Now that the potato selection is over, it’s time to get busy with the food festival. All high-ranking officials in the capital participated in this event. The common people heard that the fairy around the emperor brought a kind of crop from overseas, which not only has a high yield, but is also soft and delicate, accompanied by
A natural fragrance, everyone is very curious.
In fact, it is not difficult to hold an event in the capital of the Ming Dynasty. Although the tone of the founding of the country was to emphasize agriculture and restrain business, Zhu Yuanzhang's attitude towards small traders and craftsmen, who came from a poor background, was still very friendly. He did not accept them.
The tax money is also very small
Drive them away, and even hold regular temple fairs to provide them with business premises. In the early Ming Dynasty, the Minister of Rites once lamented that these small merchants and hawkers, although seemingly inconspicuous, were each worth millions, and their own salary was simply too shabby compared to
Already.
Against this background, temple fairs developed faster and faster in the Ming Dynasty, and the largest temple fair in Beijing was probably Xingbu Street.
This street is very long, so named because it is close to the Procuratorate of the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple. During temple fairs, vendors and people will block the street, so it is perfect for holding a food festival.
Because things were in a hurry, Xian Ruxing did not seek sponsorship or anything. She just opened the store by herself, naming it directly with Fang Lingji and Cake Shop. She paid all the expenses for holding the food festival, which was regarded as an advertisement.
As for the remaining participants, it's not a problem, after all, she still has Deng Shiyi under her.
Deng Shiyi fulfilled his original promise. In less than half a year, he developed the Hutou Gang and initially unified the underground in the capital. Now, in addition to collecting some protection fees and maintaining order, it mainly relies on the delivery business at the docks in the suburbs of Beijing.
Funds. After all, Xian Ruxing is now
It was food alkali and sugar cane. A lot of things had to be delivered to the capital every day. Deng Shiyi keenly discovered the business opportunities. Therefore, today's Hutou Gang is no better than before and has good relations with many merchants in Beijing. With it, they can do publicity.
, for this food festival, merchants naturally took the initiative to participate.
The food festival lasted for three days, and there were huge crowds of people as soon as it opened on the first day. People in the capital of the Ming Dynasty lived a relatively prosperous life, and they were more willing to spend money on food and clothing than other places. As the initiator of this event, Xian Ruxing
He was supposed to participate in the whole process, but Zhu Houcong actually offered to follow.
After thinking about it for a while, Xian Ruxing agreed to his request, although it was very troublesome. The main reason was that since he ascended the throne, the little emperor seems to have not taken a step outside the Forbidden City. Although the child himself is relatively homely and not as active as Emperor Zhengde.
, but it was a bit too exaggerated anyway. So for the sake of his physical and mental health, Xian Ruxing decided to take him around, just to check the public sentiment.
It was not uncommon for the emperor of the Ming Dynasty to pay private visits incognito. Even the eunuchs and guards in the palace were trained under Zhengde's training. In order to let the emperor have fun, only four people were dispatched. Huang Jin was on the left and right, and one person
The two were kept under surveillance and protected at a distance. In short, they allowed the emperor to have fun without disturbing him. From this, Zhu Houcong felt for the first time that his cousin had done something good.
The two of them walked and stopped at the north end of Xingbu Street. Zhu Houcong, a "country bumpkin" who grew up in Anlu, had never seen such a group of people. If Xian Ruxing hadn't looked at them, his hat would have tilted.
When he was pulled out of the crowd again, the young man patted his chest with lingering fear, saying that he had better find a place to eat and rest first, and wait until the crowd dispersed before going shopping again.
How could it be possible to disperse? Even if only some of the millions of people in the capital participated, it would probably last until the curfew. Xian Ruxing shook his head and led him to a stall with a long queue in the middle. After saying hello to the stall owner, he walked over
The back room of the shop.
Zhu Houconn noticed that there seemed to be the word "potato" on the plaque, and knew that it was probably opened by Xian Ruxing, so he followed obediently.
As soon as the two of them took their seats, the waiter in the store respectfully brought the dishes to them.
"Spike potatoes, potato cakes, organ potatoes, potato egg pancakes..."
Since it is a food festival, the focus is on convenience, and large dishes are difficult to carry, so Xian Ruxing provided several potato snacks, which can be taken away wrapped in oil paper and are widely praised among the people.
Zhu Houcong looked at a few snacks curiously and suddenly said: "I understand the first one. It looks like a wolf's tooth, but isn't it called a potato? Why is it called a potato again? And what is a daddy? What is an organ?"
Xian Ruxing: "..." How did she know? She just used it in her previous life.
I gave the kid a piece of food with chopsticks and said to eat yours! Why talk so much?
Zhu Houcong took a bite with a smile on his face, then wrinkled his face and coughed non-stop.
The people around were shocked, and Xian Ruxing reacted instantly, probably choking from the spicy food.
Before opening the store, she came to taste it several times and worked with the chef to develop the chili powder of this era. It mainly contains dogwood, Sichuan peppercorns and pepper. These valuable seasonings in previous dynasties had been cultivated on a large scale in the Ming Dynasty.
, becomes common.
Although there are peppers in Xian Ruxing's space, they are not in large quantities. Now there is really no manpower available to breed them. In order to prevent waste, she decided to take them out after a while. She was a spicy food lover in her previous life, but now she traveled through time and discovered this body
I am also very adaptable to spiciness, so I always add more chili pepper every time.
The fried potatoes, which are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, are paired with special chili powder and various spices. You can smell it from a distance, and it is very popular among diners.
But obviously, Zhu Houcong couldn't eat this.
Xian Ruxing saw that the young man was crying because of the spicy food, so he asked the waiter to buy a bowl of chrysanthemum porridge from a nearby stall.
Chrysanthemum seedling porridge is also a specialty of this era. The so-called "chrysanthemum seedling" is actually a young leaf of a wild vegetable called chamomile. Chop it up, add a little salt, and cook it with rice. This kind of porridge has a special aroma and can
Seeing that his mouth was still a little swollen, Xian Ruxing shook his head and said that he couldn't eat these fried foods anymore. He went out and bought a copy of the most popular dessert in the Ming Dynasty, buttered abalone, for him to eat while shopping.
This thing originated in the Southern Song Dynasty. It is made from a mixture of cheese and sucrose. Making this thing also requires a lot of skill. Not everyone can pinch it. People in the Ming Dynasty loved its sweetness that melts in the mouth, and its appearance is indispensable at any important festival.
, even in today’s popular novels, butter abalone is also regarded as a common delicacy.
At first, Zhu Houcong was very resistant to walking to eat. Xian Ruxing rolled his eyes and stuffed a snail into his mouth. What are you doing in the snack street if you don't eat while walking?
The young man had no choice but to obey.
Of course, the food festival did not only buy food for ordinary people. There were stalls opened by famous stores at the end of Xingbu Street. Because each item was expensive, there were fewer people coming here. Zhu Houcong could finally take a breath. Then he became interested.
He excitedly took Xian Ruxing to try his favorite food - roasted squirrel.
Yes, not a weasel, but a rodent called a weasel.
This time, the one who didn't see it was Xian Ruxing. She looked at the big rat in the cage in shock and said to Zhu Houcong: "You eat this??"
"Yes," Zhu Houcong nodded, and immediately showed a longing and nostalgic look, "an old saying goes, 'The yellow rat on the plate is as fat as wax, and the white fish on the blade is like silk.' My father and I can only eat this during the Chinese New Year.
It's plump, tender and fragrant, making people unforgettable for a long time. It is said that Emperor Taizong rewarded Princess Changning with a thousand yellow rats. I was envious at that time, but now I can finally eat it freely."
He was about to round up the yellow squirrel immediately, and Xian Ruxing’s brows jumped when the merchant gave the price.
Good guy, this one cost her a month's food expenses. It seems that this thing is really popular in the Ming Dynasty.
He quickly pulled Zhu Houcong away without paying, and then told him seriously that he was not allowed to eat this food in the future.
"Ah? Why?" Zhu Houcong looked at her in confusion, "Everyone else is eating it."
"I can't control others, but you can't, Your Majesty. This thing looks like it can spread the plague. The plague is very scary."
The last straw of the dynasty. Later generations conservatively estimated that about one-fifth of the population of Beijing died due to the plague. So when Li Zicheng invaded Beijing, he was frightened by this dead city where "people and ghosts are mixed, and people dare not walk in the sunset"
A jump.
She originally thought that the other party was going to have a few words with her, and Xian Ruxing had even prepared a speech. Unexpectedly, the young man nodded without thinking, "Okay, I will listen to you. I will issue a decree later on to ask the people around me not to eat as much as possible."
.”
Xian Ruxing was stunned, and did not come back to his senses until the other party greeted him. The two of them continued to walk back, and bought roasted suckling pig, fried lamb tripe, etc. In the end, they were so exhausted that they could no longer walk, so they planned to go to the west for a walk to eat.
.
The food festival was held in a hurry. Even if there was help from many parties, it was unrealistic to fill the entire Xingbu Street with food alone, so we also invited some other vendors, most of whom were vaudeville troupes, who played gongs and drums to make it lively.
.While walking, Zhu Houcong stopped in front of a stall.
Xian Ruxing went over to take a look, and was immediately speechless. He saw four or five kittens, several months old, in a wooden cage. When he saw someone coming, he meowed at them sweetly.
She knew that Zhu Houcong liked cats. Not only did she know it, but the two princesses of the Empress Dowager Jiang and even Huang Jin knew it. This guy not only collected a pair of cat paintings and played with them in the air, but even secretly bought cat ornaments. Jiang
I once offered to give two to my son, but the young man sternly refused on the grounds that a man cannot lose his ambition by playing with things.
Sighing, Xian Ruxing stepped forward and asked the boss to open the cage, and randomly grabbed a white kitten with only a black tail for inspection. However, as soon as he laid eyes on it, he let out a "huh" sound.
"Boss, you're a bad cat, aren't you?"
I know, the foreign envoys living at Honglu Temple seem to have brought cats with them.
Trading with foreigners without authorization is now a capital offense.
The person who bought the cat was a young man with single eyelids and round and big eyes. He looked so smart. Hearing Xian Ruxing say this, he looked a little nervous and said quickly: "What's wrong? I brought this cat from the south. The cat is almost from the north."
No, they are very precious, but if you buy two, it will be cheaper for you."
Xian Ruxing did not expose him, but wrote down his appearance, turned to Zhu Houcong, who had already stared straight-eyed, and said: "Pick two, take two males."
"Ah?" Zhu Houcong was confused and immediately denied it after reacting, "I don't want it, I don't like them at all!"
"Who told you to give it to you?"
There were so many maids in the Fengxian Palace, how could there be mice, but Zhu Houcong, whose mind was already completely occupied by the cats, couldn't care so much, and happily picked up two of them. Huang Jin didn't even let Huang Jin help with the cages, he had to take them with his own hands.
go back.
On the way, he asked curiously: "Why do you want a male cat? I think female cats are more delicate."
"It's easy to sterilize male cats," Xian Ruxing answered matter-of-factly. She had worked in a pet store during her college summer vacation. When she was too busy, she even performed surgery for the store manager. Stitches were not easy to do for female cats, but it was easy for male cats.
, you can make one in ten minutes on average.
Seeing her ferocious look, Zhu Houcong couldn't help hugging the kitten tightly, thinking that it would be better not to make Master Xian Xian angry in the future...