Tang Qi Tan

Chapter 180 Banquet
As hosts, whether it was Xin Gonggong or Cheng Shilian, they had already greeted him downstairs; after seeing Jiang Tian, ​​they crowded around the armrests, saying "benefactor" and "noble official" over and over again.Attentive and eager to lead to the building.

Looking from the outside, the Duanping Building is just a five-storey, quite modest and large restaurant.But once you enter it, you will find that there is a cave like a cave, facing a large area of ​​carefully cultivated indoor flowers and trees and artificial streams, so that the waste heat and noise outside can be eliminated.

From the second floor is the place to entertain guests; then, the higher the floor along the four walls, the higher the corresponding grade and style.It is said that the five-story roof and terrace are special places that can only be used by regular customers with certain identities.

In the end, Jiang Tian and others were led to a spacious hall on the third floor; here, in addition to several lamps with animal mouth and fish patterns shining brightly on the wall, there are also several seasonal flowers in plum pattern bottles in the corner. Other than that, there are only table tables that have been set up, which look neat and tidy.

But this time the reception banquet adopts the style of Hushi banquet.That is to say, on the railing of the spacious colonnade hall, put a large table more than ten feet long and wide, and then place ottomans and cushions on three sides of the large table; only one side is reserved for serving food and enjoying the singing and dancing outside the fence. instrumental music.

As a matter of fact, the banquet methods of the Tang people in this life have also become extremely rich and colorful due to the extensive exchanges between the world and the world.In addition to the traditional meeting food (eating at the same table), table food (dividing meals according to the table), gallery food (long table meals together), swimming food (buffet), and Hushi method.

Of course, the so-called Hu Shi in this era is actually divided into many different forms according to the source.Among them, the famous Daqin Hushi is a circle surrounded by couches, and the host and guests can sit or lie down, and eat on the couch to watch the singing and dancing performance in the center;

Uighur Hushi sits cross-legged around a fire grill grilled in the middle, with blankets on the floor, and slaves cut meat and serve wine before serving, and everyone eats with their hands at the banquet.And this time the style of entertaining Jiang Tian is obviously a typical Persian food, so he eats on a cushioned table.

Along with four-season fresh fruit, five-color dried preserved fruit, six-flavored candied fruit, seven dishes of appetizers, and other appetizers, were presented one after another, and after being tasted one by one by Jiang Tian; whether it was Cheng Shilian or Xin Fair, they all slowly let go Instead of formality and politeness, he began to slowly become more comfortable.

Here, we can also see the difference between Xin Gonggong and Cheng Shilian; the former is obviously enthusiastic and straightforward, and even if he says the wrong thing, he can't make people angry.The latter is relatively sleek and comfortable, good at observing facial expressions without losing sense of proportion, and seems to be easy to get along with.

However, judging from their interactions and specific attitudes, Cheng Shilian, who is well-off, seems to respect and admire Xin Fairy, who has a poor family, more; Lord, even if this feast may be his host.

Therefore, after the initial exchange of pleasantries and familiarity, Cheng Shilian and Xin Ping, as hosts and locals of the banquet, also took turns to introduce some local scenic spots and sightseeing places in Luodu; even some secrets and anecdotes about the streets and alleys.

And whenever there are guests with special identities in the building, they will take the initiative to introduce the origin and provenance of the other party to Jiang Tian;
"That one is Li Rui, the little envoy of the palace and the city." Cheng Shilian pointed to a middle-aged man with a rich, beardless and feminine appearance and introduced: "One of the regular customers of this Duanpinglou, don't think he is a courtier. , but he is an old player in Fengyueshu everywhere, and it is said that he is also the proprietor of "Xunfanglu"."

Of course, Jiang Tian knew that the title of Miyashi Shishi came from the image of robbery and plunder described in Liu Zongyuan's "The Charcoal Seller" in the Chinese text.However, according to what Cheng Shilian said, this time-space envoy has become something else.

It's like the Wufang children who used to blackmail and blackmail everywhere in history, but in this time and space, they have become the eyeliner and minion of maintaining the imperial power.The once notorious Miyashi envoy, after undergoing the transformation of Taiping Zhongxing, has also become a tall and fat job.

In one province (Gongtai) belonging to Da Nei, there are three supervisors (secretary, palace, internal servant), five bureaus (Yeting, Gongwei, Xiguan, Neifu, Neifu) and six officials (Shanggong, Shangyi, Shangfu, Shangfu, etc.) food, sleep, and merit) and 24 workshops, which are specially responsible for handling old things in the palace;
Although it looks like a rag seller, it is a decent vacancy for the township party among the few eunuchs in the inner circle who make a living publicly.In terms of status, it is second only to those eunuchs who are responsible for the daily life of the palace and the purchase of daily necessities for the royal family.

Because, compared to the traditional handling of second-hand goods, they can justifiably preside over bidding auctions, objects remembered by the Ouchi, and artifacts certified by the royal family; don't underestimate these objects. Willing to spend money to take over.

Just to have one that can be shown off in front of relatives, friends and guests.Moreover, compared to those internal government bureaus that require specific qualifications and status in order to obtain the status of an imperial supplier and make contact;

Theoretically, as long as you are clean and willing to spend money; then there is basically no problem in giving yourself a whole set of shrunken versions of inner-made/royal utensils;In fact, it doesn't matter if your net worth is not clean enough, you can also get it from another (underground) auction.

Just spend a few more dollars and buy a set of certification documents issued by Xiguan Bureau; no one will be able to see anything wrong.Therefore, this is also one of the most favorite shortcuts for many people who have made a fortune or successfully bought a house after traveling overseas or outside the domain.

Afterwards, Xin Pinggong pointed to another name and said: "That is Master Guangyue, who came from the Baigu Temple in the Great Forest in the west of the city. He is a famous contemporary poet monk. He was hired by the Luo Fan in Liaodong; he is the son of the world."

Here I want to talk about some unpopular knowledge of history. A considerable number of monks in the Tang Dynasty can't help being meaty.Ru Su Shi Buddha is a few blind things that the Southern Dynasty Emperor Xiaowu Liang Yan, who was famous for his sycophantic Buddha, starved to death in Stone City at the end, is a few blind things that the monks in the north hardly recognize.

Whether it was Shemo Teng and Zhu Falan who were the first to teach the Dharma in the East and stayed at the White Horse Temple, or Jiumozhi in the Northern Dynasty, or Yijing, Faxian and other eminent monks, there is no such hypocrisy.Even Master Xuanzang, the prototype of the Western Paradise to learn Buddhist scriptures, is not a vegetarian.

Otherwise, with their stamina and endurance, how could they travel thousands of miles through the Gobi desert, vast sea grassland, plateau mountains, and back and forth among sand thieves, horse thieves, and wars; Completed the great cause of the eastward expansion of Buddhism.

And Master Xuanzang is a fiercer generation who is more literate and capable.It can be (physical persuasion) that Ling Lu encounters a robber, so he becomes enlightened and changes his mind, converts to my Buddha and becomes a follower; he can also impress the Western Turkic Khan with his eloquence, and send troops to escort him all the way through the Hindu Kush Mountains and into Tianzhu.

After arriving in Tianzhu, he even fought against the monks from hundreds of countries and thousands of cities in front of the vast number of Buddhist believers in Tianzhu at the Unsheltered (Dharma Discrimination) Conference in Qunv City; finally won the highest honor of Nalanda Temple - Tripitaka , was revered as "Mahayana Heaven" and "Liberation Heaven" by Mahayana and Mahayana.

Therefore, as disciples and descendants of Master Xuanzang in the same line, contemporary Buddhists are also free to eat meat; even traveling monks eat whatever the donors give; there are no vegetarians in later generations, Show-like hypocrisy and compassion.

The only precepts they need to keep are nothing more than not killing, not seeing killing, and not causing others to kill, which are the so-called three pure foods.It is closer to the practice of Theravada/Theravada Buddhism, which is popular in Southeast Asia in later generations.Of course, apart from this point, other precepts still need to be practiced.

In fact, the various branches of the eight sects of Buddhism in this dynasty, as well as the origins of the various lines of Esoteric Buddhism; there is also an important destination, which is the cause of propagating Dharma in foreign regions.Therefore, some learned monks and warrior monks with backgrounds in famous mountains and great temples were often employed by princes and feudal clans to assist feudal affairs or participate in conquest.

In this case, they don't need to keep the precepts too much, but regard it as part of the experience of the world of mortals.And in this process, there are quite a few monks who, for various reasons, will abandon their cultivation and return to lay life to start a family.In this kind of restaurant, seeing a monk is really nothing.

Jiang Tian and the others were in the middle of the conversation, and as the silver bell rang outside, it was the official dishes for the banquet that were being presented.The first one to be brought in was a steaming, golden-yellow lamb; it was spread on a large silver platter with green palm leaves, and it still had a cherry in its mouth.

At the beginning was a chef wearing a plain white jacket. After greeting and asking for instructions from the three present, he picked up a blunt knife and gently scratched the back of the golden-yellow lamb. The roasted and crispy lamb immediately Gently flicking the center part, it revealed the quail submerged in milk.

Then, he used a silver spoon to lightly pick the snow-white quail soaked in juice; from the crispy stewed quail meat, a white frozen egg was picked out.Then, this stuffed egg laid by an unknown bird was put in a small dish and delivered directly to the only guest, Jiang Tian.

Jiang Tian suddenly had a realization in his heart. Obviously, this is the simplified version of the famous contemporary dish "Hunyang Shenhu".Jiang Tian took advantage of the opportunity to scoop it into a piece of mouth, only to feel that it was as smooth as fat and jelly, but there were grains of umami taste, which exploded one by one with the slight stirring of the tongue.

It turns out that the inside of the stuffed egg is not yellow, but the extra seasoned fish roe; when the outside is cooked and crispy, relying on the half-cooked and cooled stuffed egg as heat insulation, it is still under heavy processing. It can continue to keep the fish roe fresh and crisp.

Then, he picked up a piece of quail in the milk soup with his chopsticks, only to feel that the meat under the fresh and sweet soup was deboned and the bones were soft and delicious.In the end, it was a piece of lamb cut from the back of the neck, which was placed in front of Jiang Tian;

After more than half of this small "Hunyang Shihu" was eaten on the spot; Immediately afterwards, Yulu Tuan (carved with crispy cheese), Tianxue (stir-fried with honey), Xiaotiansu (chicken and venison mince Fried dumplings), Fenghuangtai (fried fish white with chicken eggs), Xijiang material (steamed minced pork scapula)...

The biggest feature of Duanpinglou is the magic method of making the palace dishes of the typical palace banquets home-style without losing the flavor.According to Cheng Shilian's words, he can even pack the food in separate boxes and pick it up at the door, or provide delivery service, which can be described as thoughtful and considerate.

Among them, the beverage served in a celadon wide-mouth bottle as a food supplement and side dish is also very distinctive; it is made of light wine, stone honey (sugar), grape syrup, wolfberry, ebony juice, and galangal. Wanhua Yinzi made from it; something like a modern cocktail.

Therefore, after drinking for five rounds, Jiang Tian, ​​who was satisfied with his meal, took the initiative to say: "It's just a chance meeting, and it's because of it, I appreciate the hospitality; I don't know what problems you have at the moment, or other thoughts, Let’s talk about it first.”

(End of this chapter)