Datang Nongsheng

Chapter 33
The fight between Cheng Yaojin and Yu Chigong was watched by civil and military officials of the whole court as a joke, but these two old guys have thick skins and are not afraid of being laughed at. Stop, this kind of big scene where all the officials are present, the emperor's face must be given.

After wandering around the top of the mountain, Sun Xiangfu was asked by Luotian to cook. The people in the imperial dining room brought a lot of ingredients, many of which were pre-cooked. Roast mutton and other main dishes are Li Shimin's favorite, so there is no need for Sun Xiangfu Intervene, tired from walking and too lazy to move, he was looking at the dazzling array of ingredients and worrying about what to cook, when he saw a young man dressed in a scholar's robe walking towards him.

"You look awkward in this scribe robe."

"I think so too. It's more majestic to wear military uniforms and armor."

It was Lawyer Pei who came. He is Pei Ji's son and Li Shimin's brother-in-law. Although he likes to pretend to be a soldier and play in the army, his status is extremely noble. He is known as the first and second generation of Chang'an.

"You're not staying with daddy in your pavilion, why are you here with me?"

"Inquire about the restaurant. By the way, let's see what delicious food you will make today. By the way, your guard Xi Jun bought it! Didn't you come together?"

"Junmai is practicing wielding a knife at home! I'm already making preparations for the restaurant. After I go back, I can hold a shareholders' meeting with people from each family. What you have to do is prepare as much money as possible."

Seeing Lawyer Pei, Sun Xiangfu thought of the beggar chicken again, so he rummaged through the pile of ingredients. Sure enough, there were quite a few whole chickens that had been killed, so he summoned two chefs from the imperial dining room to mix rice wine with mud, I started filling the chicken belly with spices.

"It's probably impossible for him to be Fu Hongxue. I've tried it. Not to mention swiping a knife [-] times a day, even [-] times would be difficult. By the way, the chicken I made by myself after I went back last time always has a smell. The smell of mud, it turns out that the mud of this bag of chicken is made with rice wine! Such a wonderful idea, only you can tinker with it, let me add ingredients for you!"

As Lawyer Pei said, he wanted to do it, and Sun Xiangfu naturally didn't stop him. This kid probably wanted to learn the whole set of production methods, so he could make a toothpaste by himself when he went home.

There is not much water on the mountain, so it was picked up by the servants of the imperial dining room, so he didn't plan to cook too many dishes. Seeing that the fishery department supplied the big fish in the palace, Sun Xiangfu took these big fish that had been marinated long ago. Put the fish on bamboo sticks and brush with oil, then grill the fish until the fish is slightly yellow, then put it into an iron pot, add some seasonal vegetables and seasonings, and simmer slowly. Followed by example, and soon, the aroma of more than a dozen pots of stewed fish wafted around the top of the mountain.

With beggar's chicken and stewed fish with seasonal vegetables, we can actually announce the opening of the banquet. After all, there are a lot of cooked pastries, but the roast lamb is slow, and you have to wait for a long time. In the Tang Dynasty, the meal system was divided, and these cooked The dishes plus cooked pastries can already fill the small tables of the officials and family members, just wait for them to eat slowly, drink slowly, and wait for the mutton to be cooked slowly.

One month after he ascended the throne, Li Shimin hadn't had any major conflicts with Prime Minister Pei Ji, so after Pei Ji came forward and said a few auspicious words, Li Shimin announced the opening of the banquet, and the first program of the banquet was not to eat, but to propose The women of the princes and ministers who have not left the cabinet perform arts.

Playing piano, chess, calligraphy and painting were necessary skills for girls from ancient official families. However, Hu Feng was more popular in the Tang Dynasty. Women in various official families usually learned Hu Xuan dance, Qiang flute and other Hu people's entertainment methods. It seems that they have been prepared for a long time. As soon as Li Shimin's proposal came out, women from several families responded. In this era, there is no shortage of women who want to cling to the imperial power and sharpen their heads to drill into the emperor's harem.

When the drums sounded, in the pavilion where Li Shimin was located, several beautiful women began to dance to the sound of the drums. Their waists were nimble and their bodies were graceful. It started to get lively.

"Father, this is the beggar's chicken that I told you about before. When you break open the yellow mud, the chicken inside is fresh and tender, with a strong aroma, making it irresistible."

Lawyer Pei was the first to bring a cooked beggar's chicken to Pei Ji's case, and introduced it to Pei Ji as if offering a treasure.

"You are not too young anymore, Your Majesty, don't lose your dignity."

Pei Ji, father and son, have two extreme personalities, one is quiet, the other is active, the other is talented in writing, and the other is skilled in martial arts, they are not like their own.

"Crack."

Ignoring the old man's scolding, Attorney Pei used a pair of meaty palms to slap the yellow mud covering the beggar's chicken away. Immediately, a strong fragrance radiated from the venue, and even the smell of fine wine on the table was suppressed. .

"What is so fragrant?"

Cheng Yaojin and Yu Chigong twitched their noses almost at the same time, even Pei Ji, who was always gentle, almost couldn't hold back, let alone the two of them, this is the prelude to the birth of the best food!
Following the loud shouts of the two veterans, the girl dancing Huxuan Dance in the arena also danced in disorder and stopped temporarily, and everyone's eyes were also focused on the first person on the left outside the big pavilion in the middle. Several cases.

"Father, it seems to be chicken." Prince Li Chengqian's eyes were sharp, and he spotted the fat chicken pulled out of the yellow mud lotus leaves by Lawyer Pei, and said to Li Shimin, the meaning in his eyes was 'I want to eat'.

"Quick, quick, quick, send these chickens to Your Majesty." Under the urging of Luo Tian, ​​the servant hurriedly carried a large tray into the gazebo where Li Shimin was resting. There were six or seven big yellow mud piled on the tray. Dumplings, which are full of beggar chicken.

Seeing that the delicious chicken was also delivered here, several princes surrounded him. The little fat man Li Tai couldn't help but do it first, but his fingers were burned red by the hot yellow mud, but the pain was still gone. Stopping his desire for delicious food, he watched Wang Dequan, who had snatched the yellow mud cube from his hand without blinking, holding back the heat, and took out the chicken wrapped in yellow mud lotus leaves with his hands.

The charm of Beggar Chicken is that during the whole cooking process, the fragrance does not leak at all. The high temperature of the chicken oil cooks the chicken and the ginger and garlic in the belly of the chicken. human appetite.

"Fragrant, royal father, I want to eat beauty."

Not to mention children like Li Tai and Li Lizhi, even the concubines who ate fried vegetables and sauerkraut fish for a while started to swallow their saliva, and their eyes were only on the servant helping to peel the chicken. Some people will pay attention to those girls dancing Hu Xuan dance.

"It's really gentle and sweeping the floor. It was a good dance, but it was ruined by this chicken."

There are ministers who can’t eat grapes and say that the grapes are sour, so they start to yell below. In the Taizong Dynasty, there were dozens of first-rank princes and prime ministers, let alone second- and third-rank county princes, county princes, and even higher-ranking officials. The number of marquises is too low. Of course, it is impossible for the imperial dining room to prepare so many chickens. Therefore, at this time, many nobles and ministers who are not even qualified to grant seats can only stand in a circle and watch from a distance. The atmosphere is very discordant .

After a while, Li Shimin's family ate their mouths and fingers so greasy, it's called Huaji!It's exciting to tear and eat with your hands. When Li Shimin realized that he had lost his composure, he was already ashamed to let those girls stand in front of the pavilion and dance.

"Today in Chongyang, I climbed high and looked far away with all my lords, and had fun with wine. Talented scholars and beauties of each family, do you have any poems to offer?" Li Shimin washed his hands with water from the interior, wiped his mouth, and shouted to the crowd. The ministers said.

"Your Majesty, if you want to listen to a good work, you need to win some prizes. In this way, the talents and beauties of each family will not hide their clumsiness." Pei Ji is a veteran in the banquet field, and things like mobilizing the atmosphere are easy for him.

"Pei Aiqing is right. I have a pair of white jade and mandarin ducks. Today, if the gifted man or woman presents a good poem, I will reward him with one of these jades. If he sings well again, I will reward him with another one." He, all lovers should comment on it with me."

As soon as Li Shimin's words came out, all the officials applauded. The value of the white jade mandarin duck is hard to say, but if a person's poems can be praised by the emperor and the civil and military of the Manchu Dynasty, then his talent and name will be known to everyone soon. It's a very revealing thing, let me ask, that literati is not good at face!
As a result, those officials and eunuchs who had studied for a few days began to eagerly try. However, it would be a shame to get the poems sung in front of the emperor and many high-ranking officials. shot.

Sun Xiangfu actually thought that the ancients were very boring, but in order to avoid Cheng Yaojin and Yu Chigong, two veterans who came down from the banquet to pester him for more beggar chickens, he had to stand in the crowd with his hands behind his back and hide in the crowd Zhonghe and everyone watched the fun together, the two veterans wouldn't disturb everyone's interest in order to order food!

After a while, a fat boy walked to the open space in front of the pavilion, cleared his throat, and said, "Come to climb the height of the Chongyang Ninth Ninth Festival, the chrysanthemums and dogwoods are all over the valley, and the delicious food in front of Wangjing Peak is so delicious that it compares the Yunting to the sky."

The fat boy's name was Wu Yuanqing, he was the eldest son of Duke Ying's warrior Xun, and he was also one of the well-known dandies in Chang'an City. He recited a doggerel because he had a thick skin and was not afraid of making a fool of himself.

However, even for such a doggerel, many people in the audience applauded it. Comparing the Yunting where Li Shimin is in to the Jiuxiao, isn't that praising Li Shimin as a dragon entrenched in the Jiuxiao.

The dragon is the totem of the Han people, and also the symbol of the emperor. It is of course a blatant flattery to compare the unjust Li Shimin when he first ascended the throne. It's very immoral to flatter someone who overthrew his benefactor like this. When someone praises him, there will naturally be others who look down on him, just like the little beauty standing not far from Sun Xiangfu.

"Wu Yuanqing, the son of Duke Ying's mansion, wrote a poem, but there is a lady from that family who is willing to play the piano and sing."

Naturally, Pei Ji looked down on the quality of this doggerel, but since someone made it and flattered the emperor, he naturally wanted to find someone who understood music and music to sing it, and shouted to the crowd.

　Dear friends, don't forget to order the recommendation when you read the book. After collecting it, you won't search every time you want to read it.Yay, I have successfully changed another way of asking for recommendations for collection.

　　


(End of this chapter)