The story takes place in the Qing Dynasty. The geographical location of Daokou Town in Huaxian County, Henan Province, is a major traffic route, inns and restaurants, restaurants are everywhere, and there are dozens of small shops selling roast chicken. The roast chicken made in each roast chicken shop tastes the same, and if you want to sell more roast chicken, you have to lower the price, lower each other's prices, and no one makes money.
A young man named Zhang Bing opened a roast chicken shop in the town, the store is not large, there is no need to hire a guy, inside and out are themselves and their daughter-in-law and children are busy, barely maintaining, supporting the family.
In the eighteenth year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty, the winter of this year was particularly cold. After entering Sanjiu, it snowed heavily for several days. The traffic is very inconvenient, there are few pedestrians outside, and the business of the roast chicken shop is also very cold. Zhang Bing and his daughter-in-law looked at the prepared roast chicken and worried, the weather was cold and sparse, there were no guests to patronize, the good roast chicken could not be sold, and it was close to the end of the year, and the debts owed to others had to be repaid, and this year was sad. Zhang Bing's daughter-in-law said: "We just stand firm at home is not the way, you go to the inns to walk around, see if the passengers who live are buying roast chicken, maybe they want to buy, feel cold and do not want to go out, we will deliver to the door." Zhang Bing listened to his daughter-in-law's words, felt that it made sense, and said: "This idea is good, I will take a few roast chickens to the inns in the town to see the market."
"Be careful not to freeze". Zhang Bing's daughter-in-law handed him a cotton hat and cotton gloves.
Zhang Bing put on a dog skin coat, put on a cotton hat and cotton gloves, his daughter-in-law put a few roast chickens into a wicker basket, Zhang Bing carried the wicker basket to open the door and walked out. Zhang Bing first started from the east end of the town and went in when he saw the inn. A town where people live, and everyone knows each other well. Zhang Bing explained his intentions to the innkeeper, and the innkeeper said: "This year, it is cold, and there are few guests staying in the hotel, all concentrated upstairs, you can ask yourself to see which guest wants to buy roast chicken." Zhang Bing went to the second floor and was not too troublesome, and whenever there were guests living in the room, he knocked on the door one by one and asked if he needed roast chicken. After turning around and selling two roast chickens, Zhang Bing was very happy in his heart, and this trip did not come in vain. Zhang Bing walked to the last room in the west, knocked on the door, there was no movement inside, Zhang Bing thought to himself: Is this room occupied? Just about to go downstairs, I suddenly heard someone inside humming, and then listened, and there was no movement. Does anyone live there? Zhang Bing, while thinking about it, walked downstairs, just in time to see the innkeeper, he asked: "Is there anyone living in the westernmost room upstairs?" The innkeeper said, "Yes." Zhang Bing said: "That is strange, someone lives, knocking on the door why he did not agree?" ”
"People don't want to drive, right?" The innkeeper said.
Zhang Bing thought about it and felt that something was wrong, and said to the innkeeper: "Is it that the guest is sick?" You've got to go and see it." Ask Zhang Bingyi to remind, the innkeeper feels reasonable, so he let Zhang Bing go upstairs with himself to see what is going on. Zhang Bing followed the innkeeper to the upper floor. Coming to the door of the westernmost room, listening carefully, as if someone was moaning inside, the two hurriedly opened the door and walked in, only to see an old man in his sixties lying on the bed, his face red, and he did not know what to say. Zhang Bing went forward and put his hand on the door of the old man's head, which was a little hot and had a high fever. Zhang Bing said, "This old man is sick and must be seen quickly." ”
The innkeeper said, "See a doctor? Who takes the money? ”
Zhang Bingwen asked, "Do you live in the hotel by himself?" ”
The innkeeper said: "He was alone, he stayed the night before, said to go yesterday, this is not heavy snow, did not go." ”
"So what to do?" Zhang Bing asked.
"I can't help it, if he doesn't take care of it, I'll have to report to the government, and if I die here, will I still not be affected?" The innkeeper said to Zhang Bing.
Zhang Bing saw that the old man was not lightly ill, if he did not seize the time to see, he really might not know what would happen, he could not help but have compassion and wanted to help the old man. So he said to the innkeeper, "I took him to the doctor, can you borrow your carriage for me to use?" The innkeeper looked at Zhang Bing, thought about it and said, "It's okay for my family to borrow a carriage, but you can't bring him back after seeing the patient."
Zhang Bing understood as soon as he heard it, and the innkeeper was afraid of being implicated.
This matter was not discussed with the daughter-in-law, what if the daughter-in-law did not agree? For a while, Zhang Bing had no idea. The innkeeper "Hey hey" smiled and said: "Zhang Bing, don't you want to come out of this head, just report it to the officials!" Zhang Bing thought to himself: "When you report to the officials, I don't know when someone will take care of it, this old man may be finished early, and it is important to save people." Zhang Bing thought so and said to the innkeeper, "You borrowed my carriage for use, old man, I will not send it back." The innkeeper listened, his eyebrows opened and smiled, which saved him a lot of trouble, and quickly nodded his head and asked the guy to go to the backyard to prepare a carriage for Zhang Bing.
The innkeeper drove the carriage to take Zhang Bing and the old man to a clinic in the town, and the old man hurriedly consulted and took the pulse of the old man. Zhang Bing asked, "Does his illness matter?" ”
Lao Langzhong said, "It's not a fatal illness, but it won't get better very quickly, and you have to rest for some days." ”
Listening to Lao Langzhong say this, Zhang Bing's heart was put down. Lao Langzhong prescribed several pairs of Chinese medicines to the old man, told Zhang Bing to give them to the old man on time after he returned, and instructed him to take some other precautions. Zhang Bing said: "I am in a hurry today, I didn't bring money, and giving you these roast chickens is considered medicine money." Lao Langzhong said that he would not accept anything, and Zhang Bingjian put down the roast chicken and left the clinic with the old man.
Zhang Bing returned home with the old man, and his daughter-in-law was not happy when she saw it, saying: "At the end of the year, the money is so tight, how can you still get back a mouth for eating?" Zhang Bing told his daughter-in-law the original version of the incident. Zhang Bing's daughter-in-law is also a reasonable person, listening to Zhang Bing's story, understanding the ins and outs, and saying to Zhang Bing: "Save people's lives, win the seventh-level floating slaughter, the old man has no relatives, let's temporarily recuperate here!" In this way, the old man settled down at Zhang Bing's house. After a few days, the old man slowly got better under the careful care of Zhang Bing's two sons.
At the end of the year, Zhang Bing's business owed some foreign debts, and there were always creditors who came to collect debts. Forcing Zhang Bing, he had no choice but to go outside to hide his debts, and he dared to come back in the middle of the night. When they got home, the two of them discussed how to pay off their debts. Zhang Bing said: "It is difficult to rely on us to sell roast chicken to pay off debts, and we have to find a way to do something else after the New Year." ”
The daughter-in-law was also worried, and the two of them could not think of a good way for a while. At this time, there was a knock on the door outside, Zhang Bing opened the door, and standing outside the door was an old man who was recuperating in his own home. The old man walked into the room and sat down on the bench and said to Zhang Bing's two sons: "I have heard everything you say, I have tired you, people like you two are so good, God should help you." Zhang Bing, afraid of the old man's heart, hurriedly said: "Uncle, we are now encountering some difficulties, can overcome, you live here in peace, when the illness is all better, I will send you away." The old man nodded and said, "You child, your heart and eyes are too good, I will help you, you don't need to be in a hurry." ”
Listening to the old man's words, Zhang Bing's two mouths looked at each other and did not know what medicine the old man was selling in the gourd. The old man said unhurriedly, "My surname is Gu, and I am the imperial cook of the Imperial Dining Room of the Qing Palace." Hearing the old man say this, Zhang Bing's two mouths froze, and he didn't expect that the old man was a tall man. The old man said, "I am not in good health, and I am old again, and the palace allowed me to tell the old man to return home, but I did not expect to go to the daokou and get sick here, if I had not met you two, I am afraid that my old bones would have been left here." ”
Zhang Bing said: "Uncle, this is what we should do, how can we see death and not save it?" The old man said: "Good intentions will be rewarded, I am mainly responsible for making roast chicken in the royal dining room, I have my own secret recipe, child, I can't help you with anything else, but I can definitely help you with roast chicken, and the roast chicken you made is unique in Daokou Town." ”
Zhang Bing's two mouths were really happy to fall from heaven, and they quickly knelt down and called out to the old man to kowtow to the master. The old man lifted Zhang Bing's two mouths up and said slowly, "My trick to making roast chicken is ten words: 'If you want to roast chicken, eight ingredients plus old soup'." ”
Zhang Binghuan asked, "Master, what exactly do you mean by eight ingredients plus old soup?" The old man said: "These eight ingredients are tangerine peel, cinnamon, cardamom, galangal, cloves, sand kernels, grass fruits and white root, soup is the soup of boiling chicken, each pot of chicken must be added to the old soup of the head pot, the older the better, you make roast chicken according to my method, to ensure delicious."
The next day, Zhang Bing, according to the old man told the formula for making roast chicken, began to make roast chicken, and the roast chicken made was indeed unique in flavor, the roast chicken was fat but not greasy, and the color was delicious and delicious. In this way, ten passes, ten passes a hundred, ten miles and eight townships know that there is a young man named Zhang Bing in Daokou Town who makes roast chicken with a unique flavor and delicious taste. Zhang Bing's roast chicken shop is full of customers every day, and the business is booming, and Zhang Ping quickly expanded the storefront and took the name of the store "Yixing Zhang".
Daokou roast chicken is not only in Daokou Town, but also in Huaxian County and Henan. Daokou roast chicken has been created for nearly 300 years, and the roast chicken technology has been passed down from generation to generation, and it has always maintained a unique flavor. Its color, fragrance, taste and rot are known as the four gems, and are known as "the world's first chicken". As a local famous food, it is still widely influenced until now, and it is a must-have dish on the table of the people, and it is famous overseas.
