Chapter 460 This Child Is Good at Changing His Ways

For Xiahou Yuan, apart from the half-understood theory of acid and alkali, the overall experience was quite pleasant. ơɱ

The noodles tasted sweet and the dishes were salty and light.

The left general who sat at the head of the table was also quite elegant. He and Jian Yong were witty and elegant, which made people fall in love with him.

But unfortunately, his surname was Xiahou.

When the banquet was over, Xiahou Yuan also told Liu Bei quite formally that he would write a letter to Prime Minister Cao when he returned.

Xiahou Yuan also thought clearly about the gains and losses involved.

The Yizhou army of two or three thousand people was neither an elite army nor a good general. Even if they were repatriated, it would not harm the overall situation.

As for Ma Teng's life, it was almost the same. After all, it seemed that Ma Chao had already surrendered to Liu Bei. If the Prime Minister killed his clan, it would only make Ma Mengqi more loyal to Liu Bei.

Moreover, what he saw in Chang'an in the past six months made Xiahou Yuan more vigilant.

Whether it was the undisguised ambitions of Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang and others, or the means of winning over the hearts of the people in Guanzhong Yongliang, or the endless new military equipment and farming methods, all made Xiahou Yuan look sideways.

He had to return to Yecheng and inform his elder brother of everything he saw with his own eyes. This was Xiahou Yuan's most sincere opinion.

After seeing Xiahou Yuan and the others off, Liu Bei and Jian Yong returned to the inner hall. When passing by the main hall, Jian Yong leaned over and picked up a note from the couch and read it out:

"General Miaocai treats Zhang Shao like his own son, and General Zuo's two daughters are fine in Yecheng."

The note was not very regular, but the material was quite familiar. If his judgment was correct, Jian Yong thought it should have been torn from the paper that Zhang Shen used to wrap the medicine.

And the two of them remembered the person who had just knelt here quite clearly.

Liu Bei just smiled, sat down again, poured himself a glass of light wine and said:

"Xianhe will send this note to Yide."

Since Xiahou Yuan agreed, he lived up to the trust of the elders of Chengdu and Ma Mengqi, and had a drink as a celebration. By the way, Liu Bei also praised:

"Zhang Junyi is worthy of his reputation of knowing how to change things."

Zhang He and Xiahou Yuan, who were praised by Liu Bei, walked slowly to the other courtyard with their horses in the name of digesting food after dinner.

Ma Su did not point out their thoughts, but just followed them and watched them return slowly.

It has been nearly five months since Liu Bei entered Chang'an. The dilapidated houses have been repaired, the bumpy streets have become flat again, and even the farmland outside the city has been successfully harvested. Many people say that the harvest is good.

Xiahou Yuan still remembered that when they went to the banquet, the golden crow had not yet set in the west. At that time, they could still see a group of young children carrying baskets and sticking their butts out, trying to pick up some wheat ears on the street carefully.

Zhang He had known about military affairs for a long time. In his opinion, the people of Chang'an now have both shelter from the wind and rain and abundant food and clothing.

This is the appearance of living and working in peace and raising children and grandchildren. Zhang He also had a judgment in his heart: Prime Minister Cao has lost the people's hearts in Guanzhong.

I just don't know how the note left in a hurry will be regarded by Lord Xuande?

Xiahou Yuan was also silent for a long time, thinking about what he had seen in recent months, and wanted to share his worries for his elder brother.

After turning the next street corner, Xiahou Yuan happened to see a noble scholar stepping into a small courtyard, and then turned around and closed the courtyard door.

Xiahou Yuan and Zhang He were both stunned, and at the same time they were hesitant:

"Lu Su?"

The two of them were not familiar with Lu Su, but more because the prime minister dispatched troops after the defeat at Chibi and was ordered to go to Huaiyang to suppress the rebellion.

In addition to the first attack on Lei Xu, he also captured local people to cultivate land.

At that time, it was Lu Su who led the army to defend Jiangdong, and they also met at that time.

Although they had only met a few times, the scholar just now was 80% similar to the general Lu Su who crossed the river in his memory in terms of demeanor and figure.

At this time, the door next to the courtyard that seemed to be Lu Su's house was also opened. A pair of old men and women walked out of the door and passed by Xiahou Yuan and Zhang He. They could still hear the two old people's chattering:

"...I wonder if the apprenticeship in Jiangdong is the same as in Guanzhong?"

"The soup cakes I made were praised by Lu's mother for being delicious. It doesn't seem like she would care about these things."

"Whether you care or not, you have to borrow money to make a gift. I'm afraid that Lu's son will think our Sanlang is stupid..."

Seeing the old men and women walking away, Xiahou Yuan and Zhang He looked at each other again, with countless surprises.

At this moment, the two wanted to go forward and knock on the door to see if it was really Lu Su who opened the door, but on the other hand, they also knew that this was too abrupt. After all, they were just acquaintances and not old friends, and there was Ma Su's half-smile next to them:

"Two generals, it's getting late, please go back quickly."

So the two had to give up the idea of ​​getting something or not and returned to the other courtyard together.

After the gate was closed, Xiahou Yuan and Zhang He looked at each other again and said at the same time:

"Lu Su was captured!"

"Lu Su surrendered!"

Xiahou Yuan frowned and smiled after a word difference:

"Don't worry, Junyi. I will write a letter to my elder brother and let your family know that you are safe."

Zhang He said with joy:

"Thank you, General Xiahou."

On the way, the two seemed to have a lot to discuss, but at this moment, they were not in the mood to talk.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Xiahou Yuan watched Zhang He go back to his room and sleep.

He also went back to his room, but he lit an oil lamp and spread out the letter paper to write a letter to his elder brother as Liu Bei said.

Just when he dipped the pen in ink, Xiahou Yuan somehow remembered Liu Bei's acid-base theory during the banquet, and his mouth was full of saliva and he remembered the sweet taste of the noodles.

"It's okay that Zhuge Liang knows about battle formations, politics and engineering, but he can also cook?"

Xiahou Yuan muttered that he couldn't understand.

And what Xiahou Yuan remembered was heard by Kong Ming the next day.

Listening to Jian Yong's vivid description, Pang Tong was so happy that he said:

"Is this really Kong Ming's teaching?"

Kong Ming shook his head helplessly:

"Before, because of the alkali made from wood ash, I tried to say that everything has acid and alkali."

"Using alkaline water to remove the acid of noodles is also a natural inference. I said it casually because I saw that the lord was interested."

"I didn't expect..."

Thinking of Xiahou Yuan's blank question, Kong Ming felt that he could understand his mood very well. After all, even Kong Ming himself was blank when he heard the lord's words.

Otherwise... I'll talk to you about the theory of acid and alkali in detail when I have time.

After making up his mind, Kong Ming gently tapped the hard stone-like object in front of him with an iron rod, and asked curiously:

"Is this the soap?"

Thanks to Kong Ming's use of lye water to make sweet noodles, and the simplicity of making alkali with plant ash, the alkali workshop in Chang'an was built very early.

After seeing the light curtain, Pang Tong's first thing was to go straight to the alkali workshop, wanting to make this simple-sounding soap first.

But now looking at the white stone-like object in front of him, Pang Tong was a little uncertain:

"It should be...right?"