North and South groceries

Afterwards, the development of things went smoothly beyond Luo Yong's expectations.

In the past two years, the old emperor has been selling cement and eucommia glue, and has earned a lot of money, especially the eucommia glue. He has found a group of craftsmen who are responsible for making gorgeous and exquisite leather boots and selling them to foreign nobles. The price is so high that it can kill people, but the sales volume is still very good, and the supply often exceeds the demand.

This time, the emperor just heard a parent of a student from Taixue bring up the matter, and then with a swipe of his pen, not only the problem on the side of Guozixue was solved, but also the problems of Taixue, Simenxue, and Shumen were all solved. Schools of mathematics, mathematics, and law have also followed suit, and Hongwen Museum has not been left behind.

His Majesty the Emperor has spoken, it doesn't matter if you have to get a full score in the arithmetic test, or how many coins you will be rewarded at a time, as long as you are a student who is hardworking and has excellent grades, you can give appropriate rewards depending on the situation.

After the news spread, many students in Chang'an City were very happy, especially the students from the schools of Four Schools, Calligraphy, Mathematical Sciences, and Legal Studies. Although not everyone has the strength to get this reward, But it is also a hope after all.

In addition, many people in Chang'an City also speculated that the emperor's move must have the intention of elevating the status of high-ranking officials and academics.

Just a while ago, in Maoling, not far from Chang'an City, a new private academy was opened. Some people sent their children to study there, and now there are more than 50 students.

I heard that they have high requirements for the qualifications of students. If the qualifications are too poor, they will not accept them, no matter how good the background is.

Speaking of Maoling, we have to mention Wuling near Chang'an City.

In the hinterland of Guanzhong, on the Xianyang Plain at the junction of Jingwei and Weiwei, there are a total of nine imperial tombs of the Western Han Dynasty, among which are: Gaozu Changling, Huidi Anling, Jingdi Yangling, Wudi Maoling, Zhaodi Pingling. The most prosperous place is the place where many rich families and royal relatives live together, so people at that time called the Xianyang Plain the Wuling Plain.

Bai Juyi wrote in "Pipa Xing": "Wuling is young and scrambles to wrap his head, and there is no number of red silk." Li Bai also wrote: "Wuling is young in Jingdong City, and the silver saddle and white horse spend the spring breeze."This Wuling is young, referring to the Wuling on the Wuling Plain.

At this time, Bai Juyi and Li Bai were not born yet, but Wulingyuan had a county town since the Han Dynasty, and the first people who moved here were Erqianshi officials, rich people from the Kanto region, and heroes who lived there. Generally speaking, Jian's House has a very high style.

This time, the newly opened academy at Maoling was named Huaili Academy, because the location of Maoling was Mao Township, Huaili County during the Han Dynasty.

I heard that not only do they not pick the origin of the students, but they also require very little Shu Xiu. There are also free school buildings and canteens in the college, and the treatment is comparable to that of government schools.The government schools in Chang'an City also have cafeterias. Luo Yong eats in the school cafeteria every day at noon, and there are also school buildings. Some foreign students and a few foreign students live in the school buildings.

In the current situation, even Luo Yong couldn't help but think about whether those aristocratic families were planning to recruit talents and strengthen their family power, let alone be in the position of the emperor.

Therefore, many people in Chang'an City said that the reason why the emperor was so generous this time was to show the superiority of official studies, and Luo Yong thought that this guess was quite reasonable.

In the morning of this day, an official from the Imperial College came to Auntie Luo's food shop to discuss the price of her bamboo sticks with Mrs. Luo. Since the imperial court bought them and the quantity was relatively large, the price would definitely have to be negotiated again.

Aunt Luo asked him to ask Luo Yong, as long as they made an agreement with Luo Yong, she had no objection.

Then that afternoon, Luo Yong was called to the Imperial College to speak.

"Sanlang thinks, how much is the bamboo stick?"

The person who discussed this matter with Luo Yong was Yang Zhubu of the Imperial College. The Imperial College at this time in the Tang Dynasty was an educational administrative institution that supervised the six schools, so this matter is also under their control this time.

When Master Yang asked such a question, he vaguely wanted to use his status as an officer to suppress Luo Yong. When Luo Yong heard about it, he kicked the ball back to him: "Master Yang thinks that the price of 28 Wen is not good. suitable?"

Regardless of whether he is a senior officer or not, Luo Yong doesn't want to be promoted, and he has nothing to worry about what he, the senior officer, will do. Besides, in addition to the master book, the Guozijian also has a Guozi Jijiu and a Guozijian Cheng, both of whom have higher official positions than the master Yang Well, for this matter of bargaining, the two of them probably don't want to come forward.

"Hundreds of bamboo sticks every month, how can the price be the same as the previous scattered sales?" Na Yang said.

"That's true." Luo Yong smiled and asked him, "Then the master thinks, how much is a bamboo stick?" For bargaining, the process of mutual testing is very important. Guess the psychological price of one's own side, and on the other hand, try to find out where the other party's bottom line is.

"..." Mr. Yang was also from a good family, he was pampered since he was a child, and he didn't know how to bargain. Hearing Luo Yong's question at this time, he thought about it in his heart and said: "In my opinion, Twenty cents is appropriate."

When Luo Yong heard the price, his brows immediately frowned: "Twenty cents? How can this be done? The students in these six schools are all at the right age to eat, so it's not easy to ask my sister to do it." Trading at a loss."

Mr. Yang has also been to the sister’s food shop, and knows that a bowl of canned fruit in their shop costs five yuan. Those young people in their teens and twenties eat four or five bowls casually. That's not like playing.

It's just that this time, the task was assigned by the superior. According to the above, it should not exceed 24 Wen at most, and it is best to bring the price to around [-] Wen.

Director Yang thought that the price of 22 cents was a bit too much, but when he heard what Luo Yong said, he felt that it was inappropriate, so he said: "It is not always possible to lose money, not all students can eat that much. There are so many, if not like this, the bamboo stick will be priced at [-] Wen, what do you think?"

Luo Yong heard that he added two Wen to a bamboo stick when he opened his mouth, and he felt a little funny in his heart. A bamboo stick is two Wen, and one hundred is two hundred Wen. The six schools add up, and every month But it's a price difference of thousands of dollars.

The so-called take it as soon as it is good, at this time Luo Yong no longer has an inch, and bowed to Master Yang and said: "Thank you Master for your compassion!"

Master Yang nodded, and was very satisfied with Luo Yong's compliments. After all, he was providing breakfast to the students of the sixth school, and it was in the form of a reward. If they were replaced by other merchants, they would be willing to do it even if it was a loss-making business.

It’s just that in this city of Chang’an, there is no restaurant that has a better reputation than Auntie’s restaurant, and is suitable for serving breakfast to students. After all, they are students of the sixth school, and places that are too extravagant are not suitable for them. The place is too simple and can't show their identities. After much deliberation, the sister's restaurant is the most suitable, not to mention that Luo Sanlang started this matter from the beginning, and the prize is the breakfast at the sister's restaurant. The students also seem to like it very much.

On November [-]th, Dr. Chen came to Luo Yong early to take the test paper.

"Why do you come here to pick it up in person, I was thinking of delivering it to you at noon." Luo Yong smiled and handed a stack of test papers to him.

"I'll be at ease if I get ready earlier." Dr. Chen was also a little nervous when arranging such an exam for the first time.

"It's just an exam, so what can go wrong." For those who have experienced various mock exams, big and small, weekly exams, monthly exams, midterm exams, midterm exams, and final exams, Luo Yong feels that this ten-day exam is just a pediatrics exam. As a teacher, he is also correct in attitude, but if he is nervous, he is really not at all.

"Just in case, I asked my family to print a few more copies for you." Luo Yong said to Dr. Chen again when he was sending him out.

"If you don't tell me, I won't remember this episode." Dr. Chen was very grateful: "After today's exam is over, I will treat you to dinner tonight."

"Forget it at night, just bring me some good food at noon the next day." Luo Yong has other arrangements tonight, and besides, he doesn't like going out to socialize with others, so let's forget about the dinner.

However, the canteen of their school is really not very good. Many students and teachers from good families will ask servants to come over with hot meals and hot dishes. Luo Yong has that condition. He and Qiao Junlin eat honestly. In the cafeteria, it would be nice to add a few dishes occasionally.

"Okay, I'll ask my family to deliver some delicious dishes at noon the next day." Dr. Chen trotted into his carriage while talking.

In the morning of this day, the teachers of each class were inspecting the students' recitation and understanding of the subset of classics and history, which was also a common practice.

It's just that the atmosphere is better this time. For some students who perform well, the gentlemen will reward them with bamboo sticks, but not much, one less, three more, and those who get the bamboo sticks will still be rewarded. Quite a lot.

In the afternoon, students in several classes began to take math tests.

I heard that after the last math test, some students were beaten after returning home. This time, in order not to make their scores too ugly, Luo Yong adjusted the difficulty as a whole, made a lot of sub-questions, and set up a few more Difficulty, for a paper like this, it's relatively easy to get a score of [-] or [-], but it's more difficult to get a score of [-] or higher, and it's very difficult to get a perfect score.

But this time, the rewards are not based on the full score, but on the ranking. On their Taixue side, the first to third place are ten bamboo sticks, No.4 to No.10 are five bamboo sticks, and No.11 The name to the No.20 name are two bamboo sticks.

There are less than 200 students in Taixue in total, and the proportion of this award is relatively high. Relatively speaking, it is also more conducive to improving students' learning enthusiasm.

"Hey, it's nothing to do with me."

"Let's go, let's go out to the city to race horses tomorrow."

"I won't go on a cold day."

"Hey, I didn't make it to the top [-], and I will be trained again when I go back."

"Why does your father think you can rank within twenty?"

"Forget it..."

The students were scattered, and they were about to go home from school, when Luo Yong came in with a small linen bag, which was filled with a lot of things, and the shape seemed to be Bamboo sticks.

What is this coffin board carrying so many bamboo sticks here for?Could it be...

"I think some of you are still not diligent enough in your studies. I thought about it, maybe it's because I don't know how delicious the breakfast at Sister's Restaurant is."

I saw that the coffin board grabbed a handful of bamboo sticks from the linen bag and said: "Today, no one has a bamboo stick, one for each person."

"Aww!!!" These students may not be short of the money of this bamboo stick, but why are they all so excited right now.

"Tomorrow morning on the second floor of Ma's guest house, you don't need to order food downstairs, you can directly go to the private room on the second floor to eat." Luo Yong said while handing out bamboo sticks to the students.

"Is it a banquet?" asked a student.

"It's almost the same, you will know when you go tomorrow." Luo Yong smiled.

This afternoon, Luo Yong distributed all four classes of Taixue.

The students didn't know what kind of medicine he was selling in his gourd, but Luo Sanlang from Lishi was always good at getting something new, and he thought that tomorrow would not disappoint, so these students made an appointment one after another, and tomorrow morning Then I went to the Ma's guest house for dinner.

That night, after Luo Yong got off work from Taixue, he didn't go back to the yard at Feng'anfang, but went directly to the yard where Auntie and the others worked. They still had to make some preparations for tomorrow's breakfast.

Qiao Junlin also came over to help him. As for the children at home, I asked Azhi to take care of them. The four mothers and five sons are now very sensible and can help, and the six sons and seven mothers are also well-behaved and obedient. Children, Ah Zhi likes them very much, taking these children in and out of the yard every day is much better than when she was alone every day.

"Have the plates and chopsticks been prepared?" Luo Yong asked the aunt after he went to the courtyard over there in Chonghuafang.

"All the dishes and chopsticks for guests have been sent over there, and the tableware to be used on the desk is still here. Let's see what else is missing." The aunt was also very busy at this time.

"It will be knocking on the closed door soon, I will move these things over there first." Luo Yong said.

"You don't have to do it, I'll let the helper do it." Aunt Luo didn't let Luo Yong touch his hands. After all, he was an official now, pushing a cart on the street, and some people couldn't help laughing at it.

"The things that will be used tomorrow morning should be moved there early. This is the first time, it is most likely to make mistakes." Luo Yong said again.

"I can save it." Aunt Luo knew these things well.

After looking at the preparations for the various meals, and checking to see if there were any omissions, before the curfew, Luo Yong and Qiao Junlin went to Ma's guest house.

At this time, there are still many guests in the hall on the second floor of Ma's guest house, some are residents of this workshop, some are not. They will rest tomorrow, and many people will come out to have a rest tonight, and have fun with friends. , I can't go back after the curfew, so I might as well just stay in the guest house for one night, even if the drums outside the closed door keep ringing, it won't affect them in any way.

Luo Yong took some eggs from the grocery store, a can of soybean oil, and a small egg beater, and went to the backyard with Qiao Junlin.

There is a row of houses in the backyard of Ma's guest house, which are mainly used as workshops and warehouses. Luo Yong and Qiao Junlin went to the workshop where the aunt and the others lived before, and began to make the salad dressing for tomorrow.

A few days ago, when Luo came to my sister’s food shop, Aunt Luo told him that the recent vegetables were cheap. Every day, many farmers from outside the city brought vegetables into the city to sell. , The price of vegetables is getting cheaper day by day.

Some farmers told her that if the current situation continues, they may not even be able to earn money for oil paper and firewood in the end.

The consumption power of Chang'an City is still relatively strong. When the heated kang was first released a few years ago, some people put some green onion and garlic sprouts on the kang and sold them, earning some money.

In the past two years, the price of oil paper has dropped again. Some people planted it in low houses covered with oil paper. The house was built with a large area of ​​heated kang. It is sold in the city, and the price is very high.

It is heard that those who first started selling vegetables picked a load of vegetables and sold them in Chang'an City, and they could exchange for a batch of silk to go back.

In the past two years, more and more people have grown vegetables, and the prices have naturally become lower and lower. This year, for some reason, the prices have almost dropped below the cost line.

Together with Qiao Junlin, Luo Yong opened the eggs one by one, separated the egg whites from the egg yolks, put the egg whites in a clay pot on the table, poured the egg yolks into the egg beater, and then turned the handle to start stirring.

Speaking of the egg-beating bucket, Aunt Luo brought two egg-beating buckets with her when they came from Lishi County. Later, when they heard that their business was getting bigger, Heng's father and son left the Ma's firm again. Large and small, several more were sent over, some large ones were brought over from Chonghuafang, and there were several more at the shop.

"You add some oil to it." Luo Yong said to Qiao Junlin while turning the handle on the egg beater.

"How much?" Qiao Junlin asked him.

"I don't know, just look at it and let it go." It was also the first time for Luo Yong to do this. I heard that it is quite simple, and it should not be impossible.

Qiao Junlin poured two tablespoons of soybean oil into the bucket with a spoon, and looked inside. It was pitch black, and he couldn't see anything clearly. It was already dark at this time, and an oil lamp was lit in the room, but it was still a bit dim. .

"There are grapefruits in the pottery urn over there, take one out and peel it." Luo Yong said to him again.

Qiao Junlin didn't say anything, walked to the pottery urn in the corner, lifted a basket covering it, and saw that the pottery urn was full of golden grapefruits, piled up to the point.

There are no grapefruits grown near Chang'an City, and it takes a very long journey to transport them from the Jiangnan area. In addition, the number of grapefruits grown on really delicious old grapefruit trees is very limited.

So here in Chang'an City, the price of grapefruit is very expensive, often costing tens of pennies. Qiao Junlin used to eat it a few times when he went out to socialize with people, but now he sees so many grapefruits so casually. It was a bit surprising to be conveniently placed in this workshop.

"How much did you buy these grapefruits?" Qiao Junlin asked Luo Yongdao as he took a grapefruit to the kang and peeled the grapefruit.

"Not many, these grapefruits are not very good, the price is cheaper." Luo Yong said.

"Why don't you buy some good ones?" Why do you buy so many bad grapefruits?Qiao Junlin was puzzled.

"It's not for eating directly." Luo Yong said: "The egg yolk in this bucket is too thick, you should peel the grapefruit quickly and squeeze some grapefruit juice into it."

Qiao Junlin squeezed some grapefruit juice into the bucket according to his words, and after a while, Luo Yong asked him to add soybean oil into it, and he added it again. It was almost done, Luo Yong stopped what he was doing, and looked at the results in the mixing bucket in front of the oil lamp.

It seemed to be not bad at first glance, dipped a little bit with chopsticks and put it in the mouth to taste, and the taste was not bad.Luo Yong asked Qiao Junlin to wait in the house, and he ran to the front shop to fry two thin pancakes, then cut some vegetables and served them on a plate.

The two wrapped the vegetables in the pancakes and smeared some thick sauce in the mixing bucket.

Before Luo Yong could finish his mouth here, Qiao Junlin bit down. Luo Yong couldn't help laughing when he saw it. Did this kid have too much confidence in his craftsmanship?

"How does it taste?" Luo Yong asked him.

"Not bad." Qiao Junlin chewed the food in his mouth slowly. It was refreshing and rich, similar to cheese, but not as sticky and sweet as cheese. If he hadn't witnessed the production process with his own eyes , he certainly couldn't imagine that this thing was made of egg yolk and soybean oil.

After eating the pancakes, the two put away the bucket of salad dressing carefully, and then went to bed early. The next morning, around three or four o'clock, they got up to work.

The hall on the second floor of Ma's guest house was completely vacated in the middle of the night last night. Luo Yong went there at this time to collect the down products, and then placed some tall tables around the hall.

What Luo Yong wanted to do this time was the breakfast buffet. In order to create an atmosphere of a cafeteria for this occasion, he started planning early in the morning, but this was the first time he actually set it up today.

"Do you want me to help?" That boy Ma Feiyang woke up very early today.

"Help me spread these tablecloths." Luo Yong wished for more people to help at this time, and laid out all the things that should be placed early, so that he would have more time to make detailed adjustments later.

These tablecloths were also bought from the cloth shop in advance. There are two layers inside and outside. The inner layer is beige silk cloth, which hangs down to the table legs, and the outer layer is dark ocher linen. , it looks very clean.

The table for placing food should not be placed too neatly or rigidly. How to arrange it in a well-proportioned manner without looking messy is also more about technology and aesthetics...

·

"Hey, do you want to come and call me so early? The door of the square is not open yet, and the sky is not yet bright..."

"Go quickly, don't mutter."

"Are you all that hungry? Do you have to come out for breakfast at this time?"

"Isn't it just a matter of being idle at home? I went to bed early last night, and when I woke up, I was hungry before dawn."

"Anyway, we are here in Guangdefang, why do we have to wait until the gate of the workshop opens to eat?"

"Then do you know they're open at this time?"

"You'll know if you look at it in the past."

"..."

The three of them went to Auntie's restaurant for breakfast before dawn and the morning drum in Chang'an City.

Speaking of which, the teenagers at this time are really very boring. There is no way, who makes this era lack of spiritual entertainment, there is neither TV station nor the Internet.

When I got to the elder sister's food shop, I saw lanterns hanging outside the shop, and the window for selling goods was already open, and someone who was earlier than them came here to buy breakfast at this time.

"I heard that today's breakfast is on the second floor?" These young people handed their bamboo sticks to Xu Dalang's eldest son in the store.

"That's right, all the guests who come here today with these bamboo sticks eat on the second floor." Xu Dalang's eldest son didn't pick up their bamboo sticks, but said: "There are people on the second floor, so you just go up. "

After these people went up to the second floor, they saw that many oil lamps were lit in this hall, trying to illuminate this spacious hall very brightly. A smell of food hits my face.

Taking a closer look, I saw that the tables in the middle and around the hall were filled with all kinds of food, including vegetables and meat, all kinds of rice and noodle products, porridge, syrup, drinks, all kinds of stir-fried vegetables, all kinds of food. Braised vegetables, various flavors of slots, various flavors of canned fruit...

The more the teenagers watched, the more they felt that they must be dreaming!

Must have thought too much about eating last night...

"Give me the bamboo stick." Luo's coffin board's voice suddenly rang in his ears.

"Luo, Assistant Teacher Luo." It was a good chance not to call out the nickname of Luo Coffin Baner directly.

"Take the dinner plate, and take whatever you want." Luo Yong took the bamboo sticks, and then passed a dinner plate to each of these stupid boys.

"Boil it! Eat a lot!!!"

"Am I dreaming?"

"Luo Coffin Baner's banquet is very interesting!"

"A lot of food! So much, so much!"

"Fortunately, we came early, and if we come late, there will be fewer."

"What do you want to eat?"

"What is this?"

"This is Chaodou Zhe, the way to eat it was just passed on from Lishi." Qiao Junlin happened to be at the side at this time, and he replied casually when he heard their discussion.

"Is it delicious?" the boys asked.

"Delicious." Qiao Junlin nodded.

Then the three young men each ordered a plate of fried beans and sat aside to eat.

"Shall we get some soup?"

"Do you eat canned food?"

"Okay! Eat canned food!"

"Wow, look at this bean curd, it's marinated, the marinade is delicious!"

"Let's eat tofu curd first, and then eat canned food later."

"Do you eat meat? There is Dongpo pork here."

"eat!"

"And fish-flavored shredded pork."

"eat!"

"This pancake is so weird, it looks like raw vegetables are rolled inside."

"eat!"

"What else is added to this vegetable?"

"It looks like cheese, but it doesn't taste like cheese."

"Salty."

"It's refreshing."

"I'll get another one."

"Look, there are still pancakes rolled up, just mix a few vegetables and eat them."

"Have you ever eaten something like this before?"

"Never."

"When eating meat, take a few bites of this to relieve the tiredness."

"good to eat!"

"..."

"Wow!" At this time, there was another short exclamation from the other side of the stairs, probably the same as when they first arrived, dazzled by the layout of the hall.

……

After the morning drum sounded on this day, many students and a few parents of students came to the hall at once.

At this time, Aunt Luo and others also came over from Chonghuafang, and there was a steady stream of food replenishment in the restaurant on the second floor. Students and parents of students carried their plates and looked for their favorite dishes among the tables. While eating and chatting, they enjoyed a delicious and hearty breakfast, and the dining environment made them very satisfied.

……

After this day, anyone who has had the buffet breakfast at Ma's guest house will inevitably feel a little bit of emotion for others, and the breakfast banquet organized by Luo Sanlang is really novel!There is so much to eat!The taste is really good!

What, you said the flowing cup of water?What's so good about Qushui Liushang, just a wine glass is passed around, how can the breakfast banquet in Ma's guest house be so refreshing!