Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 244 Tofu and Air Pump

Yun Ce sensed a deathly aura in Zhou Chengming's words.

There's still a tiny bit of life left, and that's the word "many" in that sentence.

This shows that Zhou Chengming still wanted to fight a little longer.

The last time Tiewei Pass received supplies was when Cao Kun sent them, and that supply was ten months ago. In those ten months, Tiewei Pass had never asked the court for supplies, nor had anyone ever proactively replenished their supplies.

Wu Tong has now given all the stolen goods to Yun Ce, hoping that he can continue to provide some assistance to Tiewei Pass. It is clear that the court in Chang'an is now basically left with nothing.

The country is in such a state of decay that not a single person, from the emperor to the local lords, is innocent.

Instead of supporting Tiewei Pass, they accused it of being isolated for many years, wasting resources, draining the Han people's blood, and fattening up a group of scoundrels. They claimed that Tiewei Pass had made no progress in a century, suffered defeats and disgrace, and allowed the Guifang people to advance south along the East China Sea coastline to raid for food, causing the East China to fall into ruin and the people to suffer.

If they advance, they cannot annihilate the Guifang and bring glory to the Han Dynasty; if they retreat, they cannot guarantee the stability of the Han Dynasty's territory and serve as an iron wall for the Han Dynasty. Instead, they spend their days idly in the city, eating their fill without doing anything, becoming mere parasites on the Han Dynasty's food supply.

Yun Ce felt that this was wrong, and that withholding food and supplies was also wrong. At least, in that desolate place like Tiewei Pass, with its terrible climate and environment, everything tasted like dirt when the sandstorms came.

So the next day, Yun Ce ordered the harvest to begin, and the whole nation entered the autumn harvest season.

The beans at Yun's Manor are growing very well, especially the huge pods. If you squeeze them open with a little force, beans the size of ping-pong balls will pop out, which is a delight to see.

This time, Yun Ce did not personally go to the field to harvest the beans. Instead, he soaked a lot of beans overnight, and the beans swelled up after soaking, making them appear even larger.

Fortunately, the Yun family manor still had the huge millstone that was used to grind elephant meat. After the round soybeans were thrown into the millstone, thick soy milk quickly appeared.

Watching Yun Ce scoop large spoonfuls of filtered soy milk from the wooden bucket and then pour it into a large pot to cook, Zhou Chengming laughed and said, "There's no time in the army to make such complicated food."

Yun Ce forgave Zhou Chengming's ignorance and continued to stir the pot with a shovel. This stuff had to be cooked thoroughly, but it couldn't be burnt. Otherwise, the tofu would have a strong burnt taste and be inedible.

With the dog in charge of controlling the fire and the cooking process, Yun Ce's first batch of soy milk was milky white. He grabbed a handful of sugar, threw it into a bowl, added a spoonful of soy milk, and handed it to Zhou Chengming, saying, "This stuff is no worse than mare's milk, cow's milk, or goat's milk."

Zhou Chengming chuckled as he took the large bowl. After taking a sip, his eyes lit up. He looked at the busy Yun Ce, who was sitting beside him, taking sips here and there as he watched Yun Ce add some slightly yellow and translucent water to the large pot.

Immediately, a lot of flocculent matter appeared in the soy milk in the large pot. As Yun Ce added water and stirred in one direction, more and more flocculent matter formed, gradually solidifying into smooth, tender lumps.

Yun Ce scooped a bowl of tofu pudding from the large pot, added chopped stir-fried salted vegetables, some chili oil, and some crushed fried soybeans on top, and then handed it to Zhou Chengming, who had just finished drinking soy milk.

Zhou Chengming took the rice bowl and ate with a spoon. Yun Ce didn't look at Zhou Chengming, but was busy scooping the tofu from the big pot and putting it into wooden compartments lined with gauze.

A whole pot of tofu pudding was filled to seven or eight wooden compartments before it was completely empty. Yun Ce covered the compartments with wooden boards and weighed them down with stones he had prepared beforehand. Seeing water constantly overflowing from under the compartments, he picked up a bowl of tofu pudding, sat down next to Zhou Chengming, and began to slurp it down.

"The main reason why beans are not worth much is that eating too many will cause bloating. If you transport the beans back and make them into this kind of thing, no matter how much you eat, you won't get bloated."

Moreover, I can tell you frankly that although eating this is not as good as eating meat, it is not much worse, and it is the easiest for the stomach and intestines to accept.

Stewing it with the abundant dried, pickled, and salted vegetables found in the Iron Enclosure Pass, and adding just a little more oil and salt, makes for a delicious meal.

After finishing his tofu pudding, Zhou Chengming looked at the wooden grid that Yun Ce had weighed down with stones and said, "We have enough salt, but we lack oil."

Yun Ce put down the empty bowl and led Zhou Chengming to an empty room that was making loud noises. There, two strong men were pushing a thick log that was suspended in the air high into the air, and then suddenly letting go. The thick log slammed into a wooden wedge. As the wooden wedge went in two inches, a bright yellow grease seeped out from the straw bag behind the push board.

Zhou Chengming touched the oil with his finger, put it in his mouth and smacked it for a moment, then said to Yun Ce, "It's not as fragrant as sesame oil, nor as good as animal fat."

Yun Ce sighed and said, "After heating it up, the raw oil smell that you complained about won't be there anymore. There was this stuff in the tofu pudding you just ate. Did you taste the bad flavor?"

Zhou Chengming nodded and said, "There is indeed no strange smell."

Yun Ce sighed and said, "Even now, you're still so picky?"

Zhou Chengming said, "You're from our ancestral home. Wu Tong told me to come here and ask for anything I like."

Yun Ce sighed and said, "There aren't many good things in the ancestral land. At least, the farmland here is something that the ancestral land doesn't have."

Zhou Chengming picked up a swollen bean from the ground and said, "You don't have this either?"

"Yes, but the sizes are different. This one bean is at least the size of twenty beans from the ancestral land."

"What about the wheat?" "The same acre of land yields 8,000 catties here, but 1,000 catties is considered very good in the ancestral land."

Zhou Chengming pointed to the chestnut horse that was strolling in the yard and asked, "Are there Thunder Smoke Beasts in the ancestral land?"

Yun Ce nodded and said, "The three best Thunder Smoke Beasts from the ancestral land are barely the same size as this guy."

Zhou Chengming seemed to have gotten carried away with asking questions, and then asked, "Are there any ferocious enemies in our ancestral land?"

Yun Ce exhaled and said, "Yes, eighty years ago, we encountered a catastrophe, and it took 35 million casualties to drive the enemy away."

Was the enemy very powerful at that time?

"We weren't strong. We harmed ourselves for many years, and others took the opportunity to attack us. At one point, we were on the verge of national extinction if we didn't drive the enemy away. Fortunately, our ancestors fought a hard and arduous battle during the most dangerous time and finally drove the enemy away."

Have you ever felt despair?

"Some people were desperate and even defected to the enemy, but many more did not despair and fought the enemy inch by inch. The blood of 35 million people almost dyed the earth red."

"What now?"

"We are very powerful now, and everyone is afraid of our massive military attack on them."

"So, the Han Dynasty won't perish, right?"

"No, if you all die in battle, the dragon will bring people from the ancestral land to continue the fight."

Will the people of our ancestral land also fight to the death with the Guifang people here? Can they win?

Yun Ce looked at Zhou Chengming and said, "Do you know what my status is over there?"

Zhou Chengming said, "It can't be lower than your current status as the heir to the King of Changsha, can it?"

Yun Ce shook his head and said, "There were no kings or nobles in our ancestral land. They all died in battle when the calamity came. I am the eldest son and grandson of the Great General. To be precise, I am a good-for-nothing playboy."

Zhou Chengming stared at Yun Ce for a long time, unwilling to look away. When he finally tired of looking, he said, "A good-for-nothing playboy can become a killing god who can slay three thousand in battle when he comes here..."

"The conditions here are so much better. We even have the ancestral fire and the Shehuo (a traditional folk performance) to roast. We don't have that over there. Rivers often flood and the earth can turn upside down. We have to be very careful to make a living."

Yun Ce had said what needed to be said and vented his anger. If Zhou Chengming was still acting like he did when he first arrived, then he might as well die. He didn't have time to keep arguing with him. The defenses of Yun Clan Manor were not yet complete, and the renovation of Jin Suo Pass was also not yet finished.

Arriving at the place where the tofu was placed, they removed the stones on top, lifted the gauze covering the tofu, and a large piece of slightly yellow and white tofu appeared in front of them.

Yun Ce slapped the tofu, which trembled slightly, still quite moist. He casually broke off a piece and handed it to Zhou Chengming, then picked up a piece for himself and began to chew it.

As Zhou Chengming ate tofu, he watched the people from Yun Clan Manor busy in the fields and asked, "If the Guifang people attack, will you run away?"

Yun Ce shook his head and said, "No, I cultivated this land and planted the crops here. No one can drive me away from my land. Even if a dragon comes, it won't work."

Zhou Chengming stuffed the rest of the tofu into his mouth and mumbled to Yun Ce, "I'm going to harvest the grain too, Yun Ce. I feel especially good here."

As soon as Zhou Chengming left, Eji rushed over. Ignoring Yun Ce, she first leaned over and sniffed the tofu, then imitated Yun Ce by breaking off a piece and taking a bite. Then, she angrily punched Yun Ce's arm and roared in a low voice, "Back in the Royal Hunting Grounds, I told you that this was meant to be a means of making a living for the children, and you've given it to a complete stranger?"

Yun Ce was also in a bad mood. He raised his hand and pinched E Ji's cheek, saying, "You stinky woman, what do you know? What time is it now, and you're still thinking about your meager earnings."

If they can hold out for another year, we'll harvest twice as much grain. When war breaks out, we can gather a lot of people and eventually rebuild Yuncheng. What's a lousy tofu-making technique compared to that to them?

Hearing Yun Ce say this, E Ji immediately quieted down, grabbed Yun Ce's hand and slapped herself on the face, saying, "If you want to do something important in the future, just tell me, my lord. You know I'm not the kind of petty person."

Yun Ce retorted angrily, "You're not a petty person, but who in the world is more petty than you?"

"I'm just afraid that you, my lord, are too generous as a man and might accidentally give away the family's good things to others. Since we're going to do something important, I certainly won't be stingy."

"I'll have Angie and the others come over and get the tofu later. It's so delicious. I had it at the Royal Hunting Grounds last time and I can't forget it. I'm really looking forward to my husband making it again."

　Chapter One

　　
　
(End of this chapter)