We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

Chinese people have a long history of eating sesame paste.

There were written records as early as the Three Kingdoms period.

"Records of the Three Kingdoms. Wei Zhi": [Sun Quan arrived at Hefei's new city, filled the cage with loose candles... broke pine trees into torches and filled them with sesame oil...]

Sesame oil was first used as fuel, and sesame paste should be a product of that time.

Zhang Hua of the Jin Dynasty mentioned in his "Bo Wu Zhi": "When frying sesame oil, the water vapor disappears and the smoke disappears. It stops boiling and becomes cold again."

From this we can see that in that era, the ancients would use the stone mortar method or the wooden press method to extract sesame oil.

As expected, after Li Che told the royal chef of the palace about sesame paste, the chef patted his chest and guaranteed on the spot that he could definitely make it.

By noon, a copper pot of boiling soup was placed in front of Li Che.

The prepared sesame paste is fragrant, and next to it are thinly sliced ​​beef and mutton slices and white tofu.

Li Che smelled the food and his appetite immediately increased. He immediately called Ying Bu and Qiu Bai who were on duty, and Zhuge Zhe who came to report on his work to sit down and eat together.

To eat mutton hotpot, you need to be in a group of people and have a lively atmosphere, so that it tastes better.

Li Che was wearing a fox fur coat and sitting in the main seat with a leisurely look on his face. He looked through the flying snowflakes towards Chaoyang City in the distance.

Zhuge Zhe and others sat around the table. Although they were wearing thick winter clothes, they still rubbed their hands to keep warm from time to time.

There was a bronze hot pot on the table, the charcoal fire inside was burning red, the soup in the pot was boiling, and it emitted bursts of fragrance.

It was the first time for everyone to see this kind of eating and they seemed a little at a loss.

Fortunately, Li Che set an example for everyone.

I saw him holding chopsticks, picking up a thin piece of mutton from the pot, lightly rinsing it in the hot soup, then putting it in the seasoning bowl and dipping it in a full amount of sesame paste.

Then he blew on it and put the meat and sauce into his mouth.

"Hmm!" Li Che narrowed his eyes slightly, "Although it's missing a few seasonings, the taste is almost the same."

"Everyone, don't just stand there, try this mutton hotpot, it's tender and delicious, and it warms your body and stomach."

The others followed suit, picking up the mutton rolls and putting them into their mouths with sesame sauce.

As soon as he took a mouthful, he couldn't help but open his eyes wide, and an expression of surprise and satisfaction appeared on his face.

Even Yingbu, who usually doesn't care much about food, showed a rare hint of delicate enjoyment at this moment.

He chewed the mutton gently, feeling the delicate texture and the deliciousness of the meat that melted in his mouth, and couldn't help but exclaim in admiration:

"This mutton... is so tender! It seems to melt in your mouth, without any of the dryness or astringency you'd normally get from cooked meat. It's like food for the gods!"

Zhuge Zhe gently swallowed the mutton in his mouth: "No, the mutton is secondary. The key is this sauce... It really makes your mouth fragrant."

"Your Highness, where did you get this recipe for hot pot?"

Li Che smiled slightly: "This thing is not difficult, I just figured it out myself. If you like it, I will have someone make a few copper pots and send them to your house later."

Everyone quickly stood up to express their gratitude, and Li Che waved his hand and asked them to sit down.

"It's the perfect time to eat hot pot when it snows heavily. While the wind and snow are blowing outside, the warmth inside is like spring. One mouthful of hot mutton will melt away all the fatigue of the day."

"This thing isn't too hard to make, and maybe we can promote it in the army so the soldiers can have it, too."

Shabu-shabu originated in the Yuan Dynasty and is said to be related to Kublai Khan.

Legend has it that Kublai Khan suddenly wanted to eat the braised lamb from his hometown during his northern expedition.

The chef hurriedly killed the sheep, skinned it, removed the bones and cut the meat, but the scout reported that the enemy was approaching and time was running out.

The chef thought quickly and cut the mutton into thin slices, rinsed it in boiling water, added salt and gave it to Kublai Khan.

Kublai Khan was so hungry that he had no choice but to eat anything. After a hearty meal, he was so energized that he personally mounted his horse and led his army to meet the enemy, and he won a great victory.

It is originally a military dish, and it will definitely be popular if it is promoted in the army.

"Your Highness never forgets the soldiers in the army. It is a great blessing for my country to have such a wise ruler." Zhuge Zhe said hurriedly.

Li Che shook his head: "The soldiers have been fighting hard for almost a year, it's time for them to have a good rest."

"I forgot to mention it during the court meeting. Morning exercises in the army are too early. It's okay in spring and summer, but it's too torturous in winter, so let's skip it."

Li Che would never forget the reason why Chang Wudi died suddenly. It was said that he suddenly took off his armor after charging into battle and died of armor-taking-off wind.

The temperature outside the Great Wall is extremely low in winter, and the soldiers are inevitably sweating during high-intensity training. Li Che doesn't want them to repeat the same mistakes.

This time, Zhuge Zhe did not agree immediately, but frowned and advised:

"Your Highness is merciful, but there are no battles in winter, and Your Highness has exempted them from morning exercises. I am afraid that the soldiers will have nowhere to release their energy and cause trouble out of thin air."

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of the other people at the table changed slightly.

The dispute between civil and military men has existed since ancient times. Pure literati like Zhuge Zhe have always been wary of military men.

This cannot be considered slander, because the ancient generals and soldiers had so many bad deeds.

Rebellions by military men are much more severe than those by civil officials. We can refer to the chaotic times of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. We really cannot let them have too much free time.

Qiu Bai didn't care. He was neither civil nor military, and was considered Li Che's lone minister.

Ying Bu was a pure warrior, and there was a hint of anger in his eyes as he looked at Zhuge Zhe.

Li Che nodded slightly and fell into thought.

Morning exercises have been cancelled, and the army can only train for a period of time in the afternoon, and the intensity cannot be too high. It is indeed a bit too idle.

"How about this." Li Che suddenly thought of something, "How about letting the soldiers learn to read in their free time?"

"Can you read?" Zhuge Zhe widened his eyes.

"Yes, although the political commissars have been sent into the army, they only preach military regulations. It's a waste. It would be better to have them teach the soldiers to read and understand the rules, and eliminate illiteracy in the army first."

Zhuge Zhe was puzzled and said, "I don't quite understand. Soldiers are only responsible for fighting in battle. What's the point of knowing how to read?"

Li Che shook his head and smiled, "That's Ziyuan's fault. Don't underestimate soldiers. The so-called military men are arrogant and violate the rules because most of them don't understand reason and the words of the sages."

“If one has read books and understands the truth, even if a general rebels and his soldiers have their own ideas, they will not blindly follow him.”

"Besides, it's easy to get a thousand soldiers, but it's hard to find a good general. Once all the soldiers are literate, talented people can study military manuals, which will also make it easier to promote lower-level officers."

Zhuge Zhe stroked his beard, feeling unable to refute, "I understand. This may be feasible."

"You are in charge of the Military Supervision Department, so I'll leave this matter to you. Come back to me after you've selected the teaching materials."

"My lord, I obey."

The hot pot is bubbling and the snow is falling heavily.

It seems that the snow came too late this year, as if it had been held back, and there is no sign of it stopping.

What no one expected was that the snow lasted for three days and three nights.

In the early morning of the third day, Li Che was woken up again from his sleep.

This time it was Qiu Bai who came to report the news, his tone sounding particularly serious: "Your Highness, this is bad, something has happened."