Daming: I, Yang Xian, really govern Yang!

Chapter 50 The ghost blue jade
"Secret recipe from overseas." Xu Miaoyun immediately thought of the great harvest in Yangzhou that shocked both the government and the public.

Is it a coincidence?

"These fresh vegetables are extremely delicious, but the only thing is that they are too expensive." Until now, Xu Yungong still smacks his lips when recalling the prices of the vegetarian dishes at Baisui Songju.

A small plate of cucumbers costs more than ten taels of silver.

To know that one plate, just a few slices!
And it is eaten with Yangzhou snowflake salt without any processing.

You know, when summer is in season, a cucumber only costs three or four cents!
This is why things are rare and valuable. Even in the Qing Dynasty, in winter, all green vegetables were ridiculously expensive. It is not an exaggeration to say that they are hard to find.

Qing Dynasty poet Zha Shenxing wrote in the article "Duxia Vegetables": "I heard that there was a person selling two king melons in the market on New Year's Eve. The official asked the price, asked for a hundred gold, and promised fifty gold. The market is big. He laughed, so he ate one of them, and the internal officials urgently stopped him. The remaining one was sold for fifty gold."

The king melon referred to in the article is cucumber.

Cucumber is not a native product of China, but an exotic crop. It is said that Zhang Qian of the Western Han Dynasty brought it back during his mission to the Western Regions, so it was originally called courgette.Later, because Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty had Xianbei ancestry, after unifying the country, he was very taboo about the word "Hu" and the Hu people, so he changed the name "Hugua" to "Cucumber".

As for Wang Gua, it was a popular name in the north after the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. This habit lasted until the Republic of China.

Even though she had already expected the price of fresh vegetables in winter, Xu Miaoyun was still shocked.

According to her father, the brothers and sisters were wearing this cashmere sweater, which was as warm as mink fur, and they only spent five taels of silver when they bought it in Yangzhou.

Next, Xu Miaoyun asked Xu Yungong some detailed questions. Seeing that the other party knew only that much, he stopped continuing.

"I heard from Huizu that this banquet was arranged by Li Jiujiang. Maybe he will know the specific situation." Xu Miaoyun thought silently in her heart.

Such an incident suddenly happened, and even the joy of reading a new volume of Red Mansions was diluted a lot.

the other side.

Yongchang Hou Mansion.

The whole mansion was busy.

There is no other reason. Today, the owner of the mansion, Lan Yu, is hosting a banquet for important guests.

A few months ago, Lan Yu angered Zhu Biao because of the snowflake salt incident. For several months, Zhu Biao ignored him.

During this period, Lan Yu naturally couldn't wait any longer.

He could only use his niece, the Crown Princess Chang, in the hope of easing the relationship.

Although Zhu Biao never scolded him again, there was always a stone hanging in his heart.

After working hard for so long, it finally worked.

Today, Lan Yu used the excuse of her daughter's birthday to invite her nephews and nieces to her home again. This time, Chang did not refuse.

Chang's opinion was that of Prince Zhu Biao.

How could this not make Lan Yu happy? The so-called family banquet is naturally as grand as it is.

It's a pity that in the middle of winter, there are no fresh green vegetables.

But this does not trouble the "ghost" Lan Yu at all.

Although Chang Yuchun died young, he left behind three sons and three daughters, all of whom were talented and handsome.

The eldest daughter Chang Xia is the crown princess.

Although Lan Yu is not a good person, he is indeed very qualified as an uncle. He is always very good to his nephews and nieces.

Therefore, he held a banquet today, except that his eldest son Chang Mao went to accompany the fourth prince Zhu Di to celebrate his birthday.

The rest are here.

Moreover, Chang Mao also said that when something happens over there, he would come to his uncle's side.

in the hall.

Ever since Chang Xia married Zhu Biao and became the Crown Princess, and the head of the family Chang Yuchun died, the whole family has not been together like this for a long time.

Everyone was happily chatting about some interesting things from the past.When she was enjoying her meal, Lan Yu suddenly stood up and said, "Today, I am grateful to the Crown Princess, Sheng'er and Sen'er for your favor. I have specially prepared a dish for you, which is sure to surprise you. "

"Uncle, this is too big to say, so let's just leave it at that. What hasn't Sister Xia eaten as a princess?" Chang Sen said with a smile.

"Call me Princess." Chang Sheng frowned and reminded his brother.

Chang Sen curled his lips and muttered: "This is a family dinner, not in public."

"It's okay." Crown Princess Chang Xia first stopped the two brothers from arguing, and then said with a smile: "Then I want to see what good dishes my uncle can come up with?"

To be honest, after entering winter, Chang Xia has long been a little tired of eating nothing but meat every day.

Seeing Lan Yu being so confident, everyone present looked curious.

Lan Yu took in everyone's expressions, smiled and clapped her hands.

"Serve!"

Soon a maid came up carrying a plate of dishes.

People haven't arrived yet.

Everyone present could smell the fragrance of leeks.

At this time of year, can you actually smell the fragrance of leeks?

When the maid brought the dishes to the table, everyone looked at the green leeks on the plate with shocked expressions.

Only then did they understand why Lan Yu was so confident and thought that even the princess would be shocked when this dish was served.

"Uncle, where did you get such fresh leeks in this winter?" Chang Sen couldn't help but asked.

This scent, this color.

You can't fool anyone.

Lan Yu said proudly: "The mountain people have their own clever tricks. Just tell me whether you are shocked by my uncle."

Chang Sen and others nodded.

Then came the food tasting.

Chang Xia took a bite of leeks with her chopsticks and put it into her mouth, frowning slightly.

It does taste like chives, but why does it have a faint astringency?

Is it because it's winter and out of season?

Chang Sheng and others tasted it and felt the same way, but no one said anything.

This is because the astringent taste is naturally pushed out of season.

In the middle of winter, it’s hard to get a bite of fresh vegetables, so why not fly?

So when Lan Yu asked how it tasted, everyone kept exaggerating.

Seeing this, the smile on Lan Yu's face became even brighter.

At this moment, a servant came in and reported: "Master Hou, Master Chang is here."

The eldest young master of the Chang family is the fat boy Chang Mao.

"I heard your voice from all the way outside the door. What's going on? You're so excited." Before the people arrived, the voice arrived first.

The next moment, little fat man Chang Mao walked in from outside the hall.

On Lan Yu's side, he had already asked his servants to clear a place for him and prepare dishes and chopsticks.

"Brother, why did you come just now? You almost missed the good things that uncle prepared carefully!" Chang Sen stood up quickly when he saw his elder brother and said loudly.

(End of this chapter)