"Yes! My nephew, although he knows how to farm, move wood and cook, he is a good person and was appreciated by the cook of Zhou Yingqiu, the Minister of Works. He works as a cook in the Dongzhimen goods yard and does thousands of jobs every day.
Where’s the rice~”
We chatted a few more words and it became more interesting.
Zhou Yingqiu, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, was specifically in charge of the construction of the capital, so he managed the goods yards inside and outside Dongzhimen that specialized in transporting sand, stone, and timber.
He saw that thousands of hired workers were carrying goods every day, and it was heavy physical labor. He had to eat salt and some oil and water to do this job.
Dongzhimen already had fried liver, braised pork and other seafood stalls, so he simply opened a restaurant next to the goods yard, specializing in cooking pork, oil, and salty meals for farmers and various hired workers who came to the capital to work.
Gradually, the business took off and grew in scale. Wei Liangqing became a member of the back kitchen, specializing in helping the Zhou family's cooks. He got along well and made many friends among the cooks, farmers and employees. Even Zhou Shilang
Know him.
"Hahahaha~"
Listening to what he was talking about, Zhu Youxiao suddenly laughed. Wei Zhongxian hurriedly asked: "Your Highness, why are you laughing?"
"I laugh at Yang Lian for his lack of ideas and Wang Wenyan for his lack of intelligence. They only care about scholars and look down upon traffickers and migrant workers.
Moreover, Zhou Yingqiu, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, does not despise your nephew. I think he will rely on his cook to curry favor with your nephew in the future~ It seems that it is really important to respect ordinary people."
After the exchange just now, he remembered that this Zhou Yingqiu would later be the leader of the eunuch party and the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel during the Wei Zhongxian period.
This man was famous for his work as a cook to prepare pig's trotters and pork knuckles for Wei Liangqing, and he was nicknamed "Zongxian of the Stewed Trotters".
Zong Xian of Simmering Hoof...it turns out that he and Wei Liangqing have a very close relationship~
"In other words, Wei Liangqing can make lunch boxes for thousands of people by relying on the warehouse restaurant?"
"Yes, there are still a large number of migrant freight workers who can bring packed lunches to Tongzhou."
"Although it takes two hours to walk from Dongzhimen to Tongzhou, the food will not be cold in the summer and the soldiers will not be neglected."
"Yes...but it is far away after all, and it is very heavy to carry gunpowder back. The migrant workers will know that there is something inside as soon as they move it, and it will be bad if they find out that it is gunpowder."
Zhu Youxiao thought for a while and suddenly had an idea.
"The mausoleum of Emperor Wanli has already been selected. The construction requires a large amount of sand, stone and wood. In addition to the wood of Yanshan and Taihang, it also requires Taishan wood.
I will request an order from my father to have Zhejiang soldiers and white-pole soldiers alternately transport wood from Tongzhou to Dongzhimen. In this way, the lunch boxes will be transported there, and the wood and gunpowder lunch boxes will be transported by soldiers and horses~"
Other follow-up contacts include Jinyiwei, Tengxiang Siwei and Lao Wei's personal connections.
Without further delay, Wei Zhongxian received a secret order himself, and his confidant Li Yongzhen received a secret order, and went to the Zhejiang Army and the Shizhu Baigan Army to convey the prince's comfort and secret order.
......
In the middle of the night, Wei Zhongxian personally ran to the goods yard to explain to his nephew.
After making the explanation, we hurried out of the city to Tongzhou.
How can you believe Wei Liangqing~
He is an old farmer who works in the kitchen of Dongzhimen Goods Yard all day long, hiring workers for sand, stone and wood to cook, and suddenly he makes lunch boxes for Tongzhou soldiers and horses...
Seeing that his uncle was leaving in a hurry, he continued to fall asleep. What he just said was just a sweet dream.
Before he had slept for long, an even more gorgeously dressed father-in-law came and led people directly to his window.
When I asked, it turned out to be the famous Wang Tiqian in the palace.
Uncle Wei Liangqing is an old man in the palace, so he knows not to show any neglect.
Wang Tigan was not too verbose. He said that His Majesty wanted to reward the Liaonan troops and boost their morale before setting off. He selected them as a large and conscientious kitchen in Dongzhimen Goods Yard to make lunch boxes for the Zhejiang soldiers and the Shizhu Baigan soldiers.
Not only did he convey the decree, but he also allocated half of the money for the 5-day lunch box of 7,000 soldiers and horses, a full 3,500 taels.
The price is very high. Usually the highest-end braised rice box lunch is only 50 Wen, but this one is a full 200 Wen.
4 times the price~
Wei Liangqing lifted up his pants and went to wake up the little boss of the warehouse kitchen, the second-ranked chef in Zhou Yingqiu's family.
There are also the general boss Zhou Yingqiu, the second boss' housekeeper, and the third boss' top-ranked chef. Of course, the current migrant worker Wei Liangqing doesn't dare to disturb them.
When he heard that the business was very large and that it was a lunch for the labor force, the small boss called out to the third boss to wake him up, and the third boss called out to the second boss to wake up.
The housekeeper thought for a while and rewarded the Confederate army in Tongzhou by ordering lunch boxes for 7,000 people for five days. If this thing is done beautifully, it will be of great benefit to the master, and everyone will have a bright future.
On the one hand, we quickly purchased food suitable for soldiers from the government and the market, and on the other hand, we prepared rice from home.
Because Zhou Yingqiu is from the south, likes to eat rice and has to feed hundreds of people, so the rice in the house is more than enough.
He and the chef personally manage the rice preparation in the house, and the tasks of buying vegetables, meat and cooking at the market are still in the hands of the small boss and Wei Liangqing.
Wei Liangqing was a real person at heart and said to the Zhou family's second chef: "Tang Renjie, your Majesty's price is four times higher than usual. Our ingredients can't just be pigs in the water, right?"
The little boss’s surname is Tang and his given name is Ersi. Because he is generous and good at cooking, he is nicknamed “Renjie”.
Tang Renjie replied: "That's natural. I heard that brothers in the south may not like eating water, but they like pig's feet and pig's trotters very much."
Wei Liangqing was happy when he heard this: "Brother Renjie, you made pig's trotters. The pig's knuckles are very fragrant. I like to eat them the most. Let's do this. After braised in braised pork and stewed, pour it on the rice. I'm sure the army's morale will be boosted.
It’s a great achievement~”
The two brothers knew they couldn't be greedy with the money, so apart from rice, condiments, hired workers, lunch boxes, etc., they bought all the rest they could buy pig's trotters and pig's knuckles.
We hired dozens of cooks to work together. We usually cook for the porters, but now we are cooking for the Confederate Army, and they are in full swing without any hesitation.
Of course Tang Renjie alone is not enough to make stewed pig trotters and pork knuckles. Among the others, Wei Liangqing is the most familiar with this dish.
He also opened his arms and started cooking. The kitchen knife was spinning like flying, and the pig's trotters and knuckles were cut in half. They were put into the big pot and soaked in the marinade to stew. After a while, the aroma started to rise~
Wei Zhongxian also came back from Tongzhou at this time, and found his nephew after smelling the fragrance.
"What is this? Why does it smell so good~"
"Uncle, you are here, you must be hungry, I will give you some pig's trotter rice~"
Wei Liangqing knew that this business of rewarding soldiers must have been brokered by his uncle, otherwise how could anyone in the palace have thought of making box lunches from the place where workers were hired to move goods and cook in Dongzhimen.
Wei Zhongxian thought that since the negotiation with the Southern Army was successful, it was best to find the prince to return to his life as soon as possible.
But when I smell this fragrance, my stomach growls.
Okay, our family will also check for His Highness the Crown Prince to see how the pig's trotter rice as a reward tastes to the army?
Old Wei looked at a portion of pig's trotter rice placed in front of him. The soft stewed pork knuckle was cut into slices and half of the rice was spread over it.
The appearance is average, and he likes pasta better than rice, but why does it taste so delicious~