Pork is indeed a foil in Chinese history.

It's not that people don't eat, the key is that they eat less, and the upper class generally doesn't touch it, and it's basically the people at the bottom who eat it. The dominant one is all beef and mutton, chicken and game. Of course, beef is definitely forbidden to be slaughtered and eaten in Datang, and even if there is occasionally a little legal beef, the price is not to mention ordinary people, even slightly smaller officials and nobles are not willing to buy it......

However, there is one point, after coming to Datang, Li Yuanjia was quite surprised.

That is, meat does not seem to be too expensive in Datang, for example, a chicken only costs more than ten yuan, and a sheep is not more than three or four hundred yuan, which is completely different from the situation that he imagined that ordinary small landlords could not afford to eat.

Pork, in particular, is quite cheap.

Picking up a piece of braised pork ribs and putting it in his mouth and chewing it slowly, the smile on Li Yuanjia's face was very intriguing.

For such a matter, he also specially checked the information and asked someone, and slowly figured out that the nobles in these years don't eat pork, and the ordinary people don't raise pigs much, in fact, there are causes and consequences.

In the early days, such as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the nobles also ate pork, but most of them ate wild boar. Later, when people began to raise more pigs, this "dirty" and "unclean" creature soon aroused the disgust of the upper class, who preferred to eat clean grass cattle and sheep to domestic pigs that ate everything.

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

After all, the Li family is not a purebred Han Chinese, and has a deep relationship with the northern nomads, and for them, mutton is true love, and goat milk and cheese are also daily necessities. So for various reasons, the status of pork is naturally not high, but anyone with a little status is unwilling to eat it.

Of course, that's only part of the reason.

There is also the problem of feed, cattle and sheep can graze and graze, but if you raise pigs, you must provide a lot of food; In addition, the shelf life of fresh meat is too short, and salt is very expensive in these years, spices are expensive enough to be used as currency, and the circulation of commodities is not developed enough, which also makes it difficult for pork to enter thousands of households.

One more point......

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

As soon as he swallowed the ribs in his mouth, Li Yuanjia really couldn't resist the straightforward questioning, and whispered in his ear: "The pork meat that has not been castrated has a strange smell, even if a lot of spices are used, it can't be covered, but the castrated pork meat doesn't have that taste......"

It's not that he wants to keep this method a secret, he just doesn't want Fang Fengzhu to hear it when he speaks in a low voice.

"Uh...... It's as simple as that? ”

After listening to Li Yuanjia's words, he was stunned for a moment, and Fang Yi glanced at him with a strange face.

"Yes, it's that simple!"

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

Yes, it's that simple!

But only after letting the subordinates do it, Li Yuanjia knew how difficult it was to raise the pig he ate today - in the twelfth year of Zhenguan, the probability of castrating a domestic pig and ensuring that it survived was really not very high!

The history of castration of livestock by the Chinese can be traced back a long time.

But castrations...... Ahem, when he thought of the name of the profession he named, Li Yuanjia had a very awkward feeling...... The castration, like any other craftsman, such as a carpenter or blacksmith, regards the art of castrating livestock as more important than life.

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

And without the most basic disinfection knowledge, after the castration of domestic pigs, it can only be simply disposed of, resigned to fate, and the price is too high. If it weren't for Li Yuanjia asking Han Shan to find a clever little guy in the house to do this, and he also smashed hundreds of times for him to practice......

Thinking of this, Li Yuanjia couldn't help but sigh secretly in his heart: "Alas, it's hard to eat pork these days!" And this fish, a group of people know how to eat raw food every day, and they are not afraid of parasites! ”

Even if the fish given to Li Yuanjia must have been inspected layer by layer, he still doesn't dare to taste a mouthful of raw.

So after coming here for a few years, Li Yuanjia has actually understood why the ancient food culture is not developed enough, and the key is that the conditions are insufficient! Not to mention the difficulty of making an iron pot, if you look at the price of salt, and then look at the even higher price of various spices, everything will naturally understand......

"Yes, delicious pork!"

"Thank you little lady for your compliment!"

Just when Li Yuanjia's thinking began to diverge habitually again, Fang Fengzhu on the opposite side had already finished eating three ribs, nodded with a look of satisfaction, and then praised it.

After listening to the words of the future housewife, Yu Niang was naturally busy and hurriedly thanked her.

"Siqin, reward."

"Yes, lady."

With Fang Fengzhu's natural wave of hand, the maid who was mistaken by Li Yuanjia just now ...... It's the one called Siqin, and he calmly took out a silver horn and handed it to Yu Niang.

In fact, the silver in these years cannot be circulated, especially the people basically do not accept it, but it is a precious metal after all, and it is best for the nobles to use it as a reward. Especially for the eldest ladies like Fang Fengzhu, in addition to the necessary guards, only the maids followed, if they really carried the usual copper coins in their arms?

Hehe, with their little arms and thin legs, they probably can't carry it!

"Thank you for the reward!"

After taking the silver horn, Yu Niang hurriedly bowed and thanked her.

Everything was so natural, so that Li Yuanjia's eyelids couldn't help jumping a few times after seeing it, and he was a little strange in his heart subconsciously - this room Fengzhu hadn't entered the door of King Han's mansion yet, and it seemed that Yu Niang had already come to see her as a hostess? and Han Shan, they are much more respectful to this girl than to Fang Zhizhi!

But after thinking about it for a while, Li Yuanjia was relieved.

This is a family affair personally set by Emperor Li Shimin, as long as he does not die and Fang Xuanling does not find trouble, it is impossible to change. Especially with May just around the corner, both the Zongren Mansion and the Liang Guogong Mansion are also ready......

"In other words, in two months, this will be my daughter-in-law!"

Looking at Fang Fengzhu, who refocused on the other three dishes after appreciating the jade lady, Li Yuanjia was slightly distracted for a moment, and a wry smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. If you only look at the appearance, figure and temperament, this lady is undoubtedly satisfied, and the level of looking at people and things is also the world's first-class level!

However, no matter how good Yiren is, he can't let Li Yuanjia find a trace of heartbeat after all......