Chapter 346: Miao Chef Chapter 348: Reward

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Protagonist:

Song Miao

Hearing that something had been sent from Ciming Palace, the Hall-Front Commander Cui Jizhong couldn't help but steal a glance.

That tray was quite large, with a lidded food box placed on top.

He knew in his heart this was most likely food sent by the Empress Dowager, so he hurriedly turned his head away, subconsciously sucked in his belly, and seeing no one was paying attention to him, only then quietly reached for his lower back, tightening his waist-support leather belt two notches to cinch his stomach and help stave off the hunger pangs.

He was truly starving!

Being a tall, powerfully built martial man to begin with, his expenditure was naturally large; compared to others he ate more and grew hungry faster.

The court session had just ended not long ago; as soon as he received the urgent news relayed from the Liu Ta He, he was summoned into the palace, and by now most of the day had already passed.

Midday he had naturally eaten.

But the Emperor's meals, front and back, left and right, were all attended by the heavy ministers of the Two Prefectures; everyone ate while discussing affairs, each merely perfunctorily padding their stomach, and on top of that the news of the Liu Ta He breach came in such frantic haste that his mind had been constantly calculating how to transfer troops, how to arrange things, how to dispatch generals.

Now matters were basically settled, and seeing the food box sent by the Empress Dowager, his stomach — which he'd had no time to attend to while busy demanding this and negotiating that — began to act up.

After Cui Jizhong tightened his belt, he sensed something was off; his belly was still rumbling, so he hurriedly cinched it two more notches, fearing a breach of decorum before the Emperor.

When a person is hungry, it is very hard to concentrate.

At this moment, Cui Jizhong's mind was still reckoning how to cry poor to the Emperor later — besides the Imperial Guard, he also wanted more Xiang Army from near Chan Prefecture; best to also get some local manpower from Chan Prefecture itself, because first, locals know the situation and make good guides, and second, if anything comes up, or there are dialect barriers, they can help.

He was a man who had seen things; he knew very well the miserable scenes along the way after a flood breach.

Those above assigning tasks never consider so many details; if the doer doesn't think it through clearly, he must thicken his face and get everything he should ask for right now, because once they set out, it will be too late.

Besides manpower, there was also grain; it could not be delayed — he had to ask the Emperor to issue a decree right now, pinning responsibility on specific individuals, not even on departments, to quickly move out grain so the camp kitchens could prepare dry rations for the soldiers to eat on the march!

This was both urgent and critical; he also had to immediately notify the prefectures and counties along the route to prepare early, arrange scouts up front, and also let the Liu Ta He... Liu Ta He... Liu... sigh, so hungry, brain won't turn; once I leave the palace and reach Yu Jie, I must immediately find something to eat, any pancake or steamed bun will...

That won't work either; it's not meal time right now, those food shops might not have such convenient things for sale; forget it, although I don't like eating sweet things, hunger comes first, I can't care about all that; I'll see where they sell pastries, sweet or salty doesn't matter, pad my stomach first!

Cui Jizhong's mind was in a mess when he heard a call from above: "Minister Cui."

He hurriedly acknowledged, forcefully suppressing his hunger, just preparing to start singing his woes and crying bitter, when he saw the Emperor on the throne point to the food box beside him and say to him: "The Empress Dowager sent this kind of campaign dry ration, saying it was presented today by a food-shop young lady from the wards; she watched it being made, and compared to ordinary dry rations it is more hunger-resistant, and the price is also cheap — you come try it, see how effective it is."

Zhao Yu spoke, and from that food box took a piece, personally tasting it.

Seeing this, Cui Jizhong felt first a surge of joy, then a sigh.

The joy was because the Emperor's action clearly showed he had already put the matter of campaign grain on his mind; when I ask for things later, it should go much more smoothly.

The sigh was for the Emperor — although this one has the heart, alas he still doesn't quite understand campaign matters.

Hearing "the wards" and "a food-shop young lady," Cui Jizhong already secretly shook his head.

It's not looking down on common folk; campaign rations and ordinary food are fundamentally not the same thing at all.

This stuff doesn't pursue flavor; on the contrary, texture and taste are best somewhere between unpalatable and palatable, leaning a bit more toward unpalatable.

That way, it neither easily makes people suffer when eating, nor tempts them to secretly finish it halfway; after all, during forced marches, dry rations are carried by each person themselves.

Besides being hunger-resistant, it must also keep well, and be "easy to eat" — this "easy to eat" means convenient to eat; all sorts of requirements.

A food-shop young lady from the market wards — her cooking skill might be good, but can she know the army's needs?

But since it was recommended by the Empress Dowager, and the Emperor personally spoke, Cui Jizhong naturally wouldn't immediately slap the other's face; he only thought: I'll take this chance, after eating I'll quickly explain to His Majesty why it's unsuitable, explain again why it can't be used, and along the way urge grain and rice again.

Just as he was thinking, the eunuch brought the food box before Cui Jizhong.

He fixed his eyes on it; inside were dry-cake-like things, cut into pieces half an inch thick, an inch wide, just under two inches long — square blocks, a bit smaller than the dry rations commonly used in the army.

Pinching a piece in hand, it was slightly heavy, like a tiny brick; biting down, his teeth just felt hardness, his brain hadn't even reacted, and the cake had already cracked along the bite, crumbling into bits or powder residue.

Turns out this dry cake was not ordinary wheat cake or rice cake, but made from some unknown ingredient ground into powder, pressed tight; it looked very solid and hard, but being a powder compact, and processed by some unknown method, one bite and it loosened, crumbled, and was actually extremely convenient to eat.

Once in the mouth, a sip, and Cui Jizhong tasted proper dry-ration flavor, only a notch or two more unpalatable than any he'd tasted before.

Yet relying on texture and seasoning, it wasn't hard to swallow; on the contrary, because the powder was ground very fine, even without gnawing or chewing hard, just borrowing saliva, it would slowly dissolve in the mouth, and with a casual swallow down the throat, it went down whole, with hardly any coarse sensation.

Cui Jizhong was hungry to begin with; nibbling away, before he'd quite come back to his senses, a whole piece of dry ration had already entered his belly.

He had felt a bit of trouble when he started eating; but when he swallowed the last bite of dry cake, a thought involuntarily floated up in his mind.

— Damn, this campaign ration, it seems I can't find any flaw that makes it unusable right now!

When eating ordinary dry rations, one often feels thirsty and needs water to wash it down; but this kind is so strange — clearly quite unpalatable, yet whether chewing or swallowing, I don't feel very thirsty at all; I ate it with an empty mouth and actually finished it???

What is the principle??

One is one, two is two.

Cui Jizhong isn't the type to argue sophistry; so when the Emperor inquired, he honestly said: "Eating it now there's no problem..."

He listed the various requirements of campaign rations one by one, and finally said: "But the most crucial is still hunger-resistance and keeping quality — looking at this dry cake form, it should keep quite well, but hunger-resistance is uncertain; we'll have to wait until the stomach slowly digests it and see how long it lasts before we can judge."

Specialization in one's art.

For things he himself wasn't clear on, Zhao Yu naturally wouldn't speak recklessly; on the contrary, hearing Cui Jizhong say this, he realized that campaign rations, besides those ordinary deducible points, actually had so many other intricacies.

When Cui Jizhong subsequently raised many more questions and demands, because he knew this rescue of people and water involved entirely human lives, and who knew how many disaster victims in Hedong had suffered, Zhao Yu fundamentally dared not think carefully, yet had no choice but to think carefully; he agreed to almost everything.

Everything was negotiated about done; seeing Cui Jizhong about to take leave, Zhao Yu said: "Minister Cui, take this dry ration back to camp and have the others try it too, see how much each can resist hunger, and what the verdict is."

Cui Jizhong agreed in one breath.

Carrying the food box on horseback was inconvenient; in the end he wrapped those dry cakes in a square cloth and left the hall.

Having gained the Emperor's many promises, Cui Jizhong finally felt slightly more at ease; and because he'd just padded his stomach with a piece of so-called campaign dry cake, he didn't feel hungry anymore, and his mind began calculating again how to arrange various matters upon returning to camp, who to transfer to go together to Chan Prefecture, etc.

When he left Chui Gong Dian he specially checked the water clock; it was the start of Shen Hour.

These years he'd eaten who knows how many kinds of campaign rations; Cui Jizhong knew ordinary ones, even if a third larger than the piece he just ate, if a person ate it and force-marched, it would barely last one to one and a half double-hours; the most remarkable was a kind of glutinous-rice ration — although inconvenient to eat, if it couldn't be heated it was basically impossible to bite, but its hunger-resistance was best, able to last two double-hours or more.

He calculated the hours: he'd ride somewhere first, then somewhere else, finish business and finally return to camp — roughly just a little over two double-hours; perfect to test whether that piece he just ate could hold out.

Cui Jizhong rushed about and returned to camp at the end of You Hour.

At such a critical moment, there was naturally no such thing as roll call, end of watch, or waiting for the bell to strike once; he immediately had his trusted subordinate generals and subordinates summoned.

While waiting for everyone to gather, his personal guards hurried over and asked, "The rest have all eaten; does the Commander want to eat a few bites too? The rice and dishes are already prepared."

Cui Jizhong shook his head and said, "Not hungry now; we'll talk after the matter is settled."

At first there were only ten-odd people, but as the forced march route, logistics, and provisional disaster relief and rescue plan upon arrival were broken down one by one, more and more people were called into the room.

The group discussed from the Xu hour until the end of the Zi hour, and only then managed to work out a rough outline.

They talked all night, and everyone was tired; seeing they were about to take their leave, Cui Jizhong suddenly remembered something, hurriedly had the bundle he had brought back fetched, divided it crisply — one or two pieces per person — explained its origin and the situation, and finally said, "You take it back and try it yourselves, and have others try it too, see how long it can sustain you."

The crowd dispersed, and only then did Cui Jizhong return to his own room.

The guarding personal soldiers hurriedly asked, "Commander, you've stayed up until now, you must be hungry, right? What would you like to eat? We've already had the camp kitchen keep a fire going!"

Cui Jizhong hadn't rested all day; after returning to camp, though he didn't have to run about, using his brain was actually very draining, and by his old habit he would definitely have a late-night snack and eat his fill in the evening.

But today, for some reason, he clearly hadn't eaten dinner, and had said earlier he'd eat after the discussion, yet now the Zi hour had passed and his belly still had not the slightest hint of hunger.

When a person is full, if delicious food is placed before them they might not be able to help themselves, but if asked what they want to eat, eight out of ten can't name anything.

Cui Jizhong at this moment couldn't name anything.

First the running about, then repeated mental exertion; even an iron man couldn't endure it.

He also had no leisure to think too much, just waved his hand and said, "No need, eat tomorrow morning instead."

Finished speaking, he returned to his room, tidied up a bit, and immediately fell asleep.

The military camp naturally had much activity; at dawn the next morning, Cui Jizhong woke up.

He busied himself, then arranged for quite a few men to go out and urge the procurement of supplies; seeing the hour was not early, he went to the mess camp on the way.

After a sleep, he was much more clear-headed; at this moment Cui Jizhong walked while calculating numbers in his mind.

As he calculated, his steps grew smaller and smaller, slower and slower, until at the end he even stood frozen in place.

At this time, an outstanding general, none fails to know arithmetic.

Cui Jizhong's arithmetic was quite good, but he still couldn't help using the stupidest method, counting on his fingers.

Shen hour, You hour, Xu hour, Hai hour... Zi, Ugly, Yin...

How many hours has it been??????

And at this moment, his belly was clearly, utterly not hungry.

Not only not hungry, but there was even a slight, very mild sense of fullness.

You must know, yesterday he ate only one piece of dry cake!

If on a forced march, if they entered a disaster area and encountered trapped people... with this unpalatable dry ration, no matter who, they would definitely be able to last longer!

Cui Jizhong grew excited at once.

However, right now it's only his own individual case, so he can't fully believe it yet.

He quickly entered the camp canteen, intending to find a few of the people who had taken the marching rations last night to question them, but who knew that in such a large barracks, there were actually very few people, even compared to before, even compared to yesterday, it was simply empty to a severe degree.

Cui Jizhong couldn't help calling a personal guard over and giving a few instructions.

The man went out and returned before long, saying: "... They all say they're busy, and not hungry, so they didn't eat this morning."

Cui Jizhong's breathing involuntarily quickened.

Soon, the group who had gathered last night to discuss matters and receive assignments were summoned together again.

Asked about yesterday's marching rations and why every single one of them didn't eat breakfast, they truly could all say a couple of sentences — the superior had told them to try it themselves and have others try it too, so naturally they didn't dare slack off, and all ate it.

"That dry biscuit really has some potency; after eating it, not hungry at all, today there's really too much to do, can't get away, so simply didn't go to the canteen."

"Not just not hungry, I feel like I've just eaten my fill!"

"How many pieces of that dry ration did you eat?"

"One piece, at first I still felt maybe one piece was a bit little, but right now I feel it's really not little, actually a bit stuffed — in the past I've eaten so many, not one compares to this, Commander Cui, this marching ration, even if it doesn't keep well, as long as the price is acceptable, it's well worth getting the recipe!"

"That's the idea, it's too suitable for forced marches, get the recipe and quickly have people rush production, just right to bring on the road — wonder how long it can keep!"

Whether it keeps long or not, actually the problem isn't big.

Cui Jizhong has seen the recipe, and knows clearly that everything in it is cheap, ordinary stuff; even if it doesn't keep too long, if it can last two days, quickly having Chan Prefecture and the other places along the way produce it will be in time for use.

With such an urgent matter, one must naturally be careful and cautious; he arranged for several soldiers to eat the marching ration and then immediately begin drilling.

By afternoon, they finally produced a rough result.

Ordinary people after eating it could last at most seven and a half hours without hunger; if forced marching or drilling continuously, also five hours, which is more than double the duration of the best marching ration used before.

If not for personal experience, Cui Jizhong would not dare believe it.

He didn't dare delay, and immediately requested an audience with the Emperor.

Although he had the recipe in hand, to mass produce it, it would still be best to have someone teach and guide a round.

However, after a day passed, Song Miao was summoned into the palace again.

This time the one summoning her was the current Emperor.

Bringing many kitchen soldiers to make marching rations for half a day, only when everyone had become practiced hands did Song Miao count as having successfully completed her task and withdrawn.

The next morning at dawn, Cui Jizhong led troops and grain and set out for Chan Prefecture.

And Song Miao once again entered Ciming Palace.

"Court affairs are urgent, His Majesty is busy with state matters, this old body is a leisurely one, with plenty of time, can't wait for later, right now must reward the meritorious — Young Lady Xiao Song, the food recipe you presented this time has great merit for the Court, is there anything you want?"

Song Miao hesitated slightly, saluted and said: "Reporting to the Young Lady, this girl indeed has one impertinent request!"