old lady in red

The banquet in Rongfu can be described as sumptuous, a hodgepodge of north and south delicacies.

Half of them are delicacies sold from the Eastern Province, such as bear paws, musk deer meat, flying dragon meat, venison, silly roe deer, musk roe deer, wild boar, and snow rabbit.

The water in Jinling is good, and summer is the season to eat fish.Steamed fish, fish head soup, hot and sour fish, spicy fish, spicy fish, braised fish, bad fish fillet, squirrel fish.

Jinling's gourmet stewed chicken and salted duck.

Then there is the taste of Kyoto, roast duck, yellow braised shark fin, crystal elbow, steamed bird's nest, stewed sea cucumber, and bad goose palm.

Then, Shi Mei took the initiative to clean up twelve vegetarian dishes: mashed garlic mushrooms, garlic chrysanthemum chrysanthemum, vinegar fungus, cold lotus root slices, salt-fried citrus sprouts, stir-fried lily celery, stir-fried Chinese cabbage, stir-fried golden sprouts , Stir-fried shredded lettuce, stir-fried shredded bamboo shoots, stir-fried water spinach tips, and stir-fried tender potato leaf tips.

This day's banquet is also in accordance with the model of the palace banquet, each person has a long table, and the system of sharing meals is implemented, so as not to eat each other's saliva.

In front of every adult are thirty fist-sized pocket dishes.

As for the vegetarian dishes, Shi Mei explained: "These dishes are my wife's favorite vegetarian dishes for the past three years. I think they are delicious and nourishing. Therefore, I would like to show my shame today, and please don't dislike them."

King Zhongjing didn't have much contact with the Rong Mansion, so he said with a smile: "I've heard that Rong Mansion's dishes are the most delicious, and I'm lucky enough to taste it today, it really lives up to its reputation."

However, the King of Beijing has friendship with the Rong Mansion. Jia Daishan once ran thousands of miles to help in one day, and the two mansions have always had a good friendship.

As far as he knew, Mother Jia had a good taste in humanities, and she liked to collect calligraphy and paintings of famous artists, so she spared no expense for it.

I have never heard that she is good at cooking, but I heard that Jia Mu likes to think about some beauty-beautifying recipes, such as steamed purple river carts, steamed milk cows, steamed lambs and other things that have not seen the light of day.

He is not flattering.

However, King Beijing Jing did not poke it, but echoed with King Zhongjing a few times.

These are the tastes of the old lady Mr. Shi.

Shi Mei didn't know anything about this, if she knew, she would definitely call for injustice.

Shi Mei doesn't eat all animal offal, even pork liver, which most people like.

Do not eat meat with a strong fishy smell.Like mutton, snake meat, dog meat, muntjac meat, camphor meat, she does not eat it at all.

When she arrived at the Red Chamber, the only wild game she had eaten was flying dragon meat.

Not only that, when people eat these fishy things, she can pinch her nose and hide eight feet away.

However, Shi Mei is not a vegetarian either, she still likes to eat chicken, duck, fish, pork and beef.

Especially like to eat fish.

I like boiled fish, spicy fish, spicy fish, pickled fish, crispy fish, bad fish fillets, fish balls, and fish cakes.

The banquet on this day was very successful, and the guests and hosts enjoyed themselves.

King Beijing drank too much that day, and when he was leaving, he said with a big tongue: "I think back then, this king was trapped in Sichuan. If it weren't for the help of the Duke, this king's bones might be able to beat drums. At that time , this king once promised that he would introduce an in-law to the Duke, but I never expected that your daughter is here, but my son has not been found. It’s not easy for me to have a son, but the Duke is gone..."

Then, King Bei Jing seemed to think of something sad, and burst into tears: "Brother Daishan, I'm sorry for you..."

Shi Mei was startled: "My lord, you're drunk!" King Zhongjing was very alert, put his left hand on King Beijing's back neck, pinched it hard, and King Beijing was broken into pieces immediately.

His head rested on King Zhongjing's shoulder.

King Zhongjing looked left and right, and several imperial envoys followed him, and then bowed their hands to Shi Mei: "Forgive me, Mrs. Duke, the Northern King is drunk, how can the important matter of marriage be mentioned at the banquet here? The king said him, but in Wang Yiben's opinion, this marriage may not be impossible."

Shi Mei was shocked in her heart, but her lips were smeared: "Your lord's words are frustrating to my wife. Even if my wife wants to climb high, she won't be able to climb up. My wife's youngest daughter is eighteen, and the wedding date will be in May next year.

, when the time comes, the prince will come to have a glass of wine! "

While talking, Shi Mei winked at her two sons, telling them to surround Zhongjing Wang Beijing and go out.

King Zhongjing didn't necessarily want to facilitate this marriage, but he had a good relationship with the Northern King, and he didn't want the Northern King's misfortune to come out of his mouth, so he deliberately called the Northern King's slip of the tongue a faux pas.

Shi Mei's refusal to be loyal to King Jing is relieved, if Shi Mei goes smoothly, she will be looked down upon instead.

Jia Zheng is still white, and his daughter is still a little short of wanting to be a princess.

Moreover, Shimei never thought of marrying her granddaughter into the palace.

The wealth of Rongfu already exists, but the talents that are lacking.Shi Mei's ideal in-laws are a scholarly family like the Zhang family, the Du family, and the Lin family.The two sides can complement each other, and the Rong Mansion can also pinch the son-in-law to prevent the girl from being wronged.

Jia's mother doesn't like Jia Daishan's arrangement, and Shi Mei thinks Jia Daishan's move can be described as far-sighted.

It's a pity that he and Lin Ruhai both lived short lives, and the way to change families arranged in the previous life didn't work out.

Shi Mei is going to follow Jia Daishan's established policy, and strive to make Rongfu a perfect transition from a wealthy family to a scholarly family.

She didn't believe it anymore. When Jia Zheng and Jia Zhu became Jinshi, who would dare not admit that Rongguo Mansion is a scholarly family?

The guests are all drunk.

However, the three generations of Rongfu became more sober one by one.

Shi Mei summoned the two sons and the eldest daughter-in-law to discuss countermeasures against King Beijing's drunken gaffe.

Shi Mei told her two sons: "If anyone asks, they must be killed. Min'er was originally your father's joke after drinking, and promised to be the daughter-in-law of the North Palace as a marriage, but his princess had a miscarriage. The concubine has been infertile for many years, so this matter will not be settled. This time, the king of the north was drunk and remembered this old story. Your father passed away again. She felt that she had lost her trust with her old friend, so she lost her composure, but remember ?”

Jia She frowned: "The two families really intended to get married? Isn't it impossible to make friends with princes?"

Shi Mei didn't know what happened, and said: "Maybe because your father is trusted by His Majesty, no one has ever thought that there is anything wrong with your father's dealings with princes and ministers."

Mrs. Zhang said: "Would it be bad for the fourth sister?"

Shi Mei said: "It's not just saying it when you meet people, it's a way to deal with the emperor. There is no young prince in the Northern Prince's Mansion who is about the same age as your fourth sister, so it doesn't matter if you think about it, it's only because your father shouldn't have promised marriage after drinking. "

At such a time, a girl reported that it was Jia Mei who asked to see her.

Shi Mei asked Jia Mei to come in to talk, but Mrs. Zhang hurriedly avoided through the back door.

Jia Mei came to tell Shi Mei some things that Hu Shangshu told him.

It was Hu Shangshu who was about to get up and return to Beijing tomorrow, but he left behind [-] soldiers in the treasury to be commanded by Jia Mei, and told Jia Mei that from tomorrow onwards, the sweet potatoes in the sweet potato garden no longer belonged to Jia's mansion, and all It belongs to the household department, so Jia Mei is responsible for digging and drying, as seeds for promotion.

Jia Mei felt that Shi Mei should be notified, after all, he didn't know how Shi Mei communicated with the household department.

Shi Mei knew that Hu Shangshu was guaranteeing the absolute control of the household department.

Thanks to Shi Mei's shrewdness, he had already dug three acres of sweet potatoes.

I gave away a few thousand catties to relatives and friends in Jinling to try out the early adopters, and I still have three thousand catties left in my hand.

Dong Province sent two thousand catties to Heishantou for trial planting, and he still had one thousand catties of sweet potatoes in hand.

Shi Mei comforted Jia Mei: "Don't feel uncomfortable for me, I didn't plan to sell these sweet potatoes privately at first, but now if sweet potatoes are planted in Gansu, Shaanxi and Henan, the old ones come from us, it is reasonable for Hu Shangshu to be so nervous.

And His Majesty has promised to make additional compensation, so you can follow Hu Shangshu with peace of mind.When this wave of sweet potato promotion is over, you won't be needed anymore, and you won't lose money. Don't look at it as an eighth-ninth-rank secretary, and you are an official. From now on, your family's land will not have to worry about those exorbitant taxes, and the children will also have If you have the qualification to study in Kyoto, your parents can also visit Kyoto. This is a good thing. Take care of yourself first, don't worry about us.What I said at the beginning, you are like the son of my Rongfu, this sentence will never change.Whatever difficulties you encounter in the future, just come to the door, the door of Rongfu will always be open for you. "

After some words, Jia Mei was very grateful, and then she left with tears in her eyes.

He was ordered to go back to guard the sweet potato garden, and he will start digging sweet potato seeds tomorrow.

Jia She was suddenly a little annoyed: "This Hu Wei is really a villain."

Shi Mei said: "That's why he can achieve the position of Shangshu."

Mrs. Zhang knew how many sweet potatoes there were in the mansion, so she asked, "Should the sweet potatoes in the mansion also be handed over to the Ministry of Households? Will Hu Shangshu ask us for it?"

Shi Mei said: "Probably not. Although I handed over the sweet potato planting technology to the imperial court, shouldn't we be allowed to continue planting? I think Hu Wei is a smart person, and he will not turn against us for a few catties of sweet potatoes at this time." .”

Shi Mei also had some considerations in keeping the sweet potatoes.

Jia Amnesty bought dozens of foals this time, and there are dozens of war horses owned by Jia Daishan in Kyoto.

Shimei plans to use sweet potato vines as forage, which can not only plant sweet potatoes without interruption, but also have fodder for raising horses.

Shimei didn't plan to take Jiahe's royal orchard. This kind of orchard had been controlled by the eunuchs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for decades.

Shimei had already figured it out. The more than 200 acres of rice fields behind Rongfu were purchased by Rongfu successively after the establishment of Rongfu. There are still hundreds of acres of rivers and lakes left behind.There are also about [-] acres of hillside areas.

Shi Mei is going to resign the thousand-acre orchard, and instead ask His Majesty for the Cuiwei Mountains behind the Rong Mansion.

Normally, it is not easy to spend a lot of money to buy mountains, but now His Majesty the Emperor wants the Shimei Sweet Potato Garden, just to take this opportunity to bring the remaining veins of Cuiwei Mountain into Rongfu's jurisdiction.

There are mountain springs in the Cuiwei Mountains, so summer villas can be built on the mountains, and a racecourse can be built under the mountains, so that the entire mountains can be organized into the back garden of Rong Mansion, where the women and children in the mansion can go for a stroll in summer to cool off.There are also lakes and rivers, which are convenient for children to play in the water in summer and ice skating in winter.Couldn't be a better place to entertain.

In this way, you can still enjoy these beautiful mountains and rivers without spending millions to repair the yard.It also prevents him from being coveted by others in the future, and he will be a disgusting person to build a garden next to the Rongfu.

Then, several private houses next door were bought as facade houses and linked with the Cuiwei Mountains behind to form a closed private space.

In this way, even if the Rongguo Mansion is taken back by the imperial court in the future, the descendants of Jia's mansion only need to put their luggage in the side yard, and it will still be a good place to live.

These are all Shi Mei's plans, Jia She and Jia Zheng are about to face the exam, she doesn't want to delay them with these trivial matters.

The next day, the Rongfu family sent the imperial envoy away, and Jia Zheng and Jia Amnesty devoted themselves to the exam preparation.

Shi Mei began to arrange things here.

This time I bought a lot of things, Shi Mei is not going to bring back the progress.

Such as porcelain tables, chairs and benches, etc., will be used in the future, and all of them will be put into storage and sealed.

The remaining cotton and linen clothes, cotton wadding bedding, etc., are also moldy, and they are not needed when they are brought back to Kyoto. They are packed up and distributed to the tribe.

Shi Mei thought, unless she died in this lifetime, she would never return to Jinling again.

Therefore, Shi Mei gave Jia Mei's mother all the clothes, shoes and socks she bought in the past few years.

Except for the darker color of Shimei's clothes, there was no damage at all.

It's just that after Shimei made money, for the future marriage of her son and grandson, she must return to the circle of ladies.

Although Jia's mother is a widow, she is a grandmother with grandsons. She is a Quanfu old lady with a lot of children and grandchildren.

Although you are embarrassed to wear the pomegranate red that ladies like, you can dress up in rich and majestic colors such as yellow, purple, royal blue and autumn fragrance.

It was the seventh day of the eighth lunar month when Shi Mei had almost cleaned up.

It was the eighth day of the eighth day of the junior high school when they were about to enter the arena, and the examinees didn't dare to fall asleep at all.

On this day, Shi Mei personally prepared food for Jia Zheng for three days.

Charcoal fires were also distributed in the examination room, and candidates could cook for themselves, but if you asked Jia Zheng to cook, he would probably starve to death.

Shi Mei once wanted Jia Zheng to learn how to roast sweet potatoes, but every time he baked them on the outside and stuffed them with raw meat, this kind of food was nutritious and made him angry.

Shi Mei had no choice but to prepare three kinds of food for her, the first day was fresh meat buns.Prepare fried buns the next day.Fried steamed buns will not rot within two days.On the third day, I could only eat fried noodles.That is, the noodle tea that people in Kyoto eat.

Noodle tea needs boiling water.Fortunately, Jia Zheng likes to drink tea, so he can still boil water.Otherwise, you can only swallow it dry.

Then prepare the dishes.

Vegetables definitely won't work.

Shi Mei prepared three small jars for him, one jar of Eight Treasure Fragrance, which was made with peanuts, soybeans, mung beans, sedan chair peppers, and dry-stir-fried lean diced meat.

Another jar of beef jerky.

There is also a can of shredded mustard.

Jia Zheng was troublesome. He went back and forth three times and had to take the exam for nine days.

Every time I go home, I sleep all day with my head covered, and then enter the arena at midnight.

Jia Amnesty is much simpler.

The first test archery.Stand still, walk through Yang with a hundred steps, and you will pass.

The second test is more difficult. You ride a horse, shoot arrows while galloping, and shoot nine arrows in three trips.At least three shots must be hit in the bull's eye, otherwise you will be eliminated.

This second test will not only test your accuracy in archery, but also test your skill in horse riding.You can't be straight, you have to control your body while running, and you have to be fast, precise and ruthless to pass the level.

The third exam strategy.

When taking the exam strategy theory, it is similar to Wenju. You enter the arena at Yinshi on the first day and leave the arena three days later.

The time for Wen Ju and Wu Ju is nine days.

It takes time for Wen Ju to write articles, but in a cell, one person can invigilate many people.

Martial arts is in the martial arts arena.You have to take batches of exams.For thousands of candidates, it seems simple, but time-consuming.

Those who finish the test first can't leave first, you have to wait for everyone to finish the test, the results come out, and you pass the test before you can get the test card for the second round.Otherwise, you will be eliminated on the spot.

Don't look at the easier exams in the future, the entry exams for martial arts are very tricky.

You have to carry nearly [-] catties of rice bags on your back for more than [-] feet before you can pass.

Jia Amnesty practiced for three years.From the beginning when I was carrying [-] catties, my legs were trembling, and now I am walking with [-] catties on my back.

Shi Mei didn't know that Wuju was such a deceptive exam.

In March last year, when Jia Lian leaked the word, Shi Mei found out, and was frightened at the time.

At that time, Jia Amnesty was already able to carry four hundred catties and move freely.

It's not that Jinshan has always praised Jia Amnesty for his great progress and guaranteed that Jia Amnesty will be fine.

Shi Mei was really afraid that Jia She would break his intestines.

On August [-]th, Jia Zheng and Jia Amnesty appeared on the stage at the same time, and both of them fell asleep with their heads covered when they returned home.

Three days after Jia Zheng and Jia Amnesty appeared on the stage, Hu Wei from the household department came to Jinling again. At the same time, in addition to the governors of Gansu and Shanxi, there were also governors of Henan.

This time I came to share the sweet potato seeds.

Hu Wei brought Jia Mei the official letter of appointment from the Ministry of Officials, and Jia Mei was bestowed with a letter of appointment by the Emperor Jiahe as the official eight-rank secretary.In charge of the promotion of sweet potato planting.

Then, Hu Wei divided up all [-] farm laborers and distributed them to the governor of Gansu, Shanxi and Henan.

The children of their family still stay in Zhoujia Village.

It was the request of [-] farm laborers to keep the children, because Gansu, Henan, and Shanxi are disaster areas, so I don't know what happened when I went there.

And they are only going to promote sweet potato planting, and they will not take root in these poor places.

They made a request to Shimei, hoping that Rongfu could continue to take care of their children.

Because these children only need to participate in half-day labor every day during spring plowing and autumn harvest in Jinling, and then they can go to free schools.until they turn 15.

At this time, after Shimei successfully planted sweet potatoes, she rewarded the farm laborers.

15 years old is the age requirement for free ethnology in the clan.

Shi Mei takes care of these children, and she can't go beyond her own clan!

Moreover, if these children are unable to go out to work or return home after the age of 15, they can continue to grow sweet potatoes in the sweet potato garden.

This is the preferential treatment Hu Wei gave these farm laborers.

Because the sweet potato garden works as a planter, there is a monthly payment of one tael of silver.

This salary is not low.

Of course Shi Mei agreed.

Rongfu can afford to raise more than [-] children who work and study part-time.

The first day of September.

The Gongyuan releases the list.

Rongfu received two good news at the same time.

Jia Zheng won the No. 18 candidate in Jinling Mansion.

Jia Amnesty's famous assassin is better than Jia Zheng, and Jia Amnesty got No.3 in the test.

This is a surprise.

I never thought that Jia She's mess would actually let her support it against the wall!

Shi Mei couldn't believe it when she saw the happy news.

After a long while, he came back to his senses amid Mrs. Zhang's call.

Shi Mei said: "What did you say?"

Zhang said: "My daughter-in-law would like to ask my mother, how big should be the red envelopes for my husband's second uncle's papers?"

Hearing this, Shi Mei immediately laughed out loud, "Of course it's the biggest red seal!"