Chapter 2416: This Is Culture

Chapter 2416: Chapter 2133: This Is Culture

“Fried meat pie, if you like it, you can come eat it every day for one cent each.” Xu Sheng led the two towards the supply point, “Earlier, the ten notes we withdrew from the Money Exchange, each could buy a million of the pies you just ate. Though generally, if you subscribe for a year, there’s a discount.”

Novica and Sakara were utterly shocked, instantly grasping the concept of so-called high denomination currency. A million of those meat pies they just ate could already be considered a reward for their soldiers.

“What do you need so much money for?” Sakara, due to his background, could clearly understand the value of currency. Once he had a comparison, he understood just how much money Xu Sheng had withdrawn earlier. It wasn’t a small sum.

“To welcome, after all, General Gan’s return is a good thing, they should at least have a good feast, right?” Xu Sheng replied as a matter of fact, Sakara and Novica couldn’t comprehend the correlation between a return and eating well, much less feel the need to spend so much money on a banquet for heads like them plus Gan Ning.

“All combined, there are nearly forty thousand people. For them to have a good meal with vegetables and meat, if made on our own, it averages out to about twenty-five coins per person. However, such bulk purchasing of meat and vegetables could only be done here.” Xu Sheng explained as they walked inside, a special purchase point, with a large underground ice storage.

“Let’s start with fifty thousand pounds of meat, and let’s get some of the freshest vegetables available.” Xu Sheng’s way of shopping was somewhat casual, “Forget the fish, just a small amount.”

Donglai was close to the sea, especially after the Lul Family Shipyard opened. Chen Xi, with the idea of developing local industries, encouraged local fishermen to buy boats for coastal fishing while heavily investing in basic infrastructure and developed many techniques to enhance fish preservation time, such as salted fish, canned salted fish, salted fish strips, etc.

As a Chinese person, not developing a hundred ways to eat sea fish truly feels like a disgrace. With the investment of numerous ships, large-scale fishing, and the cost of fishing for large ships dropped sharply, eating fish in Donglai was fast becoming a lifestyle, and fish prices had been decreasing.

In fact, if Chen Xi hadn’t developed a logistics system here, with official fish purchases to stabilize prices, the method of the Fourth Generation Ship dragging back over a dozen tons of fish at once would’ve long covered Donglai with fish caught by these people.

This is also why Xu Sheng asked the shopkeeper if there wouldn’t be any cheap tricks like using fish in the meat pies since fisheries in Donglai now are really crazy. However, speaking of which, no matter how crazy, it wouldn’t make much of a difference in a country like the Han Dynasty, which puts eating first.

In Chen Xi’s words, since there are people in the Central Plains who have yet to eat fish and shrimp, this free meat from the sea should be fished out to offer an extra meal to the Central Plains People!

We’re not yet the fourteen billion people of later generations, so there’s no issue of overfishing. Just let loose, fish away. With the current technology and manpower investment, no matter how much is caught, it’s still not enough for the vast Central Plains people behind us.

Without enough meat, eggs, and milk, how can we improve the physical quality of the Central Plains people? Since other meats currently can’t meet the standards, fish meat will do for the time being. In any case, fish meat, no matter what, is more reliable than grain in this aspect.

Under this major premise, many locals probably haven’t eaten these things, but Donglai’s fish meat consumption has reached its peak, and it’s no exaggeration to say hundreds of cooking methods have evolved. However, no matter how tasty it is, eating it every day does make one want to change flavors.

So, before the coastal people could grow weary of eating fish meat, Chen Xi’s part had already managed to complete the circulation of supplies somewhat, otherwise just the meat and vegetables Xu Sheng needed today would’ve been enough to hike up Donglai’s market prices.

What Xu Sheng said wasn’t complicated, but the concept of weights and measures was different, and the two didn’t know exactly how much Xu Sheng’s quantity entailed. Even though forty thousand people were mentioned, they didn’t think much of it. To be precise, up to now, they still thought Xu Sheng was just preparing a banquet for them.

After all, in the caste system of the Kushan, ordinary soldiers were basically lower caste Shudras, and from the perspective of the high caste, people at this level are slaves and not entitled to receive rewards.

Incidentally, this class had the largest population, roughly accounting for eighty percent of the total population. Yet, due to the habits of the caste system, when counting populations, only the top three casts are generally considered, sometimes not even the Third Hierarchy is included, leading to the situation of fourteen billion Indian People only being counted as two billion.

Of course, compared to the future generations, this era was more extreme; Shudras in the eyes of the high caste weren’t considered human at all, merely slaves, while Buddhism saw an opportunity to preach among the Shudras, hoping they would find the current life bitter and turn to Buddhism in pursuit of a better next life.

However, as it goes, in the caste system, Shudras do not have a next life; upon death, they would return to Brahma, becoming Brahma’s feet, a part of the gods. Whether it’s happier to have a better next life or to become part of the gods is something a normal person might contemplate for a long time.

But for a Shudra, no thought is required; of course, it’s better to be a part of the gods! What a good thing to become Brahma’s feet after death, to have no more inferiority, stepping forward as the feet of the gods!

The life of a Shudra is harsh, and Buddhism has its extensive teachings to stabilize the heart spirit, which is why during this period, Buddhism assumed it had a significant advantage over the caste system, then got half-killed by Hinduism’s basic attacks.

Don’t try guessing the thinking model of the lower caste in the caste system, because you simply can’t fathom it.

Equality among four castes, that’s exactly what we need; yes, this is indeed our pursuit. Alright, I’ve decided to believe in your Buddhism.

What, Buddhism says we need to reincarnate, does that mean we can’t become a part of Brahma anymore. Afterlife, to hell with your afterlife, I don’t need an afterlife, I just want this life, after I die, let me return to Brahma, I want to be a part of Brahma, Buddhism, get on your knees!

This is also why for a time Buddhism spread intensely in India, but eventually, the equality-preaching Buddhism couldn’t overcome the caste system. Because for a Shudra, it’s indeed a pursuit of equality, but compared to the pursuit of equality, their greater pursuit is becoming a part of Brahma after death!

Compared to the not-so-important pursuit of equality which might or might not be achieved, after all, the past thousands of years were spent like this, and even if unachieved later, life could still go on.

But if believing in Buddhism meant there was no way to become Brahma’s feet after death, being with Brahma, wouldn’t that be a grave loss for me? So, for a Shudra, Buddhism at most makes them marginal believers, rather it’s the Kshatriya, Brahmin that can potentially be brainwashed by Buddhism.

However, from the start, Buddhism didn’t choose Brahmin and Kshatriya, after all, Buddhism preaches equality, which in essence, requires these high castes to relinquish vested interests, though there were wise figures like Gautama Siddhartha, the vast majority couldn’t achieve such levels.

Personal struggle against class is generally non-existent, even wise individuals like Gautama Siddhartha initially targeted the rise of Kshatriya, maintaining the interests of the Kshatriya class, restricting the absolute authority of the Brahmin class, ultimately achieving the status of Buddha, it can be said this was achieved by progressing far, having seen much, and awakening.

Thus, relatively speaking, the stability of the caste system remains reliable; if it truly evolves into a culture, the caste system’s upper-level governance stays very reliable. As for Buddhism, it can only be said to have provided strength that the caste system absorbed, without eliminating the lower vanquishing’s recognition of their cultural heritage, at the core, they’re at most marginal believers.

To put it accurately, the power of the Buddha among these low castes might merely serve as a token of envy towards the high caste, as to how much real belief there is, looking at the future millennia, the genuine Buddhist believers in India are less than one in a hundred.

Conversely, Hinduism has permeated the culture thoroughly, leaving no way to eradicate it, even into the future, where the lower castes still strongly identify with their status.

Overall, it’s quite an odd situation where, for the soldiers of the Kushan, there are no rewards, they fundamentally are slaves to the Brahmin and Kshatriya, and naturally, the children of slaves remain slaves, all property of slaves belongs to the master, including the slaves themselves.

But when the transporters began moving the meat cart by cart from the underground ice storage, Sakara and Novica were simply dumbfounded. This scale for a banquet, are you kidding, this must be for several thousand people to finish.

But speaking of several thousand, Sakara and Novica exchanged glances …

“General Xu, are you intending to reward our subordinates with a feast?” Novica frowned and inquired. How should they put it, such an event had never happened; where on earth do slaves get rewarded for doing nothing, and if done like this, would these slaves still obey in the future?

“Of course, our custom here is, when newcomers arrive, or new recruits are greeted, or for other events, we always invite people to a meal first.” Xu Sheng naturally replied, it’s Chinese culture, whether it’s an old friend or a new acquaintance, upon meeting, everything can be sidelined, the first thing is to take you out for a meal.

Similarly, even within the military camp, when new recruits report, veterans gather, and after training ends and they return to various places, they always have a meal, Chinese culture, eat first, talk later!

“Uh, is there such a thing?” Sakara hesitated a little, understanding the truth of doing as the locals do, but this part of their customs was drastically different.

“How could it not be like this!” Xu Sheng stated matter-of-factly, can you not eat? Even when we were poor, we would still treat an old friend to one meal, let alone now when we have means. When the army gathers, how can we not let the soldiers under us have a good meal? Moreover, this time General Gan narrowly escaped from death, it’s only right to have a good meal, to celebrate and calm the nerves.