The First Young Master of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 6 A Preserved Egg
The most important thing to come to Zhuangzi is to meet the farmers and distribute New Year's goods. Now that we have met, Xuan Shijing asked Zhong Zishuo to take him to the yard, preparing to distribute New Year's goods to each family.

The servant pulled back the straw curtain covering the cart, and Xuan Shijing saw the new year's goods that Zhong Zishuo had bought, two carts of linen, and one cart of pork. He was used to the extravagance of gifts from later generations, and then looked at the three carts of two hundred households in front of him. People's New Year's goods, no matter how you look at them, they feel shabby. Xuan Shijing only felt that the word "poor" fell on the head of his master, but he had to say that the things Zhong Zishuo bought were all needed by the farmers. Yes, the two families share a piece of linen, go back and pull a few feet, and make new clothes for the wife and children at home. The honest peasants save money to live all year round. For the Chinese New Year, they have to think about cutting a few catties of pork to go home and make dumplings. After a while, Zhong Zishuo understood, that's why he bought these, the common people live their lives with the utmost importance.

It is now the twelfth lunar month of the third year of Zhenguan. The people at the most basic level in the Tang Dynasty have just come out of the war with the Turks, and they have suffered a catastrophe. They are far from as rich as described in later Tang poems. Xuan Shijing couldn't help but feel distressed about the living conditions. The family treats the people in Zhuangzi as kind, and they can't pay the taxes and rations set by the government. Suffering, Xuan Shijing swore to himself that he could not make the people in Tang Dynasty rich, but he still has the ability to take care of the people in his own village. He must make the people in Zhuangzi rich. At least everyone has meat to eat and clothes to change.

The three carts of things were quickly distributed, and it was already past noon. Seeing Zhuangzi going to this yard, Xuan Shijing knew that today's lunch must be rushed back to the Hou's mansion to eat.

"Little Marquis, we've finished sharing our food. Let's go home now. I've prepared some snacks in the car. If you're hungry, you can eat some on the way." Zhong Zishuo walked to Xuan Shijing's side and said.

"Okay, Uncle Zhong, then let's go back home." At this time, Xuan Shijing couldn't tell what it was like.

As soon as Zhong Zishuo carried him into the carriage, he heard someone shouting outside.

"Young Master, wait, wait."

Xuan Shijing opened the curtain first, looked out, and saw an old man in his fifties running over with a basket of eggs in his hand.

"Young Lord, there is nothing good in the village. These are some eggs saved by my little family. They are all laid by the chickens raised at home. I hope that the little Lord will not be disgusted."

"Old man... this." Xuan Shijing hesitated a little, the farmer's life was not easy, and the basket of eggs they saved was likely to be used for Chinese New Year or exchanged for some money.

"Young Lord, accept it." Zhong Zishuo said, "This is his wish."

Xuan Shijing had no choice but to accept it, and asked Zhong Zishuo to take the basket and put it on the carriage, then turned around and returned to the carriage to take out the pastry that Zhong Zishuo had prepared for him: "It's not rude to come and go, old man, Shijing accepted your eggs , as a gift in return, you can take these pastries home and eat them."

"This..." The old man hesitated, Xuan Shijing put the food box into his hand, turned around and said to Zhong Zishuo, "Uncle Zhong, it's getting late, let's go home."

"Yes." Zhong Zishuo responded, and ordered the people behind to put on the frame, and then drove the carriage back with Xuan Shijing.

In the car, Xuan Shijing looked at the basket of eggs, and suddenly found that one of the dozen or so eggs had a different color from the others. When he took the egg out of the basket, he found that the eggshell was shallow. blue.

Isn't this a preserved egg?
Xuan Shijing was overjoyed, but worried that he didn't know how to make money, so this idea was sent to the door. It seems that the old man made this preserved egg unintentionally, because the color of the eggshell is not normal at all. The color of preserved eggs is not bad. If the recipe of preserved eggs is not correct, the color of the eggs will be different. Moreover, the eggs that fail to be marinated cannot be eaten. Therefore, it is important to marinate preserved eggs It's a recipe, if it wasn't for today's coincidence, Xuan Shijing would not have remembered it. In Datang, there is absolutely this condition to pickle preserved eggs. To be honest, Xuan Shijing has been cooking for Datang cooks since he was two years old. There is something wrong with the food that came out. Although the conditions for going out on expeditions in the previous life were harsh, the members of the expedition team never treated themselves badly when it came to eating. Xuan Shijing looked at the preserved preserved egg in his hand and thought: This is just a start.

It's done, it's done!At this time, Xuan Shijing changed from being happy at the beginning to ecstasy. This is a good deal. Preserved egg, simply eaten with soy sauce, is extremely delicious. If Datang can make Lactone tofu, heh, the charm of preserved egg tofu will definitely convince a lot of people. Even if there is no lactone tofu, preserved egg and lean meat porridge, just thinking about it, Xuan Shijing couldn't help swallowing. It can be seen that the two Years in Datang, the food is really unsatisfactory.

Now in this world, it is true that if you pay, you will get something. The mansion distributes New Year’s goods to Zhuangzi, but when he came back, Zhuangzi found a new item for the mansion. Xuan Shijing suppressed the ecstasy in his heart, carefully Think about how to make the preserved eggs maximize the economic benefits.

In the early Tang Dynasty, people’s diet was relatively simple. The cooking method of food was not only steaming but also grilling. The eating style was very similar to that of the barbarians on the northern grasslands. They were bold and rough. Put a few catties of spices on it, and I don’t know whether it’s mutton or spices. Most of the spices in Datang were brought over by Hu merchants from the Western Regions.The most detailed traceability of Chinese cuisine is still in the Song Dynasty. It was not until the Song Dynasty that the practice of frying vegetables in an iron pot appeared, and various pastries and snacks emerged in endlessly.In the Qing Dynasty, high-ranking officials and dignitaries enjoyed each other more than one another. Once Qianlong was greedy, he had a full feast of Manchu and Han, and it was even more powerful in the future. A meal consisted of [-] dishes, and a dish could only eat three mouthfuls. Of course, this is also a Manchu The emperor spared his life.

Xuan Shijing thought about the making of preserved eggs. He still knew more or less about making preserved eggs. In front of several military princes, their own mothers can also speak well, not to mention their wives, who are inseparable from their mothers. It's just that the Tang Dynasty emphasized agriculture and suppressed business. This should be well arranged.

Inside the carriage, Xuan Shijing leaned his small head on the issue of preserved eggs, while Zhong Zishuo, who was driving outside, saw a group of people blocking the official road ahead.

When the carriage came to him, Zhong Zishuo jumped out of the carriage and went forward to investigate. A young girl of [-] years old was sitting on the ground, crying until the pear blossoms rained down. She looked very pitiful. She held an old woman in her arms, but the old woman His face was pale, foaming at the mouth, and his body twitched slightly.

"I beg of you, please help my mother." The girl wept, looking at the people around her pleadingly.

Surrounded by five or six people, all of them are honest peasants, with anxious faces, looking very eager to help, but they can't do anything, anyone with a discerning eye can see that this old woman has epilepsy, not to mention, this is the official way Even if there are so few families, they can't find a doctor, so they can only go to Chang'an City, which is dozens of miles away.

"Uncle Zhong, why did it stop?" Xuan Shijing noticed that the carriage stopped in place, raised the curtain, stuck out his small head, and looked around, looking for Zhong Zisuo.

Zhong Zishuo heard Xuan Shijing calling himself, and turned back to the carriage: "Young Master, the official road ahead is blocked, a girl is holding her mother in the middle of the road, it seems that the old man has epilepsy. "

Xuan Shijing looked around, he probably couldn't find a doctor in this wilderness, and then said: "Uncle Zhong, take me there to have a look."

Zhong Zishuo nodded, and carried Xuan Shijing off the carriage.

Xuan Shijing walked up to the crowd, looked at the old woman in the girl's arms, her face was pale, and the girl was still crying and begging everyone.

Seeing that Xuan Shijing and Zhong Zishuo were dressed in extraordinary clothes, the girl seemed to have grabbed hold of a life-saving straw. She gently placed her mother on the ground, knelt down immediately, and gave Xuan Shijing and Zhong Zishuo a few hard knocks. size.

"I beg the officials to save my mother, Xiaolian, I will repay the officials even if I am a cow or a horse." While kowtowing non-stop, she begged Xuan Shijing.

Xuan Shijing had never seen such a scene before, and felt that the mother and daughter were pitiful. Since he had the ability to help others, it didn't matter if he helped a group. Saving a life is better than building a seven-level pagoda.

"Sister, get up quickly." Xuan Shijing hurriedly helped Xiao Lian up, and turned to look at Zhong Zishuo: "Uncle Zhong, help help that old woman onto the carriage, let's hurry back to Chang'an City to find her." The doctor treats her, the disease cannot be delayed, it will kill her."

(End of this chapter)