Xiangye

Chapter 252 A Depressed Day (Part [-])
The thing is, the salaries of the officials of the Ministry of Rites, the Office of the Secretary, and the Yamen servants are low, and it is difficult to live in a prosperous area like the capital with a few taels of silver per month.Many people have to go out more than half of their salary just to pay the rent every month, and they have to support their families.

And because of the large size of the city, everyone lives far away, so if you go home to eat this meal at noon, it will delay things.But if you eat out every day, you can't afford it financially.

Therefore, the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Rituals have set up kitchens like other ministries of the central government, and all expenses come from the public office, which is regarded as a benefit for everyone.

Since the yamen paid for it, they didn't have to pay for it themselves anyway.Therefore, the food in the kitchen is very good, the chef's skills are also good, and there is meat in every meal.Many low-level civil servants are greedy for the delicious food here, and it is free.Every day at night, I would use an excuse to stay in the office and pretend to handle official business, and wait for dinner.

China has been an official system since ancient times, and there is a strict hierarchy between people, especially in the yamen of the Ministry of Rites and the Qing officials.

When it comes time to eat, there are certain rules for what the principal should be, what the governor should be, what the book office should be, and what the yamen servants should eat.

Moreover, the head of the sixth rank and the governor of the seventh rank will eat in the small hall inside.The book office servants are in the lobby outside.It would be out of order if everyone mixed together.

As a foodie, Gao Wen will go to the kitchen yard when he has free time to see what to eat today, and give pointers to the cooks by the way.

In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, American peppers and spices were just introduced to China, and Nanyang spices were also luxury goods.Therefore, the ingredients in the dishes of this era come and go.

Gao Wen was well-informed, and when he was in a good mood, he would talk to his husband about the novel dishes he had seen in later generations.

After coming and going, the kitchen yard admired Gao Wen very much, saying that Mr. Gao was an expert in eating, and he was also very close to him.

Yesterday afternoon, Gao Wen went to the kitchen on a whim, and saw a few fish in the water tank that were growing thin and long, like a shuttle, so he asked the cook what it was?
The cook replied that this thing is called saury. When he went to the canal pier earlier, he happened to meet a pair of tank boats coming. Some boatmen from the south of the Yangtze River accidentally got a few fish in their ballast water. They caught them and prepared to burn them and eat them. .He saw it and found it novel, so he bought it back for a penny.

Hearing that it was a saury, Gao Wen was surprised. This is a high-end product, and it seemed to sell for several thousand or tens of thousands of catties when it was the highest in later generations.Although I have lived in Shanghai for so many years, I have never had a chance to taste it.

He said: "Good thing, good thing, take care of it carefully, and don't forget to call my lord."

The fireman laughed and said, "How can that be, so that the governor knows, I bought four in total today. One for the master, three governors and one, and each of the four masters has a share. By the way, Mr. Gao is an expert, you say How to deal with this saury, I am about to ask for advice!"

"No matter what method you use for this kind of high-quality freshwater fish, the umami taste will be destroyed. Let's cook the soup directly. Then you only need to add some lard, ginger and spring onion." Gao Wen felt that the raw materials were rare, so he said when he was in a good mood. A few words.

For this lunch, he was quite looking forward to it.Although Yangtze River saury was not uncommon in ancient times, this is the north, so it is not easy to handle.

At noon, after comforting the injured An Shuban, Gao Wen walked towards the kitchen yard.

After entering the small hall, Shi Guangxian and the other two governors had already arrived, sitting at a round table, chatting and laughing, with several yamen servants waiting beside them.

Seeing Gao Wen coming in, the two governors who were trying to please Chief Shi shut their mouths immediately, and the small hall fell silent.

Gao Wen didn't bother to pay attention to them, he sat down at another table, rubbed his hands and looked at the white snow and red plums in the yard.

There was a strong aroma, and the dishes began to be served.First, there are a few dishes of side dishes such as cucumber with soy sauce, yuba, and fried bean sprouts.

Gao Wen was refreshed, took the rice from the yamen servant, and sat up straight.

A cook brought in pots of fish soup and put them on Shi Guangxian's table.

The three of them picked up their chopsticks and took a sip each, and immediately shouted: "It's so fresh, this fish is not bad!"

Gao Wen couldn't help stretching his neck and glanced over there. With a rumble in his stomach, he ate a chopstick of rice vigorously, looking forward to the next main course.

But after waiting for a long time, when the bowl of rice was exhausted, my portion of fish soup hadn't arrived yet.

He felt a little strange when a kitchen officer came over with a plate of fried peanuts and asked, "Where's my fish?"

The cook stammered, "This, this... this"

Gao Wen: "What is this?"

The cook looked embarrassed: "Master Gao, there are not enough fish, but you don't have any here."

Gao Wen was annoyed: "Why don't I have any here? It's strange. My lord clearly saw four of them yesterday."

The cook: "Yes, yes... But, when those fish were kept in the tank yesterday, one of them was taken away by the cat..."

When Gao Wen saw Shi Guangxian and the two governors over there who were blushing from eating, he was immediately annoyed, and said with a sullen face, "It's a coincidence that I took one, how did you know that it was my lord's one that was taken away, and the one that took away is my lord's?" It's not someone else's? Also, where is the future in this department? You deceived me, what should you do?"

The cook's legs softened, and he knelt down: "Master Gao, it's the villain's fault, it's the villain's fault!"

At this time, Shi Guangxian suddenly said coldly: "Governor Gao Wen, don't blame him. After all, he is an official of the seventh rank, why should he be angry with a fish and his servants. If it spreads, how decent is it? You That fish, I have used it."

"It's also my fault that I didn't know about it. I didn't know that the arrangement of the kitchen is one per person. Just now I thought it was delicious, so I ate an extra one. Mr. Gao is just a mere fish, so he quarreled with the servants, childish!"

The two governors knew the truth, and laughed in a low voice at the same time, the laughter was full of sarcasm.

Hearing the commotion in the small hall, the book offices who were eating looked over at the same time, their eyes full of amusement.

Looking at the several plates of cold dishes in front of him, Gao Wen's blood boiled, and his body trembled with anger.To him, Mr. Shi's move was almost a humiliation.Just one fish, it doesn't matter if you eat it or not.However, in a place like the central authority, where registration is strict and rules are strict, it has a strong political meaning.

The kitchen arranged a fish for each of the main leaders of the company. This fish is no longer just a dish, but a symbol of the power of the chief officials.

Now there are three other people, and Gao Wen is the only one missing, which already explains the problem.

This is Shi Guangxian and others' provocation to Gao Wen, and I want others to convey a message: the affairs in this department have nothing to do with Gao Wen, so don't take him seriously.

Originally, it was an accident that Gao Wen came here to be an official. He was going to Daxing County to be the county magistrate. He was disappointed to have this governor for no reason.If it wasn't for Tian Yize's persuasion, the official certificate would have been returned to the Ministry of Officials long ago.

After taking office, Director Shi asked Gao Wen to discipline Fang Si.How could Gao Wen be willing to tarnish his own reputation, and simply spend his days in idleness, hesitating whether to continue as an official or resign.

Today, Shi Guangxian took the lead in attacking him, not to mention beating An Ganlu, and now he is still doing his best to insult him.

If Gao Wen backed down today, not to mention that the yamen is full of people who follow the wind.Seeing that Gao Wen lost his momentum, he wanted to step on Shi Guangguang a few times to please Shi Guangguang, Gao Wen couldn't swallow the breath in his heart.

Or what An Ganlu said well, people don't hurt the tiger's will, but the tiger hurts the heart, well, if you want to fight, fight!
Gao Wenhuo stood up and looked at Shi Guangxian and the others with burning eyes.

He practiced martial arts all the year round, and he hadn't encountered many dangerous situations in Shaanxi before, and he had seven or eight lives on his hands.Standing up this time, he naturally carried a murderous look.

The other two governors felt chills and shouted at the same time: "Master Gao, what do you want to do, don't mess around!"

Shi Guangxian sat there carelessly, sneering: "Don't mess up, don't be afraid!"

Gao Wen suddenly stretched out his hand to help the kitchen servant who was kneeling on the ground: "You are not lying, there are indeed cats in this department, their status is not low, they are all six-rank, and they look like human beings. Get up, Ben The officer forgives you for not guilty. This kind of stealing cat is very hateful, you have to be more careful in the future, don't let him into the kitchen stealing, you have to beat it hard, the last time you hit it, it will improve your memory."

He said cat, but his eyes fell on Shi Guangxian.

Shi Guangxian's face turned livid, and he roared angrily, "Son Gao Wen, what did you say?"

"What did I say, I said cat, Mr. Shi, don't take your seat right. Today's lunch is good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good!" Gao Wen let out a long smile, leaving only the officials who looked at each other in dismay.

Shi Guangxian trembled all over, clenched his fists: "Gao Wen'er, Gao Wen'er, I'm angry, I'm old!"

A governor hurriedly helped him up: "Master, this Gao Wen is a native of Northwest Ju, that place is full of barbarians, you old man, don't want to have the same knowledge as him, eat and eat!"

Another person also said: "Boss, the dishes are cold, you should use some. If you get angry, it will be your own body."

"Boom!" Chief Shi overturned the table violently, and the hot fish soup spilled all over the floor.

He cursed rudely: "Eat, eat, eat your mother's eggs, get out!"

After returning to his room, Gao Wen was still furious. He sat on a chair and drank several cups of tea in one go, but he still couldn't get through his thoughts.

The worst part was that the weather was cold, and the bowl of rice he ate at noon took only half an hour to digest, making his stomach gurgling from hunger.

"Damn it, bastard, it seems that if I don't make a move, you really think I'm a jerk!" He gritted his teeth fiercely, trying to calm himself down, thinking about it, and what method should he use to give Mr. Shi Guang A profound lesson for this brute.

At this moment, a burst of strong aroma hit him, and he saw a food box being delivered and placed on his desk.

There were a few delicate dishes inside, and it was An Ganlu who brought the meal over with a face of grief and anger. He lowered his voice: "Governor, I have heard about the previous incident. It is freezing cold, so how can I not eat. The subordinate will I went outside to buy some, but I don’t know if it suits you? If you don’t like it, I’ll order a few more and send it to you.”

(End of this chapter)