Time flies, and in a blink of an eye, a full twelve years have passed, and it is the winter after the main force of the Han and the Hungarians fight twelve years ago.

The bamboo craftsman Liu Ji ate the knife-cut noodles voraciously, sweetly and quickly, and even the juice was not noticed on his gray beard. Five years ago, when Liu Ji first ate knife-cut noodles, it was this way, but it was still the case five years later. The appearance of pancake steamed buns more than ten years ago made Liu Ji decisively abandon the millet rice that he had eaten for more than 30 years and changed to wheat noodles with higher yields per mu as the staple food. After tasting the deliciousness of knife-cut noodles five years ago, Liu Ji became a loyal fan of knife-cut noodles again.

"Good man, look at your eating behavior. People who don't know think I haven't cooked for you for three days." The wife, who was also gray in hair, came to Liu Ji. While complaining, she used a handkerchief to wipe off the juice from Liu Ji's beard and asked, "How is the noodles today? I put sesame oil from the Western Regions, but I don't know if you are used to eating, so I only put a little."

"It smells better than lard." Liu Ji chewed the noodles while answering vaguely, and said, "Next time to make cut noodles, you can put more."

"That's good." The wife smiled with relief and said, "Since you like this taste, I'll try to buy some sesame paste and make cut noodles for you in the future. I heard from the village chief that His Majesty sent someone to teach people to make sesame paste in the vegetable market in Chang'an, which is more fragrant than sesame oil. There are many merchants in Chang'an City who are selling it."

Liu Ji, who was a little greedy, nodded and said casually, "In the future, every 15th day of the lunar month, whenever you have time, you will go to Caishikou in the city to learn new things. Zhang Blacksmith's wife learned to use an iron pot to stir-fry dishes there. Now his family eats cooking every day, and I want to give it a try."

"I understand, you old slander." The wife smiled and cursed, and said, "I'll come back early when I go to the city to sell goods today. I'll make dumplings for you tonight, cabbage stuffed with you."

The greedy Liu Ji nodded happily and quickly slashed the noodles in the bowl and carried the load of the goods to go out. His wife hurriedly chased him and stuffed a cloth bag to Liu Ji, saying, "Butterbread, I'll give you lunch. If the business is good, buy a bowl of broth and eat it. Don't just chew it in order to save money."

"It's still afternoon (for lunch)? Do you think I'm Guanneihou and have three meals a day?"

Liu Ji was reluctant to take the steamed buns, and his wife insisted on stuffing them to him, saying, "Take it and eat it. The court has issued an edict to abolish the ancient ritual that civilians can only eat two meals a day. As long as we, the Qianshou, can live well at home, they will not care about how many meals a day. This year, the world is so cooked, and the food is cheap that the court will pay for purchases at a high price. Our family's bamboo utensils are good. You are over fifty people. If you can eat, eat more and don't get hungry."

Unable to resist his wife's kindness, Liu Ji finally took the steamed buns and put them in them, then carried the load full of bamboo utensils and went out. After walking for about twenty miles, he entered Chang'an City. He first delivered the steamer customized in the city's restaurant to his door, and then carried the remaining baskets, dustpans and other items to the West Market to find a suitable stall to sell goods.

Since the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty ascended the throne, he changed the year's first day to the first day of the first lunar month. It was late December, and the market was extremely lively, crowded with merchants and people who bought and sold goods. Liu Ji came a little late again. It took him a long time to find a place in the corner to put down the slander. But it was fine. Because the business was easy to do at the end of the year, Liu Ji's business was quite good. He sold the bamboo utensils at noon, and the purse with copper coins gradually became heavier.

Nothing is more happy than business. After the court canceled the annoying rules of clear coupon pricing, Liu Ji sold the bamboo utensils for a good price. In his heart, Liu Ji couldn't help but remembered his wife's advice when he went out, so he ran to a nearby market to buy a bowl of mutton soup. He took the steamed buns back to the stall and took them to the stall for lunch. But just as Liu Ji was gnawing the dry hard steamed buns, someone suddenly said, "Old man, why don't you try to break the steamed buns and soak them in mutton soup? It tastes better to eat it like this."

Liu Ji looked up strangely and saw that the man who was talking to him was a very handsome man wearing a clean and simple Confucian robe and a kind smile on his face. Liu Ji asked strangely, "Sir, are you talking to me?"

The handsome man nodded and smiled and said, "Old man, it tastes better to break the steamed bun and put it in mutton soup. You can try it."

"Can you eat this?" Liu Ji asked curiously.

"This is called mutton soaked buns, which are the way to eat them in the palace." The handsome man replied with a smile.

Seeing that the handsome man was serious and curious, Liu Ji really put down the bowl, smashed the steamed bun and put it in to soak it. The result was that the dry and hard steamed buns became much more delicious after absorbing the delicious mutton soup. Liu Ji smiled and praised him even though he praised him. The handsome man might have been tired of walking and kept standing by to admire Liu Ji's sweet appearance of tasting mutton steamed buns for the first time.

"It's delicious, really delicious. Thank you sir for your advice, thank you sir for your advice." Liu Ji nodded happily, stood up and gave up the little stool he brought, and said to the handsome man, "Are you tired? Sit down and rest for a while?"

"How can this work?" the handsome man said modestly, "Old man, how can you let me sit down?"

"It's okay, sir, please sit down, the little old man is in a strong state." Liu Ji insisted on inviting the handsome man to sit down, and said, "The little old man just ate and was about to stand for one stop to move."

The handsome man was indeed a little tired from walking. After giving up a few words, he sat down at Liu Ji's invitation and asked curiously, "Old man, are you used to sitting in this kind of horse stool that the court passed on to the people?"

"Habits are much more comfortable than sitting on kneeling." Liu Ji replied honestly with a smile.

The handsome man nodded with great satisfaction and asked again, "Old man's surname?"

"Why dare you take the noble surname in the countryside?" Liu Ji said humbly, "The little old man is Liu Ji, sir, you can call me my name directly."

"Liu Ji?" The handsome man's expression suddenly became extremely surprised, and he said in surprise, "So coincidentally, old man, you are actually Liu Ji?"

"Yes, the little old man is called Liu Ji." Liu Ji nodded and asked curiously, "Why, sir, you know other people named Liu Ji."

"It's not just acknowledge?" The handsome man smiled very complicatedly, and seemed to sigh quietly, as if he had remembered some past events. After shaking his head, the handsome man smiled at Liu Ji again, "Old man, since you are also named Liu Ji, can you please tell me a few words? What do you think of the current emperor?"

"How is the current emperor?" Liu Ji was stunned by the handsome man's question, and then said, "Of course, I'm in my fifties and have experienced three emperors. It's best to count the current emperor."

"Where's it?" the handsome man asked.

"Good to our Guizhou Heads." Liu Ji immediately replied, "The tax revenue is low, and the corvee service is low. Even if the corvee service is collected, it is good for us to build water conservancy. Since we drove away the Huns twelve years ago, we Guizhou Heads have never fought again, so that we Guizhou heads have lived a peaceful life. Compared with the first two emperors who built palaces and garrisons twice in three days, we now have no idea how much better it is."

"Also, the emperor now teaches us a lot of good things." Liu Ji added, "I won't talk about the plow. Since our Majesty taught us Qianshou to use the new plow, Guanzhong has been ripe for more than ten years, and each acre of land has been harvested at least half a minute of grain. Now even a young man like me dares to eat three meals a day. I heard that Gaoling has used the new wheat seeds cultivated by our Majesty this year. One acre of land is almost a type of grain, which is equivalent to one acre of land being used as two acres of land. Sir, if the fields in the world can collect grain like this, will our Qianshou still eat it?"

The handsome man smiled with relief and corrected, "The old man, it is not just one acre of land for two acres of land. After using the method of replacing the land, the fields in Gaoling are now equivalent to one acre of land for four acres of land."

"Sir, I really forgot about the land use method." Liu Ji patted his forehead in annoyance and said hurriedly, "Yes, after using the land use method, our Guanzhong land has long been used as two acres of land."

The handsome man smiled again and asked, "Old man, what do you think of the rule of our Emperor? What is the decree issued after our Emperor ascended the throne?"

"Okay, what's more?" Liu Ji replied without thinking, "After Your Majesty ascended the throne, every decree issued is good to us. It abolished many troublesome laws and also abolished corporal punishment. Even if you accidentally violate the law, you don't have to worry about being cut off your hands and feet, and you will be implicated. We will no longer have to guard against our neighbors like we are guarding against thieves. We will also send a lot of good things to us from the Hu people. Today, when I was having breakfast, I ate the sesame oil sent by His Majesty from the Hu people, which is so fragrant."

"Our emperor is really a good emperor." Liu Ji said sincerely again. "It has only been more than ten years since he ascended the throne. He has governed the world in a regular and everything is good. I can live my best life in the second half of my life, and I will never be considered in vain in my life."

The handsome man smiled very pleasedly, and asked about the situation at Liu Ji's family casually. Liu Ji answered truthfully, saying that his second son was unwilling to learn bamboo craftsmanship from him, so he went to the workshop run by the court to learn to burn glass. He was already a glass craftsman who was about to start a teacher. Last year, his youngest son learned to make paper and married a daughter of a craftsman who made letterpress printing. He was about to get married after the New Year. His grandson entered the school run by the government and had learned to write dozens of words.

I don’t know why, when Liu Ji talked about these situations, the handsome man kept smiling with great relief and joy. Then when he really couldn’t find anything to talk about, the handsome man stood up and said, “Old man, it’s rare that we are so destined to be so destined. Since your youngest son is about to get married after the New Year, this is a gift I gave. Please accept it.”

"How can this work?" Liu Ji was shocked and hurriedly pushed and said, "Sir, you don't know each other before. How can you accept such expensive things as you for no reason?"

"Old man, please accept it." The handsome man insisted on stuffing the jade pendant into Liu Ji's hand and said with a smile, "Not to mention that since you know each other, you are destined to be together. Just your name is your old man, I should give you something."

It was really a pity, but Liu Ji could only accept the jade pendant that the handsome man insisted on giving him. After thanking him for a lot of gratitude, Liu Ji remembered something and asked, "Sir, I don't know your name of Gao and where is your home?"

"In Xia Kangxiang, I live in this Chang'an City." The handsome man replied casually, bowing and saying, "Old man, say goodbye. If you are destined to meet again."

After saying that, the handsome man got up and left, but after walking a distance, the handsome man suddenly turned around. He first looked at Liu Ji, who had the same name as his old friend, then looked up at the sky, murmured, "Liu Ji, have you seen it? This is the world I govern. Don't worry, I will definitely make the people of the great man live and work more peacefully, and sing more full, and will also make the great man richer, more prosperous, and more powerful."

It was also a coincidence that after the handsome man muttered these words, the sky was swaying, and another auspicious snow fell. It was as if another Liu Ji had heard the words of the handsome man and was answering him.

Ten years later, Emperor Xiang Kang of the Han Dynasty sent Ding Li, the brother of the famous Han general Ding Ji, and Feng Wen, the son of Feng Zhong, to lead an army of 100,000 to attack the Xiongnu, directly attacking the Shanyu Court, and defeating the Xiongnu, who had been severely injured by the civil war, and ran away with his head and fled to the west. The two generals of Ding and Feng were conferred the wolf and the pillars of the Han court.

Eighteen years later, the Han court used the excuse of the fact that the Loulan Kingdom colluded with the Yuezhi Kingdom to block the trade route and sent 50,000 troops out of Longxi to attack the Qilian Mountains. It wiped out the seven Hexi countries, including the Yuezhi Kingdom and the Loulan Kingdom, and seized the Hexi Corridor. The countries in the Western Regions were shocked and rushed to submit tribute to the country's rare treasures, including the sweat-blooded BMW. The Han court took the opportunity to establish the Western Regions Protectorate in the capital of Loulan Kingdom, and laid nails for the future advance to the Western Regions.

The whole book is over.
Chapter completed!