The rice granary of the Yang Family Field was well built, but it did not represent the highest level of the Tang Dynasty. It was just a granary of an ordinary rich family. The level and scale of the construction were naturally quite limited. It was far from being comparable to the super granaries built by the imperial court.
The various dynasties before the Great Tang all had super granaries built by the Imperial Court, and it was said that the origin of the ancient granaries had already appeared in primitive societies. It was a ruin called Hemudu, which had a history of six thousand years before the Great Tang and belonged to the primitive society. At that time, the railing-type granary had already been invented.
The inside of the granary was divided into three small rooms, each of which was 42 meters long and less than 15 meters wide. For moisture-proof and sturdiness, the thickness of the walls was 1.5 meters, which was six times thicker than the walls of the later generations. Each room had a south door facing outwards to facilitate the storage and retrieval of grain. There were triangular holes on the walls of each room, three above and five below, arranged in a staggered manner. These holes were naturally ventilation holes, which were used to ventilate the granary, reduce the temperature and humidity inside the granary, and prevent the grain in the granary from fermenting.
Generally, the granaries were built on the ground, but there were also some granaries built underground, which were called underground granaries. They were developed by the underground cave. They had begun to appear in the Han Dynasty, and they developed even better in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. For example, the most famous Hanjia Granary in the Sui and Tang Dynasties was very large, with a length of more than 600 meters and a width of 750 meters. It covered an area of an astonishing 450,000 square meters. In such a large area, there were a total of 259 round granaries built. These granaries were all big at the mouth and small at the bottom. The big diameter was 18 meters, and the small diameter was 8 meters. The largest depth was 10 meters, and the shallowest was 6 meters. They were very particular during the construction. After the pit was dug, the walls were barbecued with firewood to dry the walls. Then, bundles of grass, planks, reed mats, chaff, and other insulation and moisture-proof materials were laid to ensure the safety of grain storage. The granaries were huge, and the structure was perfect, which was enough to show that the granary building technology at that time was quite good.
It was said that the grain in this Hanjia Granary was built during the time of Emperor Yang of Sui, and the grain stored in it was not finished until the time of Zhenguan of the Tang Dynasty. The grain was not spoiled and could still be eaten, which was enough to show the power of Hanjia Granary. The grain in the granary could be preserved for decades without spoiling, which was enough to show the construction level of Hanjia Granary.
Compared to the granaries of Hanjia Granary, the granaries of the Yang Family Field were not good enough. The head of the family did not even have the confidence to store the grain for three years. He did not dare to store it for too long, in case the grain spoiled or the quality dropped too much, which would cause a great loss to him.
The two rice granaries were side by side, and there were two granaries in the same row. These two granaries were naturally wheat granaries. Because the preservation of wheat was more difficult than rice, there was no wheat in bulk, only bags. This way, ventilation and ventilation were better, and it was more conducive to the preservation of wheat.
Because the amount of wheat planted was not too large, after a season of rice, some of the land was planted with wheat, while others were planted with corn, sweet potatoes, and other new crops. Therefore, there were only 1,000 dendrons of wheat in each warehouse, which was half of the 2,000 dendrons of wheat. However, because they were all packed in bags, they took up a lot of space and took up two whole warehouses.
"Assistant Minister Li, this is the bean granary."
The head of the family continued to guide Ang Lee to visit his granary.
There were more than ten types of grain in the bean granary, and they were all beans. There were soybeans, mung beans, red beans, black beans, kidney beans, broad beans, and even some beans that Ang Lee did not recognize.
There were many types of beans, and the quantity of each type was not small. However, compared to rice and wheat, there were fewer beans. Therefore, most of these beans would not be sold. They were basically used for their own use, and only the most abundant beans would be sold.
Beans were very nutritious, and could be used to make tofu and bean sprouts. It was also very good to feed livestock. For example, black beans were used to feed horses. Occasionally, adding a little black beans to the horse would greatly increase the horse's strength. No matter how stingy the head of the Yang Family was, he would still add some nutrients to the livestock appropriately.
Soybeans were a good material for making tofu and bean sprouts. The tofu and bean sprouts made by the Yang Family would be sold to increase their income if they could not finish them.
"Assistant Minister Li, this is the grain granary."
After walking out of the bean granary, the head of the family continued to guide him.
In this grain granary, there were all kinds of grains, such as sweet potatoes, corn, peanuts, and other new foreign species, as well as local millet, highland barley, chestnuts, and so on from the Tang dynasty. Because they did not plant much, these basic grains only occupied half of the storage space. The remaining half stored some food processing products, such as sliced and dried sweet potato chips, leftover bean skins, ground white flour, and corn flour, were all stored here.
There were many kinds of grains, which could provide sufficient nutrition for the Yang Family to meet their daily needs, and some surplus grain products could also be sold.
In addition, there were salted vegetables storage, dried fish, shrimp, and meat storage, seafood storage, spices and other condiments storage, and so on.
There were also many kinds of salted vegetables storage, such as pickled radishes, pickled spicy vegetables, pickled cabbage, pickled carrots, and of course, pickled ham and other meat products. The fish and shrimp were naturally dried, and the fresh ones could not be preserved. The seafood products were naturally dried, and a layer of white salt particles could be seen clearly. These dried seafood products were covered with white salt particles to prevent spoilage. Salt had a very good preservative effect, and any food could be preserved for a long time after being pickled with salt. However, pickled food not only had benefits, but also had a natural drawback, which was that it was not good for health. Pickled food contained harmful substances, and if a person often ate pickled food, it was easy to get sick.
However, since ancient times, the way people preserved food was too limited. Moreover, many foods were indeed difficult to preserve for a long time. Pickling and preservation were also the only way. They couldn't just watch as fresh food rotted away in vain! That would be a pity.
Radishes and vegetables were difficult to preserve for a long time. Pickling them into salted vegetables seemed to be the only choice. Otherwise, they would not be able to eat vegetables in winter. As for fruits, they were mostly used to make wine.
In fact, vegetables and fruits could be canned. This way, more nutrients could be preserved. However, the ancient people did not have the technology to make canned food. Under such circumstances, they could only go down the road of pickling. Even if the canned food technology was mastered in the future, pickled food was still popular. Many people liked the taste of pickled food and felt that eating pickled food was a kind of enjoyment. There were also some poorer people who felt that pickled food was cheaper and easier to eat.
There were many methods of pickling, such as dry pickling, wet pickling, injection pickling, and mixed pickling. Among them, injection pickling was the pickling method of later generations. It was generally not common in the Tang dynasty. It was mainly used to evenly inject salt water into the meat with a syringe, so that a whole piece of meat could be pickled without damaging the meat muscle. This method of pickling was also faster and more efficient. However, because it was not easy to be controlled by humans, the pickled food was very easy to spoil.
The other pickling methods were all methods often used in the Tang dynasty. For example, the dry pickling method was to use crystallized salt to rub the surface of the food so that the juice would seep out. Then, the food would be piled on the pickling rack or placed in the pickling container. Salt should be evenly sprinkled between each layer. Each layer was compacted in turn. Under external pressure or no conditions, the pickling method relied on the seeping juice to form a salt solution. At the beginning of the pickling, only salt was added, and no salt water was added, so it was called the dry pickling method.
The advantages of this dry pickling method were that it was easy to operate, the product was relatively dry, and it was easy to store. There was no need to pay special attention to it, and the loss of nutrients was less. The disadvantages were that the pickling was uneven, the loss was great, the taste was too salty, and the color was poor.
The wet pickling method, also known as the brine pickling method, was to immerse the food in a container in a pre-prepared salt solution. Through diffusion and water transfer, the pickling agent was allowed to penetrate into the food and obtain a relatively uniform distribution until its concentration was finally the same as the concentration of the salt solution.
This method of pickling was relatively uniform, and the salt could be evenly absorbed into the meat, but there were also disadvantages. For example, the color and flavor of the product were not as good as those of the dry pickling method. The pickling time was as long as the dry pickling method, and the labor required was greater than that of the dry pickling method. When pickling the meat, the meat was soft and the salt was appropriate, but the protein loss was greater, and it was not easy to store because it contained more water.
As for the mixed pickling method, it was to mix the dry pickling method and the wet pickling method. Generally, it was commonly used to pickle fish. First, it was pickled with brine, and then, after it was taken out, a large amount of dry salt was applied on the inside and outside of the fish to ensure the concentration of the salt.
Although he had a good appetite for pickled food, Ang Lee rarely ate pickled food. This was because under the premise that the food was delicious enough, Ang Lee still preferred to eat some healthier food. This was good for the body and could also let him live for a few more years. Ang Lee could not sacrifice his health for a momentary taste.
The smell in the pickling warehouse was very strong. It was the smell of pickled dishes. These smells were not good at all. Ang Lee just went in to take a look and came out. If he stayed in there for a long time, he would be suffocated to death.
Most of these pickled foods were vegetables and beans. Because vegetables could not be stored well, it was easy for them to go bad. After being pickled, the taste of beans would be greatly improved. Many people liked to eat pickled beans, so these pickled beans were very popular. They were the soy beans of the later generations. The taste was not ordinary. Scrambled eggs with soy beans was a very delicious dish.
Fruits could also be pickled, but the pickling of fruits was completely different from the pickling of vegetables. The products obtained were also different. After pickling vegetables, the product obtained was pickled vegetables. After pickling fruits, the product obtained was likely to be candied fruit or still fruit.
For example, pineapples needed to be pickled in brine. This could remove the astringent taste and make the taste better, but pineapples were still pineapples. They did not become pickled vegetables, and there was no saltiness in the mouth.
Sweet fruits like strawberries and pears could be added with sweeter white sugar and pickled. After pickling, these fruits would become sweeter and taste better.
The pickled vegetables in the pickled vegetable warehouse were dry and wet. Even the pickled vegetables made from soybeans were dry and wet. One was the wet beans in the jar, and the other was the dry beans with white salt particles. The taste of these two salted beans was slightly different, but they were both pickled vegetables made from soybeans.
There were also some green vegetables, radishes, carrots, and other pickled vegetables. All of them were dry and wet. The dry ones were all hung up for storage, and the wet ones were placed in the jar.
Among these pickled vegetables, the most tempting was naturally the salted fish and salted meat hanging up, especially the salted meat. The pig hind legs were the most tempting. Just looking at them made people drool.
The head of the family was very polite. He offered to give some salted fish and salted meat for Ang Lee to eat on the way, but Ang Lee still refused. He had already taken enough, and he was embarrassed to take too much. Besides, salted fish and salted meat were all pickled foods, so it was better not to eat them.
The warehouse area was not only used to store food. Some supplies were also stored, and there were even a lot of farm tools. The functions of each warehouse were different, and they were strictly classified according to their functions.
"Assistant Minister Li, this is the cotton and linen warehouse."
The head of the family introduced.
Ang Lee stepped in and saw piles of cotton, hemp rope, various kinds of cloth, and other materials. There were even quilts that had been made.
When wandering around nearby, Ang Lee did not see cotton and linen growing here. Why would the Yang family store cotton and linen in the warehouse? Where did these cotton and linen come from? Did they buy them?
"Your warehouse is really a treasure chest! Why do you have all kinds of good things? What's with the cotton and linen? Do you also grow cotton? "
Ang Lee asked curiously.
The family head smiled and said, "Assistant Minister Li, you've misunderstood. We don't have any cotton plants within a hundred li of here. These cotton plants are all bought from the Western Regions. If we store more at home, there will be a time when we need it. It's not that we can't buy less, but the more we buy, the lower the unit price. It's not easy to go to the Western Regions, so we naturally have to buy more. We've already used it for a few years, but there's still so much left. We also bought the flax from the neighboring county. The more we buy, the cheaper the unit price."
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