Straight man of steel

Chapter 106 Stealing the Invention of King Huainan
One person was carrying a table and holding a kitchen knife, facing the scorching sun, his figure disappeared into the gate of Zhang Mansion.

Immediately the door was tightly closed.

"Old Zhao, stay in the field for the past two days, get ten ripe watermelons covered with cloth and send them to the Marquis of Wu'an in Changling."

The Shaofu Superintendent's words reminded Zhang Yuan that if he forgot Tian Fu at this time, he might be sad in the following days.

"Here."

It had been about a quarter of an hour since Liu Che entered the door until the large crowd left. Old Zhao's legs were still shaking, and the others looked even worse. The smell of excrement, urine and fart was not so pleasant.

"You've seen it all. In the future, all kinds of big shots will inevitably come to the house. You have to get used to it one by one. Don't embarrass me again. Go back and wash your body clean."

Zhang Yuan roared, and dozens of adults scrambled back to their thatched hut, leaving only the children who didn't know what happened.

Not to mention these tenants who think that the county magistrate is the biggest figure in the world are afraid of being like this, even Zhang Yuan's back is soaked. Yes, I was seen by Liu Che today. I can't tell whether his head is there or not.

It was agreed to give Zhang Yuan [-]% of the harvest, but at the end of the summer it was only half of the harvest. Fortunately, a lot was sent to Tian Fu one after another in the middle. Half of the beets were left to wait until next year to bloom and bear fruit, and half of them were all pulled out of the ground. After they came out, the seeds were cut into pieces to make sugar, and people from Shaofu watched the whole process. After they learned it, they didn't need any white granulated sugar made by Zhangfu, and took all the rest of the beetroot away.

The residue left over from boiling sugar beetroot mixed with beet leaves is the best feed for pigs. In the place where the tenants live on the left side of Zhang’s mansion, two more doors were opened from the fence, allowing them to expand another area outside the mansion. Go out to raise pigs and chickens.

Except for the [-] acres of watermelon and sugar beets, the other [-] acres of various grains finally matured in autumn.

In order to drink soy milk and eat tofu, the stone mill has been built by Xiong Daxiong Er using the boulders on Lantian Mountain in his free time.

It has to be said that due to the existence of the Dinghu Yanshou Palace, there were surprisingly few savages and wild beasts in the mountains and forests outside Zhang Yuan Mansion. Liu Che held no less than five hunting activities in Lantian Mountain this year, and there were no crops. Without the interference of various uncontrollable factors, the growth is particularly good.

Natural goose egg gypsum can be found a lot by the Chan River. In this world, even the king of Huainan, Liu An, has not yet made tofu, so Zhang Yuan doesn't have to worry about getting involved with him.

Because he planned to let Chu Da take it back and dedicate it to Liu Che as soon as he produced the finished product. Since he has traveled through time, and he is still in the Han Dynasty, and it is not other countries founded by ethnic minorities in history, he should survive well, not I want to make trouble for this stage of starting to gather national self-confidence.

"The spring on Lantian Mountain is really good. Add some sugar to the soy milk, boil it and let everyone share a bowl."

Zhang Yuan was particularly happy. Soy milk was his favorite drink. It was simple and did not require system mission rewards. He could satisfy his cravings by just experimenting on his own.

Half of the soy milk produced on the first day was used to drink, and the other half was used to experiment how to make good tofu.

Zhang Yuan had never made tofu before. He only knew to heat the soy milk and then add a coagulant, that is, gypsum powder or brine. After it cools down, it will become solid tofu, but the proportion is completely unknown.

In Dahan, eating too many beans will cause flatulence and iodine deficiency, which will increase the burden on the kidneys, and if it is not done well, it will cause death.When everyone has food to eat, soybeans can only be used as feed for horses. The people in the family don't know what to do with growing soybeans without horses.

Until Zhang Yuan made tofu.

"Master, is this the tofu you mentioned?"

Zhang Yuan set up ten stoves in the kitchen and set up iron pots to boil soybean milk and gypsum powder. The proportion of gypsum powder in each iron pot was different. After it was completely cooled, Zhang Yuan realized that his luck was actually pretty good. Yes, one of the ten pots is completely formed and solidified together.

Picking up the big iron spoon for cooking, scooped up a spoonful, handed it to Old Zhao, and said with a smile.

"Old Zhao, try it."

Old Zhao glanced proudly at the group of people around him, gave a smirk to Zhang Yuan, lowered his head and ate all the tofu cubes into his mouth.

"How about it?"

Although it had solidified and formed, Zhang Yuan didn't know how the taste and texture were different from what he had eaten before, so he wanted to let Lao Zhao try it first.

Lao Zhao's mouth was full of tofu. He didn't dare to open his mouth to speak for fear of leaking, so he just nodded his head.

Zhang Yuan also took a spoonful and tasted it. The texture was still a bit different, but the taste was the same as what he had eaten before. Of course, it might have been too long since he had eaten it, so he felt in his heart that as long as he could eat it, it would be fine. happy.

"Old Wang, I have given you everything else. Take out this pot of tofu and cut it into cubes. Master, I will make a big dish for everyone today."

The rest of the tenants didn't feel anything. They only thought about cooking because they knew that the head of the house, who was able to produce new things all day long, must be abnormal.

But Lao Wang and the others knew that their patriarch was an expert who created one of the schools of cooking.

"The little one will help you."

Lao Wang's cooking skills all come from Zhang Yuan. Zhang Yuan hasn't been in the kitchen for several years. Now that he is interested, he wants to show off his skills. For Lao Wang, he must be more excited than others.

Originally, I wanted to make mapo tofu. Although there were seasonings such as peppercorns and cornus, I felt that something was missing without chili. Zhang Yuan wanted to make a tofu stew with womb cabbage, which was simple but delicious.

Zhao, who has been cooking for several years, was amazed by the tofu that had not been cooked in any way, let alone the tofu that Zhang Yuan had fried until slightly brown on both sides.

The rest of the cooks were making other dishes. It would be great if each of the more than 100 people in the mansion could share a mouthful of this stewed pork with cabbage and tofu.The soy milk is still cooling, so it can’t be said to be cold anymore. In winter, a deep hole was dug in the cellar to store some ice cubes. Most of the watermelon was used in summer, and now the rest is just right for iced soy milk.

"Hey, Dr. Zhang cooks for himself today, it seems that Chu is lucky."

Chu Da was sent by Liu Che to monitor Zhang Yuan clearly, and the Zhang family would definitely not set up defenses against him. This guy walked into the kitchen ostentatiously, not feeling at all that this place is a place that noble people can't touch.

"It's a coincidence that Doctor Chu is here today. I have developed a new ingredient, and I am demonstrating the cooking method for my chef. You can watch it here. When the meals are ready, stay and eat. If you think it is good, you can use it I present these ingredients to His Majesty as a way of repaying Heaven's kindness."

When Zhang Yuan said this, Chu Da immediately paid attention to it. After getting along for a year, Chu Da thought that he knew a little about Zhang Yuan, and what he could offer to Liu Che was definitely a good thing.

The tofu and cabbage are cooked quickly, and the pork belly is also fried first. Cover it with a lid and simmer for a while, and the aroma will come out.

"Doctor Chu, please, let's go to the main building to eat."

Normally, Xiao Qing always eats with Zhang Yuan. If Chu Da is here, she will serve on the side, and Lao Wang will leave some food for her, so Xiao Qing is very upset when Chu Da comes.

After placing a few dishes on the table, he left angrily.

"Doctor Zhang, your maid is quite individual."

Chu Da pointed at Xiaoqing's leaving figure with his chopsticks and said with a smile, Zhang Yuan could only smile awkwardly, and then stretched out his hand to let Chu Da move his chopsticks first.

Chu Daneng was sent to Zhang Yuan by Liu Che, which indirectly showed that he was not valued as a young minister, but Zhang Yuan felt that Chu Da was quite shrewd, so he put a chopstick on top of the tofu, put it in his mouth, and carefully Chew and taste.

After seeing him swallow it completely, Zhang Yuan asked.

"What do you think, Doctor Chu?"

Chu Da put the chopsticks on the table before speaking to Zhang Yuan.

"Please also ask Dr. Zhang to demonstrate to me how it is produced here after eating, and then I will bring the finished product to the palace to meet His Majesty."

To put it this way, it is already the highest praise. If it is not a good thing, the ministers would not dare to send it to Liu Che.

However, Zhang Yuan hesitated, and then he thought of a question.

"This item is fragile and difficult to store. No matter how it is transported, it may be damaged on the road.

Doctor Chu stays at the mansion for a day, and I will tell you from the utensils for making this tofu to the final production process. You have learned that you can demonstrate it directly to His Majesty in Chang'an. "

Zhang Yuan was more thoughtful, and Chu Da could only nod gratefully. It doesn't matter how many days in the evening, the most important thing is that Liu Che saw the best when he submitted it.

This is an emperor who attaches great importance to the result rather than the process. If this is not the case, there will be no allusions that Li Guang can't seal.

After eating, there was no need for Zhang Yuan to say anything, Xiong Da and the others started to grind the soy milk with their people, and it was gone after just one bite, it was really not satisfying.

Seeing the bustling scene in the yard, Chu Da didn't care about eating, and ran out to see how the tofu was produced, while Zhang Yuan secretly called Xiao Qing to start eating together in the lobby of the main building. The womb cabbage fried in soybean oil that Chu Da saw.

After cooling, the surface condensed into a sheet of soybean oil. Zhang Yuan must not let Chu Da see it. He couldn't eat enough for himself, so how could he share it with other outsiders.

After having soybean oil, he also thought of a dish he liked more in his mind.

How delicious it would be if the meat fillings were mixed with various seasonings, rolled into soybean oil, steamed and sliced.

Zhang Yuanjin could only offer food to Liu Che, not delicacies, otherwise he was afraid that Liu Che would eventually be unable to bear it and take him into the palace to cook.

(End of this chapter)