Pork is indeed a foil in Chinese history.

It’s not that people don’t eat it, the key is that they eat relatively little, and the upper class generally don’t touch it. Basically, the people at the bottom eat it. The dominant ones are beef, mutton, chicken and game. Of course,

Beef was definitely forbidden to be slaughtered and eaten in the Tang Dynasty, and even if a little legal beef appeared occasionally, the price would not be mentioned by ordinary people, but even the slightly smaller officials and nobles would not be willing to buy it...

But there was one thing that surprised Li Yuanjia after arriving in the Tang Dynasty.

That is, meat does not seem to be too expensive in the Tang Dynasty. For example, a chicken only costs more than ten cents, and a sheep only costs three or four hundred cents. As he imagined, it is so expensive that even small landowners cannot afford it.

The situation is completely different.

Pork, in particular, is quite cheap.

Picking up a piece of braised pork ribs, he put it into his mouth and chewed it slowly. The smile on Li Yuanjia's face was very intriguing.

In order to find out something like this, he also searched for information and asked people to ask, and slowly he finally figured it out. It turned out that the nobles these days don't eat pork, and ordinary people don't raise pigs. In fact, there are causes and consequences.

In the early days, for example, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, nobles also ate pork, but most of them ate wild boar. Later, when people began to raise more pigs, this "dirty" and "unclean" creature became very common.

It soon aroused the resentment of the upper class people, who preferred cattle and sheep that ate clean grass to domestic pigs that ate everything.

With the establishment of the Li Dynasty in the Tang Dynasty, the status of pork further declined.

After all, the Li family is not a pure-bred Han Chinese, and has a close relationship with the northern nomads. For them, mutton is their true love, and goat milk, cheese and other items are also daily necessities. So for various reasons, pork

Its status is naturally not high, and anyone with a certain status is not willing to eat it.

Of course, this is only part of the reason.

Other problems include feed. Cattle and sheep can graze, but raising pigs requires a large amount of grain. The shelf life of fresh meat is too short. Salt is very expensive these days, and spices are so expensive that they can be used as currency.

, coupled with the insufficient development of commodity circulation, it is also difficult for pork to enter thousands of households.

Another point……

"The pork we have eaten has been castrated since childhood."

As soon as he swallowed the ribs in his mouth, Li Yuanjia couldn't resist Fang Yizhi's questioning, and whispered in his ear: "Uncastrated pork meat has a strange smell, which can't be covered up even by using a lot of spices, but castrated pork meat has a strange smell.

Pork meat doesn’t have that flavor…”

It wasn't that he wanted to keep this method a secret, he just kept it quiet because he didn't want Fang Fengzhu to hear it.

"Uh... is it that simple?"

After hearing what Li Yuanjia said, Fang Yizhi looked at him with a strange expression.

"Yes, it's that simple!"

The corners of his mouth twitched, and Li Yuanjia nodded with a wry smile.

Yes, the method is that simple!

But only after asking his servants to do it, Li Yuanjia realized how difficult it was to raise the pig he ate today. In the twelfth year of Zhenguan, he wanted to castrate a domestic pig and ensure the chance of its survival.

But I’m really not that high!

The history of castrating livestock in China can be traced back to a long time ago.

But the castrater... Ahem, Li Yuanjia felt very awkward when he thought of the professional name he named... The castrator, like any other craftsman, such as carpenters and blacksmiths, all regard the craft of castrating livestock as their own.

Seeing it is more important than life, passing it on from son to daughter, not from daughter to daughter, from within to outsiders!

So it's really not easy to find someone who can castrate domestic pigs these days.

And without the most basic knowledge of disinfection, domestic pigs can only be simply treated after castration and left to their fate. The price is too high. If Li Yuanjia hadn't asked Han Shan to find a clever servant in the mansion to do this, and

If he even smashed hundreds of strings to let him practice...

Thinking of this, Li Yuanjia couldn't help but sighed secretly in his heart: "Oh, it's hard to eat pork these days! And this fish, a bunch of people know how to eat raw meat every day, they are not afraid of it.

Parasite!"

Even though the fish given to Li Yuanjia must have been inspected at all levels, he still dare not take a bite of it raw.

So after coming here for a few years, Li Yuanjia actually understood why the ancient food culture was not developed enough. The key was insufficient conditions! Let’s not talk about the difficulty of making an iron pot. Look at the price of salt, and then look at the more expensive various products.

The price of growing spices, everything will become clear naturally...

“Not bad, very delicious pork!”

"Thank you for the compliment, little lady!"

Just when Li Yuanjia's thoughts began to drift out again, Fang Fengzhu opposite had already finished three pieces of ribs. His expression seemed to be quite satisfied, and he nodded, and then gave a compliment.

After hearing what the future mistress said, Yu Niang naturally hurriedly thanked her.

"Si Qin, reward."

"Yes, madam."

Following Fang Fengzhu's natural wave of his hand, the maid whom Li Yuanjia had mistakenly admitted just now...the one named Siqin calmly took out a silver coin and handed it to Yu Niang.

Silver is actually not circulated these days, especially as it is basically not accepted by the public, but it is a precious metal after all, and it is perfect for nobles to use it as rewards. Especially for young ladies like Fang Fengzhu

, except for the necessary guards, only the maid followed him. What if he really had a lot of copper coins in his arms?

Haha, even with their small arms and thin legs, they probably can’t carry it!

"Thank you, little lady, for the reward!"

After taking the silver coin, Yu Niang quickly bowed and thanked her.

Everything was so natural that Li Yuanjia's eyelids couldn't help but twitch a few times after seeing it, and he felt a little strange subconsciously in his heart. Fang Fengzhu hadn't even entered the door of Prince Han's palace yet, and it seemed that Yu Niang had already thought of her as a human being.

The hostess came to see her? And Han Shan and the others were much more respectful to this girl than to Fang Yizhi!

But after thinking about it for a moment, Li Yuanjia felt relieved.

This is a marriage decided by Emperor Li Shimin himself. As long as he does not commit suicide and Fang Xuanling does not seek trouble, it will be impossible to change it. Especially since May is just around the corner, both the Zongren Mansion and Liang Guogong Mansion are well prepared...

…

"That is to say, in two months this will be my wife!"

Looking at Fang Fengzhu, who had finished appreciating Yu Niang, and then focused on the other three dishes, Li Yuanjia was slightly lost in thought for a moment, and then a wry smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. If you only look at the appearance, figure and temperament, this guy

The eldest lady of the house is undoubtedly satisfactory, and her level of dealing with people is one of the best in the world!
Chapter completed!