Chapter 259: Silla’s Famous Dish – Army Pot
After the ship docked, Cui Xiuye’s first destination was naturally the Andong Protectorate.

Fortunately, in order to take care of him, the Silla delegation stopped at a Silla border port city.

Cui Xiuye ​​walked not far before arriving at the camp where Su Dingfang was.

Su Dingfang was not in the Grand Protectorate today, but was at the grassroots level.

This was also a habit left by Li Xiang. Su Dingfang thought it was good, so he kept it.

"I'm Cui Xiuye, your humble servant, honored to meet you, Chief Clerk Su." Cui Xiuye ​​saluted Su Dingfang with his arms crossed.

Su Dingfang nodded and said, "Mr. Cui, there is no need to be so polite."

Cui Xiuye ​​stepped forward and took out the letter that Li Xiang had asked him to pass on from his sleeve and handed it to Su Dingfang.

"Is this a letter from His Highness?" Su Dingfang said as he took the letter.

"Yes." Cui Xiuye ​​replied.

The content of the letter first asked about Pei Xingjian's well-being, and then asked Su Dingfang to cooperate with Pei Xingjian in his voyage to the sea. In addition, it asked the Andong Protectorate to promote Shengyuan and build the Temple of Literature and the Temple of Martial Arts.

Of course, Lao Su had no objection. He was just worried about having nothing to do recently.

He had just completed the exploration of Baiyan City and discovered a large amount of open-pit iron ore sixteen miles outside the city.

In the letter, Li Xiang also explained to him that there were a number of open-pit coal mines near Yingzhou and Gaizhou, and asked him to send people to explore.

Yingzhou is not far from Anzhou, which is Baiyan City. Transportation is a big problem in those days. The coal mines in Shanxi are of little use, and the freight for transporting them would explode. So Li Xiang thought about developing the Fuxin coal mine in the future.

The location of Fuxin is today's Yingzhou.

Anyone who has seen Detective Di Renjie will be familiar with the place called Yingzhou. The so-called "Yingzhou Governor Zhao Wenhui" is in this Yingzhou.

The rebellions of Li Jinzhong and Sun Wanrong in history were caused by him.

In the first year of the Wansui Tongtian reign, a famine hit the Khitans, and the people were destitute and helpless. The headstrong and self-willed Yingzhou governor Zhao Wenhui not only refused to provide relief, but also treated the Khitan leaders as slaves, and repeatedly invaded and humiliated the Khitan tribesmen under his jurisdiction.

Li Jinzhong and Sun Wanrong led their troops in rebellion, captured Yingzhou, and killed Zhao Wenhui.

The impotent and furious Ashina issued an imperial decree to change the name of Li Jinzhong to Li Jinmie and the name of Sun Wanrong to Sun Wanzhan.

What is the name change expert...

Of course, the army sent by Ashina Zetian to quell the rebellion, who destroyed her own Great Wall, was completely wiped out by Li Jinzhong and others.

It was the Khitan general Li Kaigu who finally pacified the Khitan.

By the way, Wu Zetian wanted to execute Li Kaigu at the same time, but Di Renjie persuaded Wu Zetian, which allowed Li Kaigu to escape with his life.

The place of Fuxin is partly in Yingzhou and partly in the territory of Khitan.

But it doesn’t matter. The Khitans are now the most loyal henchmen of the Tang Dynasty. Just send someone to deliver a message.

Li Xiang wanted to develop this coal mine not only because it was close to Anzhou, but also because it was an open-pit coal mine.

Open-pit coal mines are not necessarily coal mines exposed on the surface; some are shallow coal mines underground.

As for Gaizhou, which is today's Fushun, there is also an open-pit coal mine.

The task of detecting coal mines was given to Su Dingfang. As for where to find the coal mines exposed on the surface...that depended on Su's ability.

Su Dingfang was studying in the tent how to complete the task assigned by Li Xiang, and Cui Xiuye ​​also walked out of the tent.

He originally wanted to talk to Su Dingfang about the "military pot" used by the Silla army, but when he saw Su Dingfang holding the letter given by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, he fell into deep thought. Cui Xiuye ​​didn't want to disturb him, so he walked out on his own.

It was nearly time for dinner, and wisps of smoke were already rising from the firemen's kitchen.

Cui Xiuye ​​was also considered a half-literary man, and especially when he saw the sunset, he couldn't help but feel a little poetic.

Just as I was about to recite a poem, I saw a group of sneaky Silla people gathered outside the military camp.

Cui Xiuye ​​was shocked. What the hell? Could it be that Silla was going to do something?
No, we had a good chat on the boat, didn’t we?
However, as an envoy of the Celestial Empire, Cui Xiuye ​​was not afraid of these Silla people, nor did he think that these Silla people could pose any threat to the Tang army.

He turned around and saw the guard with a normal expression on his face.

This made Cui Xiuye ​​feel even more that something was wrong.

With so many people surrounding you, don’t you have any sensitivity at all?

Has the iron army led by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince fallen to this level?
With this thought in mind, Cui Xiuye ​​frowned and stepped forward, questioning the two guards: "What are you doing? The Silla people are already surrounding us!"

Who would have thought that the two guards didn't even look at the group of Silla people. One of them yawned and asked, "Are you from Chang'an?"

"It's me." Cui Xiuye ​​frowned, thinking in his heart, isn't this guard too lax?

"This is nothing to be surprised about, Your Excellency." The guard put down his yawning hand and patiently explained to Cui Xiuye, "Your Excellency, you don't know that our Andong Army has abundant logistical supplies, and your highness has ordered that any delicious food in Dengzhou should be sent to the Andong Protectorate for free, so everyone can't finish the food, so they can eat as much as they want."

"Your Highness was worried that we soldiers wouldn't have enough to eat, so he asked the firemen to make more for each meal, and this rule has been maintained until now." The guard explained to Cui Xiuye: "There is no reason to save the leftover food for the next meal, so it is thrown away."

"Throw it away? Wouldn't that be a waste?" Cui Xiuye ​​felt a little distressed.

Although his family was descended from the Cui family of Boling, and their family had been of high rank for generations, his father wanted them to suffer more since childhood so that they would not become officials in the future and be ignorant of the sufferings of the people. Therefore, he often made them recall the past and think of the present.

The effect was indeed great, and Cui Xiuye ​​developed a good habit of diligence and thrift.

Now that I hear that the Andong Protectorate is so extravagant and wasteful, I subconsciously feel that this behavior is very wrong.

"His Highness said that he would rather waste a little more money than let us get sick from eating." When the guard mentioned Li Xiang, the young man subconsciously stood at attention with a look of reverence on his face.

"People in the past ate this way, and it was okay, right?" Cui Xiuye ​​still felt that something was not right.

"That's what we said at the time, but His Highness said, what if someone gets sick from eating it?" the guard said helplessly.

Hearing the guard's words, Cui Xiuye ​​shook his head and decided not to continue arguing.

He could see that although His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was wasteful, he really loved his soldiers like his own sons.

With such a leader around, how could the soldiers not love him?

"Then what does these Silla people surrounding here have to do with this matter?" Cui Xiuye ​​asked again.

Upon hearing this, the guard laughed.

The two guards smiled at each other, their stomachs almost visible to each other.

"Aren't they waiting for our leftovers?" The guard said breathlessly, "But then again, the food of the Andong Protectorate army is really good, with plenty of oil, meat and vegetables. It's natural for them to pick up some leftovers to eat..." Cui Xiuye ​​was shocked when he heard this.

Oh my god, is it really possible?
Before he could say anything else, he heard the dinner call from the military camp.

This is also the rule left by Li Xiang...

There is a wake-up call for getting up, a call for doing exercises, and even a call for going to bed.

"My Lord, dinner is ready." The guard said to Cui Xiuye, "This is the rule left by His Highness. The trumpet means dinner is ready. Please go and eat."

"What about you two?" Cui Xiuye ​​asked.

"Hey, we two have to wait until someone comes to take over." The two smiled and said, "Don't worry about us, please do as you please."

As he spoke, he pointed Cui Xiuye ​​in the direction of the dining room.

Cui Xiuye ​​naturally didn't need to fight for food. He chose to return to Su Dingfang's tent and eat together.

You know what, Su Dingfang’s meal was very rich and he even prepared an extra portion.

"Sheren Cui is back?" Su Dingfang nodded with a smile. Since His Highness asked him to deliver the message, it meant that His Highness was familiar with this person, so Su Dingfang didn't mind showing him some kindness: "Hurry up and sit down, and have dinner together."

"Thank you, Mr. Su." Cui Xiuye ​​thanked him politely and walked over to sit opposite Su Dingfang.

Then he was shocked by the luxuriousness of Su Dingfang's meal.

One, two, three, four, five, six dishes?!
When I looked to the side again, damn, I also had six dishes?
Oversized, right?!

"Master Su, this is..." He searched for an adjective for a long time: "What is this?"

He asked, pointing at a fat, white thing.

"This, this is oysters." Su Dingfang introduced them to him with a smile: "This is yellow croaker, this is Spanish mackerel, this is knife fish, this is breakfast meat, you should have eaten it, and there are canned fruits."

"This meal prepared by Su Changshi was really..." Cui Xiuye ​​searched for an adjective for a long time but failed to come up with one.

For the first time, he felt that he still needed to learn. Why was he at a loss for words?
It is normal to have doubts. According to military books, generals should share the joys and sorrows with their soldiers. Cui Xiuye ​​thinks that secretly eating in the general's tent is not what a famous general should do...

"Hahahaha, this is a meal for ordinary soldiers." Su Dingfang said with a smile, "Do you think I have a special meal?"

While speaking, Su Dingfang was still thinking in his mind about getting the oysters out.

"Ah?!" Cui Xiuye ​​couldn't believe it: "No, this, how is this possible?"

"If you don't believe me, go and see for yourself." Su Dingfang shrugged, thinking, do I have any reason to lie to you?

After hearing this, Cui Xiuye ​​slipped out immediately.

He wanted to see whether what Su Dingfang said was true.

He ran to the position of the fireman and saw the soldiers gathered in groups of three or five, holding their bowls and smiling at each other. The food in the bowls was all various kinds of fish, of course... except oysters.

Oysters were a dish that Su Dingfang added to Cui Xiuye's meal, but it was a bit too rich compared to the Youwei Guard where he had served.

Although the dishes in the soldiers' bowls were not as rich as Su Dingfang's, when added together, they were actually not much different.

If you round it off, it's the same meal.

When he returned to the tent, Cui Xiuye ​​was still feeling emotional.

"People say Dengzhou is rich, but I didn't believe it. Today I can see a glimpse of it..."

"Hahahaha, this oyster dish is just a special treat I made today because I saw you were here." Su Dingfang said with a smile, "Besides, these were purchased by the Andong Protectorate from Dengzhou. They all cost money, and Dengzhou didn't supply them for free."

"Why... do we need to spend money on this?" Cui Xiuye ​​asked in confusion.

"You don't understand now, do you?" Su Dingfang laughed: "...I don't understand either."

It’s not that he didn’t want to answer, but he really didn’t understand what Li Xiang meant.

But there is one good thing about Lao Su, which is that he never asks questions that he shouldn't ask.

Don’t worry about the principle. Just follow orders as your superiors tell you to do.

Cui Xiuye: ...

You don't understand why you are keeping me in suspense!

He picked up a piece of fish, carefully removed the bones, and put it in his mouth.

"Well, fresh fish tastes better than salted fish." Cui Xiuye ​​praised sincerely.

"The fish and rice in Dengzhou are good for people—" Su Dingfang muttered something in Shanxi dialect, and said to Cui Xiuye, "Eat more, eat more."

"Thank you, Su Changshi." Cui Xiuye ​​thanked him politely and asked, "Su Changshi, when I came here, I came to Andong Daduhufu with the King of Silla. On the way, I shared a delicious dish with the Silla people in the cabin. It had fish and meat, which was a unique dish. I asked its name, and they said it was 'army pot'."

Su Dingfang's expression was originally very solemn, but when he heard this, his expression suddenly became strange.

Cui Xiuye ​​did not notice the change in Su Dingfang's expression, but continued, "I thought, since it is called 'army pot', it must be used by the Silla army. Judging from the small, it can be seen that Silla's products are really rich. When I asked, the Silla people kept silent and did not answer. I thought there must be something fishy..."

Hearing this, Su Dingfang burst into laughter.

Cui Xiuye ​​was so confused by the laughter that he asked, "Why is Su Changshi laughing?"

"Nothing, I was just laughing at you mentioning this 'military pot'." Su Dingfang laughed until tears came out, and he wiped them with his sleeves for a long time.

"Ah?" Cui Xiuye ​​was confused at first, and then a little displeased.

I'm thinking about the Tang Dynasty here. Can you be more professional, Su Changshi?
"Mr. Cui has just arrived at the Andong Protectorate, so he doesn't know." Su Dingfang finished laughing and explained to Cui Xiuye, "The 'army' in the famous Silla dish 'army pot' does not refer to the Silla army."

"Since it is not the Silla army, then what is it?" Cui Xiuye ​​asked hurriedly.

"Hahahaha... that naturally refers to the Tang army." Su Dingfang patted his thigh and laughed, "Don't think too much, Mr. Cui. I can't explain it to you clearly at the moment. After you and I finish our meal, we will go out and take a look and you will know."

Since Su Dingfang said so, Cui Xiuye ​​didn't want to ask any further questions.

The most important thing is that Su Dingfang, the chief officer of the Andong Protectorate, is a third-rank official, much higher than him, the crown prince's secretary.

So he could only keep his confusion in mind and eat his rice absentmindedly.

(I didn’t go for an IV drip today. I finally finished my injections. I’m happy…)
(End of this chapter)