Chapter 266: Simple, too simple!
Before the pastry chef arrived, Ou Zanghua started studying the fabrics.

This brings us to Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. It is hard to imagine how energetic a person could be to be able to hold all the power and manage an empire while also studying clothing thoroughly.

After founding the country, Zhu Yuanzhang issued an edict to restore the old customs of clothing and etiquette, which said: The edict restores the clothing and etiquette to the Tang Dynasty style and restores the old customs of China.

Then he personally participated in the construction of the clothing system. During the 31 years of Zhu's rule, he revised and supplemented the clothing system many times.

It made detailed regulations on the clothing of people of all status and identities across the country in terms of fabric, style, size and color, and its implementation was guaranteed by state coercive force.

Tell me, everyone, how bored must one be to do such a thing?

However, this top-down imperial ban could not stop the people from pursuing beauty.

In the early Ming Dynasty, people valued simplicity and honesty and took it for granted.

By the middle of the Ming Dynasty, clothing had become increasingly luxurious, official clothing bans were in name only, and clothing art had begun to flourish with a focus on expressing individuality and pursuing novelty.

In the Zhengde Dynasty where Ou Zanghua lives, this trend has actually already existed, but it has not yet reached the blatant level of the Wanli Dynasty.

He thought for a while and wrote two words on the paper: Silk, Satin
Silk is divided into plain silk and jacquard silk. According to the regulations of the Ming Dynasty, ordinary merchants could also wear plain silk.

Jacquard silk is of noble quality. According to "Tianshui Bingshanlu", there are many kinds of jacquard silk, such as cloud silk, cloud silk, zhuanghua silk, and woven gold silk.

Satin fabric was the most important high-end clothing material in the Ming Dynasty. The emperor and important officials all liked to use various satin fabrics to make clothes. For example, Ou Zanghua’s predecessor, Yan Song, liked satin fabric very much. Among the 17343 pieces of clothes found during the house search, more than half were satin with gold jacquard patterns.

Ou Zanghua paused for a moment, then he remembered that Lord Yan was a Jinshi in the Yichou year of the Hongzhi reign, was selected as a Shujishi, and was later granted the title of editor.

However, Lord Yan suddenly fell seriously ill and had to retire and return home.

During the ten years since Lord Yan retired from office, the eunuch Liu Jin was in power.

From this we can draw a conclusion: Yan Song will not step down until Liu Jin steps out!
At this moment, the servant stood at the door and saluted, "Master Ou, the craftsman who made rice cakes and dried fruits has arrived."

"Please let them in!" Ou Zanghua said loudly.

The servant immediately led in two old men. Their faces were tanned by the sun and their foreheads were soaked with sweat. It was obvious that they had come in a hurry.

The two men bowed their waists, saluted and said, "We are Old Man Mi and Liu Guogan, greetings to you, sir."

After Ou Zanghua returned the greeting, he asked in confusion, "Is this your real name? How old are you this year?"

"My surname is Mi, my original name is Mi Erwa, and I am thirty-five this year. Because I make rice cakes well, over time everyone started calling me Mi Erlang and now I am Mi Laohan."

"Me too."

He is thirty-five years old, but looks like he is in his fifties or sixties.

Ou Zanghua nodded and asked, "Your rice cakes and dried fruits are very well made. How long can these two foods be stored?"

The old man hunched over and replied, "My Lord, if we make rice cakes in winter, they can be kept for two or three months. When the weather gets hot, they can only be kept for two or three days."

Liu Guogan also said: "The dried fruits I make during the dog days of summer can be stored for more than a year without changing their taste."

Very good, the rice cake can be crossed out directly, and only the dried fruit item needs to be kept.

Ou Zanghua asked the servant to send Old Man Mi away, and then started chatting with Liu Guogan.

Perhaps due to Ou Zanghua's friendly attitude, Liu Guogan also relaxed and talked about his craft in detail: "This is the method my father taught me. After washing the pinellia, cut it into slices, steam it for about two quarters of an hour for the first time, and then dry it until it is 70% to 80% dry. Then you can steam it for a second time, which takes about a quarter of an hour, and then dry it again." "The third steaming and drying time can be determined according to personal taste. If you like it sweeter, you can apply a layer of honey and dry it for a longer time."

After hearing this, Ou Zanghua was a little surprised and said, "The three-steaming and three-drying method?"

He had seen this method on WeChat Moments in his previous life. There was an artistic young lady who used this method to make dried fruits from the leftover fruits during the Chinese New Year.

“Three-steaming and three-drying method.”

Liu Guogan said excitedly: "Oh, you are indeed a scholar, this is a good name, I will call you this from now on!"

After he finished speaking, he looked at Ou Zanghua timidly and asked, "Sir, can I use this name?"

"Use it!"

Ou Zanghua didn't take it seriously. He asked, "How many people are there who master this craft?"

"I'm the only one!"

Liu Guogan smiled with a hint of pride and said in a very simple manner: "Don't worry, sir, I haven't even taught my son yet!"

"."

Two flowers bloom, one branch each.

Just when Ou Zanghua was moved by Liu Guogan's simplicity, the large ship carrying Liu Zhengfeng and his party arrived at Yingtian Prefecture.

After Yue Buqun learned the news from the Beggars' Sect, he arrived at the dock in advance and waited for several days.

Seeing Lao Liu and his crew's boat, Yue Buqun went over to greet them, bowed deeply and said, "Junior Brother Liu, I'm sorry!"

"Hey, what is Brother Yue doing?"

Liu Zhengfeng was startled, and quickly helped Yue Buqun up, saying, "I heard about this from Da Nian. Alas, I know it's not Brother Yue's fault."

"This abandoned disciple got into such trouble because I, as his master, failed to teach him well."

Yue Buqun shook his head and said with great guilt: "Not only did he harm the lives of several nephews of the Hengshan Sect, but he also affected the reputation of Junior Brother Liu."

"Fame is just an external thing, I don't care about it anymore." Liu Zhengfeng shook his head and continued, "As for those three disciples, I asked Wei Yi to visit their families and gave them some help, and they were comforted."

"Junior Brother Liu, you are unparalleled in benevolence and righteousness, and you are worthy of the title of benevolent chivalrous man!" Yue Buqun said with great admiration after hearing this: "But this disaster was caused by my abandoned disciple. Please tell me a number, Junior Brother Liu, and I will compensate you."

"That's not necessary." Liu Zhengfeng waved his hand and changed the subject directly: "I heard that Senior Brother Yue had a baby boy, but I didn't have time to congratulate him. Senior Brother Yue's 'compensation' can be regarded as my gift!"

“Junior Brother Liu.” Yue Buqun looked at the short, fat and kind Liu Zhengfeng and said with emotion: “No wonder your disciples are so outstanding, but my disciples all have their own shortcomings.”

Liu Zhengfeng liked to hear this, and he didn't mean to be modest.

Anyway, in the martial arts world, there is no successor more capable than his eldest disciple.

The second disciple is content and humble, and the third disciple is kind and peaceful. Maybe they are not as talented as others in martial arts, but at least they did not help the evil, right?
At Yue Buqun's strong invitation, Liu Zhengfeng and his party stayed at Lion Mountain Manor for one night. Madam Ouyang went to see the infant Yue Lingfeng. Seeing his watery eyes, she liked him very much, so she took off a jade pendant and gave it to the child. She looked at Ning Zhongze and said, "I'll take some blessings from Senior Sister Ning and give it to my Qingqing."

Ning Zhongze was stunned for a moment, and said with a smile: "Mrs. Ouyang, don't joke. Why does Qingqing need to rely on me for luck? Looking at the entire martial arts world, no female warrior is more blessed than Qingqing."

Madam Ouyang just smiled and rocked Yue Lingfeng in her arms, but did not continue talking.
(End of this chapter)