The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 45
October 10, Chang'an University.

During the more than a month since Tang Weiming, a bachelor's student at the Hanlin Academy of the Great Qin Dynasty and a minister of the Zhanshi Mansion, had been in Chang'an, he had eaten meat most frequently and in the largest amount in his life.

In the state guesthouse where the Da Qin envoy stayed, the breakfast provided by the Qi people for the envoy members usually consisted of eggs, cold beef, bacon - a smoked pork product passed down from the West, and a large cup (or several cups) of... Milk with sugar, of course, if you don’t like this kind of drink, there are also various teas - well, most of them are tea from Daqin, as well as rice porridge, biscuits, fried dough sticks, stuffed meat buns, and toast .

At noon, the food becomes more diverse. In addition to beef, mutton, pork, and various types of poultry, there are also countless fresh and delicious sea fish, various interesting game dishes that cannot be named, and many seasonal vegetables. Seeing this, everyone's appetite is greatly increased.After the meal, there are many digestive fruits and drinks for guests to enjoy.

At dinner time, a variety of drinks will be placed on the dining table with a dazzling array of food, such as wine, sorghum wine, mead (sugar cane wine, that is, rum), and rice wine, so that every guest who wants to have a drink will have enough. choose.

Of course, as a third-rank official in the Qin Dynasty, Tang Weiming had enjoyed all kinds of delicacies.However, the food provided by the people of Qi is not as "fresh and elegant" and "Xiaojiabiyu" as the Great Qin banquet. One of the most prominent features is that the portions are large and sufficient. Just like the "Kansai Han", all kinds of food are carefully cooked. The meat and vegetables are placed in large plates and bowls on a huge table with a rotatable center, which looks very visually impactful.

You must know that during this period, cattle were the most important and main means of agricultural production in the Qin Dynasty. They were generally not slaughtered and made into various culinary delicacies.Although Da Qin has controlled Monan, Mobei (but the situation is already unstable), Qinghai, and the northern part of the Western Region, due to the long distance and inconvenient transportation, horses, cattle and sheep still cannot fully supply the Central Plains and Jiangnan. , not to mention casually serving it on the dining table and becoming the food in the mouths of ordinary people.

Yes, if Qi State only supplies beef, mutton, pork and other meats in sufficient quantities every day to show their wealth when entertaining the envoys of Da Qin, we Da Qin can do the same.A large country with a population of tens of millions can somehow gather some cattle and sheep to entertain guests from afar.

However, according to Yang Shengping, special envoy of the mission, deputy minister of the cabinet and minister of rites, and scholar of Jinshendian, within Qi State, even ordinary people can often eat beef, mutton and pork in their daily lives. As for fish and meat products, for this country surrounded by sea, they are commonplace and consumed in huge quantities.

In the mainland of Qi, the average family's meals usually include 3-4 taels of meat or fish almost every one or two days, as well as enough vegetables, grains (or rice), eggs, sugar, tea, and Small amounts of alcohol.Moreover, with the promotion of the government, people in Qi consume a large amount of milk every day to fully absorb sufficient nutrients.It can be said that the consumption of meat, eggs, milk, and wine is quite common in Qi. This is the result of relatively abundant material life and cannot simply be attributed to eating habits.

You must know that during this period, the vast majority of the people in the Qin State had not yet achieved enough food and clothing. In order to satisfy their hunger, they discovered countless ways to eat sweet potatoes that were introduced to the mainland decades ago, just to solve the single taste.

In Qi State, people eat sweet potatoes as snacks, roasted sweet potatoes, fried potato chips, and occasionally mixed with rice porridge. Farmers in many villages even mix sweet potatoes with white radish and use them as pig feed!
Of course, it is well known that the people in Qi have high incomes.In Hanzhou itself, the annual income of a worker is 50-60 yuan, which is equivalent to 160-190 taels of silver. As time goes by, the income level of workers with more skills and longer qualifications will often reach more than twice the former. .

Anyone from Qin who has been to Qi State will be very surprised to find that although there are still poor people in Qi State, there are no homeless people who have no food and clothing, let alone beggars who are hungry and cold, with yellow faces and skinny muscles.Almost everyone looked rosy, wearing long clothes, shoes and socks, and were obviously taller than the Qin people on the mainland.

In terms of wealth, Qi is definitely the richest country in the world, bar none.

Qi's economic development is not only reflected in industrial production and manufacturing. Their animal husbandry is also extremely prosperous and has become one of the pillars of their domestic economy.

Yang Shengping mentioned that 30 years ago, when he was studying in Hanzhou, the number of sheep in Qi had reached more than 2000 million (including lambs).Today, the number of sheep in Hanzhou mainland plus Dongzhou area (today's New Zealand) is estimated to have exceeded 8000 million.As for the number of cattle on hand, it has increased from more than 600 million to more than 300 million.The output value of the entire livestock industry (including dairy products) reaches more than 800 million yuan.

The livestock industry in Qi mainly generates two major incomes, namely wool and meat products.More than 30 years ago (1690), the wool production in Hanzhou and Dongzhou reached more than 600 million kilograms, while in 1720 it was 3.4 million kilograms, providing a steady stream of wool raw materials for Qi's woolen industry. Their woolen products almost monopolize the sales market in the entire Indian Ocean region.

It is said that several food industry research institutes in Qi are developing more practical meat product freezing preservation and transportation technologies in order to export their abundant domestic beef and mutton products to further countries and regions.

The current method of freezing food in Qi still uses ice cubes. This method can only be transported over short distances, and cannot cross thousands of miles of sea routes, let alone the Nanyang region, which is warm all year round.

However, the people of Qi, who are good at uncanny skills, have found a way to use air compression to produce a large amount of ice cubes. They can also obtain a continuous supply of ice cubes in the hot summer, and can use it in seafood and various types of ice cubes. Short distance transportation of meat products. "With such a prosperous life in Qi State, it is no wonder that the people of Qin State are trying their best to escape to the sea and sneak into Qi State."

Yang Shengping and other members of the delegation were invited to visit Chang'an University. Walking in the beautiful, garden-like campus, some people couldn't help but feel deeply moved.

"Who in the world would have thought that the Han continent in the past was a barren land more than 80 years ago. Today, the Qi State is prosperous, the people are happy, and the national power is far stronger than our great Qin!"

"However, although Qi is rich and powerful, its people may not be happy. Just now, when I talked about education with many professors in Qi, they actually advocated that students should be barbaric in their physical bodies and civilized in their spirits. I don't agree with this view. ." Tang Weiming heard this and said rather unconvinced: "His barbaric physique has the potential to encourage the people to be brave and ruthless, and encourage them to breed warlike thoughts. In the end, there will inevitably be a disaster of having to fight for the sake of fighting. Observe. Judging from the more than 80 years since the founding of Qi in Hanzhou, except for a few years when no war occurred, almost three years of small wars and five years of major wars destroyed more than a hundred kingdoms and slaughtered countless natives. You must know that the strength of the Han and Tang Dynasties in the past was There will eventually be a defeat. If this continues, Qi will be in danger and Hanzhou will be defeated!"

The accompanying Qin officials heard this and immediately looked at each other.

We are the envoys of Da Qin. We are called by His Majesty the Emperor and entrusted by the chief minister of the cabinet to come to Qi to obtain necessary military and economic support. We are not here to comment on politics in the goulan tiles of Da Qin with your scholarly spirit!

Look, the faces of the several people from Qi who were accompanying him all turned dark. They were just constrained by their hospitality, so they refrained from having an attack on the spot.

"A few days ago, we visited the Museum of All Nations. The number of collections, the complexity of the classics, and the high value of the items on display were all dazzling and breathtaking." Tang Weiming continued: "But I have a question. , has been lingering in my heart, and I haven’t been able to let it go for a long time.”

"Do you have any questions, Scholar Tang?" an accompanying Qi official asked with a worried expression: "If it's okay, please speak up. We are here to hear the details."

"Is there any of the things in the collection that belongs to your Qi country?"

"Of course, all the items in the collection are..." The official was about to continue speaking disapprovingly, but suddenly realized that the items in the collection that Tang Weiming mentioned were owned by the Qi State, which meant their true origin, and he immediately glared, " What is the purpose of what Scholar Tang asked?"

"The meaning of my words is naturally to ask, do those ancient books and cultural relics have a bright future?"

"..."

"Many of the cultural relics in the collection are probably owned by Da Qin." Tang Weiming looked at the red-faced Qi official with interest, and said softly: "I think those things should be placed in our Da Qin Museum. In the pavilion."

"When we rescued and protected those cultural relics, there was no Daqin!" The Qi official said coldly: "At that time, the Qing Dynasty was raging and China was in trouble. Let alone these ancient books and cultural relics, there was no one to protect them. Who would be able to protect the thousands of people? Without our Da Qi, these classics and cultural relics might have been preserved in the flames of war? Without our Da Qi’s continuous support, could your Da Qin be established? In this era of the jungle, if the country is not strong, the people will not be able to survive. If the people do not stand, they will have nothing to say. Useless verbal disputes and dictates of will will only increase laughter!"

"You..." Tang Weiming was furious for a moment, "What you said is domineering and not the Confucian way of governing the world with benevolence and righteousness!"

"Whether it's domineering or kingly, it's just a skill. For me in Daqi, only by being inclusive, advancing with the times, developing and making progress can we strive for a better future for the country and the nation. More living space and more say for our Chinese civilization. The era when half of the Analects ruled the world has passed. The so-called Confucian sages and moral articles may not be able to adapt to this era!"

(End of this chapter)