Zhu Ping'an drove the horse and dragged the wild boar along the mountain road for more than half an hour, and then he saw a small town backed by the mountain.
Zhu Pingan rode a black horse and dragged a wild boar into the town, causing quite a stir in the town. A seemingly weak and honest boy could actually hunt such a huge wild boar. The contrast was too obvious. It attracted a lot of onlookers, and of course, it also attracted many people from butchers, inns and restaurants.
The Chinese people are all experienced foodies, and the Ming Dynasty was still like this. Butchers and restaurant people knew the deliciousness of properly cooked wild boar meat. Wild boars exercise a lot, so the meat is firm and tight, very chewy, with a unique flavor, fragrant but not greasy. In addition, wild boar meat has the effect of beautifying and nourishing the skin. It also has several effects such as fattening and nourishing the stomach. It is effective in treating blood in the stool and hemorrhoid bleeding.
Therefore, after hearing the news, several butchers and restaurants and inns in the town swarmed in and surrounded Zhu Pingan, who had just entered the town not long ago.
"Hey, young man, please sell this wild boar to me, Lao Liu. I am an honest man and will never let you suffer a loss." A butcher wearing a greasy apron patted the wild boar on the sled, raised his head with satisfaction and said to Zhu Ping'an.
"Just sell it to our Zhang's Restaurant. We are a trustworthy restaurant in this town." Another middle-aged man dressed as a shopkeeper was not to be outdone.
The butcher glanced at the owner of Zhang's Restaurant and said, "Brother Wang, what are you trying to steal? Can you kill a wild boar? I'll give you some of this wild boar after I kill it."
The owner of Zhang's Restaurant smiled and said, "Why, without you, Butcher Zhang, I would have to eat hairy pigs."
"It's really embarrassing for our Luoshan Town to quarrel in public. Young man, ignore them and sell the wild boar to our Zuihualou." A middle-aged woman dressed in fancy clothes walked past the two of them and cast a wink at Zhu Ping'an.
Then, everyone started arguing with each other, vying to buy the wild boar. The crowd around also gathered around to watch the excitement, wanting to see how Zhu Ping'an would respond.
"Ahem. Ping An was just lucky enough to hunt this wild boar. This is my first time in your place. Everyone is so kind. It's hard for me to refuse. How about this. The wild boar will go to the highest bidder."
Zhu Ping'an dismounted from his horse, bowed to everyone, and smiled innocently.
Auctions are not a new sales model. Auctions have existed for a long time in Chinese history. In the 25th year of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty (737), an imperial decree was issued: If all property pledged is not redeemed within three years, it shall be auctioned. Therefore, auctions have been used for a long time in ancient times, but they are less used.
So, the people watching around had a feast for the eyes.
"I'll pay 15 cents per pound." Wang the butcher was the first to speak.
Zhu Ping'an remained calm and just looked at Wang the Butcher with a silly smile. The wild boar that his father and elder brother had luckily hunted five years ago was sold for 15 cents per pound that year, and now you are only offering 15 cents.
"No, I'll pay 18 cents per pound."
Then, Wang the Butcher immediately changed his words, feeling a little embarrassed when seeing Zhu Ping'an's smile.
"Hahaha. Wang the Butcher, no wonder Sister Hua just said that you brought shame to our Luoshan Town. How dare you say 18 cents?! I'll offer 20 cents." Another butcher ridiculed Wang the Butcher, then raised his greasy hands and shouted.
Hahahaha, the onlookers couldn't help but laugh at Wang the Butcher.
"I'll offer 25 cents." Wang the butcher said, gritting his teeth.
"I'll offer 30 cents." At this time, the owner of Zhang's Restaurant spoke.
"35 cents."
... ...
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, due to the influence of various factors, the price of the wild boar meat was finally fixed at 40 wen. The wild boar weighed 325 jin, and Zhu Pingan earned 13 liang of silver.
The wild boars hunted by my father and brother were only sold for 15 wen per catty, a total of more than four taels of silver. This wild boar was sold for 40 wen per catty, more than three times the price.
Zhu Pingan was quite satisfied and put the 13 taels of silver into his arms. In order to express his gratitude to the people around him, Zhu Pingan spent 2 taels of silver to give it to a nearby steamed bun shop, inviting the onlookers to eat meat buns for free. The 2 taels of silver were enough for each of the people around to get two or three meat buns.
Sharing happiness with others is worse than enjoying it alone. Everyone is happy at the same time.
After asking an uncle who was happily eating meat buns for directions, Zhu Pingan continued to drive his horse on the road, without the burden of the wild boar. The Shamatte black horse was much faster.
We will travel 600 miles outdoors and drink the water of the Nanjiang River tomorrow.
After sleeping in the open and traveling for a day, they arrived in Luzhou, which is known as "the throat of the Huai River and the lips and teeth of the south of the Yangtze River", which is modern Hefei.
Nearing evening, they arrived at the foot of the mountain, which the locals call Longquan Mountain. With the guidance of enthusiastic people, Zhu Ping'an led the Shamatte black horse up the mountain along the mountain road, preparing to stay overnight in an ancient Longquan Temple built halfway up the mountain.
Longquan Ancient Temple is located on the hillside of Longquan Mountain, above Longquan. The temple is named after the spring, and the spring is famous because of the temple. According to legend, Emperor Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty once bathed his war horses with the spring water that gushed out all year round at the foot of the mountain. Later, he conquered the world and became the true dragon emperor. The spring water was therefore named "Longquan", and the temple on the hillside was also called Longquan Ancient Temple.
On the way up the mountain, Zhu Pingan heard the Buddhist chants from the Longquan Ancient Temple. He also met several monks carrying water along the way. Of course, the most common people he met were pilgrims, including wealthy businessmen, local villagers, some tourists who came with friends, and of course, devout believers. Before he even arrived at the temple, Zhu Pingan could tell from the crowds that the Longquan Ancient Temple was very popular.
The temple is extremely large. When he arrived in front of the temple gate, rows and rows of buildings came into view. The roof of the temple was covered with glazed tiles, and there were many lifelike Buddhas carved on the roof.
After entering the temple, Zhu Ping'an paid ten cents for incense, and then a young monk led Zhu Ping'an into the courtyard behind the temple for pilgrims to rest.
The courtyards were complex and scattered, some had their own courtyards with small gates, and some were just rooms next to each other. Perhaps because Zhu Ping'an paid little money for incense offerings, the young monk led Zhu Ping'an to a resting courtyard where the rooms were next to each other.
The Shamatte black horse was tied against the wall, and Zhu Ping'an moved the things on the horse's back into the room of less than ten square meters in two batches.
There seemed to be quite a few people living in this courtyard, including pilgrims and scholars like himself. He seemed to have vaguely heard the voices of women, who seemed to be next door. Perhaps they were a family coming here to burn incense and worship Buddha. Zhu Ping'an did not take it seriously.
After settling down, Zhu Ping'an washed his face and left the room.
Just now, Zhu Ping'an heard the young monk say that the vegetarian food in the temple is quite famous. Out of curiosity, he prepared to try the vegetarian food in the temple.
There are many pilgrims in the temple, and the temple also uses signs to guide the location of the buildings. Zhu Ping'an found the dining hall of Longquan Ancient Temple according to the guidance. However, the menu in the dining hall made Zhu Ping'an smack his lips, including steamed pork with rice flour, pork with dried plums, braised chicken head, duck feet in sweet soup, Gonghe fried fish, fried egg crisps, etc.
There are all kinds of chicken, duck, fish and meat. Could it be that the monks in this temple also eat meat
But after a closer look, I realized that the pork was actually tofu, the chicken head was actually taro, the duck feet were actually white fungus, the fish was actually eggplant cut into scales, and the egg puffs were just dough toppings.
Although it was a vegetarian dish, the taste was worthy of the young monk's boast. Zhu Ping'an ate until his stomach was slightly bloated before he put down his bowl and chopsticks and came out. (To be continued.)