Section 49: Good salt enters flavor

  When the fort was breached, the master of the fort saw that things were not going well and quietly slipped away with his trusted subordinates from another direction. Zhang Kuang did not want to kill them all, so he let them go under the pretext of "not pursuing exhausted bandits".

  What secrets could these remaining people possibly know? Apart from finding out that the surname of the owner of this fortress is "Zhang" and that this fort was newly built not long ago, almost nothing else was gained.

  Now Zhang Kuang thinks about it and feels somewhat regretful.

  But even so, Zhang Kuang didn't think it was a big deal. What needs to be done now is still the matter of "rewarding the three armies".

  Inside the fort, there is a not-so-small flat open space. It should be used for drying grains during harvest season. Except for over 100 Tianping soldiers who are responsible for guarding and watching, more than 2,000 people gathered on this empty land. They sat together in groups of ten according to their unit's organization, drawing hundreds of small circles on the ground.

  These young men born in rural families, naturally wouldn't be as particular as scholars, casually sitting on the ground, loudly chattering and discussing the upcoming grand banquet. Some people recalled their days before joining the Yellow Turbans with an unbearable feeling.

  Indeed, the current Han people's lives are so difficult that it is hard for later generations to imagine. To use a popular phrase from later times, they truly "get up earlier than chickens, eat worse than pigs, work more than donkeys and live cheaper than dogs".

  Those who sing this song in later generations, don't say that compared to the poor people of the great Han Dynasty, even compared to ordinary civilians living in ancient times, the standard of living between the two is also worlds apart. In these few months, Zhang Kuang, who has gained a deeper understanding of this era, has thought more than once:

  "Living in such a painful environment, if you don't rise up and rebel, it's really unforgivable!"

  So, the Taiping Rebellion this time, although the backbone were all believers of the Taiping Teachings, however, the participants were mostly landless vagrants who had lost their own land and poor people whose lives were unbearable under the double pressure of the government and local despots.

  They represent a force that has already given up hope for the future among the people. This despairing resistance almost destroyed the entire Han dynasty!

  However, Zhang Kuang did not wish for this desperate force to destroy the entire Han Dynasty.

  Because these ignorant masses do not have the ability to build a new world. After their destruction, only ruins will be left. As a future person with independent thinking, Zhang Kuang would naturally not want the Great Han, as the representative of the brilliant Chinese nation, to perish like this.

  Moreover, whether acknowledged or not, in the current era, scholars, especially those from high-ranking families, represent the highest level of productive forces. Without their participation, no social organization can successfully develop and grow.

  As one of the core disciples of Taiping Dao, Zhang Kuang clearly knew that "Daxian Liangshi" Zhang Jiao himself was also a member of the scholar-official class. Before launching the "Yellow Turban Great Uprising", he tried every means to win over scholars from all over the country to join him. Even after the uprising occurred, Zhang Jiao still attempted to maintain friendly relations with local powerful clans and strongmen.

  However, with the rapid expansion of the number of rebels, in order to maintain this large army, the local Yellow Turban leaders had no choice but to take matters into their own hands and plunder the grain and weapons of local landlords to meet the needs of the troops.

  As a result, the local tyrants were truly pushed to the opposite side of the Yellow Turbans. As a result, the faster the Yellow Turbans expanded in areas where they plundered the local aristocracy more severely, the faster these Yellow Turban forces were annihilated under the joint attack of the Han army and the private armies of the tyrants.

  Zhang Mancheng's army in Wancheng, Bo Cai's army in Yingchuan, and Bu Ji's army in Dongjun have all taken or are about to take this path.

  The Tianping Army, due to its relatively mild attitude towards the powerful clans, did not suffer from several large-scale sieges during the long journey of over a thousand miles. This result, apart from the fact that the Tianping Army itself was strong and unyielding, also had a great deal to do with the fact that it did not have a mortal feud with the local powerful clans.

  Zhang Kuang pondered the current situation while satisfyingly gazing at the troops before him. These more than two thousand robust warriors would be Zhang Kuang's capital in participating in the great war at the end of the Han dynasty.

  Nearly a hundred large pots were scattered among the crowd on the open ground, emitting wave after wave of enticing aromas. Among them, some were the fragrance of millet and wheat rice, while others were the meaty aroma of pork and mutton. In addition, dozens of large jars placed on one side also wafted out strands of mouth-watering wine fragrance from their open mouths.

  At this moment, the one who was most restless was Dian Wei. This guy had a sturdy build and shocking combat strength, but his appetite was also unusually good. Generally speaking, Dian Wei could eat as much food as four or five strong men in one sitting. Moreover, he was extremely fond of wine and meat, often saying to others:

  "If a certain family doesn't get to eat meat and wine on a given day, they won't have the energy to do anything that day."

  However, Xī Dé Tián Wéi not only could eat but also fight. Therefore, Zhāng Kuáng specially set a rule for him that all the heroes who joined the "Heavy Armor Team" would have meat and wine every day.

  As a result, people who wanted to join the "Heavy Armor Unit" almost burst into Tiantian's tent. And Tiantian, in order to avoid too many people coming to compete with him for food and drink, actually spent some effort to screen these applicants. As a result, until now, the number of people in the "Heavy Armor Unit" is still only more than 70.

  Of course, at this moment, Dian Wei did not stay with his subordinates to share wine and meat. All the leaders above the hundred people were in the front row, each with an independent dish.

  The food on the table is more exquisite and varied than that of ordinary soldiers. In addition to cooked meat, there are several kinds of vegetables. Even on Chen Deng's table as a half-guest, there was actually a plate of fish slices.

  Chen Deng picked up a piece of dried fish with chopsticks, dipped his finger in some salt, took a look, and involuntarily exclaimed:

  "As white as jade, as bright as snow, shining like silver! This is truly top-grade salt goods! Such a small fort, yet it has salt that's not inferior to our family's finest products. It's really hard to come by!"

  Chen Deng said this, and others also noticed this point, and they all exclaimed in surprise. Such good salt, for men like Tian Wei, Yu Jin, Yue Jin and others who were not of high birth, was also the first time they had ever tasted it!

  Instead, Zhang Kuang, regarding this matter, did not express anything, but only hinted to the logistics soldiers below to distribute large pieces of cooked meat and big bowls of millet rice to the soldiers. With "Tai Da Shi" leading the way, after offering sacrifices to "Dong Huang Tai Yi", they kicked off the ceremony of rewarding the entire army.

  "It's on!"

  After a brief congratulatory ceremony, the soldiers one by one raised their large bowls to drink and eat meat with gusto. Many people savored the delicious taste of the familiar meat in their mouths and thought to themselves:

  Even if it's the enjoyment in Heaven, I'm afraid it won't be more than this!

  Sometimes, boosting morale is that simple. A sumptuous dinner and a few thick chunks of meat immediately filled the hearts of these impoverished soldiers with vigor. The morale, which had been lowered due to prolonged marching, was greatly restored after this reward.

  The whole rewarding process lasted from the afternoon to late at night, for more than a few hours. When night fell, the noisy fort slowly quieted down. Except for a few warning lights on the city wall, the inside and outside of the fort became silent.

  But five miles away from the fort, there were many people gathered together, wanting to break this silence.

  PS: In my humble opinion, if you were to travel back in time to ancient times, it would be really tough. Unless, you were born into a good family.

  In terms of enjoying life, Cao Cao's days may not have been better than those of a modern commoner. People in ancient times mostly had short lives, which is also a good reflection of the poor quality of life.

  When it comes to sashimi, everyone thinks of Japan's specialty food. However, this way of eating was actually invented by our ancestors. Just like the "脍炙人口" where "脍" originally referred to thinly sliced raw fish and meat. It's just that this way of eating later became unpopular in China, but was passed on to Japan, where it was developed and popularized by the Japanese people.