Chapter 647: Chapter 419: A Meal
Prompted by Xiaomiao, everyone quickly came back to their senses; while still in shock, they didn’t forget to move the goods.
They first carried the buns, steamed bread, dumplings, and sweet rice balls back and had people start cooking them.
Miss Jiang had said that the buns and steamed bread could sit for a while and be saved for dinner, but the rest had to be eaten quickly; otherwise, in less than half an hour they’d all stick together into one big lump.
These dumplings, sweet rice balls, wontons and such, all frozen rock-hard and icy cold, plus some that didn’t even look like dumplings, made people feel they were incredibly magical.
No one had ever imagined that these things could actually be kept with ice?
Beneath all this, Xiaomiao had placed some crushed ice, laid an oiled cloth over it, and only then set the food on top so it could stay properly chilled.
If they were for eating, all these frozen foods together still weren’t enough for everyone to have one full meal, so Xiaomiao wasn’t worried about them going bad.
The saltpeter in her space had already been used up; it had been something she’d collected at some point in her previous life without even remembering when.
As for whether they could somehow keep the meat for another day or two, that would depend on General Song and his men themselves.
The two of them carried a bamboo basket together; after everyone went back, more people soon arrived, including General Song and Lord Xie.
Once they got over their shock, the two learned that everything had been provided by Jiang Xiaomiao as a friendly gift and that she didn’t want a single coin for it; in unison, they cupped their fists toward Xiaomiao in salute.
"Many thanks to Miss Jiang for resolving the urgent crisis of our 150,000-strong army."
Xiaomiao waved her hand carelessly. "No need to be so sentimental. My little brother’s in the army too; I can’t just let him starve along with everyone else, can I?"
"Besides, if he came out every day to eat alone, I don’t think he himself would be happy about it."
Look at that proud little expression of hers, as if she were afraid others wouldn’t know she was doing it all for her little brother.
General Song and Lord Xie shared a smile, then glanced at the young General Wei standing nearby; their smiles grew even more indulgent and sweet.
General Song couldn’t help but sigh with feeling. "Miss Jiang and young Wei—talented gentleman and beautiful lady, minds in harmony—truly a match made in heaven."
The words made Xiaomiao feel a bit weird. Talented gentleman and beautiful lady—wasn’t that used to describe little couples?
She and her little brother weren’t a couple.
She was just about to explain, but seeing the two of them wearing a "that’s exactly how it is" expression, she decided to forget it and let them think whatever they wanted.
It took the two to three thousand people quite a long time to move all the grain.
What surprised Xiaomiao was that neither General Song nor Lord Xie asked even once where this grain had come from.
As for whether they’d investigate later, she couldn’t be bothered to care.
She’d already shown her attitude; what happened afterward depended on everyone else.
With so much food to eat, the army’s morale soared; General Song and Lord Xie didn’t return to the city, and they even invited Xiaomiao to eat with them and sample the camp cooks’ skills.
In this army of 150,000 men, there were over a thousand cooks. Right now, watching ingredients being delivered in an endless stream, they were all wildly excited.
Anyone who could serve as a cook had at least some level of skill; their problem was that the daily ingredients were too limited for them to really show what they could do.
All thousand-odd giant cauldrons were fired up: some steaming steamed bread, some boiling dumplings and sweet rice balls, others already stewing meat.
Xiaomiao had underestimated how much food a single meal for 150,000 people would take. There was indeed plenty of rice and white flour, but the frozen foods and meat together probably still weren’t enough for everyone for even one full meal.
On top of that, everyone knew it was mid-summer; never mind keeping the meat for a day, it would likely spoil just by evening.
So from top to bottom, no one even thought about saving the meat. Better to eat it all in one meal and not waste a bite!
Old duck soup, chicken soup, stewed beef, red-braised pork, stir-fried pork, red-braised fish chunks—each dish was prepared in a small portion and brought up to the table one after another.
Especially the red-braised fish—there were only four pieces, just enough for one piece per person and not a bit more.
There were also small bowls of sweet rice balls, dumplings, wontons, each serving four pieces, one per person.
General Song had asked in advance. Since the general had ordered that everyone eat together, all the food that couldn’t be kept had to be finished in one meal, and it was best if every person got a taste.
Meat and soup, though, could be cut into smaller pieces so that everyone could have several bites.
But with things like sweet rice balls and dumplings, everyone could only choose one type and have one piece to taste the flavor.
After all, there were 150,000 people, and even added all together, there weren’t as many as 150,000 pieces.
That everyone at the general’s table could get one of each was mainly because Miss Jiang was there; the head cook had said that since these were gifts from Miss Jiang, how could they not let Miss Jiang taste them?
As for everyone else, that was mostly to keep Miss Jiang from feeling embarrassed—they were just included along the way.
After all, usually the general ate the same food as everyone else in the camp.
Xiaomiao thought about it, recalling the meat and frozen foods, and realized that if they only ate those, it really wasn’t enough for 150,000 people for one meal.
Xiaomiao asked curiously, "With all this meat added together, about how much can each person eat?"
The soldier delivering the food thought for a moment. "It’s not a small amount. All together, each person gets a big bowl—more meat than we eat in one or two months normally. And the head cook also boiled a big bowl of noodles for each of us."
Speaking of this, the soldier couldn’t help but show his excitement. "All of it’s white flour. This is my first time eating white-flour noodles. Thank you, Miss Jiang."
Xiaomiao felt a bit awkward and a bit embarrassed. "No need to thank me. Once Xu Yu’s grain harvests are good, everyone will be able to eat rice and white flour in the future."
The soldier nodded excitedly. "Mm, we all know the Minister of Agriculture—no, the Marquis of Agriculture—has already been growing grain nearby and cultivating new crops. We’ll definitely all be able to eat rice and white flour in the future!"
"All right, all right, don’t talk nonsense about the Marquis of Agriculture. Go eat your meal."
Seeing him getting more and more carried away, General Song hurriedly shooed him off.
The man clearly was very familiar with General Song. Even being scolded didn’t scare him; he just chuckled a few times, bowed to Jiang Xiaomiao, and then quickly ran off.
He did indeed seem very anxious to get to his meal.
"Miss Jiang, don’t mind what he said. The Marquis of Agriculture has made enormous contributions to Xu Yu. The fact that everyone now eats more than before is all thanks to him."
"As for rice and white flour, just take what he said as idle talk and don’t worry about it."
Though rice and wheat were indeed high-yielding, what was sent to the border was still coarse grain—just more of it than before so everyone could eat their fill.
They’d only get rice and white flour once the granaries were overflowing and there was surplus; that’s when it might be the turn of people like them.
General Song was already used to this and didn’t feel it was anything special.
But Xiaomiao had taken those words to heart. These were all people defending their country—each of them with great merit. How could they not be worthy of a bowl of white rice, not worthy of a bowl of braised pork?
A thought took shape in her heart, but there was no rush. She had to ask Wei Ziang first before she could consider anything else.
"General Song, let’s not talk about this for now. Miss Jiang should eat first. Try the camp cooks’ handiwork—the smell alone says it’ll taste good."
Xiaomiao nodded along. "All right."