiers, Lao Li and Li Xiang walked all the way to Su Dingfang's tent.

Su Dingfang had just learned that the emperor and the prince were coming together. When he was about to get up to greet them, he never expected that Li Shimin and Li Xiang had already arrived in front of him.

"I didn't know that the saint was coming, and I failed to welcome you from afar. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me!" Su Dingfang bowed down with Pei Xingjian in fear and trepidation.

"Stand up." Li Shimin didn't say anything, but directly asked Su Dingfang to stand up.

Old Li glanced at Pei Xingjian and then at Li Xiang with emphasis.

If nothing unexpected happens, this will be the uncle of his eldest grandson.

"I came to the navy this time just to take a look at your training situation. Don't be nervous." Li Shimin said in a gentle voice.

Since Lao Li said so, what else could the two of them say?

"Then I will let the troops conduct a drill for Your Majesty." Su Dingfang said, and with Li Shimin's approval, he walked out of the tent.

After some training, it was already evening.

Li Shimin expressed high praise for the navy's training results.

Su Dingfang and Pei Xingjian were naturally very nervous and said they did not dare to take credit for it. The Prince of Hengshan also made great contributions to the training of the navy.

Li Shimin just thought that the two of them were praising Li Xiang and never expected that Li Xiang would take out a training booklet.

As it was almost time for dinner, Su Dingfang invited Li Xiang after he nodded, "Your Majesty, dinner is about to start in the barracks. How about you and the prince stay for a quick meal?"

When he heard that he could have a meal in the military camp, Li Shimin immediately agreed.

It's a good opportunity to take a look at what the soldiers eat. Why are these soldiers so strong and powerful?
But in order to see the real military camp meals, Li Shimin did not eat with Su Dingfang and others. He only brought two of Su Dingfang's personal soldiers to the canteen in the military camp.

There are not many dishes in the military camp, and they are all cooked in big pots, but they are rich in oil and salt.

The soldiers are already tired after a whole day of training, so being able to eat meals rich in oil and salt makes them feel very happy.

That is definitely not the Mingchao formula of the groove. How can it be possible to give the soldiers a fat-reducing meal?
There are four dishes in total, or you can have noodles with gravy.

Li Shimin looked at the dish, then at the noodles, and was quite hesitant.

But in the end, he chose to have someone serve him a bowl of noodles, with a fried egg, a small plate of cold kelp, and a large bowl of seafood stew.

It is a happy thing to eat an egg with every meal.

Nowadays, due to the development of shipping industry, the aquaculture industry around Dengzhou has been driven to develop.

Omnivorous animals like pigs, chickens and ducks are all very fat.

In addition, the scales, internal organs and bones of marine fish are rich in minerals and calcium, iron, zinc, selenium and vitamins. Chickens and ducks who eat them will lay more eggs.

There was a bumper harvest of eggs, but the price didn't drop much.

Nowadays, most of the eggs in Dengzhou have been taken away by the military camp.

The people are also satisfied. After all, the prices of chicken eggs and duck eggs have not dropped and there are people who buy them steadily, which is a great thing. The soldiers in the barracks are also satisfied. Being able to eat eggs is a very happy thing. In short, it is a win-win situation.

The noodles are stewed with chrysanthemum and pork. Although this combination sounds a bit dark, how can people of this era be picky eaters...

It was also the first time for Li Shimin to eat it, and he found the smell very fresh.

Just as he was about to pick up his chopsticks, he heard someone greeting him.

"Yo, bro."

As the man spoke, he sat down next to Li Shimin with a plate in his hand.

Old Li was wearing ordinary scholar's clothes, and ordinary people could not tell his identity.

"Are you the teacher who just came?" The man didn't bother to exchange pleasantries with him. He stretched out his hand and pushed the dishes beside him to Li Shimin: "Come on, come on, don't be polite, let's eat together. I like to interact with scholars, so let me get some literary atmosphere."

Old Li is not a big shot. When he was fighting in the military camp, he mingled well with the soldiers.

Now when I see soldiers who are not afraid of him, I still find it somewhat novel.

Two of Su Dingfang's personal soldiers who were sitting not far from Old Li closed their eyes in pain when they saw Ding Xiaoer approaching to talk to Li Shimin.

Damn, you are so bold...

Last time, I asked the Prince of Hengshan to buy some wine. Now the market is rising. Why don’t you let the Prince buy some wine? You actually call my grandfather “brother”?

Brave, very brave!
"Your name is Ding Xiaoer?" asked Lao Li.

When Ding Xiaoer heard this, he slapped his thigh and said happily: "Oh, so it turns out that he is my fellow countryman from Guanzhong again!"

I still feel something is not right when I say this. Why do I have to use the word "again"?

again?
Li Shimin also wondered in his heart, could it be that this kid had met some fellow countryman from Guanzhong before?

Of course, he didn't know that Ding Xiaoer in front of him had asked his eldest grandson to buy him wine...

"It's fate that we met in Dengzhou." Li Shimin smiled and nodded. "It's not touching." Ding Xiaoer also smiled, looking at the noodles in Li Shimin's bowl and said, "Brother, you really have a good appetite. It's rare to see a scholar with such an appetite. The gentleman in front of us ate like cat food."

Li Shimin quickly grasped the point, sir?

Could it be that there are teachers among the navy?
"What is the purpose of hiring teachers in the navy?" Li Shimin asked puzzledly.

"Brother, is this your first day here?" Ding Xiaoer said with a smile, "No wonder. In fact, this is the intention of the Prince of Hengshan County. He wants us, the big soldiers, to learn some culture."

"In his words, we must become a civilized and powerful army." Ding Xiaoer added.

"This statement is quite fresh." Li Shimin said with a smile.

"The prince also said that a soldier who doesn't want to be a general is not a good soldier." Ding Xiaoer said as he picked up a piece of fried meat and put it into his mouth.

Li Shimin nodded slightly. What Li Xiang said was really right.

As long as the soldiers in the army have motivation, the combat effectiveness of the army will naturally be strong.

If there is not even an upward channel, who would fight hard?

He also picked up the bowl and slurped the noodles.

I have to say, the noodles with Chinese chrysanthemum and meat are really delicious, with the fragrance of Chinese chrysanthemum, very refreshing.

"Speaking of the prince, I have some connection with him." Ding Xiaoer took a bite of the fried egg in the bowl.

"Oh?" Li Shimin became interested and picked up a piece of kelp and put it in the bowl: "What's the origin?"

"When the prince came to the military camp for the first time, I didn't recognize him and asked him to buy wine for me." Ding Xiaoer laughed to himself as he spoke: "Thank goodness the prince didn't pursue me. The prince is really kind."

After hearing this, Li Shimin laughed in his heart.

Okay, last time you asked my grandson to pour you some wine, but this time you call me brother?

You kid, you have a bright future!

"Hahahaha, you are really reckless." Li Shimin laughed twice and asked him, "Are all the meals in the military camp so good?"

"That's not the case." Ding Xiaoer shook his head.

Li Shimin hesitated for a moment: "Is it only dinner that is so good?"

"Not really. We eat this at noon and in the evening. In the morning, we have two boiled eggs, some rice or a steamed bun made of mixed flour, and a big bowl of goat milk." Ding Xiaoer said honestly, "I don't know where General Su got so much goat milk. I had diarrhea when I first drank it, but I got used to it after a while."

"You know what, this goat milk is really comfortable to drink, warm and keeps me energetic all morning." Ding Xiaoer said, and he bent his arms to show off to Li Shimin: "Look, brother, when I first came here, I was quite thin, but now I have gained weight and feel energetic."

Li Shimin thought that the food was so good, it would be bad if you felt weak.

"Eat, brother, otherwise the noodles will become a mess soon." Ding Xiaoer advised Li Shimin.

Old Li followed suit and ate the bowl of noodles like a whale sucking up a river. It didn't take long for him to finish it all.

Not to mention, the noodles are delicious and the kelp is delicious too.

I just don’t know why Xiang’er didn’t sell the kelp to the mainland before. Is it because this thing is rare?
After eating the noodles, Li Shimin took a sip of the hot seafood soup and chatted with Ding Xiaoer.

Not long after, Li Xiang came over from the side.

"Prince!" When Ding Xiaoer saw Li Xiang, he stood up and saluted with the latest military style.

Li Shimin looked at her strangely, and asked with a smile: "Waiter, what is this posture of yours? It looks so strange."

"This is the latest military salute, which means you are not holding a weapon..." Ding Xiaoer said halfway, and then said, "Brother, you are so careless, why don't you stand up and salute quickly? This is our Prince of Hengshan County!"

Li Shimin looked at him strangely, and the two personal soldiers beside him slapped him in the face.

Li Xiang smiled and patted Ding Xiaoer: "I didn't expect you still remember me?"

"Of course I remember, hehehe..." Ding Xiaoer laughed embarrassedly.

"Sit down and continue eating." Li Xiang said kindly, and then turned to Lao Li: "Aung, how is the food?"

When Ding Xiaoer heard the word "Aung", his mouth seemed to be dislocated and he couldn't close it.

No, what did you call him?
Aung?!
The prince is the son of the current crown prince, so the prince's father-in-law is...

Ding Xiaoer didn't dare to think any further. How could I call the current saint "brother"? !
"Yes, but there is not enough kelp." Li Shimin pointed at the small plate and said, "Why didn't I eat kelp in Luoyang before? Is it rare? Or is it easy to spoil and inconvenient to transport?"

"Who said that?" Li Xiang said with a smile, "It's just that we haven't prepared it yet. This thing not only has a large yield, but is also easy to store. Don't you find that it's very salty? It's so salty without being pickled, and it's very easy to preserve."

"This is good stuff. It tastes delicious." Li Shimin said with a smile.

"You've never had seaweed stewed with frozen tofu." Li Xiang smacked his lips and said, "That's really delicious - but you must not let my father know, otherwise his foot disease will relapse after eating it."

"Indeed." Li Shimin nodded and followed Li Xiang out of the cafeteria.

Before leaving, he did not forget to nod to Ding Xiaoer.

Ding Xiaoer was almost frightened by his own imagination and even forgot to respond to Lao Li's nod.

But until the training started the next day, no one came to bother him.

Lao Li is not a narrow-minded person. He just calls you "brother". Ignorance is not a crime.

Even Zhu Yuanzhang would not necessarily be angry because a soldier did not know his identity and called him "brother".

After walking out of the cafeteria, Li Shimin asked, "The navy eats so well every day, isn't it expensive?"

"Fortunately, the revenue from the caravan basically went to the navy." Li Xiang said truthfully, "But the navy also often goes out to sea and catches some fish to supplement the family expenses, so it can be considered self-reliant - for example, the kelp and the bowl of seafood stew you drank were caught by the navy themselves."

"Since you can support yourself, it's better to support yourself." Li Shimin glanced at Li Xiang and said, "Your way of raising troops is really a waste of money."

As he spoke, Li Shimin laughed again: "The food is so good, but I don't know if it's just for show."

"Uncle, don't underestimate us. The navy is definitely the most powerful force of the Tang Dynasty!" Li Xiang said, crossing his arms.

"Whether it works or not, we have to wait until we pull Goguryeo out to practice and let the facts speak for themselves." Li Shimin snorted.

Li Xiang said unconvincedly: "Don't underestimate me, Uncle. I will definitely make you look at me with new eyes!"

"Okay, then I'll wait and see." Li Shimin said with a smile.

(Second update sent)

(End of this chapter)