The rise of the prince

Chapter 63

Li Ye's busy day started early, because the wine cage was ready, and the next step was to start the stove for steaming the wine.

It was still bright early in the morning, and Yan Yan led his people to brave the early cold to bring back the three pots customized by Li Ye. There were two ordinary large pots with a diameter of about one meter, and a hollow copper pot was used to boil mutton.

Why do hot pots use copper pots? Actually, it is very simple. Copper conducts heat faster than iron and does not store heat. The soup can quickly heat up and cool down as the fire changes.The thick iron pan is suitable for stir-frying because it retains heat, and when stir-frying, it will not cool down quickly because the ingredients absorb heat instantly when they are placed in the pan.

Yan Yan naturally didn't know why Li Ye wanted a pot, and he had a strange copper pot, but the little prince ordered him to do so.

Li Ye was very excited when he learned that the pot was brought back. He brought three servants from the house and called Yan Shen to start cooking. Qiu'er and Yue'er also came to join in the fun.Yan Yan felt that the girl's family should not get involved, Li Ye waved his hand to let them do whatever they wanted, and the two girls were just curious.

At the other end of the yard, Zhao Si has basically completed the construction and is now drying the wood.

There is no need to hire a stove master, because there is a kitchen in the mansion. A middle-aged fat man with a face full of meat is called Yan Cook.

However, making a stove at home is not as good as outside. In the traditional Chinese culture, heaven and earth have always been respected, and groundbreaking at home should be done with caution, and every stove has a "stove god", who is worshiped every year and festival.

Li Ye doesn't understand the specific process, but he doesn't feel superstitious. Some things don't function to reflect their value, just like poetry. These bits and pieces are not poetry of life. Maybe you don't understand, but don't be casual to deny.

Under Yan Yan's arrangement, they worshiped the land first, burned yellow paper to heat the soil, then burned incense and sprinkled wine, muttering words, probably asking for blessings from heaven and earth, wealth, and safety in the house. After waiting for about an hour, the incense was burned. It was Yan Zhuo's turn to start after the wine was poured.

Yan Shen and a group of servants were ready to fight with their guys on their backs, even carrying a hoe and shovel neatly and aggressively, as if they were about to go to the battlefield.Li Ye raised his forehead and quickly reminded them to relax, fighting the stove is not about fighting the enemy.
"Would you like a living stove?" Yan Cui stepped forward to ask with a smile, when he smiled, his small eyes narrowed so that he couldn't see, and he smiled like a Maitreya.

A live stove means that the pot is not fixed. Otherwise, the whole pot is fixed on the stove, which is suitable for a large pot. Of course, the bottom pot for wine making should be fixed, and it must be fixed with the wine cage, and the outside should be sealed with sand. , to prevent air leakage.

Li Ye said: "If you don't need to live, you can make it according to my instructions."

Yan Cook was taken aback for a moment, the son still knows how to make a stove?

Li Ye really understands that the wood-burning stoves used to be basically the same, but they are constantly improving. The latest type of stove in later generations has a narrow mouth, a semi-circular bottom, and a wide, smoke outlet. Store heat, heat up quickly, and save firewood.

Inspired by Li Ye's description, Yan Cui led his people to work suspiciously, but halfway through, he was still a little doubtful: "My lord, this stove is so narrow, will the fire go out?"

"No, as long as you expand the inside." Li Ye said.

Yan Cook nodded, although he was still a little worried, he had no choice but to do so, while Qiu'er and Yue'er looked at them busy with curiosity, the two girls couldn't understand at all.After thinking about it, Li Ye gave them a task. The two girls were good at sewing, which happened to come in handy.

They use something called "pitch ash" to lay bricks. They bought it from a mason. It is probably some kind of product of slaked lime. According to Yan Yan, this kind of pitch can only be used by rich families, and it takes more than a month to make it.

Cement is impossible, because the cement formula itself is very simple, but processing requires continuous high temperature of several thousand degrees, which is not available in this era.

Until noon, under the leadership of Yan Cooking and the efforts of Yan Shen and the three servants, the stove body was built and the bottom pot was placed on it. The next step is to wait for the ashes to be hardened before use.

But now it is winter, the temperature is low, and the water is difficult to evaporate. It is estimated that we will have to wait for many days.He didn't dare to put the wine cage on it hastily. Now that the ashes are not dry, the base of the stove is not stable, and putting it on it rashly may cause deformation.

Although he was full of enthusiasm and enthusiasm, and saw that a distilled wine brewing device was about to be completed, he could only suppress the enthusiasm in his heart. He couldn't eat hot tofu in a hurry, and his quick success might be wasted.

So after lunch, Li Ye didn't go to Huangyuan for the time being, but took Ji Chunsheng and Yan Cook to Tingyu Building, while Qiu'er and Yue'er stayed at home to do what Li Ye told him to do.

This time I went to listen to Yulou Li Ye wanted to teach those chefs some cooking methods of pork, such as braised pork, steamed pork, stewed pork, braised pork with preserved vegetables, etc. As he said before, 120 yuan a catty of pork He dared to sell it for [-] Wen for less than half a catty to make a dish, which is simply a huge profit!
Of course, Li Ye is not that crazy, four hundred Wen is too bullying an honest person, so he decided to sell 390 Jiu Wen.Don't underestimate this little article. This kind of consumption trap can be seen everywhere in modern times. People have long been familiar with it, but people fall into it willingly all the time.

This is a powerful psychological hint. When you see 399, your first impression is definitely "Wow, it's less than [-]!", which is the difference between one penny more and one penny less.

As for bringing Yan Cooking, he wanted him to learn as well. After all, he is the chef in the palace, and those few dishes are always boring.

He brought Ji Chunsheng with him just to be on the safe side. He has been in this world for more than two months, because he has been indulging in the gentle countryside, and he has forgotten that this is a cruel and dark feudal society.

Until this morning, an incident happened in the nearby Qian Mansion. A house slave broke the owner's porcelain and was kicked out with a broken leg. In this weather, it is more likely than not that he would die of pain and cold, which is worse than being beaten to death directly. fear.

All the servants of the palace were discussing this matter, but even Qiu'er Yue'er was calm when talking about this matter, just like ordinary life conversations, talking about how the weather is today, Li Ye suddenly realized that he was living in a What a dangerous world.

Logically speaking, the laws of the Jing Dynasty stipulated that domestic slaves should not be kept privately, and family servants, slaves, and nurses were all similar to employment systems.But in fact, it is not so strict, because some people may not be able to survive at all if they are not allowed to be dogs by rich families, and they will just starve to death on the street.

Therefore, as long as it is not too much, the government will turn a blind eye and close one eye. Most high-ranking and wealthy families will have private domestic slaves, just like raising livestock. They are the private property of the owner and can be disposed of at will. If you want to rebel, you will be reported to the government.

This reminded Li Ye of some records from his previous life.

In the Song Dynasty, there was also a decree that private domestic slaves were not allowed, and all servants had to be hired.

But in a place far away from the sky and the emperor, some powerful families directly robbed their young sons and daughters to serve as domestic slaves, and if they were disobedient or not good-looking, they would be used as food.The magistrates were weak and incompetent and dared not investigate. It wasn't until someone made a death report and the emperor personally ordered a thorough investigation that the truth came to light.

Li Ye knew that in such an age where information exchange was inconvenient, such things were very likely to happen, and human life was so worthless.So it's better for him to take Ji Chunsheng with him when he goes out, otherwise it's useless to call for help if something happens to him.

(End of this chapter)