Yu Xiaocao took his pulse seriously and said, "Fifth Master, you have a slight cold symptom. You don't need to take the pills. I wonder if you brought Tong Ren Tang's cough syrup?"
The Taishanghuang stared, like a copper bell, and it was scary: "My lord and the people around me are all adults, why do you bring that thing? Isn't the syrup for children?"
Yu Xiaocao explained: "Most of the syrups are made with relatively mild medicines, which have no side effects, and have obvious curative effects on mild colds and coughs. Fifth Lord, you have a very good foundation, and you can recover quickly after drinking the syrup. Why take bitter pills and lose your appetite?"
The Supreme Emperor Zhu Huaiyong thought about it, the little girl's words made sense, don't care what medicine you take, as long as the effect is quick, don't delay him from enjoying the food!
Zhu Huaiyong took a sip of the syrup, rinsed the sweetness in his mouth with warm boiled water, and said impatiently: "Girl, hurry up and cut some pig's head meat and pig's ears for you. Dequan, take out the imperial wine you brought too. Drinking some wine and eating cold pork head meat, the taste... is better than living gods!"
Dequan looked at Yu Xiaocao with a straight face, and asked, "Miss Xiaocao, our master's illness, can we eat greasy food and drink alcohol?"
Before Yu Xiaocao could answer, Zhu Huaiyong stared at the bull's-eye and said loudly: "Why not? It's just a small cold. I've also drank the ginger soup and taken the medicine. Didn't the girl Xiaocao say it? It will be ready soon! Dequan, don't be silly, go and get the wine!!"
Dequan's feet didn't move at all, and his eyes were still focused on Xiaocao. Yu Xiaocao smiled at him and said, "Meat can be eaten, but wine cannot be drunk anyway!"
Seeing that the Empress Dowager had something to say, she continued: "Alcohol is the most taboo when you are ill. If the illness is serious, I am afraid that you will even avoid meat in the future. Eat a light diet..."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Huaiyong stopped thinking about asking for wine. He doesn't want to be a little white rabbit every meal under the supervision of Dequan—vegetarian!
It was almost time for lunch, and Yu Xiaocao cut a small plate of lean pork head meat for the Taishanghuang, mixed it with minced garlic, and drizzled it with sesame oil. I also made a plate of red oil ear shreds and cut half a roast chicken as requested. He also fried some vegetarian dishes with his own hands and set up a kang table.
Zhu Huaiyong complained a few words about the thinness of the pig's head meat, but he boldly put the pig's head in a steamed bun, and ate it with big mouthfuls. He ate up all the meat dishes on the table, and drank a big bowl of soup, but the vegetarian dishes didn't move much. After eating, he rubbed his stomach contentedly, lying on the kang and staring.
Yu Xiaocao prepared a table of sumptuous meals for Chief Dequan and several plainclothes imperial guards. Most of the dishes were stewed vegetables from the store, plus a few small stir-fries. Her craftsmanship satisfies everyone. Originally, it was hard work to go out with the master in the twelfth lunar month, but the guards knew that the master was going to Dongshan Village, and they almost smashed their heads in private for the accompanying quota. All the guards who had eaten the food cooked by Yu Xiaocao didn't miss it.
In the soup that the Supreme Emperor drank, Yu Xiaocao was boiled with Lingshi water. Therefore, after Zhu Huaiyong woke up after sleeping, he felt extremely comfortable and refreshed, and the fatigue caused by the journey was also swept away.
After eating and sleeping enough, Zhu Huaiyong called Yu Xiaocao to him, and discussed with her: "Girl, your stewed vegetable shop in Fucheng is doing good business! Do you have any plans to open a branch?"
Yu Xiaocao thought for a while, and said seriously: "I'm seriously short of manpower here, and one store can't handle it! How can I have the energy to work on the second store?"
Zhu Huaiyong opened his bull's eye, patted the table and said, "Manpower? I have it!! How about you see if this works? I will provide the manpower shop and you will provide the technology. We will cooperate to open an authentic stewed vegetable shop in the capital. What are you doing? Don’t worry about it, as long as you are responsible for teaching a cook who can make a stewed pig’s head that tastes exactly like yours, you don’t even use it in the shop. The profits are all yours, and I don’t take a cent!!”
What? Your Majesty, are you stupid? Or is there too much money to burn? Donate money, people, and effort to pay for the shop, all the money you earn is given to others, and you don't take a cent? Such a pie in the sky, did it really happen to her
Yu Xiaocao hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Fifth Master, didn't you write all the recipes for stewed vegetables? The royal cooks in the palace have also learned how to make stewed pig's heads, why do you still want to make such a recipe?" out of the shop?"
As soon as he talked about those unsatisfactory imperial chefs and cooks, Zhu Huaiyong became angry: "Don't mention it, when you were here, the stewed vegetables made by the imperial chefs in the palace could barely be eaten. As soon as you left the palace, no one was staring at them. Come down immediately! He even argued that it was made according to the prescription you gave. Are you saying that you are angry or not?"
"Uh... Maybe they are used to fine and elegant food, and they look down on and resist such crude food as braised pig's head and offal. The mentality determines the craftsmanship, so that's why they can't meet your requirements, Fifth Master?" Yu Xiaocao was very pleased. He knew the reason, but he had to rack his brains to find excuses for the royal chefs.
When Zhu Huaiyong thought about it, it was just the reason! He was so angry that he scolded those self-important cooks again.
Yu Xiaocao chuckled, and said, "Fifth Master, don't you ever suspect that I didn't give you the real prescription, or did I keep a hand?"
Zhu Huaiyong squinted at her, and said firmly: "No! You girl, you are less courageous than an ant, and you don't have the guts to play tricks with the master. Besides, you taught those guys hand in hand in the palace. Under the guidance, it is obvious that you can make authentic stewed pig heads. Once you leave, the taste will not be right. Those old guys must be lazy!! No, girl, you must cooperate with the master and give the stewed vegetable shop to you. Let’s do it! Otherwise, when I want to eat authentic stewed pig’s head, I have to go to Fucheng or Dongshan Village!! I’m getting old, and I can’t bear to toss…”
Well, the strategy of mourning soldiers has been taken out! Overlord, this is not a battlefield, there is no room for you!
"Since you have said so, Fifth Master, I have to be ignorant of compliments, right? Then it's settled, site selection, decoration, selection of people, management, procurement... I don't care about anything. I'm only responsible for the training of the back chef! However, I am not greedy, and I will share the profit 50-50% when the time comes!" Yu Xiaocao thought that the Taishanghuang's proposal was good, but she was not at ease, and she dragged the Taishanghuang on a boat, no one in this shop would dare to trip her up .
"Okay! The master is right, you are a benevolent girl! Master, I will go back and make arrangements tomorrow, and strive to open the business in the twelfth lunar month..."
Your Majesty, are you too impatient? It's already the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month. When you arrive in the capital, how can you complete the site selection and decoration in two or three months
Yu Xiaocao never imagined that the Taishanghuang didn't think of it on a whim. He had already taken a fancy to the shop. It was a time-honored pastry shop. He used a shop with a better location and a higher price, and forced to change it. In the past, I also compensated the family a lot of money as lost wages.
When Yu Xiaocao was taken to the capital on the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month, the shop had already reached the standard for opening after minor modifications. In addition to the oven, the back kitchen has added six stoves, all kinds of kitchen utensils are available, and the staff has already been in place, just waiting for her, the "chef", to come!
When Yu Xiaocao came to Beijing this time, she not only brought Yang Liu, a maid obsessed with cooking, but also her sister Yu Xiaolian. Yu Xiaolian has already learned ten percent of the skill of braised vegetables, and the braised vegetables she makes are even more authentic than Xiaocao. Such a free helper is not in vain.
Yu Xiaocao wandered around the back kitchen, and went to look at the well in the backyard, and begged Xiao Butianshi to convert the water in it into Lingshi water, and the water in several large tanks would not be spared. She arranged for Yu Xiaolian to instruct the cooks sent by the Supreme Emperor to make stewed vegetables. Xiaolian strictly controlled the ratio of seasonings, and she also watched over the heat.
Xiaocao took Yangliu and taught her how to make roast chicken and roast duck, salted duck, smoked duck and other dishes, and taught her other cooks. Anyway, the Supreme Emperor assured her that these cooks were trustworthy, and Fang Zi would never handed down from them. In order not to compete with Zhenxiu Restaurant, she specifically requested that the same or similar dishes as Zhenxiu Restaurant be sold out in limited quantities.
After two days of busy work, the stewed vegetable shop opened by the Supreme Emperor himself finally opened. Originally, he planned to set off a bunch of firecrackers in a low-key manner, and when he unveiled the plaque, he would consider it a business. Who would have thought that when he first changed shops with the pastry shop, he would be followed by many people. The news that the Supreme Emperor had nothing to do and wanted to set up a shop to pass the time quickly spread among the middle and upper circles in Beijing. There are countless eyes staring in the dark for every move the braised vegetable shop makes before it opens.
On the day of the opening, there was an endless stream of high-ranking officials from the court, nobles from aristocratic families, and many retired officials. The chief executive of Dequan kept a straight face, welcoming wave after wave of congratulatory guests for the Supreme Emperor. Fortunately, these people, except for those veterans who have made great contributions with the Supreme Emperor, are very knowledgeable, and left automatically after leaving congratulatory gifts.
From morning to noon, the people who came to congratulate did not stop. Chief Dequan and his several young eunuchs were very soft on accepting gifts. Even the one in the palace wrote a picture out of fun, mounted it, and asked Manager Su Ran to send it over, saying that it was hung in the store to show the emperor's grandfather face. The calligraphy and paintings written by the imperial pen would definitely be considered very respectable by others, but the Taishang Emperor disliked his grandson's stinginess, so he gave away so many valuable things, so he gave a ghost painting talisman!
Everything outside is beyond the reach of Yu Xiaocao, a little peasant girl. She honestly teaches cooking skills in the back kitchen, and strives to let those cooks take charge of it earlier, so that she can get away and go back to celebrate the New Year with her family!
Fortunately, these cooks are not stupid, they have a solid foundation, and they can understand everything. Three days after opening, most chefs have been able to complete it independently. The sisters of the Yu family stared at the kitchen for a few more days, and felt that they could let go completely. Even the Taishang Emperor's picky tongue felt that these cooks could become teachers, so they let the sisters leave.
Before leaving, the sisters, accompanied by two guards, went shopping in the capital, bought a lot of good things that Fucheng and Tanggu couldn't buy, and prepared gifts for everyone in the family. On the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, I returned to Dongshan Village. The family members were very surprised to see the two sisters, thinking that they would not be able to make it back during the Chinese New Year!