Chapter 90 It smells so good! (First update)...

Chu Shubao was slightly startled when she saw the cart full of chickens. She turned her head and asked Jiang Yanyi, "Is the store preparing a full chicken banquet?"

Jiang Yanyi was also confused. She went into the store and asked Yang Xiu, "What's the matter with the cart full of chickens outside?"

Yang Xiu said, "The driver of the palace next door just drove the cart over and said it was for us."

Jiang Yanyi felt a little subtle. Did Feng Shuo have someone send these chickens to her?

His style of giving gifts is really different and unexpected.

There are many diners in the store now. To take the chickens to the backyard, you have to pass through the store. You don't want to bump into the diners, so you can only temporarily put the dozen chickens in the cart outside.

Jiang Yanyi brought Chu Shubao into the store and greeted the familiar customers with a smile. When they knew that Jiang Yanyi had opened another noodle shop, they couldn't help but congratulate him.

Chu Shubao was in Jiang Yanyi's antique soup shop for the first time. She found that except for the small size, the layout and display here were no worse than those famous big restaurants. Everything was clean and tidy, not dirty or messy at all.

Half-person-high bamboo screens separated each table, so even if the tables were very close, it would not feel crowded. In fact, because there was a screen blocking it, it was more private, and the diners were more comfortable when eating.

On each table was a thin-necked white porcelain vase with a half-opened red plum in the mouth of the vase. The various exquisite dishes on the table were pleasing to the eye.

Before Chu Shubao had time to praise the furnishings in Jiang Yanyi's restaurant, she heard a table of diners shouting, "Waiter, prepare paper and ink!"

Chu Shubao looked in the direction of the voice and found that the diners at the table were all young gentlemen. After a few glasses of light wine, they looked a little tipsy. Perhaps they noticed that there were young girls looking at them, and the faces of several young men became even redder. In order to show off their literary talent, they started drinking games, reciting poems louder and louder. The diners at the neighboring tables either watched the show with a smile or commented on the talents of these young people with their friends.

Jiang Yanyi seemed to be used to this situation. She took out the pen, ink, paper and inkstone from under the counter and handed them to Yang Xiu, who then took them to that table. When the young masters wrote poems, the diners who were eating hotpot around them would stand up and watch the excitement. Those

who wrote good poems and good calligraphy would naturally win a lot of praise. If they met someone who pretended to be pretentious, they would also receive a lot of ridicule. This was after Feng Shuo wrote that antique soup poem for Jiang Yanyi's store, and the store became popular. She herself did not expect that it would develop into such a trend in the end.

Her antique soup shop seemed to have become an ancient Internet celebrity hotpot check-in point.

Other restaurants wanted to learn this gimmick, but unfortunately they could not learn it without that reputation.

Chu Shubao didn't know about this and found it quite novel. She leaned over the counter and whispered to Jiang Yanyi, "Do people often come to your shop to write poems? Then wouldn't you have to spend a lot on pens, ink, paper and inkstone?"

Jiang Yanyi smiled and explained to her in a low voice, "You can earn more when you become famous."

She pointed to several hand-bound poetry collections on the wall and said, "These are all I wrote these poems when I had hotpot in the store. The bookstore owner discussed with me that he wanted to print these poems and sell them in books. However, I have never met some of the diners who wrote poems again. I have no way to get their consent, so I put the matter aside. "

This is equivalent to the only copy in her store. Many readers come to the store and borrow those poetry collections to take a look.

Chu Shubao was very interested in what Jiang Yanyi said. She also took a poetry collection to look through. She found that under some poems, someone else wrote a poem in small characters. The owner of the poem found it and couldn't help but give him another poem in return. The exchange of poems between us was quite a bit like making friends through literature.

She sighed, "Ayi, you are really smart. If I leave a poem in a collection of poems, I will come here every now and then to see if anyone has replied to my poem."

Jiang Yanyi was recording in the account book. Hearing this, he held the brush and said, "If a talented man and a beautiful woman become married because of the poem, I am afraid that more customers will come to the store to leave poems."

This era was strict with women. Xizhou was outside the Great Wall, and there were fewer rules to restrict women. In the capital of the south, the more well-off the ladies, the less freedom they had. They all emphasized that they should not leave the main gate and should not go out of the second gate.

From childhood to adulthood, a girl would basically meet few men other than her own relatives. Even if there were male guests in her house, she had to avoid seeing them.

In marriage, most people follow the "parents' orders and matchmaker's words". Some even don't know what the person they marry looks like until the wedding night. How many of them are a good match? Most of the time, the woman just swallows her anger and creates a false illusion of harmony and happiness.

Therefore, in the novels, those tragic love stories that break through the secular ethics are always particularly popular.

Chu Shubao asked, "Ayi, doesn't your shop sell antique soups? How did you think of getting so many things?"

Jiang Yanyi said, "If you just want to do a small business, just consider the profit. But if you want to do it on a bigger scale, you have to create something that is at the core of your business, so that even if others try to learn, they can only end up with a poor imitation."

"Customers choose a restaurant for many reasons. The most obvious reason is that the food is delicious, because no matter how delicious the food is, it will inevitably become boring after eating it for a long time. There must be other things to guide diners to make choices, such as the dining environment and the fun they can find while eating."

In addition to the old scholar's storytelling and poetry writing in her shop, Jiang Yanyi also organized a pot-tossing activity. If all the answers are correct, you can get a free plate of Chef Yao's specialty. With the prize, more and more customers came here to play the pot-tossing game.

Chu Shubao was a person who could understand everything, and she asked almost immediately: "Then, besides being easy to use and attracting female customers to buy my rouge, is there any other way to make them like it?"

Jiang Yanyi thought for a while and said: "The celebrity effect may be useful."

Seeing that Chu Shubao didn't seem to understand, Jiang Yanyi explained: "You are from the capital. You can put on a nice makeup one day and say that a princess or county lord in the capital painted it. It's this makeup, can others still say it's not good-looking? If you are asked how you put on this makeup, and you tell me what kind of rouge you used, what method you used to put on the makeup, and then sincerely praise how good this rouge is, then it will be sold, right? "

Chu Shubao nodded wildly, with admiration written all over her face. She sighed and said, "Fortunately, Yi, you don't sell rouge, otherwise I'm afraid I would have to buy it and bankrupt myself."

Jiang Yanyi was amused.

After dealing with the things on the account, she took Chu Shubao to hide in the backyard to discuss the layout of the rouge counter and how to promote it to female customers.

When all the problems were almost sorted out, it was almost dark, and the diners in the store had all left. Yang Xiu carried the ox cart of chickens into the backyard and waited for Jiang Yanyi to deal with them.

Chu Shubao continued to write her shop plan in the room, while Jiang Yanyi went to the kitchen to help.

Although the boneless chicken feet had been chewed for a long time, Jiang Yanyi was still not so crazy as to kill more than a dozen chickens at once.

It would be great to keep a few old hens for stewing soup. Anyway, she now has a big yard, so she can fence off a piece of land and let them live a little longer.

Jiang Yanyi picked a big rooster and asked Yang Xiu to kill and pluck it.

When Chef Yao saw the slaughtered rooster, he couldn't help but praise: "This chicken is well-raised. Making soup with it will replenish blood and qi. It's the best nourishing food."

Jiang Yanyi said: "I plan to stir-fry it."

Chef Yao thought she wanted to make it into a dry pot of chicken nuggets, and shook his head and said: "That would be a waste of such a good chicken."

Jiang Yanyi said: "The name of this dish is chicken pot, and it tastes good only when it is cooked with rooster meat."

Speaking of which, there is a story behind this dish. A chef named this dish after his own name, calling it "XX Chicken Pot". Because his name is the same as the name of a mountain city, outsiders thought that chicken pot was a famous dish in the mountain city.

In his previous life, Jiang Yanyi was once asked a question by his college roommate. The roommate said, "As a mountain city native, you can make hot pot, so why can't you make chicken pot?

" Jiang Yanyi didn't know at the time that "XX chicken pot" was not a local dish. When he heard that it was impossible, he quickly taught himself how to make chicken pot. Now when he thinks back, it's funny, but it really feels like a lifetime ago.

The two most important steps in making chicken pot are to boil the old oil and make the sauce.

The old oil is fragrant and is made from four kinds of oil and more than a dozen spices. These four types of oil are vegetable sesame oil, lard, butter and chicken oil.

The other three types of oil are easy to find, but butter is not easy to buy. Occasionally, there are people selling butter and beef on the market, but they are all old cows slaughtered. It was also because he often bought meat from Ma the butcher and had a good relationship with him, and because Ma the butcher had a supply of meat, he would reserve a portion for Jiang Yanyi in advance.

When boiling the old oil, four kinds of oil are put into the pot, and butter is the last one to be added. When it is heated to 30%, ginger, scallions and garlic are added to sauté, followed by green peppercorns and dogwood to stir-fry for a spicy taste. Finally, various spices are added and boiled for half an hour on a low heat without letting the oil temperature exceed 50% hot, so that all the fragrance of the spices is boiled into the oil, which is several times more fragrant than ordinary stir-frying.

The sauce is made by sautéing more than ten kinds of spices with 60% hot sesame oil. After boiling on a low heat for half an hour, rock sugar is added to enhance the flavor, and a spoonful of rice wine is poured on it to enhance the flavor.

Wash the chopped chicken to remove the blood, marinate it with cooking wine and ginger to remove the fishy smell, and then marinate it with the boiled sauce for 25 minutes. This step is to let the chicken marinate and taste.

When the chicken is marinated, heat the old oil in the pot over high heat, add the chicken and stir-fry until it is cooked, then add the dogwood, pepper, ginger, and garlic to stir-fry until fragrant, then add lotus root, potato, tofu skin, bamboo shoots, black fungus, and soaked instant noodles, sprinkle with salt and cooking wine and stir-fry until fragrant, finally pour a spoonful of soup and simmer for half an incense stick of time, and the chicken pot is ready when the lid is opened.

Jiang Yanyi found a small clay pot, filled it up with chicken, put some coriander on it, and asked Yang Xiu to deliver the clay pot chicken pot to Feng Shuo.

Considering that the chicken was sent by the neighboring palace, Yang Xiu ran errands without any complaints.

It was probably because the old oil was so fragrant that Jiang Yanyi didn't even need to call for dinner. Everyone in the store gathered at the door of the kitchen waiting to eat.

Chu Shubao saw that there were instant noodles in the chicken pot, and her eyes lit up instantly. When the meal was served, others picked up the meat, but she picked up the instant noodles with every chopstick with great precision.

Chu Yangui staying in the Chu family for too long would make Mrs. Chu suspicious. Jiang Yanyi asked Chu Zhong to bring Chu Yangui back a few days ago and only made some delicious food to the Chu family from time to time.

Jiang Yanyi picked up a piece of chicken for Chu Yangui. Seeing that Chu Shubao was eating instant noodles crazily, he picked up a piece for her too: "Eat more meat."

Chu Shubao slurped the instant noodles and shook her head: "I think the best thing in this pot is the instant noodles!"

Different from the instant noodles cooked in the maocai at noon, this time the instant noodles were fried directly, with thick red sauce, which is very easy to absorb the flavor. The aroma of the old oil and various ingredients is almost all integrated into the instant noodles, which is simply the essence of the whole pot of chicken pot.

Jiang Yanyi thought it was funny, and Chu Shubao liked it, so she just let her do it.

During the meal, she couldn't help asking about Chu Yangui's homework. Now the news of Feng Shuo's rebellion has spread everywhere. Chi Qing, as Feng Shuo's military advisor, is also very busy every day, so naturally he doesn't have much time to guide Chu Yangui.

Chu Yangui is stubborn, but Chi Qing's mouth is really poisonous. Now he has been worn away by Chi Qing's inexplicable madness and has become more restrained.

When Jiang Yanyi asked, he said truthfully: "I have finished studying the Analects. My senior brother said that he would come to test me when the master is free, but I don't know when the master is free. Now I am reading the Doctrine of the Mean

." The old scholar also slurped the instant noodles. Chu Yangui grew up under his watch, and he was quite proud of himself. He said to Jiang Yanyi: "Young Master is very intelligent. It is rare that you can finish studying the Analects so quickly."

Chu Yangui was praised, and Jiang Yanyi was happy. He said proudly: "Study hard, and I will stew an old hen for you tomorrow to replenish your body!"

Jiang Yanyi was thinking about how to eat the remaining chickens in the temporary chicken cage outside, from the chicken feet to the chicken wings.

Feng Mansion.

Although Duke Chen was unwilling to be involved in worldly affairs, he would still give some advice if Feng Shuo rebelled.

His whereabouts had always been kept secret from the outside world. After all, he had exchanged two death row prisoners for the Mu brothers. If he had not retired early, he would have been impeached and imprisoned by his political enemies.

He wanted to find out the truth about the death of Marquis Mu Wu. Those who wanted to cover up the truth would definitely not let him succeed, and might even send someone to assassinate him after learning his whereabouts.

The fewer people who know his true identity, the better.

Therefore, when he appeared in Feng Shuo's study, there was no one else in the room except Feng Shuo and Chi Qing.

"…The emperor sent a message that Concubine Xi could only be used to exchange for one person from the Chu family." Chi Qing said with a headache: "Chu Changping is a man of justice, so he would not be willing to exchange only his own son's life. Chu Chengmao is also a man of courage. He shouted in front of the two armies, asking Chu Changping to exchange his cousin's newly born son."

After Lu Linyuan was able to save his life, Jiang Yanxi put down the heavy stone in her heart and focused on returning to the capital to rescue Minister Jiang. When she learned that she would be sent to the emperor as a hostage, she seemed to know that there was no hope of escape, and she cooperated very well.

Feng Shuo looked at the deployment map without raising his head, his eyes and eyebrows were all cold: "Didn't the emperor send a spy to rescue people? Cut off the spy's finger and send it back to him, saying that it was Concubine Xi's, and see if he will let it go."

This method is not to really hide the new emperor, but to intimidate him, let him know that the person he sent has been arrested, and the next time it will be Jiang Yanxi's finger that will be chopped off.

Chi Qing sighed: "I thought it was sinister enough, but I didn't expect you to be more sinister than me."

Feng Shuo gave him a look, and he shut up instantly. After a while, he said to Duke Chen who was leisurely drinking tea at the side, "Old man, at least say something."

Duke Chen opened his eyelids and glanced at Chi Qing: "Aren't you talking well? What do you want me, an old man, to say?"

Chi Qing was so angry that he lost his temper.

Duke Chen glanced at Feng Shuo's map and said: "Taking Yuzhou is not a long-term plan to protect the food supply. It is not difficult to intercept food and grass on the waterway that delivers oil to Yuzhou."

Feng Shuo said: "Xizhou is bitter and cold, and it is not a place that produces food. The surrounding counties are not rich. If you forcibly collect food, the people will complain at the least, and they will starve to death. For now, we can only try our best to protect the food supply."

Of course, there is a safer way. He can move back to Yuzhou with his army. Yuzhou is adjacent to Hengzhou. He has the strongest army and the richest supplies. No one can shake him anymore. But in this case, without a garrison in Xizhou, the entire northern border would be handed over to others.

Once Xizhou is lost, no army in the three states and twenty-seven cities to the south can resist the attack of the Turks, and the entire northern border will be littered with corpses and blood.

He now seems to be the most powerful among the rebel kings, but once the food supply is robbed, it will be like someone strangling his throat.

This is an unsolvable dead end, unless he is willing to bear the curse for thousands of years and abandon the entire northern border.

When the atmosphere was solemn, Xing Yao pushed the door open and said that Jiang Ji next door had sent food over.

Even with the casserole lid covering it, the fragrance still wafted out.

Feng Shuo was tired of reading official documents, so he asked Xing Yao to set the table.

Duke Chen was the first to pick up his chopsticks. He picked up a piece of meat and quickly put it into his mouth. The marinated and stir-fried chicken was rich, tender and mellow in taste. He praised: "This chicken is so delicious!"

Feng Shuo looked at the master and disciple who were wolfing down the food. He resisted the urge to throw them out and picked up his chopsticks without changing his expression.

The study was far away from Jiang Yanyi's yard, and his taste buds were not very sensitive, which made Feng Shuo feel bad at all.

Chi Qing found that Feng Shuo had a dark face throughout the whole process. He very sensibly gave up the meat and chose to eat the vegetarian dishes that Feng Shuo didn't like, but Feng Shuo's face didn't improve. He couldn't help but wonder if Feng Shuo didn't want others to eat the dishes cooked by Jiang Yanyi?

Although his mind told him that he shouldn't pick up his chopsticks again, he couldn't control his hands.

Duke Chen was eating chicken happily, and finally remembered the dozen chickens he raised in his thatched cottage: "Have you sent someone to catch my chickens? I will live here to teach my little apprentices in the future, so I won't have the time to go back and take care of them. I raised each of them from childhood, and I have a deep affection for them."

Feng Shuo said: "I have sent them to Jiangji."

Chi Qing, who was eating happily, suddenly realized something, looked at the chicken in the casserole, then looked at Duke Chen, and hesitated to speak.

Duke Chen glared at Chi Qing: "Why are you looking at your master?"

Chi Qing pointed at the chicken in his bowl: "This may be the chicken you raised."

Duke Chen was stunned, and then ate the meat without hesitation.

Chi Qing: "Don't you have a deep affection for him?"

Duke Chen smacked his lips, still unsatisfied, "Yes, tomorrow I have to let that girl kill two more chickens to accompany it."