When Ren Hong walked into the hall, the messy cup and plate had been removed.

Everyone in the east and west seats were watching him.

There are Xu Fengde, Xia Dingmao, Su Yannian's expectations, Chen Pengzu, Xi Chongguo's examination, and Wu Zongnian's suspicion.

There is also Fu Jiezi's scrutiny on the front main seat!

Facing these gazes, Ren Hong walked to the center of the hall and bowed to Fu Jiezi in a straightforward manner, "Hengquan set up a supporter Ren Hong. He met Mr. Fu. Mr. Fu asked Ren Hong to entertain all the officials and soldiers. Now everyone is full and is taking a nap in the house."

"I heard the sound, especially Sun Shiwan's snoring, and this guy fell down and could fall asleep."

Fu Jiezi's words made everyone laugh. He said, "Not only did the hospitality of officials and soldiers, but the banquet was also well arranged. I heard that you thought of these novel ways to eat sheep, chicken, naan?"

Ren Hong glanced at the boss and elders of Dongxi and said:

"It was after I discussed with Xu Sufu, and then made by Xia Sufu himself. The two and three sons who were built by Xuanquan also sold a lot of effort."

Xia Dingmao hurriedly said, "I have no other talent, I rely on Ren Hong's guidance."

"It has nothing to do with the subordinates."

Xu Fengde, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke and said with a smile: "It is all Ren Hong's plan to report to Mr. Fu. This reception is also being planned by Ren Hong."

Ren Hong was a little surprised. Of course, Xia Dingmao would do his best to help him, but he did not expect that Xu Fengde had made the merits so thoroughly and remembered the goodness of the old man in his heart.

Wu Zongnian heard this and said, "Ren Hong, if it is true as Xu Sufu, Xia Sufu said, there are not a hundred or eighty places I have passed through over the years, and I have never seen a capable assistant like you."

"This is just the duty of the subordinates."

Ren Hong reinstated his hand and said: "In the past, Xuanquanzhi was located in a remote place and had shortage of food. He failed to entertain guests well. He was often scolded by the supervisor. As a member of Xuanquanzhi, the subordinate officials were ordered by his husband to assist the Dongchu. Naturally, they were planning their own affairs in their position and thought of improving them, so they had these ways to eat."

Wu Zongnian touched his beard and said, "You use the ability to use the chicken to hold the night, to hold the raccoon and the dog to guard the household. However, you are so omnipotent, but you have done all the work of all three. Why has such a capable assistant officer not been promoted yet? The Gongcao and the Supervisor of Dunhuang failed to monitor it. No wonder you said that you didn't want to work in the pen and inkstone for a long time."

During the whole process, Fu Jiezi didn't say much, just listened silently, but Ren Hong knew that he was the backbone of the mission and the person who influenced his career...

Ren Hongsui said: "Mr. Fu, although these dishes are delicious, they are all small ways to satisfy their temporary desires. They have no great benefits for national affairs, but there is only one exception!"

Fu Jiezi said: "What you said is this baked naan?"

"His he noticed?"

Ren Hong was surprised and immediately said: "Yes, this naan bread seems ordinary, but in fact, it is related to military affairs! It is related to the future of the Han Dynasty in the Western Regions!"

...

Upon hearing this, Wu Zongnian frowned: "How come you, a child, are this thing related to military and national affairs?"

Ren Hongdao: "Please listen to Hong's detailed instructions. I heard that the Western Regions went to the Central Plains far away, divided into north and south roads, and went from north to north and near Hu. There were often Xiongnu as enemies and robbed and killed envoys. When they went south, there were no water plants. I heard that during the reign of Emperor Xiaowu, hundreds of Han envoys went to Dayuan and other countries, but because of lack of food, more than half of the dead..."

Wu Zongnian nodded slightly, and had a deep understanding of this institution that had just ended his mission.

There is no way. The Western Regions are too big, with vast land and sparse populations. Oasis city-states are often separated by hundreds or even thousands of miles! As the saying goes, wild clouds have no city walls, rain and snow have spread to the desert. Many places do not have the conditions for cooking, so they can only use dry food to fill their hunger...

When the mission goes west to Yumen, the food must be maintained until it crosses the White Dragon Pile and reaches Loulan Kingdom before it can be replenished.

But we cannot put all our hopes on the other side, because the Western Regions are close to the Huns, and there are even a child servant lieutenant who chases the king. Therefore, the countries in the Western Regions are more afraid of the Huns than the Han. The Huns go in and out of their backyards in the Western Regions, and they will collude with bandits to rob and kill Han envoys!

Therefore, if the messenger does not load enough dry food in the back of the car, life and death will depend on the expression of the person.

Ren Hong continued: "It is so embarrassing if there are dozens or hundreds of messengers, let alone thousands of Han troops going west, which is even more difficult."

"When the officials went to Xiaogu County, I heard that the old soldiers who had participated in the Battle of Dayuan with General Ershi and finally stayed in Dunhuang said that the first attack on Wan in the first year of Taichu (104 BC). The most difficult thing was not the battle, but the long road, lack of food, and the soldiers did not worry about the battle, but were hungry!"

At that time, Li Guangli was ordered by Emperor Wu of Han and brought 6,000 cavalry and tens of thousands of evil young men to the expedition of the west. The small countries along the way were very scared and each defended the city blocks and refused to provide food for the Han army. The Han army could only get food after capturing the city. If they could not capture it, they would have to leave there within a few days.

In this way, he lost all the way to the west of the Palacio Mountains. Before he could see the capital of Dayuan, the Han army had lost its combat effectiveness and only followed a few thousand people, so he was hungry. Li Guangli was also cowardly. Without Huo Qubingmi's courage to take a long bet, he traveled around at the gate of Dayuan and returned empty-handed.

When he first attacked Dayuan, he failed miserably. Li Guangli returned to Dunhuang with less than three-tenths of the army, which was so angry that Emperor Wu of Han ordered him not to cross Yumen East--the Yumen Pass was not in Dunhuang at that time, but was located in Yumen County, Jiuquan County, which was later where the Iron Han King Jinxiu showed his power.

When it came to the second attack on Wan, the Han army learned a lesson.

As a veteran who participated in that war, Fu Jiezi knew best: After a year of preparation, the Han Dynasty devoted its whole country to the forefront of 180,000 garrison soldiers to develop the Hexi Corridor and build roads. Yumen Pass was moved to the west of Dunhuang, and the pavilion block was blocked to Lop Nur.

Then, the newly recruited army drove 100,000 cattle, more than 30,000 horses, as well as countless donkeys, camels and other things, carrying rice and grain, followed Li Guangli to fight, buried cauldrons all the way to make rice, and ate rice and grain. When the Western Regions saw that the Han army was strong, except for the Luntai resistance that had not been thought clearly, most of them opened cities to welcome them, and the Han army successfully arrived in Dayuan.

But what is embarrassing is that the war ended a year later, and there was another problem with food when the return journey. The Western Regions have fewer people and little grain, making it difficult to supply the Han army, so Li Guangli had to divide the army into several waves and return from the north and south roads of the Western Regions. However, due to the serious corruption problem of officials, many people still starved to death...

As the leader of the Western Expedition Army, Fu Jiezi personally experienced these things. It was glorious to die on the battlefield. What was frustrating was that he was sick and starved to death in the yellow sand!

Ren Hongdao: "After hearing about this, the officials thought that this was because the dry food carried by the Han army at that time was a piece of cake, which was not enough to satisfy their hunger."

Huozi is the dried corn after cooking. Milk is the staple food of the Central Plains, but anyone who has eaten millet knows that this thing has a huge disadvantage, which is that it is not eaten.

The soldiers who consumed a lot of energy often ate more than 1 stone of millet in a month, which was equivalent to 30 kilograms of later generations. It was a bit exaggerated to kill one kilogram of rice a day, but in ancient times when the lack of side food was short, this was just an ordinary meal.

In recent decades, with the increase in the area of ​​wheat in Guanzhong and Hexi, the dry food in the ball has increased the wheat noodles. The wheat is cooked and ground, which is similar to the tsampa (zānba) of later Tibetans. Add water to stir into a paste, or roll it into a ball to eat.

The calories are much higher than dry rice balls, and there is more wheat in the Western Regions than millet. You can buy and make them at any time, but the taste is really hard to describe.

"So the officials followed the recipe of Hubiao in the Western Regions and tried to make baked naan with everyone in Xuanquan."

Ren Hong introduced the benefits of baking naan like a salesman:

"This thing is not only easy to make, it is easy to carry, and will not be damaged even if stored for ten or half a month. It also makes it easy to feel full when eaten, it is not easy to be hungry, and the taste is better than embarrassing..."

Ren Hong is confident about naan. The people of the Western Regions Province spent two thousand years voting with their mouths to prove that naan is the most suitable staple food in the desert oasis.

"Xuanquanzhen presents this item today. When Mr. Fu goes on a mission to the Western Regions again in the future, or when the Han soldiers go west to Yumen, they will inevitably march thousands of miles away, so they can be used as military rations! It can relieve the huge burden of food shortage!"

Deputy envoy Wu Zongnian had gone from disapproving at first. After Ren Hong finished speaking, he stood up with a solemn expression and said to Fu Jiezi: "If this thing is really so beneficial, Fu Jun..."

Wu Zongnian knew the situation of the mission, but Tianma died of illness unexpectedly and failed in his main mission. Although Fu Jiezi's arbitrary decision, they took the risk of killing the Xiongnu envoys in Kucha, it is still unknown whether they can make up for their merits.

It was a coincidence that I encountered baked naan in Xuanquanji, and I was drowsy and came to my pillow!

Although Wu Zongnian tasted average when eating this baked naan, it was indeed better than the sausage and ordinary Hu cakes, and perhaps it could be used as military rations.

The envoys need credit and all the achievements that can convince the court!

Just as Ren Hong expected, but strangely, Fu Jiezi was not impatient at this moment, and just looked at Ren Hong with a smile, and finally said lightly:

"I naturally understand this by having enough food and enough soldiers."

"But it's better to go out and see how this is baked first, and then make a conclusion!"

...

In Ren Hong's opinion, unlike Wu Zongnian, who was full of scholarly taste, Fu Jiezi did have the style of a general. He was not panicked before. Now he suddenly heard that he had made a contribution, but he did not show surprise.

"No wonder he can be a regular man."

After walking to the naan pit outside Xuanquan, watching the complete baking process and checking the required materials in detail, Fu Jiezi thought about it.

“It really looks very easy.”

But he changed his voice: "However, although this thing is delicious and simple, whether it can be stored for so long as you said is enough to serve as military rations, remains to be verified! Xu Sefu!"

"The lower official is here." Xu Fengde bowed.

"I want to bring a basket of naan. The journey back to Chang'an is far, no less than the west to Dayuan. When I arrive at the Hanque in Chang'an, I will know how long this baked naan can last, and whether you have made contributions!"

After saying that, Fu Jiezi turned around and looked at Ren Hong and smiled:

"By the way, can you ride a horse?"

"Yes!" Ren Hongying said: "As a child of Hexi, he is often troubled by Hu, how dare you not be accustomed to chariots and horses?"

Good, fortunately, in the past six months, Ren Hong and the Stable man who was in charge of the Stable, and Stable Zuo learned these two skills.

Fu Jiezi nodded: "Good, it's still early to set the sun. Before leaving, let everyone have a rest. You can go out with me."

"promise!"

The cavalry clerk Xi Chongguo asked for instructions: "Duke Fu, do we also want to walk with you?"

Fu Jiezi smiled and said, "No need, I have something to say, I want to ask Ren Hong alone."

Fu Jiezi stepped on his tall Wusun Xiji horse, and Ren Hong borrowed an ordinary post horse from the Kuihou.

When he led his horse out of the stable, Ren Hong did not know Fu Jiezi's purpose, so he said:

"I dare to ask Mr. Fu, where is he going?"

Fu Jiezi looked toward the direction of the Flame Mountain in the southwest:

"Go and see where I almost buried my bones back then."
Chapter completed!