Chapter 360

"Beef!"

As soon as Merton's voice fell, the whole private room atmosphere suddenly died down.

Li Shimin's face suddenly became gloomy. He looked at Merton without any expression and said in a dumb voice: "do you know how important cattle are to the Tang Dynasty? The imperial court has repeatedly ordered to prohibit the slaughter of farm cattle without permission. Even the imperial court can kill cattle only by offering sacrifices to heaven."

Merton nodded and said, "one cow is enough for ten strong men. For rural areas, owning one cow is the standard of upper family. Moreover, according to the law of the Tang Dynasty, if you kill a farm cow without permission, you will have a staff of 30, and you will be 500 miles, even worse..."

Merton has recently studied the laws of the Tang Dynasty. Of course, he knows that cattle are the best labor force in this era, which is comparable to the weight of tractors in future generations. Every farmer regards his cattle as his life, and even the government registers the cattle. Even if the cattle die, they can only be sold after being identified by the county government.

Of course, it is not without loopholes. For some rich and powerful families, there are naturally some means to drill loopholes in the law. Around Chang'an City, there are many dead cattle every year.

"Don't Merton kill cattle to make hot pot food without permission." Qin Huaiyu was secretly anxious in their hearts.

If you make beef in private and make good excuses, naturally no one will go deep into it, and Merton puts it on the table. Isn't that self defeating.

Li Shimin said coldly, "since you are familiar with the laws of the Tang Dynasty, why do you still know the law and break the law? Is it true that you are spoiled and charming like the imperial historian!"

Merton shook his head and said, "Your Majesty misunderstood. The beef in yuzhuangyuan building is not my cattle in the Tang Dynasty, but from all parts of the grassland. The cattle are not good at long-distance running. They are transported from outside the pass to Chang'an City, and several heads have been damaged. These have been filed with the government."

Hearing this, Li Shimin was relieved and the atmosphere in the box relaxed.

Cheng Yaojin suddenly looked like what he expected. Merton is so slippery that he can't leave such a big handle. Since he can say it, he is naturally confident that nothing will happen.

"How many are there just broken ones? I heard that on the prairie, stuffy Marcos sell well. A jar of wine is worth two cows. How many cows and horses did you get from all parts of the grassland?" Cheng Yaojin asked curiously.

Merton said proudly, "that was before. Now the price has been stable. A jar of stuffy horses, a horse or a cow. On the grassland, cattle are cheaper than horses. In addition, with the advent of winter, the sales of stuffy horses have increased greatly. There are 100 cows in Chang'an City and about 200 cows have been transported to Datang. At least 500 have not been delivered."

"Nearly 800 cows!" suddenly everyone could not help but smack his tongue. No one expected that Merton would make so many cattle and horses from the grassland quietly. With the previous horses, he had at least more than 1000 cattle and horses.

I'm afraid this is the biggest harvest in large livestock after defeating Turks since the founding of the Tang Dynasty.

The price Merton paid was only thousands of jars of wine, which was really envious.

Li Shimin was also happy. The tax on the dull horse was four taxes and one, that is to say, 200 cows should be handed over to the court, which is not a small fortune.

"Well, I was able to taste the beef of the prairie when I defeated the Turks. I can't forget that delicious food. I didn't expect to get what I wanted today." Cheng Yaojin said Haomai.

Li Shimin also remembered those extraordinary years. He drank three cups with Cheng Yaojin and laughed happily.

At the moment, uncle Yu came in with a large piece of frozen hard beef.

Cheng Yaojin frowned and said, "the frozen beef overnight? It's not as delicious as fresh."

The fish master smiled and said, "general Cheng, I don't know. If you stew beef brisket, it's naturally the best fresh beef, but when it comes to eating hot pot, only frozen beef is the best."

In the curious eyes of the people, master fish held a long tool similar to a small guillotine and fixed the hard beef. The handle of the guillotine for the first time was gently forced.

The hard beef is cut into small pieces as thin as cicada's wings under the action of lever and blade, and each is rolled into a reel with the length of index finger.

The fish master cut the beef on the spot, put it on the table in a plate, like an exquisite work of art.

"If it's raw beef, you can't cut it into such thin slices. In this way, the taste is greatly reduced," Merton explained

Merton took the lead in picking up a piece of beef and putting it into a boiling soup pot, but it can be fished out and eaten in ten interest hours. Under Merton's demonstration, people began to add beef hot pot.

"Really good!" Li Shimin's eyes lit up.

As for Cheng Yaojin, he was full of praise. The fish master cut three plates of beef, which were soon destroyed by everyone.

Later, the whole hot pot became a special beef hot pot. People were full of praise for brushing tripe, peeing beef balls and beef shutters,

Finally, add the green spinach. Now the cold winter has come. People haven't eaten green vegetables for at least two months. Especially after eating big fish and meat, it's an enjoyment to eat a few mouthfuls of vegetables.

The praising beef and rare green vegetables, even if Li Shimin has tasted all kinds of delicacies, he can't help nodding and yelling.

Finally, a delicious milk ice cream is served as dessert, which makes people miss it.

"Hot pot with beef rolls is an unparalleled delicacy in the world. It's a pity that there are few cattle and horses in Datang. Otherwise, I will make beef hot pot every day." Cheng Yaojin regretted.

The laws of the Tang Dynasty are strict. Cheng Yaojin dare not break the law even if he is a national Duke. Otherwise, he will be denounced by the censor, and the consequences will be quite serious.

Qin Huaiyu nodded again and again. It can be said that the beef hot pot completely conquered them this time.

Merton secretly glanced at Li Shimin, saw Li Shimin's expressionless face, and said loudly, "Uncle Cheng, you don't have to worry about it. Although there are few cattle and horses in our Tang Dynasty, there are cattle everywhere in the prairie and even the western regions of Qinghai. If Uncle Cheng wants to eat, of course, the Mojia village will use stuffy horses to exchange them from all parts of the grassland in the future."

Cheng Yaojin answered knowingly, "that won't work either. Once we arrive

Within the territory of Datang, we must also abide by the laws of Datang and cannot slaughter cattle wantonly. "

Merton laughed and said, "what's the difficulty? From the border to Chang'an City, there must be some cattle lost. At that time, they can be slaughtered according to the law."

Li Shimin suddenly looked bad.

"There are only a few places for the government to kill cattle a year. Where is enough?" Cheng Yaojin waved his big hand.

Merton didn't seem to see Li Shimin's face and said loudly: "That's easy to do. Now it's cold. We can kill all 500 cattle on the prairie and then freeze them before shipping them to Datang. Besides, there's saltpeter ice making. We're not afraid of beef damage at all. Datang has been short of beef for a long time and must be very popular. This is a big deal. Uncle Cheng, would you like to cooperate?"

Cheng Yaojin grinned and said, "that's nice. In this way, I can not only eat all the beef, but also make a lot of money."

Li Shimin's face was suddenly dark.

Merton laughed and said, "Uncle Cheng wants to eat fresh. I heard that there is a kind of cattle on the Tubo plateau, which is very big and hairy, but can't be used for farming. I think the cattle can certainly be slaughtered without violating the laws of the Tang Dynasty. This business can also be done."

Li Shimin listened to Merton and Cheng Yaojin, the old killing talent. With your words and mine, he directly filled the loopholes in the law prohibiting cattle killing in Datang.

Qin Huaiyu stared at Merton and Cheng Yaojin wandering on the edge of death.

"You think I don't exist, do you? For a little money, you ignore the interests of the Tang Dynasty." Li Shimin said angrily.

Merton said, "no, I'm defending my right to eat beef."