Records of the Cattle and Horses of Chang'an

Chapter 291 Huaiwang Fish

Just over these two issues, the officials in the court, mainly those from the Ministry of War, Ministry of Revenue, and Ministry of Personnel, argued so loudly that the sky was dark and the sun and moon could not shine.

I have to say that to some extent it is similar to the United Nations General Assembly.

That is, Cui Bianxu was in the Dali Temple, and his superior Liu Dewei didn't want to get involved in this matter at all, and kept pretending to be dead with his hands in his pockets! Otherwise, he actually had some ideas.

Do you have any opinions? Of course I do!

Oh, if we don’t marry the princess, Tubo will make trouble. Is this a request for marriage or a forced marriage?

The emperor is the father of all people in the world, and the princess is naturally the sister of all people in the world. If you want to marry our princess, he may not agree even if you kneel down to talk to him, so how dare you jump up?

Who is the Tubo a mere threat to?

Whether to help or not is even simpler. Of course I will help.

Tuyuhun and Tubo were both located to the west of the Tang Dynasty. Tuyuhun was the dividing line separating the two countries. If we launched a large-scale attack on Tuyuhun and accidentally conquered it, and then also attacked the neighboring Dangxiang, wouldn't the northwestern border of the Tang Dynasty be in danger?

Furthermore, since it was a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty and a princess was married there as a political marriage, it is only right and reasonable to help them, right?

Who would have thought that these people would argue endlessly over such a small matter?

Cui Bianxu maintained a deadpan face and kept reminding himself that he was about to get married and should not be impulsive. He cursed all these people in his mind one by one.

If Jiang Shangxian were to say so, this war must be fought. Not only must it be fought, but it must be fought with heavy blows to directly crush Tubo!

According to the "Chronology of the Tang-Tibetan Wars", a total of 192 wars occurred between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo.

However, the number recorded in classics such as "Cefu Yuangui" and "Old Book of Tang" is 109 times, of which 88 are major battles.

You have to know that the Tang Dynasty only existed for a total of 289 years!

How could there ever be true peace between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo? They were constantly fighting, fighting, fighting, like a clingy couple who broke up a hundred times and reconciled ninety-nine times.

As a result, Tubo was finally defeated by the Tang Dynasty.

Some people say that Tubo was a special force sent by God to suppress the overly powerful Tang Dynasty. With the unification of the Tang Dynasty, Tubo achieved the unification of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, but fell apart on the eve of the fall of the Tang Dynasty.

You must know that after Tubo, there has never been such a unified regime on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

The Ministry of Personnel said that with years of wars, fighting here and there all day long, they couldn't mobilize all the military officers. Moreover, Goguryeo in the northeast also needs people. They can't just send some new recruits to fight, right?

The Ministry of War wanted to fight. How could soldiers achieve success and make money without fighting? Fighting was what they were best at.

The Ministry of Revenue jumped out again and said that all the expenses for this year had already been decided, and suddenly an additional expenditure was required, which was absolutely unacceptable. The main point was that there was no money and only life. If you have the ability, all the officials of the Ministry of Revenue will be strangled to death in front of the court!

Some might ask, "Wasn't the Tang Dynasty still using the fubing system at that time? Why would the Ministry of Revenue have to pay for it?" Those who think this way are like Jiang Shangxian, with only a superficial understanding of the situation.

The palace soldiers were not the only type of soldiers in the Tang Dynasty. In addition to the palace soldiers, there were also the imperial guards who were responsible for guarding the palace and stationed at the north gate. They were symmetrical with the palace soldiers led by the twelve guards, forming the Southern and Northern Yamen.

For going to war and defending the state, there is a recruitment called "recruitment" but actually "conscription", such as the unity soldiers and garrison soldiers to defend the state. Whenever there is a war, the number of recruited soldiers is often far greater than that of the government soldiers.

Therefore, the recipe Jiang Shangxian presented as tribute was not useless. The imperial chef in the palace made some improvements to it, pressing the dough more firmly. As for the topping, it was naturally only a pure vegetarian bean topping.

But at least it’s more convenient to eat, right?

As for meat jerky and the like, they have also been modified to become hard and dry. They are for military officers to eat. Because they are too hard, they are very difficult to chew. A piece as long as an arm may not be finished in three or four days.

Because it's really too useless.

Unfortunately, Cui Bianxu now understands that His Majesty will not allow him to join the military. The Cui family is already enough, and if he wants to fight for merit in the army, that would be too much.

What's more, the Tang Dynasty today has no shortage of experienced military generals.

Finally, when the long-delayed court meeting ended, the Tang Dynasty decided to sit on the sidelines and watch the war between Tubo and Tuyuhun.

After standing there for an hour and a half without hearing the happy result, Cui Bianxu found it really hard not to have a stern face. Li Sheng, who was waiting outside the palace gate with a horse, had a poker face like his master, which was very different from Jian Ming.

If it was Jian Ming, he would have probably started asking with a sad face what made him unhappy today, but Li Sheng didn't say a word, just followed behind on his horse, saying, "If I don't say anything, you won't have a chance to scold me!"

Xiao Jiang, who finished today's course ahead of schedule due to his excellent grades, was given the right to teach the second apprentice Zhou Ying in the kitchen while other students were studying. Although Zhang Yingxue had been in Chang'an for some time, she knew very little about social news because she had not found a job and did not know many people.

She hadn't expected that her student's main job was a chef, and he had three apprentices - only one less than herself!

Mian Sui was curious and prepared to follow to the kitchen door to watch for a while. Jiang Shangxian usually made it himself first during class, explaining while doing it. After finishing, he let his apprentice taste it and ask any questions. After answering the questions, it was the apprentice's turn to make it.

Therefore, the curious baby Mian Sui had not even touched the threshold of the kitchen. He just watched from outside as Jiang Shangxian, who had just been clumsily writing with a brush, skillfully held the mallet with the hand that held the brush, stepped on the fish with one foot, and hit the fish's head with the mallet quickly, accurately and fiercely. After three consecutive hits, a Huaiwang fish weighing about fourteen or fifteen pounds was directly hammered to death.

The Huaiwang fish, also known as the long-snout catfish (Catfish longnose), can weigh up to 15 kilograms and is found primarily in the Yangtze, Yellow, and Minjiang River basins. The name "Huaiwang fish" comes from Liu An, the King of Huainan during the Western Han Dynasty. Liu An loved eating the fish and often served it to guests, hence the name.

As Zhang Yingxue's personal maid, Mian Sui had naturally never killed fish or chickens before. Such a big fish was killed by the "bang bang bang" sound. She even felt a little short of breathing for a moment.

Jiang Shangxian washed the fish clean, and finally threw the fish flesh on the ground and stomped on it hard. He happily heard a sound and then took the fish to the kitchen by the tail.

Seeing her watching from a distance, he thought she was just craving something, so he said with a smile, "It just arrived this morning, fished out of the Yellow River. It traveled over twenty miles to get here. It's not easy for it to be alive. It's fresh. We'll have it for lunch later. I wonder if you have any dietary restrictions?"