Chapter 8: Delicacies, Champa Rice, and Newspapers

On the upper tier of the tray, neatly arranged were square pieces of osmanthus rice jelly.

Rice jelly is made by letting congee cool until it naturally sets into blocks, then mixed with honey and osmanthus to create a dessert similar to cold jelly.

This is a renowned delicacy of Bianjing, commonly served as an appetizer or after-meal dessert at almost every banquet. Zhang Chulan’s mother once studied the craft of making rice jelly to support her husband’s business. In Zhang Daocheng’s early years as a merchant, he often brought homemade rice jelly as gifts when visiting clients.

Su Ze picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of the rice jelly, and popped it into his mouth. It melted instantly, the fragrance of osmanthus blending with the sweetness of honey filling his palate. Zhang Chulan’s mother’s skill was truly on par with the master chefs of Bianjing’s esteemed establishments.

Su Ze then opened another food box, from which a strong aroma of duck meat immediately escaped.

The roasted duck from Qionghua Pavilion was famous throughout Bianjing.

“Roasted” here meant slow-cooked over fire.

At Qionghua Pavilion, the duck was first pan-fried in hot sesame oil until golden, then simmered with various seasonings over low heat until tender. Once cooled, it was drizzled with sauce and sliced for serving.

The roasted duck was equally fragrant upon tasting, the tender meat infused with a blend of spices without a hint of gaminess. Its flavor rivaled even those Michelin-starred restaurants Su Ze had dined in his previous life.

A wave of discouragement washed over Su Ze.

According to other transmigration novels, one could leverage modern cooking skills to carve out a comfortable life after crossing over.

But tasting these two dishes shattered that possibility completely.

Bianjing truly embodied the saying, “All the finest flavors of the world are found in its kitchens.”

If one were transmigrating to the Tang Dynasty, that might be more feasible—then cities had curfews and the commodity economy was not so thriving.

It was worth noting that within Bianjing, the commercial prosperity had reached the extent that “market households often buy ready-made food from shops and seldom grow their own vegetables.” The common folk regularly dined out. With his former-life culinary skills barely fit to feed pigs, how could Su Ze hope to make a living in a city brimming with culinary masters?

Well, that avenue was closed off as well.

To venture into the food business, he would likely need to construct proper facilities within Peach Blossom Land and recruit capable spirit essence children with agricultural talents.

For now, that was a distant thought. Better to return to farming first.

After finishing the meal, Su Ze portioned some duck meat for Rouge Snow, then closed the door and headed toward a nearby market district.

During the Song Dynasty, citizens were permitted to “invade the street,” meaning to conduct business along street fronts. However, most street shops sold daily necessities and food. To buy seeds, one had to visit dedicated commercial districts known as market wards.

Fortunately, Su Ze lived in the southern part of the city, not far from the grain transport docks, and the largest market ward, Jinming Ward, was nearby.

Crossing a wooden bridge, beneath flowed the Bian River—the lifeline of Bianjing’s grain transportation.

It was exactly as depicted in the Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival painting: boats lined up end to end, boatmen’s shouts echoing in call-and-response like songs over the water.

The more Su Ze observed, the more his heart ached.

Eighty-three years later, this bustling city of Bianjing would become a fleeting illusion, utterly destroyed beneath the iron hooves of the Jin invaders marching south.

No wonder the poets who fled southward endlessly yearned for the prosperous Bianjing in their dreams.

Having crossed the wooden bridge, he finally arrived at Jinming Ward.

The market district bustled with crowds, its vibrance reminding Su Ze of the retro old streets during Golden Week in his previous life.

Did all Song people not work? Strolling through the streets in broad daylight?

The market was not all shops—hawkers carrying back baskets and street vendors setting up stalls all displayed the city’s vitality.

Fortunately, by the Song period, commercial competition was fierce. Shops began hanging signboards at their entrances to indicate their merchandise and attract customers.

Su Ze soon spotted a shop selling quality seeds, its banner proclaiming the sale of fine seeds.

Upon entering, he realized it was not a typical shop but a government agency—the Baosheng Bureau.

Unlike ordinary stores, no clerk greeted him; instead, the staff lounged at the back, chatting idly.

Only then did Su Ze understand why a government agency would sell seeds.

The Baosheng Bureau was established by the late Emperor Zhenzong of Song, responsible for disaster relief and protecting the people. It was arguably the earliest social welfare organization in feudal times.

As an official institution, it naturally lacked the enthusiasm of commercial shops.

The reason Baosheng Bureau sold seeds was that Emperor Zhenzong had actively promoted the cultivation of Champa rice.

In the fourth year of the Dazhong Xiangfu era, Emperor Zhenzong sent envoys to Fujian to acquire thirty thousand hu of rice.

This rice was not the commonly grown sticky or japonica varieties (called “white grain” in the Song), but an imported early-maturing rice from then-known Champa or southern Vietnam, hence called “Champa rice.”

Champa rice was an early rice variety that matured quickly and yielded grain fast, allowing two to three harvests per year with much higher output than japonica rice.

Moreover, Champa rice was undemanding about soil fertility; it could be planted and harvested in succession and covered a much broader planting area than japonica or sticky rice.

Upon obtaining these rice seeds, Emperor Zhenzong was delighted and ordered the Baosheng Bureau to promote them among farmers in Jianghuai and Liangzhe regions.

Although Emperor Zhenzong had long passed, as had Empress Dowager Liu E who once ruled, the Baosheng Bureau continued to sell Champa rice seeds.

Of course, these were no longer the original seeds.

Zhenzong, fond of Champa rice, had it planted in the imperial palace’s Yuchen Hall and designated areas in the imperial gardens, commanding agricultural officials to continuously improve and breed better strains, with Baosheng Bureau selling seeds at fair prices.

Given the agricultural level of the Song Dynasty, the results of breeding were modest.

Although Champa rice was cold-resistant, high-yielding, and multi-harvest, the Song people regarded it as inferior tasting rice.

Due to its poor flavor, it was called “small grain rice,” while the original rice was “large grain rice.”

Large grain rice yielded less and was expensive; its produce was mostly taxed and reserved for the wealthy, while small grain rice, being plentiful and cheap, was common fare for the poor.

In Bianjing’s fine restaurants, Champa rice was never served; only humble eateries and street vendors sold rice and dishes made from it.

Yet Su Ze was excited. With his Peach Blossom Land and Anong, a spirit essence child skilled in breeding, if they could cultivate a higher-yielding, better-tasting rice variety, it would benefit both himself and the people.

Su Ze took out copper coins and bought a batch of rice seeds, then wandered around Jinming Ward for a while.

Unfortunately, after purchasing the seeds, his purse was thin. Faced with the dazzling array of goods, he could only sigh in admiration.

The next day, he was to attend a banquet at Wang Anshi’s residence. Going empty-handed would be improper, so he bought a few small gifts. The splendid street scenes of Northern Song dazzled him until dusk when the lanterns were lit, and only then did he begin his journey home.

On the way back, a child ran along the alleys shouting the freshly printed pirated government gazette—

“Little Fan has arrived in the capital by imperial summons; the official has opened Tianzhang Pavilion for questioning!”