Da Wei Chun

Chapter 421 IQ Tax

Suddenly, like a night of spring breeze, thousands of trees and pear blossoms bloomed.

It seems that the powder box of the fairy has been knocked over, and the heavy snow is falling from the sky.A sudden breeze blows, and the snowflakes dance like drunk, gather and disperse, gently rippling and rippling.

The sky is getting brighter, and the sky and the earth are white, covered with silver makeup.Wherever he saw, whether it was mountains, trees, cities, or palaces, they were all covered by thick snow.Just like fat men wrapped in white coats, although they are big, they are naive.

When it's time to be on duty, there is a lot of traffic on the official road.The wheels rolled on the snow, making a strange "creaking" sound, mixed with the snorting of horses, and the laughter of pedestrians when they slipped and fell. Although it was noisy, it was pleasant.

After taking a sip of the scalding hot wine and taking a breath of mist, Yuan Yan felt extremely comfortable.

"Beautiful scenery, good wine, delicious food... beautiful people!"

Swiping his fingers across the steaming pot, he turned a corner and slipped into Meiji's arms.

After a few times of teasing, concubine Ji couldn't stop cooing coquettishly, but she still didn't forget to compliment Yuanyan: "General...good poem..."

Yuan Yan smiled lewdly, leaned over, and slipped his whole hand into Concubine Ji's robe.

Seemingly feeling that the posture was wrong, Yuan Yan straightened his legs instinctively, but forgot that there was a burning copper pot standing in the middle of the carriage.

Suddenly feeling hot on his feet, Yuan Yan groaned and turned over in a hurry.

It's a good thing I didn't kick over the copper pot, otherwise half of my legs wouldn't be cooked?
Concubine Ji was so provoked that she couldn't get up and down, and it was very uncomfortable.A face is pink and tender, with a pair of peach blossom eyes, looking at Yuan Yan resentfully.

Seeing that Yuanyan was just holding the copper pot, as if he was more precious than her, Ji Ji reluctantly closed his collar, and said quietly: "I will return to the mansion to wait for the general, and when the general is on duty, I will accompany him to 'recite poems'." ..."

go home?

Thinking of the graceful figure of the singing girl when she had a banquet in Yuan Chen's mansion last night, Yuan Yan couldn't stop his heart from burning.

"Yes, I must return home early today, drinking, reciting poems, and listening to music, otherwise I will live up to such a beautiful scenery?"

Yuan Yan replied excitedly, opened the curtain again, looked at the sky full of snow and praised, "Fusheng is only as old as a bottle, and Luoyang Road is full of snow... Good songs, good poems, good talents..."

As soon as she heard this line of the poem, and then heard the word "good song", concubine Ji knew that Yuan Yan was talking about the singer who just brought her back to the mansion last night, and her heart was suddenly filled with jealousy.

"You know, the general, this poem is not written by that cheap... that Ji Ling, but Li Ci, so where is the talent?"

I don't care if she is talented or not, but does grandpa only look at appearances?
Besides, I live in the same yamen with that little thief every day, how can I not know the source of this poem?So only a flamboyant like Li Chengzhi will be given a surname before "Ci"?

Although he did not crown himself...

Suddenly the carriage stopped, and when he heard the voice outside the carriage, Yuan Yan knew that he had arrived at Jinyong City.While wearing boots, he instructed Concubine Ji: "Stop making noise, add more charcoal to the bottom of the pot, and don't let the fire go out... Go back to the house early..."

Concubine Ji gritted her silver teeth with hatred: You asked me to come just to watch the pot add charcoal?
Do you think you can enter the imperial city and see the world?
After tidying up and putting on the cotton fur, Yuan Yan jumped out of the car, asked his attendants to carry the copper pot, carried the meat on his back, and went into Jinyong City humming a little tune.

There are more than 30 rooms in a government hall, with snow fluttering above and mist curling up below, as if you are in a fairyland.

It was the government officials and soldiers in various houses burning charcoal pots, so the smoke was thick.

Glancing at the Zhongya, seeing that a quilt had been hung on the door to keep out the wind and keep warm, Yuan Yan suddenly smiled: "Finally, I don't have to suffer from the smoke."

Opening the door curtain, just entering the hall door, I felt a wave of heat rushing towards my face.There are four or five charcoal basins, and the smoke has long been burned out, and they are glowing red.The fire inside the hall was as warm as spring.

Yuan Yuan was only wearing a thin coat, and was sitting on his knees behind a low couch, counting an account book.

"I know that Zhonglang forgets to sleep and eat, and he will come sooner than the official!"

After flattering without any trace, Yuan Yan directed the yamen officials to bring a few cases, put it beside Yuan Yuan, and then put the copper pot on it.

Suddenly there was a tripod-like object in front of him, and there was a faint fragrance, Yuan Yuan stopped writing and asked in surprise: "What is it?"

"Hot pot, made by Li Chengzhi!"

Seemingly too hot, Yuan Yan unwrapped the fur robe, looked around again, "The little thief hasn't arrived yet?"

"It's early... Brigade A was covered by snow last night, and they are moving their soldiers with them!"

When Yuan Yan heard it, he was very unhappy: "It deserves it! I advised him to move earlier, but he didn't listen, are you stupid?"

Yuan Yuan didn't answer, but just carefully looked at the copper pot, very curious: "What is here, the meat is cooked in it, it is so fragrant? But the wall of this tripod is so thin, it is not even half a cent ( One minute is about three millimeters), and it is so uniform? Where did you find it?"

With the technology of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it is not that such a thin copper sheet cannot be made, but that it cannot be spread into such a large piece, and it cannot be rounded where it should be and shuttled where it should be.

Yuan Yan couldn't laugh or cry: You don't look at the delicious food in the pot, but study the cooking pot?
"Should it be hammered?"

Yuan Yan made a perfunctory sentence and lifted the lid of the pot.

"This is Li Chengzhi's new recipe, called 'Hot Pot'. I just saw it yesterday, and it is very delicious. I got up in the morning and asked the cook to cut it. It has been cooked for a long time, and it is already overcooked. Let me taste it..."

The pot is filled with slices of meat, some fat and some lean, some sheep and some cattle.When the charcoal fire is booming, the soup is tumbling, and waves of mist are rising.A smell of meat rushed to the face, and it filled the entire yamen hall in just a few breaths.

Several assistant officials moved their index fingers wildly, sniffling and swallowing their saliva unceasingly.

"There are enough meat cuts and enough oil, come and taste..."

Yuan Yan invited all the officials in the hall, and instructed the officials, "First serve it to the doctor, and remember that the soup and meat are half and half..."

"Isn't this just boiled meat in a copper urn? It's worth your effort to bring it here from your residence?"

Yuan Yuan laughed and said, "It's not as novel as this paper-thin copper pot..."

"Zhong Lang will know it once he tastes it!"

Yuan Yan laughed, "The lower official thought the same thing yesterday, but the third brother told me that just this pot of soup is worth ten gold? But this copper pot weighing less than ten catties was sold by Li Chengzhi for a hundred gold." Gold, so even boiled meat in white water is worth it when you eat it..."

As if hearing a shocking anecdote, everyone in the hall was stunned.It seems that the chopsticks are not meat, but real gold, so I dare not put it in my mouth.

A pot of soup is worth ten gold?
How much is the monthly salary of the two subordinate officials from the eighth rank in the hall?

It's only [-] Wen, which is comparable to hardware, and it takes two months to buy such a pot of soup?

And this copper pot, including the pot and its frame, weighs at most seven or eight catties, which is more than ten times its weight?
Even Yuan Yuan's eyes widened in disbelief: "How much is the Persian gold-plated silver pot sold by Hu merchants worth?"

"Ah?"

Yuan Yan struck with both hands and made a crisp sound of "snap", "That's what the little thief said. He said that he hired a Persian master to make it, so the price is more expensive. But all the people in his mansion, which one do I not like?" Recognize it? Not to mention the Persian masters, not even one with a longer beard..."

Hearing his exaggerated tone, Yuan Yuan smiled, put a piece of meat into his mouth, and couldn't help admiring: "It's really delicious... What is the allusion to this soup, why is it worth ten gold?"

"It's not worth it, but Li Chengzhi is so expensive! That's why I often call him a thief... No, it's faster to get money than stealing..."

Yuan Yan cursed and rummaged through the bag containing the ingredients, and found something wrapped in gauze and tissue paper.

"This is what Li Chengzhi claims to have used more than a hundred kinds of precious spices, adding precious materials such as tiger bones and bear's paws to boil, and then congealing it with fats such as cattle, sheep, and pigs. It is boiled in water and cooked with meat. Serve, it is very convenient...

He and my third brother are conspiring to build a music hall in Nancheng, selling only this hot pot and his spirits..."

A subordinate official exclaimed: "No matter how delicious it is, a pot of soup costs ten gold. How many people can afford it?"

"If there are expensive ones, there will naturally be cheap ones. Wouldn't it be enough to use a few less spices and expensive ingredients? Li Chengzhi only sells the cheapest kind of oil for a few tens of dollars. The same goes for the pot, which is made of pig iron. , the heavier ones only sell for three or five pieces of gold. If you are a commoner, you can cook with a porcelain urn..."

Yuan Yan scratched his chin, looked at the copper pot and said, "He said that the copper pot worth a hundred gold and the spices worth ten gold are just some kind of tax for rich people like me and Zhonglang... He also said that you must not think it expensive: after the dignified clan, the family of nobles, cooking in a porcelain urn, will be shabby to death..."

"It's just that he has a lot of fallacies... It's strange, how can he figure out so many ways to make money? It's cold and can't sell ice, so he sells tofu and refined salt. When it's cold, he sells this hot pot? What does he want so much money for?"

"Zhonglang's words are wrong!"

Seeing that Yuan Yuan was speaking, but the chopsticks flew up, it was obviously very useful.He also quickly picked up the bowls and chopsticks, and replied while holding the meat, "Do you think there is too much money? Just like my third brother, who is as rich as a country, and he chases Li Chengzhi all day long, asking him for advice on how to make money ?”

"The King of the River?"

Yuan Yuan showed sarcasm, and sneered coldly, "According to Li Chengzhi's words, it's money's eye..."

That's true, Yuan Yan is not good at answering the conversation, he is hitting haha...

It should be that he had eaten breakfast before, and Yuan Yuan put down his chopsticks after a few mouthfuls.Blowing on the hot air again, he drank two mouthfuls of hot soup.

"It can indeed be called a delicacy. After eating it, the fragrance remains on the teeth and cheeks, and the mouth is filled with saliva. There is a hidden spicy fragrance in the soup, but it is only half a cup, and the whole body is sweating? This is the most suitable for eating when the weather is cold. Ten gold is not expensive ...When he comes, we must ask him for some..."

Speaking of Cao Cao, Cao Cao will arrive.

Before Yuan Yuan finished speaking, he listened to Li Chengzhi outside the door asking: "Is Zhonglang here?"

Hearing Yuan Yuan's call to come in, Li Chengzhi opened the cotton curtain, smelled the familiar aroma, looked at the hot pot that was burning, and couldn't help but feel happy.

Eating hot pot early in the morning?

I will enjoy it...

(End of this chapter)