My years in the Northern Song Dynasty Guozijian

The bell for the second class in the morning rang, and the students of the Imperial College walked quickly to the dormitory with their book bags.

After Wang Anshi took office, the teaching department in the prison was separated from the institution publishing books, and the two did not communicate with each other.In addition to those distributed for free when entering the school, students no longer have unlimited teaching books, paper and ink.This greatly reduces the phenomenon of waste, and also saves a lot of costs.So much so that when it was finally reported, the imperial court was surprised to find that although the new sacrificial wine was built and people were hired, it didn’t cost much in the end, which also temporarily silenced those who questioned and opposed it.

It's just that it's hard for these yamen, and they have to memorize more than a dozen books in class all day, which is somewhat similar to the students of later generations.

The lecture hall is far away from the studio, and we have to climb a small hill.The students all quickened their pace and tried to surpass those around them.I can't help it, it's time for lunch soon, there are only two good dishes in total, and I have to compete with sixteen people, what if I don't hurry up!

But when they got there, they discovered the difference.The kitchen, which was originally lifeless, was now in full swing.A huge board was erected outside, with four large characters written on the top: Today's dishes.

The students looked at each other in blank dismay, not understanding which one was the whole thing.

……

At the same time, Ye An, Zhao Zongshu and Fan Chunren were applying medicated oil to Di Yong.

Di Yong was bare-chested, his back was bruised and purple, and there were two huge red marks, which looked very scary.The three of them thought they didn't paint carefully enough, and they made a gesture to take off their pants, which made Di Yong jump up suddenly, and his usual calm expression also cracked.

"What's the matter? Hurry up and take the medicine so you can go down to eat." Zhao Zongshu scratched his head in confusion. They had soaked in several bathhouses together, so there was nothing to be ashamed of.

"That's different!" Di Yong blushed and roared.

Ye An couldn't help laughing: "Okay, then you can find time later, but then again, your brother is too ruthless."

"My family is like this, I've been used to it for a long time." Di Yong put on his clothes neatly, making it impossible to tell that he was injured.

The other three looked at each other, feeling a little helpless.

It turned out that the first batch of martial arts students came to visit the Imperial College yesterday. After all, it was the first time in the Song Dynasty to hold a martial arts school. Although Fan Zhongyan, Wang Anshi and others fully advocated it, they did not receive the support of the public.There is no way, the horses and venues here have to be borrowed for riding and archery.

Di Yong had long been curious about martial arts, but he couldn't get out of the Imperial College.In the past few days, his father Di Qing just won the battle with Xixia, and he "received [-] of his account and [-] of his livestock", and ordered the soldiers to build several defensive checkpoints "to strangle the vital points of the thieves". Something big is going to happen.The news spread to Bianliang, and the whole country celebrated with joy. The officials even summoned the brothers of the Di family in person to reward them with a lot of things.

As the second son of the Di family, and the most handsome one, Di Yong naturally received the attention of the audience.So, Di Yong, who usually feels very cold to others, drifted away...

When the martial arts students came to visit the Guozijian, he even approached them to ask for advice, and even fought back and forth.But fortunately, the other party saw that he was young, and knew that he had no bad intentions, so he didn't care too much, and kindly introduced some facilities and courses in their martial arts.

Di Yong was moved by what he heard, so he jumped over the wall and skipped class the next day to attend the audition. Although some classmates helped to conceal it, Wang Anshi still found out.

This can be said to have stabbed a hornet's nest, and now even Guo Zhonghe, who is so domineering, dare not compete with the new Jijiu.As the first one in the whole country to skip class, Di Yong received key attention.

Not only was he punished at school, but Wang Anshi also resorted to the ultimate weapon against students - looking for parents.

Brother Di knew that his lungs were about to explode. Now that his father has just been upgraded two levels, it has caused dissatisfaction among many people, and they all want to find fault with the Di family.Now is the time to be cautious, the brat picks this kind of time to do things, even if he breaks the law.

Those in the same dormitory who helped to cover were also punished for copying books.Except for Fan Chunren, none of the four teenagers present had any political sensitivity, especially Ye An, who didn't even understand the official system of the Northern Song Dynasty.Zhao Zongshu thought it was just the ordinary sutra skipping class and being beaten, Zhao Zongshu felt lingering fear: "I will never sleep again in mathematics class, what if my father beats me too if he asks for a sacrifice for wine."

Fan Chunren pursed his lips. He vaguely understood what was going on, but he looked at the ignorant eyes of the three friends.Sighing, let them teach at home.So he took the initiative to change the topic: "Brother An has been walking around the stove for the past two days, how are the people in the kitchen training?"

"It's okay, you'll find out when you go." Ye An said humbly, but he was quite confident in reality.

Recalling that he held a meeting with the cooks of the Guozijian at that time, everyone's embarrassed expressions, they all thought it was some yamen's whimsy, and they wanted to steam some new tricks.He complained in his heart that the school teachers let him mess around, but after Ye An opened his mouth, he realized that this handsome and extraordinary young man has real kung fu.

The biggest problem with the Guozijian kitchen today is that the craftsmanship is not good enough and it is not systematic.Ye An divided the people into several groups, those who were good at white cases were in charge of white cases, those who were good at cooking meat only cooked meat dishes, and those who couldn't do anything well were sent off to chop and wash vegetables.If you want to fight for other positions, you can, but you have to come up with five dishes, and everyone can taste them and feel that they are qualified before they can change jobs.

Many people here have no experience in cooking, most of them just cook at home for a long time, and they come to apply when they see the Imperial Academy recruiting people, so many of them have never even done cooking, so Ye An taught them some simple cooking skills.

For example, for meat and vegetables, at any rate, they have been soaked in water to remove the bitterness.There is also mutton, which can’t be roasted all day long. It’s not troublesome to cook mutton with green onions, braised mutton and mutton in steamed buns.

The cooks listened carefully, and some of them who could write even memorized it in a small notebook.This era pays attention to teaching apprentices to starve to death from the master, and the craftsmanship is a secret that is not passed on. If you are lucky, you will not have to worry about livelihood for the rest of your life.

After a few days of intensive training like this, what Ye An saw as what he made could barely be eaten.

Several people walked out of the main room together, and found that there was already a long queue outside.On weekdays, the arrogant yamen all held food boxes, stretched their necks and looked towards the kitchen together. The air was filled with a tempting aroma.

"Oops! It's our turn, don't we have nothing!" Zhao Zongshu frowned. He didn't eat enough in the morning, and he just heard that the cafeteria was reorganized, and his expectations were high.

"Brother An is here, will it make you hungry?" Fan Chunren teased, Zhao Zongshu's eyes lit up, and he turned to look at Ye An excitedly.

Ye An smiled and said nothing, so the few people knew what they were talking about. They stood at the end of the line and talked in a leisurely manner.

Sure enough, when the cook saw Ye An, he smiled and said attentively, "We keep the meals for you and your classmates separately, and cook them for you in a small pot alone. It tastes better when you eat them."

Ye An thanked him after the result, and explained that there is no need to trouble, they just eat together.

The Guozijian has a ration of four dishes and one soup every day, and the cook is careful, leaving some for them.

The three hot dishes are roasted chicken with chestnuts, dry-stir-fried mutton, and fried rapeseed. The cold food is cold crucian carp, and finally a pork liver soup.

Even Fan Chunren and others had never tasted these dishes, so they were a little curious.Zhao Zongshu first had a taste of the hot dish. Because the sugar color was fried in advance, the chestnut roast chicken was dark amber in color as a whole.The chestnuts are slightly burnt, exuding the unique sweetness of nuts, and it is fragrant and glutinous when you take a bite. The chicken is stewed soft and rotten, and it is paired with crystal clear soup, which makes people want to eat three bowls of rice in a row.

The mutton became dry after being cooked, and Ye An also taught them to sprinkle a lot of flax on it, and served it with the juice of dogwood, so that it tasted like eating cold mutton in later generations.

The most amazing thing is the crucian carp in cold sauce. There are the most crucian carp in Bianliang City. The rich and noble people often go to the carp to make meatballs or make soup base.It was the first time I ate cold salad. Seeing the strong wind these few days, many students had a stuffy nose. The chefs also specially made it hot and sour, which was delicious and appetizing.

When the meal is almost finished, drink a bowl of hot Poleng Pork Liver Soup.Paleng is the modern spinach. It has a strong smell of pork liver. Some people are not used to eating it. Cooking it with spinach can relieve it to some extent.Both of these have the effect of supplementing iron and improving eyesight, which are very suitable for students to eat.Ye An asked for some pepper to put in it, and they were sweating profusely after eating.

Not to mention Ye An and the others, the other students in the dormitory were already going crazy, and some of them buried their heads in it, regardless of etiquette.

To say that these dishes are "fresh", as for the taste, they are just ordinary and delicious.In normal times, the yamen who have long been accustomed to delicacies from mountains and seas would just say a few words of appreciation.But it is different now, after more than ten days of baptism of canteen food, they are so hungry that their eyes are dizzy.Those who are strong and able to grab good food can still bear it, and those who are a little more delicate want to go home crying.

Now there is finally something edible, which makes the students speculate whether it is because of the kindness of offering wine and inviting a few chefs from outside restaurants.In the end, he was very surprised when he learned that these were planned by Ye An.

"So... shall we still eat..." The little brother Li Jia asked Guo Zhonghe hesitantly. Before, he was tit-for-tat, but now it's not good to eat the food made by others...

Guo Zhonghe's face was cloudy and cloudy, and the chopsticks were hanging in the air without falling down.

Hou Zongguang on the side rolled his eyes and said sharply: "Why don't you eat it? He didn't make it himself. At most, I will give him some money in the future."

Guo Zhonghe gritted his teeth, yes!I am a student of the Imperial College!Eating here is justified!Maybe Ye Anna has some kind of conspiracy in it, so he must face up to the difficulties!So angrily added food.

"..." Everyone in the audience was speechless, choosing to stay away from them, bad brains can also be contagious.

But no matter what, the problem of the Guozijian's difficulty in eating was finally solved.