Capital Datang

There are three beds next to each table. Originally, according to the rules of the Romans, the guests should sit in the upper seat, that is, the middle or the right position, while the host should sit in the lower seat to accompany them. .

However, as the emperor of the empire, Constans II naturally could not sit in the lower seat, so he and Queen Irina sat in the middle, and Li Ke sat on their right. As for the left seat, a pair of ten The young couple was occupied. Li Ke remembered that Ciro was the first to introduce these two people just now. The man named Theodosius was the younger brother of Constans II and also a member of the Eastern Roman Empire. The prince, who is only 17 years old this year, is next to his wife.

Li Ke and the others sat in front of the largest main table in the banquet hall. As for the other party participants, they sat on both sides of the other tables on both sides. Among them, Lu Wan was accompanied by special guests, and even the sharp-eyed Li Ke noticed that The strong and mighty Wang Fangyi is already accompanied by a young Roman aristocratic girl. I believe he will have a very good night tonight.

After everyone was seated, Constans II announced the start of the banquet, followed by relaxing music, and then the serving slaves began to serve the dishes.

Similar to the banquet in Tang Dynasty, appetizers are served first, such as seafood such as sea urchins and oysters, various fruits, cheese, etc. However, both seafood and vegetables are raw. Add some vinaigrette, plus some meat sauce for dipping the veggies.Capital Datang 649

However, Li Ke and the others were not used to eating raw vegetables. They had eaten sea urchins and oysters in Taiwan and other places before, but they could barely eat some. In addition, the fruits were good, so they ate some.After the appetizers, it's time for the main course.

These main dishes are served on exquisite silver plates, and like the Tang Dynasty banquet, the main dishes here are also meat-based, mainly goat and beef, and there are also many wild game, which are very rare in Rome. The flamingos and dormouse made by the family are very delicious, even Li Ke, who is used to eating the delicacies in Li Min's house, praised them unceasingly.

In addition, Li Ke also found that the Romans really did not like meat in general. Among these main dishes, there was only one "vegetarian dish" called vegetable "suckling" pig. Then peel off the skin of a "suckling" pig completely, and then put these vegetables into the skin, and there are many shelled snails and smashed salted fish, and the pig skin is made into "suckling" pig Like, bake in the oven.If this dish is placed in the Central Plains, it must also be a meat dish, but it is a vegetarian dish in Rome.

The Romans liked sweet and sour and spicy tastes, so they used a lot of sucrose, honey and pepper, and a lot of spices when making these foods, and most of these three things were from Shipped from Nanyang and Tianzhu.

It is worth mentioning that among the gifts Li Ke gave Constans II, besides the necessary silk, porcelain and tea, there were also many miscellaneous and precious gifts, such as chili sauce that had not yet spread to Rome, As a result, this very spicy condiment was deeply loved by Constans II, and some of it was used at the banquet, and it was only limited to a few people at their table. Others could only look at Li Ke with envy. At this table, the nobles with more flexible minds were secretly asking Lu Wan and Wang Fangyi, hoping to buy some of this precious condiment at a high price.

Li Ke likes a sauce called Garham that comes with the main course very much.It is said that the Romans made it from the offal of fish, and the production is very scarce, and it is only eaten by the nobles.However, Queen Irina seemed to see that Li Ke liked this sauce, and gave him some as a personal gift at the banquet, which greatly increased Li Ke's affection for this beautiful hostess, and she was also very polite expressed their gratitude to each other.

The main course is followed by dessert, mainly made of honey, but also some fruit and liqueur.Originally in the Tang Dynasty, the banquet should have ended at this time, but for the Romans, after the dessert was served, the banquet was only half over, because the second half of the banquet was about to begin, that is, the reception.

Although at the beginning of the banquet, the wine has not been broken, but it has always been the foil of the dishes. It was not until then that it became the protagonist of the banquet, so it was called a reception.

At the beginning of the reception, most of the women and children should have left, but today because of Li Ke's special status, no one left.This is mainly because during the reception, the guests no longer have to sit in front of the table, but can walk around at will. The form is similar to that of Western banquets in later generations. It is the best time to exchange feelings among nobles, and it is also the best opportunity to get acquainted with Li Ke and others.

At the beginning of the reception, the singing and dancing performances began, and there were also programs such as poet recitations and juggling.However, the four people including Li Ke and Lu Wan were quickly surrounded by the nobles, scrambling to talk to them, but it was a pity that there were only two translators, Xi Luo and Ke Lisi, so only a few people could talk to Li Ke. They communicated with each other, but even so, most people still surrounded them and refused to leave. It was not until Constans II and his wife came that they liberated Li Ke and Chris from the crowd. Only Lu Wan and the others were left to deal with the enthusiastic Roman nobles.

"His Royal Highness, I have heard Xi Luo say that the palace where His Majesty the Tang Emperor lives is several times larger than our holy palace, and the palace is even taller and majestic, which amazed me and the queen. , It's a pity that Rome is too far away from the Tang Dynasty, so we don't have the chance to see it in person, you grew up in the palace, why don't you give us a detailed introduction to the situation in the palace?" Constance II Holding the wine glass, Shi said with a smile on his face.This is a corner of the reception, only their husband and wife, Li Ke, and Ke Lisi, and no one else dared to disturb them.

This morning Li Ke and Constans II met formally, so they mainly talked about the national conditions of the two countries. The political surname is relatively strong, but they are more free at the reception, so as soon as Constans II spoke Just asked about the comparison between the Holy Palace and the Datang Palace, it seems that he, like Li Ke, is very curious about each other's palaces.

"Marquis Ciro's words are only half correct. Our Tang Palace is indeed larger than the Roman Palace, but in terms of building area and style, it is different from the Roman Palace. Most of our Tang Palaces are made of wood. , so it is definitely not as strong as the Holy Palace in Rome, and I am very afraid of fire. I remember that I have experienced several fires in the palace since I was a child, and several palaces were destroyed by fire." Li Ke said very modestly after hearing this.

Actually speaking, the imperial palace of the Tang Dynasty is indeed more majestic than the holy palace of the Romans. For example, the main halls such as the Taiji Hall, Liangyi Hall, and Lizheng Hall in the imperial palace cannot be found in the entire Roman Holy Palace. Comparable buildings.

Constans II was very happy to hear that Li Ke mentioned that his holy palace and the Tang Palace were in the same position, and immediately asked some other questions about the Tang Palace, and Li Ke also agreed. One answered.

"His Royal Highness King Wu is really humble. Although I haven't seen the palace of the Tang Dynasty with my own eyes, I can still imagine what this majestic palace looks like after hearing your description. If there is a chance, I really want to go to the Tang Dynasty to enjoy it. A beautiful palace!" At this time, Irina next to her also said, with a faint smile and longing on her face, which surprised everyone who saw her, because everyone knew that Queen Irina's surname was The character is relatively "old-fashioned", and he rarely shows such a charming expression to a man.

Li Ke also responded with a smile: "There will be a chance. My sixth brother once said that with the convenience of transportation, the world will become smaller and smaller. From what we can see now, Datang is thousands of miles away from Rome. , but the Sixth Brother has already begun to promote extremely fast steamships on a large scale, so it may not take a few years to go from Rome to Datang will become as simple as possible."

"I hope so!" Irina heard Li Ke's comforting words, and the smile on her face became wider. The whole person looked like a blooming flower, which made the men around her lose their senses, even Jun Stans II also noticed his wife's strangeness.

"His Royal Highness, the clothes your female companion is wearing should be the clothes of the noble ladies of the Tang Dynasty. I don't know if there are any in your fleet. Can you give me some?" Irina suddenly asked again. Dao, looking at the palace dress on Kelisi, was also full of envy.Capital Datang 649

In fact, this morning, she had already noticed the palace clothes on Ke Lisi. Compared with the palace clothes, their Roman clothes seemed extremely monotonous. For example, among the nobles attending the banquet today, both men and women wore a kind of Clothing called "combined clothing", which is a short-sleeved tunic with a small cape on the shoulders. At most, there are some changes in the style of the cape and the color of the clothes, but the rest are almost exactly the same. Therefore, the exquisite palace dress made of high-quality silk on Ke Lisi's body naturally attracted the attention of all the ladies at the banquet.

"Of course there is no problem. There is a tailor among my entourage. He made this palace dress on the road. If you are free, the queen, you can call him into the palace at any time and ask him to measure and order a few for you. A piece of clothing, and besides palace attire, our Tang Dynasty also has some other different female surname costumes, which will definitely satisfy your empress!" Li Ke said with a smile.He still needs the help of Rome, so he naturally wants to have a good relationship with Constance II and his wife, not to mention that this beautiful queen has always been very kind to him.

Irina was very pleasantly surprised when she heard that Li Ke had a tailor by her side. There is no woman who does not like beautiful clothes. What's more, Li Ke gave her a lot of exquisite silk this time. Now she has decided to make these silk All of them are made into Tang-style costumes, especially the palace costumes on Ke Lisi, and several more sets need to be made.

But just when Irina was about to thank Li Ke, suddenly there was an unfriendly voice behind them: "Dear Your Royal Highness, I heard that Tang practiced a barbaric polygamy. I don't know what you think about it. What do you think?" (To be continued.) Capital Datang

-------------------------------

Text Chapter 640 IX The Roman Dinner is over, you can return to the list.