Chapter 114: The elegant Song Dynasty banquet

It is said that Qin Guan later compiled the "Huaihai Collection" and changed this sentence to: "I have been holding wine for a few days, but I haven't offered a long Yang." This change changed the poem from describing narrow and evil travel to caring about national affairs. The style was naturally higher, but instead felt that it was not as true as the original sentence.

"You--" Huang Tingjian pointed at Zhao Xing, furious, but there was nothing to say. Chao Buzhi quickly pulled his sleeve and turned to Zhao Xing and said, "Junior brother, I know you are honest by nature and never say accusations to your own people; I also know that you have no intention of career, so I don't know that the officialdom is sinister - this sentence was nothing at all, but if you contact Shaoyou's poetry style, he will be difficult to overturn the case in this life."

"Also," Huang Tingjian continued: "There is an edict to be a doctor of the Shaoyou Imperial College, and the Secretariat was the official. Last night, he attended a banquet for a noble official. The host asked his favorite girl Bi Tao to drink with a cup and persuade him to drink. After receiving the wine, he actually raised the cup and persuaded him to drink.

The owner was unhappy and replied: "Bitao has always been not good at drinking." - What does this mean? It was because Shaoyou forced his favorite concubine. Who knew that Bitao was kind and replied: "I got drunk for the bachelor today!", and he raised a huge cup and drank it all.

The guest and the host will be communicating, so that’s the end. But this guy was in vain. He even wrote a poem on the spot and gave it to the noble official’s favorite concubine. So, the whole room was full of hatred. The noble official said: ‘I will never let this concubine come out in the future.’, see what this guy has done?”

Song people liked to embellish monks at banquets, and used small lyrics to banter on the table, which might not have been too taboo at that time. What made the catwalk feel dissatisfied and even made the owner swear a lot was because Qin Guan's poems were violated. Zhao Xing smacked his lips and asked, "What poem?"

Qin Guan's face was pale and seemed to recognize his behavior as Meng Lang. He slowly replied: "It's the first "Yu Meiren"-

The green peach planted in the sky and dew are not ordinary flowers.

The water lingers in the deep chaotic mountains, but unfortunately a branch is like a painting, for whom?

What is the limit of the cold and drizzle? It is hard to control spring.

What's wrong with being drunk for you? I'm afraid that when I wake up, I will be broken."

Sure enough, Qin Guan became passionate again. The poem is not a joke about a woman who became a concubine. If so, everyone can tolerate it because the fashion is so.

But Qin Guan really felt sorry for her and pity her "unfortunate" situation.

Zhao Xing shook his head speechlessly: Why do you say you have pity for others' pampering concubines? Do you deserve to pity them? If someone invites you to be a guest, you will tell them directly at the table that you are not married well...

Not to mention the host, even the guests feel hateful!

The atmosphere in the venue was a bit dull, and Mrs. Wang hurried forward to smooth things over: "Forget it, Uncle Shaoyou, although Li Ren is younger than you, you must learn to be steady in his work. You must not do this in the future.

Okay, we are here today, not to curse people. I heard that Li Ren’s noble relatives were captured and frightened, so we came to visit. It happened that Lu Chang (Chen Shidao), Uncle Fang (Li Li) came to Beijing today. Your teacher was not here, so I borrowed Li Ren to entertain him... I heard that there are delicious foods here every day."

Zhao Xing laughed loudly. He pulled Qin Guan over with his backhand, put Qin Guan's hand on Huang Tingjian's palm, clasped it tightly, and said with a smile: "People say 'Brothers are united, and their strength is to cut off gold. Today we are a complete 'Brothers' - except for Senior Brother Zhang, all the brothers are all here.

Come on, now, in the entire Bianliang city, if there is anything delicious, there is no better than my mansion. Look, the famous chefs in Bianliang City are here. They happened to try out the new dishes at noon. Brothers, please come with me to taste them."

Zhao Xing pulled Qin Guan's hand with Huang Tingjian, which made it difficult for everyone to hold a criticism and controversy meeting. The new Chen Shidao and Li Xiao hurriedly stepped forward to greet Zhao Xing. After the greetings, the group of people were half-pulled and half-pulled by Zhao Xing to the large dining room specially expanded by Zhao Xing.

When Zhao Xing walked in front, his servants could not help rolling their eyes when they heard Mrs. Wang say that Zhao Xing was "steady in doing things".

A man who had just used thunder to uproot the power of Bu Qing, the leader of the Bianliang Beggars' Sect; a man who had been killing people all over the city with a knife for two consecutive nights was "steady in his work" and was unreasonable.

However, Zhao Xing's coldness and iron blood also made these servants tremble. Zhao Xing had no means to establish his authority, and these servants dared not deceive them from now on... This also made the servants finally gain generous benefits.

In Zhao Xing's large restaurant, Chen Qing, who lives in Zhao Xing's house, was taking his children to watch the chefs' works. He, half of the owner, greeted the guests in the hall and served Zhao Xing on behalf of Zhao Xing, giving Zhao Xing the opportunity to go to the kitchen to guide the chefs on site.

In the modified restaurant, several small dining tables were made into a U-shaped shape, shaped like a modern conference room. The tables were filled with chefs' works, mostly new dishes that no one had seen before, such as fungus (also called rouge, native to India, introduced to China in the Song Dynasty), lettuce (original to Mediterranean), cabbage (also called cabbage, which should have been introduced to China in the Qing Dynasty).

Chen Qing asked everyone to do it casually: "Li Ren has never paid attention to etiquette and casualness. He thinks that dish is good. If any chef is good, he will sit in front of the chef. Here, Xu Cai Xia has not been named yet. Li Ren has caught me. It's a headache! Dear bachelors are here, just come and show their talents."

The visit of the Sixth Scholar of Suma was flattered by the chefs. They followed the group of the most famous poets in the world with joy, and diligently introduced them to the origin of the vegetables and the artistic conception they expressed, hoping to get their name.

The new Li Xiao is a literary critic in today's words. His works later became the basis for evaluating writers of the Song Dynasty. Although he first met these new dishes, his evaluation was pertinent. For example, carrots and Li Xiao were named "Golden Bamboo" and "Clove Radish", which happened to be the same as its first introduction to China... At this moment, history actually returned to its original trajectory.

The banquet was very successful. Sumen Sixth Scholar and Sushi's two sons tasted many unheard dishes. In addition to seeing green vegetables in winter, they used cold water to transport various seafood to Bianliang City, as well as various spices added to cook seafood. In order to let this group of celebrities give them good reviews, the chefs also tried their best to do their best and performed well...

Everyone was satisfied with the food, and Zhao Xing was very bitter. He found a tall white hat from somewhere and put it on his head. He then placed a high chair in the kitchen, held a purple-red stick, and pointed out the movements of each chef from a high place to give him guidance on the spot. After a banquet, several senior brothers couldn't straighten their backs, but he was full of smoke.

This is a grand event in the culinary arts industry. Several years later, the chefs present also talked about this event. As a result, the rules of "big chefs" have become popular in hotels. The big chefs dressed like Zhao Xing, who was wearing a tall white hat, sat on a high chair, and pointed at them from a high place.

This meal lasted for two hours, which is equivalent to preparing now from 11:00 noon, starting at twelve o'clock, and the banquet was officially started, and the meal was not finished until 4:00 pm. More than 150 dishes were served before and after the banquet, which was extremely rare at that time.

These dishes cannot be made with two or three stoves. But Zhao Xing crossed the cold and hot dishes, making the people on the table never feel the coldness of the table. He only felt that the endless stream of new dishes were dazzling, beautiful, and he never tired of eating... In the end, on average, each customer ate about ten dishes and ate the food to his throat.

The last few fruit plates were prepared, and this was the glorious ending. Zhao Xing slapped his hands and nodded to all the chefs with an encouragement smile: "Perfect! It's simply perfect! Everyone, you have created history - today we have made more than 80 seafood dishes, more than 20 vegetables, and more than 40 cold dishes...

Today will surely be written into history. When people record the history of the introduction of these new-style vassal dishes and spices, they will definitely mention today and everyone!

Well, the chefs who have introduced dishes in the restaurant are not counted. All the chefs here have changed their new clothes. Let’s go to the restaurant together to accept greetings from all the bachelor’s…”

Zhao Xing changed into a light Tang suit, took two rows of chefs, and entered the dining room with the last cold cuts and snacks. This was the end of a European court-style banquet. When he entered the room, he found that everyone was straightening their waists, sitting straight on the chair, burping with satisfaction.

At Zhao Xing's instructions, the chefs stepped forward one by one, proudly introduced the dishes they made today, and thanked the name of the Five Sumen Bachelors. The Five Sumen Bachelors replied with their pertinent and incisive comments, which immediately made the fatigue caused by their hard work shine.

At this point, everyone seemed to be very satisfied, but there were also people who were not satisfied - Su Dun was very dissatisfied. While everyone was satisfied with removing the mat and putting on the fruit plate and snacks, Su Dun staggered into the dining room with two one-meter-long pet cats, followed by Chaoyun, who was unattainable.

When he entered the dining room, Su Dun didn't say hello to his brothers, and stumbled at Zhao Xing, running and shouting: "Dog, dog, my dog, my dog, my dog, return it to me."

Originally, Su Dun was having dinner with Chaoyun and other women in the backyard, but he probably couldn't help but run out. No one stopped him and let him rush into the restaurant where the adults were. His appearance immediately caused a lot of horror. Several chefs pointed at his huge pet cat and screamed. Those who were more brave were just shaking. Several chefs rolled their eyes and fainted. The unsustainable chefs rushed behind Zhao Xing and used Zhao Xing's body to avoid it.

Amid the sequels of exclamations, Zhao Xing heard the word they said clearly - Leopard.

Huang Tingjian also stood up. He wanted to use his body to cover his brothers, but he couldn't move his feet. Among these people, Li Yi was the most courageous. Su Shi once praised him as "a enemy of thousands of people". He successfully jumped out to block the brothers, while Chen Shidao completely fainted.

Zhao Xing bent down and picked Su Dun up. Two of them were one meter long and weighed fifteen kilograms. The big cat, the size of an adult sheep, yawned, revealing its long fangs, which caused a scream. Then it lay lazily down and fell at Zhao Xing's feet.

The big cat's gentleness made everyone calm down a little. Huang Tingjian waved his sleeves and scolded, "Li Ren, why are you playing with me for the little brother? It's too dangerous. A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall, let alone a tiger or a leopard."

Huang Tingjian's loud scolding made Su Dun forget the purpose of his arrival. He was so scared that he hid in Zhao Xing's arms, flashed his eyes, looked at Huang Tingjian in surprise, and his two brothers. Chaoyun apologized to the disturbed ones behind him.

Taking advantage of this, the chefs sneaked out one by one. Zhao Xing used his feet to pull the big cat lying under his feet, and asked in confusion: "How could this be? Isn't this a cat?"

"It's not a cat. I've seen this thing in Hangzhou. The sea merchants who went to Nanyang like to bring this thing from Nanyang. They call this thing the 'seed leopard'. It's a leopard, not a cat!" Huang Tingjian answered affirmatively.

Not a cat? Zhao Xing looked at the cat under his feet in confusion. He suddenly remembered that the wine that is not blended in China is not called "raw wine" or "wine head"; steel is not called "steel" but "synthetic steel" in China... Perhaps, maybe, there should be a word in front of this thing, such as "domestic cat" instead of "cat".

"Is it not a 'domestic cat'?" Zhao Xing asked again.

Seeing that there was no danger, Li Xiao bent down to observe the cat under Zhao Xing's feet and replied: "You are talking about raccoons - ancient raccoons, raccoons and domestic cats are inseparable. I have also heard of this kind of 'seed leopard', which is indeed not a cat. 'seed leopard' is called by Fujian people, 'yellow leopard', and Guang people call it 'yellow tiger', and none of them call it cats - this is definitely not a cat!"

It’s not a cat, was there no cat in the Song Dynasty?

Is this a little strange?

Zhao Xing touched his head in confusion and asked again: "Since there are many people who keep this kind of 'seed leopard' and play with it, have you heard that it has hurt people?"

When Zhao Xing asked, Huang Tingjian relaxed and he answered honestly: "This is not... However, when I first saw the leopard at home, I was a little panicked... It was Meng Lang. Oh, as for Li Ren to ask whether this is a 'raccoon' or something, we will ask him carefully after the mentor returns home."

Zhao Xing didn't know that there were many debates about the historical introduction of Chinese cats. The oldest cat in history was recorded in "The Book of Rites". However, in "The Book of Rites", in addition to recording cats, it also records fictional animals such as Qilin, Phoenix, Kunpeng, and Baxia. Therefore, even if cats are recorded in "The Book of Rites", it cannot be regarded as evidence of the existence of cats in ancient China.

It is said that China's earliest record of cat introduction was in the Ming Dynasty. In the book "Night Ship" of Zhang Dai of the Ming Dynasty, it said that Tang Sanzang went to India to learn scriptures and brought the cat back, with the purpose of allowing it to protect the scriptures to prevent mice from gnawing on the scriptures... But this statement is still unreliable, because of genetic research, Chinese cats were introduced in the 12th century, and were species introduced from the Middle East, not Indian and Vietnamese species.

Therefore, the biggest possibility is that the cat was brought back to China by the Mongolian army during the Western Expedition.

However, what the "cat" in ancient China was called - this confused Zhao Xing. The Japanese believed that they had the most say in the history of the Song Dynasty. They answered this: "Cyclops" in ancient China, "Cyclops" and "cats" all refer to "raccoons".

Su Dun's pet cat is indeed not a "domestic cat". According to modern terms, it is a kind of "(Vietnamese) leopard cat". "Leopard cat" is an academic name, just like "cat bear" is often called "panda" in the common saying. "Leopard cat" is called "cat leopard", which means it is a miniature version of "pocket leopard".

The kitten was indeed docile, and everyone gradually calmed down. Zhao Xing picked up Su Dun and comforted softly: "Dun'er, stop making trouble. Several brothers want the puppy to do the serious business. If you ask the puppy to help your brother do some work, I will give you a big horse. Is it good to give you a big horse? Look, you can choose a few horses in the yard. I will hold you back and let's go ride a horse."

"Now, now", Su Dun's body was thrust and impatient. Cheng Shuang had a wink and quickly rushed forward, grabbed Su Dun's little hand and said, "I happen to have time, Xiao Dun, go with my brother."

The child had no sex. As soon as Cheng Shuang summoned him, he immediately forgot his original anger and happily let Cheng Shuang take it away. Chaoyun hurriedly told the people in the house that he followed the child away in a hurry.

Zhao Xing put down his hand, looked at the gloomy face, and pointed at the few people who were looking into the corridor and asked sternly: "Who did it? Who led his dog away?"

Cheng Zhuo walked up timidly and replied: "Teacher, I won the lottery for today, and I will lead tonight... I just planned to borrow a few pairs of armor from the teacher..."

Zhao Xing stared at Cheng Zhuo with a stern face for a long time, nodded slowly, and said, "Yes, I'm very happy to see you finally knowing 'planning' when doing things! Go and organize your brothers well. Remember, their lives are all in your hands, and your responsibility is to bring them back safely - our strength is bows and arrows, don't be heroes with them, because we are going to take revenge! Just use arrows to deal with them from afar."

Cheng Zhuo thought he would be scolded, but he was praised instead. He greeted happily and quietly stepped down. Behind him, Zhao Xing gently added: "Originally, this matter could be handled better... Alas, you don't even have the ability to coax children, you should have used your brain again."

Cheng Zhuo turned his back to Zhao Xing, responded to "Yes", and ran out quickly.

Zhao Xing mentioned shooting with a bow and arrow just now. Huang Tingjian was worried that Zhao Xing would be out of control at the foot of the emperor. He chased him to the door and was about to call Cheng Zhuo back first and then ask for details... but found that there were several yamen runners standing at the door. After thinking about it, he understood and walked back to the dining room indifferently.

If there is a yamen runner present, it is business. Zhao Xing is just helping, it is not illegal - then he will ignore it. His brother-in-law was tied up, and no one will find trouble to relieve diarrhea...

After a while, the owners of each restaurant also came to hear the news. They thanked the students, thanked them for their names, and warmly asked them to come to the restaurant to taste the new dishes. According to their intentions, this time, the boss of the Helelou took the lead and first opened the "Dragon and Leopard Banquet in the Sea". The restaurants were not willing to be lonely and made an appointment to launch new dishes in turn, and those new dishes were what you tasted today.

The noise finally returned to peace. The rest of the banquet was taken down. Everyone began to search for chapters and readily praise the rich banquet. It was Zhao Xing who disturbed everyone's thoughts again.

"Didn't it mean that after dinner, people like to let family music come out to sing and dance? Senior Brother Qin just went out to have fun, but he didn't know that there was a stunning team in my mansion... Come on, please ask Gao Ju, I'll let family music come out to sing and dance."

Zhao Xing's house is covered with wooden floors, with several mats on the floor, and a stove is placed in front of each mat. The brothers have learned about Zhao Xing's temper at this time, so they don't care about their image. They lie down around and tilt their eyes, waiting for the geisha to appear.

The first one to appear were the Japanese girls, who played the Thirteen-stringed zither and sang a Japanese wakame.

"I sat in the banquet without saying anything, and a line of mourning geese sounded thirteen times." The first comment was Li Xiao. He read a poem by the Tang Dynasty and commented: "This is Tang music. I heard that the Thirteen-stringed zither was introduced from Dashi (Persia) and was the most popular in the Tang Dynasty. The twelve-stringed zither was popular in this dynasty, called the Yale-Legend zither, while the Thirteen-stringed zither was a common music zither, which was popular among the people. But today I heard it... elegant, extremely elegant!"

Chen Shidao was shocked just now, and now he was not able to speak, so he had to nod his head frequently; the children of Chao Buzhi family were born and liked luxury, and his writing style was like his personality and his words were gorgeous. He was most appreciated about such things, so he hit his knees with a golden-painted Korean fan and praised him, "I didn't notice just now, Brother Li was wearing a Tang suit, wearing a Tang suit, and listening to Tang songs, which was extremely elegant."

Zhao Xing took a golden railing and was sending it to his mouth. When he heard Chao Buzhi's words, he immediately remembered something and immediately called the servant to send two black sable furs and handed them to the new Chen Shidao and Li Li: "Brothers, one piece, you two must be missing. The room is cold, put it on."

While hitting his knee with a folding fan, Chao Buzhi asked Zhao Xing: "This black sable fur is also made of Tang style. I went home to see it. It was completely a Tang Dynasty clothing... I said, why are you so many things from the Tang Dynasty? Could it be that you are descendants of the Li Tang Dynasty, but your surname is not Li."

Zhao Xing sighed: "It turns out that in the Song Dynasty, Tang suits had already belonged to the Japanese... Let me tell you, the clothes I wore were the most popular among Japanese nobles, and Japanese people like to wear imitation Tang suits. Originally, Nara, Kyoto was not too cold in winter, but in order to imitate the Tang people, Japanese nobles also wore sable furs in winter - they believed that the Chinese people must wear Tang suits, which was authentic and noble.

The popularity of sable fur in Japan has made sables on the verge of extinction. The Japanese emperor had to order that wearing sables requires grade, only officials above the senate allow it, and others are prohibited from wearing it.

The sable furs you are wearing now were given by my Japanese friend. I guess there are only these last ones all over the world, because Japan now prohibits sable sables, and in the next hundred years, I probably won’t be produced any new sables.”

Chen Shidao's family is rich, and he touched the soft fur of the black sable fur, but he didn't feel anything special. Li Xiao became an orphan at the age of six and was raised by the clan. He had never seen such a luxurious thing before. He touched the black sable fur and asked, "How many sable fur should be used for such a black sable fur?"

Zhao Xing replied in an understatement: "This marten fur is sewn with the best fur on marten. Each fur needs to consume 100 marten furs, and you also need to choose a uniform fur color..."

Everyone stopped talking and silently calculated the cost of the fur. Chao Buzhi laughed: "Don't forget it. I know the price. The fur of such a fur is of good quality. Each piece on Maxing Street can be sold for 3,000 guan. Uncle Fang (Li Li) is not good at making money in the future. If you pawn it out, it will be worth 1,000 guan."

Li Xiao shook his hand and almost dropped the fur to the ground.

Three thousand guan, in the Song Dynasty, a middle-class family's family income was only three thousand guan. According to modern standards, what is the concept of the middle class in the capital: it is to have a house in the capital with an area of ​​more than 100 square meters, and at least one nanny can help with housework at home, and a car, a bank deposit of 200,000 US dollars, and a monthly income is enough to support the family's comfortable life and hiring a nanny - such a life is worth the black sable fur in his hand!

Li Yi looked up anxiously and wanted to refuse the gift, but he opened his mouth and found that his brothers were watching the show lazily, and no one showed the meaning of rejection. It seemed that all this was natural. He immediately closed his mouth and looked at it again. Everyone's attention was in the singing of the Japanese girl. Li Yi thought for a while, gently covered the black sable fur on his body, stroked the soft sable fur in his hand, and was immersed in the show.

The performances of the Japanese girls were extremely outstanding, thanks to Chaoyun's recent training. Chaoyun is a singer, the best singer by the Xizi Lake. With a little guidance, the Japanese girls' skills have improved more than one or two levels.

Listening to the ancient Tang songs with his ears, wearing a Tang-style sable fur, lying lazily on the ground, several Japanese girls around him delivered food and wine to their lips. This life was completely free and easy from the Wei and Jin Dynasties - the picture was like a "Ukiyo-e painting".

Yes, a Japanese girl in the corridor was drawing this scene using the "Ukiyo-e" technique - but the Japanese called this painting technique now not "Ukiyo-e" but "Tang painting". By the late Song Huizong, the skills of Song painting were completely passed on to Japan, and the Japanese immediately fell in love with this picture rendered with gorgeous colors, exquisite brush painting, detailed techniques, and exaggerated movements. They combined this painting method with Tang painting and evolved into the "Ukiyo-e" painting method - they should have called this kind of figure painting technique "Song painting", but Song was already dead by then.

Huang Tingjian was older and ate too much. He soon fell into the fatigue after the meal. He was covered with a black sable fur and a small Tang Le floated in his ears. This kind of idle dizziness made him too lazy to speak.
Chapter completed!