Chongzhen ate Chaos with an exquisite blue and white porcelain spoon. While listening to Jin Yiwei's summary of yesterday's intelligence.
Chongzhen didn't eat much. In a small blue and white bowl, apart from chicken soup, there were only a dozen small dishes. In addition, there is a plate of two steamed eggs and a beef and white radish patty that is only ten centimeters long. The patties are fried golden on both sides and look very tempting.
Vegetarian dishes include pickles, carrots, lettuce leaves, cabbage hearts, cucumbers, etc. cut into thin strips. Complete nutrition, delicious and not greasy.
People in the Ming Dynasty had very noble and elegant tastes in aesthetics. They like blue and white porcelain. Instead of painting the blue palace walls in bright red like the later Manchu Qing Dynasty did. Make the porcelain pastel.
Chongzhen's pork belly was made from one-foot-long large prawns chopped into pieces. Very delicious. This is also the favorite of the three empresses in the harem.
"Well, Xinghe Supermarket has increased the supply of marine fish this year, which is a good thing." Chongzhen chewed the cucumber strips until they were crunchy. These are the eating habits that Yang Fan brought to the palace after he led the regiment and stationed in the palace.
If it weren't for the green onions dipped in soybean paste, it would be too raw and too flavorful. It almost became popular in the palace.
After listening to Jin Yiwei's report, Wang Chengen quickly put a little bit of each of the various seafood products that His Majesty asked him to send people to purchase.
Chongzhen looked at the legendary cheapest salted fish - mackerel and mackerel.
"Which one is the mackerel and which one is the mackerel?" Chongzhen looked confused. Is it exactly the same?
Wang Chengen quickly said: "Mackerel and Spanish mackerel are very easy to distinguish. In addition to body shape and pattern, the most intuitive way is to look at the fish's mouth. The upper and lower jaws of mackerel have no teeth, while the mackerel is full of sharp teeth."
"Well, there is indeed a difference." Only then did Chongzhen understand. "These two types of salted fish are the most popular among the people, right? They are also the cheapest."
Chongzhen is still more concerned about people's livelihood. Now there is serious famine in several northern provinces. Xinghe Supermarket can provide other food sources, and the emperor still attaches great importance to it. After all, the ocean is unaffected by falling temperatures and droughts.
Wang Chengen said: "To answer your Majesty's question, there is actually a kind of fish that is cheaper. It only costs three pennies per pound, and it is also pickled with salt. It can be used as pickles."
"Three cents, so cheap." Chongzhen was a little surprised. Because of the severe drought, the cheapest grains cost more than ten cents per pound. "What kind of fish is it? It's so cheap."
"Your Majesty, it's shark meat. All the major restaurants in the capital have begun to sell shark fins. Nowadays, eating shark fins is a new fashion, and rich people like to order a bowl of it. This shark fin is cut from the back of a shark."
"What kind of fish is this shark and why is it so cheap?"
"The largest of the sharks is the whale shark, also called the whale shark, which is seven feet long and weighs 15,000 kilograms. The smaller one is also five or six thousand kilograms. It is said that this fish has delicious shark fins, but its meat is relatively unpalatable. It uses its skin to urinate. , the meat smells like urine."
"The fishing boats that catch fish can sell them for a lot of money because the shark fins are precious. But the whole fish is worthless and just throw it away. Many businessmen can buy a six or seven thousand kilogram shark for only one hundred yuan, and they just throw the shark's The meat is cut into ten-pound pieces, then rubbed with sea salt, smoked with pine branches and air-dried. In this way, it can be kept without spoiling for a year or two, and there is basically no cost. Private salt on the beach is very cheap."
Chongzhen nodded and said: "I actually know that salted fish is so easy to sell because it is salty. People can't afford salt. In the past, they could only suffer. Now there is salted fish that everyone can afford. This is a good thing. .”
"Some ministers wrote to me before, asking me to ban salted fish in supermarkets. Because these fish meats contain too much salt, which affects the interests of salt merchants. But I thought about it again and again and felt that I still can't listen to them. When the Ming Dynasty was founded, the salt tax was There are 16 million taels per year. Now there are less than 400,000 taels. I can’t receive this money anyway. It’s better to make it easier for the people.”
Wang Chengen said quickly: "Your Majesty is so kind and always thinks about these ordinary people."
Chongzhen picked up some steamed salted fish with a kuaizi and put it into his mouth. I chewed it and almost spit it out. It's fishy and smells weird, and it's super unpalatable.
He quickly drank some water and swallowed it forcefully.
However, it is quite salty. Yang Fan's factory does put enough salt in it. He knew that Yang Fan's people built a salt field on the beach and dried the salt with the sun, which was much cheaper than boiling the salt.
In fact, this is also private salt. It's just that the nobles are involved in private affairs. No one is pursuing it.
"Oh, the seafood I eat every day is so delicious. I didn't expect the cheapest salted fish to taste like this."
"Your Majesty, the common people below have no chance to eat meat. They are already very satisfied with this kind of raw salted fish. Besides, this kind of sea fish is cheap. The reason why they eat a lot is because it has not been processed. If you get If it tastes good, the price will go up. Ordinary people will not be able to afford it."
Chongzhen nodded in his heart, there was no way around it. Canned fish is delicious, but it’s fried and spiced, so it’s definitely not cheap. The outside canned box is still tinplate. Daming iron is not cheap. This makes it clear that it is not for the poor.
Chongzhen asked: "How much fish can be provided in a day now?"
Wang Chengen knew that the emperor was most worried about this year's disaster and was eager to find new sources of food. The food also had to be cheap and transportable long distances without spoiling.
"Your Majesty, Uncle Dingyuan's Beitangkou seafood warehouse can supply the capital with 3,000 ten-pound tinplate cans every day. Frozen fish and live fish, about 2,000 jins. Currently, salted fish can only supply 10,000 jins per day."
Chongzhen calculated that this output could be absorbed by the capital city. It would be good if one-third can be transported to various places in Beizhili.
"Can't we increase production? This production seems to be a lot, but it is far from enough to solve the famine in the North."
"I heard that the limit has been reached. There are currently only thirteen trawlers in operation. Fifty more boats are under construction. It is estimated that they will be launched at the end of March. In the second half of the year, it is said that the production can quadruple. From the fishery trading company People say that to really increase production on a large scale, we have to wait until large fishing boats powered by steam engines are built. When that happens, two boats can trawl the net. More than 100,000 kilograms of fish can be caught in one go."
Chongzhen sighed, it seems that water far away cannot quench the thirst nearby. Chongzhen drank the wonton soup and then asked, "Where are Uncle Dingyuan and Zhang Shize?"
The Jinyi Guardsman quickly replied: "A few days ago, the Beijing camp arrived at Zhangjiakou. Because Zhangjiakou was attacked by the Tuxie Tuhan tribe. The Zhangjiakou Fort City fell. The army went to rescue. After regaining the Fort City, they rested in Zhangjiakou for two days. . Currently marching on the grassland. It is expected that we will reach Jining City today."
Chongzhen said to himself: "After Jining, we will reach Guihua City. Jining also has a small number of Tumut garrison. The war has begun. I don't know how many casualties the Beijing camp will have."
He only had this little capital, but he knew that he would not be able to train his troops without going to the battlefield. He understood this truth from Yang Fan's experience. Soldiers must be driven to the battlefield. Actual combat is the best way to train troops.
At this time, Yang Fan and Zhang Size had arrived at Jining City. This is the only fortified city of the Tumut people in the east. Three thousand men were on guard.
This will be the first battle of the Beijing camp.
These former waste snacks trained by Yang Fan are finally about to accept the test of the battlefield.
Looking at the city wall made of blue stones. This super small city is less than half the size of Zhangjiakou Fort. Yang Fan waved his hand and said: "Let's set up camp and have a good rest. Attack the city tomorrow morning."
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