There are a total of sixteen dishes, including braised pork belly, mapo tofu, braised fish, dry pot pork intestines, braised duck, roast chicken, cumin lamb, stir-fried shrimp with scallions, steamed pork with rice flour, steamed spare ribs, dry pot potato slices, candied sweet potatoes, stir-fried green peppers with eggs, cold pork belly salad, sliced beef and tripe in chili sauce, and cold cucumber salad.
It's not particularly amazing, but the portions are huge, making it especially suitable for country folk. It's served in basins, with a lot of meat and vegetables. Even the most adept at grabbing food will just bury their heads in their rice once it's on the table.
No need to fight over it, there's plenty.
Outside, the wind and clouds were raging, but inside, everyone remained refined and courteous.
On the man's table was a bottle of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor) and a bottle of fruit wine.
On the women's table, besides a bottle of fruit wine, there was freshly squeezed juice.
Zhao Qingyan herself doesn't like alcohol, so she doesn't have much in stock. This Erguotou was bought to be used as cooking wine, but after the old men of Zhao found it, they felt that the wine was mellow and suitable for drinking.
That's why I brought it out especially to entertain Lord Qiu today.
Lord Qiu had never drunk such strong liquor before, and dared not drink any more than a small cup.
Fruit wine is still the most popular.
“Uncle Zhao, from now on I will still call you Uncle Zhao. Although I am the county magistrate, it is not inappropriate for me to call you Uncle based on age.”
I never expected Uncle Zhao to have such good wine at home.
This tastes completely different from the wines I usually drink; it has a unique flavor.
This food is especially delicious, particularly these few dishes that I don't recognize.
These are potatoes and sweet potatoes, which Qiu has never seen before. What kind of new varieties are they?
I've tried these chili peppers before, but this is the first time I've seen them fresh.
"That's what Magistrate Qiu said."
Zhao Qianci laughed heartily.
"Sir, the taste of this chili pepper varies greatly depending on the ingredients it is cooked with."
There are still fresh ones in the field; when the adults go back to the county, we'll bring them a basketful.
These sweet potatoes and potatoes are both new varieties. They can be used as vegetables or as a staple food.
The yield is especially high. My family also got some seeds by chance last year, and after more than a year of planting, the harvest has been good.
The yield of these potatoes is around 3,000 jin per mu, while the yield of sweet potatoes grown by raising seedlings can reach around 6,000 jin per mu.
If you cut off the already planted sweet potato vines and replant them, the yield will be at most around 2,000 jin.
It is a very good type of food for filling one's stomach.
We didn't dare mention it before because there were too few seeds. If we publicized it, a lot of the seeds would be eaten. Now that the yield has increased, we still don't dare to say it.
When Qian was in the prefectural city, he mentioned these two new varieties to the prefect. The prefect was very interested.
I mentioned this to you today in the hope that you will allow Zhao Family Village to mainly grow sweet potatoes and potatoes this year.
This will allow us to obtain more grain seeds.
With food, our people can fill their stomachs and no longer suffer from hunger.
I humbly request Your Excellency's permission.
While Zhao Qianci was still making his plea, Lord Qiu's eyes were practically gleaming as he looked at the two dishes on the table.
He slapped his thigh.
"It's such a waste to ruin such good grain seeds. How much grain will be eaten today?"
"Go quickly and tell the kitchen not to make those two dishes anymore; it's such a waste."
Lord Qiu is a very upright man; he has absolutely no intention of being treated as an unworthy official.
Why didn't you tell me first? Why did you tell the prefect first? Isn't that overstepping your bounds?
His biggest concern right now is how much good stuff he'll have to eat today. He's heartbroken.
Zhao Qianci laughed loudly, "It is a blessing for Qingyang County to have such a great man."
Don't worry, sir. We've already harvested 30,000 to 40,000 jin of potatoes. At 300 jin of seeds per mu, that's enough to plant over 100 mu of land.
There are even more sweet potatoes; the total quantity must be at least tens of thousands of kilograms.
These sweet potatoes are grown using seedling cultivation. The seed quantity used per mu (a Chinese unit of area, approximately 0.067 hectares) is about 50-60 jin (a Chinese unit of weight, approximately 25-30 catties), enough to plant over a thousand mu of land.
It's okay for them to eat some. The main thing is that only when the villagers taste it will they know that it's edible and delicious, and then they will be more dedicated to planting it.
"Isn't that right, sir?"
Lord Qiu glanced sideways at Zhao Qianci.
"You've already told me. These seeds are too precious. If I had known your family would be making these two dishes today, I would have sent two pigs over instead of you eating them."
Lord Qiu is now full of resentment and doesn't want to pay any attention to Zhao Qianci.
Zhao Qianci smiled and said, "Then, sir, do you think these two dishes are delicious?"
Lord Qiu nodded immediately.
"Of course it's delicious. I could eat something this good as a staple food every day and never get tired of it."
Okay, just listen to what the adults say.
When the banquet was halfway through, the names of the guests were called out starting from the mountain gate.
"Han Xuri, the heir of the Duke of Protectorate, has arrived, and Prefect Duan has arrived."
The crowd stirred; the arrival of the county magistrate had already caused quite a stir among the guests in the courtyard.
To think that the heir of a duke and a prefect had arrived at this moment—this was truly a once-in-a-lifetime event!
I finally had the chance to meet an important person.
Everyone in the main house quickly stood up and went out to greet them.
Seeing Lord Duan walking behind Han Xuri, the Zhao family members were bewildered, but since they had just understood the names being called out, they quickly knelt down to pay their respects.
He was immediately helped up by Han Xuri, who was walking in front of him.
"Everyone, please dispense with formalities."
I came here with Lord Duan to join in the fun. I heard that the Zhao family has five scholars, which is quite rare. There is also a young scholar who is only 11 years old this year. Is this the young boy?
Indeed, she is remarkably intelligent and beautiful.
"Old Master Zhao, would you mind if I came to your residence for a drink?"
Han Xuri said.
"Not at all, not at all, it's an honor to have you here. Please, Your Highness, and please, Lord Duan."
The group entered the house, removed the previous food and drinks, and set up a new table. The seating arrangement was also changed.
This time, the person seated in the main seat was Han Xuri, followed by Lord Duan, then Lord Qiu, and then the Zhao family members.
As for the two managers, they would never dare to sit at the same table as their master, even if they were beaten to death.
The Zhao family arranged for them to sit at a separate table in the living room upstairs.
The people accompanying them changed from some elderly people to several young boys from the Zhao family.
Han Qingshan, Han Qingfeng, Qingling, Qingluan, and a little boy named Qingyang.
The main reason why little Qingbi wasn't there was that he was at the Huang family's table playing with the children from Magistrate Qiu's and Scholar Wang's families.
The hosts can't all be adults, otherwise the children simply won't sit still.
When a bunch of little ones get together, it gets lively.
Especially since the children in the green-haired group are educated, they communicate with each other without any pressure.
One downside of the children being together is that the little girls tend to get angry and throw tantrums.
Especially seeing how cute little Zhao Qingbei is, it felt like the two girls were vying for attention.
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