When people in Harbin mention air-dried sausages, pine nut tripe and other flavored meat products, they will talk about Zhengyanglou. Zhengyanglou is indeed famous, but when asked about the historical development of Zhengyanglou, not many people know it. During the public-private partnership, Zhengyanglou was affiliated to the Municipal Meat Processing and Poultry Egg Industry General Store. I served as the secretary of the general store, and later went to Zhengyanglou to do business and general affairs work. I had a close relationship with the old manager Wang Xiaoting, and I heard the old manager talk about the evolution of Zhengyanglou many times, so I knew the ins and outs of Zhengyanglou. Since its establishment in 1910, Zhengyanglou has been famous for producing air-dried sausages and pine nut tripe. It has experienced ups and downs for more than 70 years, but now it has regrouped, continuously innovated, and continuously developed, and entered a period of prosperity. The vicissitudes of the old store Wang Xiaoting, the founder of Zhengyanglou, whose name is Bingxian, is a traditional flavored meat product technician. He was born in 1878 in a peasant family in Xiyou Town, Ye County, Shandong Province. He farmed with his family since he was a child. Because of his poor family background, he was introduced by his eldest brother to Fuxingzhai (sauerkraut meat shop) in the southeast archway of Beijing as an apprentice. After entering Fuxingzhai, Wang Xiaoting, who was 18 years old, was assigned to do odd jobs. Every day, he went to the market four miles away to carry pork, went to the ice cellar to carry ice back, went to the tofu house to pick soy milk, picked elbows, scraped meat skin, set up fire, and cooked meat... Getting up early and going to bed late, dirty and tiring. Wang Xiaoting was taciturn, simple and honest, and did a great job. The shopkeeper and the master were very satisfied, and asked him to work on the case the next year. He paid attention to observation everywhere, studied hard, asked for advice humbly, and soon mastered the full set of meat processing technology. After five years of apprenticeship, Wang Xiaoting went to Beijing Tianbaolou Elbow Shop to eat labor money. One thousand was eight years, but the salary was low and he couldn't save money, so he decided to go to "Kanto" and try his luck. At this time, he was 30 years old. In the first year of the Xuantong reign (1909), Wang Xiaoting arrived in Harbin and met his old friend Song Wenzhi (Zi Huanchen) from Beijing. He arrived in Harbin two years earlier than Wang Xiaoting and made a living by selling pork on a stall. At that time, Wang Xiaoting lived in Song's house and helped Song Wenzhi sell meat. Later, they found that there were no meat products in Harbin, and only a few butchers cooked some offal to sell. After discussing, the two of them wanted to open a braised meat shop. After running around in many places, they finally rented a store building in Fujia Dian, Daowai. The name of the store was modeled after the Zhengyang Tower in Beijing, so above the three big characters "Zhengyang Tower" on the plaque, there are two small characters "Kyoto". The front room of the store is the business office, the back room is the workshop; the second floor is the dormitory, and there are also living rooms and elegant seats. After some preparation, on the fourth day of March in the second year of the Xuantong reign, "Kyoto Zhengyang Tower" officially opened. Song Wenzhi was the manager. In the fourth year of the Republic of China, Wang Xiaoting and Song Wenzhi bought a building on the east side of the intersection of Beisandao Street, and Zhengyanglou moved to the new address. After the move, Xu Dingchen, an old customer who was a scholar in the late Qing Dynasty, volunteered to write a plaque for Zhengyanglou, with the words "Zhengyanglou" in gold characters on a black background, and two small characters "Kyoto" on top. Under the horizontal plaque, there are four small vertical plaques with the words "air-dried sausage", "pine nut tripe", "five-spice smoked fish", "shrimp roe ham", "roasted meatballs", "green sauce bacon", "smoked chicken sauce chicken", and "five-spice sauce meat". From then on, Zhengyanglou established itself in the Harbin food industry with its unique flavor meat products, with a daily output of 20 to 30 kilograms, and production was determined by sales, rather than more. Later, Song Wenzhi returned to Shandong, and Wang Xiaoting became the manager. After the Japanese imperialists invaded Harbin, they brought disaster to the Chinese people and also brought disaster to Zhengyanglou. The heavy taxes and levies imposed by the puppet Manchukuo were heavy, and the 1st Special Forces often came to collect taxes, making it difficult for Zhengyanglou to operate. The economic control of the Japanese puppet authorities intensified, and the "July 25" price suspension order put shackles on Zhengyanglou, and the hats of "huge profits" and "economic criminals" flew everywhere. In addition, the market prices soared, and Zhengyanglou was not profitable to sell goods at the specified price, and it was impossible to operate. So in August 1943, it declared a closure, and the workers left one after another, leaving only Wang Xiaoting, the accountant, the technician and the apprentice to stay in the store. In order to make a living, they had to secretly process a small amount of meat products in the backyard and sell them to old customers at black market prices. They persisted for more than a year. In June 1944, the police discovered their "illegal" processing, and Wang Xiaoting was imprisoned on the charge of economic crime. Later, after many people asked for mercy, the case was settled with a fine. At this point, Zhengyanglou was completely closed. After the liberation of Harbin, Song Wenzhi's son Song Junfeng and old shareholder Yin Huan returned to Harbin from Shandong and reopened Zhengyanglou with Wang Xiaoting. In 1953, Zhengyanglou was changed to Zhengyanglou Heji, with Song Junfeng as manager and Wang Xiaoting as deputy manager, and eight shareholders. In March 1956, Zhengyanglou Heji implemented public-private partnership, and successively merged seven meat products companies such as Zhengyangzhai and Zhengyunzhai into it, still called "Zhengyanglou". During the period of 1978, the sales department was cancelled, the technical staff were transferred, the mass products replaced the flavor products, and the name was changed to "Lixin Meat Products Factory". It was not until 1978 that Zhengyanglou was able to shine again. Business characteristics Zhengyanglou Meat Products Factory fully demonstrated its own characteristics in operation. 1. Inheriting the traditional flavor, but not bound by tradition. When Song Wenzhi and Wang Xiaoting founded Zhengyanglou, everything from products to craftsmanship and even service methods were modeled after the traditions of Beijing. In the early days of its establishment, Zhengyanglou's products were mainly Beijing-style, including air-dried sausage, air-dried tripe, air-dried sauce chicken, air-dried tongue strips, sauce duck, pressed duck, sauce chicken, smoked chicken, Chinese sausage, sauce meat, meatballs, and smoked pig offal. The processing method of Zhengyanglou's meat products is manual operation, and some common tools used are all imitated from the Beijing model, such as kitchen knives, face knives, funnels, strainers, iron pots, smoked drawers, etc. It was not until the public-private partnership that some modern tools were added. Although Zhengyanglou's meat products are produced according to the traditional flavor of Beijing, the Beijing-style flavor is close to the southern flavor. Some products were tested for a time, but were discontinued because they were not popular with northerners. For example, "green sauce bacon" was produced at the suggestion of Binjiang Daoyin Li Jiaao at the time. It was also popular with southerners, but most northerners were not used to this taste and the sales volume was very small. In response to this situation, technician Wang Xiaoting and others realized that the products must be improved to suit the tastes of most northerners, otherwise there would be no way out. They have improved the seasoning and craftsmanship of the products and achieved results. For example, the outstanding air-dried sausage and pine nut tripe are famous for their improvements. The air-dried sausage was originally similar to the southern wide intestine, each about 15 cm long, sweet and salty, red in color, and half dry and half wet in texture. In particular, the taste of the Chinese medicine "Shiluozi" and "Gongdingxiang" in the ingredients is not popular with the locals. Wang Xiaoting visited some old Chinese medicine practitioners to ask for new seasonings, and found "Zikou" and "Amomum villosum", two Chinese medicines that are good for people's health and spleen, which are beneficial to people's health and adjust the taste of the air-dried sausage. They repeatedly experimented with the dosage, solicited the opinions of customers, and absorbed the processing techniques of Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and other places, and constantly modified the formula, so that the air-dried sausage has a unique flavor and is very popular. In order to extend the storage period and facilitate carrying, the drying time is also increased to make the intestines dry and soft to a suitable degree. In order to facilitate production, save casings, and distinguish it from other sausages, the length of the sausage was changed to 80 cm (later changed to 60 cm). Since then, Zhengyanglou's air-dried sausage has created a famous brand among similar products in the country. Pine nut tripe is also a specialty of Zhengyanglou, but it is improved from air-dried tripe. When Wang Xiaoting was an apprentice at Fuxingzhai in Beijing and a technician at Tianbaolou, he learned to make air-dried tripe. He improved the tripe according to the taste of local people. According to the principle of making air-dried tripe, he added an appropriate amount of mung bean starch and various auxiliary materials, especially pine seeds, a specialty of Northeast China. While testing, selling, soliciting opinions, and improving, he finally developed a soft texture, fragrant and refreshing, rich in nutrition, and unique pine nut tripe, which became a favorite delicacy. Zhengyanglou also increases and decreases varieties with the change of seasons. In spring and autumn, when it is cool, it produces more sauce products that are both popular and have higher economic benefits. In hot seasons, more smoked products are produced to adapt to people's tastes. Since Zhengyanglou inherits the traditional flavor of Beijing meat products, but is not bound by tradition, "the disciple is better than the master", so Zhengyanglou's products have won customers in Harbin. Second, the selection of materials, technology, and quality. After Zhengyanglou opened, Wang Xiaoting paid great attention to quality and often researched and improved the products. Zhengyanglou's creed is: reputation is the life of an enterprise, and quality is the soul of an enterprise. Therefore, it is meticulous in technical guidance. Each batch of products must be reviewed by technicians, and unqualified ones are not allowed to leave the factory without any ambiguity. For example, when boiling a pot, the boiling staff must be "three diligent": diligently clean the oil foam, diligently remove impurities in the soup, and diligently keep clean. Zhengyanglou's old soup is very particular, because it is directly related to the quality of meat products. Its ingredients, use, maintenance, cleaning, and storage are all very knowledgeable, and there are special people responsible. Because the old soup is divided into boiled chicken, boiled meat, boiled offal, and boiled sausage, the auxiliary materials are different and the formulas are different. Zhengyanglou requires that the products cooked in the old soup have fresh color, bright surface, and rich and mellow flavor. Zhengyanglou's smoked products are very famous because the "smoking" process is different from that of other stores and has its own unique features. After the products come out of the boiling pot, they are put into the smoking furnace, sugar and sawdust are put into the red-hot pot, and the products are smoked with the smoke. The surface of the smoked products changes, producing a unique and rich fragrance, and the color becomes darker. The surface of the smoked products is dry, as if they have been coated with preservatives, and it is not easy to 1, which can extend the shelf life. Zhengyanglou also pays attention to the quality of the selection of meat products. For example, when purchasing live pigs, there are also some choices for the source areas of pigs. Most of them are purchased from Sanzhao, Hulan, and Bayan, because the pigs in these places have thin skin, few pox pigs, and live fat meat; while the pigs in other areas have thick skin, many pox pigs, and more dead fat meat. The pigs in Fangzheng and Binxian are mostly grazed on the mountains to eat pine seeds, and their bodies are covered with pine oil, and the meat has the smell of pine oil. Zhengyanglou has two "musts" and "three don'ts" when buying chickens: fat and tender chickens of the same year, good hens of two years old are also acceptable; chickens weighing about two kilograms and with uniform size are required. Don't buy chickens that are more than three years old; don't buy thin or sick chickens (dull feathers, with feces); don't buy dead chickens. There are also tips for choosing live chickens: touch the vagina and butt bones on both sides of the hen. If they are soft, they are chickens of the same year, and if they are hard, they are chickens of more than two years old. For roosters, look at the rooster's hind legs. If they are one inch long, they are chickens of more than two years old, and if they are not, they are chickens of the same year. Since Zhengyanglou specializes in purchasing high-quality chickens and offers high prices, most vendors are willing to sign long-term supply contracts with Zhengyanglou. Zhengyanglou did not have refrigeration equipment at the time, so sometimes it was too late to buy meat for production, and sometimes it was impossible to buy high-quality meat. Therefore, in 1915, a pig farm was set up at No. 60, Dajingling Street, Daowai District. Song Wenzhi was responsible for purchasing live pigs and managing the pig farm, keeping the number of pigs in stock at more than 10. 3. Good service and a large number of customers. Zhengyanglou pays attention to knife skills when selling goods. The goods sold must be cut one by one. Each slice of pine nut tripe must be two centimeters thick, and the dried intestines must be less than one centimeter. If it is a roast chicken, the whole chicken must be cut into its original shape and placed on the wrapping paper in a supine position. All kinds of food are required to be wrapped tightly, and a rope buckle must be left as a handle. It must be handed to the customer intact. When the customer eats, he opens the paper package and buckles it on the plate, and it becomes a plate of regular cold dishes without cutting. The food labels are all printed with the word "Kyoto" to show that they are authentic. Some customers who "eat knife edges" often complain: what slices are not cut thin enough, and what is not arranged regularly... At this time, the clerk must accept it humbly, and is not allowed to argue with the customer, and re-operate according to the requirements. After Zhengyanglou moved to another location, a sales cutting block more than one meter high was set up at the entrance of the business office. On the one hand, it is convenient for customers; on the other hand, it also shows the unique way of selling goods in Zhengyanglou. Zhengyanglou has established a Kyoto-style restaurant in Harbin, and it produces high-end food. Therefore, the food of Zhengyanglou has become a popular dish and an indispensable delicacy for high-end banquets. Many dignitaries, businessmen and celebrities came here because of its reputation. At that time, the general manager of the Jilin Negotiation Bureau, Li Jiaao, the governor of Binjiang, and Bao Guiqing, the supervisor of the Heilongjiang Railway Office, all sent people to buy food here. Even the Marshal's Mansion and the Marshal's Mansion in Fengtian, and the Governor's Mansion of Wu (Junsheng) in Qiqihar often sent people to Zhengyanglou to buy various foods. When the mansion of Zhang Jinghui, the minister of the puppet Manchukuo, was in Harbin, he often came to buy goods. After Zhang Jinghui became the pseudo-minister of state and moved his mansion to Xinjing, he still often sent people to buy goods. Zhengyanglou inserted the envelopes for writing letters for goods on the wall at the door, with the eye-catching words of the pseudo-State Council printed on them, on the one hand to prevent gangsters from making trouble, and on the other hand to show the prestige of Zhengyanglou. The years before 1941 were the heyday of Zhengyanglou. The products of the two major festivals, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, were in short supply. The business hours were also long, from 7 am to around 11 pm, and the store would not close until the theater was over. Comprehensive development Since the Party put the focus of its work on economic construction, Zhengyanglou has truly gained a new life. The plaque "Kyoto Zhengyanglou" that had been buried by the author for more than ten years has been seen again. The appearance of Zhengyanglou has changed greatly. The former handicraft workshop has become a semi-mechanized medium-sized meat processing plant. The factory building has expanded from more than 300 square meters before the "Cultural Revolution" to more than 2,400 square meters, and the number of employees has increased to 151. There has been great progress in equipment renewal. There are overhead conveyor cranes, as well as large meat grinders, stuffing mixers, meat slicers, splitters, pickling machines, refrigerators, steam boilers, and mobile ovens. Now the owners of Zhengyanglou are not conservative, and have created new products based on the old traditional flavors: three-fresh tripe, ginseng and astragalus sausages, etc. At present, there are 48 varieties of products, and the daily output reaches 10,000 catties. Over the years, Zhengyanglou has insisted on "quality first" and "reputation first". Air-dried sausage, pine nut tripe, ginseng and Astragalus sausage, and three fresh tripe have been rated as high-quality products by the Ministry of Commerce and the state many times. In 1956, air-dried sausage and pine nut tripe were well received at the National Food Exhibition and were listed as national promotion products. Reform and opening up have opened up new paths for Zhengyanglou. It has successively established joint ventures with Jiamusi Meat Processing Factory, Xuzhou Cured Meat Factory, and Jinan Baimashan Meat Products Factory, making its famous brand products bloom all over the country. (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)