National Tide 1980

Ning Weimin, who had no idea about other people's worries, was extremely happy these days.

He also gave himself a holiday.

After accompanying Master Kang Shude around Tianjin for a full week, he drove the old man back to the capital.

Speaking of this trip, the money was really spent.

Ning Weimin took fifteen thousand with him when he left Beijing, but it was almost not enough.

But it must be said that they really did not run in vain, it was so worth it.

Because their trip not only fulfilled Kang Shude's long-cherished wish, but also hugged his treasure. It was a great harvest.

This Jinmen is no ordinary place.

I remember that at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, many ministers of the late Qing Dynasty and retired Beiyang officials came to Jinmen as apartments in order to avoid suspicion and gain access to Beijing.

This was also one of the main cities where Belarusian nobles took refuge in China.

So in Jinmen, there are really a lot of good things living among the people.

Although the time was short, the master and apprentice have not bought many things since then, only a little over ten pieces.

But everything we got back was absolutely exquisite, and everything was worthy of being put into the Forbidden City.

Like a pair of "Fulu Continuous" Ming Hongzhi yellow-glazed hollow revolving vases, it is the largest.

Next is a Yongzheng dynasty flat pot with dragons and five brocades, and a Kangxi "Jade Huchun" vase.

In addition, there is an extremely exquisite Russian iceberg egg with a small flower basket inside.

There are almost five small items that are particularly valuable.

A jade ring finger, a Song Dynasty Duan inkstone and a Ming Cheng Hua doucai chicken bowl cup, as well as two Gu Yuexuan snuff bottles.

But among all things, the most valuable and rare thing is calligraphy and painting.

This time, they caught a good ancient painting.

In addition to buying a volume of Huang Tingjian's large-character calligraphy "Renting Poetry Volume" and a sub-volume "Xing Zhen" of "Qianlong Grand Reading" painted by Lang Shining.

They were also particularly lucky to discover Mi Fu's authentic work.

There is a piece of calligraphy and painting on plain silk called "The Immortal among the Flowers" in the middle hall, including the middle painting and the couplets, which is exactly the same set.

Needless to say, this is no longer an ordinary treasure, and must be taken decisively at all costs.

Once the Ma family garden is repaired, just this set of Mi Fu's paintings and calligraphy will be hung in the main hall, which will instantly improve the style of the entire house.

Anyone who knows anything will be shocked when they see it.

Look, what a coincidence. Just after the house was taken back, I got such a good thing unexpectedly. It was as if God had given it on purpose.

What a great comfort to Kang Shude!

As for Ning Weimin, in fact, to satisfy him, he couldn't even use so many things.

Just the pair of hollow revolving bottles is enough.

You know, Ning Weimin still clearly remembers his previous life, around 2010, when domestic and foreign media frantically reported a news about the auction.

At that time, a Qing Qianlong pastel hollowed-out "Ji Qing Yu Yu" revolving vase was auctioned in London.

Unexpectedly, it greatly exceeded the original estimate of 800,000 to 1.2 million pounds, and was finally sold at a price equivalent to RMB 554.1 million.

So, now he actually got a pair of revolving bottles instead of just one.

Moreover, the gap between Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty and Hongzhi of the Ming Dynasty is also obvious.

Then it will only be more than the 500 million, not less than the 500 million.

Isn't it enough to get back one billion from a trip to Tianjin?

Not to mention that he accompanied Master and had a lot of fun along the way.

Not only was it useful, but it also greatly increased my knowledge.

It can even be said that what he saw and heard during this trip was very helpful and inspiring for him to run the altar palace.

Just like the Jinmen Lishunde Hotel where they stayed.

Not only was that the place where Mr. Li Zhongtang and Mr. Sun had stayed.

The key is that this hotel was founded in 1863. It is known as "the first foreign-related hotel in China" and created the beginning of the modern trend.

The lobby here still retains an old telephone made in 1918.

The pure wooden staircase covered with red carpet was built in 1886.

There is also an old-fashioned elevator on the top floor with a cabin covered with wooden walls. It is also the oldest elevator in my country and was installed in 1924.

The most amazing thing is that this thing can still be used normally today, which is really shocking.

In short, the style of the Republic of China here is extremely authentic, and the combination of earth and foreign is quite wonderful. It is actually similar to the atmosphere of Tan Gong Restaurant.

This made Ning Weimin surprised and also came up with some new ideas for layout and decoration.

He took some photos and planned to make changes to the style of telephones, elevators, and stairs when he returned, so as to achieve a more historical reality.

In addition, the Jinmen snacks from this era are also worth trying.

The prices of pancakes and fruits, as well as the world-famous "Three Wonders of Jinmen" are surprisingly cheap at this time, making them particularly affordable.

A set of pancakes and fruit only costs 25 cents, fried ear cakes and Gui Fa Xiang twists only cost 35 cents each.

Even the dog-ignoring buns are not the dog-ignoring buns at this time, and the price is only one yuan and a pound.

That's really affordable.

The most important thing is the taste, which is surprisingly good.

It's far better than the feeling of industrializing these things in the future, packaging them in colorful colors, and selling them on food streets to fool outsiders.

Ning Weimin even suspected that there was something wrong with his taste, because he was not short of oil and water.

It stands to reason that people like him should not feel any special attraction to food that is so rich in oil and water.

From the perspective of 30 years later, the reason why people enjoyed delicious food back then was because there was not enough oil and water, and there were few choices.

But the problem is, he really thinks it's delicious, and feels that this time-honored brand in this simple era really lives up to its name.

But why is this happening?

Is it because it is purely handmade? It's really puzzling.

In the end, the old man pointed out the key points for him with a few words and solved his confusion.

"Isn't this strange? This is a person's strength, and craftsmanship is not an illusion. Those who rely on craftsmanship to make a living are those who are strong and always strong."

"I'm also telling you, in this catering industry, why is it divided into levels of restaurants, restaurants, restaurants, and restaurants? Because traditionally, it emphasizes separate operations. Those who sell noodles will never sell stir-fry dishes, and those who cook banquets will never cook popular dishes. Because the meaning of separation of professions is 'specialization in each profession'."

"It's important to know where your strengths are. Only by giving full play to your strengths can you be successful. It's hard to find a restaurant that can do well in every category from top to bottom. After all, it's as close as Master Zhang's Genius chefs are rare."

"Think about it again, for ordinary people, only practice makes perfect so that one can reach perfection. Take Goubuli steamed buns as an example. They only make this kind of food every day, and they only make pork and three delicacies fillings. So. Well, the person who makes thousands of buns every day, the person who has been preparing the stuffing for twenty years, are the buns he makes still ordinary? Are they not delicious? Even with his eyes closed, they are better than what you make. powerful."

"So if we talk about the taste of food, people who know how to eat, apart from going to small restaurants with specialty dishes and restaurants with famous chefs, the only thing left is famous snacks. Big restaurants like yours, you can eat It is the scene and pomp, commonly known as "eating for the eyes", which focuses on visual enjoyment. Small restaurants and public restaurants that have all kinds of food, and they mainly focus on category coupons and affordable prices. But the problem is that doing everything is the same as Nothing can be done well.”

When Ning Weimin heard this, he thought it made sense, but he was still a little unconvinced.

"Old man, you can't be too sure about this. You see, we have a full range of categories and do everything well. Master Zhang gives us guidance and invites famous chefs to teach us. We have completely achieved 'different' If I don’t have it, I won’t have my essence.”

"I will never brag to you, let alone the authenticity of palace cuisine. The other two palace cuisines are nothing compared to ours. As for the taste, if we compare the authenticity of 'Peach Blossom Pan' with Kangle Restaurant, it is nothing." Weaker than them.”

"The same goes for snacks. Our palace cakes, not to mention Jade Dew Cream, Milk Chess Pieces, Danmian Cang, Suye Pastry, are not available elsewhere. Even the god-sacrifice cakes such as Pea Yellow and Aiwowo are better than those made by Beihai Fangshan . And the 'Beijing Eight Pieces', let alone the stuff in the grocery store, are like rubbish compared to us. What about Daoxiang Village in Beixinqiao? It's still not as good as us."

"There are also those soup noodles, steamed dumplings and the like. Our 'Bai Wei Xian' is better than what Goubuli sells, and it is more expensive. Every day when we go out, there is a rush. Now there is a limit of two per person, and half of them are waiting in line. People can’t buy it. Old noodles, steamed buns, and silver rolls, now we are no better than Fengzeyuan. There are also small pork rice and sour soup, which are even more authentic Manchu..."

Ning Weimin was talking more and more excitedly, but unexpectedly, Kang Shude interrupted him with disdain.

"Ah, okay. Stop it, don't show off. If others don't know, don't I know? What do you call it? It's called taking advantage, taking advantage of loopholes, and winning without force."

"I admit, you have some skills. But your skills lie in how to make money, how to manage people, and how to be good at management. All of these things you mentioned are unique tricks that no one else has, if not others. Otherwise, you are relying on other people's strength, and you are greedy for other people's credit."

"Let me ask you, if it weren't for Master Zhang's lifelong knowledge and support, how could you outshine others in terms of dishes? Master Luo, he is the authentic descendant of Zhengmingzhai. He has been making pastries for many years. Has this craft become your specialty?"

"Aren't those noodles of yours the result of stealing the old noodles from Fengze Garden? Not to mention your steamed buns. If you hadn't been able to sell thousands of yuan for banquets, you could have used the extra shark fins and Buddha Jump Over the Wall. How can you compare with other people’s pork buns when such a seafood dish is used as stuffing? Are you okay with bragging about this?"

"Finally, the most important thing is that you pay a lot of money and use experienced chefs. Except for you, other chefs don't do a good job. Can your Taohuafan be compared with Kangle Restaurant? That's Because mice give birth to pups, and one litter is no longer as good as the next. Even so, no matter how good the 'Peach Blossom Pan' you make there is, can it compare with the one made by Master Chang Jing himself? Even Master Zhang would not dare to say such a thing."

"I'm not afraid to tell you that one day in the first two weeks, Master Zhang invited me to Dongzhimen to eat a local snack - stir-fried mutton dumplings. We went to a small restaurant and couldn't even see the signboard clearly, but there was something close to... The places outside the city have been open for decades. The fried dumplings are so delicious that even the gods must surrender. Master Zhang said that he has been coming here to eat since it was a wild teahouse. The chef who makes fried dumplings is the former owner of the small shop. It’s been fried for thirty years.”

"The fried dumplings there are very different from those in Mujiazhai in the past. There is only one skill, and the aroma comes from the green garlic that is cooked with the mutton. Master Zhang told me that the green garlic here is grown by himself, and it has always been delicious. It's eaten and pulled out right now. Although his own skills are decent, he can never cook such neat gnocchi. He can't get the right heat to drizzle out such balsamic vinegar."

"Master Zhang said so, why are you so crazy? You should be humble and think carefully about how to continue to improve the quality of your own dishes. For example, Master Luo will be in worse and worse health in the future, and he will not be able to provide for you. What should I do if I make dumplings? To use another analogy, in the future, other restaurants will also start selling braised pork rice and sour soup. Will it still look like you are out of touch? How many young chefs in your restaurant are diligent and willing to learn? Just don’t care about anything. Let's work together. After a long time, all the master chefs with specialized skills will retire in the future, and when the manpower is exhausted, what will you do? Can you still have an advantage in the taste of the dishes? You are too optimistic ”

"I'm not even afraid to tell you that the Goubuli you ate quite well today actually doesn't taste as good as it used to when I ate it. It may not be that the masters with really good skills have retired, or that the big pot is feeding lazy people who like to make do. The reason for the matter.”

I have to say, Master is still Master.

Kang Shude's words really hit the nail on the head and hit the point.

Ning Weimin felt as if he had received an enlightenment, and had a profound enlightenment in an instant.

He gasped, his mind racing, thinking about it.

After a while, he went to find a long-distance phone and called Qiao Wanlin.

For no other reason, he wanted Qiao Wanlin to help contact the service bureau in Jinmen and invite the master chef from Goubuli, as well as the master chef who knew how to make Er'eryan Fried Cake, Guifaxiang Twist, Pancake Fruit and Crispy Rice Cake to Beijing.

Come to Tan Gong Restaurant for at least three months of "technical exchange".

At present, we can put aside the shortcomings of grasping everything at once, and there is no rush to solve the problem of mixed and divided industries.

Ning Weimin believes that there should still be time to slowly figure out the solution by adjusting the kitchen structure and personnel benefits.

However, the catering industry has not yet been commercialized and these old chefs have not retired yet, so the opportunity is rare.

He should try to get the "Three Wonders of Jinmen" in his own hands first and move them all to Tan Palace.

He also wanted to try his own fresh steamed buns.

How delicious would it be if a master chef like Goubuli, who had been working for decades, were allowed to make it?