Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 653 An unexpected gain
While everyone was having a feast, a group of maids came in and placed a batch of new dishes on the table.

"Hmm? Is this... jerky? This is a precious item. Your Majesty is really generous this time. How much salt is needed to marinate such a large piece of jerky? I am so lucky to have such a delicious meal today."

Wang Yun said with a smile.

After he said this, Liu He also noticed the plate of meat slices placed in front of him. The color did look like pickled meat.

In this era, meat was not a fresh item for princes and nobles, but pickled meat was different. The reason was simple: pickled meat required a large amount of salt, and salt was indeed extremely expensive. For example, when Liu He was still the general, the annual salt expenditure in his mansion was tens of thousands of coins, and this was the result of Zhang Yu's frugality. It was not surprising that many ministers and nobles spent millions of coins on salt a year.

Liu He saw that the pickled meat was beautifully cooked, but his heart was bleeding.

"My money..."

Just after Wang Yun took a bite, he was surprised again.

"Hmm? It's not salty, isn't it jerky? And it looks like beef. It has no seasoning, but the taste is surprisingly good. This is new."

After he said this, all the ministers and Liu He became curious and started to taste it.

"Huh? This is..."

Liu He was very familiar with this taste.

"Beef jerky?"

Other people can't tell the difference, but how could Liu He, a person who traveled from the 21st century, not know the taste of beef jerky?

Beef jerky is still a rare thing in this era. Firstly, cattle are used for farming, and there is a fixed number of cattle that can be slaughtered each year, so beef is rare, and making it into beef jerky is even more unheard of.

Of course, the beef jerky that Liu He ate in his previous life was all food that had gone through a lot of processing, and the taste was quite different from the one now placed in front of him, but this did not affect his immediate recognition.

Yang Biao took a bite and seemed very satisfied.

"I have long heard that Your Majesty has been grazing in Bingzhou, with countless cattle and sheep. Now you have made such delicious food. I really admire you very much."

"Yes, this beef jerky has a very different taste from the usual steamed meat. It's wonderful, really wonderful."

Cui Lie praised him profusely.

Liu He looked at the beef jerky in front of him, his mind racing. This kind of food was very common in his previous life, but it was the first time he saw it in this era, which inevitably reminded him of some things in his previous life.

However, at this moment, an idea suddenly flashed through his mind, and this idea made him ecstatic.

"Yeah, why didn't I think of it earlier?"

Late at night, inside the imperial palace, Gong Saner led two people and hurriedly came to a brightly lit palace.

"The common people bow to your majesty!"

Liu He saw the two of them and said with a smile, "No need to be so polite, get up."

These two people are the current operators of Lianshan Restaurant, Mr. and Mrs. Ning Lian and Wang Shan. After the wedding banquet, someone came from the palace and said that they would take them to the palace to meet the emperor.

Although the two knew that the current emperor was the great general and one of the behind-the-scenes shareholders of their restaurant, and they were considered acquaintances, they were still a little nervous as it was their first time entering the palace.

"Your Majesty, are you... dissatisfied with today's banquet?"

Ning Lian asked very nervously.

Liu He saw their worry and smiled slightly.

"Don't be nervous. I called you here today not for the banquet, but for something important I want to ask you. Was that beef jerky made by you two?"

Upon hearing this, the two men knelt down immediately.

"Your Majesty, this beef is from cattle slaughtered in accordance with the court regulations. Common people would never dare to kill oxen privately..." Seeing them like this, Liu He knew that they were scaring him.

"Haha, I don't blame you. Besides, even if it's slaughtering oxen, it's the duty of Luoyang Magistrate. Why should I personally ask about it? I just found this beef jerky very novel. I wonder how you came up with this method of making meat?"

When they heard this, they breathed a sigh of relief.

"Your Majesty, this happened by chance. Not long ago, I saw a snake at home. It had been dead for a long time and its body had been dried. I suddenly had an idea at that time. What would the food taste like after being dried in this way? So I tried more and made this jerky."

"I see. You guys are quite thoughtful on weekdays."

Liu He praised.

"By the way, this beef jerky has been dehydrated. I wonder how long it can be stored without spoiling?"

Ning Lian answered honestly, "Your Majesty, this is my first time doing this and I am not very skilled. This dried meat can only be stored for about ten days. With the many dehydration methods I have tried, if it is completely dehydrated, it will affect the taste and be difficult to chew. If it is not completely dehydrated, it will become moldy in about ten days at most."

"Only ten days?" Liu He frowned slightly.

When the two heard his obviously unhappy tone, they immediately became afraid again.

"Your Majesty... If Your Majesty would give me some time, I would definitely be able to come up with a solution..."

Liu He looked at the two of them and suddenly remembered something.

"You two stay here for a while. I'm going to get something."

The two men didn't dare to disobey and stood there awkwardly.

Liu He stood up and left, came to a side hall, and then opened the system interface in his mind.

After entering the "Item Exchange" interface, keep scrolling down.

"Ah, got it, it's you!"

He picked out a book called "Chef's Record" and immediately spent 500 points to redeem it.

"Heh, this book is much thinner than the previous two books, 'Records of Divine Works' and 'The Sacred Book of City Building'. No wonder it's so cheap."

He made a casual complaint and quickly started flipping through the pages.

After a long time, he exclaimed: "Haha, it really is! This method of making various types of dried meat is so detailed and comprehensive, it is worthy of being a treasure book produced by the fourth-level system!"

He walked out quickly and waved to Gong Saner.

"Come, give them this book."

Gong Saner took the book and then handed it to the two of them.

When the couple saw the title of the book, their eyes lit up.

"Your Majesty, this is..."

"This book was given to me by a master many years ago. However, I have been away fighting for many years, so I left it in a corner and forgot about it for a long time. Today, I remembered it and gave it to you. The book contains the method of making dried meat. You must study it carefully and make dried meat that can be stored for several months. If you succeed, I will reward you handsomely."

The couple are both typical kitchen addicts. After reading this book, they were already excited and eager to try it out. Not to mention the generous reward, even if Liu He wanted to stop them now, he was afraid he couldn't.

"Your Majesty, rest assured. I will do my best to accomplish this!"

"Well, that's good. Gong Saner, send them out of the palace."

(End of this chapter)