prosperous age

Chapter 286 285 Pepper
The fleet went south all the way along the north wind, and soon passed Zhenjiang and entered the Yangtze River waterway.

When the fleet arrived here, they were already far away from the city of Nanjing.

Before departure, Wei Guangde received a letter from Xu Bangrui, hoping that Wei Guangde could go to Nanjing before returning to Jiujiang, so that they could meet up first.

Although Xu Bangrui had known Wei Guangde for a long time, the two had never met each other by chance.

Although he knew Wei Guangde's general appearance from many people before, but when the situation came to an end, Xu Bangrui still wanted to meet Wei Guangde first, so he rushed to send him a letter before Wei Guangde left Beijing.

In the cabin, apart from Wei Guangde's family and servants, Xu Huai was also among them. He sent Xu Bangrui's letter as a messenger and returned south with Wei Guangde.

He had already said hello in advance that Wei Guangde was going to disembark in Nanjing, and then find a boat to return to Jiujiang, so when the boat was near Nanjing City, the merchant ship carrying him turned around and approached Longwan Wharf.

In fact, some of the goods carried by the fleet also had to be unloaded in Nanjing, so naturally they were all stored on this ship.

After the ship landed and the berth was fixed, Wei Guangde and his party were naturally the first to disembark. After they left the pier, the coolies who had been waiting by the side swarmed around the front of the ship, waiting for the boat owner to arrange work for them.

For these people, they have long been used to such things. Large merchant ships often carry nobles they cannot afford to offend. They cannot rush over after the ship docks, but wait for the nobles to disembark before leaving In the past, they competed for the job of loading and unloading goods.

The current status of Wei Guangde is a bit embarrassing, naturally he can't go directly to Wei Guogong's mansion, but Xu Bangrui naturally has another courtyard in Nanjing, so it is still very easy to settle Wei Guangde.

When they got here, it was naturally Xu Huai who led the way. A few carriages appeared out of nowhere, and a group of people went up under Xu Huai's call. The curtains of the carriages were lowered, and then they began to drive towards the city.

Wei Guangde and the others were settled in a quiet courtyard on Sanshan Street. This is a property purchased by Xu Bangrui outside the home. It is actually quite close to Wei Guogong's mansion, and he often uses this place to entertain relatives and friends.

"This house is nice."

After Wei Guangde got out of the carriage, he followed Xu Huai inside. The inside looked like a garden in the south of the Yangtze River. Although it was just an outhouse, it was comparable to the Wei family's house in Jiujiang Mansion.

It can only be said that the background of the aristocratic family may be like this. From Wei Guangde's point of view, it is a mansion, but it is just another courtyard here.

"The original owner of this place gave the yard to the young master, and made a lot of renovations in the past two years to get what it is now."

Xu Huai explained on the side.

"Oh."

Wei Guangde didn't want to care about the relationship between other people and Xu Bangrui, it had nothing to do with him, so let's settle the debt, but this yard is really taken by Wei Guangde.

When getting off the car earlier, Xu Huai introduced that the other courtyard is just one street away from Wei Guogong's mansion, very close, and it is probably convenient for Xu Bangrui to find an opportunity to come and meet him.

It was already afternoon, after the people settled down, Xu Huai took his leave and went back to report.

In fact, when they got into the carriage, Xu Huai had already arranged for someone to report to Xu Bangrui. He left and went back just to report the itinerary to Xu Bangrui.

In the evening, Xu Bangrui came over and set up a sumptuous banquet in the flower hall to entertain Wei Guangde, which was regarded as a clean-up for him.

This is the first time Wei Guangde and Xu Bangrui have met, Wei Guangde's appearance is similar to what he has heard, what face is like a crown of jade, looks like Pan'an must not match, but it is still handsome.

Perhaps because of his study, he is used to being pampered, but he is not as dark-skinned as his elder brother Wei Wencai, who looks like a guard soldier, and is fair.

Xu Bangrui is quite satisfied with Wei Guangde's appearance, as long as he won't let his sister be wronged.

In Wei Guangde's eyes, Xu Bangrui looks like a little boy, but he can be said to be handsome and unrestrained. He came from the Duke's Mansion, and his temperament is naturally outstanding, but he feels a bit feminine.

But fortunately, seeing Xu Bangrui's appearance, thinking that his unmarried daughter-in-law is his own sister, the appearance is not bad at all.

rest assured.

The two chatted for a long time while eating and drinking. When the wine was slightly drunk, Wei Guangde suddenly took out two red fruits from his sleeve and asked, "Brother, where did this thing in the garden come from?"

"You said pepper, it was passed from Zhejiang two years ago. It is said that it was brought by barbarian people. The flowers are not very good, but the fruit they bear looks good hanging on the tree, so the garden is full of flowers. Planted some."

At first, Xu Bangrui didn't recognize what it was, but after looking carefully at the bald pen-like fruit, he realized that it was the kind of thing called pepper that he only saw two years ago.

When he saw it for the first time, Xu Bangrui thought the fruit was pretty, especially a lot of peppers hanging on the branches, all red.

It happened that the other courtyard here was being remodeled at that time, and a few plants were planted here, but Wei Guangde did not expect that Wei Guangde would be interested in this thing.

"oh, I see."

Wei Guangde really didn't know that chili was introduced from abroad before, he always thought that this thing might still be hidden in the mountains without being discovered.

In the past, banquets actually had a spicy taste, but the condiments used were mustard and ginger. Naturally, the spicy taste is not comparable to that of chili, and Wei Guangde is not used to it.

When we first came here today, Wei Guangde just walked around in the garden, and finally saw a few small shrubs in the corner of the garden, with bright red peppers on the branches.

Wei Guangde wasn't sure at first, he took one off and bit it lightly, just a little bit, the long-lost spiciness permeated the tip of his tongue, and Wei Guangde couldn't help but get hooked on the spot.

But thinking that this is Xu Bangrui's yard, naturally we can't catch all the peppers on the branches, just pick a few and hide them, and make up our mind to find out the origin of these peppers when we see Xu Bangrui, and transplant a batch of these short tree stumps back. There is chili available.

Just thinking about it for a while, the tongue can't help secreting a lot of saliva, I really miss the taste of chili.

But in his heart, he also secretly hated that these rich and powerful people occupied such a delicious thing. If he had known that there were peppers in Duke Wei's mansion, he would have come to propose marriage a long time ago. The dowry is not necessary, and all the peppers must be handed over.

It's just that, according to Xu Bangrui's words, chili peppers are just good-looking in their eyes, not for eating?
impossible.

In Wei Guangde's impression, it seems that Westerners search for spices all over the world. It is impossible not to know that chili is edible, it is a condiment.

But soon Wei Guangde had his own guess. It is possible that when the barbarians traded with the Ming people, the Ming people just thought the things looked good, so they didn't bother to explain.

Wei Guangde touched his forehead, thinking of the business opportunities involved, the condiments of the Ming Dynasty are still far less rich and monotonous than those of later generations.

With this chili, you should be able to make a lot of money, right?

But thinking of this, Wei Guangde was a little emboldened.

Can people in the Ming Dynasty eat spicy food now?
Can they accept the chili thing?
Also, there is no technical content in growing peppers. I didn't see a few pepper bushes in the garden. It doesn't seem to be a tree, but it can only be said to be a kind of shrub.

Get some land to plant, and the peppers produced in the first two years may be able to sell for a good price. This must be the premise that rich people are willing to pay for it if they accept the taste.

But in less than two years, others will follow suit, and then the market will flood, and there will be no profit.

Forget it, let's do something good, help promote the cultivation of chili peppers, at least in the future, I can eat as much as I want, and it won't be like now, where there is nowhere to buy it if I have money.

"Didn't the barbarians tell me how to use this thing?"

Wei Guangde pretended to be surprised and asked.

"Hey, it's not just good-looking, it's bright red, and my little sister likes it too."

Xu Bangrui never thought that this beautiful-looking fruit could be eaten. For people like them, eating is not something that can be eaten casually. It is first used by others, and only after eating it is not poisonous.

In fact, people who march and fight generally keep some traditions. For example, the chili pepper, which looks good, must not be eaten casually, because it may be poisonous.

Because of this, Xu Bangrui never thought about letting people try it, to see what the fruit tastes like and whether it is poisonous.

Wei Guangde blinked when he heard the words, he didn't know how to say the correct usage of this thing is actually for eating, condiment.

Smacking his lips, Wei Guangde thought for a while before saying: "This thing looks good, so I picked a few fruits."

Xu Bangrui's interest was also aroused by Wei Guangde at the moment, and he really wanted to know what Wei Guangde had discovered. From what he said, it seemed that this pepper had other uses.

"What did you find? Here, if you have anything to say, it's all from your own family."

Xu Bangrui couldn't help but speak.

"This thing can be eaten, and the taste is very unique. It is spicy, but the spicy one has its own characteristics and is delicious."

Wei Guangde was also unambiguous, and said directly: "I also plan to order more peppers if there is a lot of peppers here, but the obedient meaning does not seem to be specially planted in the house, so there are not many. "

"eat?"

Xu Bangrui frowned slightly, and looked at the peppers Wei Guangde put on the table, "Has anyone eaten this stuff? We are all from a military family, so we should know that we should not eat things indiscriminately."

"I took a bite when I got it in my hand. Apart from the spicy taste, there is no other toxicity."

Wei Guangde replied without hesitation, is chili pepper eaten less in later generations?
As far as their hometown is concerned, there are many places in China that are all spicy. It seems that except for some places along the coast where the food is relatively light, chili may not be used in banquet dishes. more common.

Speaking of this, Wei Guangde took another pepper from his sleeve and put it on the wine table.

This chili is slightly different from the two that Wei Guangde took out earlier, and the difference is naturally that the head of the chili is missing, which was obviously bitten by Wei Guangde.

Of course Xu Bangrui didn't think that Wei Guangde wanted to harm him, and doing so would be of no benefit to him. Although it was the first time the two met, they had a very happy conversation.

Wei Guangde is good, this is Xu Bangrui's impression, just because the two families got married, he stood on his side without hesitation in standing in line, and even helped him get rid of his father Xu Pengju's Austrian aid in the palace.

This is not as simple as destroying the old man's layout in the palace. On the contrary, it also shows that Wei Guangde's relationship in the palace can help him speak in the palace when he and his brother Xu Bangning compete for the right to inherit the title in the future. Increase the possibility of his attacking the noble.

As for Wei Guangde, he took thousands of taels of silver from others for nothing, so naturally he can't think others are bad.

Those who give money to themselves are good people.

Looking at the pepper that Wei Guangde wanted to drop, Xu Bangrui picked up the one next to it, put the tip of the pepper in his mouth and took a bite, just a little bit, and immediately felt a spicy taste in his mouth, stimulating Saliva secreted from his mouth like crazy.

"Spicy."

Xu Bangrui spit the bit of pepper in his mouth on the ground, and immediately picked up the spoon and bowl to scoop two spoonfuls of soup into the bowl and drank it. Only then did he feel that the spicy taste in his mouth was slightly relieved, but it was still spicy. He couldn't stand it.

"What's the smell? It's hotter than ginger."

Xu Bangrui kept talking, but his eyes were on the pepper in his hand.

"Ha ha."

Seeing Xu Bangrui's reaction, Wei Guangde knew that the people of Ming Dynasty might not be able to accept chili as a condiment in a short time, because he thought he could make money with it.

"That's how I was at first."

Seeing Xu Bangrui looking at him at this time, Wei Guangde had no choice but to put away his smile and said: "But the second bite, I can feel the different taste in the pepper, which is really delicious."

Seeing Xu Bangrui's expression of disbelief, Wei Guangde didn't want to continue entangled in it, and said to him, "Brother, listen to what you said, there are still peppers in the house, just as ornamental plants, right?"

Seeing Xu Bangrui nodding, he continued: "I wonder if you can help me collect the hot peppers and peppers from the house and give them to me.

By the way, there are also the seeds of this pepper. I also want some to go back and find someone to plant, so that I can produce and use it myself. "

"Do you really like this thing?"

Xu Bangrui still looked a little bit in disbelief, he really didn't realize that there was anything good about the taste of this pepper, except that the hot tongue was the hot tongue, and he didn't want to try it a second time.

Wei Guangde nodded hastily.

"This thing is worthless. The seeds seem to be the seeds in the pepper. I have to ask someone how to plant it. I don't know how to get this thing."

As for Xu Bangrui, he definitely doesn’t know how to grow plants. It’s not bad to know the pepper seeds, because Wei Guangde didn’t know that the pepper seeds are actually the pepper seeds inside the peppers. up.

"There are still some in the mansion. I'll ask someone to collect all the grown peppers and give them to you later. When this thing first grows, I think it's a novelty, but after a long time, it doesn't look very good.

In the city of Nanjing, there are also peppers in other houses. I will help you find someone to get some, but have you eaten the spiciness? "

Thinking of the taste in his mouth earlier, Xu Bangrui was a little speechless, this thing can also be eaten.

"Then thank you, brother."

Hearing that Xu Bangrui was willing to give him all the peppers from Wei Guogong's mansion, and helped him find peppers from other honorable mansions in Nanjing City, he also helped him get some natural joy.

He didn't think too much of such a rare thing.

Looking back, I found someone to learn how to grow peppers, plant some in Jiujiang Prefecture, and then try to get some in the capital to see if they can grow alive.

(End of this chapter)