Chapter 14 Chapter 14 Pottery tripods and pottery steamers.
He went to the hut and took the money to pay. The hut stood at the edge of the field, with bamboo walls and a thatched roof. It was not very spacious inside, and a poplar bed took up most of the space, with a bamboo mat on top and a wolfskin blanket as a cover.
Last year at midnight, a wolf from the mountains broke into the public fields to look for food. Zhuang Gaiyi happened to have his bow and arrow drawn and shot the wolf. He sold the wolf meat to a butcher shop in the county, but still kept the wolf skin, which he still found convenient to use.
Hanging on the west wall was a large iron bow and a bag of arrows made of either iron or wood. Below it was a square Wei chest with an iron spring lock on the front.
Zhuang Gaiyi took out the key from his waist and unlocked the box. The box was filled with his daily clothes, neatly folded.
He took out a purse from it, walked out, and gave all the money to Ji Xu.
At this moment, the task of distributing steamed buns was assigned to an assistant official sent by the county.
After the assistant official had distributed the baskets, he brought the two empty baskets back to Ji Xu.
"This is lunch. The bean porridge for breakfast was not very satisfactory, so this steamed bun is for everyone to fill up." Mr. Tian said as he walked around.
The man in the field received the steamed buns and muttered to himself, "This is made of fine grains, much better than bean porridge. Besides, he has never tasted such soft buns in his life." After eating them, he couldn't help but praise the farmer for his kindness.
"The stingy man showed pity to the menial servants..."
I work harder now and am no longer as lazy as before.
After a circle, Tian Shefu stood on the edge of the field and took a bite of the brown sugar steamed bun in his hand. It was soft, sweet and the girl had good cooking skills. He ate the rest in big mouthfuls.
Thinking that there is still tomorrow, I must not ask the pavilion to send some perfunctory food.
He turned around and discussed with Ji Xu, "Will you still sell steamed cakes tomorrow? I want to order 180 white jade steamed cakes and 20 brown sugar steamed cakes. Just a little. You must deliver them here at sunrise."
The white jade ones were distributed to the menial workers, two pieces for each meal, three times a day; the brown sugar ones were used to entertain the supervisors, Mr. Tian thought so.
Ji Xu could sell 200 steamed buns at a time, so he did it naturally.
As for the delivery time, the Western Han Dynasty used a twelve-hour system, namely: midnight, cockcrow, dawn, sunrise, noon, midday, sunset, dusk, sunset, evening, and nightfall.
In the small valley of Benguli, there is a stone sundial. If the sun is shining, the shadow of the bronze arrow in the center will point to the corresponding time.
It was dark at night and without sunlight, so it was impossible to tell the time by using a sundial, unless there was a more advanced copper clepsydra, but Ji Xu's family did not have such an item.
However, the sunrise is about five o'clock in the future. People in the village can wake up to the crowing of cocks in the middle of the night. Besides, Ji Xu has something on her mind and will not sleep soundly, so she is not worried about missing the time.
She replied calmly, "I'll definitely deliver it at sunrise."
She wasn't afraid that this man might go back on his word and waste her efforts. First, he had said this in front of many petty officials and prisoners, especially the prisoners in the fields. When they heard that the farmer was going to order steamed cakes tomorrow, their eyes widened. If the farmer went back on his word tomorrow, he would not be able to supervise his men to work hard to harvest the rice.
Secondly, although Tian Sefu was a minor official, his salary was 200 hu, so he could afford the cost of these 200 steamed buns.
However, to make 200 steamed buns, you need to go to the market and buy a whole dou of flour.
Also, there were not enough bamboo steamers at home, and they were too slow. Missing the time would be a big deal. The bamboos on Niupi Mountain were either old or tender, and were not suitable for breaking strips and weaving bamboo. Besides, they had all been cut down by Jin. She probably had to go deep into the mountains to find unowned bamboo, but there were wild beasts in the depths of Niupi Mountain. She was unarmed and was not prepared to take the risk.
You can only spend money and buy a ceramic tripod and use it with a ceramic steamer. Then you can steam with two stoves at the same time, which will be much faster.
The price of flour remains the same, sixty coins per hu.
The pottery tripod cost forty coins, and the pottery steamer cost twenty coins. Ji Xu bargained for the price, but the shopkeeper took it back, not giving him a penny less. Since Ji Xu was the only utensil shop in the town, he had no choice but to pay the price.
From now on, the old pottery cauldron at home will be used exclusively for cooking. The newly bought pottery tripod can not only be used to steam food, but also to cook rice, and it is much more convenient to boil water. The three sisters have used Tianmingjing to boil water to wash their hair in the past two days, and the lice on their heads have obviously decreased a lot. If they persist in using it for three or five more times, they can eradicate them. After buying the pottery tripod, they don’t have to use the pottery cauldron together to boil water.
Today, excluding the steamed buns that the three sisters ate for breakfast and lunch, they sold ninety buns and earned one hundred and thirty-five dollars, which is close to the goal of calculating the money orally.
After buying the belongings, I was back to the time before liberation.
After wiping the remaining fifteen coins from his palm, Ji Xu simply let go of his spending and bought a pottery bowl. It had a large mouth, a short neck, an oval belly, a lid, and a spoon. It had a large capacity and was perfect for holding lard. The family lacked such a utensil, which could not be replaced by a bamboo tube.
In this way, all the money earned will be spent.
But it’s okay. If you want to do your job well, you must first sharpen your tools. This way you can work with ease. There’s a big order coming tomorrow.
She also wanted to add a water jar and a bucket to her home, but there was no rush and she could add them slowly.
In the afternoon, while walking on the road, Ji Zhu happily said she would help. Ji Xu asked her to carry two empty willow baskets, while he carried a basket on his back and held a pottery tripod with a pottery steamer on top. The flour and pottery bowls were placed in the basket, and then he went home.
The sun slanted over the hilltop, casting their shadows on the road.
Ji Xu had heavy things in his hands, so he had to put them down to rest his shoulders after walking for a while.
She stood on the side of the road and shook her sore arms. Ji Zhu silently wanted to pick up the pottery tripod for her, but she used all her strength and her face turned red, but she didn't move at all. After all, she was just a child.
Ji Xu smiled and said, "Xiaozhu has helped me carry the baskets, which has helped me a lot. Otherwise, I really wouldn't be able to free up my hands to carry these two baskets."
Ji Zhu blushed and said, "When I grow up, I will be able to help my sister carry more things."
Ji Xu patted her head and said, "Thank you, Xiaozhu."
Entering the territory of Benguli, she met many acquaintances. When she rested, she could hear the gossips of the peasant women in the rice fields beside the road:
"Miss Xu is back from selling steamed buns?"
"This pair of pottery tripods and steamers must have cost a lot of money, didn't it?"
"You're not in a hurry. You have to pay taxes in a few days, and you've spent so much money on buying things. Taxes are a big part of the bill. Your family has to pay more than a hundred coins, right? The officials are ruthless. If you can't pay, they'll just throw you in jail! Tsk tsk, you're still young, and you don't have any foresight when it comes to big things."
Ji Xu responded naturally, "I bought the cheapest one I found. I only have one pottery pot at home, and it's really inconvenient to cook both dishes and rice. I still have four days left, and I'll slowly save up the tax money."
Slowly?
Everyone laughed at her carelessness, but some were also waiting to see the show.
Jin was the latter. Her family had twenty acres of land, and the whole family had worked together. They had harvested five or six acres. The threshing bucket was filled with golden rice grains, which were poured into baskets one by one with bamboo scoops. They carried them home and hung them out to dry in the yard.
The good harvest of these twenty mu of land means that the family no longer has to worry about taxes. He walked like a big rooster. Seeing that Ji Xu was still spending money to buy more things, he curled his lips and said:
"If I were Tian Guinu, I would crawl out from the ground and beat her up if I knew her daughter was so stupid."
The author has something to say:
----------------------
Pots, steamers, and tripods were all common cooking utensils during the Qin and Han dynasties.
By the way, you can look at the cover. The small image is from the Han Dynasty mural "Kitchen Picture." The one in the lower left corner, with a small base and a large mouth, and a tall lid, is a zong (zeng), a steaming vessel with a hole in the bottom. The small one next to it, with a handle like a spoon sticking out, is a cauldron (fu). The cauldron evolved from the li (li), so the two have some similarities. The zong (zeng) can be placed on top of either to steam food.
Baby, remember to collect it, the author will get full motivation, love you [hug]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
