Records of the Cattle and Horses of Chang'an

The second day of the new year

The heavy snow didn't stop until all night long. Maybe because he drank too much yesterday, Jiang Shangxian was the first one to get up in the family.

After getting dressed and washing herself with a kettle of water heated on the stove, she went out of the room and roughly swept the snow in the yard, mainly to make a path for walking.

We still eat dumplings in the morning, and we have to keep eating them until the 16th day of the first lunar month.

After finishing the dumplings, they ran into Jiang's mother, who was standing on tiptoe, hunched over, and timidly coming out. She carefully closed the door and took a few steps before asking in a low voice, "Are you leaving now?"

She told her family that she was going to work for Cui Bianxu today. "Well, I have to go see if there's anything missing. If there is, I'll have to buy some more."

"I'm afraid the road outside is difficult to walk on."

Jiang's mother looked at the snow piled up in the yard and said with some worry: "Let Erlang get up and go with you. He can help you and keep an eye on you on the way."

"It's okay, Mom. The snow outside must have been swept." Jiang Shangxian said as he went into the kitchen, packed up all the seasonings he made, put them in a bamboo basket on his back, and finally covered them with a layer of coarse cloth.

Jiang's mother worriedly warned: "If you finish your work, come back early. I'm afraid it will snow again in the afternoon. If it snows, I will ask Erlang to pick you up..."

"He only has a few days off throughout the year, so he should rest well. If it snows, I'll ask Shaoqing Cui to send someone to take me there. It's not too far anyway."

Jiang Shangxian occasionally felt sorry for his younger brother. It was only the eleventh day of the eleventh month, so he should rest well if he could.

"That's fine."

Jiang's mother stopped forcing him, and suddenly she pouted with a sour tone, muttering, "Anyway, all our money is with you. If it snows, we can just hire an oxcart or mule cart to take you back."

"That's what mother said." Jiang Shangxian was very malicious and agreed solemnly!

"Humph!"

崔府

Jiang Shangxian walked along and heard some "hehehaha" sounds coming from behind a wall. He tilted his head and took a look with some curiosity.

Well, I didn't see anything...

The servant leading the way was very perceptive. He knew that his own Jiulang had some regard for this young lady Jiang, so he introduced: "That's the martial arts training ground. It was originally a side courtyard, but Jiulang was the only master in the mansion, so they changed it. Now it's where we usually practice martial arts, and Jiulang goes there every day."

"Do you want to learn martial arts too?" Jiang Shangxian understood the meaning of his words, and couldn't help laughing when he remembered Zhao Shan's complaints about Cui Bianxu being a living devil.

The servant said with a bitter face: "That's right, Jiulang can't stand the appearance of weaklings. Not to mention me, even Old Fan, the gatekeeper at the back, has to go once a day at almost sixty years old!"

Jiulang said that after Lao Fan told the story of Lian Po in detail, he directly included Lao Fan in the training team.

Even those who are about to die can't escape it, let alone them! The first thing Old Fan said every day when he opened his eyes was: Why hasn't someone died yet?!

Jiang Shangxian's cheeks puffed up with laughter. "Keep fit and healthy, and prolong your life. I think this old man will definitely live to be ninety-nine."

"Thank you for your kind words, Miss Jiang. I will definitely tell him later and make him happy."

"I heard that the mansion hired a cat servant? How come I didn't see it?" Jiang Shangxian looked at every wall she passed by, but she didn't see the cat raised by Cui Bianxu.

Isn’t it said that cats like to lie on the wall the most?

"Miss Jiang, you don't know, it's very afraid of the cold. It's snowing these past two days, so why would it want to come out? Its paws touched the ground outside, and I'm afraid it's too dirty. I'm afraid it's hiding in the backyard now!"

.........

Although the kitchen in Cui's house didn't often have cooking going on, it was spacious. As soon as she entered the door, she saw five strips of bacon hanging. Perhaps because it was the New Year, there were quite a lot of things.

"Miss Jiang, Jiulang said you can arrange the dishes accordingly. You know their tastes anyway, so you can make some of your favorites."

The servant was clearly not too clear about what was going on at the kitchen. He waved over a tall, dark-skinned man and said, "This is the cook in the kitchen. His surname is Lin. If you don't mind, you can call him Lin San."

Lin San didn't look down on Jiang Shangxian just because she was young. He wiped his hands casually on his apron and smiled brightly, "Miss Jiang, I've been wanting to see you for a long time. Jiulang often brings back the dishes you cook for me to heat up. Hehe, I've tried them, and they're really delicious."

"Master Lin, you are too kind. It's just that the food I made happened to suit Shaoqing's taste. I would like to trouble Master Lin for his guidance on today's meal." Everyone carried the fancy sedan chair, and people were polite, so Jiang Shangxian could not remain indifferent.

Lin San clasped his hands together and said with a smile, "My cooking skills are only top-notch among the short people. Among all the guards and servants in this mansion, only the Jiulang I cook is barely edible."

Jiang Shangxian's business skills were average, barely enough to make a single sentence. He didn't know how to respond, so he simply changed the subject and asked, "Master Lin, do you have a larger oven in your house?"

She pointed to the skinned lamb hanging in the corner of the kitchen and said, "Roast the whole lamb and eat it."

"Oh, Miss Jiang, you've got the point. Roasted whole lamb is the most popular dish in our mansion. It's very convenient. Look, the big iron skewers are right over there! Let me skewer them for you."

As he said that, he ran out, and a few moments later he dragged in a golden rectangular bronze oven. Jiang Shangxian estimated the size and it was definitely enough. It was really great! Rich people are different. They even have a bronze oven to eat a whole roasted lamb.

Tsk tsk tsk, she had originally thought that if there wasn’t one, she would just ask for some red bricks to build one.

Well, actually, the best way to roast a whole lamb is to use a naan pit, but the conditions don’t allow it.

"Master Lin, please help me take this lamb down. I'll marinate it first and then I'll skewer it and roast it."

Roasted whole lamb can be found in many places, including Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia... Jiang Shangxian's favorite is the one from Xinjiang. She once traveled to Xinjiang, including Kashgar, Yining, Urumqi, and all the way to Kuqa, where she finally ate the most delicious roasted whole lamb, which was roasted in a naan pit.

When the roasted whole lamb was brought out, she stood by and drooled. It was so crispy that it was falling apart, and it was sizzling with oil...

She swore that it was the most perfect lamb she had ever eaten in her two lives, an unforgettable experience.

Thinking of this, she quickly closed her mouth, her saliva flowing. Lin San picked up the lamb with one hand and placed it on the long table, patting it: "Miss Jiang, look at this lamb. It was sent from Qinghe. It has traveled such a long way, but it hasn't lost any weight."

Jiang Shangxian knew they were wealthy and arrogant, but he had no idea they were so arrogant. "Don't we have sheep in Chang'an? Why do we have to send them all the way from Qinghe?"

"Hey, my family buys several batches of sheep from outside the Great Wall every year. They taste better than those in Chang'an. We must be willing to spend time and effort on what we eat at home. Even the fodder is of the best quality." Lin San was a little proud. The mutton in Chang'an City could not compare with their own.

Jiang Shangxian was really impressed. How idle must they be? The Cui family of Qinghe was in Dongwucheng County of Qinghe Commandery, which is the modern Dezhou. They bought sheep from outside the Great Wall and then found ways to transport them back. How many times did they do that?

Aren't these people responsible for buying sheep on the road buying and transporting sheep all year round?