Climbing to the Top: A Reborn Queen's Journey-Chapter 577: Military Rations (Part 2)

Cui Du eagerly asked, "How is it? Is it tasty?"

Jiang Shaohua generously praised, "Delicious! Much better than dry crackers!"

Cui Du grinned, "This type of military provision can be stored for over ten days. Also, it’s not complicated to make. Just roast and crush, though it requires more manpower."

There are plenty of strong men in the military camp, so there’s no need to worry at all.

This kind of military provision is also very convenient to carry.

Cui Du, as if presenting a treasure, took out a long cloth bag. The bag was thin and about three feet long. Filling it with the military provision, a bag could hold about five pounds. Then you could wrap it around your waist or hang it diagonally on the horse’s back.

Jiang Shaohua’s eyes lit up, "Cui Du, you’ve made another great contribution."

Cui Du laughed, "Such a small thing, not really a great contribution."

"This is no small matter," Jiang Shaohua replied with a smile, "The soldiers are already working hard rushing on their journey. If they can eat conveniently on the road, and even have hot meals when there’s hot water, it would be excellent."

Cui Du thought for a moment and smiled, "We can also add some dehydrated vegetables or meat pieces to this military provision. This would enhance the taste and improve nutrition. I’m not a cook, so I’m not very skilled at this. Let the kitchen investigate further!"

Jiang Shaohua nodded, immediately issuing an order to send messages to the Nanyang Army Camp and the Personal Guard Camp, instructing the kitchens to send two people each.

Even now, messages were delivered swiftly within Nanyang County, and within half a day, both the Nanyang Army Camp and the Personal Guard Camp had sent two cooks who sped straight to the field manor on fast horses.

When the cooks witnessed the new-style military provisions, their eyes lit up, and they marveled at Elder Changning’s brilliance.

"Elder Changning not only grows crops but also makes military provisions, truly a prodigious talent."

"Only such a Elder Changning is worthy of our Commandery Princess."

The cooks, long accustomed to life in the military camp, were straightforward like the martial artists, and even when flattering, they were quite direct. Back and forth, they only had a few phrases.

Cui Du, being complimented, grinned, "Alright, alright, you guys stop flattering me. The kitchen is over there; you few go check it out and add some vegetables and dried meat to the military provisions."

The cooks responded enthusiastically.

Jiang Shaohua, having some leisure time, entered the kitchen with Cui Du. The cooks were bold and, used to the Commandery Princess coming and going in the military camp, they showed no trepidation. Each cook began working on creating various flavors of military provisions.

Jiang Shaohua casually asked Bao Er, with whom she was most familiar, with a smile, "Bao Er, can your daughter walk and talk now?"

Bao Er grinned broadly, "Thanks to the Commandery Princess for your concern, my daughter Hu walks steadily and can call out for her parents now."

After Fangniang married Bao Er, the couple was very loving. After seeking medical treatments for a long time, they finally had a daughter. The couple cherished their daughter dearly.

Bao Er was short and chubby, looking somewhat naive, yet he had quite some real skills at the stove. While chatting, he cut up some boiled vegetables and put them out in the sun to dry. Once dried, they could be bagged, and soaking them in hot water would result in a bowl of steaming soup.

These days salt was expensive, and many common folk either couldn’t afford it or were reluctant to use it. However, the meals for the Nanyang Army and the Personal Guard Camp were quite good. Especially in the Personal Guard Camp, they saw meat every day and generously used salt in every meal.

When drying the vegetables, Bao Er made sure to add plenty of salt.

The method for making meat pieces was similar. Large pieces of beef, lamb, or pork were cooked, soaked in marinade for two hours to absorb the flavors, then cut into cubes and dried.

The dried meat cubes were chewy and flavorful even when eaten as is. Soaking them in hot water for a while made them softer, and thickened with a flour paste, they were quite tasty.

Adding beef pieces gave one kind of taste, pork pieces another, and by adding vegetables, the flavor became even more rich.

Inspired by Elder Changning, Bao Er also thought of a way to make dried noodles. Hand-rolled noodles were cooked, dried, and pressed into blocks with a mold. When eating, soaking them in hot water along with some meat pieces and vegetables added a unique flavor.

The only drawback was that making the noodles was slow, much less efficient than preparing the crushed military provisions, and not suited for large-scale production.

After four to five days of effort, the cooks developed seven to eight new flavors of military provisions. During these days, Jiang Shaohua ate nothing else, only these military provisions.

Although Jiang Shaohua enjoyed the food, Cui Du felt quite concerned and privately said, "Bao Er and the others are only average cooks, and they use a lot of salt, making the military provisions quite salty. In the beginning, it’s interesting and fresh to eat, but soon, eating it continuously becomes tiring."

"You’ve been eating it for several days straight. Today I’ll cook a hotpot for you to satisfy your cravings!"

But Jiang Shaohua replied, "No need. I just want to try eating for ten days or half a month straight. This new military provision needs to be popularized in the Nanyang Army and Personal Guard Camp, and it might even be carried with the trusted aides to the North in the future. If they can eat it, as the Commandery Princess, I can eat it too."

Cui Du gazed at the Commandery Princess, her eyes bright and her face glowing, silently admiring how such a Commandery Princess truly possessed the poise and dignity of an emperor, inspiring a natural sense of admiration and respect.

...

The night at the field manor was exceptionally tranquil.

The night breeze rustled the tree tops, the branches and leaves whispering, while in a bird’s nest, two birds were intimately entwined, occasionally letting out a joyful chirp.

Not until late at night did the thoroughly contented birds quiet down, nestling closely together in tired sleep.

When the first ray of morning sunlight filtered through the leaves into the nest, the once-resting spirited male bird began to entangle itself with the female bird again.

...

Every day Cui Du was busy cultivating good varieties, not inclined to leave the field manor easily. Jiang Shaohua was different; she often went out to inspect, sometimes leaving for half a year, yet the Prince Mansion continued to operate smoothly.

Her trip to the manor this time was to develop new military provisions, and staying for half a month was only appropriate.

In fact, even if she stayed and didn’t leave, the Prince Mansion Officials would not urge her to return. The Commandery Princess was newly married, and spending time developing new military provisions and with her newlywed husband was a perfect combination.

Mrs. Zhang had already started considering inviting Doctor Sun to check the Commandery Princess’ pulse.

Since she reached adulthood, the Commandery Princess’s menstrual cycle had been irregular, often delaying by half a month as was common. Nearly two months since her marriage, her cycle had not come, possibly indicating she was expecting.

In the seemingly eternal peaceful and joyous days, Jiang Shaohua vaguely felt an illusion of time standing still.

If things continued this way, perhaps this massive and precarious ship of the Da Liang could still sustain itself for decades.

She had ambition and capability, yet she harbored no thoughts of rebellion or seizing the throne. As long as the Da Liang Dynasty could barely maintain its stability, she would peacefully guard Nanyang County.

Then, suddenly, everything changed.

Five days before the Emperor’s grand wedding, an urgent report from the court arrived in Nanyang County.

The Emperor suddenly fell ill, collapsing unconscious under the watchful eyes of many, and never woke up again. The nineteen-year-old Emperor Taihe, having reigned for three years, passed away.

Once again, the sky of Da Liang crumbled.