Diqin Designer

Chapter 156: Universal Celebration of the New Era

After hearing the explanation, the Zhao prisoners became even more confused. Why would the King of Qin be so kind as to give gifts to them, the Zhao people?
But I also became interested and followed the crowd over to watch.

All I saw was that the crowd was surrounding a platform. Qin soldiers were standing around the platform, preventing the crowd from approaching, but I could see some very high tables on the platform.

There were strange things placed next to those tables, and there were things on the high table as well. One of them seemed to be salt, but how could salt be so white?

What are those things in regular chunks on the plate?

There were several stoves on the stage, with cauldrons on top, and a pile of round, black things neatly stacked beside the stoves.

That should be Shi Nie, but how could Shi Nie be made into such a shape?
Some people have used stone incense before, but they have never seen stone incense of this shape. Although stone incense can burn to keep warm, it has a peculiar smell and can even kill people. Why did the King of Qin give this thing to the Zhao people as a gift?
A man in official uniform stood on the stage. The people of Zhao who recognized this official knew that he was the governor of Handan County, the highest-ranking official in the entire Handan County.

He bowed respectfully towards the southwest and said, "Today is the first day of December, the day when the king is crowned emperor. To celebrate this grand event, Your Majesty has specially prepared several gifts for all the people to celebrate. This is Your Majesty's grace, and we should be grateful to Your Majesty for his grace..."

The county magistrate spoke happily, but the people of Zhao in the audience did not respond much: We came here in the cold wind early in the morning to listen to your nonsense and boast about the kindness of the King of Qin?
Seeing that the people of Zhao below the stage did not respond and he was the only one shouting on the stage, the county magistrate felt quite bored. He had said so much, but these people of Zhao did not even know how to show some support. What a bunch of unruly people!
"My fellow villagers must have long wondered what His Majesty had sent. Please listen to my words..."

The county magistrate pointed at the object on the stage that the Zhao prisoners thought was a high table, and said, "This thing looks like a table, but it is taller and bigger than ordinary tables. It is called a 'table' and can be used for writing, placing other things, and for the family to eat..."

It is easy to see that it can be used to hold other things, such as writing and eating, but how can it be reached when it is so high?

Let’s listen to what the county magistrate means. The whole family wants to eat together at this table?
When they saw the things beside the table, many people from Zhao immediately understood that these things should be used in conjunction with the table, and they would be able to get them if they sat on them.

The county magistrate pointed at the items and introduced them to the people of Zhao below the stage: "This is a chair, and this is a stool. They are all things we can sit on. With these chairs and stools, we don't have to sit on the ground or kneel down in the future!"

As he spoke, the county magistrate asked several officials on the stage to sit on the chairs.

Seeing these officials sitting at the table, the people of Zhao who were watching now fully understood the function of the tables, chairs and benches. They just didn't know how it felt to sit on the chairs and benches, but it looked like they should be more comfortable than kneeling.

The governor of Handan pointed at the salt on the table and said with a smile: "I believe some of the villagers have figured out that this is salt. From now on, we can all eat this salt."

The crowd in the audience was slightly agitated, some of them couldn't believe it. Is this really salt?
It was completely different from the salt they had eaten before. It was obviously the best salt, which was usually only available to nobles. But now the King of Qin wanted to let them eat it too?

The county magistrate intentionally did not say that salt and iron would only be sold by the government in the future. They could eat salt of this quality, but they had to buy it from the place designated by the government.

Seeing that there were many salt dishes on the tables, all filled with that kind of snow-white salt, some Zhao people couldn't help but wonder: Are there so many of them, could it be that they want to let them taste the salt?
The county magistrate pointed to another thing on the table and said, "This is tofu. Although it is made from beans, it tastes better than bean rice and can be boiled, steamed, roasted, fried, or dried. It can also be paired with other foods. But those who cannot eat beans cannot eat tofu either!" At this time, the Zhao people who were near the platform heard a "gurgling" sound of water, and a rich meaty aroma wafted out from the pots on the stove. It was obvious that meat was being cooked in the pots, but why was the meat so fragrant?

Smelling the aroma of meat, many people from Zhao couldn't help swallowing and looked at the pots.

Noticing the actions of the Zhao people in the audience, the county governor said: "I'm sure you guys are wondering why the meat smells so good. In fact, it's because we added an extra ingredient when cooking the meat. This ingredient is called 'Thirteen Spices'."

"Thirteen spices can be used for cooking, steaming, baking, simmering, roasting, and roasting... When you cook, adding some thirteen spices can enhance the taste of the food!"

The several things that the county governor proposed in succession were all related to their daily lives. The people of Zhao did not expect that the gift that the King of Qin would give them would be this, but if these things could really be of use to them, they would indeed be useful.

But will the King of Qin do that?
Will it be just displayed for them to see, but if they really want to have it, they have to buy it themselves at a high price?

The county magistrate pointed to the pile of black stuff beside the stove and said, "This thing is called 'honeycomb coal'. It is called so because it has holes on it like a honeycomb."

"This thing is made of stone and can be burned in a furnace. It can be used for cooking and heating. These stoves are burning this thing. Four or five pieces of it per furnace can meet the needs. If it is used for heating all day, the consumption will be higher."

"Some villagers may wonder that although the stone briquettes can burn, they have a strange smell and can even kill people. Don't worry, this honeycomb briquettes have no strange smell when burning. The reason why the stone briquettes can kill people is that when the stone briquettes are burning, the house is closed and not ventilated to the outside, which leads to death."

The county magistrate warned: "All the villagers, please remember that whether you use stone or honeycomb coal, you must not completely block the room. It must be connected to the outside world."

Even in modern times, there are news reports of people using coal stoves without opening doors and windows, which led to the death of an entire family. Not to mention the people of this era. If they are not carefully warned, there is no guarantee that many people will lose their lives from using coal and honeycomb briquettes, and eventually the honeycomb briquettes will be blamed.

After explaining everything on the stage, the county governor said, "If any villagers are willing, they can come up to the stage, sit on these chairs, taste the salt and tofu, and look at the honeycomb coal..."

The people of Zhao in the audience hesitated for a moment, and then many of them wanted to go on stage to try. The county governor had no choice but to say, "Fellow villagers, please don't rush to the stage. It would be better for us to line up and go on stage in groups of forty."

The people of Zhao lined up obediently and went on stage in an orderly manner at the invitation of the county magistrate. They sat at five tables, experienced the feeling of sitting on chairs and stools, tasted a little salt, a small piece of tofu, and a small piece of meat stewed with thirteen spices, and finally looked at the honeycomb coal burning in the stove.

It was indeed high-quality salt, and the tofu did taste like beans as the county magistrate had said, but it was very different from the bean rice he had eaten before. It tasted better and had a light and elegant taste, which meant it was easy to adjust to other flavors. Someone sprinkled a little fine salt on it, put it in his mouth and ate it, and the flavor came out immediately.

　I'm saving up some drafts... I've got a little bit at the moment, but I won't add any more for now, in case you need them.

　
(End of this chapter)