Qin Official

"Growing wheat?"

As soon as Nestern heard Heifu's words, he knew what he was planning.

"You plan to ask counties in Neishi to plant more wheat before and after autumn..."

The "Sumai" mentioned by Nei Shiteng is the name for winter wheat in these days. Wheat is an exotic variety and was only introduced to the Central Plains during the Yin and Zhou Dynasties. Initially, the cultivation season of wheat was the same as that of the original millet, millet and other crops, that is, planting in spring and harvesting in autumn.

But gradually, Zhou farmers who were good at growing crops discovered that wheat had better cold resistance than millet but not as much drought tolerance. The most suitable time for wheat sowing and growth was not spring but autumn. So, when an unknown Zhou farmer tried to save a handful of wheat seeds for planting in early autumn, winter wheat, also known as "Su Mai", came into being.

Since most of the food crops in the north are planted in spring and harvested in autumn, there is often a shortage of crops every summer, causing a food crisis. However, winter wheat is harvested just in the summer, which can continue to be scarce and alleviate the food shortage. Therefore, it has received attention and has successfully become one of the five cereals. one.

Heifu handed over his hand: "That's it! In this way, a large amount of wheat can be harvested early next summer, so that hundreds of thousands of immigrants can feed on wheat!"

Nei Shiteng was somewhat disapproving and asked Heifu, "Have you ever eaten wheat rice?"

"There is less wheat in the south. I only ate it once or twice during the famine when I was a child."

"Is it delicious?"

Heifu answered honestly: "No matter how you cook wheat rice, it will be difficult to chew and swallow. The taste is far worse than that of corn rice."

"Of course."

Neishiteng said: "In some dangerous and mountainous places in Korea, the food grown by the people is either bean or wheat, so I can often see it."

"Wheat is the food of savages and farmers. If it's ordinary Guizhou, it's fine. If you can eat wheat rice, you have to be grateful. But those who moved to the captives were mostly wealthy households in Shandong. Many of them had to eat meat and wear embroidery. , allowing them to eat wheat will probably aggravate public opinion that was already dissatisfied after being evicted."

Heifu wondered in his heart, although wheat has become one of the five grains, it does not mean that the world likes to eat wheat. Steamed wheat rice is difficult to chew and difficult to digest in the stomach, so wheat rice is considered by the world as "food for savage farmers". Compared with millet and rice, the planting area is not large, and it is only considered as "coarse grains". ".

In the Qin State, wheat rice was usually eaten by prisoners. Officials eating wheat rice were regarded as poor and honest officials, and the same was true among civilians. Heifu remembered that when he was in Yangwu County, a case happened there. The daughter-in-law of one family ate corn herself and let her mother-in-law eat wheat rice, so she was scolded by her neighbors as "unfilial"...

If these wheat that the prisoners despise are used to feed the wealthy households who have moved from Kanto, they may indeed blow up their nests if they are already dissatisfied.

But Heifu had another idea.

He asked the attendant behind him to open the little "gift" he had brought, only to find that what was inside was "junu" (junu) similar to fried mahua.

This kind of dessert snack is made in Mai's workshop. After a lawsuit was fought and the unlucky honey and sugar sellers were brought into trouble, the two parties reconciled under the mediation of Ushiyan.

Although brown sugar has had a certain impact on Nanshi's honey and sugar industry, it will not completely take away the jobs of Mai and Shi. Moreover, it is only produced in the south and cannot be shipped much in a year. Therefore, the three families have a tacit understanding and reached an agreement. The unwritten agreement on the three-point honey and sugar market.

However, stones from other mountains can be used to attack jade, so Mai and Shi graciously sent some rice and honey bait, but Hei Fu became interested.

After asking about it, he found out that the ancestors of the Mai family were originally from Qi, and in the land of Qilu, the stone mill invented by Lu Ban had become a common household item among wealthy households, and it had been introduced to Qin for at least several decades...

It's a pity that the Qin people only used the ground wheat flour to make snacks and never tried to use it as a staple food. Therefore, the idea that "the Qin army unified the six countries and relied on pot helmets as military food" is purely a rumor.

So Hei Fu pointed at these snacks and said, "Historical records tell us, what kind of stuff are these rice dumplings made of?"

Of course Neishiteng knew, he laughed dumbly: "Do you want to turn the wheat harvested this year into rice grains so that the captives can eat it? No, no, it's too expensive."

Heifu said: "That's not the case, it's just that I accidentally discovered that after wheat is ground into powder with a stone mill, it can not only be used to make desserts and cook a little, but can also be used as food. Compared with wheat rice, it tastes ten times better. !”

The way people eat wheat these days is to cook porridge directly, or use it to make maltose, as well as expensive snacks. Even Heifu, a southerner who doesn't really like pasta, can't stand this kind of wasteful behavior!

Now that wheat and stone mills are both available, pasta is ready to be made.

"Just grinding it into powder, can it have such a magical effect?"

Nei Shiteng didn't believe Hei Fu's idea. At this time, Lady Ye came up with her maid to serve wine. When she heard her father's question, she smiled and asked, "What is the dispute between father and the guest?"

When Heifu turned around, he found that Zijin was wearing plain white clothes today. Maybe he had eaten too much red dates and brown sugar. His complexion was rosy, and his hair was dark and tied behind him. He looked more and more like a lady.

After Hei Fu stood up to greet her, he glanced at Ye Teng again. Seeing that he had no intention of letting the woman avoid him, he briefly told her what had just happened.

Hearing this, Zijin was not very surprised.

"My father often said that you always have wonderful ideas, such as the water bucket, and..."

She smiled narrowly, skipped the invention that made Mr. Hei's face turn green, and brought up the brown sugar, and then advised Nei Shiten:

"As the world often says, what you hear with your ears is worse than seeing it; what you see with your eyes is worse than walking on it. Since the guest's words are true, why not go get some wheat flour and try it at home?"

Heifu also said: "I happened to bring the chef over today, so I can let them try out some."

Heifu had been doing this a few days ago. He bought a stone of finely ground wheat flour directly from Mai, took it home, and gave it to the cook to tinker with for a few days. At least he got some results.

Of course, if a southerner who has never kneaded dough and even made dumplings is asked to invent pasta, there will naturally be many setbacks. Even how to make the "rising noodles" described by Heifu is almost difficult for the chef. . First, I had to find a way to find the "limited purchase item" for brewing, which was used to ferment the wheat-yellow dough. However, the steamed dough was not fluffy enough and had a sour smell that was difficult to remove.

Hei Fu was sure that he would come to Ye Teng's house today to offer a treasure. He couldn't wait for the chef to study it, so he simply told the cook not to worry about the fermentation. He tried to make some dead-faced pasta first, and at least he had two things that he could use.

"You are well prepared."

Nestern glanced at Heifu, but agreed to the matter...

…

There are two cooks in Heifu's family, they are a couple. It is the girl "Kite" whom he rescued from the blind mountain. She married a mute cook. Three years ago, the couple followed Yuan's father Ju to Heifu's new house. Ju helped Heifu raise cattle and horses, while Yuan and her husband were in charge of the kitchen.

Now that Hei Fu came to Xianyang, his mother was worried and felt that her son would definitely not be used to northern food, so she sent this young couple to take care of his diet.

After arriving in Xianyang, I stayed near the small house on Zhangtai Street. Although I could see the majestic emperor's palace as soon as I went out, I didn't feel much after staying there for a long time. It was not until today that the couple was brought to the Neishi Mansion by Hei Fu and entered their kitchen. Both Yuan and her husband were shocked.

The chef of the Neishi family is located on the east side of the mansion, and is called the "East Kitchen". It occupies a very large area, and is even larger than the second courtyard where Hei Fu lives.

There were about ten people helping in the kitchen, and several of them were washing food by the well. When they looked up, they saw smoked fish meat and elbows hanging on the beams.

Entering the room, it is divided into an external kitchen and a stove room. The external kitchen is full of pots, pots, jars, etc. for dressing; knives and urns for cutting food; cauldrons, tripods, steamers, etc. for cooking, all of which are made of bronze. lacquerware. There are five or six stoves in the kitchen, and each stove is busy. A person is kneeling in front of the stove, holding a fire stick and cooking food over the fire. There is a cauldron on the stove, cooking food...

Looking at the staple food being cooked, there are rice, millet, and yellow beams, all of which have been washed and prepared for steaming. The side dishes include stewed bear paws, the chef is adjusting the taste, stewed turtle soup, roasted lamb, swan meat, wild duck cubes, and plucked wild goose pigeons are about to be grilled.

After visiting the chef of a wealthy family, the couple, who came here with only a bag of wheat flour on their backs, were stunned and felt ashamed.

"Just to entertain one guest from Zuo Shuchang, so many people are needed? To make so much food?" Yuan was speechless, a little shocked.

It wasn't until a pleasant voice came from behind that the couple calmed down.

"The only food left for the banquet is wheat flour. Why haven't you started yet? Is there some utensils missing?"

When she turned around, it was Lady Ye who came to the kitchen in person. Everyone in the kitchen saluted her, but she was very kind and asked the chefs to excuse themselves. She began to ask Yuan Du what utensils he needed, and asked Yong Ren to prepare them for her one by one.

"I need a wooden basin, water, and a hot iron cauldron. By the way, can you make some mutton soup now? It's best to boil it until it's mashed!"

Then, Yuan and her husband mixed the yellow wheat flour with water in a large wooden basin, and began to knead the dough. Lady Ye knelt down on the mat, watching her movements carefully, and suddenly asked: "Use wheat flour to make dough?" Food, who came up with it?”

Yuan's husband immediately gestured towards the main hall. Yuan quickly stopped him and replied honestly: "Lady, this is what Zuo Shuzhang taught me."

"Where did he learn about it? Besides, he often goes into the kitchen?"

Zi Jin was very curious. Men usually used the excuse "a gentleman stays away from the kitchen" and did not want to see killing, so they stayed away from the kitchen.

"Chief Zuo really likes to go to the kitchen."

Ye Zijin did not put on the airs of an official lady, and Yuan also liked her very much, so she smiled and said: "He has a good taste and likes to teach us how to make new food. When he was in Nanjun, he made rice cakes, rice noodles, and rice dumplings. So we share this food with our families, and we can share some, and every time, the whole house is filled with laughter."

"When we arrived in the north, Chief Zuo asked us to use wheat flour to make pasta. Although we are still not used to it, it is much better than wheat rice..."

Zi Jin nodded slightly, and just like that, in the kitchen of Nei Shi Mansion, through the narration of a little cook, she began to understand a side of Hei Fu that was unknown to outsiders. After asking Heifu about how good he is, he likes to instruct his servants on how to make food, and even revealed some of Heifu’s crime-solving deeds when he was the director of a small pavilion...

And as night fell, when Nei Shi Teng entertained Hei Fu's banquet, food called "pancakes" and "mutton steamed buns" also appeared on the Qin people's dining table for the first time...