Chapter 207 Chapter 207 Update.
The baggage cart was pushed back, and the torn grain bags that had fallen on the ground were also carried back. After a unified inventory was taken, it was still not enough.
The imperial family summoned the princes and officials and boosted their morale in front of the tent. These people flocked to the mountains to hunt, and Guanglu Xun was among them. When they brought back the prey, the Taiguan Department would cut the meat and roast it, and they, the Tangguan Department, would also offer cakes and bait.
"Six hu of flour was scratched by the nails in the ground and was contaminated with dust. It was unclean and could not be used."
Daoguan Chengdao said that his family had been food officials for generations and served as chefs for the imperial household. They originally looked down on Ji Xu, a woman who changed her career halfway through and went from being a city chef to an official chef.
When the news came out that Ji Xu had been appointed as the chancellor of Tangguancheng for a year, all the officials of the same rank in the Shaofu congratulated her. However, he was too proud to associate with her, and he never greeted her when they met.
But after the dangerous incident of stealing food, his heart had changed. He felt more admiration and respect for Ji Xu and came to talk to her.
During this hunting trip in the villa, the imperial family rewarded the accompanying officials with the "Food Taiguan" and "Food Soup Guan". This means that the cakes and snacks eaten by these accompanying officials were all made by the "Soup Guan" office, and the ingredients used were naturally prepared in advance by the "Guide Guan" office.
Now the Minister of Justice Liang Ying said:
"Including the Imperial Household's Food Bureau, the Imperial Physician's Office, the Imperial Household's Office... and the Imperial Guards under the Imperial Household Department, there are a total of 714 officials accompanying the Emperor. That leaves a shortfall of three hu of flour."
"This is all because of the broken six hu. Otherwise, it would have been enough."
Zhou Pingdao said that it would be too late to go back and get it now. He couldn't help but feel anxious. The things were not complete, which was a disgrace to the bakery.
Only Jia Jiu was watching this scene, feeling quite proud. Logically, he was also the head of the wine and liquor room of Tang Guan's office, and he should not do such a thing that would harm his colleagues.
But he was unwilling to accept that Ji Xu had safely passed the year of trial and was given the position of Tang Guancheng, a position that should have been his since Wang Huzi fell. He had worked diligently for a year, but instead, this outsider chef got the upper hand. How could he accept this? So he planned this plot.
He had already quietly thrown the needle used to prick the horse's leg into the grass.
Ji Xu said:
"Show me those six hu of scratched flour."
The official took her to the tent where the grain was stored. She saw that the bags were all torn and the remaining flour inside was covered with sand. Ji Xu said:
"Sieve it with silk cloth and filter out the larger sand and gravel first."
"How can we use this? Even if we sift it, there will still be very fine dust in it. It's unclean. How can we use such ingredients?"
Zhou Pingdao, perhaps sensing that her interruption was inappropriate, spoke in a lower voice.
If it were an ordinary family, these would definitely be screened and eaten as is, but the imperial family's food bureau would not use such ingredients.
"You have a point, but naan bread is essential for the roast meat banquet, so it cannot be served to the imperial family or other officials. This matter is initiated by us, and it is for us, the people of the Tangguan and Daoguan offices, to eat these naan bread made of flour. I wonder if Daoguan Cheng thinks it is feasible?"
Daoguan Cheng had no objection, but he counted the number of people and said:
"Even if we and your people eat this, the clean flour still won't be enough."
However, the Taiguan Cheng who is also in the catering department said:
"We in the Imperial Household can also eat these."
Someone from the Imperial Medical Bureau said:
"Just now, Minister Tang risked his life to save the grain. We all witnessed it. We heard that there wasn't enough flour to make cakes. Our Imperial Physician Minister said that the people in the Imperial Medical Bureau could eat cakes made from the processed flour, and leave the clean ones for other colleagues in the court."
Soon, the news spread, and even the Huangmen Office and the Yulin Guard under Guanglu Xun sent people to say that they were willing to eat these.
Everyone in the bakery room, including Zhou Ping, couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. They just listened to their Shangguan Jixu's instructions:
"If this flour is handled properly, it won't be unclean. But have you sifted it through silk cloth?"
"It has been sifted. But there is still some fine dust in it, which is smaller than the holes in the silk cloth and cannot be removed." Zhou Ping said.
Ji Xu also anticipated this, so he ordered someone to bring some corn. The corn was on another cart and was not damaged at all, so there would be some surplus.
"What's the use of this corn?" Zhou Ping asked puzzledly.
When Ji Xu cooked the corn until it was swollen and slightly soft, he used a strainer to sift it out and poured it into a large cloth bag filled with flour. He tied the bag, lifted it up, and shook it repeatedly. When he poured it out, he saw that these soft corn kernels were covered with yellowish dust!
Ji Xu said:
"The dust that clings to the corn can be sifted away with a silk cloth, and the flour will not be damaged."
This is also the folk way of not throwing away grain mixed with sand and soil in my hometown, Ji Xu said,
"One dou of flour uses about three liters of millet. Follow this method and make the flour as pure as possible."
"yes!"
Zhou Ping responded excitedly, and even her aunt Hua Shanren did the same, and ordered the kitchen maids to do the same. With many hands, there is strength. The six hu of flour that was covered with sand and dirt became snow-white in this way, and no fine dust was visible.
It was busy here, and a young woman came out of the tent and said:
"Who is Tang Guancheng here?"
Ji Xu lifted the tent and went out, only to see a stranger. He was wearing Hu clothing and riding boots, with many small braids on his head, adorned with bright pearls. He was dressed in a very gorgeous and flamboyant manner. There were two simply dressed slaves following behind him. They should be the family of a high-ranking official.
During this hunting trip, some prominent officials were allowed to bring their families with them, but their families naturally had to bring their own dry food or have servants cook for them, so the food bureau was not responsible for them.
"Are you Tang Guancheng here?"
Hao Jinniang looked at the person who came out of the tent. He was about the same age as her, with an almond-shaped face, fair complexion, and a graceful appearance. Unlike most officials who were overly fat, he was instead as slender as a willow, with an otherworldly temperament.
"I am."
After hearing what she said, Hao Jinniang said:
"I am Jinniang, the daughter of the current general."
"I don't know what Jinniang wants to talk to me about. I'm just about to go to the river to water my horse. Why don't we talk while we walk?"
She roughly guessed it, but everyone here was a colleague, and the sudden arrival of an official's wife had already attracted a lot of attention, so Ji Xu found an excuse to take her away.
Hao Jinniang followed her to the meadow where the horses were tied. After walking a few steps, she turned back and stopped her, saying:
"When he rejected my grandfather's marriage proposal, he said he had someone in his heart. I guess you are the one Guanglu Xun was talking about?"
She had just witnessed the scene where the horse was frightened and Guanglu Xun whipped the horse to rescue it. She also heard that Guanglu Xun had sent a mounted official to deliver a golden plaque to her Ping'an Restaurant. The two of them were also old friends from the same hometown, so she guessed it.
"If you want to confirm this, you should go and ask him for more credibility."
Ji Xu said.
"I already know about this matter. I came to you to make an exchange with you."
"What exchange?"
"You are still on probation, less than a year. If you go and persuade him to marry into the Hao family, I will report back to my father-in-law and ask him to use his authority as the Grand General to exempt you from the probation period and confirm the appointment of Tang Guanling in advance. When Tang Guanling retires in the future, her position will definitely be yours."
Jinniang looked at her and asked,
"I see that you're willing to take risks just to get the grain. You're someone who's really focused on your career. If you agree to this, this position will be yours in advance. How do you think?"
When they stopped to talk, Ji Xu had his back to her and Jinniang saw the figure of the person he was talking about. His figure was as tall as a tree. Neither he nor his accompanying officials said anything, so Jinniang did not remind them.
I wanted him to hear Ji Xu's promise in person, but unexpectedly Ji Xu refused. She said:
"I can't make that exchange."
"Why?"
Jinniang couldn't help but feel anxious, but she regretted it the moment she said it. It must be that she valued him more than her career. She even asked for the reason, and he heard it, which actually made them successful in person.
Ji Xu was unaware that there was someone behind him, so he walked past her and said as he went:
"I've also heard that some officials receive special privileges from their superiors and can be promoted directly without undergoing a trial. However, they can't win the support of the people and find it difficult to manage their subordinates in the future, so they won't be able to make it far. I don't take shortcuts, I want to take a more stable approach."
Besides, she was determined to spend the remaining trial period and truly become competent.
I don’t know if it was Jinniang’s illusion, but the person under the shade of the tree didn’t seem to hear what she wanted, and her eyes were as cold as the sudden cold wind, which fell on people.
She turned around and caught up with Ji Xu, and tried to persuade her a few more times. Seeing that she still insisted on the same reasoning and was unwilling to agree, she left angrily.
Ji Xu went to the grassland by the river alone, looking for the horse that had been frightened and out of control.
All the horses in the camp were tied here and guarded by the horse officer. She asked the horse slave who was guarding the horses of the Shaofu, and he said that the horse had been borrowed by Guanglu Xun's men.
"Guanglu Xun's men?"
After hearing this, Ji Xu was puzzled and asked, why did Zhuang Gaiyi ask someone to borrow this horse? Guanglu Xun had the most horses. Thinking of this, he returned the same way.
On the way back, she faced the direction she came from, and saw Zhuang Gaiyi and the brown horse led by his subordinates from afar. It was the same horse that was frightened and ran away at the guide's place.
In front of everyone, she greeted him and bowed as a subordinate, then went forward to take the reins to check, feeling the horse's body with her palm.
"On the right back thigh."
After hearing his words behind her, she pulled aside the fur and saw that there was indeed a pinhole the size of a grain of rice.
"Guanglu Xun borrowed this horse just to check if it was injured?"
Turning her gaze from her horse, she saw that Zhuang Gaiyi had already dismissed his accompanying subordinates. She hummed in response and said,
"It saved me a lot of trouble. Thank you very much. I have a guess as to who it was. A clothespin is small and easy to lose, making it difficult to find. I'm afraid he's already destroyed the evidence. Since our officer Tang is not here, we can only be on guard and report it to him before we deal with it."
As he said this, he led the horse away and returned it to the horse slave who was taking care of it. He was about to leave. Seeing that his face did not look good, he asked:
"Is Guanglu Xun worried?"
He pursed his lips and said nothing, his eyes staring at her for a while like deep undercurrents, and finally turned his gaze away and said:
"No."
Ji Xu left, returned his horse, and went back to the camp to take care of the affairs of Tang Guan's office.
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