Chapter 324: Great Tremor in the Capital
Chapter 324: Great Tremor in the Capital
Chengcheng County suddenly became lively.
Every commoner who received the news rushed toward the yamen.
“What’s all the commotion about today?”
“You still don’t know? His Honor the County Lord just sent someone to announce that today is a festival.”
“But Spring Festival is still over ten days away. What festival is this?”
“The Deity’s Cured Meat and Potato Rice Festival.”
“…”
“What a strange festival.”
“That name is way too long.”
The county townspeople hadn’t seen much of the world. Had it been the folks from Gaojia Village, they’d surely have guessed the approximate idea by now. But the county people didn’t yet grasp just how exuberant the Deity could be; they still needed to gradually learn through interacting with Him.
Nearly ten thousand citizens surged into the square and immediately caught the rich, mouth-watering aroma.
County Lord Liang Shixian oversaw the scene just as he had during distributions of congee to help citizens. Before him stood numerous yamen runners, help workers, and porters busy chopping enormous portions of rice, huge chunks of cured meat, and large strange yellow cubes into mixtures, handing them to those queuing at the front.
The first in line picked up chopsticks, shoveled a bite into their mouths, and immediately displayed an extremely vivid expression: “Ah, delicious… so delicious!”
“Such amazing aroma!”
“The cured meat and rice smell fantastic! What’s this yellow stuff? Incredibly tasty.”
“The Deity just issued a divine decree. This yellow thing is called potato. It’s a new crop. He instructed us to cultivate it should we ever obtain seeds.”
“Ah, but where would we get these seeds?”
“I heard Xi’an has them!”
“When Xing Honglang comes next time to collect our embroidery and take it to Xi’an, she’ll bring back potato seeds.”
“Hey, great! I’ll try growing some myself then. This stuff is really delicious.”
The best way to promote a new crop was having people taste it themselves. One bite resolved all doubts.
Meanwhile, Liang Shixian had instructed another team to prepare meals for Wang Chengen’s troops.
Wang Chengen commanded a full fifteen hundred soldiers. Feeding so many required significant effort. Liang Shixian’s men frantically chopped, mincing all the oversized rice grains and massive chunks into smaller pieces. These were loaded into huge buckets, then placed on handcarts with the rice barrels.
Porters pushed numerous such carts out of the city and toward Wang Chengen’s camp.
Wang Chengen had just heard peculiar cheers rising from the county town, wondering what the excitement was about, when suddenly the city gates opened. A large procession of carts emerged, laden entirely with fragrant food.
This drew a surprised “Huh?” from him.
Liang Shixian approached him with a smile. “General, having journeyed far to suppress bandits in Heyang County, your task is immense. The people of this county, moved by your dedication to suppressing banditry, specially prepared bountiful good food as a feast for your entire army.”
Wang Chengen was stunned. Such kindness?
Common folk usually avoided government troops wherever they went. Precisely to avoid frightening city dwellers, he’d ordered his men not to enter the county town. Yet here were the townspeople voluntarily bringing them food? This… this truly…
Felt rather touching!
Liang Shixian remarked, “Heaven watches. You deserve this, General.”
Wang Chengen saluted with fists clasped. “I gratefully accept then.”
He ordered his troops, and the fifteen hundred soldiers gathered around. Taking the large buckets filled with potato rice from the porters, just one whiff made their expressions change instantly: “Incredibly fragrant!”
“This… there are bits of meat mixed into the rice…”
“Look, such big grains of cured meat, the smoking made it so aromatic.”
“And those odd yellow root-like chunks, wonder what they are.”
An aide presented a bowl to Wang Chengen. “General, taste this. The rice smells extraordinary.”
Unlike the starved regular soldiers, Wang Chengen was quite used to cured meat. Yet even he was astonished upon the first bite.
This dish’s flavor was astonishingly complex, a product of culinary skills that leveraged diverse seasonings developed much later. In ancient times, these spices were prohibitively expensive, making such layered taste nearly impossible to achieve.
Wang Chengen gasped, “This meal is unbelievably delicious! The yellow ingredient is potato—something I’ve eaten in Xi’an before, but always as plain boiled pieces. I never imagined mincing it into rice while steaming would create such aroma… Then mixing it with cured meat granules makes it just perfect.”
Liang Shixian smiled. “When you return to your garrison, General, your garrison soldiers should consider planting potatoes. Properly cultivated, the yield is remarkably high, invaluable for famine relief.”
Wang Chengen nodded. “With your endorsement, County Lord Liang, I shall certainly try it.”
He glanced around, seeing his soldiers eating with immense satisfaction, and couldn’t help but sigh. “Advancing on empty stomachs before battle lowered morale severely. I worried greatly about combat effectiveness. Little did I expect Chengcheng County would serve us such a fine feast. This has visibly restored soldierly spirit. Advancing to Heyang County now, success is assured—we will bring Fan Shanyue back to Xi’an for justice!”
Liang Shixian replied, “We entrust this to you, General.”
Just then, the urgent “clip-clop” of hooves sounded. A fast horse galloped madly from the southwest. The rider yelled while riding hard: “800-Li Express! 800-Li Express! Orders from… Provincial Governor of Shaanxi… for… General Wang… to receive orders!”
Wang Chengen started. “I am here! What order? Speak!”
The rider raced over, reached Wang Chengen, and without time for a proper dismount, tumbled off the horse to land heavily. Ignoring the pain, he scrambled up frantically: “October twenty-seventh! Jurchen troops invaded three routes! One attacked into Da’an Pass! Deputy General Zhou Zhen perished! Another entered Longjing Pass! A third stormed Hongshan Pass! Deputy Generals Zhang Ande and others fled; Zhang Wanchun surrendered! Jizhou is besieged! November sees the capital under martial law!”
“November! Huang Taiji personally led troops to breach Longjing Pass! Guided by the Mongolia Banner Chief Bu’ergatu! They captured Hongshan Pass! Other forces took Da’ankou Pass! Met at Zunhua! Zhao Shuijiao, Commander at Shanhaiguan, came to assist! Died fighting at Zunhua! Entire army annihilated! Provincial Governor Wang Yuanya, Baoding Judge Li Xianming, Yongping Judge He Tianqiu, Magistrate Xu Ze of Zunhua, former Magistrate Wu Qiqian… all defended city to the death!”
The news struck Wang Chengen pale. “The Capital is in danger!”
The messenger continued, “The court has ordered all provincial governors to urgently reinforce the Emperor! Our Provincial Governor demands General Wang immediately return to Xi’an! Join the other four defending commanders—Wu Zimian, You Shilu, Yang Qi, Yang Jiamo—to guard the Capital!”
Wang Chengen nearly dropped his rice bowl. “If I leave? What about Fan Shanyue in Heyang? That scoundrel, parading under the banner of officials, still rampages in Heyang County!”