My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 374 Clear rewards and punishments
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a severe shortage of edible oil, and the country relied almost entirely on animal fat. However, most animals do not actually have a high fat content; pigs have the highest proportion, but even then, the output is very small.

Therefore, even nobles in the Eastern Han Dynasty could not afford stir-fried dishes, let alone deep-fried foods.

Today, the fried food that Liu Feng brought out almost swept the entire audience, giving the local geese of Kuaiji a culinary shock that transcended the times.

Wu Fan was very quick-witted. Upon hearing Liu Feng's words, he immediately knelt down and said, "I never imagined that we would be so fortunate as to be able to taste the general's private delicacies."

During the Han Dynasty, there was none of the contempt and disdain for the kitchen that later generations held for it.

In reality, this was an increasingly rigorous process. Even in the Song Dynasty, Su Shi's exploration of culinary arts was still considered an elegant pursuit, not a shameful act of self-degradation. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, many noblemen would personally prepare sashimi and roasted meat when they gathered, in order to please their friends and relatives.

The local gentry of Kuaiji were overjoyed to be able to taste the private dishes of the General Who Conquered the South, who had just broken their spines.

Doesn't this just prove that they are on the right track?
Liu Feng gave Wu Fan an approving look, letting him figure it out himself, then turned to Wei Teng and asked, "Where is Mr. Zhou Lin?"

Wei Teng was stunned when he heard his own words. He was still a little dazed when he finally stood up after a moment.

Liu Feng, however, showed no sign of displeasure. Only when Wei Teng hurriedly stood up and bowed to him did Liu Feng stop him with a smile, saying, "Mr. Zhou Lin is virtuous to the people, kind to me, and meritorious to the court."

At this point, Liu Feng raised his wine cup and said, "I'd like to offer you a toast!"

Upon hearing this, the county magistrates, gentry, and powerful figures present all became green with envy and jealousy towards Wei Teng.

However, the thought that Wei Teng had donated tens of thousands of acres of land, accounting for 80-90% of the land donated in the past half month, made the jealousy fade away.

Land is the lifeblood of every family; Wei Teng's actions are no different from those of a spendthrift son.

Although everyone was envious, they also secretly hoped to see the Wei family make a fool of themselves in the future. However, this was not something that could be achieved overnight, and for now, they still had to support Wei Teng.

Wei Teng, disregarding the stares of others, quickly raised his wine cup and drank with Liu Feng.

After they finished drinking, Liu Feng did not put Wei Teng back to his seat, but instead summoned him to his side.

In an instant, everyone's eyes were focused on Liu Feng and Wei Teng.

Wu Fan was also a little nervous, staring intently at the two of them, vaguely guessing what was going on, thinking that Liu Feng was going to reward Wei Teng.

Sure enough, after setting down his wine cup, Liu Feng asked with a slight smile, "Mr. Zhou Lin, since you have rendered meritorious service, how can I not reward you? Tell me what you wish for. I will do my best to fulfill your request."

Wei Teng's face lit up with surprise, but when Liu Feng asked him what reward he wanted, he was speechless.

He naturally had desires, and more than one. He was even willing to donate a large amount of land in accordance with Wu Fan's advice in order to revitalize the Wei family and seek a higher official position, or even a noble title.

But I can't say these things in front of so many people.

Regardless of whether the aristocratic class is good or bad, as long as they are not completely stupid, they can still distinguish which values ​​are good and which are bad.

Publicly seeking an official position was the most despised behavior in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

In stark contrast to the Western Han Dynasty, the Eastern Han Dynasty's method of cultivating prestige was an extremely sophisticated means of boosting one's reputation. However, the negative consequence of this method was that those who actively sought official positions were naturally discriminated against.

Wei Teng naturally did not want to be disgraced. After secretly seeing Wu Fan winking at him, he had a flash of inspiration and shook his head at Liu Feng, saying, "What I did was to repay the Emperor and the court's great virtue, to thank the Emperor for his great kindness in pacifying the south and the homeland, and to express my deep gratitude for the suffering of the people. It was not for my own selfish reasons."

"The generals who led the southern campaign were fair in their rewards and punishments and impartial in their dealings."

As Wei Teng spoke, he bowed to Liu Feng and said, "I wish to reward you as a great act of selflessness in the southern campaign. I dare not delay your important business, General. I have a wish that you may grant."

Liu Feng immediately agreed, saying, "Mr. Zhou Lin, please feel free to speak frankly. As long as it is a reasonable request, I will grant it."

Wei Teng immediately bowed deeply, his forehead touching the ground, and said, "Since the second year of Jian'an, first Sun Ce ravaged the land, then there was a lawless rebellion. Our homeland has been invaded by war, the people have been displaced, and the young and strong have suffered heavy casualties. Now, I humbly request the general to exempt Kuaiji from 30% of the summer and autumn harvest taxes this year, so as to save the people of our hometown."

Wu Fan was overjoyed. He knew Wei Teng was straightforward and impatient, but he didn't expect his answer to be so quick-witted this time.

Hearing this, Jia Kui's expression softened.

Despite his incorruptible attitude towards officials, Jia Kui was quite benevolent towards the common people and had a good reputation in various places. He also enjoyed promoting local water conservancy projects and reclaiming wasteland.

When Jia Kui served as the governor of Yuzhou, his achievements were unparalleled. He built water conservancy canals and interrogated corrupt officials, which Cao Pi praised as the best practice in all provinces at that time.

Wei Teng's words undoubtedly struck a chord with Jia Kui, otherwise the usually cold-faced Jia Kui wouldn't have shown an appreciative smile.

Liu Feng burst into laughter, stepped out from behind the desk, and personally helped Wei Teng up.

Wei Teng was truly astute and immediately replied, "Mr. Zhou Lin's merit is more than enough to exempt Kuaiji from a year's land tax. Why are you being so conservative in your request?"

Wei Teng replied solemnly, “General, your campaigns in Kuaiji to quell the rebellious Yue tribes, gather refugees, pacify the people, repair water conservancy projects, and promote education all require money and provisions. My initial intention was to reduce the burden on the elders of my hometown, not to cause trouble for you. If Kuaiji were exempted from taxes, all the necessary grain would have to be transported from Jiangbei, and the cost of transporting even a single shi (a unit of dry measure) would be several times higher, which is not my wish.”

After hearing this, Liu Feng sighed deeply: "I never expected that there would be such a hero as Mr. Zhou Lin in Jiangdong."

Everyone immediately praised Wei Teng in unison, showering him with compliments.

Liu Feng pondered for a moment and said, "We will follow Mr. Zhou Lin's advice on tax reduction. However, this reward alone is not enough to repay his kindness."

Liu Feng deliberately paced a few steps in the hall, then turned his head and asked, "Sir, do you know about snow salt, frosting sugar, and sesame oil?"

Wei Teng paused for a moment, then nodded and shook his head: "Reporting to the general, I have only heard of snow salt and frost sugar. My family has bought some before, and they are indeed delicacies that are hard to part with. But I have never heard of sesame oil."

The sesame oil here is not the sesame oil that will later be offered to Buddhism for lighting lamps, but rather edible vegetable oils such as sesame oil and soybean oil.

Peanuts were already being grown in small quantities during the Eastern Han Dynasty, while sesame was being cultivated in large quantities in the Northwest and Sili. As for soybeans, they were one of the main crops, ranking among the five grains.

Unfortunately, they lacked pressing technology and were unaware of the secret that peanuts, sesame seeds, and soybeans could be pressed to extract edible oil.

Therefore, the Eastern Han Dynasty, despite possessing such treasures, could only pitifully rely on animal fat rendered into animal oil for simple frying and deep-frying, which was a real waste of resources.

Starting last year, Liu Feng arranged for the cultivation of large quantities of peanuts, sesame seeds, sugarcane, and sugar beets along the Guangling line. As for soybeans, the quantity was so enormous that Liu Feng didn't need to make any special arrangements. At the same time, he also built hundreds of windmills along the river, which could not only produce wheat flour and rice flour, but also press vegetable oil.

Now, with a stable supply of raw materials and a large-scale expansion of workshops, Liu Feng has abundant supplies of snow salt, frosting sugar, sesame oil, and other resources. Although these supplies are expensive, they are still in short supply. After tasting dishes with snow salt, tea infused with frosting sugar, and meat fried in sesame oil, most people simply cannot give up these delicacies. Moreover, these are essentially consumer goods, and the annual demand is objectively constant.

Today, the largest markets are nothing more than four: Hebei, Jingzhou, Yizhou, and the last one is Yangzhou, which is centered around Jiangdong.

Because these places suffered the least damage from the war, had the fewest casualties, and the least amount of destroyed farmland and houses, they not only have a large population but also sufficient economic strength to consume these luxury goods.

Liu Feng was already thinking about how to promote these things to increase the Liu Bei group's additional revenue.

Upon seeing Wei Teng, Liu Feng found a good solution: to have Wei Teng, a powerful and loyal clan, act as a distributor. This would not only reward and compensate them but also allow the luxury goods to be distributed.

These people not only have money and needs, but also associate with potential customers. They are already owners of shops and channels in their home country, making them the perfect fit.

In that case, let the professionals do what they are good at.

Wei Teng was the agent carefully selected by Liu Feng.

He donated nearly half of his wealth and actively served Jia Kui, showing extreme obedience to the Southern Expeditionary Army.

Such a person would obviously become the focus of attention for other powerful clans and gentry.

Liu Feng's actions can be seen as setting a benchmark, hoping to have the same effect as setting up a wooden pole at the city gate.

"Zhou Lin may not know this, but these three items are all specialties of Xuzhou."

Liu Feng smiled and cleared up the other party's doubts, then slapped a big pie on the other party's head: "I wonder if Zhou Lin would be willing to act as my agent for the sale of specialties from Shangyu, and even Beihui?"

"acting?"

Wei Teng was somewhat confused, not understanding what Liu Feng meant.

"Yes, it's an agent."

Liu Feng explained, "I can authorize Zhou Lin to purchase these supplies from Xuzhou and then transport them back to Kuaiji for sale. With my authorization, I can guarantee that Zhou Lin's caravan can obtain the most favorable prices in Xuzhou."

Upon hearing this, the eyes of the crowd, whose jealousy had just subsided, widened again. These people had all purchased snow salt and frosting sugar in their homes before.

Although I've never bought sesame oil before, the fact that it's listed alongside snow salt and frosting sugar suggests it must be an extremely precious commodity. Besides, General Zheng Nan just mentioned that some of the dishes served at today's luncheon were made with sesame oil.

The people in the hall were very envious. Among them, a small-time tycoon named Hu Yi suddenly shouted from his seat: "General, I wonder if we can also act as your accounting and business agents, just like Zhou Lin?"

Who is this person?

Liu Feng's face immediately turned cold, and he asked unhappily.

Hu Yi was terrified. He had been drinking too much, and his greed was mixed with the alcohol. In addition, Liu Feng was acting very approachable, so he acted impulsively and shouted.

Seeing Liu Feng's cold demeanor, and the menacing gazes of Xu Chu behind him and Jia Kui and others in the hall, which shot towards him like swords, he was so frightened that he almost fainted.

Hu Yi was filled with regret at this moment, wishing she could go back a dozen breaths and slap herself to death.

He scrambled to his seat, found a direction, and said to Liu Feng, "I, I... I... Hu... Yi, have met... General."

Liu Feng slowly walked up to Hu Yi, but the other person was like an ostrich, simply burying his head in the ground, not daring to raise his head at all.

"Hmph! Tell me all your merits. With all these gentlemen and scholars in the hall, I will certainly reward you fairly and justly."

Hearing the message coming from above, Hu Yi felt utterly disheartened. At this moment, he was filled with regret and could only grit his teeth and beg for mercy, saying, "General, please forgive me! General, please forgive me! I am also willing to offer up my land. I still have three thousand acres of land at home, which I am willing to give up entirely. Please grant my request, General Zheng Nan."

Seeing the man weeping bitterly, Liu Feng shook his head with a wry smile.

This guy's shout made it sound like he was deliberately using underhanded tactics to extort money from powerful clans and wealthy families.

Sure enough, upon hearing Hu Yi's shout, the gentry in the hall seemed to be secretly observing Liu Feng's expression.

"You are drunk. You have acted improperly while drunk, and your drunken state is unsightly."

Liu Feng ignored the other party's offer of a gift and immediately used being drunk as an excuse to kick him out.

Hu Yi, however, felt as if he had been granted a pardon and hurriedly scrambled away.

Seeing that Hu Yi had not been punished, everyone in the hall breathed a sigh of relief. They had been very worried that Liu Feng had actually accepted Hu Yi's offer.

Although they dared not defy Liu Feng, if Liu Feng really did so, his reputation in Kuaiji would probably plummet.

Despite the fact that so many local gentry and powerful families in Kuaiji had previously rebelled, supported Sun Ce in his fight against Liu Feng, and even rallied a large number of Yue barbarian soldiers, the situation was not as dire.

However, Liu Feng's reputation in Kuaiji was not low, otherwise these powerful clans would not have stood on his side.

They each had their own reasons for siding with Liu Feng, but they all shared a common goal: to have Liu Feng protect their vested interests.

Therefore, Liu Feng focused his work on surveying the fields early on.

In the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, an over-farming program was launched, but due to the strong opposition from conservatives and founding heroes, only a portion of the task was ultimately completed.

Now, Liu Feng has picked it up again and plans to test it out first in Yangzhou in the southeast, especially in the Jiangdong region.

Compared to Wu Commandery, the resistance in Kuaiji Commandery was undoubtedly much less, since most of the people had been dealt with by Liu Feng, and those who remained were mostly spineless.

Although Wu County was not as resilient as Kuaiji County, it had a large number of powerful and influential clans.

Therefore, the first region Liu Feng chose for farming was Kuaiji.

(End of this chapter)