Facing Cai Qi and Li Shi sitting down, Xu Ping pushed the plate of watermelons on the table and said, "Two ministers, eat a piece of melon to quench your thirst." Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ”

Cai Qi and Li Shi looked at each other and smiled, and they were not polite, and one took a piece in his hand.

The watermelons grown in Xu Ping's house are neither sold nor given away, and whoever comes to his house as a guest eats them, I don't want this strange rule to be just a few rulers in the court. These people are high-minded, and there is no reason to be guests at the home of a deputy envoy of the third division, and they are enough to let go of the subordinate court, and they are not allowed by the imperial court. How can Jaeji have a private relationship with the ministers of the court?

Cai Qi and Li Shi still took the opportunity to go to the palace to discuss matters, and they tasted watermelon in the emperor's light.

This time when I came to Xu Ping's Zhuangzi, I just saw one or twenty acres of watermelons planted in the ground, and both of them were overjoyed, and they had the opportunity to eat happily.

After eating melons and chatting a few gossips, Xu Ping saw that the red sun on the horizon had fallen in the west, so he ordered the dealer to serve wine. In this garden, a feast was set up to entertain the officials who came to the village.

This season, it is the time when melons and fruits are fragrant, and Xu Ping's village can be said to have everything.

First, the colorful grapes were put on the plate and brought to the people. Followed by melons, watermelons and other melons and fruits planted in the ground, and then all kinds of Zhufan peaches, plums, and ringo, basically the fruits that can be grown in the original era are available in Xu Pingzhuang. Even some wild sour dates and the like have been put on to change people's tastes.

In a short time, all kinds of melons and fruits alone filled the table. Immediately afterwards, some fresh vegetables, such as cucumbers, tender lotus roots, and radishes, which can be eaten raw, are also cut and placed in a small plate, and the flower arrangement is placed among various melons and fruits.

These things may not be so rare, how precious, but rare is a many, a whole. Changing to another place, it's hard to fit so many things on one table.

Xu Ping said to Cai Qi and Li Zhi: "The two ministers, what kind of wine do you drink?" My farm, of course, is best known for its spirits. In addition to this, there are various fruit wines, which are lighter but easy to drink. ”

Cai Qi said with a smile: "This year, there is a kind of permeable bottle incense sold in the capital, and I heard that it is the best wine in your village." ”

Xu Ping smiled when he heard this: "Xianggong said that he laughed." As long as it is sold outside, how can it be a first-class good wine? Really good wine is not sold, and it will never be seen outside. ”

"Oh—then take some bottles of good wine that you don't sell in your farm!"

Xu Ping promised, turned around and asked the dealer to go and get the best wine in the village.

Li Shi said: "I am old and I am not used to drinking spirits, so I only need to take two bottles of fruit wine to be prepared." ”

Xu Ping nodded, and ordered people to take the best.

Cai Qi is less than fifty years old, the figure is heroic, the appearance is upright, in the eighth year of Dazhong Xiangfu by Emperor Zhenzong hand-picked champion and first, even called people. After thanking him, he gave the guards and all kinds of guides, and gave the royal horse to Cai Qi to go to Xiangguo Temple for a party. After the roll call, the champion rode a royal horse through the streets, starting from Cai Qi.

Now in the political affairs hall, Lu Yijian and Wang Zeng are drifting apart, and the arguments are becoming more and more intense, and several governors have to be divided into two factions regardless of whether they want to or not. Cai Qi and Wang Zeng are one faction, Song Shou is Lu Yijian's faction, Zhang Dexiang rarely expresses his opinions, and seems to be neutral, but in fact, he is also Lu Yijian's faction.

If you are alone, you will have dictatorship, and if you stand alone, you will inevitably plant the party. For so many years, whether it is an official in the court or a high-ranking emperor, they all know this. However, for the emperor, it is better to let his subordinates plant the party than to prevent autocracy, and it has become a common practice to have two or three phases.

Cai Qi is a glue man from Laizhou, Wang Zeng is a native of Qingzhou, and they are both from Jingdong Road, and their hometowns are not far from each other. Of course, he may not have much to do with his fellow villagers when they come together, or they have similar temperament and political views.

In political struggles, it is not uncommon to form gangs and factions, and it is difficult to accomplish great things by relying on one person. Xu Ping also has no opinion on this kind of party division, he is guarding against the kind of gentleman and villain who is not right for people and divides the party. The Gentleman's Lilpes Party is not a simple political struggle, but a large-scale chaotic struggle mixed with ideological and academic and personal grievances, and real political affairs have been put aside, and it has strong characteristics of ideological struggle.

However, Li Shi, first, is old, the Privy Council is still far from the political hall, and secondly, he is a loner, not attached to the party, but the most independent in the ruling at this time.

This time, the two governments sent Cai Qi and Li Zhilai because both of them were promoted from the position of the third secretary to the chief executive, and both had been in charge of the third department for a long time, and both of them presided over excessive changes in fiscal policy during the appointment of the third secretary.

After a while, the dealer took the wine and put it on the table.

This is the best wine on Xu Ping Zhuangzi, and the bottom is still the old wine saved when the village was built, and it has been carefully blended. After so many years, there is not much left, and only the distinguished guests who are more than four heads will take it out to entertain them. As for the other guests at the table who came today, they couldn't drink this wine, but it was better than the bottles sold outside.

Xu Ping personally poured a full amount to Cai Qi, Li Shi, Yan Shu, Fan Zhongyan, Wang Juzheng, and Zheng Xiang, who were sitting with him, and said to Li Shi: "Xianggong, this wine has been aged for ten years, which is extremely rare, and you can also drink a small cup to taste the taste." ”

Li Zhi said with a smile: "Okay, it's just a small cup, and it's okay to think about it." ”

As for the other guests, they were naturally greeted by Wang Gongchen, Han Qi and several officials under him. With so many people, Xu Ping can't be all-encompassing, and there is no need to be all-encompassing.

Seeing that everyone's wine was already full, Cai Qi raised his glass and said: "Today's Xu is very rare to be treated, and drink this cup full!" ”

The crowd agreed and drank from their cups.

Putting the cup down, Li Shi smacked his lips and sighed: "Sure enough, it is good wine, the old man has lived for more than 60 years, and it is the first time he has tasted this taste." It's just that he is too old to drink this wine. ”

As he spoke, he shook his head again and again, and put down the cup in his hand reluctantly.

Everyone else at the table laughed, and it was really torture for the drunkard to drink if they wanted to.

Li Zhijingde was the third and first in the second year of Jinshi, and Zhang Shixun was the same year, and the ranking was far ahead of Zhang Shixun. It's just that now, Zhang Shixun has been demoted from prime minister to privy envoy, and he is still Li Shi's boss.

After three rounds of drinking, everyone let go. Xu Ping has always disliked the alcohol order, nor did he like to persuade him to drink, just to let everyone have fun.

At this time, the night is low, the sultry heat of the day gradually dissipates, and the cool breeze rises, and it is the most comfortable time of the day.

The garden is lit with lights and candles, and it is as bright as day. And a large fire was lit in the middle of the clearing, and a large oven was set up by the fire, and a large board was beside it, on which were piled with freshly slaughtered mutton. On the other side of the fire are a few blazing stoves, with freshly selected vegetables, slaughtered chickens, ducks and fish, and refined pork.

Roasted over there, fried here, rich in ingredients, whatever you want to eat, just tell the dealer to cook it.

Xu Ping's Zhuangzi has ploughing and grazing, which is different from ordinary Zhuangzi, and it tastes rough and rich.

The countryside is cheaper than the city in Kaifeng, and the countryside is easy to raise. For example, around Xuping Zhuangzi, there is also a small grass market every few days, and it is basically people in nearby villages who communicate with each other. In this kind of grass market, pork is the most expensive kind of meat, more expensive than mutton, chicken and duck and mutton are the same price, a little cheaper is eggs, the cheapest is fish and shrimp and the like. This is the natural economy, where the villagers do not produce for the purpose of exchange, which is very different from the city.

Xu Ping has been observing and recording his own small village, from the beginning of his own family to recruit a few villagers, to now there are tenants, and there are even people who do not cultivate the fields in Xu Pingzhuang, but specialize in handicrafts and commerce, only rent a house in the village and occupy a household registration. The owner of the village is a minister of waiting, and there is always some convenience.

Drinking wine and chatting a few words, a few talked about the cotton in the village.

Cai Qi said to Xu Ping: "This afternoon, after arriving, we took a walk around the village and saw the cotton fields you mentioned. The white flowers in the ground are very cute, but they don't look unusual, and they don't grow as tall as hemp. I used to buy jibei cloth twice at home, and it was indeed softer than linen, and it was not as smooth as silk. It's just that I've heard people say before that the kapok in Lingnan grows extremely tall, like a big tree, why is it different in your village? ”

"Xianggong doesn't know that there are two kinds of cotton, one is kapok and the other is grass cotton. Kapok is as tall as a tree, but the silk cotton in its flowers is short and fragile, and it is not easy to weave. Xiaguan Zhuangzi is planted with grass cotton, although it is not as tall as kapok, but the flowers are fat, and the silk is long and tough, which is the most conducive to weaving. ”

Cai Qi nodded: "Oh-I see, there are two kinds of kapok and grass cotton." ”

Xu Ping studied the natural economy in his village, and has always noticed what crops can become commodities on a large scale, breaking this self-sufficient natural economy and opening up a new era of commodity economy. After observing for ten years, it was found that cotton was the best choice. Traditionally, cloth is a light commodity, which is conducive to long-distance trafficking. It can be cultivated in a decentralized manner and then processed intensively, and the market is almost infinite, and it can be industrialized on a large scale.

Primitive grass cotton, such as the one that was widely cultivated and used in Chinese history during the Ming and Qing dynasties, was difficult to use on a machine loom due to its short and brittle fibers. In the silk textile industry in China's history, water spinning and weaving appeared very early, but it did not develop further and did not promote it on a large scale. It's not that the ancients were too stupid, but because of the characteristics of the silk textile industry, the threshold for industrial production is too high. However, the cotton textile industry, which has a low threshold, does not have suitable varieties of cotton and cannot be used for weaving. Historically, it was not until the discovery of the American continent that American grass cotton and Indian grass cotton were cross-bred, and after a long period of cultivation, cotton varieties suitable for weaving appeared.

Xu Ping's village has cotton varieties from his previous life, which have crossed the most important stage of seed selection and can be directly used for large-scale industrial production of cotton cloth, which is the most important thing.

Without these cotton varieties, even if Xu Ping could make a loom, he could only raise sheep on a large scale like the British in history, starting with wool weaving.

(Note: In the era of natural economy, pork was relatively expensive.) Historical records record that the price of pork and mutton in Kaifeng City is not much different, and the Song people say that the price of meat is generally pork and mutton. In the countryside, lamb will be significantly more expensive than pork. In fact, this was the case until the end of the Qing Dynasty, and we can't use the current economic conditions to understand why the people of the Song Dynasty liked to eat mutton and eat less pork. (To be continued.) )