Chastity Layman

In the afternoon, the sun is warm.

Li Shimin was originally dealing with government affairs in the imperial study, but he was dragged to the Queen's Lizheng Palace by his daughter, Princess Changle Li Lizhi.

In front of the palace, the bright yellow and warm sunlight shone on the princess's back, and a row of wild geese flew across the sky above her head. The princess had a slender figure, and she was skillfully frying a handful of money in a pot. heat.

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Empress Changsun pulled the emperor to sit down, "Wu Niang is going to show off her culinary skills today, so she should show filial piety to both of us. Today is a lucky day."

The prawns are rolling in the pot, the red prawns, the green onions, and the yellow ginger slices.

Li Shimin smiled.

Empress Changsun leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Qin Lang sent someone from Guangzhou to deliver some iced seafood, and sent them all the way to Chang'an. The ice hasn't melted yet, and it's as fresh as freshly caught."

Li Shimin said, "Is this pot also sent by Qin Lang?"

"That's not true. Although this pot is a Cantonese pot produced in Foshan, Guangzhou, it has already been sold well in the capital. It is said that the people of Chang'an are lining up to grab iron pots from Foshan, Guangzhou. It is hard to find a pot."

Looking at the skillful daughter, Li Shimin felt a little emotional, "In the blink of an eye, Lizhi has grown so tall, and her cooking skills are already so good."

"Well, yes, in a blink of an eye, we will reach the age of marriage."

Princess Changle is thirteen years old this year.

"At the beginning, I made a ten-year agreement with Qin Lang, but it will expire next year."

The queen smiled and said, "Wu Niang is looking forward to it every day, year after year."

"That Qin Lang is really capable, my daughter has been abducted by him long ago."

The princess quickly finished frying the prawns, put them on a delicate porcelain plate and brought them over, "Father, queen, try your daughter's cooking!"

"The color is pretty." Li Shimin suddenly felt sour.

"The big prawns caught in the South China Sea are very fresh." The princess laughed, "San Lang said in the letter that the prawns in the sea are delicious, and the best way to eat them is to boil them directly, so that you can enjoy the natural freshness of the prawns." taste."

Li Shimin took the chopsticks that the princess handed over, took one and tasted it, the prawns, which were bigger than a palm, tasted really unusually tender, although the princess fried them, they were just as delicious.

"tasty!"

The princess was very happy when she got the compliment, "Sanlang said he likes to eat shrimp, so I will cook it for him in the future."

Li Shimin was helpless, "Grandfather also likes to eat."

"That daughter will often be cooked for Grandpa in the future." As she spoke, she wrapped her arms around Li Shimin's neck and acted coquettishly with him.

"Grandfather, when will Saburo return to Chang'an?"

"Why, can't wait to get married? According to the ten-year agreement, there is still one year left."

"No way, it's been two years since Saburo left Beijing under the order. How can there be such a messenger."

Li Shimin said unhappily, "Don't blame me for this matter. I asked Qin Lang to come back again and again. It was this kid who always made troubles with me. One moment it was a rebellion in Juding, and the other moment it was a rebellion. I originally said To let him return to the court, he was prepared to take command of the Northern Expedition, but this kid said that after the chaos in Lingnan, ministers are needed to guard it now."

"Daughter doesn't believe it, Grandpa must not let him come back!" The princess pouted.

Empress Changsun pulled her daughter to her side, "Sanlang is an important minister of the imperial court, and now he is guarding the frontier, so of course he can't just go back if he has something to say."

"But my daughter hasn't seen Brother Sanlang for a long time."

"It's really a girl who doesn't want to stay. If you stay and stay, you will become enemies. Lizhi, what kind of soup did that kid feed you, and you are so fond of him? I heard that this guy has always been romantic. Lingnan has also caused a lot of romantic debts, and I plan to ask him seriously, but you still talk to him."

Li Zhi didn't take it seriously, "What's the matter, it's natural for men to have concubines and concubines, but daughters are going to be Saburo's wife anyway."

Datang also did not say that after a royal princess marries a son-in-law, the son-in-law cannot take another concubine.

Li Shimin looked at the daughter who was speaking for Qin Lang, she was really slim and graceful. The Li family had a young girl who had grown up and started talking to outsiders before she got married.

Thinking about it makes me feel a little panicked.

A meal of prawns is a bit tasteless.

Listening to how his daughter praised Qin Lang for his ability, this pot was cast by the iron factory run by Qin Lang in Foshan Town, Guangzhou. Because of its novel style, excellent materials, exquisite workmanship, and affordable price, it is now sold in Changan. It was hard to find a pot, and the princess advertised Guangguo for free, saying how this iron pan cooks without sticking and how it heats evenly.

Even the plates on which the dishes are served are made of celadon wares made by Qin Lang's family in Jingdezhen, the west road in the south of the Yangtze River.

There are also sugar-colored rock sugar fried by Lizhi when cooking, and fresh white granulated sugar, all of which come from the Qin family in Wu'an Prefecture, Jiaozhou.

Changle now really regards herself as the wife of the Qin family, and uses everything from the Qin family.

"This pot looks really good. It looks light and thin, but it is well-made. I didn't expect such a pot to be sold at such a cheap price. It turns out that Chang'an's iron pots are so similar, but they are several times more."

Li Shimin sighed.

After the meeting, Li Shimin returned to Ganlu Hall to continue his work.

into the hall.

The prime ministers of the Political Affairs Hall are already waiting here, and there will be an imperial meeting in the afternoon.

"I kept you waiting for a long time. Just now, Princess Changle asked me to go to dinner, saying that Qin Lang from Lingnan brought her a lot of good things, so I borrowed flowers and offered Buddha to cook a table of dishes for me to taste. I was delayed."

Li Shimin greeted the prime ministers with a smile, and then said, "By the way, I brought some for you Ai Qing, a dish of boiled prawns, a dish of steamed crabs, and coconuts, everyone should try it too."

The waiter came in with a food box.

The prime ministers were a little surprised.

Changsun Wuji looked at these bright red prawns and crabs and said with a smile, "I didn't expect Princess Changle to have such excellent cooking skills, I must try it out."

Boiled prawns and steamed crabs actually don’t require any cooking skills, but none of the other prime ministers refuted it. It’s good for a royal princess to have such filial piety, let alone the ability to do it herself.

Wei Zheng held a coconut in his arms and sucked the coconut juice with a straw. The more he sucked, the more delicious it became. He used to think that the most beautiful food in the world should be spinach from Nibera. Who would have thought that there is something called coconut in the world? so delicious.

Fresh and sweet!

Changsun Wuji and Gao Shilian are eating crabs, with skillful movements and graceful postures. In fact, there has been a tradition of eating crabs in the Central Plains for a long time, but this thing is generally liked by nobles and bureaucrats, just like drinking tea, it can be eaten in a variety of ways, and it also shows a sense of superiority.

Hou Junji, Yu Chigong, and Zhang Liang, the three big bosses, didn't touch crabs. Looking at the big crabs with their teeth and claws, they couldn't see where there was any meat. They might as well eat shrimps, which are big and tender.

Hou Junji used to be arty and ate crabs, but he couldn't tell which was the crab roe and which was the internal organs of the crab, and he couldn't figure out what was gills and what was meat. Only eat crab roe wontons.

"It seems that Qin Lang really enjoyed his stay in Lingnan, no wonder he was so happy to miss Shu, His Majesty refused to come back after three quests and five summons." Hou Junji said while eating prawns, while still feeling sly.

Changsun Wuji held a crab claw and elegantly picked out the meat in the crab stick, "If you feel comfortable there, I can just transfer you there. Didn't you impeach Li Daliang for incompetence before? Why don't you go to Annan Chief Governor of the Metropolitan Government? If you don’t think you have the ability to lead a party, why don’t you become the Governor of Aizhou?”

Hou Junji didn't say a word, he knew that he couldn't win a war of words with Changsun Wuji.

Li Shimin was also holding a coconut and sucking it.

"Qin Lang won't be returning to Beijing this year. He still has a few big things to do in Lingnan."

The emperor didn't say that Qin Lang had any major plans to do, but the prime ministers didn't ask directly. Most of them could guess that it was still in Lingnan Hezhou to merge counties, reform the land and return it to the local people, build more military mansions, and immigrate to reclamation.

Hou Junji always said that Qin Lang was tossing around in Lingnan, but the facts proved that Qin Lang had made drastic and in-depth reforms in Lingnan, and the effect was still very obvious, so everyone also supported Qin Sanlang to continue to toss.

What's more, Qin Sanlang was tossing around in Lingnan, not only did he not ask the Zhengshitang to support a soldier going south, but this time he sent 20,000 Lingnan soldiers, and 60,000 Lingnan strong men went north to support the court.

The money and food in Lingnan are even more advanced by land and water, and they are transported to the Central Plains day and night, and then imported into Chang'an.

Who in the court is not happy with Lingnan like this?

In Wu Dezhong, Lingnan was subordinated, but in fact the imperial court received a little money, food and taxes, and most of the dozens of states and counties only paid a little tribute, and even more did not pay any tribute.

On the contrary, the imperial court has to allocate a large amount of money and food every year to maintain the expenses of the garrisons and officials in important places such as Guizhou, Guangzhou, and Jiaozhou.

As it is now, all kinds of taxes and commercial taxes are handed over. The taxes paid by Lingnan Three Roads this year are already amazing. Although they are far inferior to those in the Central Plains, they have only been paid to a few major ports in Guangzhou, and their taxes have already caught up with Hangzhou. Ming and other coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

And the momentum is very strong.

This is only in public, but in private, among the ministers of the political affairs hall, who has not participated in the industry, commerce and sea trade in Lingnan? Every family has a share of the emerging industry and commerce in Lingnan, and the interests in it are very great. Considerable.

Even Hou Junji, who was not played with by Qin Lang, thought of a way on his own, gave the money to his in-laws, and then secretly mixed it in.

In the past two years, Lingnan has been a new world and a big piece of fat that the rich and powerful in Chang'an have been talking about.

This is something that Dang Renhong and Zhou Shaofan couldn't do when they were in Guangzhou, so although Lingnan is booming at the moment, none of the ministers in Chang'an said they want to pick peaches and replace Qin Lang , because no one has the strength to dare to say that their own people can clean up the mess over there in the past and take care of the interests of each family. Therefore, maintaining the current situation in Lingnan is what everyone is happy to see.

Today's Lingnan is actually still very chaotic, and the water is very deep. Perhaps only Qin Lang can continue to control the situation there, and only Qin Lang can let Feng An and other Lingnan earth kings come. There is no action yet.

Yu Chigong was straight-tempered, "If Qin Lang doesn't come back, we will continue the Northern Expedition. Without Butcher Zhang, we will have to eat pigs with hair? I, Wei Chigong, are not convinced. I will fight Xue Yantuo and Goguryeo. On both sides of the battlefield, I ask you to command the troops." Cut all the way!"

Not to be outdone, Hou Junji asked for the battle.

Li Shimin sucked the coconut juice leisurely.

The imperial court has been making preparations for the Northern Expedition this year, but up to now, the emperor has not announced the specific candidate for the command. This makes the generals who think they are qualified are gearing up and fighting fiercely.

If Qin Lang didn't come back, he would lose another powerful competitor.