Chapter 101: The Prime Ministers are all treacherous ministers
After Shen Zhi and the wet nurse went to Zhou's shop, they returned to Shitou Village.
Shen had already prepared dinner, and Shen Zhi helped set the table. During this time, everyone had gotten to know each other, and there was no particular ceremony, so they all ate at the same table. Especially the few people who came out of the basement, they were all not arrogant. When eating, they took their own bowls and served as much rice as they could eat.
When Shen Zhi saw Zhuge Ling coming, he hurriedly served him the meal and handed it to him, pulled out a chair for him to sit down, and even made him a cup of hot tea.
"What's wrong with you today? You seem weird." Zhuge Ling picked up a piece of food with chopsticks and asked while eating.
Shen Zhi smiled servilely, "I heard that you are the Prime Minister."
"Is there anything strange about me being the Prime Minister? When you were in the basement, everyone was a general and a high-ranking official. I never saw you get nervous. You just scolded me when I should and ordered me around when I should." Zhuge Ling was puzzled by Shen Zhi's abnormal behavior.
Shen Zhi said embarrassedly: "I read the storybooks, and the prime ministers are all treacherous ministers, narrow-minded, and vindictive. I used to order you around and even called you short and fat. You won't retaliate against me, will you?"
Zhuge Ling's face was full of black lines. You still know how to be afraid? It was so easy to call you a shorty in the past.
Zhuge Ling rolled his eyes at her and said, "Speak nicely. If you don't, I will retaliate fiercely."
Shen Zhi's expression changed immediately, and he smiled proudly, "Okay."
The Lu brothers came over and said, "We are also high-ranking officials, aren't you afraid of us?"
Shen Zhi shook his head and said sternly, "You are different. You are military commanders. Since ancient times, military commanders have always been loyal and patriotic. They are the most loyal and righteous. As the old saying goes, those who are loyal are usually butchers, and those who are unfaithful are usually scholars."
The Lu brothers were delighted and proud when Shen Zhi said this. They even glanced at Zhuge Ling with a smug look.
Zhuge Ling...
It seems that I, a scholar, am the most ruthless.
Cao Rumo snickered beside him, "Please rest assured, Lord Yixiang, our Prime Minister Zhuge is a loyal minister and a man of great righteousness."
Uncle San also laughed and said, "The generals we have served here are all loyal and righteous people. These two General Lu helped us a lot when we were harvesting potatoes a few days ago."
Time flies when the Chinese New Year is approaching. The Lu brothers have been running to the mountains these past two days, saying that they want to hunt more prey for the Chinese New Year. They have brought back a lot of wild boars, roe deer and other wild animals. Shen was a little worried, how could they eat all the wild animals. I used to dream of eating a piece of meat, and now it has come true, but I am tired of it. I wish I could hang the cured bacon all over the eaves.
The elder brother of the Lu brothers was named Lu Jie, and the younger brother was named Lu Zheng. They were both strong and muscular, and they had been well fed and well fed in the Shen family for some time, so they were even more muscular. Their interest in hunting did not diminish at all. Even Eunuch Cao and the guards were eager to try, and later they simply asked Zhang Chong to go up the mountain together.
Wow, they actually took down a wild boar's den, with 57 fat pigs. This worried everyone, as they couldn't finish eating so many pigs in a lifetime. Later, Eunuch Cao decided to keep five for himself, and give one to General Song and the county magistrate. The remaining 50 were all given to the villagers of Shitou Village, so that they could also have a good year.
When Shen Zhi went to inform the head of the village, he was stunned. There was such a good thing. These officials were really generous. This was all thanks to Erya.
The village head quickly asked his son to inform the young men in the village, and they all happily went up the mountain with ropes and wooden poles. Two people worked in a group and it took two trips to carry the fifty wild boars down the mountain.
The women in the village had already set up pots and boiled water in the large open space at the entrance of the village, and two butchers were also in place. The children were also running around in the field to watch the excitement, and everyone had a smile on their face. The village was more lively than ever before.
The butcher was busy killing the pig, the men were responsible for cutting the pig into pieces, and the respected elders were invited to weigh the pork, trying to be fair and just. There were 101 households in the village, and every household was allocated 100 to 200 kilograms of pork, even Old Man Qin got one, and everyone was very happy, as they could have a truly prosperous year this year.
Shen Zhidu taught the women to clean the remaining pig heads and offal, and then took out the braising ingredients package and taught them to start the braising pot. She used some of the remaining meat and pig blood to stew two large pots of slaughtered pig dishes, and the fragrance spread throughout the village. No one in the village cooked today, and everyone held a bowl at the entrance of the village to scoop a bowl of slaughtered pig dishes and ate them with gusto.
The stewed pot was ready after stewing for half a day at the entrance of the village. Every household in the village brought a large basin, and each family took a basin of stewed pig head and offal home. Everyone said it was delicious. Now that the weather is cold, it will not be bad to keep it until the New Year. When guests come, they can also eat it as a dish. The taste is not bad.
At the Shen family, the guards had already sent two wild boars to the county magistrate and General Song in a carriage, and Zhang Chong had already forced two of the remaining five to be taken away. Shen looked at the other three and wanted to cry but had no tears. There were still many live wild boars in the pigpen outside, and these three were killed by them directly, and they couldn't leave them alone.
Shen Zhi came up with a plan. She used pig fat to make lard, and then mixed the oil with leeks and dried shrimps to make dumplings. She used the other pork heads and offal to make stew. She secretly put the spare ribs in her space to keep them fresh, and then made soup during the Chinese New Year.
Then Shen Zhi ordered a large meat grinder and sausage casings in the space. He minced all the remaining pork into meat paste and made sausages of different flavors. Some of them were roasted and eaten fresh, and the other part was dried and made into sausages.
After all this, the dumplings were cooked. The dumplings with oily filling were so delicious that everyone was very satisfied.
On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, Shen Zhi woke up Shen Zhen early in the morning, and the two sisters drove to the Song Mansion to deliver New Year gifts. Today, the Song family happened to be at home, and they all knew that the things Shen Zhi sent were always Western goods that they had never seen before, so they all came out curiously and surrounded the carriage to watch the servants unload the goods.
Shen Zhi prepared a walnut floor-standing rotating full-length mirror for each of the Song family's female members, including little Song Yu. This full-length mirror instantly captured the hearts of Mrs. Song and Song Rou as soon as it was brought down. The small mirror Shen Zhi gave them last time was placed on the dressing table, but this time, you can see the whole body, and even Mrs. Song was moved when she saw it.
Shen Zhi gave General Song and Song Che an electric shaver each, and also gave them enough batteries to last for several years, and told them how to use them.
Both of them paid great attention to their appearance, and were very happy to receive such a gift. When they saw Shen Zhi take out two boxes of wine, their eyes almost popped out.