Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 779 New Year's Greetings
Wang Ci timidly walked to the wooden terrace. A pair of tableware was already placed on the dining table covered with white tablecloth: the plates and spoons were bone china made by Lingao’s porcelain kiln, and the "Senate" of the Senate was fired on it. "National Emblem": Cog ears of wheat and a holy ship under a golden double-headed eagle.The wine vessel is a glass, only the chopsticks are bought from Guangdong: all wrapped in ivory.There is a seat card on each seat, so that everyone can find their own seat.After Wang Ci sat down, he found that Sun Ruiwu was sitting next to him, and then he felt a little more at ease. He didn't want to sit with someone else.

Sun Ruiwu was looking around with a "sacred boat" in his mouth to see if anyone was serving food. Wang Ci knew that he was much more developed than before when he looked at his clothes, and he was very upset.In addition to being a canonist of Lingao, Sun Ruiwu is also the head of the grain requisition bureau that the Kun people made.Presumably, he must have gained a lot of benefits from the Kun people, and he is an out-and-out traitor.

Sun Ruiwu is not as full of thoughts as Wang Ci, and he greeted Wang Ci with a smile, asking whether the recent county school fees are enough or not—of course, he can only "research and study" even if there is a problem, Wang Ci Ci also had to perfunctory him a few words.

"This ice sculpture is more magnificent than last year." Zhang Youfu was on the seat opposite them—he was still a little uncomfortable sitting directly opposite several officials and lords, with big eyes facing small eyes, and his buttocks couldn't sit still, so he asked a topic.

In the middle of the wooden terrace, a huge ice sculpture was arranged like last year. This time, the local masonry finally carved out other works besides the stone lion - a dolphin jumping from the waves under the guidance of veterans of the art major.Under the light of the gas lamp, it is crystal clear and radiant, making people afraid to look directly at it.

Last year it was an astonishing spectacle.But now in Lingao, ice cubes are a commodity for the general public, and ordinary naturalized people and wealthy landowners can afford them, so ice sculptures don't arouse much admiration from everyone.

Several people pretended to admire the ice sculpture for a long time, and finally the bowel rumbling in someone's stomach broke the embarrassing situation.Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, thinking that the food and wine are still not on the table?There was a burst of fragrance over there, and everyone here was hungry—little landlords like Zhang Youfu and Fu Buer didn't even eat lunch today, so they planned to have a full meal.

Looking at the other tables, the elders were already eating and drinking, and the most incredible thing was that the Kun people actually served the food by themselves!Each of them held a large porcelain plate, which was full of dishes, and some of them were holding wine glasses, and they ate with relish either sitting or standing.What kind of rule is this?
While hesitating, a tall young woman suddenly came, wearing a black dress and a white apron, and asked them to go to the dining table to pick up food with a smile.

Wang Zhaomin had a lot of contact with Kunren, and the ones who made this kind of clothes were all Kunren's housemaids, the person next to her pillow who couldn't afford to offend, and thanked him with all smiles.

"...Masters don't need to bring plates to pick up the dishes. There are clean plates over there." The maid said with a trained "ANA" smile, "There are also wine tables."

Everyone thinks this is a unique approach—the ancients had a lot of feasts and rituals in the wealthy classes, not to mention the normal official banquets, there are tricks such as head offerings and second offerings, and even private banquets are indispensable. .Not only did the Kun people not have any etiquette, they even took care of serving the food and pouring the wine by themselves.Wang Ci couldn't help but secretly scolded the thief for being "disrespectful". Wouldn't he become a beggar in front of the soup kitchen while eating with a plate?
For a while, several officials and the local gentry were a little bit embarrassed-there were no servants around them to dispatch.But a few local rich men were already panicking with hunger, no matter how polite or rude they were, they bowed their hands and rushed towards them.After a while, a plate of delicious food was brought out.Now everyone couldn't bear it anymore, even County Magistrate Wu Shi Shiran stood up and walked to the dining table with square steps.

Wang Ci endured it for a while, and finally couldn't bear the hunger in his stomach.The dining table is brightly lit and smells fragrant.Wang Ci didn't dare approach the buffet table—the words "wine pond meat forest" flooded into his mind—the things on it were too rich!Don't say that in this small Lingao, even the banquets of the big government households in his hometown Fucheng don't have such ostentation!He was dazzled by all kinds of food, which is really the so-called unseen and unheard of.While being amazed, he saw Zhang Youfu holding three plates swaying left and right, and even put one on his arm. Regardless of whether it was meat, vegetarian, meat or seafood, he was full of seafood, and he still had a skewer of kebabs in his mouth.

Wang Ci followed the elder in front of him to take a lot of things in a daze - he didn't want to take so much at first.Wang Jiaoyu thinks that he has been willing to eat simple food for many years, and has developed enough resistance to delicious food. Unexpectedly, not to eat if conditional and not to eat if not conditional are fundamentally two concepts. The stomach has launched a fierce resistance in front of the good food. He took a lot of things involuntarily: crab cakes, fried shrimp with shredded coconut, fried squid rings, onion rings, grilled chicken and fried sweet potato fries, and took a piece of chicken steak, a few small pieces of iron plate sirloin—he didn’t know This is beef.Seeing fried eggs on the iron plate, I ordered another one.Master Wang lives in poverty, and eggs are considered a luxury.

Then he did not know how to come to the drink table, where there were large carved glass vats and small wine barrels, and there were liquids of several colors in them.Wang Ci looked at it for a long time and didn't know what to choose.In the end, the maid standing behind the table scooped out a spoonful from a glass jar of light yellow liquid and poured it into a glass and handed it to him—he felt that the wine was strong and mellow and refreshing after taking a sip, so he couldn't help drinking several glasses in a row .

"My lord, this is strong wine..." Seeing the lord drinking several glasses in a row, the maid hurriedly persuaded him a little staggering.This is a cocktail made of rum, lemon juice, sugar and water. It is easy to drink, but it actually has a lot of stamina.

"Nonsense!" Wang Ci put on the airs of a master and reprimanded him, returned to the table in a daze, and took a bite of the sirloin. The rich and thick taste and the spicy taste of black pepper almost made him bite off his tongue Yes, he quickly ate another fried shrimp. Looking up, he saw a few slender maids walking around to clean up the plates, their slender waists and plump buttocks swaying like willows in the wind... The master of teaching suddenly felt sad. Heartbroken, he actually shed tears—he found that his past life was nothing but a blank space.

The elders didn't have such a complicated state of mind—although it was the first time after D-day that such a sumptuous meal was served.Meat, in particular, has never been served in such abundance in the past.Everyone ate very happily.Wu Nanhai and a few veterans were standing by the dining table and talking loudly. Everyone received Wu Nanhai's wedding invitation, so they naturally wanted to congratulate after meeting.

"It's all thanks to your Ministry of Agriculture that this meal is so good." He Ying was already a little tipsy.

"The quantity can't go up now." Wu Nanhai said proudly, "The food we can supply for the New Year's reception in 1632 will be even better——I have several wagyu cattle..." He felt that he had made a slip of the tongue when he said this, and hurried He looked around.

"It's okay, Xi Yazhou is staying in Sanya." He Ying comforted him.

"These wagyu cows are my breeding cows. When enough calves are bred, I will make a special offering for the elders - listen to music, drink beer, feed apples, and get ten chicks to massage the cows. Don't believe in marbling beef."

"Kobe beef?"

"There are many varieties of Wagyu, and Kobe beef is just one of them." Yang Baogui played with the cup in his hand, "I think Imari Furutake beef is also good. It doesn't have so much fat."

Someone here said: "Old Wu! Is it appropriate for you to marry a maid as your first wife? I heard that you are a Christian and cannot have a second wife. Wouldn't it be useless to marry a lady from a rich family in the future?" "

"What about the mother and daughter of the Li family? You've just left them behind."

"I'll still take good care of them." Wu Nanhai said casually.

Everyone showed a look of "so that's the case", and some people nodded frequently in response to "it should be so".Wu Nanhai didn't notice it, and continued: "I have always supported the monogamy system. Besides, it's better for the wife to come from a humble background—Zhu Yuanzhang even stipulated that the daughter-in-law and son-in-law should be selected from small households. I think we will have many children in the future. If the power is too great, the child will have the upper hand. Can't there be equal competition in the right of inheritance!"

"So you are learning from Zhu Yuanzhang." He Ying joked.

"I think this method is conducive to maintaining the balance of the family." Wu Nanhai drank a few more glasses, and the conversation was very intense, "I am also planning to learn from Kangxi, and come up with a secret reserve system. The heir of the patriarch will be announced after my death. Here Before, no one dared not work hard or create disunity.”

"Gao, you are really too tall."

"In my opinion, the primogeniture system is better and more stable... If you don't want to learn anything, you have to learn from the Tartars..." Liu Zheng snorted, "The primogeniture system is the symbol of all civilized societies!"

A group of childless people immediately had a heated argument over inheritance.Wu Nanhai didn't want to continue this topic, so he quietly pulled He Ying aside:
"Officer He, how did you think about my application to build a chapel in the farm last time?"

He Ying looked distressed: "Can't you go to Bairen Church for joint worship?"

"I'm a Protestant, and I can't pee in the same pot as them." Wu Nanhai said, "I don't preach, I just use it for myself and my family."

"But there's no Protestant church, and no pastor?"

Wu Nanhai said with a smile: "Our Protestant denominations generally don't pay attention to this. I can also preach as a pastor and preside over ceremonies." He added, "I pay the expenses myself, and arrange the construction myself."

He Ying pondered for a moment: "This matter is a bit big, I have to submit it to the Senate for approval."

"Hurry up." Wu Nanhai said, "I still plan to get married in the church."

While talking, the cheerful music on the tweeter was changed to "March of Unity and Friendship". Aboriginal and naturalized people who had more contact with the elders knew that once this music sounded, it meant that the main elders were about to appear. .The conversation and laughter in the venue gradually stopped.

Sure enough, with the sound of music, all members of the executive committee, people's commissars and ministers of several important departments appeared in front of the terrace one after another to the sound of music, and the two spotlights on the stage cast crosslights.Wen Desi walked in the front, wearing a white suit without a tie, smiling, and waving to everyone frequently; behind him was Ma Qianju, wearing a black tunic with a stand-up collar, holding a drum With palms on, his face is serious.The other executive committee members all smiled and applauded lightly in response to the occasion.

The music stopped and the venue fell silent.The leaders came to the arranged microphones.Arranged in order of authority.Ma Qianju strode to the front of the stage and expressed congratulations and condolences to everyone. Then he introduced the great form of anti-encirclement and suppression wars and economic construction in 1630, and then announced the plan for the Senate in the new year. and tasks.Special mention was made of the construction of the island-wide communication network and roads around the island, as well as the upcoming expansion of population imports from the mainland—if conditions are right, more special-needed populations of different races will be imported from Persia and Japan.Although there was a lot of content, he spoke concisely and powerfully, and there were bursts of applause and cheers from the audience from time to time.After he finished speaking, the venue was filled with excited discussion and laughter.

Wen Desi walked to the microphone and waved to the applauding elders, representatives of the indigenous people and representatives of the naturalized people.He first said a few words of congratulations.Emphasize that the achievements in 1630 are the result of everyone's resolute implementation of the spirit and instructions of the Senate; it is the collective leadership of the Senate and the great victory of democracy.

"Comrades, I won't list the series of great victories we have won at sea and on land. This is still the beginning for us." After another round of applause, he continued; "Our regime is still a small force in this world. The tasks before us are glorious and arduous. To accomplish these tasks, we still need to make great efforts. After this period of testing, I believe that no difficulty, no enemy can overwhelm us—” Another round of applause interrupted his words, “The war is only temporarily suspended, and the rulers of Beijing, Shengjing, Seoul, and Tokyo continue to fight in their palaces Give orders... The Dutch are still sailing in Batavia... Around us, the hidden enemy is still struggling, the struggle will be sharp, fierce, and the struggle will continue for a long time. Our road is still long—— The world is not ours yet, but one day, she will be ours!"

Thunderous applause, cheers, and pyrotechnics that exploded into the sky as the last words fell shook the sea; pyrotechnics launched from warships and land burst into countless brilliant flames in the air.Flocks of seagulls and birds flew up from the reefs and forests in fear, flapped their wings in the night sky, and sang and hovered on the sea.The world of Lingao has entered a new stage.

(End of this chapter)