Chapter 39 Salted Fish Rice
He Xi inspected everything, and then let everyone go to rest. He took Zhu Xiongying to walk on the beach at the seaside, watching the waves washing the beach one after another. He Xi said, "You don't like salted fish?"
Zhu Xiongying hesitated for a moment and finally said: "Of course I don't like it. Those things are not good at first sight?"
He Xi said: "I don't like it either. You have lived in my house since you were a child. How is the food at my house?"
Zhu Xiongying thought of the food in He's house and immediately said: "It's much better than in the palace. I like it best."
He Xi said: "Have you ever thought about why the food at my house is better than that at the palace?"
Zhu Xiongying was stunned. He had never thought about this problem.
Looking at Zhu Xiongying's expression, He Xi knew what Zhu Xiongying was thinking, and said: "It's because of me. I never tire of fine food, and I never tire of fine food. That's me. With me, He's family can have new dishes. What do you think?" Would someone like me like this smelly salted fish?"
What He Xi said was absolutely correct.
Generally speaking, Chinese cuisine was still developing during the six hundred years of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Many practices of later generations are not available in this era.
As the consort, He Xi can have enough power to summon a group of chefs and ask them to make new dishes he likes, as well as a little bit of technology. For example, the traditional MSG cannot be made by He Xi. But in Shandong cuisine, an extract from kelp is used. As a means of freshness.
With these methods, Hefu cuisine is unique. It’s just that people in this era don’t understand it yet. After all, He Xi didn't have the habit of inviting others to his home for dinner. It would be decades later that Hefu cuisine became popular all over the world.
Zhu Xiongying said: "Then you still ------" At this point, Zhu Xiongying suddenly paused. What did he seem to understand? And I don’t seem to understand.
He Xi said: "Your Highness, let me teach you, this is the first lesson, which is to restrain your desires. As a superior, every thought you have has a huge influence. Some things you do not intend can affect your life." To many things. What is good from above must be followed by those below. Therefore, your hobby is not a hobby, but a power. You cannot use preference, or your preference must be consistent with what you want to do. The meaning of salted fish, If others don’t know, you should know.”
Zhu Xiongying nodded.
The food crisis is a secret.
The entire Liaodong knew about it, but only a dozen people knew about it. Or a few people at the top. With Yao Guangxiao, Huang Zicheng, Yang Shiqi and so on. Or they are the group of people who are responsible for checking and settling accounts. Beyond that, no one else knows.
They didn't understand why He Xi valued Xianyu so much.
Zhu Xiongying should know.
He Xi continued: "Do you think you should eat this salted fish?"
Zhu Xiongying said: "Of course you should eat it. It's just ------" He paused slightly and said: "That's too unpalatable."
He Xi said: "Everyone has to endure hardships in this world. The eight hardships in life are birth, old age, illness, and death, separation from love, not being able to seek what you want, and resentment and hatred. These hardships are either physical or mental. But those who have achieved great things since ancient times have all done it themselves. Looking for trouble to eat. The people will suffer from hunger and cold, and you and I will also suffer from going against our will. It's the same. No matter what, this salted fish can satisfy hunger. This year there is a severe drought in Shandong, and tens of thousands of people have starved to death. You Didn’t you see it when you just came from Shandong? Regarding the matter of salted fish, if the entire officialdom pays more attention to it, the better it will do. If it does better, what happened in Shandong will not happen in Liaodong. And if not If you do it seriously, what happened in Shandong may not happen in Liaodong, and it may happen all over the world. It should be noted that Your Majesty has never thought about rebellion before. If Your Majesty had two hectares of land in his hometown, there would be no Ming Dynasty today. Everything in life There is a price for everything. Therefore, the emperor cannot do things he pleases."
"do you understand?"
Zhu Xiongying felt very heavy after hearing this.
He is young and does not understand this at all. He just felt that the future didn't seem as bright as he imagined.
After this conversation.
Zhu Xiongying was silent for a long time.
At noon, the whole salted fish feast was served.
I have to say that the chefs hired here are of high quality. Although the raw materials are not good. But green onions, ginger, and even new spices and some medicinal materials from Southeast Asia. Use every possible means to remove the original taste of salted fish.
It's just that the time is still too short.
If you give them some time to prepare it, it may not be impossible to make it better and more delicious.
But time is tight and the task is heavy.
The surface taste of the salted fish is masked. But the fishy, bitter, salty taste in my bones cannot be removed no matter what.
Zhu Xiongying took one bite and didn't want to eat anymore. But seeing He Xi holding up her chopsticks frequently, she seemed to like it very much. Zhu Xiongying could only grit his teeth slightly, take a deep breath, do enough mental preparation, and start eating in big mouthfuls.
It's just that that night, after returning home, Zhu Xiongying vomited all over the floor. Such a thing is not acceptable to outsiders.
A question kept lingering in Zhu Xiongying's heart, and he thought to himself: "Does anyone really like to eat this salted fish?"
He Xi's eating salted fish was still effective this time.
At least the officials no longer dare to fool people.
Although it is difficult to make salted fish delicious due to its own problems. But there is still a certain gap between unpalatable and unpalatable.
------
The person He Xi was waiting for finally arrived.
The return of several whaling ships worth several hundred stones caused a sensation in the entire Port Arthur. It shouldn't be anything else but the mountain of whales. Even the whole ship looks much smaller together with the whales.
Only three whales were captured, but according to He Xi's visual inspection, there were nearly a hundred tons of whale meat.
Almost the entire Lushunkou was plunged into madness. Almost all the people stopped what they were doing and raced against time to process the whale meat. The food for the day was even more simple. Large pieces of whale meat were boiled in the water. Each person had a piece of meat, about one or two kilograms. Heavy, add broth as you like. There is even some minced meat in the broth.
The local people have never eaten so luxuriously in their lives.
Although He Xi was also very happy. But he was not involved in the treatment of the whale. He focused more on whaling operations.
He Xi led a group of people to the whaling ship.
At this moment, the officers and men on the whaling ship were all waiting for the review in unison.
He Xi waved them to sit down and asked: "This whale can feed the people of Liaodong for many days, and you are all the heroes. Tell me, are there any problems with this whaling?"
The leading general was named Shi Cheng. But she is a Jurchen. However, the surname has been changed to Han surname long ago, and there is no difference from ordinary Han people. He said: "The biggest problem in whaling is that the ship is not strong enough. Sir, look here."
As he spoke, he led He Xi to the stern of the boat. He Xi immediately saw a large gap. What he saw was shocking. The one-foot-thick ship plank was violently broken, and the extremely strong wood revealed uneven fracture surfaces. Let He Xi know. There is nothing fancy about it, it is broken by force.
This is an unimaginable force.
You know, the whaling ship has been reinforced. In He Xi's opinion, unless the distance is very close, it is difficult for the cannons of this era to penetrate. But I don’t want to be beaten like this by a whale.
Shi Cheng said: "We were also inexperienced, so we pulled the whale over when it stopped moving. As a result, the whale was pretending to be dead and hit hard. If it hadn't just been a flashback, today's situation would have been difficult to handle. "
He Xi really wanted to think of ways to strengthen the hull. But the wood is thick enough. He thought for a while and said: "Let's do it. After I go back, I will ask the Shenyang Iron Works to come over and connect with you. They will make some iron plates and you will put them on the outside of the ship. As for the specific details, you can consider it yourself. I hope there will be some A little goes a long way.”
Shi Cheng said: "Thank you, sir." But while he was happy, he was also a little worried and said: "Would this be too expensive? The climate at sea is humid, and this iron plate will probably become rusty in a short time. ,unusable."
He Xi said: "It doesn't matter, the court is still angry at this price. Besides, talents are priceless treasures, what do they mean by dead things?"
As soon as this statement came out. Immediately received a group of grateful eyes.
