People in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Hu and Han respected together

Chapter 142 Steamed Buns, Fried Noodles

Time has entered June, and some new houses have been built next to the large fields near Yunwu.

They are all made of bricks for the walls and tiles for the roof. You can tell that they are very strong just by looking at them, and there is a heated kang built inside the house, which can make it easier to survive even in the cold winter.

But this is not enough, they not only need to build houses near Yunwu, but also need to build houses near Poqiang, Anyi, and Linqiang...

It is very time-consuming to want all the resettled people to have a place to live.

But now, both craftsmen and labor have accumulated a lot of experience, and the construction speed will only get faster and faster in the future. There are also wheelbarrows to transport heavy objects, soil, firewood, bricks, and tiles, which not only saves time and effort, but also reduces the burden on the people.

Everywhere is in full swing, looking at a thriving city, Jincheng can be described as developing rapidly.

There must be Li Yao's credit for this, and when it comes to Li Yao, he is currently on the bank of the Huangshui River, directing craftsmen and labor to install the waterwheel.

"Be careful, be careful..."

"Slow down, slow down..."

When the huge runner part was hoisted and placed in the wooden frame, the waterwheel was finally nearing completion.

"very good……"

"I'm working hard, it's the last step..."

Just like those craftsmen, connecting all the parts together, the water flushing drives the runner, and the runner creaks and starts to move. This continuous force, which is endless day and night, changes direction several times through wooden gears, and finally brings the millstone to rotate loudly.

Seeing this miraculous scene, the craftsmen around, Lao Li were stunned at first, and then cheered loudly.

They saw a miracle, all thanks to Li Yao, if not for Li Yao's command and presidency, no one would have thought that a waterwheel could drive a millstone.

Now those craftsmen looked at Li Yao with respect in their eyes. Although Li Yao often said that he could only think, but not do, but he could think and do. Obviously, thinking far surpassed being able to do it. Any kind of innovation is a unique skill, which can make a craftsman eat for a lifetime.

Li Yao looked at this waterwheel, and he was also full of smiles. Finally, he was able to use the endless water power. As long as this waterwheel is really popularized, it will save the people a lot of effort, not only greatly improve productivity, but also promote the development of food culture.

Although wheat rice and bean rice can be eaten, they are hard to chew, swallow, and difficult to digest. If they can be ground into flour, noodles, steamed buns, sesame seed cakes... probably in the future, wheat will soon replace millet and occupy the dining table of northern people.

At this time, Li Yao ordered the left and right:

"Immediately send someone back and bring me two bags of grain. Today, I will use a water wheel to drive the mill to grind the noodles, and see how much it can grind in a day. From now on, we can eat noodles every day instead of hard-to-chew barley rice!"

The left and right relatives looked surprised, and then responded respectfully:

"only!"

After finishing speaking, he immediately turned and left.

That night!

Zhao Xian came to find Li Yao in person, and when he walked into the house, he smiled and said:
"Ayao, you sent someone over and said that you want to treat me to dinner. I want to ask what to eat. You asked someone to tell me this is a secret. I'm curious now. What do you want to treat me to?"

When Li Yao saw Zhao Xian approaching, he quickly got up and greeted him, also said with a smile:

"Uncle, please sit down. Please listen to me first. The waterwheel I asked the craftsmen to build has now been built. As long as the Huangshui is still flowing, as long as the waterwheel is still turning, it will be able to shed its shells and grind noodles day and night. The food I invite you to eat today is made of the flour that is ground today. Hurry up and bring the food up!"

Just hearing this, Zhao Xian's pupils shrank. He could shed his shell and grind his face regardless of day and night. He could imagine how much impact this would bring, and he could even really change everyone's way of life from top to bottom.

Not long after, someone brought the food up. There were two large bowls in the tray. There were four steamed buns in one big bowl. Of course, it is still called steamed buns. Three times up, it looks like a hill. The other big bowl is flour, but it looks a little yellow and burnt.

When the food was placed in front of Zhao Xian, he looked left and right first, and felt that it was nothing special, so he finally raised his head to look at Li Yao, with a hint of doubt in his eyes.

Li Yao smiled mysteriously, first put the steamed cake in front of Zhao Xian, and then said:
"Uncle, taste it first and see if it makes any difference!"

Of course Zhao Xian wasn't worried, it was Li Yao who was fooling him, so he reached out and picked up a steamed pancake with his puzzled mind, took a bite, and then tasted it carefully.

Immediately, his eyes widened slightly. The steamed cake was unexpectedly soft and tasted good, so he swallowed it in his mouth, took another bite and tasted it repeatedly.

After swallowing this time, Zhao Xian looked at Li Yaocai and asked directly:
"Ayao, how did you do this?"

Li Yao knew the reason, but he changed to a simpler and more acceptable way of saying:

"I discovered that the wheat grains are ground into flour and will gradually melt when exposed to water. So after kneading the dough, instead of steaming it directly, I let it sit for a while again to allow the flour to melt and rise even more. In the end, there is a soft and a lot of steamed cake. It is steamed cake, but it is better than steamed cake. I want to change its name and call it steamed buns in the future!"

In fact, Li Yao felt quite regretful, because the conditions around him were limited, and he could only rely on natural fermentation, which would take a lot of time.

Although there is yeast in the air, it is too rare to complete the fermentation in a short period of time, and it is only slightly fermented.

But he has already asked the cook to keep the old noodles, which will be added next time when kneading the dough, and then leave the old noodles again, and repeat this for a period of time. After that, the steamed old noodles steamed buns will be fluffier, softer, and taste better.

Zhao Xian nodded, expressing that he understood, but in fact he felt rather awkward.

After all, as a scholar, Li Yao used to hang out with craftsmen, and now Li Yao hangs out with cooks, doing some weird tricks, it's just not doing his job properly.

However, he had to admit that what Li Yao did would have a huge impact, from the dignitaries to the common people, everything would change because of it.

And thinking about his background, Li Wenhou was a martial artist, and Li Yao was also a martial artist. Thinking about it this way, he felt normal, but he still felt awkward.

Then Zhao Xian looked at another big bowl, looked at the yellowed and burnt flour, and showed doubts again:
"These are ground flour. Why are they brought up directly? Could it be that they still need to be eaten raw?"

Li Yao also explained with a smile when he heard the words:

"This is fried noodles. Fry the flour directly. You can eat it as it is, or you can brew it in boiling water before eating!"

(End of this chapter)