Zhu Zhen was a regular customer of this shop, and all the waiters in the shop knew him.
"Sixth Master, five catties of braised beef and a pot of old wine?”
The waiter asked enthusiastically.
Zhu Zhen thought for a moment and said,"We have something important to do today. We don't need to drink. Beef will do."”
"Give me ten catties of spiced beef."
The waiter looked troubled." Master Liu, it's too early now. We haven't had time to marinate it yet. There are only eight catties."”
Zhu Zhen thought for a moment and said,"Alright, I'll serve eight catties of braised beef. You can choose the other vegetables."”
"Alright! In the private room on the second floor, eight catties of spiced beef!" The waiter shouted and left.
Xu Miaoyun and her siblings widened their eyes in shock.
Could he finish eight catties of spiced beef?
When it came to eating beef, this seemed to be a blind spot in history.
Many friends who didn't know much about it would watch TV dramas and read novels. They would find that there were always scenes like eating beef in movies and TV dramas.
He instantly felt that something was amiss.
Why didn't this author use his brain?
Why didn't this screenwriter use his brain?
Was this director an idiot?
You're filming a movie even though you haven't graduated from elementary school?
In the history books, the ancient times were a farming society. Didn't the laws of the dynasties clearly state that cattle were not allowed to be killed?
Can't I eat beef?
Then why did he still bring so many catties of beef every day?
Actually, this was related to the ancient people eating beef.
Let's look at a few ancient poems.
"A hundred heads of fat cattle and ten thousand stones of wine, a day of pleasure.”This came from Sima Guang's poem "General's Journey" in the Song Dynasty.
According to the laws of the Song Dynasty, eating beef in the Song Dynasty would result in exile.
Li Bai of the Tang Dynasty also had a song called ""To cook sheep and slaughter cattle for fun, you must drink three hundred cups at a time.”
Wouldn't that be in conflict with the law at that time?
These two were famous people who were still alive and well.
According to the law, no cattle could be killed.
Then, the cattle that died normally could be eaten.
Those who were quick-witted and good at studying the rules would find loopholes.
Think of a way to make the cow look like it died a normal death. Wouldn't that be enough to eat it?
Among these intelligent people, there is one person that everyone should be familiar with.
His name was Cheng Yaojin. That's right, he was the Cheng Yaojin who came out of nowhere and was good at swinging his axe.
It was said that the cows in Cheng Yaojin's manor often died in accidents. They either sprained their feet or split their legs.
A few cows would fall to their deaths every month.
Sometimes, when the weather was too hot, Old Cheng's cows would die of heatstroke.
He had no choice. The cow was already dead. He couldn't waste it, right?
He could only make soy sauce beef, beef jerky, boiled beef with tears…
In fact, the ancients loved to eat beef.
"The people of Zhejiang prefer beef."
During the Song Dynasty, when Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, eating beef had become the norm. There were even records of people eating beef in a village.
Therefore, in Shi Naian's " Water Margins," it was during this period that there was a description of a Liangshan hero who would often eat a few pounds of beef.
During the Ming Dynasty, most of them followed the laws of the Tang and Song Dynasties.
The situation was similar.
Then, was beef expensive in ancient times?
Could ordinary people afford it?
During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, Shen Bang, a scholar, compiled the Wanshu Miscellany when he was the magistrate of Wanping County in Shuntian Prefecture.
It recorded the social politics, economy, history, geography, customs, and people's wills of the Ming Dynasty.
Volume 14 of the book," Funds: Palace Restriction " Pork five catties, silver nine cents; Beef four catties, silver five cents two percent; A live goose costs one silver coin and eight cents."
A catty (16 taels) of pork was worth 1.8% silver, and a catty of beef was worth 1.3% silver.
Fifteen years later, Volume 15," Pork eight catties, silver one money six points; Mutton eight catties, silver one money two points; Eight catties of beef, one silver coin and two cents, a goose, two silver coins…"
The market price of a catty of pork was two cents silver, and a catty of beef was one cent and five percent silver.
In short, a pound of beef was worth more than a penny.
Let's look at the salary level at that time.
Shen Bang's " Wan Shu Miscellany " recorded that the average day's salary of a shed worker was five cents.
There was once a famous saying: "Reading old books is like meeting new knowledge, reading new books is like meeting old acquaintances."”Zhuang Yuanchen, a famous scholar of the Ming Dynasty, wrote a book, Manyanzhai Collected Works.
It was recorded that the daily salary of a long-term farmer was 2.6% silver.
Beef was worth more than 500 grams per cent, and most people could still afford to buy beef.
Of course, it was still very expensive.
As for the Hongwu period earlier, resources were relatively scarce, and beef was even rarer. Naturally, only wealthy families could afford it.
The rarer an item was, the more valuable it was. Even a meal of braised beef was very precious.
It was still morning.
Not many people went to the restaurant.
However, Zhu Zhen hadn't eaten the spiced beef for several meals, so he couldn't care less.
Moreover, he was preparing to go to the military camp to train today. He had to eat and drink well in advance so that he would have the strength.
As for the three accompanying guests that Hu Xian invited, they were all helpers that Zhu Zhen needed.
However, these three people had their own unique characteristics.
One of them was a thin, tall, one-armed man in his thirties. He only had one arm and had an aged face.
This one arm was also much longer than an ordinary person.
His only hand was tightly holding a long and narrow broken iron sword.
The iron sword did not even have a scabbard.
The other was an old man and a young man, both of whom had the appearance of a Hu. The old man was tall and burly, his face full of beard, and he looked to be in his forties.
The young Hu was about the same age as Zhu Zhen. He had large eyes and a high nose bridge. He had the style of the Western Regions and was very beautiful.
These three people were very different from ordinary people of Great Ming. If they walked on the streets, they would definitely cause people to be shocked.
At this moment, Xu Miaoyun, Xu Zengshou, Xu Miaojin, and Xu Doudou were all staring at the three of them curiously.
Especially Xu Miaojin and Xu Doudou. The two little ones 'eyeballs almost fell out.
Looking at the one-armed man, the two little ones were so scared that they trembled exaggeratedly.
Then he stared at the two Hu.
One moment, he looked at the beautiful young Hu, and the next moment, he tilted his head and looked at the thick beard of the old Hu.
These three people were obviously curious about the four young people who had followed Zhu Zhen here, but they didn't dare to look back.
Zhu Zhen coughed lightly.
"This is Left-handed Hu Zi, and these two Hu, the bearded man is Germa, and the little brother is Shaharu."”
The two Hu hurriedly saluted in unison and said in broken Chinese,"Greetings, four Langjuns."
Xu Miaoyun put away her curiosity and answered with a pinched voice,""Nice to meet you. I'm Xu Shaoqing. These are my younger brothers."
After greeting him, Xu Miaoyun looked at Zhu Zhen slyly.
"Where did you find these interesting people?" he asked in a low voice.”
"I picked it up on the street." Zhu Zhen smiled.”
Xu Miaoyun rolled her eyes at him." It's up to you!”
The bearded Germa suddenly took out a package and solemnly handed it to Zhu Zhen. He said respectfully,"
"Sixth Master, this is a specialty of our Western Region. It's called pistachio. Please give it to the young masters.”
Zhu Zhen took it and opened the package. There were some dried fruits.
This thing was good stuff and delicious.
Before Zhu Zhen transmigrated, he had eaten quite a bit.
However, he hadn't eaten it since he came to the Ming Dynasty.
"Germa, you're not honest. Why didn't you give me some before?”
Zhu Zhen did not stand on ceremony. He picked up a pistachio, peeled it, and put it in his mouth. It was crunchy and delicious.
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