"Try my craftsmanship. This is my carefully prepared soup base. It's the first time for Qiaoqiao and I to eat it, so we don't know what it tastes like!"
There were several plates on the table, which were naturally incomparable to the sumptuousness of hot pot in later generations, but there were vegetables and meat. The meat was mutton. Li Mu asked the cook to pick the fat and lean meat and cut it into thin slices. In total,
I cut five plates. The weather is not cold enough right now. When it snows in a few days and the meat can be frozen, it will be much easier to eat the meat slices. Now I can only slice it piece by piece, which is very troublesome.
The only vegetables available were spinach and cabbage. This was not because Li Mu was reluctant to spend money. There were no vegetables to eat in the Tang Dynasty, which was what made Li Mu feel troubled. After he came to the Tang Dynasty, he didn't realize it at first.
People in Dingxiang and Mayi ate only wild vegetables. He just thought that the people in the border towns were poor and could not afford other vegetables, and did not think about it in depth. Only after arriving in Chang'an did he know that the Tang Dynasty
The vegetables are so poor. Not only are there no peppers, tomatoes, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, beans, potatoes... they are all gone.
What's there?
There are five common types of green vegetables: sunflower, hyacinth, leek, weed, and shepherd's purse. Kwai is mallow, and weed is the young leaves of soybean seedlings; leek is leek, and there is basically no difference between the leek of the Tang Dynasty and the leek of later generations; the leek is cabbage;
Shepherd's purse is shepherd's purse, and the roots are dried and ground into powder to make mustard. Of these five so-called vegetables, Li Mu has only eaten cabbage and leeks, and few people in later generations will eat the other three.
These five are vegetables that the common people can afford, and there are also five "noble" vegetables. They are all imported, including spinach and carrots introduced from Persia, long beans and eggplants introduced from Tianzhu, and lettuce imported from the Silk Road.
Apart from these, there are only some wild vegetables, lotus roots, mushrooms and other vegetables that the common people use locally, which are only available in a few places.
It sounds like a lot, but many dishes are only available in specific seasons, and due to the cultivation level and climate, they are only available for one or two months a year. But Li Mu was very worried, but
He could also understand that in this era, it was a problem for ordinary people to stay hungry, so they had no time to study vegetables. What he observed also confirmed what he thought, except him, no one cared about what vegetables to eat.
The poor eat porridge, the rich eat noodles, the nobles eat meat, or fish... No one seems to care about what vegetables they eat. At most, they worry about choking when eating solid food and make a pot of wild vegetable soup.
If it weren't for winter, Li Mu really wanted to learn planting skills and grow all these vegetables. But then he thought about it, and luckily he didn't act impulsively. Otherwise, there would suddenly be more than a dozen new species inexplicably, and he would also
I can't explain it clearly. Even if I want to find out, I have to find an excuse, such as spending a lot of money to obtain seeds, or trading it when envoys from other countries pay tribute, etc. I have to find a reasonable reason.
The problem of the vegetable basket cannot be solved for a while. For this hot pot, we can only cook a little cabbage and spinach. These two green vegetables were not bought by Li Mu. There are no vegetable sellers in the east and west markets...
These two kinds of green vegetables are from Li Ji's mansion. Only Guogong's mansion can still have some green vegetables in this late autumn season.
Zhang Tianai was a little confused when she saw Li Mu putting vegetables and meat into boiling water. She had never seen such a way of eating, but she had seen spinach and cabbage, and at this time of year, she could also see green vegetables, which made her heart
Quite happy. Although she grew up in a horse bandit's den, she doesn't like greasy food. Instead, she likes light food, and she naturally likes green vegetables.
Zhang Tianai remembered that Li Mu liked to eat meat, and there were no such green vegetables at lunch. Naturally, she thought that these green vegetables were specially prepared by Li Mu for her. This made her feel strange.
, since childhood, except for her father, there has never been a man who treated him so unrequitedly. She became panicked for no reason, lowered her head, and fiddled with the bowl with chopsticks.
The cook's knife skills were pretty good. The mutton slices were cut very thin, and the water was already boiling. When the meat slices were put into the water, they were cooked. Li Mu took out the cooked mutton slices and gave them to Bai Qiaoqiao first, and then to Zhang Tianai. When he saw her
He fiddled with the bowl and said with a smile: "I have already blended the sauce, so there is no need to stir it up." As he said that, he put the meat slices into Zhang Tianai's bowl and said: "Put the meat slices in between and eat with the dipping sauce.
If you think it's spicy, you can cook the meat in the pot on the left side later. There is a partition in the middle, and there is clear soup on the left side. It's not spicy."
"Oh..." Zhang Tianai still didn't dare to look up. He looked at the meat slices in the bowl and took a peek at how Li Mu was eating. He followed his example and picked it up, dipped it in some sauce, and put it in his mouth. The mutton was tender and chewy, slightly chewy.
It's a bit spicy, and my cheeks turned red after eating this mouthful of meat.
Bai Qiaoqiao's face also turned red. Li Mu handed over the prepared water and glanced at Zhang Tianai. Zhang Tianai shook his head and said he didn't need it, but still put the meat slices next to the clear soup.
Li Mu smiled and said nothing. He had already guessed that they could get used to it because they were spicy. After all, spicy food was not a common taste in the lives of people in the Tang Dynasty.
At this time, Li Zhien came back from taking care of the things in the front yard. He saw the three of them eating happily and swallowed a mouthful of saliva. However, he did not serve the table. Instead, he stood obediently behind Bai Qiaoqiao, facing Li Mu. Li Mu finished eating
When she was about to stretch out her chopsticks to pick up the meat in the bowl, she happened to see Li Zhien standing opposite. Li Zhien's eyes were locked on his chopsticks. Li Mu raised his chopsticks, and her little head also followed. Li Mu stretched out his arms, and she
Li Mu followed suit, picked up a piece of mutton, and she swallowed. The most speechless thing was that she didn't say she wanted to eat it, and just looked at it with a pitiful look.
In the end, Li Mu was defeated and said: "Go get a pair of bowls and chopsticks yourself."
"Thank you, Master!" Li Zhien responded happily. With a twist of his waist, he had already run out. Within three breaths, he was back again. She lived next to her, and there was always a pair of dishes and chopsticks in the room.
Li Mu apologized to Zhang Tianai and said: "This little girl is the slave I bought in the West Market. She is very efficient in doing things. When I am not at home, thanks to her keeping Qiaoqiao company, Qiaoqiao treats her as a younger sister and eats with her every day.
We are all together when we are together, we are not used to it anymore, so don’t mind."
Zhang Tianai said hurriedly: "Why do you mind? Zhien is a very good kid. We had a good chat this afternoon."
This was the first time that Li Zhien heard Li Mu praise her in front of outsiders, and she stuck out her tongue in embarrassment. Bai Qiaoqiao raised his hand and touched the back of her head, and pinched two pieces of meat for her.
"Is the front yard arranged?"
Li Zhien nodded, stuffing meat in his mouth, and answered vaguely: "The meat was cooked, the sheep was roasted, and the wine was moved. I told the big man to take care of it."
"That's good." Li Mu glanced at Li Zhien, took a piece of meat and hid it at the other end of the copper pot, secretly dipped it in some mustard powder, then put it in Li Zhien's bowl, and said calmly: "Thank you for your hard work, eat more.
point."
"Thank you, Master!" Li Zhien looked innocent and picked up the pieces of meat in front of Li Mu... and then put them in the pot and rinsed them.
Li Mu's face suddenly turned dark. Li Zhien smiled proudly at him and stuffed the meat into his mouth.
Recently, this little girl has become more and more sophisticated, and Li Mu's tricks have become less and less effective. Bai Qiaoqiao caught a glimpse and covered her mouth and snickered. Zhang Tianai didn't know why she was laughing, so she looked at her questioningly, and Bai Qiaoqiao came closer.
She whispered a few words in her ear, and she also laughed.
Li Mu felt ashamed and felt a little embarrassed. Fortunately, Li Zhien didn't expose him, so he shamelessly pretended that nothing happened and went about cooking and eating meat without teasing.
Time passed slowly and we were almost done eating. Zhang Tianai hesitated for a moment and said, "What you said at noon..."
"I remembered it, and I was about to tell you." Li Mu was almost finished eating, wiped his mouth, and said: "Speaking of grace, I can't help, and there is nothing I can do about my adoptive father. But you
If you just want to give the young and old in Zhangjiazhai an identity as good citizens, I can be of some help."
"How to help?"
"Dingxiang City is being rebuilt, do you know this?"
"Yes." Zhang Tianai nodded. She often traveled between Zhangjiazhai and Mayi. When passing by Dingxiang, she could see many people working in full swing every time.
"Li Siwen, the county magistrate of Dingxiang City, is my adopted brother. His father is my adopted father, General Li Ji. He is now the magistrate of Dingxiang County and is in charge of rebuilding the city, recruiting refugees and other matters. He is the best choice for hiring people.
If the young and old in Zhangjiazhai are willing, I can write him a letter. Even if there are some connections, for my sake, he will agree to the naturalization of the young and old in Zhangjiazhai."
"Li Siwen?" Zhang Tianai frowned slightly, always feeling like he had heard this name somewhere before. Seeing that she didn't remember it, Bai Qiaoqiao made a gesture in front of her forehead and reminded: "The one who cried about my husband that day, there is one here.
The one with the bag..."
"Him?!" Zhang Tianai frowned and said, "This person you are talking about...him, how can he succeed?"
Li Mu hurriedly said: "Don't judge people by their appearance. Although my sworn brother seems unreliable, in fact... well, he has a pure heart, and he listens to me very much. As long as I edit a book, he will definitely follow my instructions."
It’s what I wanted to do. There will definitely be no problem with naturalization.”
Hearing that Li Mu didn't seem very confident, Zhang Tian's suspicion became even more intense and he said, "Really?"
"I'm using my credibility as a guarantee that there will definitely be no problem with naturalization."
Seeing Li Mu's firm tone this time, Zhang Tianai finally believed it and said: "Then give it a try, there is no other way anyway."
Li Mu thought for a while and said: "I have something I don't know whether to say or not...that's all, I'll just say it. After hearing you talk about this matter, I have been thinking that your father may have different ideas from you. He
It seems that it is not just as simple as wanting the young and old in Zhangjiazhai to be naturalized and become good citizens. Naturalization is easy to do, but if you want to accept the imperial recruitment of Zhangjiazhai as a whole and seek an official position... Judging from the current situation, the possibility
Very low, I hope you can persuade him to give up this idea."