[Comprehensive] The days when I pretended to be a meow in the Forbidden City

Xia Anran handed over the recipe and the experimental notes backed up a few days ago to Shen Qi, and told him to try seawater when mixing with water.

He remembered that he had read related reports that the brine in seawater could make the compound harder, but Yongchun County had no seawater or brine, so he couldn't do the experiment.

Shen Qi put the precious experimental materials close to him, then glanced around Xia Anran's study, frowning slightly, compared with the normal study, Xia Anran's study was too simple, almost no decorations could be seen.

It's not that Xia Anran doesn't want to decorate this thing, but when the government servants here are taking care of the study, Xia Anran asks them to put away the messy things, especially the tail feathers of birds, which are shiny and fluttering, too It's easy to get distracted.

He doesn't hang calligraphy and paintings either, and the map of Yongchun County hangs directly in the study, where there are mountains and where there are mines, they are all marked by him, but this mark is incomprehensible to ordinary people.

Because it is marked with modern mineral map graphics, for example, coal is a square painted in black.

From his current point of view, Yongchun County still has relatively rich mineral reserves, not to mention the open-pit coal mines that have been being mined, the limestone he discovered, and the soil layer that is suspected to be kaolin but has not been confirmed by him.

If it is really kaolin...it can be fired into porcelain.

But this can be put aside for the time being, the key now is that the autumn harvest is coming soon.

The area of ​​cultivated land in Yongchun County is not large, and it is not difficult for the current population to cope with the autumn harvest. In fact, because Yongchun has a coal mine, the tax collection here is still somewhat preferential, so the farmers here are slightly richer than other places.

Of course these relatives didn't know about it, he only saw that Xia Anran's hand-drawn map was full of marks with different patterns.

This dynasty's map drawing technology is quite comprehensive, and the map is no longer a compulsory product like the previous dynasties, so Xia Anran was able to hang it uprightly.

Shen Qi lightly tapped the places where Xia Anran crossed, and turned to ask him, "Are you going to build a wall here?"

Xia Anran was not surprised that he could see it.

He himself is a layman, but Shen Qi is a military officer, but a military officer must be able to understand terrain and have a natural sensitivity to defense.

He leaned over and asked, "Yes, brother Shen, what's your opinion?"

Shen Qi remained calm about his approach, and let Xia Anran put her head next to his cheek, the two of them looked at a map together, and when he stretched out his hand, Xia Anran put the brush in his hand, with perfect understanding.

See Shen Qi made a new mark a little bit behind the mark drawn by Xia Anran.

He wrote very steadily, but a horizontal line was as sharp as a blade, Xia Anran tilted his head a little confused, and asked humbly, "Brother Shen, why did you draw it here?"

Shen Qi drew an arc with his other hand and said, "Water."

Xia Anran thought for a moment, and suddenly realized, "So that's how it is."

The place Shen Qi was pointing at was the place where the water flowed in Yongchun County. The place he had chosen before was closer to the place where the water was turbulent, so it was easily affected by the water flow.

Xia Anran originally planned to take advantage of the highland trend in the western mountainous area and rely on natural advantages to save the use of composite soil to build a wall. If successful, it could block the route of the mountain people going down the mountain and greatly improve the safety of the farmers at the bottom of the mountain. At least with the partition, the mountain When the people went down the mountain to plunder, they either climbed over the wall or took a detour.

He plans to cast a wall of about two meters. Even if they can climb over it, it will affect their speed. This way, they will be easy to be spotted. It is better to take a detour, blocking the easiest way. Naturally, it will be more difficult to spare them. route.

And since they already know that it is the route they may choose, of course they can take precautions.

Xia Anran's idea is not to surround the village, but to surround the mountain.

It's just that this will inevitably bring some inconvenience to the villagers at the foot of the mountain.At that time, we have to discuss with everyone before making a decision.

What Shen Qi pointed out was exactly what Xia Anran didn't consider. He didn't consider the corrosiveness of the water flow to the earth wall, and he didn't leave enough space to prevent the damage to the compound soil after the stream surged during the rainy season.

Although the compound soil has a certain degree of hardness and waterproof ability, no matter how strong the earth wall is, it is still difficult to resist the streams with high and low drops that flow down from the mountain streams during the rainy season.

As expected of a professional.

Xia Anran expressed her admiration, and quickly sent her a new marinade after coming here.

The diet here in southern Fujian is light. Xia Anran felt a little tasteless in his mouth within a week after coming here. The chili sauce had already been eaten when he came along the way. Fortunately, his mother put in chili seeds when preparing the seeds for him. Xia Anran Anran hurriedly planted a batch at that time, peppers are not uncommon here in southern Fujian—to be honest, the place where peppers were introduced at that time was southern Fujian, but they all regarded them as ornamentals and did not eat them. Seeing Xia Anran planting peppers, these people thought he was Watching, until one day when Xia Anran was making kimchi in the kitchen, the cook was so shocked that he realized that Mrs. Xia wanted to eat these peppers!

It's terrible.

For this reason, Xia Anran explained, demonstrated, and repeated his popularization path several years ago. Now people gradually believe that peppers are edible, but everyone expresses their insensitivity to the spicy taste. Even Xia Anran cooperated The more cheerful county magistrate also said that my lord, this lowly official, really can't bear it, if you don't make an appointment, we really don't want an appointment!

Xia Anran held back for a long time!

Friends who don't eat spicy food together are almost lonely.

This was the first time he saw someone disapproving of his cooking skills, and he was really angry.

This is probably—you can look down on my talent as an official, but you can't look down on my skill as a chef.

I don't know where his distorted outlook on life came from.

He also brought Shen Qi a bottle of vinegar.

The old vinegar produced in Yongchun is naturally not the commercial Yongchun old vinegar of later generations, but brewed by the farmers here.

Every household here can make vinegar. The geographical conditions are too favorable, the temperature and humidity are good, and the water quality is still sweet.

The crops irrigated by such water quality are naturally delicious.

The fermentation is complete, and other counties sometimes ask acquaintances to come to us to buy vinegar——an old farmer said proudly.

Moreover, every household has its own unique recipe, and the brewed ones are different. The vinegar Xia Anran bought this time is brewed by a family named Tang. This family has lived in the valley for generations, and the glutinous rice they use is grown by themselves. They use the leftovers to make vinegar, and they don’t make too much. After all, food is precious. It’s enough to make a small tank for their own food in the coming year, and it’s enough to give some to relatives and friends.

Their family’s vinegar-making process is special, just like marinated ingredients. A jar of old vinegar is handed down from generation to generation, and some aged wine is added to it every year. Over time, the taste becomes more mellow, and outsiders often come to ask for it. No money, mostly wine for vinegar, two bowls of red wine for one bowl of vinegar.

Most of the people who change the vinegar are not for eating, but the vinegar of the Tang family has the effect of curing wind and cold. When the local people have a cold, they add some vinegar as a medicine after making the medicine, and the effect is outstanding.

But Xia Anran is for food.

He brought two jars of wine and exchanged for a jar of vinegar, and when he came back, he tasted the taste really mellow.

After he reached this age, he has been living in the south of the Yangtze River. Although Zhenjiang vinegar is in the same province as him, it has not yet been created in this era.

He usually eats mainly rice vinegar.

The difference between rice vinegar and balsamic vinegar is mainly that the raw materials are different. The balsamic vinegar uses glutinous rice as the raw material, while the rice vinegar uses rice.

Xia Anran is a person who is used to eating balsamic vinegar. He grew up eating Zhenjiang balsamic vinegar since he was a child, and he always felt a bit off when eating rice vinegar, the taste was too bland.

A person's sense of taste will degenerate as he grows up, but his memory will not. The memory of the things he ate when he was a child has been blurred, but when he eats again unintentionally, he will suddenly think of the memory brought by that little food. This is the earliest memory imprinted in human memory.

It may be a bowl of sesame paste, it may be a piece of glutinous rice cake, it may be candy, it may be a drink.

In short, there are always some of the most beautiful existences that affect your memory.Maybe you ate it with the closest people at that time, or maybe you ate it when you were most depressed. When you taste the same taste a few years later, although you may have grown up, it may also be different. , but always unable to suppress the momentary throbbing under the emotional traction.

Mature vinegar and balsamic vinegar have certain similarities. After all, the raw material is glutinous rice, but most of the mature vinegar will be left for a longer time to make the fermentation more complete, and the taste will be stronger and more mellow than balsamic vinegar.

Using the analogy of a musical instrument, mature vinegar is a cello. The hoarse voice acts on the root of the ear, making people unable to help squinting their eyes to let the tone flow there quietly. Its taste is also gentle from the tip of the tongue, and then Accumulated at the root of the tongue, the aftertaste is long.

Balsamic vinegar is more like a violin. The bright tone is the same as the slightly pungent smell at first glance. It explodes in front of your ears. Before you realize it, it fills your entire mouth, not just your mouth. , Even the tip of the nose will be invaded by this taste.

And also more versatile.

Balsamic vinegar can be used as a dipping sauce or as a seasoning. It has a sweet taste, which can neutralize the greasy taste of meat, and can also enhance freshness and remove fishy smell.

Mature vinegar is mostly used as an auxiliary material for cooking because of its strong taste.After frying, the acetic acid smell is reduced, but the fragrance is more intense.

If it weren't for the high-quality glutinous rice in Yongchun, it is estimated that there is no way to make vinegar with glutinous rice in such a luxurious manner.

He specially made a few side dishes for Shen Qi with mature vinegar, Shen Qi was silent for a while, and ate the rice mouthful, without expressing much opinion, but his expression was a little stiff.

Xia Anran suddenly noticed that he was a little bit shocked, and he showed a little cautious expression, "Brother Shen, don't you like to be jealous?"

"Fair." Shen Qi responded calmly.

Xia Anran blinked, but, but when making kimchi at that time, didn't Shen Qi just take away a jar?He always thought that Shen Qi liked to eat sour?

Shen Qi really likes sour food, but at this moment his heart is more sour than the vinegar he eats.

The reason is probably because, the women who followed Xia Anran all the way back to the county government office, scrambling to say hello to Xia Anran, are almost more than the three-fold clay boards I saw today, and there are many who send flowers and fruits, and even embroidery of.

Master Shen pursed his lips, women from the Southland... really, they are indecent.

Naturally, Xia Anran didn't notice it. Although he rejected the girls' gifts one by one, this scene was really not too unfamiliar to him. When he was in college...cough.

He was quite popular in college.

Xia Anran was unaware of Shen Qi's complicated mood, seeing that Shen Qi had changed his taste, he hesitated whether to give this vinegar or not, but Shen Qi took the jar of vinegar himself, and seemed to have no objection.

It was already afternoon when Shen Qi arrived in Yongchun County, and it was not safe to walk overnight, so Xia Anran let him stay overnight. Although there were four rooms in the backyard of the county government office, two of the soldiers who Shen Qi had lent to him before suddenly made a fuss. There was a conflict, and she was unwilling to live in the same room, so she occupied a guest room. Xia Anran was a little embarrassed to find that...there was no room left.

"I can only invite Brother Shen to share a room with me." Xia Anran was a little embarrassed, oops, I invited others to live here, only to find that there was no place to live. This is so embarrassing! The kind of embarrassing cancer Awkward.

Shen Qi was calm and considerate, the two of them came all the way to Fujian and then Xia Anran found it too hot, after the cabin was dismantled, the two lived in the same room, so they were familiar with the road.The two of them finished their baths without entanglement for too long, and Xia Anran fell asleep after a night of candlelight chatting and exchanging their experiences.

Behind is the body temperature of another person. Although it has already entered summer, the summer in Yongchun County is not too hot. On the contrary, it is a little cold at night. Now the back is warm, Xia Anran shrinks her body, sleeps and squints her eyes.

The next day, Duoduo was stuffed into his arms. Shen Qi's explanation for this was that Duoduo's martial arts improved greatly when he came in, and he stayed by your side to protect you.

Xia Anran was a little baffled, he patted Duoduo's hair, and watched Shen Qi's figure on horseback fade away, he, what does he need to protect?

Not to mention the yamen servants and county lieutenants in the county yamen, there are also three relatives of Shen relatives.

Could it be that Xia Anran's expression turned serious, could it be that Shen Qi had already received the news that the Japanese were going to invade the coast?

It is necessary to make preparations early. If you want to go to war, not to mention food, medicine and gauze must be prepared in advance.

Xia Anran left the white goose behind, and hurried back to the house to write the regulations.

Xia Duoduo: ...Gah——