Capital Datang

When the Five Kings Banquet spread out, Li Yin was not surprised at all, because he sent people to release the rumors about the banquet. Once it was used, it really worked well, and many people had already come to his house to inquire about the news, but Li Yin avoided seeing him because he couldn't be part of the preparation for the banquet.This is not all an excuse, he is indeed very busy these few days, and he will never see the leisurely time before.

One of the main purposes of this banquet is to build a reputation for the newly brewed Wuwangzui, so this wine must be the main wine at the banquet, and the quantity must not be small. From the beginning, Li Yin asked Huang Cheng and Lao Wu to make a few more They set up stills, and the winemaking workshop kept distilling wine. If the distiller's grains were not enough, they would ask Li Xiaogong and his family for it.

When the number of guests invited by each government was counted, Li Yin was shocked. There were more than 200 people who were directly invited. Including the family members they brought, it was estimated that there were at least 800 people.Such a large-scale banquet is definitely the first time since the founding of the Tang Dynasty. It will definitely cause a sensation in the entire Chang'an City and become a momentary event. However, Li Yin, who is the host, is a little worried.

Seven to eight hundred people are going to attend the banquet, which is not a small number. The main hall with the largest area in Li Min’s Prince Liang Mansion is used as the venue for the banquet, but even with the addition of the two side halls next to it, it is still not enough for the seven to eight hundred people to hold the banquet at the same time. Banquet, you can't make the banquet open-air, can you?

It's just a matter of venue, which has already baffled Li Yin and several stewards of the palace, and even Li Xiaojie who helped him was helpless.Li Yin led them to plan for a long time in the main hall and the side hall, and even used the area of ​​the corridor, but it can only accommodate three to four hundred people at most, accounting for only half of the number of people attending the banquet.Capital Datang 400

"How about we rebuild a temporary banquet hall, it doesn't need to be too exquisite, as long as it can be used." Li Xiaojie thought for a long time, and finally made a suggestion.

"My lord, it's less than ten days before the banquet date, so it's not humanly possible to rebuild a banquet venue in such a short period of time!" The steward sent by Li Daozong's mansion said immediately.

"It's really too late in time. If the entire Chang'an City wants to find a place where nearly a thousand people can have a banquet at the same time, I'm afraid only the Taiji Palace in the imperial palace can do it." Gao Zhong also said with emotion.

"How about this, let's change the rules of the banquet, anyway, this is a private banquet, so there is no need to talk about so many rules!" Li Yin's eyes suddenly lit up, and he thought of a feasible solution.

"Change the rules? How do we change this?" Li Xiaojie and the others were taken aback by Li Yin's words, not understanding what Li Yin meant.

"Hehe, haven't you noticed that now the banquets use a meal-sharing system, and it's a waste of space for one or two people to sit on a long table, so we don't use this short and long table at all, just put the All the food is placed on one or several huge tables, and you can pick it up when you eat, which not only saves space and food, but also allows guests to walk around and talk freely. I think this novel banquet method should be acceptable Bar?"

What Li Yin thought of was the way of Western banquets in later generations. This kind of banquets are very free, and eating, drinking or talking are all at their own discretion, and they are not bound by the order of seating.The most important thing is that apart from the tables for food and drinks, no other furniture is needed, which saves a lot of space, which can just solve their current problems.

"Well, this method is feasible. Anyway, it's not a banquet in the palace. You don't need to abide by the rigid rules. It's better to be free. Liu Lang is really talented!" Li Xiaojie was the first to agree. Things are more capable.

The stewards of Gao Zhong's palace discussed it, and found that there was really no solution other than this method, and in the end they had to follow Li Yin's wishes.

The problem of the venue has been solved. Apart from Wuwangzui, there are several other well-known wines for the banquet drinks, such as the wine brewed by Datang, which is mainly prepared for the ladies attending the banquet, and the rest is Chang'an There are more famous wines in the city, and there is also juice made by Li Yin, which is simpler, just squeeze the fruit into juice, and then add some honey to make it.

The food at the banquet is a major focus. In addition to the usual dishes at the banquet, Li Yin also added dishes that have been successfully prepared some time ago, such as roasted whole lamb and beggar's chicken.It's a pity that the nobles in the Tang Dynasty didn't like to eat pork, otherwise Li Yin would have served several new dishes, such as braised pork, roast suckling pig, and rock sugar elbow.

In addition, Li Yin made several new dishes. He asked the cook Laowu to build a hanging oven for roast duck, and made a trial production of the roast duck. After spending a lot of ducks, he finally made the roast duck of later generations. Of course, the taste of those experimental products is also good, this guy Li Xiaojie ate quite a lot.There is also the mutton that Li Yin liked to eat in his previous life. The soup is made from mutton bones and various seasonings. The fresh and tender lamb is combined with Li Yin’s special dipping sauce. Li Yin's favorite chili makes this dish a lot less attractive.

The ten-day preparation time was really a bit hasty for a banquet of this scale. Fortunately, with Li Yin's ideas, coupled with the coordination and command of experienced stewards from various provinces, everything was finally prepared on the day of the banquet.Regarding the internal news of the banquet, Li Yin has also been spreading it to the outside world, especially grasping the three points of the new style of fine wine, food, and the way the banquet is held, and vigorously publicizing it to the outside world. This banquet is very curious.

In the Chongwen Hall of the East Palace, a group of children from the royal family were booing around Li Yong.

"Jiu Ling, do you have the latest news about the Banquet of the Five Kings? Let everyone hear it?" A pimple-faced fat man asked Li Yong, and his words immediately attracted the approval of other students.Today is already the [-]th, and tomorrow is the official opening day of the Five Kings Banquet. The students present are directly or indirectly invited, so they are very curious about the Five Kings Banquet that has spread throughout Chang'an.

"Well! I went to Liulang's place this morning, and I'm a little thirsty now!" Li Yong enjoyed the feeling of being noticed very much, and said deliberately slowly.Although the people around were very annoyed by Li Yong's trickery, they couldn't do anything about it. Who made Li Yong and Liang Wang get closer?So immediately someone poured him tea.

Li Yong took a sip of his teacup with a smile, and then said: "When I went today, I couldn't find Liu Lang, and the people in charge were not there, so there is no new news for the time being. I know that I have already said it a few days ago. gone."

"Hush~" Seeing that Li Yong has no new news and is still playing around like this, the angry crowd booed, and a few grumpy ones rolled up their sleeves and were ready to fight. The Chongwen Museum is full of a group of dudes, fighting It is also common to make trouble.

"Not so much~" Li Yong turned a blind eye to the situation around him, and tried to attract everyone's attention with a trick, and several people who were about to do something also stopped to look at him, but at this moment Li Yong picked up the teacup again, After taking a few sips, the teeth of the people around were itchy.Capital Datang 19

"Hey~" Looking at the people around who wanted to be angry but didn't dare to be angry, Li Yong felt very fulfilled, but he also knew that it was time to stop, otherwise he might become everyone's public enemy.

Thinking of this, Li Yong put down his teacup and said, "I couldn't find anyone at Liulang's place, so I couldn't come in vain, so I went to the wine cellar in his house and took out a small jar." "Five Kings Drunk', let's taste it first!" Li Yong waved his hand, and his bookboy immediately came in with an unopened jar of wine and placed it in front of everyone.

"Look, this is the 'Five Kings Drunk' that is said to be full of wind and rain in the city. How about it, brother?" Li Yong said proudly.In fact, he went to find Li Yin this morning, because he was too busy yesterday, so Li Yin refused to get up anyway, and couldn't stand Li Yong's harassment, so he gave him an altar of Wu Wang Zui and asked him to take it out Show off.

"This...is this the Five Kings Drunk?" The pimpley little fat man had a greedy look on his face. The news about the Five Kings Banquet in Chang'an City has gone crazy, especially the Five Kings Drunk that was spread by Li Xiaogong and others. It is the only one in the world who praises this wine. Although no one has ever drunk it except for a few parties, it makes this wine even more mysterious.

"But this wine is too little. How can there be enough for so many of us?" Someone looked at the small wine jar and complained. Judging by the capacity of this wine jar, it is estimated that there is only four or five catties of wine at most. There are dozens of people.

"Cut~, I'm not familiar with it!" Li Yong said with contempt on his face, "This five kings' drunk is not an ordinary wine. ?” Since drinking the Five Kings Drunk, all other wines have turned into white water without the taste of alcohol in Li Yong’s eyes.

"Why are you talking so much? Hurry up and let us see!" Someone couldn't wait any longer, and urged Li Yong to open it quickly. When Li Yong slapped the mud seal on the jar, a strong aroma of wine immediately permeated the air. open.

"It smells so good! It's so good wine!" All the students of Chongwen Museum were attracted by the smell of wine, and they kept sniffling their noses, all of them with greedy faces. He wasn't usually well-educated, so he probably went up to snatch it by now.

"Come here! Everyone line up and taste the delicacy of the five kings!" Li Yong was very excited and said with a wave of his hand. There are no wine glasses in the Chongwen Museum, but there are many teacups. Holding the teacup in his hand, Li Yong stretched it out as soon as he finished speaking, and asked him to pour it for himself.

There wasn't much wine, and each person got less than a tael. Li Yong had told them to drink slowly. After all, the wine was too strong, and it was difficult for most people to get used to it at the first sip.But some impatient people didn't listen at all, and just poured it all into their mouths like they drank before, and their faces were flushed red by the strong smell of alcohol.

"It's so strong! It's so fragrant!" After tasting the five kings' drunkenness, many people were intoxicated. Even those who don't like drinking can't help but praise, these royal family members have never drunk any good wine ?But it was the first time they drank such a good wine. Although it was just a little bit of wine, it made them feel smoky. It really was a rare good wine in the world.

Facing the admiration of the crowd, Li Yong was even more proud. He and Li Yin were siblings. Although Li Yin invented wine, in Li Yong's view, it was the same as his own invention. To get so much praise, Li Yong Can't help but feel a little flustered.

"Master is here!" Just when everyone hadn't woken up from the taste of the wine, they suddenly heard the servant shouting outside, which immediately woke up the group of students. It's flying all over the sky.When the master came in, he saw a group of students who were studying 'hardly', but unfortunately the smell of wine in the room could not be concealed.

"Bastard, how dare someone drink in the school, so hurry up and bring it on!" As soon as the master came in, he was washed away by the strong smell of wine, and he was so angry that he took a ruler and slapped the table.

The master was very angry, and the consequences were very serious. Few of the dandies present were loyal, and they just asked Li Yong for a drink with a flattering face, and now they confessed to him in a blink of an eye. As a result, Li Yong was fined twenty feet , Copy the Analects of Confucius thirty times.Of course, it was not easy for other people. Everyone was fined to copy the Analects five times.

What happened to Li Yong was just a small episode before the Five Kings Banquet started. No one would care about it except himself. Everyone's eyes were attracted by the upcoming Five Kings Banquet.Even Taizong Li Shimin personally asked Li Daozong about this at the court meeting, and said that he would definitely go then, and Li Shimin's arrival raised the Five Kings Banquet to the level of a royal banquet. . ..