On July 21st, from sunrise to sun loss, for most of the day, more than 30 people in and out of the lunar spring are busy, coming and going, and everyone has the work arranged by Ren Hong.

After checking the house, Ren Hongcai came out and the sheep was almost peeled off from the east kitchen courtyard.

Xuanquan was used to peel sheep, Luo Xiaogou, but he saw him cut a hole in the hind legs of the sheep with a knife, then inserted it with a wooden stick, poking out an airway, pulling the cut sheepskin with one hand, holding the lamb legs with the other, and blowing it in with his mouth.

It sounds simple, but it is difficult to do it well. Most people are busy for a long time, but there is no movement at all. It requires not only a strong body but also appropriate skills.

The little dog Luo has a great lung capacity. He saw his cheeks bulging up, and he blew a few breaths and hit the sheepskin a few times. After a while, he bulged the sheep's whole body, like a skin bag, with four legs facing the sky, and kicking straight!

Then you can start peeling, and make a seam on the belly and legs of the sheep, and open the cortex along the chest and abdomen, pull the edge of the skin that is being picked, and start pulling it. Because Luo Xiaogou is very strong, she pulled the sheepskin off after a while.

The whole process was only half a moment, and it was done in one go.

Next, it’s time for Xia Dingmao to perform.

The sheep was hung on the poplar tree in the yard, and the peeled sheep head was hung upside down. Xia Dingmao first cut open the abdomen with a knife, pulled out the sheep belly, the intestines, etc., and then removed the sheep head. The sheep head was connected to the sheep liver through the throat and the sheep lungs.

As for the sheep's body, it was placed on a large wooden table. Xia Dingmao used his knife very quickly and had enough force. He also familiarized himself with the bones in his heart, or cut along the bone seams to separate the bones, or swung a small axe and slashed it violently. In this way, one sheep was dissected.

Xia Dingmao also invited everyone to clean up the water. Although the sheep's belly and sheep's intestines were dirty, they were the most common meat eaten by ordinary people and could not be wasted.

Ren Hong applauded and said, "In the past, a butcher Ding cuts a cow, but now, a man Xia is a woman who has sheep."

Xia Dingmao's hands were covered in blood, so he asked the people next to him to help him wipe his sweat, and said with a smile:

"According to the recipe given by Junzi, it's enough to kill three sheep. This is the last one!"

Fu Jiezi's mission had as many as twenty or thirty people, and there might be fellow Western Region envoys. There was no shortage of rice and flour in spring, but there was enough meat and vegetables to prepare.

It doesn't matter to envoys from the Western Regions. Ren Hong thought that he could be well treated to the envoys who had been busy for more than a year. He was in a desperate situation and faced with all kinds of difficulties and obstacles, and was hungry and cold at all times. It was not an easy task, but it was worth rewarding them.

Ren Hong was cleaning leek leaves in the yard, and the soldiers who were slaughtered by the way, and said to Xia Dingmao:

"Fu Majian and the officials naturally need to have good wine and meat, and the ordinary soldiers in the regiment must also let them eat well."

"To make them feel that returning to Xuanquan is like returning home, this is called being at home."

As he said this, Ren Hong walked into the kitchen. He was smoky and fired all year round. The walls here were always dark. There were meat and poultry hanging on the beams of the roof. Several dried wax chickens that were smoked by the stove...

The most important position in the kitchen is the rectangular high-platz earth stove, which is no different from the stove in the northern rural areas in later generations.

Not every time before cooking, fire is used to use flint or copper mark to remove the fire. It is placed in the hanging spring, and the two fire pits in the kitchen must be kept alive. The fire watchers constantly add tiny branches, leaves and dead grass to maintain their burning. Before cooking, the kitchen only needs to use fire tongs tongs to put it on the stove to rekindle the fire.

The heat in the fire pit cannot be wasted. There are often three-legged ceramic pots with long legs and deep crotch, four-legged ceramic cauldrons. The pots are burned with hot water. After boiling one pot, fill it with another pot. Pork is being cooked in the pot.

After all, it is a big foodie country. Since the Xia Dynasty, the guys who eat are ritual vessels, and the tripods are cooked meat. To put it bluntly, they are rice buckets with unique shapes. As for the nine tripods and eight guis of the emperor and the princes, and the seven tripods and six guis of the princes, they are nothing more than the difference between being qualified to eat a few buckets of rice...

As the king of ritual vessels, the tripod still has a place in the court. Occasionally, an ancient tripod was dug out of the river, which was a great auspiciousness. Emperor Wu of Han even changed the term "Yuan Ding" to this end. Ren Hong thought that if this was put into later generations, the year name would be "Yuan Guo".

But among the people, the tripod is gradually declining, and it is so much that it can only stay by the fire pit and cannot reach the stove!

On the contrary, the cauldron is very popular. On the four stoves on the high stove, except for a steamer (zèng) that is steaming rice, the other two are round bottoms and incomplete cauldrons, which are boiled with mutton and are already cooked.

The appearance of the pot is very similar to that of the pots that made soup in later generations. Compared with the three-legged tripod, it can use firepower more effectively, save time and fuel, which is very popular among civilians and the army. At the end of the Qin Dynasty, Xiang Yu used his ultimate skill to "burn the boat to the boat" and won the Battle of Julu.

The human body no longer has major changes, but the tools have been improving, from cauldrons to cauldrons, but this is not the end of the evolution of cookware. Cauldrons can only be used for cooking and stewing. Although they are cooked thoroughly, they have less stimulation in the taste. So after Ren Hong came to Xuanquan, he added a cookware to this small kitchen.

That's the wok.

A huge iron pot, open mouth, and a wooden handle on the bottom of the spherical surface, occupying the largest stove eye, and the bottom has been smoked black by the stove fire.

Although there was only one pot, it was a few months ago when Ren Hong spent a lot of money to hire a blacksmith to cast it in Xiaogu County. The iron on the frontier was expensive, so he spent a lot of effort to convince Xu Fengde, who was a small weapon.

Although the quality cannot be compared with that of later generations, it is enough to use it.

After inspecting the kitchen, Ren Hong was relieved and told Xia Dingmao:

"Millet, sorghum, soy sauce, vinegar, and soybean (chǐ) are all complete, but these ordinary foods are also available in other places. Only various pasta and the dishes fried in this pot can show the uniqueness of Xuanquan. By the way, how many chickens have been killed?"

There is a chicken squid in Xuanquan. He raises dozens of chickens and usually only eats eggs. However, when a distinguished guest arrives, Ren Hong has to add a few more strokes to the special "Chicken In and Out Book".

Xia Dingmao said: "Old servant remembered that when Fu Jiezi stayed in Xuanquan last time, he loved to eat chicken, so he killed six of them in one breath. They were all cleaned up. I dare to ask the gentleman, how should these chickens be cooked?"

Ren Hong ordered only one dish: "Mr. Xia did what he had, but there was one thing, but it must not be missing, that is..."

Before he could finish his words, he heard someone shouting loudly on the Xuanquan Jiejiao Tower:

"A group of cars and horses came to the west!"

...

Xuanquan is not only a post station for passers-by officials and soldiers, but also an outpost on the Gobi Desert.

There are always a few crossbow-holding officials who stand cautiously on the two corner towers in the northeast and southwest of the dockyard, regardless of day and night, and are cautious.

In Dunhuang County, there are also the Qiang people around, and there are also the Xiaoyuezhi tribe protected in the Nanshan Mountains. The Huns' horse teams often cruised abroad, and the hanging springs were arranged to keep watch, monitor passers-by, and observe beacon towers to warn.

Whenever a convoy passes by, they will report to the site.

When Ren Hong hurriedly climbed the corner tower, he followed the hand of the tutor pointing to the distance and happened to see a burst of smoke and dust rising up on the Silk Road straight to the west. It seemed that the team was quite large...

When the convoy approached, Ren Hong saw clearly that there were more than 30 people. There were not only cattle, horses and carriages in the team, but also a few camels, loaded with cargo. Every step he took, camel bells rang.

At the front of the team was a four-horse carriage. In the carriage, a high-capped scholar sat upright, holding an eight-foot long pole. The end of the pole was decorated with a red yak tail dyed, which was actually three in total...

The yak tail fluttered gently against the dry northwest wind.

Seeing this thing, whether it was the talent officer on the corner tower or Xu Fengde who walked outside the Xuanquan to greet him, he became solemn!

The soldiers who were still busy everywhere just now quickly put down the messy things in their hands, and those who were blocking the road silently gave way to the side and stood solemnly.

It’s not because the visitor was an official of 600 stones.

It’s not because they are distinguished guests who require high standards for delivery.

But because everyone knows what the car represents...

Re-Entertainment Hong also stood up on the wall, his eyes staying on the bright yak tail for a long time.

"That was the messenger who returned from the Western Regions."

"It's the great man's flag!"

...
Chapter completed!