A Man of Science and Engineering in Troubled Times Wandering in the Late Qing Dynasty

Chapter 44 The Price of Elegance

When Li Yu arrived at Prince Qing's mansion, Timothy Li and Pu Lande had already arrived.

Yikuang was very happy and full of energy when he saw it today. After all, he felt that the Western learning during this period was not in vain, and he finally felt proud of the Queen Mother.

Although what he learned is only the fur of the fur, people don't think so: the old man is a dignified prince, and it's already a face-saving to spend a little time on learning, okay?
What more bike!Is it possible to let the old man go back to the stove and rebuild?
After Li Yu arrived, they exchanged pleasantries, and Yikuang sat down at the dinner table with the three of them.Yi Kuang clapped his hands, and a maid immediately brought a plate of melon seeds.

Li Yu was a little bit surprised, he thought it was at least a Manchu banquet, and it would be fine to have some pastries first, but why don't they just serve melon seeds, maybe they should be invited to watch a show first.

Yikuang, however, was complacent, pointing at the melon seeds and introducing to the three of them: "This is not an ordinary melon seed, it's called Bingxin melon seeds, and it's a dessert that the Queen Mother and Lafayette are full of praise for."

"dessert?"

Timothy Li picked up a melon seed and was about to chew it, but Yikuang reached out to stop him, then picked up a few melon seeds, put them directly into his mouth, and chewed them all.

"My lord, the melon seed shell is too hard, which is very bad for the stomach!" Pu Lande said quickly.

Yikuang laughed loudly: "That's why it's unusual, the shell of this kind of melon seeds can also be eaten, you guys have a try."

Li Yu and they each picked up a few of them and put them in their mouths. As expected, they shattered after chewing. The shells of melon seeds were actually made of noodles!Moreover, the melon seeds inside are fresh and refreshing, and there is a strong mint fragrance.

Timothy Lee was shocked: "My lord, how did you do this?"

Yikuang said: "The melon seeds need to be peeled one by one first, and the larger ones are selected and soaked in freshly squeezed peppermint oil overnight, and left to air dry. Then use five sheets of thin dough of different colors to press out the melon seeds and wrap them Melon seeds are kneaded into the shape of melon seeds one by one, and then roasted."

When it comes to eating, drinking and enjoying things, Yi Kuang is really articulate.

Li Yu was startled. It would take at least four or five people a day and a night to make a plate of hundreds of melon seeds.

Timothy Li and Pu Lande applauded one after another: "It's really ingenious, it's wonderful."

Just like modern people like to eat popcorn when watching movies, Cixi likes to eat some melon seeds when watching movies.But how could Lafayette do such an "inelegant" and extremely troublesome thing like cracking sunflower seeds, besides, if you eat a bitter grain, the cooks in the imperial dining room may be punished.

So someone came up with this magical idea and made melon seeds that can be eaten even in the shell, named Bingxin melon seeds.Cixi likes it very much, and often puts a small dish on hand when watching a play.

It can not only enjoy the fun of eating melon seeds, but also save the trouble of eating melon seeds.

Elegant and timeless!
Yikuang is also an old movie fan, and he is not short of money, so he directly hired a few people to make melon seeds for himself.

Yikuang was also very proud of himself. In terms of "enjoyment" alone, even the British princes and dukes were nothing more than rich peasants in the countryside in his eyes.

At that time, the nobles of the Manchu Qing Dynasty developed the skill of serving people to the top.Everyone should have seen Heshen’s extravagant life on TV. Sometimes he doesn’t have to move his chopsticks when eating, and even has a maid to wipe his butt with a hot towel after he poops.

When Li Yu was a child, he once thought that he could not take care of himself.

So, in Yikuang's eyes, when it comes to enjoyment, what can British nobles enjoy!Don't talk about enjoying it, can they think of something!

Li Yu sighed softly, not knowing what to say.

This is just an appetizer before meals. The follow-up bird's nest and eight immortals soup, roast suckling pig, mushroom sea cucumber, and steamed sea bass are all carefully prepared. Even the most common cabbage uses only the innermost part of each cabbage. made.

After eating a table of dishes, I went directly to the Beijing Xiaoban Suite.

But for Prince Qing Yikuang, who was the most greedy in the Qing Dynasty, he would come here once or twice a week, and it was really a small dish for him.

Li Yu ate the most expensive meal in his life. Fortunately, he has been baptized in the modern catering industry, so he has seen the market.

Timothy Lee and Pu Lande really dropped their jaws. Where have they eaten this in the UK?
Not to mention them, even for the British in the 21st century, the diet is unbelievably simple.It’s hard to imagine a country where modern civilization was first born, developed for hundreds of years, and its food culture is just “Fish and chips”!
There is no shortage of tomatoes or eggs, so why can't you make scrambled eggs with tomatoes? !
Anyway, Li Yu couldn't figure it out.

Not only in the UK, but when he was an exchange student in Germany, he found that the Germans also eat too simple food, and they often eat hamburgers and ham.His German classmates explained to him this way: because they don't want to waste energy on eating.

Although there is a little truth in it, Li Yu still thinks it's too ridiculous, people are like iron rice or steel, okay!
After three rounds of wine and five flavors of food, at night, Yikuang also saw the rings of Saturn with the telescope brought by Pu Lande on Li Yu's shelf, and the imaging effect was even better than Cixi's.

Prince Qing was so happy that his beard blew up, and he even gave the other one to Li Yu.

The telescope is indeed a good thing, and even Li Yu has a little bold idea, and his huge knowledge reserve of astronomy can finally be brought into play.

The next day, the Empress Dowager Cixi rewarded Li Yu with 200 taels of silver, and ordered him to teach Sigege to use binoculars.

The Empress Dowager is now conveniently in and out of Sigege. If she learns it, Cixi's telescope will not be idle again, and she can relieve boredom at night.

After all, what Lafayette wants most now is to enjoy life!Those who have no children under their knees can only find more fun in other places.

The little prince Zai Zhen also knew about this, and it was not easy to get the Queen Mother's favor, so he found Li Yu in Tongwenguan.

"Mr. Li, are you free today?"

Now that he is directly asking himself to teach, Li Yu is not easy to shirk: "It's rare for Master Bei to invite me, of course I'm free."

"That's great, let's go have a drink together."

"drink wine?"

"That's right, by the way, I would like to ask you some related things for foreigners. The imperial court has issued a notice for me to prepare to go to England."

"So, let's have a drink together!"

Li Yu also wanted to see what bars were like more than 100 years ago.

The palace must have its own special carriage, a carriage.And it is the best style with the wheels at the rear and the doors open on both sides, absolutely BMW!

In the late Qing Dynasty, if I could have such a carriage at home, I am afraid that the cost and maintenance expenditure would not only be BMW, but at least Rolls-Royce level.The cost of hiring a carriage driver alone is hundreds of taels of silver every year, because being a carriage driver at this time is an absolutely advanced technical job.

The carriage pulled the two of them to a foreign bar in Dongjiaomin Lane. Li Yu was shocked when he saw the name of the bar after getting off the car. He even wondered if he had returned to the 21st century, because the name of the bar was surprisingly: Watsons!
I'll be good!No mistake!
(End of this chapter)