Chapter 62: The Emperor's Personal Instruction on the Use of Machines (Part 1)

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  Everyone made polite conversation, but they were all from humble backgrounds and some were worried about being implicated, so they finished eating and bid farewell. Looking at the situation, it was like a battle between gods, and we'd better not get involved. The Rich Guest House wasn't easy to mess with either, with Huang Cishi and Lin County Magistrate lurking around, and there was also Wang Dalang serving as the head of the prefectural government office, who was said to be highly favored by Huang Cishi. How much stronger could the other side possibly be?

  However, unexpectedly, until the next afternoon, those two people did not bring anyone to cause trouble. Everyone said that those two guys were probably from out of town and relied on their family's power to bully others. This time they ran into the Rich Guest House and kicked an iron plate. Only Wang Kuang and Sun Er felt that things were not so simple. That young Lang Jun never spoke a word from start to finish, usually people like him are good at remembering hatred and also like to play tricks. Sun Er had seen many people come and go, while Wang Kuang was educated in the later generations. Boss Sun may be the oldest, but he spent most of his time behind the counter and didn't have Sun Er's ability to recognize people.

  Sun Ming heard about this and was a bit worried, but what he was worried about wasn't that someone would come to take revenge, rather he was worried that no one would come to take revenge. If no one came to take revenge, it meant the other side had a hidden and reserved personality, and if they found an opportunity, they would definitely launch a thunderous attack and destroy Fuli Inn so it could never recover.

  Lin Kunmo also heard about this, and recently he has been staying at home to review his lessons, preparing to participate in the imperial examination next year. With his reputation in Jianzhou, plus Lin Ming and Huang Liang's relationship, he didn't need to take any of the previous exams, and directly obtained the recommendation from the state. Therefore, for more than half a year, he rarely came to the inn to drink wine again. This time, after hearing about this, he specially ran over and whispered with Wang Kuang for half a day, as for what they said, only Wang Kuang and Sun Mingqian knew.

  A few days later, Wang Kuang brought a food box to visit the governor Huang Liang. The food box contained the best braised meat he had re-cooked using the three-steaming and three-braising method with rice smoking. Compared to what Wang Kuang ate himself a few days ago, there were two more steaming and braising soups and one more step of braising. The flavors had already penetrated into the bones. This method can only be used in cold seasons; if it's hot weather, even after two days of steaming, it would have gone bad.

  The Lin family saw that it was the young master of the Rich Come Inn who had personally come to deliver food, and they quickly welcomed them into the hall while sending someone to report.

  It's said that the young master of Fuli Inn brought a box of snacks, and Huang Liang's eyes narrowed: this box of snacks is probably not very tasty. He knew what had happened at Fuli Inn in the past few days, and he also knew the origin and identity of the master and servant duo.

  He had originally thought he wouldn't see him, but thinking that the food Wang Erlang personally brought over must be exceptionally delicious; secondly, he also guessed that the reason his son was highly favored by the Yangzhou Sima was probably due to Wang Erlang's meddling, and this favor couldn't not be returned.

  "Haha, Second Brother, how do you have the leisure to come to our house? Shouldn't you be strolling around the streets at this time?" Wang Kuang sat down for a while, and then Huang Liang's voice rang out. Immediately afterwards, Huang Liang's slender figure also walked in from the door outside the hall, thanks to the mud eel's nourishing effects, Huang Liang's body had become much more robust over the past two years, of course it was impossible for him to be like Sun Zhanggui and "regain his youth", although the mud eel did have the effect of nourishing yin and supplementing yang, but it wasn't magical to that extent. Wang Kuang had always been puzzled, how come Sun Zhanggui's eating had such an obvious effect?

  Wang Kuang understood the several layers of meaning in Huang Liang's words, one was blaming him for not visiting often enough before, and two was saying that he now had nothing better to do than visit the Sanbao Hall.

  Wang Juan smiled awkwardly: "Juan has always been afraid of disturbing the ambassador's official duties, so he didn't dare to come. This time it was really helpless, so he came forward with a thick face to ask the ambassador for guidance."

  "Let's not talk about that for now. Let me see what delicious food Erlang has brought for me. How about Erlang accompanies me to drink a couple of cups?"

  Wang Kuang was overjoyed and hastily replied: "Your Excellency has given an order, how dare I not obey?"

  Huang Liang opened the food box, and a fragrant aroma wafted out. This food box was specially made by Wang Kuang's craftsmen, using the lightest and most thermally insulated white fruit wood (also known as silver fir). The box had multiple layers: at the bottom, there was an additional two-inch-high wooden box that had been brushed with tung oil several times, containing hot water; inside the food box, the four walls and the lid had a layer of thick cotton padding. This design allowed the food to stay warm for two or three hours. Such food boxes were not uncommon in the Rich Come Inn, as they were often used by wealthy families who wanted to send dishes to their homes, or by scholars and poets who came to climb high and recite poetry.

  The first layer was a plate of braised peanuts in sauce, which didn't seem to have anything special about it, but Huang Liang knew that whatever was placed on the first layer couldn't be ordinary.

  The second tier had two plates, one with braised duck neck and head and wings, the other with things wrapped in oil paper, each looking like a pancake, couldn't tell what it was. Wang saw Huang Liang's slightly inquiring eyes and quickly explained: "This is pumpkin cake, a sweet dish. Because it's fried, I'm afraid of the steam, so I wrapped it in oil paper."

  The third tier still has two dishes, one is a dish of sliced pork trotters, arranged together to resemble a whole one, and the other is braised tofu.

  Looking at these simple dishes, Huang Liang's fingers were itching to move, especially the anecdote about Zhuo Zi's trotters on Lin Ming's body. He knew that Lin Ming had eaten dry-braised trotters at that time, and he had also eaten dry-braised trotters before, but he didn't know how they compared in terms of flavor with these braised trotters. So he couldn't help but order the kitchen to prepare wine and reheat the plate of bok choy, then send it to the side hall. Afraid that the servants wouldn't carry the food boxes carefully and spill them, he himself carried a food box in one hand and pulled Wang Kuang with the other to the side hall.

  Huang Liang is now alone in Jianzhou, his wife being from Yangzhou, lives with their son to take care of the precious grandson. So usually Huang Liang's food is simple, only when he craves something delicious does he go to Fuli Inn to eat.

  Now, all the wealthy families in Jian'an have learned from the style of Fuli Inn and made hu tables and backrest hu stools. Although ordinary families can't afford to make exquisite ones, they can also imitate them roughly. Although everyone knows that it was Hu Renyue who spread it out, almost everyone has attributed the credit to Wang Kuang, making Wang Kuang laugh and cry at the same time. However, what makes Wang Kuang happy is that from now on, no matter where he goes in Jian'an, he doesn't have to sit on the ground anymore, and his knees are finally liberated.

  Huang Liang's mansion has also been changed to hu tables and stools, with the same style as Fuli Inn. The backrest is not flat like other families, but has a slight arc at the waist when sitting down, so that when people sit down and lean back, their waists and backs fit perfectly on it. The stool surface is not made of wooden boards, but is woven with thick and dense hemp fabric, stuffed with a thick layer of cotton hemp underneath, making it very soft to sit on. This style is most suitable for Huang Liang, who has been working at his desk handling official documents all year round.

  Huang Liang sat down and patted the stool comfortably: "Second brother, this stool of yours has really helped me a lot. Usually, I would feel sore in my waist and back after sitting for a while, but now it's fine. As soon as I sit down, it feels like I'm lying down, don't even mention how comfortable it is."

  "You're kidding, this Hu Zhong's invention was passed down from my uncle, and I just made some minor changes. I don't dare take credit for it, or people who don't know the truth might think I'm a genius. What a joke! If I really had to take all the credit for inventing the Hu Zhong, I'd be in trouble - after all, I'm not even from the Hu family, and the master of the Huayang Dao hasn't been found yet. This is a risk I don't dare take. Luckily, Huang Liang brought it up, so let's clear this up quickly."

  "It's true, when it comes to being a person, one should be low-key at the right time, but also shouldn't miss the opportunity to show off when the time is right. Alright, I'll help you out, another day I'll send a few hu zhang to the capital to present to the Emperor, and explain the origin of the hu zhang. This way, if you can get a name in the imperial court, there are some people you won't have to be afraid of anymore."