Ever since the "First House in the Ming Dynasty" changed hands, Wantong never imagined that no matter how it was made, the failure rate of this cake was very high. The biggest reason was that it could not rise well. When baked, it was either flat or tasted weird. Occasionally, it would succeed, but

Don't know where the problem comes from.

When Zhu Jianshen was a child, he accidentally ate this kind of "cake", so he had his own story. After tasting this kind of delicacy one day in the palace, he asked about it, and the official said that it was sold in a shop outside Zhengyang Gate.

The cake became popular in the palace. It was soft and slightly sweet, with a little milky flavor and very refreshing. Unexpectedly, even Concubine Wan Gui liked it and couldn't stop eating it.

Now that the "cake" is out of stock, Zhu Jianshen asked why there is no "cake".

The official said: "Reporting to your majesty, the merchant who originally made this food was named Zhang Erbao, who is the family of Hanlin editor Zhang Zijun. Suddenly, for some reason, the store changed owners, but the new owner was incompetent and couldn't make the "cake."

, It's a pity. If the emperor wants to eat it, why not send someone to Zhang Bianxiu's house and ask him, and then just ask Zhang Bianxiu to send his family to cook it."

Zhu Jianshen pondered for a long time and remembered that he had received a calligraphy from this editor a few years ago. He didn't know where he put it, so he asked someone to search for it in the East Palace. After a while, they found this picture.

"Three paths in my hometown stretch out into secluded bushes, and frost falls into the blue sky one night. Many guests who have not returned from the world have used the fence to watch the autumn breeze." The handwriting is beautiful, and there is an inscription and postscript underneath. It is indeed him.

On a whim, Zhu Jianshen said: "Pass on my oral instructions and ask the editor Zhang Zijun to come to the palace to meet the saint."

Zhang Zijun entered the palace anxiously. When he saw Zhu Jianshen, he smiled. Such a little kid is pretending to be mature now. To put it bluntly, his voice is still changing. Why does the emperor not live as long as he did?

It is related to premature sexual intercourse between men and women.

Zhang Zijun smiled because after seeing the poem from a few years ago, after bowing, Zhu Jianshen said without hesitation: "I and the imperial concubine both like to eat that kind of "cake". Why should we sell the shop if it is open well?"

ah?"

Zhang Zijun is angry. Yes, he is not earning a few hundred taels of silver a month, and the whole family is counting on monthly income. Do you really not know that it was your noble concubine who did this? This is what he thinks in his heart, but

You can't say that with your mouth.

"This, this cake, I didn't expect that it was too hard to open a shop and I couldn't earn a few taels of silver, so I gave it to the commander of the Jinyi Guards, Wantong, at a cheap price. Oh, by the way, Mr. Wan is the brother of Concubine Wan. In the future, the emperor will follow the concubine.

It’s very convenient if you like to eat.”

With such an answer, Zhu Jianshen couldn't continue. Knowing that there must be a process involved, he could only smile and said: "That's very good."

After turning around and thinking about it, he asked again: "I heard from the internal officials that why the new shop owner can't make cakes?"

Zhang Zijun immediately pretended to be shocked and said: "Is this possible? Impossible, absolutely impossible. Back then, I left the master chef and several waiters who made the dim sum to Mr. Wan, as well as all the items in the shop.

The facilities have also been left behind. These were purchased with more than three hundred taels of silver from the minister’s wife’s dowry, so why can’t we build them?”

When Zhu Jianshen heard this, he was a little confused. Could it be that Wantong was stingy and didn't send cakes to the palace? He was afraid that I would eat for nothing and not pay for it? This is unreasonable. This brother-in-law is not upright. This matter needs to be inquired carefully.

Then he asked Zhang Zijun a lot of questions about his family. Finally, when he was done, he was led out by his own official. Zhang Zijun thought as he walked, a kid is just a kid, he is just a greedy person.

That night, Zhu Jianshen asked Concubine Wan Gui about the matter. In fact, it was not Concubine Wan Gui's idea to occupy other people's shops, but Wan Tong himself. Because he saw that the emperor and Concubine Wan Gui especially liked to eat it and wanted to please the present, he discovered that this "cake"

It’s not the royal spot in the palace,

It was a pastry in the pastry shop outside the palace. Seeing the prospect of this "cake", Wanda and her younger brother wanted to occupy it and make a small fortune from it. Unexpectedly, things went smoothly, and they just gave two symbolic gifts.

For ten silver dollars, I set up a pastry shop.

Concubine Wan Gui was feeling annoyed as to why there had been no "cake" for several days, and she couldn't force it by licking her face. She thought it was just the imperial chef making desserts and changing the style, and she would wait a few days for "cake" to appear again. Today the emperor suddenly asked,

Knowing that it was his younger brother Wantong who had laid out other people's cakes, he didn't take it seriously. Zhu Jianshen didn't take it seriously either, thinking that he would be able to enjoy the cake when Wantong made it.

When a person particularly wants to eat something, some people will not hesitate to travel thousands of miles to get a bite, let alone an emperor's house. If you want to eat, someone will prepare it for you.

But more than ten days passed, and when there was no more "cake", Concubine Wan Gui could not sit still for the first time, and asked the internal officials to order "cakes". The internal officials also rushed to the "No. 1 store in Ming Dynasty" to order.

But I can't do it at all. No, there's nothing I can do! I can only go back and resume my life.

Besides, since Zhang Zijun came home, he playfully asked Erbao if he wanted to open a cake shop. Of course Zhang Erbao was willing. At this time, it was no different than before. He could just get married to Huaping and open a shop.

We were a married couple, and it was hard to sit around at home, so we found another shop and went to

The original Paizi Street was across the street from Wudou Tea. The store's facade also had the sign "The Second Store of Ming Dynasty" written on it. This time, no other pastry chef was hired, only two assistants were hired.

There is a front door and a courtyard room in the back that specializes in making cakes but not other pastries.

Three pennies for a small piece of cake, at this time in the Ming Dynasty, the consumption level of cakes was neither high nor low. Spending three pennies can satisfy your craving. If you want to eat to your heart's content, buy at least five pieces of cake or more. If you want to be full, then

It costs thirty cents a piece. Thirty cents can be exchanged for two kilograms of meat.

, or thirty meat buns and twenty eggs, so ordinary people buy less. The customers are all wealthy families, and there are many wealthy families in the capital. They spend dozens of cents to share them. The cake smells particularly fragrant.

It has a milky aroma, which is most popular among the elderly, and it melts in your mouth.

During this opening, many restaurants and brothels came to place orders, making Erbao laugh so hard that he couldn't even see his eyesight.

Zhang Zijun also deliberately built an oven in the shop, making the ingredients, milk, eggs, flour, icing sugar, and baking all public. The key step of the mixing screen is behind a curtain. If you don't pay attention to the mixing,

Using this technique, the whipped egg whites will defoam and look like they are just being stirred randomly.

In fact, there is a trick here. The key is to beat the egg whites. To what extent is the best way to beat the egg whites? If they are over-whipped, they will not foam. If they are not whipped properly, they will be flat when baked. The final baking is also key.

The charcoal fire is used and the temperature cannot be too high. It can be said that these are all accumulated experience.

The most important thing is that the water wells in the shops, most of the water wells in the outer city of Beijing, are bitter because of the minerals contained in the stratum. These water wells cannot be drank by horses and donkeys, and can only be used for washing. The water wells in the inner courtyard of the shops are like this

Yes, it is not feasible to use it to make cakes.

Most importantly, Wantong, since the establishment of the "First Pastry Shop in Ming Dynasty", I have failed to make cakes one after another, and in the end I have lost money. You must know that the things added to the cakes are all expensive ingredients on the market, such as icing sugar, eggs, and milk.

Wait, the output is not directly proportional to the input, so what is the purpose of this pastry shop? Just when I was worried, I heard that another cake shop opened across the street, and I quickly went to check it out. Damn it, this is the first cake shop in the Ming Dynasty.

Although the store of the second store is relatively simple, the cakes they can make are golden, fluffy and soft, and full of aroma. Looking at all the operating procedures, all the ingredients used can be seen in the store. What is the reason for this? I am puzzled, and later

After asking the chef in the store to check it, he went back and made the same gourd, but the result was still a flat "cake" that was as ugly as possible, and the taste was not good.

In desperation, she had no choice but to give up, but Wanda was unwilling and said, "Why don't we call the two clerks in their store and ask Yin Qian to find out the secret recipe of this pastry."

Wantong thought right, the problem must be the personnel, there must be some secret recipe, look at the two guys, one is baking, the other is adding the ingredients, find a time to use the soft lure first, and if it doesn't work, use the hard one.

, I can’t do it if I don’t believe it.

Zhang Zijun's luck came, and he was awarded the Bachelor's Degree of Shidu by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Bachelor of Zuo Chunfang. This was obviously someone promoted by Li Xian. At this time, Li Xian was the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Grand Bachelor of Huagaidian, and he was the Bachelor of Shidu.

Among the fifth-rank official positions, Bachelor Zuo Chunfang is the fifth-rank official, but it is a false position. He is in charge of the affairs of the East Palace, the Crown Prince, and the Queen. At present, Zhu Jianshen has no heirs, so it is a false position.

The bachelor's degree attendants had the opportunity to enter the palace and participate in the lectures at the Sutra Banquet with the emperor. The Sutra Banquet was a very important form of imperial education in ancient times. It not only helped the emperor study the classics and history and learn the skills of governing the country and bringing peace to the world, but also enhanced communication between the emperor and his ministers.

It is also an important channel for the imperial court to demonstrate respect for teachers and etiquette to the world. Therefore, since the Song Dynasty established the Sutra Banquet system, this system has been extended by various dynasties.

It continued. As a dynasty with a highly centralized monarch, the Ming Dynasty introduced some new changes when it inherited the Jingyan system. From Yongle to Xuande, the Jingyan system was still not established, but according to the records of "Zizhi Tongjian"

, the emperor "did not visit the Wenhua Hall or Bian Hall every day, and summon ministers or Confucian ministers to give lectures every time he came to the end of the court." This is in essence very close to the Sutra Banquet, but there is no system for the time, place, and content of the lectures.

Just transform.

Generally speaking, the Ming Dynasty's economic feast system was inherited from the previous dynasty and did not undergo much change in essence. However, appropriate improvements were made in terms of participants, organizational etiquette, etc. according to its own characteristics to make it more suitable for the Ming Dynasty.

The special historical background of the dynasty. Before Yingzong, there was no customization of Jingyan. Generally speaking, the Four Books and Five Classics were the basic textbooks.

Books such as "Zhenguan Zhengyi", "Emperor's Illustrations" and "Tongjian Compendium" are often used as lecture content. Some of the ancient people's governance experience and lessons will also be involved. In addition, the emperor will also deliberately arrange some content according to the actual situation.
Chapter completed!