Great Master of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 63 64 The Magic of Vinegar

When Zuo Ming came to Lizheng Hall, Empress Changsun was lying on a brown-green recliner, while Li Tai was gently rocking the recliner beside him.

"Hey! Ma'am, you also have a reclining chair! It's exactly the same as Weichen's, it's really a fate!"

Feeling that the reclining chair looked familiar, Zuo Ming didn't think much about it, and smiled softly.

However, after hearing this, Li Tai and Empress Changsun looked at each other and smiled strangely.

But then, Empress Changsun asked with a flash of expression, "I heard that you are going to use the newly produced fetish to cook tonight. How are you preparing?"

At first, I thought the appearance of the two of them was a bit strange, but after such an interruption, Zuo Ming immediately said without doubt, "It's almost done, and the rest of the process is being done by the imperial chef. I believe the food will be served soon."

Nodding, Empress Changsun didn't say anything else, she just picked up a diamond on the table and asked Zuo Ming, "I heard that your family owns one of these things. Your majesty and this palace are very curious. What is it?" Things that deserve your attention? Now that the biggest ones have been taken away by you, shouldn’t it be time to tell us?”

"Hehe! Look at what you said, how could Zuo Ming be such a person. If you had asked earlier, I would have told you. Actually! There is nothing magical about this thing. Its original name is Diamond, but This is the hardest thing in the world. But under normal circumstances, this thing is only used for decoration."

With an embarrassing smile, Zuo Ming explained.

"Decoration? It's so gray, it doesn't look good at all, how can it be used as a decoration?"

Li Tai said puzzledly that he was also quite curious about this so-called diamond.A few days ago, he just wanted to take a look at Lian'er's diamond ring, but was scolded by Zuo Ming.He knows how much this guy likes this thing.So Zuo Ming said that there is nothing magical about this thing, and he was the first to not believe it.

"Hey! Don't look at them now, it's because they haven't been cut and polished, otherwise, your eyes will be blinded!"

Zuo Ming said with an expression of "you're a country bumpkin".

"Cutting? Grinding? You said that this thing is the hardest thing in the world. What are you going to use for cutting and grinding?"

Li Tai felt that Zuo Ming was contradicting himself, so he laughed.

"Hmph! What do you know? Naturally, the hardest thing must be cut with the hardest thing!"

Zuo Ming looked at Li Taidao with disdain, but just after he finished speaking, a flash of lightning suddenly flashed in Zuo Ming's heart, as if something was about to be caught, but he couldn't think of it.

And then, Empress Changsun's words interrupted his thoughts even more, "You mean to use diamonds to cut diamonds? But these diamonds are very smooth and have no edges and corners at all. How do you cut them?"

His thoughts returned to the diamond, Zuo Ming pondered for a while and said, "My idea is this, if you really can't find a diamond with edges and corners, use some diamond chips to inlay a disc, and then let the It spins at high speeds to grind other diamonds."

"Will this work?" Empress Changsun and Li Tai both asked suspiciously.

"Didn't I get enough crumbs? If I haven't tried it, how can I say if it will work?" Zuo Ming said with a wry smile.

"You are quite rigorous, and you didn't fool me indiscriminately. Tell me about the story you told His Majesty and the ministers today. I heard it is very interesting, and I want to hear it too."

Nodding her head, Empress Changsun said again.

Empress Changsun wanted to hear the story of the havoc in the Heavenly Palace, so Zuo Ming was naturally happy to tell it again. This time, it was unrestrained, and Zuo Ming told it more enjoyable. From time to time, she also imitated the appearance of Monkey King, making Empress Changsun laugh out loud .

Time passed slowly with the development of the story, and after a while, several delicious dishes were brought up by a group of court ladies.

This time, Zuo Ming prepared a total of eight dishes. Except for the tomato and egg soup, which he made himself, the other dishes were all prepared by him, and then taught the imperial chefs to cook.

These eight dishes are cumin dry pot potato chips, sour potato shreds, potato omelet cake, sweet potato cake, tomato scrambled eggs, tomato egg soup, sugar mixed tomato and fried potato chips.

Perhaps because she was pregnant, Empress Changsun liked the dish of sour potato shreds very much.

"How do you make this? It smells sour, but it seems delicious." After tasting a few mouthfuls, Empress Changsun asked curiously.

"This is the credit of the imperial chefs! This is made with a sauce called 'vinegar'. Some time ago, Weichen mentioned this seasoning to the imperial chefs, but I didn't expect that the palace really had it. Don't you It looks sour, but in addition to seasoning, it actually has the ability to disinfect and sterilize!"

Zuo Ming explained with a light smile.

Zuo Ming was quite surprised and excited that there was such a thing as "vinegar" in the Imperial Dining Room.

Zuo Ming didn't know that this vinegar had already existed in the pre-Qin period, but because of its weird taste, few people used it for cooking, and most people just used it as a luxury.

Although they didn't know what disinfection and sterilization Zuo Ming was talking about, they also knew that it must be quite a big thing from Zuo Ming's expression.

"Is this thing so important?"

Empress Changsun said in disbelief.They didn't have this thing before, and they lived well, so there might not be anything wrong with it.

"Anyway, when cooking in the future, let the royal chefs put some more or less on it. It will definitely be beneficial to your body and will not harm you at all."

This disinfection and sterilization Zuo Ming will not be able to explain for a while. He has not yet found a crystal that is pure enough, and the purification process of the glass workshop is not skilled enough, so the microscope cannot be produced yet.When he was able to make a microscope someday, it would be easier to explain and easier for them to accept.

Seeing that Zuo Ming was unwilling to say more, Empress Changsun knew that it must be something out of her reach for the time being, so she had no choice but to give up and eat this sumptuous dinner wholeheartedly.

Empress Changsun had almost finished eating, so Zuo Ming and Li Tai naturally had no reason to be hungry, they picked up the bowls and chopsticks one after another, and started eating.

It's just that they only ate half of it, and Li Shimin actually killed it halfway.From the looks of it, he was actually waiting for this dinner.

Li Shimin's taste is quite different. For these dishes, he prefers fried potato chips, which is the French fries of later generations, which is quite avant-garde.

"Your Majesty, these potato chips are not a meal, they are just snacks. You should eat more food, or drink some soup."

Seeing Li Shimin staring at a plate of fried potato chips, Zuo Ming quickly reminded him.

"This snack is good! When I review the memorials in the future, let the royal chefs prepare more!"

Hearing that it was snacks, Li Shimin nodded and said.

"You can't eat too much of this stuff, your stomach will bloat if you eat too much."

Hearing this, Zuo Ming suddenly smiled wryly.

French fries are a good thing to eat once every few days, but eating them every day is definitely a bad thing.

Fortunately, Li Shimin can be regarded as a relatively self-disciplined king, so he naturally nodded after hearing this.

After eating, Zuo Ming hurried out of the palace before dark and returned to his mansion.

After returning to the mansion, Zuo Ming found out, because before Zuo Ming came back to make dinner, Li Zhi actually fell asleep without eating the food cooked by the kitchen maid.

This moment really made Zuo Ming very angry, so he decided immediately that he would not cook anymore.Starve him to death if he doesn't eat.

Sure enough, on the first day, Li Zhi still stubbornly refused to eat the food from the back kitchen, but on the second morning, Li Zhi hurriedly went to the back kitchen and asked for a bowl of rice porridge, a deep-fried dough stick and an egg.It was a complete surrender.

After breakfast, Zuo Ming took Li Zhi to the study and taught him the nine-nine multiplication table for today's homework.

Zuo Ming is an impatient person, so he is very strict with Li Zhi.He will only teach everything once. If Li Zhi can't learn it, if he wants to teach him a second time, he must write "I'm sorry, I will study hard in the future" on a piece of paper a hundred times.Otherwise, if you fail the weekly exam once a week, it will be a fat beating, and you will not be given food.

At first, Li Zhi still relied on his status as the prince to fight against Zuo Ming, but after suffering a lot and calling for help was ineffective, he learned to be obedient.

Now, Li Zhi is in awe of Zuo Ming to the extreme, so he is quite serious about memorizing the nine-nine multiplication table.

After spending an hour teaching the nine-nine-nine multiplication table, Zuo Ming left the mansion alone with a joyful little Li Zhi.

He invited several big merchants to Zuixianlou to discuss business today, so he only taught Li Zhi a set of nine-nine multiplication tables, otherwise, today would definitely be enough for Li Zhi.

When Zuo Ming arrived at Zuixian Tower, several merchants had already opened private rooms and had been waiting for a long time.

"Ms. Zuo came late and kept everyone waiting for a long time. Please forgive me for being rude." Entering the private room, Zuo Ming smiled lightly.

"Master Hou is serious! We have just arrived!"

"Yes! Lord Marquis! You came just in time!"

All the merchants laughed one after another.

These people are well-informed, and the news about him being a Marquis was not done with great fanfare. It is amazing that these people found out about it so quickly.

"Okay! You are all people who do big things, so Zuo won't say too many polite words, so as not to waste everyone's time. This time Zuo called everyone, in fact, he has a big deal to talk to you.

You must have heard about Zuo Mou's plan to build a wharf in Yong'an County.In addition to timber merchants, stone merchants, and tool merchants, we also have rice merchants, wine merchants and even salt merchants.

Some people may think that they seem to have nothing to do with the construction of the pier, but it is not!
This time Zuo Ming's wharf will definitely use a lot of manpower and material resources, so everyone's support will be needed.Of course, Zuo will definitely not let everyone work in vain, and Zuo Ming will not miss you for the silver that should be given afterwards. "

After hearing this, everyone nodded their heads one after another, "Master Hou, you are being polite! It is a great honor to be able to help Master Hou, and money matters are easy to talk about."

These people are not stupid, Zuo Ming is the well-known God of Wealth in Datang, and if he can do business with him, he must be profitable.

Nodding his head, although he knew they were just being polite, Zuo Ming was still very satisfied, "Everything else is fine, but the stone and wood are the most important.

There are no quarries or timber factories near Chang'an, and good stone and timber are all in the south.

Let me give you an idea, your stone and wood can be transported together.The timber is directly bundled, and it can be supported by people or directly pulled by a boat, and then the stones are placed on the bundled timber and transported together.

At that time, I will send someone to take over by the Han River, and then transport it to Yong'an County.

By the way, in addition to building the wharf, I may also need to build some ships, so I will need a lot of wood. Shopkeeper Meng, Shopkeeper Zhao, and Shopkeeper Su can just keep delivering the wood.How much do I want! "

Zuo Ming finally talked to the wood merchants present.

After listening to Zuo Ming's words, the rest of the merchants were extremely envious, and the timber merchants were naturally overjoyed.

It's just that despite the joy, these timber merchants also competed one after another.

Although the opportunities are equal, in the final analysis, it still depends on their own speed and slowness to make more money.

If you operate slowly, you can only watch others make a lot of money.

(End of this chapter)