The poor man grows watermelon

The emperor issued two imperial decrees in succession.

The first imperial decree was quite normal, Yu Feng and Su Ye made meritorious service in the way of presenting ice fish, and specially rewarded ten mu of fertile land.

In addition, Su Ye's improved watermelons are specially designated as "tribute melons". Every summer and autumn, their own purchasing officers buy them at high prices.

Yujia Village became famous instantly.

Many high-ranking officials traveled thousands of miles to send their servants to buy improved watermelons with a lot of money.

They don't care if it's worth it or not, anyway, it's the emperor's decree, if you don't have a taste, it seems that they are not worthy of their status as aristocrats.

Those boxes of gold were really tempting, but Su Ye made up his mind not to sell them.

This batch of watermelons was to be kept for seeds, and he even specifically instructed Hodala to send back the melon seeds that had left.

However, everyone has come, so you can't go back empty-handed, right?

Aunt Su Hua had an idea and started selling pickles outside the thatched shed.

Those out-of-towners with high-sighted eyes were dismissive at first, but Aunt Chun Jiu had an idea, and called a few boys to eat the salty bean paste wrapped in steamed buns, and everyone grabbed it.

Bean paste, pickled cabbage, spicy cabbage, spring pancakes, steamed buns, and dried fish in vinegar are all new to them. Even if they can't buy watermelon, they can bring these things back home, and at least they can make business.

They even asked them to buy more than half of the sugar cane that had just been recovered from the river slope.

For a while, Yujia Village was full of traffic and people coming and going all day long, as lively as a market.

This situation continued until the second edict was issued.

"Su Ye, Shuanger of Yujia Village, was appointed as the imperial chef of the state banquet. He was in charge of the small banquet dishes on the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival. The main dish was a tribute from Wannian County——Shanquan fish."

"During this period of time, I hope that the little brother of the Su family will devote himself to the preparation, and make sure to make dishes that satisfy the guests, and don't disturb the idlers."

The last sentence was naturally added by Huo Da himself.

Don't say it, it's really useful.

All the customers who came to buy melons dispersed, and even the nearby villagers did not dare to come to watch the fun.

Otherwise, it is against the decree and will be beheaded!

Su Ye was stunned, and said indiscriminately, "What does the emperor think, why did he appoint me as the imperial cook?"

The general behind Huo Da turned his eyes cold, and said coldly: "Bold!"

Su Ye froze, and bowed to plead guilty, "The grassroots made a slip of the tongue, I hope the general will not blame you."

The man still had obvious anger on his face, and his hands were tightly held on the handle of the knife, as if he wanted to chop off Su Ye's head.

Fortunately, the handsome general next to him stopped him.

Huo Da glanced back at him, and said casually: "My cousin has no objections, what are you in a hurry for?"

The military commander pursed his lips and remained silent.

The general next to him replied pointedly: "If 'cousin' heard it, maybe he would also care about it."

Huo Da choked, and shut up knowingly.

Su Ye pleaded guilty again, "Everyone has worked hard all the way, if you don't mind, please come in and get together."

Huo Da smiled and said carefreely: "It's not the first time I'm here, what's there to hate?"

As he spoke, he walked ahead.

During this period of time, the family has been building a house. Although it is not yet habitable, the kitchen has already been set up.

Because of the need to make a big pot of rice during the busy farming season, Yu Feng purposely built a large dining room next to the kitchen.

The dining room looks like a long corridor, with flat bluestone slabs under its feet, solid wooden pillars buried around it, and bamboo curtains hung between the wooden pillars. Leave it alone.

There are several wooden tables arranged neatly in the hall, similar in style to those of later generations. Each table is equipped with four wooden stools and two chairs, which are both beautiful and convenient.

You know, in this era, there are only short tables and desks, and there are no real tables and chairs. Even these people from the palace feel very surprised.

"You're not bad, kid!" Huo Da patted Yu Feng on the shoulder, and took the lead in finding a chair to sit down without being polite at all.

The rest of the people faintly respected the handsome general, and took half a step back intentionally or unintentionally.

Yu Feng glanced at him, somehow, he felt familiar.So, he went up to greet him warmly and said, "This general, please come inside."

"The general's surname is Xiao," the man pointed to the tall and strong man with a cold face beside him, "this surname is Fan, and we are both guards with swords in front of us today."

Yu Feng responded with a smile: "So it's General Xiao and General Fan, please."

Xiao and Fan raised their hands towards him and sat down respectively.

Su Ye came out with tea, just in time to hear their conversation.

He couldn't help but his heart skipped a beat—surnamed Xiao?This is the country name...

"Everyone, please drink tea." Su Ye intentionally or unintentionally skipped over Huo Da, and presented the tea cup to General Xiao first.

Others didn't react too much, even Huo Da acted as it should.

Su Ye confirmed the guess in his heart even more.

"I'll do it." Yu Feng took the teapot in his hand and poured it up.

General Xiao held the teacup and looked at Huo Da with a half-smile.

Huo Da curled his lips, and said in a familiar way: "Feng Zi, where is Xue Wa?"

While pouring tea, Yu Feng replied, "Follow Qingzhu to catch fish."

Huo Da looked up at the sun, and said slowly, "It's almost noon, and it's time to come back."

Yu Feng smiled and nodded.

Su Ye quickly came to his senses and said, "If you don't mind, you can have a light meal at home."

Huo Da said bluntly: "I don't dislike it."

General Xiao raised his hand and said with a smile, "Thank you."

Su Ye smiled, and asked deliberately: "The countryside is full of vulgar things, what are your taboos?"

The rest shook their heads politely.

General Xiao said with a smile: "Today, I specially appointed my brother as the imperial cook, and I will be in charge of the small banquet on the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival. I wonder if my brother has thought about the dishes? If I can make one or two in advance, I will not be in vain. Waiting for the last time. "

Hearing what he said, Su Ye felt relieved—the reason for the love was because of the menu.

He thought for a moment in his heart, and said unhurriedly: "Since the main thing is mountain spring fish, why not make a whole fish feast."

"Full fish feast?" There was a bit more interest in General Xiao's eyes.

The cold-faced General Fan frowned slightly in disgust, "It's fishy."

General Xiao said with a smile: "I know you have a keen sense of smell, and you are not used to eating meaty things. Have you forgotten the cured fish you ate before? If it is cooked well, even the fish will not smell the slightest fishy smell."

When General Xiao was speaking, General Fan kept looking at him intently, and when he finished speaking, the cold-faced General nodded, "Then let's try."

Su Ye smiled and continued: "Although the fish is fishy, ​​there is no way to get rid of it. Steamed fish, grilled fish, boiled fish, fried fish, cured fish, fish in sour soup, if the ingredients are used correctly, everything is delicious .”

General Xiao's eyes became more interested, "I didn't know that there are so many ways for a simple fish."

Su Ye took advantage of the situation and said, "If you're not in a hurry, you might as well stay here today and help Su Mou try the dishes."

General Xiao smiled, "I'm going to have a good time waiting for this."

-

Su Ye vaguely guessed General Xiao's real identity, so he was very careful about this tasting.

He purposely called Su Ya'er and Xiao Xia's sister-in-law over to help. These two were quite talented in cooking, and they were even better than Su Ye in many cases.

Su Ye thought to himself, if the two of them could get the approval of "General Xiao", then he would take them to the capital.

When finalizing the recipe, Su Ye also thought carefully, not only using his own bean paste, pickles, and soy sauce, but also adding steamed buns and spring pancakes.

For example, there is a dish of fried fish sticks, which can be eaten with shredded bamboo shoots and wrapped in spring pancakes. The inspiration comes from the "chicken fillet burritos" of later generations.

Another thing that stands out is the mushroom fish soup.

The fish soup has the unique taste of mountain mushrooms, and the light sour taste specially adjusted by Su Ye. In Huo Da's words, "With this soup alone, you can eat three big bowls of rice!"

There is also a boiled fish, which uses the small red pepper that Jardin just brought in a few days ago. The white fish floats in the bright red oil, and the color makes everyone click.

However, when they actually ate it in their mouths, almost everyone stuck out their tongues and breathed out, saying "I'm not used to eating it".

Such a reaction was expected by Su Ye.

There is no chili in the Central Plains, and even cornel is eaten very little. These people are naturally not used to eating spicy food at first. If they eat too much, they may even cause gastrointestinal discomfort, stomach pain and diarrhea.

General Fan was the only exception. His eyes lit up when he took the first bite, and he picked up several chopsticks one after another—speaking of which, it was a novelty for everyone to use chopsticks to eat in Yujia Village.

This tall general looked at Su Ye for the first time. Although his voice was cold, his tone was a little more appreciative, "Southern Xinjiang is humid, especially in winter. Warming effect."

General Xiao nodded, "It makes sense."

Huo Da poured water desperately and said in a huff: "Add, add this dish, and see who doesn't like it and who eats it!"

Although it was a joke, it just reminded Xiao Heng, "There will be countries in the Southwest at that time, maybe this dish will be liked by them, I don't know."

Fan Ming nodded approvingly, and dipped the bamboo chopsticks into the thick red oil again.

Huo Da shivered violently, and said secretly, "It really is a freak."

Fan Ming glanced at him lightly.

Huo Da lowered his face and ate the cake.

Xiao Heng patted Fan Ming's hand with a helpless smile on his face.

Fan Ming glanced at the slender hand, and silently ignored it.

At this point, the menu on the small banquet was roughly confirmed.

"The first few dishes taste good, and the styles are also novel. All of them can be selected. Mushroom fish soup is the finale, and boiled fish is also added."

"The rest, steamed buns, spring cakes, various pickles, and the spring onion-flavored flower rolls just now are also available, and they are also rare snacks."

Speaking of this, Xiao Heng paused for a moment, then pondered: "In this way, people can't go out from the imperial dining room. Brother Su needs to take it with him. Others really don't know how to do this."

Su Ye originally had this idea, so he took advantage of the situation and asked, "Dare to ask the general, how many people should I take with me?"

"Let's have less than ten people. They are mainly responsible for the work on the case. As for the vegetable cutting and cleaning, the palace servants are naturally in charge. Brother Su doesn't have to worry about it."

Su Ye bowed, "Xie Huang, Xie General."

Xiao Heng raised the corner of his mouth and showed a clear smile.