The Sixteen Kingdoms of the Eastern Jin Dynasty: The Competition in the Central Plains

"This is my second time coming to Liaodong, and these two are my followers. The four people on the west are two cooks and two cooks, and the ones on the south are the eight sailors who sent us. Along the way, these eight sailor brothers had the hardest time. Tao Liao said. A soldier said:"We are all born in the war, so we can endure any kind of hardship and hunger.""

"So do you like to drink mare's milk, milk, or tea from your Central Plains? Or would you rather drink boiled water?"Murong Shan asked very politely. Tao Liao said with a smile:"Then bring a pot of tea. We are used to drinking tea and we can't change it."

Not long after, Murong Shui brought a large pottery basin, which looked like tea. Inside the pot, there was also a pony spoon made of bamboo tube. Murong Shui happily put the pot on the wooden In the middle of the table, he said embarrassedly:"We, the Murong tribe of Xianbei, are not like you Han people in the Central Plains, where every household has a teapot. In the future, there will be more business trips to and from the Central Plains, and you will be able to drink our mare's milk, and we will be able to use the Han teapots."

Murong Shan then brought two stacks of black pottery bowls from the cabinet to the east of the stove. Each person placed a pottery bowl in front of them. Murong Shui picked up the pony spoon and filled each person's spoonfuls one by one. Tea. Murong Shan went to the stove to fetch boiling water and poured it into the pottery basin.

"Everyone, please have some tea. Today is not bad. We still have a bag of tea here, which was given to us by a merchant passing by from Jiangnan, but there is no teapot. A few years ago, I bought a teapot from your Central Plains region. Later the teapot broke. There was constant war in the north, and it was impossible to buy a new teapot for a while."Murong Shan said and picked up the tea in front of him. Murong Shui, Tao Liao and others also picked up the tea and drank a few sips. After drinking a few bowls of tea, others noticed that the two cooks who had not spoken much had been , his eyes were always staring at the Murong brothers. He was still smiling and muttering, and he didn't know what he was talking about.

Upon seeing this, Murong Shan asked:"Master Tao, are these two women your female relatives?"!"

"no no. The two of them were cooks, helping the two cooks cook on the ship. Tao Liao hesitated for a while and then said:"Alas!" It was all caused by the war. If it hadn't been for the war, the two of them were only in their thirties, and they would have had two or three children. such a pity! Both of their husbands were generals from the previous dynasty, and both died for their country during the Hu people's invasion of the south. Although the two of them were young and married to their respective husbands, the constant war caused them to spend less time together and more distance from their husbands. Sometimes we don't see each other for several years in a row, until the yin and yang are separated. The two cooks and the two cooks both crossed the Yangtze River from the north to the south."

"Who says it’s not! The wives of our two brothers were also killed by Yuwen soldiers who were also from Xianbei during the war."Murong Shan said:"The common people are willing to live a peaceful life, but war follows them everywhere. I hope war will not happen again."

"The lives of these two sisters were hard enough. At such a young age, the war took away their dearest people. Please, Mr. Tao, can you let us know the names of the two sisters?"Murong Shui asked shyly. Tao Liao smiled and said:"What's wrong with this? The one sitting to the north is called Xiaohua, and the one sitting to the south is called Xiaocao. The two of them are cousins, Xiaohua is the elder sister, 29 years old; Xiaocao is the younger sister, 28 years old."

The two Murong brothers laughed in unison. Murong Shan said:"We brothers are like mountains and rivers, and our two sisters are like flowers and grass. Mountains and rivers are inseparable, and flowers and plants are inseparable. This is really a mountain, a river, a scenery, a flower, a grass, a world!"

The dozen or so people present, including Xiao Hua, Xiao Cao, etc., all burst out laughing. Xiao Hua and Xiao Cao were women after all, and they lowered their heads shyly and fiddled with their fingers. But their shy smiles still reflected the handsomeness of the two people. face.

After a brief silence, Murong Shan secretly looked at Xiao Hua and Xiao Cao, and asked Tao Liao timidly:"I wonder if the two sisters plan to get married again? Do you have a sweetheart?"

"Well, I still really don’t know. We have only known each other for more than ten days. Tao Liao turned around and asked Xiaohua and Xiaocao:"Do you two sisters have any thoughts of getting married again?""

Xiaohua was a little more generous. She hesitated and whispered:"It depends on fate."

Xiaocao was shy and didn't speak. Seeing Xiaocao speak, he nodded.

More than a dozen people were drinking tea and talking. It was very lively and they became more and more familiar. As they talked, they also arrived. It’s time for dinner. Murong Shan said:"Let’s eat first, and we can continue talking after dinner. Ah Shui, go get us Xianbei people’s delicacies!"

After Murong Shan finished speaking, he also left the wooden table. After a short time, Murong Shui brought two barbecues, and Murong Shan brought a stack of yellow-brown pottery plates. Murong Shan placed a pottery plate in front of everyone. Shui put the barbecue in the center of the wooden table, and then started to cut the barbecue with a knife. Everyone present could smell the tangy aroma of the barbecue.

"What kind of meat is this? Why is it so fragrant?"Tao Liao couldn't help but ask, and the others also looked at it curiously. Murong Shui said:"This is a whole wild goat killed, two pieces of goat meat roasted. My brother and I just baked it in the afternoon. You are such a blessing!"

There were a total of seventeen guests and hosts. Murong Shui divided seventeen pieces of roast mutton exactly, and some were not divided. Murong Shui went around the table and put a piece of roast mutton into everyone's ceramic plate. The aroma of roast mutton filled the air. , making everyone salivate and appetite. But these fifteen Han people didn't know how to eat it, so they didn't move or open their mouths.

"Why don’t the guests start eating? Murong Shan asked. Tao Liao smiled and asked,"Don't you Xianbei people use chopsticks?" Just pick it up and start eating?"

"What are chopsticks?! Murong Shui thought for a moment and said,"The chopsticks you Han people have are just two bamboo sticks, right?" I have seen some merchants from the Central Plains and Jiangnan using chopsticks. Tao

Liao also smiled and said:"It's just two bamboo strips cut from bamboo, used to pick up vegetables and eat." Scratching meat with your hands will make your hands greasy. You have to wash your hands after eating, right?"

"You Han people are really particular about how you drink and eat. From now on, we brothers must learn to drink tea and eat with chopsticks like you Han people."Murong Shui said with a smile.

"bring it on! Everyone just picks up the roasted lamb with their hands, puts it in their mouths and eats it! Murong Shan said:"Eat a big piece of meat first, and then drink a big bowl of mare's milk. It's the most enjoyable!""

Everyone had a piece of roasted lamb in front of them. The Murong brothers, Tao Liao, two attendants, two cooks, and eight sailors all finished eating. The aroma of roasted lamb filled the tent, and people were talking and laughing. However, Xiao Hua and Xiao Cao didn't finish their meal. After all, they were women and their appetites were smaller. Seeing that the two beauties had not finished their meal, Murong Shan said,"Is our roast lamb not delicious, or are you too embarrassed to finish it?" How about we brothers do it for you?"