"Beef!"
As soon as Meton finished his words, the atmosphere in the room suddenly became dead silent.
Li Shimin's face suddenly became gloomy. He looked at Meton without any expression and said in a hoarse voice, "Do you know how important cattle are to the Tang dynasty? The imperial court has ordered many times that it is forbidden to kill cattle privately. Even the imperial court can only kill cattle for the worship of Heaven."
Meton nodded and said, "A cow is equal to ten strong men. For the countryside, owning a cow is the standard of a noble family. Moreover, according to the law of the Tang dynasty, if a cow is killed privately, the punishment is 30 beatings and 500 miles of imprisonment. Even worse …"
Meton had been studying the law of the Tang dynasty recently. Of course, he knew that cattle were the best labor force in this era. They were almost as important as tractors in the future. Every farmer valued their cattle as much as their own lives. Even if a cattle died, it had to be appraised by the county government and confirmed that there was no mistake before it could be sold.
Of course, there were loopholes. For some rich families, there were naturally ways to exploit the loopholes in the law. Around Chang 'an, there were many cattle that died of falling, illness, or old age every year.
"Could it be that Meton killed cattle privately to make hot pot ingredients?" Qin Huaiyu and the other two were secretly anxious.
If you cooked the beef in private and found a good excuse, no one would investigate. But Moton had actually put it out in public. Wasn't that just asking for trouble?
Li Shimin said coldly, "Since you are familiar with the law of the Tang dynasty, why do you know the law and break it? Is it really like what the censor said, that you are arrogant because of the favor?"
Meton shook his head and said, "Your Majesty misunderstood. The beef of Yuwen Restaurant is not the cattle of the Tang dynasty. It is exchanged from the grassland tribes with horses. Cattle are not good at running long distances. They were transported from the Pass to Chang 'an. Some of them were lost. These are all recorded in the government."
Hearing this, Li Shimin breathed a sigh of relief and the atmosphere in the room relaxed.
Cheng Yaojin suddenly looked as if he had expected this. Meton was so slippery. How could he leave such a big evidence behind? Since he could say it, he was sure that nothing would happen.
"How many of them were lost? Old Man, I heard that Stuffy Horse is very popular on the grassland. A jar of wine is worth two cows. How many cows and horses did you get from the grassland tribes? "Cheng Yaojin couldn't help asking curiously.
Moton said proudly, "That was before. Now the price has stabilized. A jar of Stuffy Horse is either a horse or a cow. On the grassland, cows are cheaper than horses. With the arrival of winter, the sales of Stuffy Horse have increased greatly. There are already 100 of them in Chang 'an, and about 200 of them have been shipped to the Tang Empire. ...........
"Nearly 800 cows!" Suddenly, everyone couldn't help but click their tongues. No one thought that Meton could get so many cows and horses from the grassland without anyone noticing. In addition to the horses before, he had at least 1,000 cows and horses.
This was probably the biggest harvest in terms of large livestock since the founding of the Tang dynasty, except for defeating the Turks.
The price that Meton paid was only 1,000 jars of wine, which really made people jealous.
Li Shimin was also happy. The tax of Stuffy Horse was one out of four taxes. That was to say, 200 of these cows had to be handed over to the imperial court. This was a big fortune.
"Good. The Old Man had the chance to taste the beef from the grassland when he defeated the Turks. The taste is still unforgettable for the Old Man. I didn't expect that I could get it today," Cheng Yaojin said generously.
Li Shimin also thought of those glorious days. He drank three cups of wine with Cheng Yaojin and laughed heartily.
At this moment, Uncle Yu came in with a large piece of frozen and hard beef.
Cheng Yaojin frowned and said, "Frozen beef from last night? Then it's not as good as fresh. "
Uncle Yu smiled and said, "General Cheng, you may not know, but if it's stewed beef brisket, fresh beef is naturally the best. But if it's hot pot, only frozen beef is the best."
Under the curious gazes of the crowd, Uncle Yu held a long tool that looked like a small guillotine and fixed the hard beef. For the first time, he used the handle of the guillotine and gently applied force.
The hard beef was cut into small slices as thin as cicada's wings under the force of the lever and the blade. Each slice was rolled into a roll the length of an index finger.
Uncle Yu cut the beef on the spot and placed it on a plate on the table like an exquisite work of art.
Meton explained, "If it's raw beef, it's impossible to cut it into such thin slices. That way, the texture will be greatly reduced."
Meton took the lead and picked up a piece of beef and placed it into the boiling soup. In less than ten breaths, it was ready to be eaten. Under Meton's demonstration, the crowd began to add the beef into the hot pot.
"It's really not bad!" Li Shimin's eyes lit up.
As for Cheng Yaojin, he was full of praise. Uncle Yu cut three large plates of beef, which were quickly devoured by the crowd.
Then, the entire hot pot became a special beef hot pot. Brushed beef tripe, pissed beef balls, and beef tripe were all praised by the crowd.
Finally, there was the green spinach. Now that winter had arrived, the crowd had not eaten vegetables for at least two months. Especially after eating fish and meat, eating a few mouthfuls of vegetables was a form of enjoyment.
The beef that was full of praise and the rare and precious vegetables. Even though Li Shimin had tasted all kinds of delicacies, he could not help but nod his head and exclaim in satisfaction.
Finally, there was a delicious milk ice cream as dessert, which made the crowd even more reluctant to part with it.
"Hot pot with beef rolls is simply the best food in the world. It's a pity that cattle and horses are rare in the Tang dynasty, otherwise the Old Man would definitely eat beef hot pot every day," Cheng Yaojin said regretfully.
The Tang dynasty had strict laws. Even though Cheng Yaojin was a Duke, he did not dare to violate the law. Otherwise, if he was reported by the Imperial Censor, the consequences would be quite serious.
Qin Huaiyu and the other two on the side also nodded repeatedly. The beef hot pot this time could be said to have completely conquered them.
Meton stole a glance at Li Shimin. When he saw Li Shimin's expressionless face, he said loudly, "Uncle Cheng, you don't have to worry about this. Although cattle and horses are rare in the Tang dynasty, cattle are everywhere on the prairie and even in the western regions of Qinghai! If Uncle Cheng wants to eat some, the Mo Family will certainly use all means to exchange for them from all over the prairie in the future. "
Cheng Yaojin understood and said, "That won't do. Once we arrive,
Once we arrive in the Tang dynasty, we must abide by the laws of the Tang dynasty. We can't slaughter cattle wantonly. "
Meton laughed and said, "It's not difficult at all. From the border to Chang 'an, there must be a few cattle lost. At that time, we can naturally slaughter them according to the law."
Li Shimin's face suddenly became unfriendly.
"The government only has a few quotas for slaughtering cattle a year. How can it be enough to share?" Cheng Yaojin waved his hand and said.
Meton did not seem to see Li Shimin's expression and said loudly, "That's easy. Now it's cold. We can slaughter 500 cattle on the prairie, freeze them all, and then transport them to the Tang dynasty. Besides, we have saltpeter to make ice, so we don't need to worry about the beef being damaged. The Tang dynasty has been short of beef for a long time, so it will definitely be popular. This is a big deal worth tens of thousands of strings of cash. Uncle Cheng, are you willing to cooperate? "
Cheng Yaojin grinned and said, "That's good. In this way, the Old Man will not only eat all the beef, but also make a lot of money."
Li Shimin's face suddenly darkened.
Meton laughed and said, "Uncle Cheng, if you want to eat fresh beef, it's easy. I heard that there is a kind of cattle in the Tubo plateau called Yong Cattle. It is very big and has hair all over its body, but it can't be used to plow the land. I think this cattle can be slaughtered without violating the laws of the Tang dynasty. This business can also be done."
Li Shimin listened to Meton and Cheng Yaojin, the old killer, talking one after another. They directly found loopholes in the laws of the Tang dynasty that forbade the killing of cattle.
Qin Huaiyu and the other two were stunned to see Meton and Cheng Yaojin constantly wandering on the edge of death.
"Do you think I don't exist? For a little money, you don't care about the interests of the Tang dynasty, "Li Shimin said angrily.
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