Chapter 164 Your hat is not as full as mine

Soon, Gongsun Ce and Gongsun Yan finished their action, and both the big and the small began to feel hungry.

In the absence of food, it is okay to just satisfy your craving, but if you really want to have breakfast, it has to be milk porridge.

The main sources of sugar in this era were honey and maltose.

However, sugarcane had actually been grown in the south. Around the time of King Xuan of Zhou, sugarcane was introduced to the south and began to be cultivated.

However, the method of making sugar cane was introduced to the Central Plains through the Silk Road.

In other words, at this time, sugarcane had not yet been included as a raw material for sugar production.

Therefore, Gongsun Ce has sent Luowang spies to the south of Chu State to search for traces of sugarcane.

As the saying goes, a good cook cannot cook without rice. Without sugarcane as the raw material, Gongsun Ce did not add sugar when cooking milk porridge, but added a little salt.

Cook until the milk porridge is ready. After the porridge has cooled down a little, add a little honey and stir evenly. Then start cooking.

Jingwei looked at the milk porridge in front of him that gave off a slightly fishy smell, and couldn't help but think of what happened last night.

Jingwei took a small sip with his eyes closed and found that it tasted good, so he began to drink the porridge seriously.

After all, the color and smell of the milk porridge really made Jingwei feel like he was dreaming back to the midnight.

But Gongsun Yan didn’t think too much about it and enjoyed his meal very much.

"Slurp, slurp, mia, mia..."

Looking at Gongsun Yan, who had the same heroic eating posture as Gongsun Ce, Jingwei suddenly felt like his child had been spoiled.

While Gongsun Ce and the other two were eating milk porridge, Fusu was having dinner with the soldiers accompanied by Wang Li.

Fusu saw the soldiers cooking porridge in a marching cauldron. In the hemispherical cauldron with an open mouth, a round belly and a ring bottom, millet, rice, wild vegetables and sparse dried meat were gently rolling in the boiling water.

Just when the porridge was almost cooked, the cook carefully took out a small cloth bag from his arms, took out some green salt and sprinkled it into the pot.

Then, he picked up a wooden spoon and stirred the pot for a while. To make sure that the salt and porridge were evenly mixed, he scooped some porridge with the wooden spoon and brought it to his mouth to taste it carefully, as if he was tasting a delicacy.

Soon, the cook began to distribute the porridge. Fusu looked left and right, but did not see anyone bringing bowls and chopsticks.

Then, Fusu saw the soldiers taking off their helmets and handing them to the marching cauldron, asking the cook to pour the porridge into the helmets.

Fusu was silent for a moment, and Wang Li saw this and explained, "It is inconvenient to carry bowls and chopsticks on the march, so we can only use helmets, there is no other way.

Now that we have won the siege and have the city as our protection, we are starting to make a fire and cook.

If you are marching in the wild, you can only boil some hot water, put the hot water in your helmet, and soak the pot cake until it is softened before eating. "

Fusu looked at the soldiers who were drinking porridge in silence. He saw them drink up the porridge in their helmets in no time, and then scrape the residue in the helmets with their fingers.

Even these residues were licked clean by these soldiers.

Some soldiers even licked their fingers, as if they were savoring the taste of the porridge.

Fusu frowned, "Wang Li, why don't you feed them enough?"

Wang Li replied to Fusu seriously, "Sir, after breakfast, we will leave Yanyu and continue to go deep into Zhao's territory, so we can't eat too much to prevent the soldiers from falling behind."

Fusu nodded, and Wang Li immediately handed him a set of bowls and chopsticks, "Sir, these are bowls and chopsticks from the county governor's mansion, please feel free to use them."

Fusu hesitated for a moment, but decided to try the helmet. Before this, he and Gongsun Ce rode in a bronze chariot together, and he ate whatever Gongsun Ce ate.

Eating with a helmet is actually a new thing, but new things are often not so easy to accept.

"Wang Li, lend me your helmet."

"promise."

Wang Li had no choice but to take off his helmet and give it to Fusu. The moment Fusu took off the helmet, he smelled a strong odor of sweat.

When a helmet is worn on a person's head over time, it is natural that it will have a bad smell.

Fusu frowned slightly, but still insisted on using the helmet as tableware.

Looking at the porridge in the helmet, Fusu instantly lost his appetite, but Fusu didn't want to give up halfway, so he drank the porridge in the helmet in a few mouthfuls.

Fusu's eyes suddenly became dazed. Wang Li took off the water bag from his waist and handed it to Fusu to rinse his mouth.

Fusu subconsciously took the water bag and began to rinse his mouth, "Gulululu, tui!"

Gongsun Ce never treats himself badly, even if his diet is light, it tastes great.

Therefore, Fusu felt that the food in his mouth was indescribable.

It's not that it tastes bad, but it has a bitter taste and a sweaty smell.

Comparing this with what Gongsun Ce usually ate, Fusu suddenly felt the disparity in the world.

The inland area mainly produces well salt, which is made from brine extracted from underground.

The coastal areas mainly use sea salt, which is obtained by solarizing seawater.

Both types of salt have a slightly bitter taste, but the salt used by Gongsun Ce was simply filtered and precipitated. Although it is not as good-looking as modern salt, it does not taste bitter.

Fusu quickly figured out the reason and suddenly felt that the Qin army’s military rations urgently needed to be improved.

Thinking of this, Fusu hurried back to the county magistrate's office to find Gongsun Ce. He felt that Gongsun Ce must have a way.

"Mr. Gongsun, Mr. Gongsun."

Gongsun Ce was holding Gongsun Yan, who had just eaten, in the sun. Gongsun Ce looked at Fusu, who was in a hurry, and combined with Fusu's actions in the morning, he immediately understood what Fusu wanted to ask.

"Ask about military rations?"

Fusu nodded, "Yes, sir, please teach me how to improve the military rations."

Gongsun Ce asked Fusu, "Fusu, what conditions do you think the military rations should meet?"

“It is easy to store and can resist hunger.”

Gongsun Ce nodded, "Almost. Fusu, listen carefully. The military rations should meet the following conditions:

1. Small size and light weight: The march is long, and the soldiers carry weapons and armor, so the rations cannot be too heavy.

2. Anti-hunger: After soldiers eat the military rations, they must ensure that they will not feel hungry within a short period of time.

3. Durable storage: No one can be sure how long a battle will last, so military rations must be durable in storage to ensure that there is still something to eat when fresh food cannot be delivered.

4. High quality standards: The flour used to make fried noodles and pot cakes must be fresh wheat flour, not stale wheat flour.

5. Adaptability: Our current direction of advance is still the north, where the climate is relatively dry. Foods such as pot cakes will easily become affected by moisture once they arrive in the south.

Once it gets wet, dry food will easily go bad, so adaptability is very important.

Fusu, what is suitable as military rations?"

Gongsun Ce's question stumped Fusu instantly. Seeing Fusu remained silent, Gongsun Ce chuckled and said, "Ha, don't think too much. I will take action."

Time passed quickly, and soon it was noon. After leaving behind garrison troops, the army officially set out.

Gongsun Ce suddenly felt that Hu Zhe was a little pitiful. The others were at most attacked from both sides, like a cheese sandwiched between two sides.

But Hu Zhe is different, he will be beaten from all sides.

Wang Jian attacked from the front, Huan Xi and Yang Duanhe attacked from the back, and Gai Nie and Wei Zhuang attacked from the left and right.

Hu Ze can be said to have no way to heaven, no door to earth, and no escape, he is a man upon a man.

Four months later, the two armies of Wang Jian, Huan Xi and Yang Duanhe successfully captured thirteen cities in a row, while Gai Nie and Wei Zhuang disappeared into the territory of Zhao.

It wasn't that the two were lost, but that they were rushing to Wucheng to set up an ambush.

Wang Jian's main force had now arrived at the city of Wucheng.

Even after four months of thinking, Fusu still couldn't come up with anything suitable as new military rations.

He couldn't think of any military rations that would satisfy the five elements proposed by Gongsun Ce and also meet the taste requirements.

Gongsun Ce has made great achievements in alchemy. If he knew how to do electrical work, he could have built an assembly line for producing canned food by hand.

Although the canned pickled meat may have a short shelf life because there are no additives.

However, since it is vacuum packed, the shelf life is at least three or four months, which should be enough.

Therefore, Gongsun Ce decided to discuss the matter with Gongshu Chou and Master Ban.

The Six-Fingered Black Knight had moved Chu Mo to Xianyang three months ago and merged it with Qin Mo.

Maybe after discussing with the two old guys, we can build a modern factory that doesn’t require electricity. It’s worth looking forward to.

Gongsun Ce held Gongsun Yan and Fusu and stood on the shaft of the carriage to watch the ensuing siege.

Wang Jian looked at the city wall in front of him and waved his hand, signaling Po Tu San Lang to go into battle.

I saw a mechanical beast named Potosaburo that looked like a large pangolin lurking quietly on the ground.

Its body is made of bronze and covered with thick bronze armor.

It has a long pointed head, its eyes sparkle with a faint blue light, its limbs are short and powerful, and its sharp claws are deeply embedded in the soil.

After receiving Wang Jian's order, it used its own weight and sharp claws to dig a deep tunnel in the ground.

Its body shuttled through the tunnel like a nimble fish.

As it moved forward, the surrounding soil did not change at all, only a slight sound of metal friction against the soil was heard.

Soon, Po Tu Saburo arrived under the city wall and suddenly stopped digging.

Then, it broke out of the ground, raised its head suddenly, opened its sharp claws, and launched a fierce attack on the city wall.

Its claws were like sharp blades, easily piercing the bricks and stones of the city wall.

As the claws continued to wave, the bricks and stones on the city wall fell off one after another, forming a huge hole.

Without hesitation, Hato Saburo entered the hole and entered the city.

After entering the city, it climbed up the city wall and quickly approached the city gate. Its claws left deep marks on the wall.

Soon, Poto Saburo came to the city gate and he rushed towards the bolt of the gate in an attempt to open it.

The gate of Wucheng is very thick, and its defense is far superior to that of the city wall. In addition, the gate is an integrated whole. Instead of attacking the gate directly, it is better to get into the city and attack the gate directly.

At this moment, the defenders in the direction of the city gate discovered the trace of Poto Saburo.

As they saw this huge mechanical beast approaching the city gate, they couldn't help but feel a surge of fear in their hearts.

(End of this chapter)