Chapter 265 Sheep Head

When the March wind blows through the apricot blossoms, it is the time in Tokyo to eat rolled sheep skin, cut sheep heads, and braised sheep trotters.

It was the end-of-ten-day holiday, and in the afternoon, the provincial governor Zhao Ding declined most of the guests as usual, and just read books in front of the flowers under the old apricot tree in the courtyard.

When the current official finished reading the half-volume of the new book, he suddenly felt agitated, so he got up and went to the back hall to find his wife, and then told her face to face:

"I won't be eating at home today..."

"Does your husband have an appointment today?" Mrs. Zhao was surprised. "Why did you say so now?"

"It's not an appointment, it's just a spur of the moment decision." Zhao Ding chuckled. "It's been a long time since we went to Caihe Nan City. Let's change our clothes and go have a meal of lamb heads."

Mrs. Zhao couldn't help laughing, but she felt a little embarrassed: "How can I go out? My husband, go eat with Fen'er, and bring some back for me."

"No problem." Prime Minister Zhao waved his hand, not caring at all. "Nowadays, it's different from the past. The emperor has said time and again that we should follow the customs of the Tang Dynasty and allow women to enter and leave the streets freely. Moreover, the emperor and the two concubines have been in and out of the streets many times, going to Xuande Tower, visiting Hanfang Garden, and even sneaking into the Ma Xing Street night market at night. As the governor of the court, I should also set an example."

Mrs. Zhao was still a little embarrassed, but after thinking about it, she missed the mutton head meat from the Cai River, and finally couldn't help but nodded.

So Prime Minister Zhao called his son Zhao Fen to lead two servants to go ahead, and also called six or seven guards from the imperial guards who were in charge of the guard. He asked them to take off their armor and change into ordinary cloth clothes. He waited for his old wife wearing a veil and several young children to come out. The group of more than ten people got on three large mule carts hired by his son Zhao Fen and went directly to the Cai River area in the south of the city.

In the afternoon, when spring was in full bloom, we had just passed the Suzaku Gate and had not yet reached the market south of the Cai River. In front of the Wuyue Temple, we could already smell the aroma of meat in the south wind. Several children started clamoring for food... Only Zhao Fen, the eldest son of the prime minister, who was older, showed no interest at all.

After all, before the Jingkang Incident, Zhao Ding was a permanent official in Kaifeng Prefecture. The reason why he was permanent was that he did not want to go along with others. Unfortunately, the person he recommended was the former prime minister Wu Min, who was not easy to be driven out, so he was excluded. In those years, Zhao Ding's salary was not enough to afford the food in the regular restaurants, and Mrs. Zhao was very careful with her budget, and often only bought some cheap sheep heads and sheep skins in Caihe South to satisfy her tooth. Poor Zhao Fen was the best yamen in the dynasty. He grew up in Bianliang since he was a child, but he was used to eating only sheep heads among all the delicacies. How could he have any taste now?

Of course, I would like to add here that Wu Min made huge political mistakes during the Jingkang period. One was that he protected the sponsor Cai Jing, and the other was that he advocated peace before the Jin army crossed the Yellow River. The former caused him to be demoted again and again during the reign of Yuansheng (Song Qinzong), and the latter prevented him from turning around during the Jianyan period.

However, Wu Min is indeed an interesting person. Although he was recommended by Cai Jing, he also recommended two other people, one named Li Gang and the other named Zhao Ding.

Therefore, in the early period of Jianyan, although Wu Min had not been able to truly turn over and take up an actual position, he had restored his political treatment with the help of Li Gang. Now that Zhao Ding has become the governor of the capital, he has not forgotten the favor of this person's recommendation, but has appointed Wu Min, who was in charge of Dongxiao Palace, as the governor of Guangnan West Road... It can be imagined that after Yue Fei successfully suppressed the rebellion, coupled with the special preferential treatment given to officials of Liangguang Road by the Song Dynasty, as long as Wu Min did not make any mistakes, he would return to Bianliang after one term.

All we can say is that the Jingkang Change turned the world upside down. Who could have thought that a prime minister in the past casually promoting a scholar in Kaifeng Prefecture would lead to today's double-scoring?

"Cut three whole sheep heads, one for each table, and five pounds of sheep skin, one pound here, and two pounds for the other two tables, and some sheep offal for the soup, and two pots of sweet wine, none for this side... How much in total?" After crossing the Cai River, Zhao Ding casually came to a stall with sheep heads hanging on it, sat down by the river, and then, just like he had done several years ago, casually ordered a sheep head. He always knew that this kind of table was public, so he had to pay first.

"Sir, please wait a moment. The order will be served shortly... The total price is eight hundred coins." The stall owner, who was pretending to be a seller, was delighted to see that the customer was of good character and ordered a lot, and hurried over to serve him.

When Zhao Ding heard this, although he was surprised at first that sheep heads and sheepskins were much more expensive than in previous years, considering that a small half of the country was still occupied and the important sheep-producing area of ​​Hebei was still in the hands of the Jin people, he quickly accepted this fact and signaled his servant to give him money.

However, after receiving the money, the stall owner probably saw that the family was obviously from a prominent family, so after hesitating for a moment, he continued to ask: "Sir, mutton is cheap nowadays, would you like some more mutton?"

Zhao Ding was slightly startled, but he asked curiously: "Do you sell mutton here now?"

The stall owner quickly replied, "You are an acquaintance of Dongjing City. Before the Jingkang Incident, the stalls along the Cai River would never sell mutton, but now it is different... The best mutton is only 300 coins per catty. Why don't you cut a few catties? I will ask my wife to stew a few catties of very tender mutton for you and serve it as dipping sauce for your table. The other few catties of thick ones can be used for soup instead of mutton offal?"

Zhao Ding was immediately tempted and nodded in agreement. The servant gave him the money immediately. The stall owner was very happy for having made a big deal and went back to cut the meat himself.

However, while waiting, Zhao Ding couldn't help but frown.

"Dad." Zhao Fen smiled when he saw this, and understood. "Are you wondering why sheep heads and sheep skins are much more expensive, but mutton is much cheaper? And why are they sold here by the Cai River?"

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