Hand over the jade seal first [Infrastructure]

Salt Baked Chicken?

Liu Cainiang looked at Xiao Zirong curiously: "What is that?"

Xiao Zirong tilted his head and said, "I don't understand, just wait and prepare all the materials I want."

Liu Cainiang asked, "What do you want?"

Xiao Zirong said: "A chicken, wine and ginger, a big clay pot, and a few big leaves."

When Liu Cainiang heard that these materials were not rare, the only thing that was more precious was wine. These wines were brought out from the stockade at the beginning, and they have not been drunk much. The main reason is that these wines are really drunk. A long time ago, these wines were consumables.

As for going out to buy wine... don't look at how cheap they buy those daily necessities, if they really buy wine, the price will be high.

The imperial court has always prohibited the people from brewing wine privately. After all, wine is a commodity that can be regarded as huge profits. Some people use a lot of grain to make wine in order to make money. , I am afraid that the people will rebel at that time.

As for the chickens...the chicks they bought hadn't grown up yet and couldn't be eaten, so the chickens that Liu Cainiang brought were the ones she caught when she set traps in the mountains last time.

Liu Cainiang took Ayin and Aman and ran happily to get everything ready.

When Xiao Zirong saw the pheasant, a word inexplicably flashed through his mind: the prison-bottomed beast.

Well, pheasants have entered the list of protected animals in later generations, not to mention catching and eating them, even if they are caught and raised, they will be sentenced.

But now no one cares about them. There are not many other things in their mountains, except for the pheasants and rabbits. When they first came here, they were worried about sitting on the mountain and eating food. They all lived on these pheasants and rabbits.

I don't know if they caught too much, anyway, they rarely saw pheasants and hares within a five-mile radius of their station.

After Xiao Zirong and other materials were complete, he began to remove the internal organs of the pheasant.

Liu Cainiang was taken aback and quickly stopped him and said: "The gentleman is far away from the kitchen, how can the city lord do such a thing? Let me do it."

Xiao Zirong waved his hand: "That's not the way to understand that sentence. The extended meaning of that sentence should be that a gentleman should not bear to kill. It has nothing to do with whether he can cook. Don't worry, this thing is not difficult. If you have to help, go and steam some rice , cook some wild vegetables, and then help to light up the fire on the stove."

Xiao Zirong originally didn't want Liu Cainiang to intervene. He is also in a good mood today. Even though he knows that once the salt factory is put into production, the salt will be produced continuously, but when he sees so much white salt, he is still excited. one time.

Seeing that she couldn't be persuaded, Liu Cainiang had no choice but to do what he ordered, and then watched from the sidelines, preparing to go to rescue Xiao Zirong when he was in danger.

In fact, it is true that Xiao Zirong said that this dish is not dangerous.

After the pheasant is cleaned, it is marinated with rice wine and ginger for a period of time. When it is almost the same, the remaining rice wine is poured into the belly of the chicken, and the chicken is tightly wrapped with leaves.

Originally, later generations wrapped the chicken in kitchen paper or tin foil, so as to preserve the original flavor of the chicken to the greatest extent.

It's just that even the paper for writing is very precious here now, so they can only use leaves to replace it.

After wrapping the chicken and tying it tightly with hay, Xiao Zirong took a pot of salt and put it into a large earthenware pot, then put the chicken in it, poured another pile of salt into it to submerge the chicken, and finally Cover the clay pot, soak a piece of sackcloth, and place it on the lid of the pot.

Liu Cainiang and Ayin Aman, who were watching when Xiao Zirong poured salt just now, gasped together, deeply feeling that this is not eating chicken, but eating money.

Why do you need so much salt?

After Xiao Zirong put the clay pot on the stove and started heating it, Liu Cainiang swallowed and asked, "This...is this chicken too salty?"

Xiao Zirong smiled: "Don't worry, it won't happen, there are leaves wrapped outside."

Ah Yin squatted on the ground and said, "This dish is really expensive."

Xiao Zirong nodded: "Yes, it's very expensive, that's what I'm happy about today. I don't usually cook like this, but...it's not necessarily true. I took a look at our salt factory. The output is not small. Maybe we can Realize the freedom of salt, and strive to make everyone want to eat salt-baked chicken!"

Liu Cainiang hesitated and said, "Actually...it doesn't matter whether you eat this dish or not. It's better to exchange the salt for some money."

Xiao Zirong sighed: "Do you think I haven't thought about it? But this thing is more eye-catching than grain, and the sale of salt requires the permission of the imperial court. Where can we find it? So no matter how much the salt factory produces, it will eventually be We consume it ourselves."

Liu Cainiang came over and said, "Actually... Bai Yan said that she might have a solution."

After hearing this, Xiao Zirong became vigilant for a moment, and asked slowly while wiping her hands: "What can she do?"

Liu Cainiang said, "She said she could sell it to the people of Wei."

Xiao Zirong was stunned for a moment after hearing this: "Huh? Sell it to the people of Wei?"

Liu Cainiang nodded vigorously: "Yes, that's what she said."

Xiao Zirong thought for a while expressionlessly and said, "Don't tell me about this, I'll ask her later."

Xiao Zirong felt that he might have underestimated Bai Yan. Before that, he was still thinking that the little lady had been tortured into such a psychological shadow, and he didn't know when she would be able to come out.

It's just that now it seems that the other party is stronger than he imagined, and his thoughts... are also a little unclear.

Salt-baked chicken does not take a short time. After the sackcloth on the lid is completely dry, it means that the chicken inside is cooked.

However, Xiao Zirong thought that the pheasants in their hands were not the same as the chickens raised in later generations. They were not as tender as the raised chickens, so he waited a little longer.

After waiting for a while, Xiao Zirong opened the clay pot and dug out the chicken inside through the cloth.

There was nothing special about the chicken when it was taken out, that is, the leaves were soaked in the fat from the chicken and gave off a faint fragrance.

Sitting in front of the table, Liu Cainiang and others looked at Xiao Zirong eagerly, while the other young ladies also came to look curiously.

Xiao Zirong opened those leaves while blowing on his fingers. The moment he opened them, the rich fragrance spread out directly, and penetrated into the nostrils of all the people around him domineeringly.

It was a very descriptive smell, with the unique fragrance of rice wine and the aroma of fat from pheasant, which made people salivate just by smelling it.

Xiao Zirong directly gave one chicken leg to himself, one to Liu Cainiang, the chicken wings to A Yin and A Man, and the chicken breast to Bai Yan.

It can be regarded as a blatant eccentricity, but no one thinks there is a problem, just like they eat salt-baked chicken in front of everyone.

In the past, Xiao Zirong was worried about not worrying about the few but the inequality, but after living in this world for a long time, Xiao Zirong knew that his desire for the world to be united was wrong.

In other words, it is wrong to make everyone the same and to think that all items are average.

That state can only exist in people's ideals, and it is basically impossible to realize it, anyway, it is impossible in this era.

In this case, Xiao Zirong also began to slowly adapt to the rules of the game in this era.

Sure enough, although they were making a small fuss here, no one complained. It seemed that it was normal for Xiao Zirong to eat better and dress better than others, even the people around him.

Even if Bai Yan came later, who made her a slave of the city lord now?

It is basically a deep-rooted thought that slaves of nobles live better than commoners.

The salt-baked chicken is not only delicious, but also has a very special skin texture, coupled with the golden color, they would often say something when they were eating, but today, no one opened their mouths, and they all ate hard.

Xiao Zirong also had an addiction, and felt that this was the most hearty meal he had after coming through.

In Jiankang, the cost of food and clothing was naturally the best, but the problem was that at that time Xiao Zirong was worried about his own life every day, even if he was faced with the most exquisite food, he was a little bit hard to eat.

Not to mention later, their life has been easier until now.

After eating almost, Liu Cainiang let out a sigh of relief and said, "This is the most delicious dish I've ever eaten in my life."

Xiao Zirong smiled and said: "Don't say that, you will grow up in this lifetime, and there will be better dishes in the future."

Liu Cainiang looked at Xiao Zirong and rolled her eyes with a smile, and Bai Yan at the side also said with emotion: "I have never eaten such delicious food since I was a child."

Xiao Zirong said casually: "Ordinary people can't afford it, that is, we have a lot of salt now, so we can eat it. However, since the salt is already enough, let's look back and catch more prey, pickle it and save it for the winter or something. "

Although the winter in the south is not as cold as in the north, there will still be a lack of food and clothing in winter. It is a little early to prepare, but if you have time, everyone is using shell powder every day to improve the soil quality.

After Xiao Zirong got out the Quyuanli, he will start plowing the land.

Bai Yan took a look at Xiao Zirong and asked very straightforwardly: "Cai Niang said that she told the city lord what I said earlier, what is the city's idea?"

Xiao Zirong glanced at Bai Yan and asked, "Do you have a channel?"

Bai Yan shook her head: "No." Before Xiao Zirong could ask her, she said, "But I know where I can find it."

Xiao Zirong asked, "Where?"

Bai Yan said firmly, "The state capital."

Xiao Zirong was stunned for a moment, and after thinking about it, they are now in Southern Yanzhou, which is indeed very close to the Northern Wei Dynasty. It would not be surprising if there were Wei people walking here.

No matter what the relationship between the two countries is, as long as there is no war, there must be contacts between the people.

Xiao Zirong looked at Bai Yan and asked, "Why did you think of selling it to Wei Guo?"

Bai Yan said frankly: "The origin of the salt in our hands is unknown, and it is too difficult to sell it in Qi State, but if it is sold to merchants in Wei State, as long as our price is right, they are willing to take risks."

Xiao Zirong is very clear about what Bai Yan said, after all, salt smuggling has been repeatedly banned in history, which shows that there are huge profits.

Merchants from the State of Wei must act in a low-key manner in the State of Qi, and it is impossible to check their identities with great fanfare. They are indeed good targets for selling stolen goods.

Xiao Zirong looked at Bai Yan thoughtfully and asked, "You can think of such a way, who are you?"