Great Tang Idyll

The wheels pressed on the snow, making a creaking sound. The horse pulling the carriage had to be replaced by a donkey when noon came. The wind, which seemed to come out from all sides, carried the snowflakes from the ground, swirling and sweeping past.

Whenever they passed by a village, they would be able to see a group of little children running frantically around. Their hands were red from the cold, but they were still packing the snowball in their hands firmly, and throwing it to the other side.

A little child was hit in the face with a snowball. Crying, he used his sleeves to wipe his nose and continued providing more ammunition to others. Whenever it was too cold to bear, the children would place their hands into their clothes to warm them up, or rub their hands together until heat was produced.

Any child who accidentally fell down didn't feel any pain. The clothes they wore were thick and the ground was covered with snow. They would roll around and then stand back up.

"My lord, I think we will only arrive at that place after dark at night. The road is not easy to travel through. The horse will be exhausted after walking for so long, and the donkey has slowed down." The bailiff saw that the carriage's curtain was lifted up. He walked on the side and spoke.

"Oh. I didn't eat at noon, and we're going to miss dinnertime." Magistrate Jia didn't prepare much before coming here. He only brought some water and tea to drink in the carriage. He didn't expect that the journey would be this prolonged. When they were switching over to the donkey at noon, there was a small shop, but he found that the shop was too shabby, so he didn't eat, and ordered his men to keep traveling.

The bailiff hesitated for a moment, and then he went to another bailiff to grab a paper package. He reached into the carriage to hand over the package. He said, "My lord, if you are hungry, you can eat this."

Magistrate Jia took the item out of his hand and opened it. He found that it was deep-fried dehydrated noodles. He didn't know how to eat it, "What is this?"

"This was specially prepared for us by the Zhang manor. When we go patrol, or if something happens, we would eat this while on the road. There's also this thing." The bailiff handed a bamboo tube that was as thick as a finger and roughly two cun (6.6 cm) long over to Magistrate Jia.

He didn't need Magistrate Jia to ask him, and he said directly, "If my lord plans to soak the noodles in water, then pour this thing in. We usually don't have water, so we just spread this thing on the noodles and eat it. The noodles have been pre-seasoned with other ingredients. There's fat in here— tallow. A cow from the Zhang manor fell to its death. Usually, most of the tallow is saved to make this.

Right now it's solid. Point the tube down, and hold it in your hands for a while. The fat will come down and then you can spread it on the noodles. It's delicious. I wonder what's in it. The fat is not greasy when eaten, and it can be eaten as a snack when it is solid."

After hearing these words, the sentence that left the deepest impression on Magistrate Jia was that the Zhang manor prepared the food specially for the bailiffs. That was good, indeed very good. When the bailiffs were working outside and couldn't eat, they had the food provided by the Zhang manor. They treated other people like this, but they definitely didn't treat him like this.

While thinking, Magistrate Jia looked at his tea cup and the jug, which had little water left. He couldn't soak the noodles, but he also didn't want to eat it just like this. He asked the bailiff, "It doesn't seem that great for you to chew this dry when you're outside."

"My lord, not really, we are lazy. In addition to this thing, the Zhang's family also has a set that contains four bowls and a pack of lime powder. If we want to soak it, we would pour water into a bowl, and add the lime powder into another bowl. My lord, you want to soak it? I have a bamboo tube here that has some dried vegetables. Soaking it in water will rehydrate it."

The bailiff spoke as he handed over another bamboo tube. This bamboo tube was a little bigger this time and there was also a bowl. Magistrate Jia took it and had a look. There was nothing else on the bowl and it was well cleaned. Only then did he put the noodles in. There was a pot of water cooking already.

There were vegetables, meat, and oil, and they were able to eat warm noodles with that bowl. This meal costs at least six or seven cents. The meat was not pork, nor chicken, nor fish. Part of it was lamb, and a small part was beef.

Sigh. This Zhang manor was really too difficult to deal with. The people in the county remember their good deeds and the bailiffs ate their food. Even though he is a newcomer, he lives in a house repaired by them, he used the items that they placed in his house, and he ate the ingredients prepared by them.

If it were these factors alone, then it was not that terrifying. What was more terrifying was their method— they were able to tolerate and yield. So many restaurants and shops were owned by them, but they readily gave away the technique behind growing vegetables in winter. As long as they encountered someone who was slightly stronger, they would present them with benefits. For example, the Emperor's nephew, or a prince.

As for those who were not so competent, each one who approached them was doomed. The Mi Family lost so badly. Would it be possible that he would rather lose instead of doing what they say?

When thinking about these things, the water had already boiled, and Magistrate Jia poured everything into the bowl of noodles, and then he poured in the water. He covered the lid, and said to the bailiffs outside, "Anyone want hot water? I'll cook some."

Magistrate Jia had put aside his arrogance. He offered to boil water for others, and no longer addressed himself as an official. He really didn't want to offend the bailiffs now. The entire Administrate Office had more than 700 bailiffs. That was more than 700 households. They also had relatives and neighbors. The Zhang manor was able to give items away, so why can't he put up an act?

"My lord, there is no need to boil water. We have other things to eat. The instant noodles were originally intended to be sold, but it was later decided that it wasn't working out, so the Zhang manor gave it to us..."

"They weren't able to sell it so they gave it to you?" Magistrate Jia was thrilled now. Giving it away because they weren't able to sell it was different from directly giving it away.

"Yes, it was not easy to sell. This instant noodle can be eaten at any time. There's another item that I heard is made by pressing it with iron plates. It's this. Inside is green onion, ground meat, and fat. It's wrapped in oil paper. My lord, although this thing is small, one is enough to keep you filled for half a day. This was made specifically for us."

While the bailiff spoke, he handed Magistrate Jia a paper package. Magistrate Jia opened it and looked at it. It looked like a dessert. He touched it and felt that it was much harder than normal desserts. He didn't know what kind of food this was.

"What's this?"

The bailiff handed another paper package to Magistrate Jia. Magistrate Jia felt dazed. He took a look and said to the bailiff, "What else is there?"

"There are also powders used to make soup. There are pieces of minced fish, seasonings, and dried bone marrow powder." The bailiff took a bailiff's backpack and handed it to the inside of the carriage.