Datang First Chef

Small advertisements released huge energy in the distant Tang Dynasty. For a while, Li Sanniang's restaurant was incomparable to the limelight.The decoration speed of the restaurant has accelerated again. After tasting the bean curd and other items in the restaurant, the diners are full of expectations for the exquisite tofu dishes.

Mo Wenyuan and Li Sanniang stayed here for an extra half a month. After confirming that the operation of the store was on the right track, the two of them together could almost leave Luoyang.Of course, it was Mo Wenyuan who left Luoyang. He always kept in mind the Indian sugar he discovered a few months ago, and he also had soy sauce brewing work on his schedule.

Li Sanniang said: "I still have to stay in Luoyang City for a few more months, the restaurant has to be renovated and put into operation, and I can only leave after the new buddies are familiar with the work."

"When I get on the right track, I will call Mo Xiaogou and the others to replace me."

Mo Wenyuan nodded and said, "OK, then I'll go back first!"

He returned to Chang'an with another caravan. Lu Zhong and the others had already gone back, so they had to find another team. However, Li Sanniang and Mo Wenyuan were famous in the two capitals, and anyone was willing to sell them.

After saying goodbye to Li Sanniang, Mo Wenyuan embarked on a journey back to Beijing alone.

……

The letter back home was brought back by someone a few days ago. Li Sanniang has a good sense of time and never uses vague words such as "probably" and "maybe". The days back in time are accurate to a certain day.If it weren't for the fact that there are many variables during the journey, she would even be able to accurately arrive at home.

With the time carefully calculated, Mo Xiaogou and Zhao Erniang will never miss the younger brother's return date. The two agreed that Zhao Erniang would sit in the store, and Mo Xiaogou hurriedly ran to the gate of the city to greet him, and brought Xingshan Temple donkey.

There are many donkeys in Xingshan Temple. When Mo Wenyuan was a child, monks rode donkeys to their house to pick up Mr. Xiaolang to the temple. When he got old, he sent a donkey directly to the yard, saying that it was for Mr. Xiaolang to travel. for.

During the few years of reading books in Xingshan Temple, Mo Wenyuan actually made a lot of inventions and creations. Even the monks who are stingy and harsh have to admit that their temple has received a lot of favor from Mr. Mo Xiaolang, so they give it to Li San every now and then. The mother's family sends subsidies.

Mo Wenyuan is a lazy person, and he doesn't have much talent for naming, so the donkey directly calls "donkey".The food in the family is good, the people are strong, and the donkey is also fat and strong. After two years of feeding, it is taller than all the donkeys in Daxingshan Temple. Mo Xiaogou is leading the donkey standing at the gate of the city, very eye-catching.Mo Xiaoyuan saw a man and a donkey a long time ago, smiled and waved: "Hey——"

Mo Xiaogou also waved his hand foolishly, seeing his expression, he was very happy.

After checking the road guides, he entered the city gate. Xiaogou Mo hadn't seen his little brother for nearly two months, and he missed him very much. With the feeling of missing him in his chest, he directly embraced him and hugged him tightly.

Mo Wenyuan didn't expect him to have an emotional outburst, he was shocked, and after a brief moment of confusion, he stretched out his hand and patted Mo Puppy on the back: "Brother, brother, put me down first."

When passers-by saw the brothers embracing each other, they made up a big scene in their brains every minute. The emotional woman burst into tears, thinking that they were good brothers who had been separated for many years, but they didn't know that Mo Wenyuan hadn't been there for two months.

Good brother Mo Xiaogou helped his younger brother onto the donkey, and led the donkey for a walk. While walking, he explained the business situation of Li Sanniang's restaurant in Chang'an. He knew that he was simple and honest, but not smart. Now that he is gone, his capable brother will be the backbone.

"The business in the store is booming as before, but recently people from Luoyang always ask us if we have jelly for sale, and there are many of them, Mr. Da Lang, when do you think we can sell this product?" He didn't like it. Reading, but was also forced by Li Sanniang to finish "Thousand Characters" and "Jijiu Pian". Within two months, the two in Luoyang insisted on communicating with Beijing and China, and wrote all their big moves in the letter. The dog has long known that the jelly is blowing a whirlwind in Luoyang City.

Mo Wenyuan said: "The sale will start in two days. I brought back a lot of jelly. After I pack up my luggage and go to Daxingshan Temple, I can teach Liu Ren and the others how to make jelly. .”

Liu Ren was Mo Wenyuan's apprentice, second only to Zhao Shenshan in terms of ability, and was left in Beijing to preside over the affairs of the restaurant.

"Don't worry, rest first."

After a tiring journey and being away for a long time, when Mo Wenyuan walked into the courtyard in Guangdefang, he felt like a wanderer returning home. He lay on the couch and rolled around twice, feeling very good.He can feel that the mysterious monster friend is walking with him all the way. On the road from Luoyang to Chang'an, he can always meet all kinds of unconscious game, and he can figure out whose credit it is with his little finger.

Hey, I don’t know if the other party has followed Chang’an. Chang’an is different from Luoyang. Even though it is a place where dragon veins gather, there are many temples and Taoist temples. Monsters are not allowed inside.Judging from the fresh, out-of-season ingredients, his monster friends have great magical powers, and they might be able to perform magic tricks of hundreds of thousands of miles, and they may not be afraid of enchantments. Discovery is no joke.

Yesterday he left a note to his friend, explaining the situation in Chang'an City, hey, I hope he is safe and sound.

……

The little black sheep is holding the note with its two front hooves, and its posture is very ecstasy. The sheep is sitting on the ground with its buttocks, and its front hooves have differentiated into finger-like objects, twisting the paper, and its movements are quite humane.

"Baa baa baa baa baa!!!"

God, Mo Xiaoyuan is actually worried about my safety, is he a fairy?It's so good!

Huizhi, ahhh, didn't have the time to respond to Xiao Taotie's words, he took a deep breath, almost intoxicated in the air of Chang'an City, finally!finally!He doesn't have to follow Glutton's ass to be his nanny anymore!In the past two months, Huizhi has suffered all kinds of physical and mental torture. He has to worry about Xiao Taotie being exposed in the territory of other gods, and he also has to listen to him "baa baa baa baa" about Mo Xiaoyuan, which is really scary.

It's different in Chang'an City. The gods in the city have long acquiesced in the existence of Taotie, knowing that he can't eat people, so he turns a blind eye to everything he does on weekdays. Even the local city god said "never I thought that the beast is so harmless", the guardian Huizhi was finally freed to do what he wanted.

"Baa baa baa baa baa baa!"

Mo Xiaoyuan is so pitiful and cute!

Huizhi said casually: "Why don't you come to Mr. Mo Xiaolang? As your friend, as long as you say that you are the one who delivers the food when you come to him, Mr. Xiaolang will definitely not regard you as an ordinary sheep. Wouldn't it be a pleasure to be with Mr. Xiaolang every day and taste all the delicacies?" Hurry up and pester Mr. Mo Xiaolang!Don't hang around with me!

The little black sheep was a little shy: "Baa baa baa baa!"

No way, my time in human form is too short now!What if Mo Xiaoyuan thinks that I'm a low-level ghost on the side of the road who can't transform into form? At least he has to wait for a few realms before he can reach him, right?

The little black sheep is still thinking about it, with his current food progress, he will be able to advance in a while!

and!and!It's too casual to appear directly in Mo Xiaoyuan's courtyard!The little black sheep has read many legendary stories, and heard other ghosts tell stories about love between monsters, and even wants to "test" Mo Xiaoyuan.

Little Black Sheep: Hey hey hey hey hey hey!

Hui Zhixin said that Mr. Mo Xiaolang definitely doesn't care about such small things, hey, let's do it, he estimated that Taotie's spiritual power will be improved to a higher level before the end of the month, and it won't be long before his hard days will come to an end!

……

The next morning, Mo Wenyuan found the note on the ground.The ingredients are also available, but very few. Mo Wenyuan told his monster friends that now that Li Sanniang is not around, there are top-level ingredients that cannot be found. I can’t explain it. Let’s send it after he colludes with relevant people to make a good argument. If a friend really wants to eat, Xiao Xiao only needs to send what he needs, and the rest should be eaten slowly.

He didn't know that what he offered was gluttonous food that could never be full.

The little black sheep was very understanding, and after understanding what Mo Wenyuan meant, he reduced the amount. He also wrote in the note that he didn't have to worry about himself, he was safe.

After finishing breakfast, Mo Wenyuan went to Daxingshan Temple with his Zen staff. He thought it was a pity that the monks were not allowed to eat meat. Master Huiyuan liked to eat desserts. If he could eat jelly, he would be very happy.It's a pity that the jelly is made of isinglass, he can't deliberately make the other party break the precept, right?

Mr. Mo Xiaolang was unanimously welcomed by all the monks in the temple. The little novice sweeping the floor at the gate, the monks in the Buddhist scripture pavilion, and the foreign monks doing translation all greeted him.

"Hello, Mr. Xiaolang!"

"Mo Dalang is finally back!"

"The food in the temple is good again!"

"Monks should not be too greedy for food and drink."

A small number of monks are rejoicing to return to the high-level food. This group of people is headed by Monk Bu. In his words, the food in Xingshan Temple is unfair. It used to be nothing to eat, but after tasting Mo Wenyuan’s craftsmanship Afterwards, the taste buds that had been raised could not return to the way they were before. Since a few years ago, he has been living on the dishes cooked by Mr. Mo Xiaolang every month.

Hey, if you eat delicious food in the morning, you can be hungry at night!

There are only a small number of foodies who yearn for delicious food. Most of the monks look at Mo Wenyuan with gratification in their eyes, and some even look at him with the hope of the future of Buddhism, which makes Mo Wenyuan panic.

What's the fat thing?

Even a little novice with whom he had a good relationship came forward and asked, "When does Mr. Mo Xiaolang want to be ordained?"

Mo Wenyuan shook his head like a rattle: "No, no, no, no, I don't want to be shaved."

The little novice smiled tolerantly: "If you don't want it now, you will always have to shave it in the future. If you don't want to get rid of three thousand troubles, if you are not planning to become a layman?" I think the shape of your head is also very good, it will definitely not be ugly after shaving."

"Ha ha."

He is not an idiot, seeing the monks in the temple so attentive, he almost hooked up with him and called each other a brother. He still doesn't know what happened, maybe his great achievements in subjugating demons and demons in Goushi County have spread to Chang'an, It was even learned by the monks of Xingshan Temple.

Hey, the feeling of being recognized as a future monk by everyone is really delicate.

Bathed in the light of my Buddha's compassion, he finally arrived at Zen Master Huiyuan's monk's room. After the announcement, Mo Wenyuan respected Jinmen, holding the Zen staff given to him by the other party in his hand.

Huiyuan's eyes were clear and his face was as usual. Finally, Mo Wenyuan heaved a sigh of relief. He knelt on the futon facing Zen Master and saluted him: "Master Huiyuan, I'm back."

"It's good to be back." He looked Mo Wenyuan from top to bottom, his brows loosened slightly, "I think you look good, and I think you haven't encountered any major events on the way back." Other spirits?"

"Never."

"That's good." He said, "Can you return the Zen staff I gave you?"

It’s amazing, it’s amazing, under the development of Mo Wenyuan, the Zen stick can play multiple roles, sometimes it’s a trekking stick, sometimes it’s a shoulder pole, sometimes it’s a mace...Of course, these methods of use He must never tell Master Huiyuan, otherwise he would really blaspheme my Buddha.

He showed a kind smile and said, "I use this Zen stick to cure the rat spirit, and it feels very good."

Master Huiyuan sighed: "Amitabha, Goushi County is the birthplace of Master Xuanzang. He also practiced in the Pure Land Temple when he was young. You met Shuo Jing here, and you borrowed the name of the Pure Land Temple. There is a certain will of God, which shows that you have a deep relationship with my Buddha, and you are a natural born Buddha." He looked at Mo Wenyuan and hinted frantically, did he have the intention of directly entering my Buddha?

Mo Wenyuan stood still, showing eight teeth in a smile: "Coincidence, it's just a coincidence."

Huiyuan knew very well that Mr. Mo Xiaolang had a tough heart, and now he would definitely not be able to persuade him to escape into Buddhism. In the future, we will just cook the frogs in warm water.

He didn't intend to let go of this topic, and said: "The monks from Jingtu Temple settled down in other temples in Chang'an City, and they gave a secular lecture a few days ago, and they talked about the story of you Duhua Shuojing."

Mo Wenyuan was dumbfounded: "So fast?" It was clear that Luoyang hadn't given a few lectures yet!

Monk Huiyuan's answer was simple and crude: "Master Xuanzang was famous all over the world back then, and when he became the imperial disciple to learn Buddhist scriptures from the west, he was only a weaker year. Your year as a foreign teacher is not far from his age."

No, Wai Fu's age is ten years old, and the age of weak crowns is usually twenty, which is exactly doubled.

"Other monasteries have already opened the vulgar lecture. You have practiced in my Xingshan Temple for many years. We must not delay this step. A few days ago, I told the abbot that I want to give this vulgar lecture. What do you think?"

According to Mo Wenyuan's wishes, he is absolutely unwilling. The popular saying that he is the protagonist is simply a public execution, but he is also a sensible person. According to the relevant folklore, he is a local celebrity, and no matter how much he struggles, his affairs will be known to the common people.

Mo Wenyuan turned grayish white, he was so angry that his soul was about to fly out of his mouth at some point: "Listen to the mage's orders."

Afterwards, the two talked about what they had seen and heard on the way to Luoyang. Among them, Mo Wenyuan mentioned that Baima Temple issued small advertisements to attract believers. After hearing this, Zen Master Huiyuan thought about it and thought that he would follow this method when he came to Daxingshan Temple.

Seeing that it was about the same time, Mo Wenyuan was about to say goodbye, and heard the mage say, "Go to Huikong before you leave, he has found something good and wants to show it to you."

……

Huikong and Mo Wenyuan are best friends who have forgotten their years. They are a monk with ideals and a cook with ideals.When the two get together, they can talk about everything, and their rich knowledge allows them to keep up with each other's thinking.

When he returned from Luoyang this time, he brought Huikong a small sharp knife that was a specialty of Luoyang City. There was a famous blacksmith in the city who was very good at making props. Mo Wenyuan knew that Huikong liked carving, so he gave him a small knife.

When Monk Huikong saw him, his face was full of brilliance: "Mr. Mo Xiaolang, you are here."

Mo Wenyuan said: "I haven't seen you in two months, is Master Huikong okay?" Then he handed him the carving knife, "I found it made by Chen Jiasanlang in Luoyang City. This knife is extremely powerful, and it is easy to carve characters and shapes. .”

"Xiao Langjun is interested, I also found something in the West Market and want to give it to you."

"What?"

"I'm staying in the monk's dormitory, and Mr. Xiaolang will go with me."

The two went to the monk's house together, Huikong took out a cloth pocket, the pocket was bulging, and I don't know what he put in it, Mo Wenyuan opened it, his almond eyes widened, round like a kick.

He carefully dipped a little bit with his fingers and stuffed it into his mouth. It was sweet, extremely sweet, the tiny particles were melted by the temperature between his tongue, and the sweetness of sucrose diffused in his mouth.Mo Wenyuan trembled and said, "Is this brown sugar?"

"The peddler in Magadha said it was sugar." Huikong and Mo Wenyuan have known each other for many years. Seeing his excited appearance, he can guess what he is going to ask, "The peddler is still in the West Market. Besides this bag, he I also brought some granulated sugar, I told him not to sell it, I will save it for you to see together, can Mr. Xiao Lang go?"

"Go, go, go, go, go now!"

……

Magadha’s granulated sugar is made from sucrose, brownish red, with fine particles, and its sweetness is far superior to other sugars.

In the Tang Dynasty, the most well-known soup was caramel made from grain, which is what modern people call maltose.Sucrose is not without it. Jiangdong and Jiannan plant a large amount of sugarcane. When the sugarcane is on the market, even Chang'an will be sold by peddlers. Because the juice is sweet and can relieve hangovers, it sells well in Chang'an City.

Sugarcane can also be used to make sugar. The people of Tang Dynasty mastered the most basic technology of making sugar. Mo Wenyuan also bought sucrose cubes and sucrose syrup called "stone honey".

Needless to say, sucrose syrup is to continuously boil sugarcane juice and use high temperature to evaporate water to make the sugarcane juice thicker, while sugar cubes are to cool the thick juice and condense it into lumps.

It is said that there is a more advanced method of making sucrose, which is to quickly reheat the condensed sucrose, fry it with fire, and the sweetness of the sugar produced will be even higher.But in any case, from Mo Wenyuan's point of view, the manufacturing methods of these sucrose are very rough, and the finished product is not as good as the granulated sugar that monk Huikong gave him.

The granulated sugar is already very close to the modern white granulated sugar, but the quality of the sucrose produced by the Tang people is far inferior to it.

Huikong said: "It's almost here."

Stores in the West City are highly mobile, not to say that the stores are prone to closure, the liquidity here refers to the changes of merchants.For example, Hu merchants often share a shop with several people. When a merchant sells out his goods and wants to go back to buy things, he rents the shop to his own clan and uses it in turn.Small merchants who have no background goods and are not too many often do this.

The Magadha merchant who was waiting for Shatang to come was one of the small merchants. He happened to be doing business in the West Market recently, and was bumped into by Huikong, and he also bought the Shatang that Mo Wenyuan had been thinking about.

Huikong led Mo Wenyuan to a shop decorated in a very exotic style. Most of the people who came in and out here were bearded and high-nosed Tianzhu people, even blond-haired and blue-eyed Hu merchants, and there were very few Han people with black hair and black eyes. See.

He explained: "This store does not buy the goods of ordinary Hu merchants, but the medicines of the Tianzhu people. Except for the monks of Tianzhu and monks who have read the local scriptures, they rarely go to the store to buy medicines." Han people trust more own physician.

Mo Wenyuan said: "So, sugar is considered medicine in Magadha? Ordinary people can't use it?"

"Probably so."

There are also some prescriptions in this country that record the use of stone honey or jelly. Obviously, sugar can be used as medicine for people. However, in the folk, especially in Chang'an, where the people's living standards are relatively high, sugar still exists as a snack, and the price is relatively low. High, but it's not unbearable, no matter how poor people are, they will buy caramel for their children's sweet mouths during the Chinese New Year.

It is impossible to use sugar purely as medicine.

"What's the matter, Master?" The Tianzhu guy in the shop greeted the two with a half-baked Chinese. Huikong saw that his Chinese was not good, so he spit out a series of fluent Sanskrit from his mouth, "Can you ask your master to come out? I have bought granulated sugar here, and I want to do business with him."

The guy also switched languages, said "wait a minute" and then disappeared. After a while, a dark brown-skinned businessman appeared. He remembered Hui Kong, and he smiled kindly when he saw someone.

The Magadha businessman traveled the two countries for many years and stayed in Chang'an more often. He could speak Chinese more fluently than his assistant. He said, "I'll keep all the sugar that the mage asked for last time. Would you like to see it?"

Huikong said: "It's not me who wants to see it, it's this little man who wants to see it."

Mo Wenyuan said: "Do you have any more sugar?"

"There are still two big bags left, Mr. Xiao Lang, please move to the store to have a look." Mo Wenyuan and Hui Kong entered the store together with him.

Compared with other medicinal materials, granulated sugar is not easy to store. Other medicinal materials can be stored for a longer time when exposed to the sun to evaporate water. However, if granulated sugar is exposed to the sun, it will turn into sugar water.It doesn't work in the sun, high temperature, or humidity. It can only be placed in a dry and ventilated place indoors.

A big cloth bag ten times larger than what Huikong had given Mo Wenyuan appeared in front of the two of them. Mo Wenyuan walked in and looked, and found that it was full of sugar.

"All the sugar is here."

Mo Wenyuan checked and found that the quality was similar to what Hui Kong gave him, and there was no moisture hardening, so he decided to take them all, but he still had some questions to ask the Tianzhu merchant before buying.

"In Tianzhu, is sugar as necessary as salt?"

The businessman was shocked: "It must not be done. The cost of sugar is higher than that of salt. The people in my hometown don't need the richness of the Tang people. How can they take it as a necessity? Only when they are sick will they buy some from the doctor and drink it with water. , symptoms such as black eyes and dizziness can be relieved.”

Dark eyes and dizziness are typical symptoms of hypoglycemia, and drinking sugar water can certainly relieve it.Mo Wenyuan looked at the big bag of sugar in front of him, and thought that there were so many, if it was just his own household, he would not be able to use it up in ten years.

He inquired: "So much sugar, how much is the price?"

After the businessman estimated, he gave a surprising figure.

After hearing this, Mo Wenyuan's expression remained unchanged, and he asked as usual when buying things in the West Market: "Can it be cheaper?" He has been fighting in the market for many years, and he has long known that he can't listen to the prices that the merchants burst out at the beginning. If you can hold your temper, you can push the price down.

Sure enough, there was still room for bargaining for the sugar. In the end, Mo Wenyuan made the deal at a [-]% discount. After he tied the sugar sack to the donkey and walked away, he changed his face: "It's too cheap!"

Huikong doesn't covet appetite, and rarely buys sugar, so he doesn't know the world price, he said: "Is it very cheap?"

Mo Wenyuan nodded and said: "Very, very, very cheap!" He gave an example, "If you bought caramel, you can only buy half a bag with the money just now. If it is stone honey made from sugarcane, the price will be even higher."

"What kind of stone honey are you talking about? Cane pulp or cane lumps?"

Stone honey does not refer to a certain object, it is a general term for all sweet things, as far as Mo Wenyuan knows, there are no less than ten pieces of food called stone honey, honey, sugar cane, maltose...even cherries Some people call it stone honey.

"Yes, the price of sugar cane is more expensive, more than three times higher than caramel."

Hui Kong's calculations are good, he said: "That is to say, buying so many pieces of cane can buy more than ten bags of Tianzhu sugar?"

Mo Wenyuan said: "That's right, and the sweetness of sugarcane is far less than that of granulated sugar, and it is not easy to melt. If you don't believe me, you can come to my house and taste it." His family bought some cane sugar when the sugarcane was ripe last year. After eating it, Mo Xiaogou and others thought it was not as delicious as maltose, so they threw it aside. Mo Wenyuan wanted to use it, but found that the technology for making sucrose these days is too rough. There is no disposal method other than water, which is very tasteless.

Hui Kong waved his hands again and again and said: "No need, my tongue is not as sensitive as yours. Since you have said everything, how can I not believe it?"

"The price difference between the two is so far away, how can few people know about it?" He thought that this was a price difference of more than ten times. If those sugar merchants knew about it, they would definitely buy a large amount and sell it at a higher price, right?

Mo Wenyuan quite understands this: "Sugar is not unique to Tianzhu. Ordinary people buy products from Tianzhu, and most of them are scriptures or things that are not available in the country. Who would buy their sugar when they have nothing to do? Who would have thought that sugar would be considered as medicine in Tianzhu?" After going back and forth, it would have been missed.

Huikong felt sorry for him: "Then if it is found out..."

"I will definitely buy a lot of their sugar." The quality and price are extremely low, and there is no reason not to use it. Especially in the Zhenguan era, with the development of social productivity and the improvement of people's living standards, the demand for sugar, which was once a luxury, also increased. up.

Mo Wenyuan began to think again, he had found a temporary substitute for white sugar, that is to say, all kinds of desserts and dishes that need to add sugar in modern times can be officially served on the stage of history, but well, the sugar looks so right now , If you want to use it in large quantities, it will definitely not be enough. It won't be long before he will face the dilemma of no sugar.

Sugar free, sugar free, sugar free...

He chanted this word a lot, and he couldn't help but think of the complaints from his neighbors. Their neighbors are doing small business. They buy some warm food such as Huto in winter. Cane syrup for seasoning.This year, the sugarcane production in the Jiangdong area is not high, and sugarcane pulp is expensive. He has already complained to Mo Wenyuan several times, saying that he can no longer afford sugar juice.

Sugarcane production is down and prices are up.

The price of Tianzhu granulated sugar is very very very cheap.

The small light bulb on Mo Wenyuan's head lit up. It's a bit difficult to directly learn India's sugar-making technology, but what if we start with the import of granulated sugar?

The high-quality and cheap granulated sugar seems to be very interesting!