Ping An Biography

Zhang Ning's residence was indeed not very spacious. The small courtyard he entered was like a house on the top of the mountain. There were two oleanders planted in the small courtyard, and the branches were bare.But the advantage is that the rent is cheap, and the monthly rent is one or two. If in later generations, six hundred, can you rent a courtyard house with seven or eight rooms in the urban area of ​​Beijing?

Luo Yaoniang's carriage had no choice but to lean on the road outside the courtyard gate. The alley was not wide and was immediately blocked in half. The horses had to be tied to the oleander tree in the courtyard, because the stables in the courtyard were too small.

Two handymen assigned by the Ministry of Rites came to lead the donkey. Apart from Zhang Ning, they were the two of them, and they were not very good laborers: Zhang Ning, a groom who was almost 60 years old, called him old man He; But he is skinny, and his mouth is crooked, and he often giggles inexplicably "hehe". Hearing that his surname is Niu, Zhang Ning feels that he is quite "two", so he decides to rank him and calls him Niu Er.Niu Er is a follower, doing chores like buying firewood, rice, and cleaning the yard, but Zhang Ning feels that his IQ is not reliable, and the money for daily expenses is handed over to Old Man He.The salaries of these two people are paid by the Ministry of Rites, and Zhang Ning is not easy to pick and choose.

"Old man He, there are guests at home today, and I want to buy some things now. I'm afraid Niu Er won't remember well, so you go for a run." Zhang Ning ordered, "Sparse ribs, fish, pork, leg meat and seasonings, leg meat Buy an extra two catties."

Old man He went to withdraw the money when he agreed, and Niu Er took the donkey to feed it.Zhang Ning then invited Luo Yaoniang and Wang Zhen to a room in the West Wing that was used as a study. The two servants were away, and only Zhang Ning made the tea himself.

"We really can't bear to have you serve tea and water yourself." Luo Yaoniang laughed.

Zhang Ning brought the tea and put it on the table, and said nonchalantly: "The house is simple, you two should be more casual. By the way, Wang Maocai, there is a bed in the room to the north of the East Wing. I'll take the bedding and tidy it up later. I can make do with it.”

Wang Zhen took a big sip of tea, and was quite moved: "Brother Ping'an's friendship, Mr. Wang will never forget."

Zhang Ning said in his heart: Friendship is fine, as long as you don't think about Yin Laozi, I have nothing to do to you.

When old man He bought the things back, Zhang Ning got up and said, "I'll change into my clothes and go to dinner, you guys sit down first, excuse me."

After hearing this, Wang Zhen and Luo Yaoniang immediately made a fuss, with surprise on their faces, Wang Zhen said: "A gentleman is far away from the kitchen, how can he dare to let Brother Pingan cook and entertain?" Luo Yaoniang said with great interest: "You can also cook?"

Zhang Ning said with a smile: "Old man He usually cooks meals for three people, but the taste is not good. We can't let him cook today when there are guests."

There is no way, with Zhang Ning's income, the monthly salary is two or five, and the rent is deducted by one or two. It is necessary to go to restaurants and restaurants as little as possible, otherwise it will not be long before you really have to borrow money to spend the day.If it is too expensive to treat guests in restaurants and restaurants, it is different to buy things at home. Pork is only [-] yuan a catty, and carp is less than [-] yuan a catty. This meal can be done for less than two renminbi.

Zhang Ning changed into old clothes of moon white linen, and went into the kitchen. After a while, Luo Yaoniang also ran in. Seeing him holding up his sleeves and picking up a kitchen knife, she covered her mouth and laughed uncontrollably: "The last time I dared to On the way, you bought a kitchen knife as a weapon, so you really know how to use a kitchen knife?"

"Niu Er, come in and light the fire!" Zhang Ning yelled to the outside, and turned to Luo Yaoniang's words, "Exactly, it's been a long time since I haven't practiced for a long time, and I still feel comfortable picking up a kitchen knife." Ginger is quickly cut into very fine ginger shreds.

"Give me a hand when you come in and scrape off the skin of the yam." Zhang Ning ordered without looking back.

Luo Yaoniang said angrily: "I've never done such a thing at home." She hesitated for a while, but went anyway, seeing that he ignored him, she said: "Wang Maocai said it well, a gentleman stays away from the kitchen, no wonder you Do not take the Jinshi exam!"

Zhang Ning said: "Not everyone wants to glorify their ancestors, it's true to be plain."

"Then why are you still an official, why don't you hurry up and become a hermit." Luo Yaoniang fiddled with the poor yam clumsily, unexpectedly, it would be troublesome to do such a simple thing by hand.

Zhang Ningyu said earnestly: "It's not so easy to be a hermit. Everyone has to eat, wear, shelter, and travel. Experts from outside the world have their own unique skills. Can my stomach full of sage books be eaten?"

The two were bickering and chatting while Zhang Ning was cooking.It didn't take long for a few dishes to come out: stewed pork ribs with yam, fried fish slices, roasted carrot legs, fried shredded pork, and two vegetarian dishes.There was a lot of roast meat, so Zhang Ning scooped up a bowl, and left the rest for Old Man He and Niu Er to eat.

The food was placed in a dining room in the East Wing. Zhang Ning brought a jar of Shaoxing wine, and the three of them divided the guests into seats and started. The sumptuous dinner was nominally for Wang Zhen, but in fact Zhang Ning mainly served Luo Yao Niang.In any case, Zhang Ning was very grateful for her help in repairing the books and reporting her safety.

"How about the taste?" Zhang Ning smiled while pouring the wine.

Luo Yaoniang unceremoniously picked up a fish fillet with her chopsticks, and was about to say something sarcastic, but her expression changed, and she couldn't help saying, "Zhang Ping'an, okay, you really have a hand."

"Just kidding, it's not in vain to cook a few home-cooked dishes." Zhang Ning said triumphantly, and raised his wine glass to signal to Wang Zhen.

Of course, Zhang Ning of the Ming Dynasty did not know how to cook, and it is his memory of later generations that brought this small skill.He used to know how to cook, but now the taste is not much different. The ingredients commonly used in the modern day, such as ginger, garlic, onion, vinegar, wine, salt, sugar, etc., were available in the Ming Dynasty, but the seasoning and chili were missing. Seaweed boiled sauce barely replaces miso, not much worse.

Luo Yaoniang couldn't help but said: "Why don't I have a wine glass, is this how you treat guests?"

"What kind of wine do girls drink?" Zhang Ning looked at the dimming light outside, "I won't keep you after dinner, go home early."

"You are the child! My father doesn't even ask, you still care about me!" Luo Yaoniang said angrily, "Who are you to me?" She just finished saying this, and suddenly felt wrong: It seems that I admit it myself Somebody like him.Her face flushed slightly, but her mouth was still dissatisfied: "Bring the wine glass, see if I don't drink you down."

Luo Yaoniang's control at home is indeed very loose, Yang Shiqi is busy with official duties and basically doesn't ask questions, and she doesn't have a mother in the Yang family, who cares about her?

Zhang Ning said: "You can really drink... Oh yes, heroine, heroine, disrespect and disrespect. Can't I just give you another cup?"

Wang Zhen was quite polite at the beginning, but he soon discovered that Zhang Ning had nothing to do with it. He couldn't be polite if he took care of picking up food. He talked less and ate more food. After a full meal, although the table tonight is not full of delicacies, he has enjoyed it very much.

Luo Yaoniang spoke out loudly, her face turned red like a peach blossom after drinking three cups, her eyes became blurred, and her words were a bit indiscriminate: "Zhang Ping'an, what happened to your Miss Fang, what happened to you and her?"

"Stop drinking." Zhang Ning urged.

Luo Yaoniang refused, and asked Wang Zhen: "Are you his neighbor? How is Zhang Pingan's reputation in his hometown?"

Wang Zhen glanced wretchedly at Zhang Ning, and said, "Brother Ping'an is a scholar, with good knowledge and conduct... I don't know who the woman surnamed Fang is, but I have met the young lady of the Wang family, and she has already withdrawn her engagement." , Miss Luo, please rest assured."

"Miss Wang, is there still an engagement?" Luo Yaoniang looked at Zhang Ning with red eyes.

Zhang Ning turned his head to look at Wang Zhen in astonishment, and thought to himself, are you too drunk?I am kind enough to entertain you, what are you talking about!Luo Yaoniang is the same, I don't know what she's doing: She and I haven't gone through a matchmaker with my parents, so I dare to pick you up like in modern times?

He used to be a rule-abiding person, and he was also unwilling to easily challenge the current order in the Ming Dynasty.

"Didn't Wang Mao just say that he broke off the engagement?" Zhang Ning explained calmly, he didn't want to make Luo Yaoniang anxious, and besides, this girl has a fat waist|buttocks and a good-looking figure. People are not bad, being jealous and a bit hot is a shortcoming in the eyes of Ming Dynasty people, but Zhang Ning doesn't care.If she is really interested, it's actually okay, besides, it's great to be a relative with Yang Shiqi.

Luo Yaoniang had an angry and sad expression: "Why did you break off the engagement, and you always abandoned it?"

Zhang Ning said: "How could I do such a thing? I was still in a coma when I divorced. At that time, I was going to die. It is only natural for a young lady from the Wang family to divorce for the sake of her future."

After hearing this, Wang Zhen said: "Women are ruthless and ungrateful, Brother Ping'an, don't worry about it."

"Who are you calling heartless and ungrateful!" Luo Yaoniang scolded with red eyes.

Wang Zhen was stunned: "I said the young lady of the Wang family."

Luo Yaoniang said: "All of you gentlemen and officials, who are not ruthless and ungrateful, have the face to call women..."

"Tell you not to drink, you have to pretend to be some kind of heroine." Zhang Ning said angrily, and turned to Wang Zhen and said, "If you drink too much, you don't have to care about what you say. I will send her back, you eat first, wait I'll come back and let's continue drinking."

"Seeing off the guests, Miss Luo, don't be too polite, let's go." Zhang Ning got up and said.

Luo Yaoniang didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "What kind of polite are you, is it polite to kick someone out?"

Zhang Ning glanced at Tianse: "It's getting late, if you go back at night after being drunk, what will Master Yang think?"

Luo Yaoniang drank some wine and was a little upset when she was agitated by something about Ms. Wang, but her mind was clear. When she heard his words, she remembered that her father said that she wanted to find a chance to see Zhang Ning. Making a bad impression is never a good thing.She is quite sensible, so she stopped messing around after thinking about it, and stood up, and went out angrily: "Who wants you to see it!"

"I'll send it to the entrance of Ganyu Alley." Zhang Ning was not at ease, and hurriedly followed, and then hurried to the stable to fetch the donkey.

Luo Yaoniang didn't wait for him at all, and left a sentence: "It's just that you are afraid of breaking the engagement. Now that you have recovered your fame and official position, can you go back and coax that young lady from the Wang family?"