Chapter 221: Half a Step Ahead of Heaven (asking for monthly ticket)

The restaurant has been doing good business recently, and Yunnan's wild chili peppers have also had a good harvest.

There has been a trend of eating spicy food in Chang'an City recently, and in the entire city, the only places where you can eat chili peppers are the two restaurants opened by Li Xiang.

There is no other reason. It is simply because the grain production these days is too low. As long as there is reclaimed wasteland, farmers would like to plant staple foods such as grains on all the land.

What are the six grains? Rice, millet, beans, wheat, sorghum and millet.

Therefore, the only places where peppers could be grown were the imperial palace and the imperial farm under Li Su's command.

However, cotton also had to be planted in the imperial farm. Li Xiang had no choice but to assign the task to his brothers, asking them to plant these peppers in their own farms and also plant some cotton along the way.

When it comes to growing cotton, Li Xiang thinks of a joke.

When you look up, you see the white clouds in the sky. Those are the cotton that God asked you to plant.

If the sky is cloudless today, it means that Lao Da is on vacation.

man!

Chili peppers are not just for satisfying your appetite.

If you want to gain a foothold in the Northeast or Southwest, chili pepper is an indispensable good thing.

Chili peppers can drive away cold and dampness, and are simply the perfect weapon for home and travel.

Under Li Xiang's promotion, the restaurant created many new dishes, especially those containing chili peppers.

When he walked to the door of the restaurant, Li Xiang smelled a pungent smell of chili.

It’s none other than Chang’an’s authentic Anhui beef noodles.

Li Xiang originally wanted to sneak over there, but when he reached the office door, he heard Li Su's angry voice.

"Changing grain production to cotton is a policy that benefits the country and them! I don't understand why such a good policy cannot be implemented!"

Li Xiang pushed open the door and saw Li Su's slightly powerless expression.

"What's wrong, aunt?" Li Xiang asked with a smile.

"Isn't it because of the promotion of cotton? You have the Turks helping you grow cotton, but I, your aunt, can't promote it at all." Li Shu sighed and said, "We just told them to change two acres of land to grow cotton and not to take their money. We can exchange the grown cotton with grain or buy it with money, but they didn't listen at all!"

Li Xiang understood that it seemed that Li Su had hit a snag.

It's not surprising. After all, those farmers are not Li Shu's tenants, and it is impossible to force them to switch to growing cotton.

Not to mention converting two acres of land, even if we convert a piece of land for them to farm, they may not be able to do it.

After all, this cotton cannot be eaten, so it is better to grow some food that can fill the stomach.

"In that case, Auntie, just give me all the cotton seeds." Li Xiang said with a smile, "Then let the Hu people plant them. Anyway, they don't care what they plant, as long as it can grow in the ground."

"How about this. Tomorrow I will ask Qibi Shamen...Chen Shamen to go to each village and ask the Hu people to plant cotton. We can leave this matter to him."

"That's all I can do," Li Shu said with a sigh, and took a small basket of duck eggs from the table. "These are salted duck eggs that Bao'er's father asked someone to bring to you. They are said to be from sea ducks. Take them back and have a taste."

Li Xiang took the salted duck egg and it looked pretty good.

Along with the salted duck eggs came a letter.

Li Xiang opened the letter and wanted to see what Feng Qing wrote in it.

Dengzhou has developed very well recently, and can even transport eggs and salted duck eggs to Chang'an City.

I don't know where Feng Qing got the sea ducks, but now every household in Dengzhou raises some. Since there is no shortage of salt, they start to pickle salted eggs and salted duck eggs.

The taste of salted eggs is average, but the salted sea duck eggs produced in Dengzhou are the most popular food in Chang'an City.

Due to the high price, only wealthy people can enjoy it.

The best way to eat it is to mix the salted duck eggs with rice. This is how Li Xiang used to eat it.

At the beginning, the method of husking rice was still relatively primitive, and it was easy to break the rice. Li Xiang liked to eat rice, so he thought about asking the craftsmen to invent a machine that could husk rice.

The craftsmen lived up to expectations and after more than a year of research, they finally developed a mature and primitive shelling machine.

In short, Li Xiang finally had a complete mouthful of rice.

"This is a good thing." Li Xiang picked up a sea duck egg, put it to his nose and sniffed it, then put it back. "Aunt asked me to come here, not just for the duck egg, right?"

"It's nothing serious, just reporting to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." Li Shu rolled his eyes. "Our His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is a very busy man. You were not there when I went to Lizheng Hall last time. When I went to Jingzhao Prefecture, people told me that you were in Lizheng Hall. You are really like a dragon that can't be found."

"What's there to report?" Li Xiang scratched his head. He didn't assign any work to Li Su.

"It's all because of this recent incident." Li Su crossed his arms, "Before, I just wanted to use this incident to give these Shandong nobles a hard time, but I didn't expect you and Aye to use this as an excuse to kill them all."

"If they dare to bully my aunt, they must be killed." Li Xiang said proudly.

"Yeah." Li Su narrowed his eyes, enjoying Li Xiang's concern: "But what I didn't expect was that Master Xuanzang would personally cooperate with my plan."

"Hahaha." Li Xiang laughed. "Master Xuanzang debated all the way from Guazhou to Qunu City. Do you think it's possible that a monk like him doesn't have some thunderbolt tricks?"

"That's true." Li Su also laughed: "Ordinary people only remember his identity as a monk, but forget what he has done. It is true that you can't judge a person by his appearance, and you can't measure the depth of the sea by a bucket."

"That's true. I didn't expect my aunt to be such a heroine." Li Xiang laughed and said jokingly, "It is said that a wise man plays the game with his own body and wins half a move against heaven. My aunt is really a wise man who wins half a move against heaven."

I don’t know if it was an illusion, but after saying this, Li Xiang always felt that the “little song of progress” was ringing in his ears.

"Praise me more." Li Su squinted his eyes in enjoyment.

"I told you you're fat, but you're still panting." Li Xiang waved to Princess Changle and Pei Xueqing who had just walked into the room: "Aunt, Sister Pei."

"You're still calling me Sister Pei, but you're already engaged." Li Su teased, "Do you think you'll have to call me Sister Pei on your wedding night?"

After all, she is a married woman, and she can drive as well as two people.

You can't help but accept how dirty your sister-in-law is.

With Li Su's driving skills, he can make a normal young man blush with shame.

"I think this name is good." Li Xiang said with a smile. He would never admit that he was a big sister complex.

And Pei Xueqing is definitely the big sister.

Even though she is only eighteen years old, being a big sister is not an age but a character.

Some women, such as Li Mingda, already have this kind of personality when they are still girls at the age of seven or eight; some women, even in their thirties or forties, still do not grow up.

"After Xueqing gets married, she will have to live in the Wude Hall forever." Li Lizhi said with emotion, half of it was emotion, half of it was regret, and more of it was happiness.

I finally had a good friend to talk to, but in the blink of an eye, I was going to get married. Fortunately, I married my nephew, so it was better to keep the money within the family.

Li Xiang smiled and said, "I will ask someone to build a small building in Wude Hall. In your free time, the two aunts don't have to come to the noisy environment of the restaurant. Isn't it better to get together in Wude Hall?"

"That's true." Li Lizhi and Li Su had no objection and both felt that Li Xiang's arrangement was good.

As he spoke, Pei Xueqing took out a few more wool socks for Li Xiang.

"Yes, Dalang."

"Why are they still socks?" Li Xiang scratched his head. It seemed that ever since he met Pei Xueqing, she had been knitting socks for him.

Pei Xueqing didn't say anything but just smiled. Li Shu said coldly, "Everyone knows that you have your own clothes knitted for you. Xueqing is just afraid that you will be embarrassed."

Li Xiang: …

Fine.

"When we welcome the bride, we have to write a poem to express our love for her." Li Shu asked with a smile, "Your Highness, the Crown Prince, have you prepared a poem to express your love for her? Don't rack your brains to write one and make a fool of yourself."

If Li Shu hadn't said it, Li Xiang wouldn't have been able to remember it.

This guy has never learned any poetry...

Besides, plagiarism is not his character, and this is the easiest thing to be exposed.

What is not yours will never be yours.

But then again, Li Xiang is not the kind of person who would give in.

"Don't worry, aunt. I've made preparations!" Li Xiang felt guilty but also full of confidence.

"Hmph, if you fail to write a good poem, don't blame me for not letting you bring the bride home!" Li Su threatened.

Li Xiang looked at Li Su in surprise: "Aunt, which side are you on? Why did you help Sister Pei?"

"The winning side." Li Su spread his hands like Li Xiang the little elephant.

Li Xiang took a deep breath and decided not to argue with the woman.

On the way back to Jingzhao Prefecture from the restaurant, Li Xiang was still thinking about the question of the fan poem.

This is indeed a big problem. The key is that he doesn’t know anyone around him who is good at writing poetry!
In fact, it is possible to copy a poem and say it was written by someone else, but the problem is that there is no poem in his mind.

I do remember the line "The depth of painted eyebrows is different from that of fashion", but this is not a fan poem.

After returning to Jingzhao Prefecture, Li Xiang went to find Li Jingren with a serious expression.

"Jingren, I have a glorious and arduous task for you."

"Brother, just say whatever you want. I will go through fire and water for you!" Li Jingren said without hesitation.

"Okay, that is... you know the process of getting married, right?" Li Xiang asked.

"When my brother got married, I was there to watch." Li Jingren said with a smile, "I already know the marriage process by heart."

"That's good. You know the poem about the fan, right?" Li Xiang asked, scratching his face.

"I know." Li Jingren nodded.

"Go and help me find a good poet. He can be of great use to me." Li Xiang said solemnly.

"Don't worry, brother. There are so many people in Chang'an City. Can't we find a poor and shabby guy?" Li Jingren said with a smile.

Regarding the term "Cuoda", Li Xiang originally thought that it appeared in the Yuan and Ming dynasties, but he did not expect that someone would use this term in this period.

The general meaning is that it is a derogatory term for scholars, saying that they are jealous.

There is also a saying that vinegar is big, anyway, it means almost the same thing.

"That's good." Li Xiang nodded.

Unexpectedly, Li Jingren suddenly raised his index finger and said like an idea king: "Hey, brother, I really thought of someone."

"Who?" Li Xiang became interested. The people recommended by Li Jingren were always good, such as Xue Rengui.

In fact, finding Xue Rengui was a coincidence. After all, Old Xue came to Chang'an City to look for a job at that time.

"There is a young man from the Fanyang Lu family who came to Jingzhao Prefecture to deliver his documents to you this morning." Li Jingren said hesitantly, "But after hearing that he is from the Fanyang Lu family, I didn't take it seriously. If you hadn't mentioned him, I really wouldn't have remembered him."

The so-called "traveling volume" was a method used by Tang Dynasty candidates to increase their chances of passing the imperial examinations before taking part in the three examinations organized by the Ministry of Rites, namely, copying out their usual works and submitting them to influential celebrities for review. They would then be asked to recommend their works to the examiners of the Ministry of Rites who presided over the imperial examinations.

In the Tang Dynasty, this was a very normal thing. People like Li Bai, Du Fu, and Bai Juyi had all done this. The joke about rice being expensive in the capital, and Bai Juyi not buying it, came from this.

Li Jingren's neglect of this person is understandable. After all, he had just dealt with the Lu family of Fanyang, and then someone came to deliver a manuscript. What was going on?

"Well, as the saying goes, a hero's origin does not matter." Li Xiang said with a smile: "If he is loyal to me, let alone his Han Chinese Miao descent, even if he is from Goguryeo or Baekje, I will still use him."

"But, what's the point of this son of the Lu family delivering the examination papers to brother?" Cheng Chubi asked puzzledly, "Brother is only the Jingzhao Yin, not an official of the Ministry of Rites, and is not responsible for the examination. If you want to take this shortcut, you should find someone else."

"Why?" Li Jingren smiled. "My brother is the grandson of the emperor. He came here not only to submit his application, but also to learn the civil and martial arts and sell them to the emperor."

After hearing this, Cheng Chubi understood immediately.

"Oh, that's not surprising." Cheng Chubi said with a smile, "Lu's son's travel documents are outside. Brother, wait a moment, I will go get them."

"Yeah." Li Xiang nodded.

He walked to the desk, sat on the stool, and waited for Cheng Chubi to bring him the manuscript.

Not long after, the travel document was brought over.

Li Xiang took the scroll from Cheng Chubi's hand, opened the first page, and was attracted by the beautiful handwriting.

"Yeah, nice handwriting."

After being influenced by Li Mingda for a long time, the little elephant's handwriting is very good and he has a certain appreciation ability.

As the saying goes, seeing a person's handwriting is like seeing his second face. Lu's son gave Li Xiang a very good first impression.

He followed the words and found the man's name.

After seeing the name, Li Xiang's brows jumped.

It turned out to be him?

(End of this chapter)