Cattle generally can't eat, and the most frequently used meat, in addition to dog meat, chicken, duck, fish, etc., is this mutton. In the early Tang Dynasty, there was no habit of boiling mutton soup outside, the cooked mutton was sliced, poured with garlic paste and sprinkled with salt and eaten, or directly put it in boiling water to cook, and the salt was gnawed open after cooking, and the method was really not much, unlike the red stew and stir-fried in later generations, and the roast mutton was also there at this time, but the seasoning was too little, and it only tasted salty, which was really not beautiful. Mutton soup, delicious and nourishing the stomach, a big pot is set up on the street, the fragrance floats on a street, the whole bowl of mutton soup, and then a few thin cakes are cut into shredded cakes, and they are soaked in the mutton soup, they are absolutely happy to eat, and the whole body is warm after eating, and the mutton soup can be passed down for thousands of years, and it naturally has its value. At the beginning of the teaching village, there was a family selling mutton soup, Xia Hongsheng and the teachers in the school often went there to drink, the taste was very good, because he was his child's teacher, so people asked and said, in fact, the secret recipe is very simple, is a piece of pine wood and some angelica. However, there is also a particular emphasis on this, the pine must be peeled, and placed for a period of time, otherwise the rosin inside will be strung with the taste of mutton soup, relax the wood, mainly to remove the smell of mutton, absorb the miscellaneous foam cooked in the meat, the real ability to play a role in enhancing the flavor is Angelica Angelica, of course, pine wood also has a certain flavor enhancement effect, but not as good as Angelica Angelica. With these two things, the boiled mutton soup is fragrant but not thick, thick and white, and with peppers and the like, the taste is very good.

Xia Hongsheng patted his chest and promised to drink it only at his own home, and never spread it, and later it became Xia Hongsheng's secret recipe.

The sheep bones were boiling in the iron pot, Xia Hongsheng straightened up another pot, added water, and then got two large buckets, poured all the salt soil bought back into the buckets, added water, and then found two wooden sticks, and stirred them in the two wooden barrels one by one, accelerating the dissolution speed of the salt soil in the water.

With such two large barrels of salt solution, how can you get a small bag of good salt? Xia Hongsheng stirred the two wooden barrels, while sniffing the lamb bone soup boiling in the Chinese fire of the iron pot, the aroma had gradually begun to escape from the pot, and the worms in Xia Hongsheng's stomach also stirred. Wait until this pot of soup is boiled, take out the lamb bones inside, sprinkle with condiments, and gnaw it is not an ordinary cool wow! It's a pity that at this time, chili peppers have not yet been introduced into China, and although the taste of dogwood is also spicy, it is still lacking in taste compared to chili peppers! Not only chili peppers, but also many foods that are not available in later generations, such as corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes...... During the Ming Dynasty, with Zheng He going to the West, he brought back many new species, and at the same time, many countries in Europe were also beginning to expand outward by sailing ships, and the world gradually entered the Age of Discovery.

A few days ago, I heard a few old people in the neighborhood chatting that this year's weather is not beautiful, and people may starve to death in the coming year. Speaking of the famine, everyone was startled, and their faces changed. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, there were few types of grain, because of technical reasons, the yield was originally low, and now because of the war, many fields were barren, so they settled down. If there were as many vegetables and grains as in later generations, I am afraid that there would not be such a tragic situation as cannibalism, but unfortunately, Xia Hongsheng was just an ordinary person, unable to build a great sailing ship, and did not have the ability to promote the early advent of the Age of Discovery, and go to the American continent to bring back those food species. So I could only sigh faintly and sniff hard, well, the mutton has been cooked.

"Huh! What is Jingshi doing again? How can it be so fragrant and attractive? Suddenly an exclamation came from behind, Xia Hongsheng turned around and looked, but he saw Yan Shigu, the middle-aged scribe, and Xu Qixian with a wry smile, and an unknown person standing outside his courtyard together. was smiling at him, and the one who just spoke was the old master Yan Guyan.

As soon as he saw Xu Qixian's appearance, Xia Hongsheng guessed who the person he didn't know was, hey, this is still coming to the door?!

Xia Hongsheng threw the wooden stick into the bucket with a smile, hurriedly walked out a few steps, and saluted outside the door: "The student has seen Master Yan and Brother Xu. Meet this senior, meet Uncle Xu. ”

After counting this round of salutes, several people suddenly laughed on their faces. The ancients paid great attention to etiquette and etiquette, which would make a good impression on people, but on the contrary, they would be regarded as rude people, even if they were talented, they would not be treated well. This is the reason why those crazy people who were obviously very talented in ancient times repeatedly cherished talents. After many years of different work, the experience gained told Xia Hongsheng that if you want to moisten the mix, you still have to have the awe and obedience to the system and authority, even if you make a show, you have to make it, just slander it in your heart, don't take it seriously, otherwise you will definitely be the one who suffers.

"Well, yes, it's really a good offspring who knows the number of etiquette." Xu Qixian's uncle stroked his beard and nodded with a smile.

"Uncle Xu praised it falsely, they are all well taught in the academy, and the little nephew doesn't dare to be it." Xia Hongsheng replied politely, then turned to Yan Shigu again, and Shi Li asked, "I don't know if Master Yan is here today, what are your orders?" Students must do their best. ”

Yan Shigu shook his head with a smile and said, "Today, Lord Xu is looking for you for something, and the old man and the Yan clan are just idle and have nothing to do, and they just come to see the fun." ”

Hey, you two, one is a generation of Wenzong in a few years, and the other is estimated to be an official from Chang'an City, who came to my small household to watch the excitement? Xia Hongsheng slandered in his heart, but his face was silent, but he turned to Xu Qixian's uncle again and asked, "I don't know what Uncle Xu commands?" ”

Xu Qixian's uncle first turned around and bowed respectfully to Yan Shigu, and said: "Lord Yan is in front, how dare the lower officials be called adults, Lord Yan is ashamed of the lower officials!" After speaking, he turned around and came back, took out a few pieces of paper from the wide cuffs in his hand, and said to Xia Hongsheng: "Without him, yesterday I was a child of my family who took the school exam, and I was surprised that Qi Xian's nephew's arithmetic has made great progress, and after asking for a long time, I said frankly that it was taught by you." The old man was very shocked, you must know that even if you are a student in the Guozi Prison, it is difficult to have such a process! That's why the old man wants to come and meet you. ”

"Uncle Xu praised it falsely, the little nephew and Brother Xu are like brothers, if Uncle Xu wants to see the little nephew, just ask Brother Xu to bring a sentence, and the little nephew should come to visit." Xia Hongsheng's attitude was very respectful, and his words were in place, which made Xu Qixian's uncle nod with satisfaction.

"I don't know, Jing Shixian's nephew taught Qi Xian's nephew, where did he learn the laws of those calculations? Such a master of arithmetic...... Xu Qixian's uncle was a little excited, and he could see his love for this science, but Xia Hongsheng secretly smiled bitterly in his heart, he was strict in his later life, and the worst thing was mathematics, and it was not easy to barely remember some of it.

Hearing him ask, Xia Hongsheng scratched his head, do you want to say that it was given by the immortals in the mountains? was embarrassed, but he heard Yan Shigu say beside him: "Filial piety and slowness, well, these symbols on the paper, the old man is novel and tight, I just listened to Qi Xian in the academy, but I didn't tell the reason." Come to think of it, you have to ask this master. ”

As soon as Xu Xiaode heard Old Master Yan's words, he also bowed back and took a step back, didn't ask anymore, and handed over the piece of paper in his hand, Xia Hongsheng took it and looked at it, but there were some Arabic numerals on it.

Respectfully invited the four to sit down, and took advantage of the boiling water to make tea and put it in front of the four, turned back to the room and took out a quill and ink, and then sat down and took the paper and said: "Well, this is a method of counting that the student met in Laojun Mountain, which was accidentally obtained from the ancient classics, which is simple and easy to use, easy to copy, and easy to calculate, you see...... For example, the little nephew just bought 30 catties of salt soil, and with the traditional calculation, the official family will be recorded as three catties, and with this kind of digital record, it can be written as 37 catties, don't look at this number can not see anything, but the number recorded is more, and it shows an advantage. ”

"This thing...... Well, very good! Deserve it to be of great use! Yan Shigu stroked his beard, his eyes were full of essence, and then he turned his head to Xu Xiaode and said: "Xiaode, since this thing was taught by Jingshi to your nephew, you have carefully learned the doorways in these numbers, and then you will fold it in the book, if this thing can be extended, it will be of great benefit to my dynasty!" ”

Xu Xiaode was taken aback, looked at Yan Shigu with wide eyes, and quickly got up to thank him: "Lord Yan, this ......"

"It's okay, this is what Jingshi taught Qi Xian, and it can be regarded as something you found at home, so there is no need to say anything more." Yan Shigu waved his hand, blocked Xu Xiaode's words, and said.

After that, Yan Shigu looked at Xia Hongsheng, and saw that Xia Hongsheng was still smiling, and he didn't care, so he nodded with a smile, and asked again: "Jingshi, what are you buying so much salt soil for?" Could it be related to the aroma of your hospital? ”

"That's not it, this aroma is caused by the student being concocting mutton soup, and today is the right time to teach Master Yan, this senior, Uncle Xu and Brother Xu to taste fresh!" Xia Hongsheng said with a smile: "As for these salt soils, what Master Yan asked, the students didn't dare to deceive. In fact, this salt soil cannot be used directly as table salt, and the ingredients in it are messy, and many of them are poisonous when eaten into the stomach. The students experimented with a way to make good salt from these salt soils, tried it yesterday, and bought more today and tried it again. ”

As soon as the words fell, he was stunned when he saw that the four people on the opposite side were all stunned, even Yan Shigu shook his hand and pulled off a few whiskers, but he didn't feel the pain at all, and looked at him with wide eyes. Xu Qixian's uncle stood up even more suddenly, and pointed at Xia Hongsheng with trembling arms and asked, "You, can you make good salt from the salt soil?!" ”