Chapter 4: The Theory of “Pork Power”

What can Li Shimin say?

As the head of a country and the lord of the Ninth Five-Year Plan, although he advocates frugality, he has tasted countless delicacies from the mountains and seas.

But the smell of the braised pork left him wanting more.

However, in order to preserve his dignity as the emperor, Li Shimin would not show that he had never seen the world in front of Zhao Chen.

"It's not bad!" Li Shimin licked the grease around his mouth without leaving any trace, and said this without conscience.

"It's better than the pork I've eaten before!" Changsun Wuji agreed with a puffy belly.

But it was so stretched that I couldn't sit up straight.

An ordinary person would just look at them and think that they were starving ghosts who had not eaten for a long time.

Who would have thought that one of them was a servant of the court, and the other was the emperor of the court.

"Brother Zhao, I heard your old servant say that you gave him this craft?" Li Shimin asked curiously.

Zhao Chen's calligraphy and painting skills were enough to astound them.

If even pork, which was never touched by the upper class, became so delicious because of Zhao Chen, Li Shimin didn't know how to express his inner shock.

"I just told Uncle Fu how to do it. The main thing is that Uncle Fu is good at his craftsmanship." Zhao Chen smiled and said modestly.

Li Shimin heard these words with a different taste.

Sure enough, the boy in front of him was like a treasure.

Calligraphy, painting, and even cooking skills were all things he had never heard of or seen before.

Moreover, at such a young age, he is so humble.

Even at his age, he can't help but be a little arrogant.

This boy has a bright future, but it's a pity that his body seems to have a hidden disease.

Li Shimin thought secretly in his heart but did not say it out loud.

"Brother Zhao, before today, I have always mistakenly believed that pork is cheap meat and only poor people eat it. Today's meal, little brother Zhao has completely changed my view." Li Shimin said with a smile. .

Changsun Wuji smiled and nodded, expressing his agreement with Li Shimin's words.

Just

He just ate too much, and now he has braised pork up to his throat.

Before it can be digested, I will probably vomit it out as soon as I speak.

"If this pork preparation method can be implemented within the territory of the Tang Dynasty, and people all over the world will fight to eat it, the Tang Dynasty will be unprecedentedly powerful." Zhao Chen nodded and said.

Although he suffered from a hidden illness and was unable to take part in the imperial examination, Zhao Chen still cared about the country and the country of the Tang Dynasty.

However, when Li Shimin heard Zhao Chen's words, he couldn't help but feel curious.

Zhao Chen's words just now seemed to indicate he knew some ways of governing the country.

Although in just one afternoon, Zhao Chen had already shocked Li Shimin enough. His calligraphy, painting, and even cooking skills were all shocking.

But this is just some heresy, and it is difficult to wait for elegance.

Although shocking, it is not unacceptable.

But how much can a young man understand about the way of governing a country?

Li Shimin became interested and wanted to hear Zhao Chen's so-called "pork power" theory.

"Hiccup—" Changsun Wuji burped again and looked at Zhao Chen with a smile.

They have been managing political affairs since they were teenagers and have decades of experience.

Zhao Chen, a teenage boy, dared to talk about political affairs in front of them, and he was suspected of being a big deal in front of the officials.

"Little brother, what do you think this pork has to do with the strength of the Tang Dynasty?" Changsun Wuji said with a smile, with a hint of joking in his expression.

This noon, he was really hit by Zhao Chen.

Such a young man is so capable!

This time, Zhao Chen wanted to see a joke no matter what.

Zhao Chen glanced at the two people in front of him, shook his head and said with a smile, "Since you two are businessmen who have traveled thousands of miles from Shu, you will naturally see many officials and wealthy businessmen eating beef along the way!"

"Most of this beef comes from strong cattle. In the early days of the Tang Dynasty, cattle were so precious. Every time a cattle was lost, it would be wasted.

How much farmland? "

"The cultivated land is abandoned and the people are displaced, which must be a hidden danger to the country!"

"Brother Zhao is saying that there are still many people in the Tang Dynasty who are secretly killing and eating cattle?"

"I remember that in the first year of Zhenguan, the saint implemented Tang laws and strictly ordered the slaughter of farm cattle!" Li Shimin frowned and said in a deep voice.

His eyes swept over Changsun Wuji, who was so shocked that Changsun Wuji's heart trembled.

He didn't expect that Zhao Chen would actually say this.

Slaughtering cattle has become a secret way of expressing one's status among officials, nobles, and wealthy businessmen.

Of course, only Li Shimin, who has lived in the palace for a long time, doesn't know much.

Who would have known that Zhao Chen, a bastard, would shake him off in front of Li Shimin.

Changsun Wuji now secretly blames himself for being a bitch. He only asked one question and it stabbed him in the spine.

"In that case, why don't you see anyone reporting to the official position?" Li Shimin asked, with a hint of sharpness in his calm voice.

Cattle farming was the foundation of the Tang Dynasty.

Those who eat beef are clearly eating away at the lifeblood of the Tang Dynasty.

"What the little brother is talking about may be an isolated phenomenon, but I am curious, how do you describe this pork power?" Changsun Wuji asked immediately before Zhao Chen could speak.

Li Shimin glanced at Changsun Wuji, with such a hawk-like gaze that Changsun Wuji did not dare to look directly at him.

Zhao Chen didn't care, he just told the guests what they wanted to hear.

Just don't be too picky when you take action later.

He didn't think there was anything strange about Lao Zhang in front of him, so he smiled and said, "If you had such delicious braised pork every day, would you still think about eating thick and tough beef?"

"Of course not!" Li Shimin responded casually, but his heart broke into a cold sweat.

The look he looked at Zhao Chen was no longer as indifferent as before.

Li Shimin looked at Zhao Chen, as if he wanted to see something on Zhao Chen's face.

But his ears were already perked up, waiting for Zhao Chen's next words.

"Compared to cattle and sheep, edible pigs can be slaughtered in one year and can weigh hundreds of kilograms."

"But ordinary feeding only requires wild vegetables, and the cost savings is countless times."

"You two can think about it, how many people in the Tang Dynasty can eat one meal of mutton every month?"

Li Shimin didn't answer.

Although the Tang Dynasty was much more stable than the war-torn years before, only wealthy people could still afford this mutton.

Ordinary people can't afford one meal of mutton a year.

Let alone eating it once a month.

These words were like a knife piercing Li Shimin's heart.

After nine years of hard work, the Tang Dynasty was prosperous, which made him quite proud.

What Zhao Chen said just now made him feel like he had fallen into an ice cave.

It turns out that Datang is still far from being stable!

"Due to the lack of meat, most people suffer from hidden diseases, which invisibly reduces the labor force."

"Have you ever thought about why we, the people of the Tang Dynasty, are not as tall as the foreigners from the north?"

"When the border guards were fighting against the aliens from the north, why couldn't two of them together defeat one of them?"

"Because we are short of meat!"

Zhao Chen's words made Li Shimin break into a cold sweat.

Next to him, Zhang Sun Wuji also had a look of surprise and uncertainty on his face.

They always thought that these things were created by nature, and that they, the people of the Tang Dynasty, were born to be thinner than the foreign races in the north.

Who knew, actually...

"If pork became popular and everyone in the Tang Dynasty could eat it, the people of the Tang Dynasty would naturally be strong and strong, and the combat effectiveness of the army and the labor force in the fields would not be the same."

"If this is the case, how can we, the Tang Dynasty, not be strong?"

After Zhao Chen said the last sentence, he felt his throat was a little dry. Maybe he had eaten some braised pork just now.

After taking a sip of the herbal tea, the two people in front of him looked like they had not yet come to their senses.