Tiger Guards

Chapter 168: Letter from the Ministers
The night wind blew, and the oxcart made a long sound.

The five ministers in the carriage were all silent and calm.

Listening to the commands coming from outside, the oxcart stopped soon, the door curtain was lifted, and the guards looked at them: "Gentlemen, we're here."

The guards got off the car and put the stools in place, and nearby guards held torches for lighting.

Yang Qi filed out and immediately recognized from the surrounding walls and campfires that this was the central army camp outside Jiangyi City.

Han Shu led the way. After Yang Qi and the other four saw that most of the officers and soldiers on duty in the central army were Huns, they looked somewhat unnatural.

He walked straight into the hall. Zhao Ji did not stand up, but just glanced at these people. These people were also proud of their status and qualifications, and would not take the initiative to salute or greet Zhao Ji.

According to the "Petition to Punish the Great Traitors of the Han Dynasty", they are all traitors to the country and should have been imprisoned long ago.

However, the Zhao family's ancestors and descendants lacked foundation, and the Hedong region lacked sufficient influence, so they were unable to completely overthrow the old nobles.

So when they met each other, the atmosphere was weird.

Zhao Ji could indeed eliminate them, but the losses would be far greater than the gains; and the torture during this period, as well as the increased prestige brought about by Zhao Ji's military victories, also made these former ministers feel the crisis.

It is true that the Zhao family has not destroyed their foundation at present, but that does not mean that they will not have this foundation in the future.

Therefore, during this meeting, the five people did not show any anger, nor did they point at Zhao Ji and curse him as a child.

There was a hint of harmony in this strange atmosphere, and Zhao Ji felt very relieved.

After all, these ministers are not stubborn and rotten wood. If they don't make him angry, he won't increase the severity of the punishment.

Of course, if the situation were reversed, Zhao Ji firmly believed that these old men would immediately execute him for fear of any changes.

After observing each other for a moment, Zhao Ji gestured, "Since you're here, sit down and discuss matters."

The five people were vaguely led by Yang Qi, who was stripped of his official position. Yang Qi sat down calmly. The five people sat in a row, with Yang Qi at the front.

At this time, a group of young attendants came in with food and served them to them.

There was even a pot of sweet wine on each table.

After the servants had left, Zhao Ji said, "In my eyes, you are all incompetent fools who have ruined state affairs. You can barely be considered traitors to the state. But compared to true traitors to the state, you are still a little less elegant."

Yang Qi, drinking by himself, asked, "Who is the real traitor to the country that the Minister is talking about?"

"Those who stole power over prefectures and counties, such as Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, are traitors to the state. The powerful families and tyrants in the border counties who smuggled weapons and people with the Xiongnu and Xianbei are also traitors to the state."

Zhao Ji raised his hand and pointed at the three wooden boxes. "At most, you are incompetent and stupid. If you were truly traitors to the country, you wouldn't be so poor and destitute. Eat first, otherwise you will be filled with righteous indignation and waste these ingredients in vain."

Yang Qi was actually somewhat moved. Although they had made a big plan and suffered so much because of the failure of the plan, objectively speaking, they just wanted to share the prosperity with the court.

These five people were very generous and took Zhao Ji's words to heart. They each poured themselves a glass of wine, ate, and enjoyed this wonderful midnight snack.

Before that, you can not eat after noon, or go on a fast for one or two days.

But during this period, I had to run around the ridges of the fields to measure the acres and register them...it was all physical work.

Zhao Ji was also having a meal. There was a plate on his table. The main dish on the plate was mutton bone pilaf, decorated with raisins, and rice, beans and other small amounts of shelled grains.

The oil is absorbed by the grains and it doesn't look greasy.

The raisins swell as they absorb water, providing a touch of sweetness to the slightly salty pilaf; Zhao Ji occasionally takes a bite of white scallion segments to relieve the greasiness, and he enjoys the meal very much.

Compared with mainstream stews and greasy barbecues, Zhao Ji was more accepting of pilaf before the emergence of mainstream stir-frying.

Oils and fats were valuable among the people, so after Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions, sesame seeds began to be cultivated among the people.

Now that we have sesame oil, we certainly have no shortage of frying and original stir-fry cooking skills.

Sesame oil is too precious, so the only thing Zhao Ji can improve at the moment is stir-frying with mutton oil. His main meal is usually pilaf.

Eating this will not make you feel hungry easily, and it can support the long-term operation of "concentrating the mind and nourishing the qi"; the most important thing is that after it is made, it can be stored warm for a long time without worrying about the food quality deteriorating.

Some powerful people in Fenbei were destroyed, but the vineyards were taken over by the Huns, who also liked grapes.

Dried grapes are more valuable. Zhao Ji seized some this time, but he couldn't bear to eat them every day.

Mulberry, chestnut and jujube can all be considered important supplementary foods. In the future, various fruit trees will be planted on a large scale, especially those that can be dried in the shade and stored, which has extremely high military significance.

For example, persimmon trees and grapes. During battle, soldiers were given two taels of raisins and two dried persimmon cakes every day. The effect should be very good.

Zhao Ji, who is used to eating cheap dried dates and raisins, naturally wants more people to enjoy these desserts.

The nobles enjoying the pilaf quickly took to it. Having experienced the hunger of the Eastward Migration, these people were not stubborn and picky. The pilaf was especially delicious with walnut kernels, which Zhao Wen devoured with great pleasure. He picked out the walnut kernels from the plate first and ate them in one bite.

Pilaf is just a cooking skill and method. When Zhao Ji and these people ate pilaf, they used chopsticks and wooden spoons.

There was bone-in lamb in the pilaf, and Zhao Ji put it into his mouth and processed it with his strong teeth.

These five ministers were very particular. They used a small knife on the table to cut the meat and only ate small pieces of meat, discarding all the tendons hanging on the bones.

Maybe his teeth were not good enough, or maybe he was afraid of being laughed at by Zhao Ji while chewing.

Soon, Yang Biao finished his meal first, took a glass of wine to moisten his throat, and asked, "Minister, what is this meal?"

Same ingredients, different cooking techniques, means different ways of eating.

Zhao Ji was enjoying his second plate when he looked up at Yang Biao. "It originated in the far west, where they like to cook it this way. I don't know what they call it, but I heard it from the Xiongnu people while chatting. They said they heard it from merchants from the Western Regions. I made some minor improvements, and it turned out to be convenient for military cooking, so I promoted it."

He was just talking nonsense, and he didn't even know if there was pilaf in Central Asia now.

Pilaf is very suitable for military use. The pots and pans and even clay pots in the army can be used to make pilaf.

It’s a pity that there are no white onions to relieve the greasiness or carrots to add color.

The only limitation in making pilaf is oil. Without enough oil, it is difficult to make delicious pilaf.

When marching and fighting, everyone will do their best to provide the army with meat, so animal fats are not that difficult to obtain.

Soon, the five people had eaten up all the rice on their plates, leaving only broken bones, and the cold dishes that were there to relieve the greasiness were also eaten up.

Han Shu saw them at the door and ordered his young attendants to go in and remove the dishes.

Immediately, three boxes of letters from various Xiongnu tribes were placed on five tables.

There are letters of accusation from famous kings of all sizes, as well as correspondence between them and the big and powerful families in Taiyuan and Hedong.

The table in front of Yang Qi was full of things, and he flipped through them casually without even a hint of anger on his face.

He had known it for a long time, and many people knew it too, but they just felt that something was inappropriate.

He even felt that Zhao Ji was making a big deal out of nothing: "Minister, do we have to exterminate every family just because they traded salt, iron, and people with the Xiongnu tribes?"

Yang Qi didn't think there was anything wrong with this, so he said in a puzzling tone, "Human trafficking is common in border counties and inland areas. Smuggling salt and iron, and selling armor, crossbows, weapons, and horses are also not uncommon."

It's not that the powerful people sold people to the Huns. Both sides bought and sold people to optimize their respective population structures.

When selling salt, iron, armor, bows and crossbows to the Xiongnu, they also purchased leather and horses from them.

Yang Qi doesn't think these are problems.

Yang Qi questioned as a matter of course, and the other four people had a similar attitude, as if all this was something Zhao Ji was unfamiliar with.

For a moment, Zhao Ji had a misconception that he had wronged the powerful people in the border counties...

This thought flashed through his mind, and Zhao Ji coughed twice before asking, "Lord Yang, are you saying that it's not a crime for families in border counties to trade in people and arms with the Xiongnu?"

"It's not that I'm innocent. I'm saying that this kind of thing has been banned repeatedly and has become commonplace in the border areas. If I suddenly punish you for it, I'm afraid it will be hard to convince people."

Yang Qi corrected himself immediately, saying that he didn't want to protect the powerful people in Taiyuan... He didn't even want to rescue Wang Yun's nephews.

Zhao Ji smiled upon hearing this. "This isn't a single crime, nor is it the crime of one generation. It's accumulated over generations. Wouldn't it be too much to sentence three clans to death and nine clans to slavery? I'm not trying to convince anyone that those who aren't involved won't care about these things. Aside from the innocent people who were trafficked, who among those involved is innocent and innocent?"

Yang Qi did not argue, but asked directly: "What does the Minister want me and others to do?"

"Send me a handwritten letter and sign a written agreement. Once I obtain the emperor's consent, I will lead the royal army to fight and severely punish these lawless, immoral, and violent rebels."

Zhao Ji looked around at the five men. "I will persuade the Henei soldiers to accompany me to Taiyuan. You, on the other hand, may proceed to Pingyang and assist Pei Mao in rebuilding the mausoleum of Emperor Yao. Once the mausoleum is completed, I will also defeat the bandits in Taiyuan and escort the emperor to offer sacrifices to Emperor Yao. Afterwards, the Henei soldiers will escort the emperor and his officials back to Luodu."

Yang Qi pondered, and Yang Biao asked, "What about me waiting?"

"Of course, I will accompany the emperor, assist him in government affairs, and return to Luodu together."

Zhao Ji said with a smile: "If you like the scenery of Hedong, you can stay here and govern the people."

No one said anything. Staying in Hedong would definitely provide them with food and clothing, but they would also be tortured by Zhao Ji at any time.

First they were in charge of the stables, and now they are counting the acres of land. Who knows what Zhao Ji will arrange for them to do in the future.

(End of this chapter)