GBP Chapter 213 Compost
Chapter 213 Compost
Before leaving, Gu Fengyun made a special visit to the Song family. Grandpa Song and the others thought that Gu Fengyun would bring some good news, but the other party said that Song Chunlin also wanted to go to the Turks with them.
Song Dazhuang was the first to disagree: "My Lord, my Chunlin is still a child. Our whole family is worried when he goes to the border. You still want to take him to the Turks? That is the territory of the barbarians. How can a clean-looking boy like him come back intact from going to such a place? Besides, what can a child like him do to help you? It is better to let him come back with the army first."
Song Dahe also had the same idea: "Next year Chunlin will be fourteen, and it is time to discuss marriage. If Second Master Gu gets so close to my Chunlin, it may cause criticism."
Gu Fengyun had no way to refute this. He had seen his younger brother's feelings for Song Chunlin, and he believed that the Song family members had also seen it. However, he was not sure what the two children were thinking now, so Gu Fengyun could only laugh awkwardly to cover up his guilt.
Privately, he liked Chunlin very much. He was brave and capable. He could fight his way to the Tatar royal city alone. This courage alone was impressive. However, this matter could not be brought up in public. Even the emperor had issued a death order to keep it secret. Anyone who dared to mention it would be killed.
Gu Fengyun did not reveal too much to the Song family. He only vaguely told them that Song Chunlin was very lucky to be on this trip. If he was appreciated by His Majesty, it was not impossible for him to be awarded a title.
Grandpa Song pondered for a while and said, "According to what the Marquis said, did Chunlin kill some important person at the border?"
After these words were spoken, the whole family fell silent.
Things like killing people are too far away from the minds of ordinary people like them, but after thinking about it, everyone still doesn't understand how great a merit it is that the court would confer a title on a young man.
Gu Fengyun stopped talking and said, "Yes and no. Chunlin has to tell you about this personally. But don't worry, we are going to the Turks with the prince's head to negotiate the terms. If the terms cannot be negotiated, the Gu family army will not be a pushover. Of course, I personally hope that the negotiations can be successful."
The news of beheading the other prince had not yet spread in the capital, so the Song family members gasped when they heard it. Grandpa Song even had a ridiculous idea in his mind: could it be that Song Chunlin had killed this prince?
After seeing Gu Fengyun off, the Song family members didn't sleep well that night. Several adults discussed asking Gu Fengyun to bring some local specialties to Song Chunlin.
Grandpa Song stroked his beard and felt for the first time that time was so unbearable. Finally, the family decided to bring some of their freshly made chili sauce, vermicelli, and dried vegetables to Song Chunlin, but they thought he would not need them, so they didn't bring anything else. Finally, they packed up a large bamboo basket, which contained only chili sauce and vermicelli.
When Gu Fengyun came to pick up the things, he was quite curious about what the hot sauce tasted like. Grandpa Song smiled and took out a new bottle, opened it and gave him a little taste. It was so spicy that the pampered marquis couldn't stop gulping down.
Song Chunlin, who was far away at the border, didn't know that his family had sent him local specialties. He was sweating profusely in the fields.
Not long after the war ended, the busy farming season began. Song Chunlin led the girls and boys to apply fertilizer to the crops in the fields. There was not much farm manure at the moment, so Song Chunlin simply mixed some chemical fertilizers. The amount was not much, but he did his best to show his kindness.
There is little rain at the border, so after applying fertilizer, one has to irrigate the land. For those few acres of land, Song Chunlin goes out early and comes back late every day, supervising the work personally. He is so busy that Gu Fengyue has to try her luck if she wants to find him.
He was lucky today as he met Song Chunlin who was preparing to take a rest in the field. Song Chunlin was wearing a big bamboo hat and waved to Gu Fengyue from a distance.
"How come you have time to come here today?" Gu Fengyue is usually busy dealing with matters in the military camp and is rarely seen. The two haven't met in the daytime for a long time.
Gu Fengyue took the hoe from his hand and said, "Things went well today, so I came to have a meal with you."
When he heard about freeloading, Song Chunlin's eyes lit up.
"I want to eat fried chicken, cola and spicy hot pot!"
"Well, let's find a cool place first."
As they talked, the two walked towards where the carriage was. It was relatively cool here and there was a table inside.
After Gu Fengyue set the table, Song Chunlin couldn't wait to put out all his favorite foods. The table was full and the smell was so good that he was drooling.
"Wow, meat is still delicious!" Song Chunlin exclaimed, and he took a piece of boneless fried chicken in one bite. The chicken just out of the pan was crispy on the outside and covered with a lot of sweet and spicy sauce. The sauce was a bit spicy, and he had to drink a sip of ice cola after eating it.
"Burp~ Delicious." Song Chunlin's mouth was full of sauce. Gu Fengyue smiled and wiped it clean for him with a handkerchief.
Song Chunlin obediently stretched his face forward and let Gu Fengyue wipe his face.
"You, what did you do today that makes you stink?"
Song Chunlin sniffed and it really smelled a bit bad, but he refused to admit it.
"Where does it stink? I don't stink, it's the fertilizer that stinks. I smell good."
"Hahahaha, you smell so good, are you applying fertilizer today?" Gu Fengyue knew nothing about farming. At most, he knew that farmers would apply fertilizer to crops, but he didn't know that fertilizer had to be applied before the crops grew up.
"Well, in order to ensure the yield, we need to apply fertilizer appropriately. We didn't prepare any this year, so we'll let everyone compost in advance next year, just like the septic tank at my house. It may stink a bit, but it's a great tonic for crops."
Gu Fengyue hesitated: "Do we need to build a septic tank here as well?"
Song Chunlin nodded. It seemed a bit heavy to talk about this during dinner time. Fortunately, he had almost finished eating, so he simply put down the food in his hand and began to explain the function of septic tanks to Gu Fengyue.
"In addition to septic tanks, I also hope to build a few public toilets in the city. You haven't seen the places where the poor live. They defecate and poop everywhere. It's so smelly. A public toilet can not only solve the problem of residents going to the toilet, but also use the excrement for composting. Besides, there are many families raising cattle and sheep here, and cattle and sheep can poop a lot. It's better to have specialized people to handle the excrement and not waste it."
Speaking of cattle and sheep, Gu Fengyue finally remembered that the herd of cattle and sheep that Song Chunlin asked him to bring back were still raised in the military camp.
"There are ninety-eight cows in total, and more sheep, three hundred and twenty-one. There are ten good horses, and when I came back earlier, I took the initiative to kill three cows and ten sheep as a reward for everyone."
Song Chunlin had no objection to this. What he cared about was that cows could be slaughtered here.
Gu Fengyue smiled and said, "Of course, you can. Haven't you noticed that our cattle are different from the barbarians' cattle? Our cattle can be used to pull plows and till the land, but the barbarians' cattle can't. Apart from producing milk and eating meat, they have no other uses. Moreover, these cattle and sheep eat a lot and poop a lot. The people in charge of logistics in the army ask me every day with a bitter face if they can kill them for food. They can hardly afford to feed them."
Song Chunlin was shocked. It seemed that this was indeed the case, but he couldn't think of how to deal with such a large group of cattle and sheep for a while. What's more, there were also a hundred or eighty cattle and sheep in his space. He didn't know whether the meat of the cattle and sheep would be delicious if they were not bled.
Finally, Song Chunlin decided to transport two-thirds of the cattle and sheep to Yuexi and hand them over to General Dou. There was a lot of work to be done there, and there was a large grassland outside the city, which was perfect for grazing. If it was not suitable, they could just slaughter them and eat the meat. It was not a big deal.
As for the remaining one third, Song Chunlin only planned to keep a small part and give it to the girls and boys to raise. Firstly, it was to find a way for them to make a living, and secondly, when his corn harvest was good, the corn kernels and corn stalks could be used to feed cattle and sheep, which could be regarded as recycling.
As for the remaining ones, Song Chunlin was in charge of slaughtering a few of them every half a month to reward the soldiers. In order to make these cattle and sheep taste better, Song Chunlin even contributed a sack of barbecue ingredients.
The cooks looked at the whole sack of spices. Although they couldn't tell what they were after they were ground into powder, the smell was unmistakable. There were pepper, bay leaves, cardamom, and even some that they couldn't smell. However, the military doctors felt that they seemed familiar. After careful identification, they found that there were several herbs in it.
"Can this white peony be used to cook?"
"You know what, this ground cinnamon stick actually smells pretty good when put in there."
There is also a kind of spice in it, cumin, which not everyone can smell. But when it is sprinkled on the barbecue, the aroma is overbearing and warm, and everyone who smells it feels hungry.
The first time a whole lamb was roasted in the military camp was to welcome Gu Fengyun.
Gu Fengyun rode at full speed, leaving his followers behind. When he felt unwell, he took a sip of the spiritual spring water left for him by Song Chunlin. It only took him ten days to reach Bai Ta City.
When Gu Fengyue knew that his brother had arrived, he was stunned for a long time until he heard Gu Fengyun's voice, then he seemed to wake up from a dream.
"Brother!" Gu Fengyue rushed over excitedly. The two brothers met again after a long separation. They hugged each other tightly for a long time before letting go. Both of their eyes were red.
"Brother, didn't you say in your letter that it would take half a month to get here?"
"Well, I'm here early. I heard you guys were farming here, so I came to see how it's going."
Gu Fengyue smiled awkwardly: "Chunlin is in charge of farming, I don't understand it either, and the affairs in the military camp alone are busy enough, so I can't help him much."
Gu Fengyun glanced at him sideways, feeling a bit disappointed with him.
"You can't help, but can't you take time to spend more time with him? How stupid! If you keep spending less time with him, when will you be able to marry a wife in the future?"
Gu Fengyue's face turned red when her brother discovered her thoughts.
"Brother, what are you talking about? Chunlin is still young..."
"Young? He will be fourteen next year. Before I left, Uncle Song said that Chunlin is ready to meet someone now. It's just that you are not in a hurry, but the Song family is. They are already looking for someone."
When Gu Fengyue heard that the Song family was already looking for a husband for Song Chunlin, her face turned pale with fright.
"No way, Chunlin has his own ideas, how could Uncle Song... No, it won't happen..."
Seeing that his brother couldn't speak because of the threat, Gu Fengyun felt that his threat was effective and nodded with satisfaction.
"Okay, where's Chunlin? He's still in the field. Take me to see him. If it doesn't work out, I, as the eldest brother, will just ask him to marry me."
Gu Fengyue was frightened by his brother's bold words and quickly held him back: "Brother, my dear brother, please don't be so anxious, okay? I... I'm already trying my best. Chunlin, he knows everything."
"You know everything?" Gu Fengyun narrowed his eyes slightly: "You told him that you liked him? How did he react?"
Gu Fengyue was a little confused: "How should I put it? He doesn't seem to be disgusted..."
"That's right! If you don't dislike it, then why don't you spend more time with him and cultivate your relationship? After a long time, won't you fall in love with him?"
Gu Fengyue was a little skeptical. Could she really trust the experience in pursuing young men that her brother, who had been single for almost 30 years, taught her?
Gu Fengyun saw that his brother was doubting him, and when he thought that he was also a bachelor, he immediately shut up. It was over. This was the only thing in his life that he had done. He had not set a good example for his brother. If he had three wives and four concubines, what he said today might have been more credible.
Of course, Song Chunlin had no idea how the two brothers were chasing him behind his back. He was so happy when he received the news of Gu Fengyun's arrival that he ordered twenty sheep to be slaughtered. He planned to hold a bonfire party in the evening, both to welcome Gu Fengyun and because he was greedy.
When Gu Fengyue and Gu Fengyun arrived at the military camp, the soldiers had already tied the marinated whole lamb to the rack, and the others were still making a fire.
Song Chunlin had sharp eyes and spotted Gu Fengyun at a glance. He shouted to him excitedly, "My Lord, My Lord, I'm here."
"Xiao Chunlin, what delicious food are you making again?"
Song Chunlin laughed: "It's not that there are too many sheep, just kill some and eat them. Grassland sheep are most suitable for roasting whole sheep. You must eat more later."
"Too many sheep?" Gu Fengyun didn't know that Song Chunlin had brought back the herd of cattle and sheep. Hearing this, he looked at Gu Fengyue.
Gu Fengyue explained to him: "It was when Chunlin went to Keke last time, he met barbarians grazing on the way, so he simply gave away all the cattle and sheep and brought them back."
Gu Fengyun was at a loss for words: "Brought back? They must have been robbed, right?"
"I heard Chunlin is coughing. There is a lot of killing going on over there. According to the intelligence we received, many Tatar nobles were killed or injured. They can't find the cause of death. I guess they are arguing fiercely."
Song Chunlin was curious: "My Lord, you have this kind of intelligence network? I don't even remember how many people I killed at that time. What were they arguing about?"
Gu Fengyun sneered, "What else can they quarrel about? The throne. With so many royal family members dying at once, who wouldn't suspect there's a traitor? But they can't catch him. I guess they can quarrel for a few more years until a new Tatar king takes the throne. Chunlin did a great job this time. They can probably live in peace for a long time after this civil strife."