A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 155
sunset.

The house in Huaiyuanfang was extremely lively, Huaiyu commanded the two poles to fight, and the servants were killing sheep, two at a time.

"It's just that the New Year is not a festival, what's the point of killing a sheep, even two, isn't it?"

Old Wu had just returned from taking a bath, and when he saw the situation in the front yard, he couldn't help scolding him.

"Aye, this sheep was rationed by the imperial court, and I didn't spend any money to buy it. Besides, if you come to Chang'an today, why don't you hold a welcome banquet."

Senior officials of the fifth rank and above have a lot of benefits. For example, officials of the fourth and fifth ranks are provided with nine sheep in a month, those of the third rank are provided with twelve sheep, and princes to the first and second ranks are provided with twenty sheep per month. The month also supplies pork.

Officials of the fourth and fifth ranks are actually very high, and they are all important positions, such as governor, commanding army, young supervisor, Zhongshu Sheren, Gishizhong, admonishing doctor, Yushi Zhongcheng, Neichang Temple, Zhusi Langzhong, etc.

Xu Erganzi smiled while peeling the skin skillfully, "Uncle Wu, you can enjoy it in a while, it's not like before, your two sons in scarlet robes and a son-in-law in purple robes, even if they eat sheep every day, there is no shortage .”

Just as he was talking, Ma Zhou Donggong came back from his duty. Tomorrow is Li Shimin's enthronement ceremony. He is a very busy attendant. I just heard that the future father-in-law will see him when he arrives. That's because he didn't even change his clothes. Come here quickly.

"Why did brother-in-law bring so many things and two sheep?"

"Your Highness rewarded you today. When I heard that my uncle is here, I brought them all."

Two sheep, as well as venison, pork, chicken, and duck. Although Ma Zhou is now in the fifth rank, he has been specially granted Zijin. .

When Yu'e heard that Ma Zhou was coming, she quickly put down what she was doing and came over to greet him, and took him to say hello to Lao Wu, her face full of sweetness.

"Sister, kill one of the chickens and ducks brought by brother-in-law, and add two dishes." Huaiyu said with a smile.

"I've already killed two sheep, and it's a waste to kill any more." Lao Wu has lived a life of frugality, and he is really not used to his son's extravagance now.

Look at his son's scarlet robe, and then see that he can only wear a green robe, bear it.

Facing Ma Zhou, who was still wearing a purple robe and wearing a goldfish charm, and saluted him, Lao Wu was still a little restrained. I really didn't expect that the poor scholar who came to Longqiao before was now so rich and purple.

"Yeah, I'll make you some fried chicken, something delicious."

Now there are too many people in the Huaiyuanfang Wuzhai, and if there are fewer people, it's really not enough to eat.

Huaiyu now has three concubines, and Fan Xuanfu who is as familiar as walking in his own hall, and he himself has four servants and four servants, twelve slaves who just came from Longzhou.

As for Lao Wu, Liu's family, Wang's family, Huaiyu and his three concubines, the eldest sister and younger sister, plus two nieces, Ma Zhou, and Fatty Wu who came over to eat, Cheng Chumo and Niu Jian from the next door Wu, together with the Hou San and Wu Cheng families who came with Lao Wu today, and Fan Xuanfu's servant sword servant.

Fifty people.

No wonder Huaiyu used to read history books saying that some officials worked in Beijing, and those who were poor could not afford to support their families and had to borrow debts from Beijing. At that time, he felt that the salaries and benefits of officials were not bad, but now he understands that when he becomes an official, he has to support a large family Not to mention the fact that you have to have servants, horses and carts, and even buy a house to pay rent, etc. The price of living in the capital is higher.

It's like Huaiyu has six horses now, and that guy eats each horse as five strong men, and the six horses are still war horses. He only eats millet and becomes thirty young and strong men. Unexpectedly, ordinary people cannot afford a horse like this.

Servants are quite comfortable to use, but at least they have to take care of food, drink, clothing and housing. Generally, servants used do not create any production value, they are pure consumer goods.

Like Lao Wu, he was also a seventh-rank brigade commander in the past, but it is very frugal to raise a large family. His wife and daughter have to raise silkworms and weave cloth. There are too many places, and the imperial army has to prepare their own weapons, have to raise horses, and even practice martial arts and have to have enough meat.

Huaiyu is a person who wants to enjoy when he has the conditions, and will not treat himself too harshly.

Two sheep from the same state were slaughtered and had a feast of slaughtering sheep.

Freshly slaughtered sheep, fresh sheep blood in the abdominal cavity, and freshly chopped fresh lamb, then bring the cleaned sheep intestines, and pour the sheep blood and chopped lamb into the sheep intestines, this is an authentic sheep blood intestinal delicacies.

The lamb lungs will not be wasted. After cleaning, fill the lamb lungs with the above paste, and the whole lamb lungs will be filled with swells, white and fat, and then boiled in the pot, it is another delicacy.

The hind legs of lamb are grilled on skewers, sprinkled with cumin and salt, and the outside is charred and tender, and the inside is full of fragrance.

There is also Yangbao Yangbian, which is delicious and nourishing when roasted.

Lamb chops are also great for grilling.

"Two poles, your mutton is not clean, there is still so much meat on the bones."

"Uncle Wu, Erlang specifically confessed that there should be more meat on the spine of the lamb. Then the whole skeleton can be made into a braised lamb scorpion."

"What, sheep scorpions? Why have I never heard that sheep have scorpions?" Old Wu was confused. Can you still eat the scorpions?

Huaiyu was wrapping the kidneys with oil, and came over and said, "This sheep scorpion is actually the skeleton of a sheep. After the meat is removed, does the skeleton look like a scorpion? The bones are meaty, and it tastes best when braised in brown sauce." .”

"You really know how to eat." Lao Wu felt helpless.

Huaiyu smiled, if the conditions are better, you can't still have wheat rice, millet porridge, and pimple soup every day, right? Do you really think that the emperor and empress eat pancakes every day in the palace?
Marinate the two fresh lamb hind legs, and roast the lamb legs later.

Arrange the pot to stew the mutton, the mutton in the hand, and the mutton in the water basin.

Lao Wu saw that the courtyard was full of people, with so many mouths, how much food would one have to eat a day, even if the court provided nine sheep every month, it would not be able to withstand such a situation.

"Your twelve slaves brought back from Longyou, hurry up and arrange them to farm in Zhuangzi. If you stay in Chang'an city every day, you will be poor."

"Don't worry, I have my own arrangements."

Among the twelve slaves, among them are two Turkic teenagers, he plans to arrange to feed the horses first. He now has six horses and two mules. They must be taken care of by someone. The horses must be raised intensively, and even night grass must be fed .

For the remaining ten, there must be someone in the front yard to serve as an entourage, and someone needs to guard the house. At that time, the honest, honest and hardworking ones will be paired with slave girls first, so that there will also be servant girls in the backyard. After the slaves are paired, they can still have children. Born as a domestic slave, it is also value-added.

Those who behave in an average way will be sent to the farm.

In the Tang Dynasty, the basic sign of aristocratic power is commanding people. If a family goes out without servants, and if there are no slaves at home, how dare they call themselves nobles and powerful?
Even ordinary rich people have to buy two servants as soon as they are rich.

Even the servants of those wealthy families are very particular. They use Silla maidservants in the backyard, who are docile and obedient, while the Kunlun slaves in the outer courtyard are powerful and capable. The Alangs even bought one or two orchids. It must be from Persia and Fufu.

If you use Liao slaves, Qiang slaves, and slaves, you will not be able to show your identity.

In Chang'an, the capital of the Huanghuang Emperor, one-third of the people are enslaved slaves, and one-third are craftsmen and traders who specialize in serving noble officials. There are also a large number of official servants and fanhus in the government yamen, and even in so many temples in Chang'an, there are many slaves, but they are called pure people.

Night falls.

A sumptuous reception banquet was also prepared, and Lao Wu sighed admiringly as he looked at the table full of dishes.

"I heard that the price of food in Chang'an is now tens of thousands of dollars, and we still have a lot of fish and meat, so we have to be frugal, and sometimes we have to remember that there is no time..."

Huaiyu poured Lao Wu a glass of self-brewed beer, "Aye, the current predicament is only temporary. His Royal Highness personally taught the arrogant Turkic bastards in Xianyang. Now all kinds of armies are shrinking the encirclement. The real panic is Xieli ,
It won't be long before we can make these wolf cubs pay a heavy price, and the price of food will naturally fall back.

Although winter is cold, there is no winter that will not pass! "

After hearing this, Lao Wu felt very relieved, although he still felt in his heart that there might be many people who would freeze to death in that cold winter and not be able to see the warmth of spring.

The home-brewed ale is sweet and slightly sour, but not as intoxicating as drinking beer.

The lamb is roasted very well, especially the roasted lamb kidneys, which are covered with white net oil and grilled. It is really crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. A piece of mutton tail oil, roasted in a willow charcoal fire, it will also be sizzling.

Huaiyu felt a little fatter, but everyone thought it was extra delicious, especially the kind of oily feeling that could be felt when biting into it, which was the best.

On the contrary, it was Huaiyu who felt that the roasted lamb hind leg was very good. They all felt that it was a bit dry, not tender and juicy enough.

The sheep scorpion has received unanimous praise. Although it lacks some seasonings, they still praise it as an excellent taste.

The fried chicken and the duck stewed in beer were all sold out.

More than 50 people, two sheep, one chicken and one duck, plus some vegetables, they wiped them out, and even ate several large pots of soup cakes.

I have to admire the people of this era. They usually lack oil and salt, and they don’t have any non-staple food. They are often half-starved. They really let go of eating. , eat more than Huaiyu.

Huaiyu was worried that these children were full of food, so after the meal, he hurriedly boiled some hawthorn water for everyone to drink, and it was used as a digestion.

Lao Wu kept saying that it was a waste, but he ate a lot. In the end, he patted his stomach and drank hawthorn water, but he was extremely satisfied.

Sitting in the courtyard and under the porch, Lao Wu couldn't help recalling the past, the hunger and cold when he was young, the burden of selling goods when he was young, and even going far away to sell cattle and horses outside the Great Wall, and later conquering Liaodong, serving as a soldier in the government, and starting from the dragon. After suffering so much, I never thought that I could still enjoy the blessings of my sons now that I am getting old.

"Dalang Erlang, what you are doing now is all given by His Royal Highness, you must be loyal to His Royal Highness, be grateful, and never forget your roots."

Overhead, the sky is full of stars.

"Tomorrow will be a fine day."

"Well, the crown prince will ascend the throne tomorrow, and the heavens will be beautiful!"

(End of this chapter)