Chapter 55 Chapter 55 Spring Examination and Biting Spring Pancakes In order to be high...
Xuanyangfang in February is even more lively than in the first month. The inns in the civilian residential area of Beili are packed with candidates from all over the country who have come to take the imperial examinations.
As a result, the Duan family restaurant business also continued to grow. After all, the tributes from the villages always need to eat.
The cosmetics shop next door that had just been bought was also opened up in the middle. The shop was already fairly well decorated, and in order to catch the wave of customers during the Spring Examination, they simply renovated the kitchen, bought some food tables and opened it temporarily. After all, the decoration of the shop could wait, as the Spring Examination only came once a year in February.
With a larger space, Duan Zhiwei had some other ideas. He specially found a mason to build an earthen kiln in the backyard. Although the Hu Bing oven can also be used for baking, it is indeed not as convenient to use as a kiln.
As soon as cherries are on the market, this kiln can be used to bake cherry biro and various kinds of bread. Duan Zhiwei felt much better when thinking of the soft and fragrant bread with a light wheat aroma.
Except...
Once this person has some wishes, he likes to do some strange activities to seek transcendence and comfort. For example, Zhen Hui, he paid out of his own pocket to replace all the earthenware bottles in the restaurant with porcelain bottles painted with lotus and egrets. It is said that the egret, lotus and lotus leaves painted together symbolize success in all exams.
Then he removed the blooming daffodils on the counter and replaced them with a few branches of apricot blossoms. This was because in February, when the apricot blossoms were in full bloom, the emperor would hold a banquet for successful scholars in the Qujiang Garden, which was called the "Apricot Forest Banquet." Apricot blossoms symbolize success in the imperial examinations, so even though the price of this flower continued to rise, Zhen Hui still gritted his teeth and bought a few branches to put in the vase.
He even wanted to dig up the Chinese toon tree at the door and replace it with a beech tree, but was strongly stopped by Duan Zhiwei and Aunt Duan. What a joke, she was pointing at the tender shoots of Chinese toon and making scrambled eggs with Chinese toon.
Aunt Duan coaxed and persuaded her, saying, "We don't know if this beech tree will survive after it was just planted. If it dies, it will be a bad omen. We might as well forget about it."
What she said made sense, so Zhen Hui let it go and then begged Duan Zhiwei to make more osmanthus cakes, pig's trotters and the like. Osmanthus means winning the first prize, and pig's trotters has the same pronunciation as "tied the list", and pig's trotters are cooked food, and cooked trotters has the same pronunciation as "familiar questions", which means that he will definitely encounter familiar questions in the exam.
The whole Chang'an seemed to be caught in a frenzy of the Spring Examination. All the temples were very busy. Other Bodhisattvas and gods were fine, but there were too many incense sticks in front of Emperor Wenchang, so the temple had no choice but to set up a dozen incense tables to hold the various offerings from the believers.
Some bookstores even bought the Kuixing Pointing Brush, with the tip of the brush dyed red. One reason was to try to bring good luck, and the other was that the sage would use his imperial pen in red to bring good luck. Each brush cost several hundred coins, and they were sold out.
Duan Zhiwei: “…” Forget it, whatever he says is what it is.
Therefore, according to Zhen Hui's suggestion, the restaurant put up a sign and sold some Zhegui Cake and Jidi Congee in the morning. In fact, they were just rice cakes with osmanthus honey and thick white porridge with nice names. Although the taste was just so-so, it did attract a group of scholars to come and buy breakfast for good luck.
As the beginning of spring is approaching, spring plates and spring pancakes also need to be prepared. Spring plates are easy to make, just put seasonal vegetables such as spring leeks, artemisia selengensis, radish, and celery sprouts on a plate.
Spring rolls are a little more complicated. The big pot at the door is bubbling, and the aroma of the bright red and brown braised pig's trotters that have been simmering on a low fire all night is so fragrant that it keeps getting into the noses of passers-by.
Two slices of hot dough pancakes, cut braised pig's trotters and pork elbow into thin strips, stir-fry some Beijing-style pork shreds, vinegar-cooked green bean sprouts, and egg sauce, then put them in the hot dough pancakes and eat them by yourself.
You have to bite a big piece of spring pancake into it. Although it is not elegant to eat, it is indeed fragrant and chewing it is quite relaxing, especially for students who are approaching the spring examination.
Su Xun has not dared to go into restaurants recently. He can only buy some food at the door and take it home. His green official uniform was really eye-catching. Although he was only a ninth-rank clerk, he was, after all, a Jinshi who had attended the Xinglin Banquet, especially since he had an uncle who was a princess consort.
The imperial consorts of the dynasty had no real power, but they were royal relatives after all. So whenever the tributes saw Su Xun, they would pull him over and ask him to drink. However, Su Xun was not very good at drinking, so after drinking, his face turned red and he stood up and chanted loudly, "Alas, how dangerous it is!"
But when he woke up, he remembered nothing. When others told him about the funny way he recited poetry, Su Yu's face turned red and he wished he could crawl into the ground.
As a result, even Xiao Putao would run over and pull Duan Zhiwei's skirt and say, "Madam, hey, he's here again!" when he saw him, which made everyone laugh.
Aunt Duan knew that he was shy, so she packed some shepherd's purse wontons and asked him to take them home and cook them himself. It was February in Chang'an and the wind was cold, so these things could be preserved.
Su Yu was very grateful.
With the Spring Examination approaching, Yuan Shenji also became busy. As the chief of the Jinwu Guard, he needed to cooperate with the Ministry of Rites and be responsible for the security of the venue. The military officer at the gate of the courtyard also had to be carefully selected. If a tribute brought in cheat sheets, the Jinwu Guard would also be held jointly responsible, so he stayed near the courtyard for several days in a row.
I had some free time today, so I immediately rode my horse to the restaurant.
Duan Zhiwei held up a plate of spring rolls and sat down next to him. They were topped with dogwood, egg sauce fried in soy sauce, thinly shredded tender pork elbow, crisp cucumbers, green bean sprouts and other vegetables neatly arranged.
After all, he was her boyfriend, so Duan Zhiwei scraped off the soft fat on the elbow when cutting the vegetables, leaving only the lean elbow meat inside. She soaked it in the marinade for half a day, then cut it into shreds and wrapped it in the pancake skin.
Yuan Shenji didn't rush to eat. He first told her in detail how much his annual salary was and where it was paid.
Officials of this dynasty had two kinds of salary and stipend. The salary was paid in the form of silver and silk, while the stipend was paid in the form of grain. In addition, the sage also granted them a piece of land. Yuan Shenji also had a piece of land, but he was too lazy to take care of it, so the old housekeeper rented it out to a farmer.
In addition, his salary was paid by the Taicang Office under the Sinong Temple. In addition to silver, there were also large and small boxes of silk. He could drive a horse-drawn carriage to get it himself, or pay extra money to have the Taicang Office deliver it to his home.
Originally, there were only him and two old servants in the Yuan Mansion. Now, his father and stepmother have transported a cart of servants from Runan to Chang'an, and all the food, clothing and expenses of these people are paid from his salary. Spending his money is a small matter, but the main reason is that he is annoyed by seeing them all and doesn't even want to go back to the mansion. Therefore, he has made an agreement with his old friend in Taicang Office that in the future all his salary from the Jinwu Guard will be sent to the Duan family restaurant in Xuanyangfang.
Duan Zhiwei was concentrating on making a perfect spring pancake for him. Hearing what he said, he laughed and said, "Captain, you are not afraid that I will abscond with the money."
The latter stared at her with a pair of dark eyes: "It's okay to run away." He took the opportunity to hold her hand and rubbed it twice: "Don't forget to take me with you."
Duan Zhiwei slapped him away, and then stuffed a large spring pancake that looked like a bundle into his hand, blushing slightly and saying, "Others are watching."
"So what?" He didn't care much. In fact, some tributes from the countryside also wanted to make friends with this fourth-rank official who was highly regarded by the saint, but he was so cold and solemn that when he sat there, others didn't even dare to look at him.
Speaking of the Spring Examination, he stopped laughing and became serious: "The Spring Examination lasts three days. I must stay in the courtyard with the Minister of Rites and cannot go out."
"I know." Duan Zhiwei nodded.
Zhen Hui has been nagging for at least a month. It's not his fault. The environment in this courtyard is terrible. Each village tribute has a narrow cell. There is no space to stretch out. Moreover, they eat and sleep in the cell. Except for going to the toilet, they cannot move around freely and cannot go out for three days.
Moreover, the venue does not provide food, so candidates have to bring their own. Even if they bring a steamed bun, it will be crushed by the Wu Hou at the door to prevent cheat sheets from being found inside.
If you want to eat something good, you have to order the Gulouzi with mutton, but there is no place to heat up the food in the yard. The mutton in the Gulouzi has become cold and has a fishy smell. Besides, there is no place to wash your hands after eating, and you will have nowhere to cry if you get your hands covered in grease from the test paper.
Therefore, Duan Zhiwei planned to use the newly built earthen kiln to bake some oil-free whole wheat bread for Zhen Hui.
But now that she heard that Yuan Shenji would also be in there for three days, she became worried: "What are you going to eat? Are you going to eat those dry steamed buns too?"
Yuan Shenji felt warm at heart when he heard her care for him, and took her hand again: "It's okay, there is a special kitchen in the yard."
He had never been particular about food, and moldy food and grass could satisfy his hunger. However, during the Spring Examination, the officials of the Ministry of Rites were locked in the courtyard, and the court would not let them go without food.
Having said that, Duan Zhiwei still went to the butcher shop and ordered some hind leg meat. He minced the meat, mixed it with various kinds of light soy sauce, cooking wine, oyster sauce, and pepper, and marinated it for half an hour. Cover with another layer of wax paper and use a rolling pin to roll the minced meat into a thin layer.
This thin layer of minced meat is sent into the earthen kiln and baked evenly. Then it is turned out, brushed with a layer of honey water, and sprinkled with fried white sesame seeds. Then a iron plate of pork jerky is ready.
The meat was rolled very thin, so it was crispy after being roasted. Pu Tao finished an entire plate by herself and wanted more. Duan Zhiwei was afraid that she would upset her stomach, so he refused to give her any more and told her to eat it the next day. This made Pu Tao unhappy the whole day.
The examination basket that Zhen Hui asked Aunt Duan to buy from the East Market also came back. It was a basket woven with bamboo strips, and it was filled to the brim with various toiletries, candles, bamboo charcoal, pens, ink, paper, and inkstone.
Outside the courtyard, all kinds of luxury cars were crowded. After all, children of wealthy families also needed to participate in this imperial examination. The Duan family specially rested for half a day, and two donkey carts were dispatched to take him to participate in the Spring Examination.
In order to prevent unclean food or food grease from staining the test paper, Duan Zhiwei had to make him oil-free whole wheat bread for three days. "Please bear with it for these three days. I will open a jar of aged Bamboo Leaf Green to celebrate with you when you come out."
Zhen Hui's eyes were red. He held the examination basket and bowed solemnly to everyone in the restaurant, then turned and walked into the courtyard.
Aunt Duan's eyes also turned red as she looked at his back.
Wu Hou, the guard at the door, was always rude in his treatment of people, but after receiving Yuan Shenji's greeting, he was much gentler when searching Zhen Hui's belongings, which made Zhen Hui relax a lot.
Duan Zhiwei took a big bag of pork jerky and walked slowly to Yuan Shenji's side. He was wearing a full set of black iron bright light armor today. He stood at the door with a burly figure, looking a lot more stern and murderous.
Duan Zhiwei took advantage of no one noticing and stuffed the bag of pork jerky into his hand, then looked at him with bright eyes and said, "See you in three days."
Yuan Shenji's expression also warmed up a lot. He raised his hand to touch her soft and round face, but put it down again and replied with only two words: "Wait for me."
The gate of the courtyard was blocked, and Wu Hou began to drive away the idlers around. The weather was excellent today, and it was clearly a warm spring day, but the atmosphere in the courtyard was as stagnant as agar, with only the "swish" sound of the examinees writing.
After a day of inspection, Yuan Shenji and the two deputy generals of the Jinwu Guard arrived at the canteen in the courtyard. Several invigilators from the Ministry of Rites were already sitting there. After exchanging a few words of greeting, they sat down.
The servants quickly brought each person a bowl of white porridge and a steamed bun, and then left. Several officials stared at the white porridge for a while, and then looked at each other in confusion.
Last year's meals were still normal dishes such as corn and mutton. Yuan Shenji remembered that there was also crescent-shaped wontons last year, which were filled with water chestnuts, bamboo shoots and river shrimps, and tasted excellent.
But this year, a few steamed cakes were distributed in the morning, a few more steamed cakes were distributed at noon, and now a few tasteless steamed cakes are distributed again.
Several invigilators asked their servants about the matter and found out that this year's chief examiner was also from a poor family and wanted to treat his fellow examinees equally. He did not allow the kitchen to prepare high-end meals, but only plain porridge and steamed cakes.
Most of the other officials were children of wealthy families. They wished they could have meat at every meal. They had never experienced such hardship before, but they could not disobey their superiors, so they all sighed in the canteen in the courtyard.
So Yuan Shenji took out the bag of pork jerky that Duan Zhiwei gave him. As soon as he opened the oil paper, a rich and mellow aroma of meat wrapped in a hint of sweetness from honey wafted into his nose.
He took a bite, and with a "crunch", the crispy and burnt sound of the meat jerky rang between his lips and teeth. With the oiliness of white sesame seeds and the sweetness of honey, the firm, tender and salty flavor of the pork spread in his mouth.
Duan Zhiwei prepared a lot of jerky, and logically he should have shared some with other officials, but this time Yuan Shenji decided to be a selfish person.
So, as everyone envied him, a series of "crunching" sounds came from his side. He was enjoying his meal with his eyes slightly narrowed. The officials from the Ministry of Rites next to him sighed, lowered their heads and started eating the tasteless steamed buns again.
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