The ancient city of Jizhou is located on the edge of the Jiyuan Canal. There is an artificial river here that connects the northern section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, which is the section from Tianjin to Beijing. This section is called the Northern Canal.
Because the Grand Canal undertakes the important mission of transporting grain from the south to the north, it is generally used mostly by the government, and private merchant ships have to make way for canals. Therefore, many private north-south shippings disembark at Beitangkou, then take the Ji Canal to Jizhou City, then go to Sanhe County to enter the Bei Canal, and then go to Zhangjiawan, Tongzhou to unload cargo.
The strategic location of Jizhou is very important. It is a frontier city near the Great Wall and a hub connecting the North Canal and Jiyun Canal. At the same time, due to terrain reasons, it is the middle throat of the narrow plain from the Eastern Hebei Plain to the capital. .
This long and narrow plain is bounded by the Yanshan Mountains starting from Shanhaiguan in the north and extending to Shanxi and northern Shaanxi. The southern part of this plain is also covered by some intermittent small mountains. If foreigners enter the mainland through Shanhaiguan or any pass on the northern Great Wall, they can go directly eastward to the capital through this corridor.
Therefore, the military area demarcated by the Great Wall defense line east of Zhangjiakou and up to Shanhaiguan is called Jizhen. The administration is located at Santun Camp, thirty miles east of Zunhua. It is named this way because this is the core area of Ji Town.
The mountains on the north and south sides of Jizhou tightened, forming a narrow mountain pass, and Jizhou City is on this throat. At the same time, the connecting channels of Ji Canal and North Canal meander under the city wall.
The river is dotted with piers, densely packed with boats. Jizhou's business is also relatively prosperous because of its transportation hub.
Yang Fan's steamboat was emitting black smoke and when it came up from the downstream, people on both sides of the strait were stunned. What the hell is this. A row of large stoves, with a row of wheels behind them, actually automatically paddle upstream against the current.
Seeing the arrival of Jizhou Wharf, Yang Fan quickly asked them to disconnect the steam valve. Without a gearbox and transmission, it’s really inconvenient not to be able to get to the car. Almost hit the pier at the pier.
Fortunately, there were no ships near the location we chose. Otherwise, it would have sunk them, which would have been a big trouble.
With a splat, the bow of the boat washed onto the beach and ran aground directly.
But this time, the inertia after losing power was exhausted, and the ship anchored steadily on the shore.
The violent vibrations when the boat stopped shook many maids and fell down. Suddenly, there was a cooing cry of Yingying and Yanyan. Fortunately, Yang Fan was relatively stable, Xiao Niangpi and Lin Yueru were both practicing, so they were fine. Mei Xiang and Chen Xi were caught by Yao Guang and did not fall down.
"Haha, although this broken boat is not very good, it is quite cool to sit on." Xiao Niangpi said excitedly.
Along the way, because the boat could not slow down, it ran rampant all the way, scaring the merchant ships along the way and making the little girl very happy. Since I left Dongchang, I haven't played the role of a street tiger for a long time. This time it fully satisfied my bad taste.
"Get off the boat, get off the boat, let's go have lunch." Yang Fan greeted everyone to get off the boat.
In addition to leaving dozens of people to watch the ship, Yang Fan took his wives to dinner. Yang Fan knew that there was a roadside stall outside the city wall that made good donkey meat steamed dumplings, so he decided to buy it. I won’t go into town anymore.
There is not much to see in the commercial streets of this era. Those who have lived in modern times have no regard for this kind of ancient commercial street. Besides, Yang Fan never liked going to shopping malls. That was simply suffering. Especially when I am dragged to the mall by a woman.
Seeing Yang Fan and his group approaching, the people eating under the dog food shed picked up the steamed dumplings and steamed buns they bought here and ran away. These people are not good at first glance. Although Yang Fan and others did not wear official clothes, their temperament indicated that they were officials. The servants and guards were also filled with murderous intent.
"Boss, cut the meat, sift the wine, and roll the noodles. Hurry up. Two hundred more steamed dumplings." Mo Zui squeezed to the front and shouted. Now, Zhang Gedao is going to take care of the servants, Lvdan is going to take care of the cavalry, and Yang Fan keeps him with him to take charge of the security work. After all, it’s better for my old man to rest assured.
The Devil Muscle Man is so strong that even when used as a human shield, he is quite solid.
He knew that he did not need to interfere with the master and his wife. He only had to manage the officers, soldiers and servants who came with them. It would be great for them to get some wine, meat and noodles.
Now the wife is personally responsible for the master's food and drink, and it is no longer the three of them's turn to serve him.
Xiang Yi directed the maids to find a spot under the shade of a tree outside the dog food shed and spread a red carpet. Then they set up a folding kang table and asked the masters to sit down cross-legged. Then they lit the marching alcohol stove and installed the alcohol stove borrowed from the boss. The pan for making pancakes and asking the boss to bring raw donkey meat dumplings.
This kind of temporary roadside eating shed made of bamboo and oilcloth is generally called a dog food shed by local people. They are all places where poor people like traffickers and lackeys eat. Sell some soup, noodles, pancakes, etc. The location is good because it is close to the official road or the pier. There are also merchants and waiters from all over the world waiting to dine here.
The owner of this dog food shed, whose surname is Huang, is from Wangjiazhuang, a suburb of Jizhou. He brings his wife and sister-in-law here to sell donkey meat steamed dumplings and noodles. They also secretly sell some meat and wine. A store like theirs is not a licensed store and is not allowed to sell alcohol or meat.
However, Ming Dynasty has now entered chaos mode, and many rules have long been no longer followed.
As long as you pay, they even dare to serve beef to you.
Yang Fan ate here last time and was full of praise for their donkey meat and green onion dumplings. This time I decided to take my wives to try it. Yang Fan's grassroots experience has led him to have a special liking for roadside restaurants. In fact, there are also good roadside food stalls.
When the boss saw Yang Fan coming, he hurried over to serve him. Last time Yang Fan had eaten steamed dumplings at his house and threw him a couple of silver coins when he left. He was so excited that he thanked him profusely. This time I saw Yang Tongzhi coming again, so I hurried over and asked his wife and sister-in-law to serve food.
"Old Huang, how is the business?" Yang Fan sat on the blanket and greeted him.
"Thanks to the Lord, the small business is not bad. Since the Lord came here last time, the scoundrels no longer dare to come to fight against the autumn wind." Lao Huang said with a flattering smile.
His wife and sisters also followed him in panic and saluted Yang Fan.
"Well, if someone bullies you, just tell me. This general is still easy to do in Ji Town."
"Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir." Lao Huang's face glowed with excitement.
"Okay, go ahead and bring the raw dumplings with a curtain. By the way, mix some juice with flour, make it thin, and bring a pot of vegetable oil."
Lao Huang didn't dare to ask Mr. Yang what he was doing. He was a very meticulous person in business. He just needed to bring the things and don't ask about noble people's affairs. The less trouble, the better.
"Master, hurry up and make the pot stickers, I'm already hungry." Xiao Niangpi hugged Yang Fan's arm and shook it.
"Master, let me also see how pot stickers are made." Lin Yueru also said with great interest.
"This is simple, just watch," Yang Fan said, brushing the vegetable oil on the bottom of the pot. When the oil was hot, he quickly put a raw donkey meat steamed dumpling on the curtain into the pot.
After Yang Fan finished demonstrating, the four maids immediately took over and began to put steamed dumplings into the pan. How can I let the master do these jobs? They took over as soon as they figured out how to do it.
These four maids were brought by Xiao Niangpi as a dowry. When Aunt Mei and Mei Xiang came here before, they were brought with Xiao Niangpi's dowry.
Watching the dumplings squeaking in the oil pan, the maids kept flipping them to make both sides fried golden brown, which made everyone have an appetite, and they looked delicious.
Last time, the master was hungry at night and ran to the kitchen alone to find something to eat. Seeing the donkey meat steamed dumplings left in the kitchen, I got interested and started working on it in the kitchen.
When it was ready, Xiao Niangpi and the others also came over. Yang Fan was hungry and looked for food by himself. He forgot to ask his servants to prepare it. They were not surprised. They all knew that Yang Fan grew up in the mountains and it was his habit to do things by himself. Understand.
Seeing the fried golden steamed dumplings, everyone felt hungry. As a result, Yang Fan didn't eat a few, but Lin Yueru and Xiao Niangpi ate them all. They were still not finished, licking their lips and clamoring for more.
Yang Fan said that it was easy to accumulate food at night, so he coaxed the two of them to sleep.
This time, when I go out to play, I naturally want to have a good time.
"Master, what is this big bowl of flour and water lake you want for?" Chen Xi asked in confusion when he saw Yang Fan asked Old Huang Zunbei to give him a big bowl of flour and water mixture.
"This, this is very important. It is my exclusive secret recipe. You all have to take good care of it." Yang Fan used a wooden spoon to scoop out a spoonful of flour juice and pour it on the steamed dumplings. Then he kept watering, and he could see the bottom of the pot. Covered and then covered with lid.
"I understand, the master was worried that the raw dumplings would not be cooked enough, so he added water to heat them up." Lin Yueru clapped her hands and praised.
"Yes, that's what it means, but after a while, the flour and juice will form into something like pancakes, but it's very delicious."
Yang Fan was discussing this pot of pot stickers with his wives when he suddenly heard someone say in a strange voice: "I thought that General Yang, who dared to fight for nine thousand years and made great achievements in protecting the sky, was such an amazing hero. I didn't expect that. That’s all.”
As soon as he said this, a group of people who had been noisily drinking, eating, eating, bragging, and spanking suddenly fell silent when they saw that there was no order.
The servants glanced over with cold eyes. Pressing the handle of the knife, he looked at the scholars opposite him with unkind eyes.
Lin Yueru and Xiao Niangpi immediately placed Yang Fan in the middle, one on the left and the other on the right, and looked at him intently.
The little girl touched the gun on the back of her waist with her leather hand. Lin Yueru held down the mother-in-law mandarin duck stuck behind her belt with both hands.
Yang Fan waved his hand and told everyone not to be nervous, they were just a few scholars.
"Yang Fan is an ordinary person. He does not deserve the name of your hero."
