Chapter 3527 Snow in the Western Region
Since the Sui Dynasty, the Central Plains Dynasty has paid attention to the geographical location of the Western Regions. While communicating with the Hu tribes here, it also built many Wubao fortresses and stationed troops here for a long time. On the one hand, it suppressed the resistance of the Hu tribes and on the other hand, it escorted the caravans. of safety.
Under the heavy snow in the sky, the bright moon was shining brightly. On a mountain ridge southwest of Gongyue City, a group of soldiers stationed at a dock.
This group of cavalry numbered in the thousands, and the narrow fort could not accommodate them, so most of them camped outside the fort, under a blanket of snow covering the ground.
In the Wubao, Fang Jun took off his cold mountain armor and sat by the fire, warming his hands and looking around. The entire Wubao was built with adobe. It had obviously been abandoned for a long time and had not been repaired. The walls began to fall off everywhere, revealing the neat adobe inside.
The former Sui Dynasty began to continuously send troops to garrison the Western Regions, and built many such forts to station troops. However, the Sui Dynasty, which was once powerful for a while, fell into internal and external troubles, and the empire collapsed. Busy in seizing power, the management of the Western Regions came to a standstill. The Turks took the opportunity to invade and completely drove the Sui army out of most areas of the Western Regions.
By the time the Tang Dynasty was founded, the country had not yet been truly peaceful.
After the Xuanwumen Incident, His Majesty Li Er took over and established the empire. All aspects of the empire's military and political affairs experienced a strong outbreak. The once-abandoned Western Region strategy was also put on the table and picked up again. In the past two decades, with its abundant treasury and strong combat power, the Tang army gradually regained the territory that the Sui army had abandoned, and once again took control of the Western Regions and placed it under imperial rule.
……
Wang Fangyi came in quickly from the outside, carrying a pair of rabbits that he hunted from nowhere. But the rabbits were strange in shape, looking like rabbits and mice. Wang Fangyi held the long ears in his hands, and the gray fur Scattered brown spots.
After entering, Wang Fangyi first nodded to Fang Jun, then put the rabbit down, took out a sharp dagger from his arms, and deftly disembowelled the rabbit. Then he took off the boiling water on the fire, washed the rabbit meat, cut two wooden skewers to skewer the rabbit meat, and put it on the fire to bake.
His hands and feet are extremely agile.
Fang Jun was warming himself by the fire and asked curiously: "What is this?"
Wang Fangyi said: "When I went out to relieve myself just now, I found two holes under the tree, so I pulled out these two little things. This thing seems to be called a pika. It is only found locally. The number is not large, but the meat is good. Delicious, great barbecue.”
Fang Jun praised: "Good skills."
This kind of ability to survive in the wild is the most rare, especially in this era when all kinds of materials are extremely scarce. As far as he knew, almost all Zhechong prefectures on the frontiers of the Tang Dynasty needed to raise their own weapons and food to varying degrees. Because they were too far away from the center, the roads were not smooth, and supplies were too difficult. They were neither sufficient nor timely.
It's just that it's extremely rare for Wang Fangyi to be able to catch a pair of rabbits just by going out to urinate. After all, thousands of cavalry have just entered the fort here, and most of the wild beasts have long been scared away. Only these ones are dormant in the cave. The little beasts inside can't escape.
However, Fang Jun suddenly looked strangely between the remaining rabbit skins on the ground and the rabbit meat on the fire...
Wang Fangyi noticed Fang Jun's gaze. He was stunned for a moment, and then said with a wry smile: "Why is the commander like this? Even if the general has eaten the gall of a leopard, he will not dare to feed you a rabbit stained with urine..."
Fang Jun glanced at him and snorted: "It's hard to say."
From ancient times to the present, subordinates have always been full of resentment towards their superiors. No matter how respectful they are, there is not a trace of dissatisfaction in their hearts. Secretly spitting into your boss's food and tea is never unusual in any era...
Wang Fangyi was forced to have no choice but to swear to heaven that he would never do such an unconscionable thing, and Fang Jun felt relieved.
The windows of Wubao have long since rotted and fallen, and the cold wind swept in the snowflakes and poured in through the windows, causing the bonfire to flicker and flicker. This is the most complete room in the entire Wubao. You can imagine how dilapidated and crude the other rooms are. However, when marching in the wild, it was a blessing to be able to find such a sheltered place from the wind and snow, and Fang Jun was satisfied.
After a while, the aroma of rabbit meat filled the air, and fat dripped into the campfire, making a sizzling sound. Wang Fangyi took out a small bag wrapped in oilcloth from his arms and opened it carefully. Inside was a pinch of snow-white salt. He pinched a small amount and sprinkled it evenly on the rabbit meat. After thinking about it, he added a small amount, then wrapped the oil cloth and put it in his arms carefully.
In this era, there was no shortage of salt in the Western Regions. Various salt lakes and mountain salts were spread across the vast area. However, due to the lack of purification and filtration methods, the quality was poor and most of them were difficult to eat. Therefore, the salt from the Tang Dynasty was very popular in the Western Regions. The Hu people flocked to it, especially the refined salt that was as fine as snow and was even more valuable than gold.
No wonder Wang Fangyi regards it as a treasure...
After a while, Wang Fangyi took the rabbit meat off the bonfire and handed it to Fang Jun. He took out two hard buns, heated them on the fire, took a big bite, and chewed them.
Fang Jun put one rabbit meat in his mouth and took a big bite, while passing the other rabbit meat back.
Wang Fangyi was stunned and shook his head quickly: "This is prepared for the commander-in-chief, the general will not dare to enjoy it."
The most important thing in the army is superiority and inferiority, and different treatment can best reflect this difference. How can a small scout team dare to enjoy delicious food with the commander of an army?
Fang Jun didn't take it seriously, chewing the fragrant rabbit meat in his mouth, and said vaguely: "Rules are important, but apart from living and dying together in the army, we should also share blessings. You are not the kind of person who needs to be distinguished by superiority and inferiority. A mediocre person of status, if I give it to you, you can eat it.”
Wang Fangyi did not dare to refuse, so he quickly stretched out his hands to take it, took a bite of the rabbit meat in his mouth, and chewed it sweetly. He looked up at Fang Jun, his heart warmed, and he showed a smile that he thought was cute.
The powerful men of the day and the pride of heaven, such as Fang Jun, have a greater weight in the hearts of young people than the achievements of the previous generation. To be able to get Fang Jun's words of "Pao Ze" personally acknowledged by him and to enjoy delicious food with him is enough to make Wang Fangyi full of confidence and admiration.
A scholar dies for his confidant, that's all.
After chewing up the last bits of meat on the bones, he threw the bones into the campfire. Fang Jun burped, took out a bamboo can from his robe, pinched some tea leaves, put them into a cup, poured boiling water into them, took a sip and sighed. Said: "Go In the past, I was tired of eating delicacies from the mountains and seas in Chang'an, but now I feel that this rabbit is the delicacy in the world. This person really needs to leave his comfort zone to experience more fun. It's a pity that there is meat but no wine..."
Although Wang Fangyi can be regarded as a child of an aristocratic family, he belongs to a distant branch of the family. His family has been in decline for a long time, and he has suffered from poverty. It is difficult to understand Fang Jun's emotion. He gnawed the rabbit meat clean, threw the bones into the fire, wiped his hands, and saw Fang Jun throwing the bamboo can over. He quickly took it, took out some tea leaves and made a cup of tea, and quickly put the bamboo can back into Fang Jun's room. In the robe.
Holding a water cup made of compressed aluminum in his hand, he took a sip of the fragrant hot tea and couldn't help but ask: "I heard that this water cup was developed by the commander?"
Hearing this, Fang Jun also looked at the water cup in his hand and said with a smile: "It's a small skill, nothing important. I used to be the minister of the Ministry of War, sitting in the center. I couldn't be on the front line to kill the enemy side by side with my brothers, but I couldn't sit down and eat without meals, so I thought about how to improve. The soldiers' equipment makes the brothers' daily fighting life more convenient, and this water cup is just one of them. ”
This thing is very convenient to make. A thin aluminum sheet can be used by stamping it in one go with a hydraulic forging hammer. There are a lot of aluminum ores. Aluminum in this era is basically useless and very cheap. It is just a bit troublesome to refine, but it is better than smelting. Steel is much lighter and more economical.
Aluminum products are toxic when placed in them, but the amount ingested by the human body due to the container in which they are used is almost negligible. In fact, in that era when aluminum products were widely preached to be toxic, aluminum cans have never disappeared...
The two of them drank water, lay undressed next to the campfire, and closed their eyes to force themselves into sleep. The weather was such that they were trekking and marching in extremely harsh geographical conditions, and they would have to fight a big battle after dawn. Without adjusting their physical condition to the best It is absolutely impossible.
A night of silence.
At dawn, the two of them woke up one after another. The bonfire was already burned out. They simply washed their faces with melted water from the ice and snow, ate some dry food, and then dressed up. When they walked out, the army had already been assembled.
Fang Jun got on his horse and waited around. When he saw the excited faces, he shouted in a deep voice: "Let's go!"
The horse took the lead and galloped down the hillside, followed by thousands of cavalry, rushing towards the large cannibal camp behind a mountain ridge not far away like wind and clouds. (End of chapter)