Do you know that it starts with Meng Tong?

Therefore, Zhuang Jun listened very attentively, sometimes nodding and smiling, sometimes frowning in thought. When he encountered something he didn't understand, he would take the initiative to ask Wei Chen for advice. After Wei Chen patiently answered, he showed a look of enlightenment.

The servants held their breath and stood aside with their heads lowered, not daring to disturb the reunion of master and apprentice.

Most of them are elderly people in the family, and they are already accustomed to Wei Chen and Zhuang Jun's way of getting along with each other.

Wei Chen certainly respected Zhuang Jun, but Zhuang Jun rarely acted like a teacher in front of Wei Chen, especially when discussing issues with Wei Chen.

The two of them don't get along like master and disciple with clear distinction between superiority and inferiority, but like like-minded confidants.

The master and apprentice talked for a while in the yard. Uncle Zhang Ming, who had gone out to hold a banquet, also came back, accompanied by a chef from Yuxian Tower and several apprentices who helped cook.

Zhang Ming was very happy to see Wei Chen as soon as he got home. He asked his servants to take the chef to the kitchen, and excitedly took Wei Chen's hand to greet him.

Seeing Zhang Ming chatting non-stop, Wei Ruyi on the side finally got impatient, rolled her eyes at her husband and said, "I'll talk to you later if you have anything to say. Hot water has been boiled on the stove. Brother Chen has come so far. On the way, let him go to the house to bathe and change clothes first to relieve his fatigue!"

Zhang Ming turned around and saw his wife glaring at him angrily. He quickly let go of Wei Chen's hand and coughed dryly: "That's right, that's right... Brother Chen, go back to the house quickly!"

Wei Chen couldn't help but secretly laugh when he saw this. After all these years, his uncle's problem of being strict with his wife has still not improved!

Of course, being afraid of one's wife is not necessarily a bad thing. At least in Wei Chen's view, his uncle is happy with it and enjoys it.

But Wei Chen doesn't have to envy Zhang Ming. It won't be long before he can also live a life of being controlled by his wife, and it will be twice as good.

Thinking about it, I really have a little expectation!

Wei Chen laughed innocently, and immediately stopped messing with Zhang Ming. After confessing his sins to several elders, Zhang Xu led him back to his room to bathe and change clothes.

What Wei Ruyi said was right. He was so busy on the road that he was covered in travel dust. He really needed to wash himself off.

By the time Wei Chen finished cleaning himself up, put on new clothes, and returned to the main hall, dinner had already been prepared.

Zhuang Jun sat down first, followed by Wei Chen and Zhang Ming, and Zhang Xu was also able to take a seat. However, Wei Ruyi stood aside and did not sit down.

Wei Ruyi's family has never lived with Zhuang Jun. During the period when they arrived in Bianjing, they stayed in an inn and had little contact with Zhuang Jun. Naturally, they were unsure of Zhuang Jun's temper and did not dare to act like they were at home. Take a seat wherever you like.

After all, according to the rules of the official family, the men and women in the family should not be together when eating.

They have to sit separately.

...

Wei Ruyi was afraid that Wei Chen, his mentor, would think that she was a country woman who did not understand etiquette and would lose Wei Chen's face.

Wei Chen was a little surprised to see Wei Ruyi's squirming look at first, but after thinking about it for a moment, he immediately understood Wei Ruyi's concerns.

Wei Chen was about to ask Wei Ruyi to sit down, but Zhuang Jun waved his hand and said with a smile: "Mrs. Zhang family, I don't have so many rules here, just sit down wherever you want."

"Eh!"

Wei Ruyi was stunned when he heard the words, and then he realized what he was saying. He responded hurriedly, with a joyful smile on his face. He immediately took the bowl and sat down quickly.

[In view of the general environment,

Zhang Ming and Zhang Xu, father and son, looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief.

Wei Chen already knew his teacher's temperament, so he wasn't surprised.

Although the four people on the table have no blood relationship with Wei Chen, in Wei Chen's heart, they are all his closest relatives. Wei Chen is still very happy to see them living in such harmony.

Everyone was seated, and Zhang Ming ordered the kitchen to serve the dishes. After a while, the door curtain was raised, and the maid from the family came in with a tray, and there was a waiter from Yuxianlou singing the names of the dishes.

"The first one, crab stuffed with orange!"

The so-called "Crab Stuffed Orange" is a unique skill of Yuxianlou chef. The specific method is to cut off the top of the orange and remove the pulp, then put the crab roe and crab meat in it, still cover it with the cut off orange top, and add wine vinegar. Steamed.

When this dish is served, it is still a whole orange, surrounded by chrysanthemum petals and orchid leaves. Just looking at it is pleasing to the eye.

When you open the lid of the orange, a unique fragrance of crab, wine, and chrysanthemum comes to your nostrils. When the heat dissipates, you can see inside the orange that the crab meat is in distinct pieces and the soup is crystal clear.

"The second one, sheep tongue stick!"

"The third one, stir-fried dove seeds with fresh bamboo shoots!"

"The fourth one, Suqiongye!"

"The fifth light, Kingfish!"

"The sixth one..."

Dishes that were full of color, flavor, and flavor were served up one after another. Not only were the ingredients used precious, but they were also cooked with such exquisite craftsmanship that Wei Chen almost burst into tears as he ate them.

It is so delicious!

Although Yuzhou is good, the food is only as good as the Yellow River carp, and it is still not as rich and colorful as Bianjing.

Take a look at these dishes and you will understand what it means to never tire of fine food and delicious food!

Zhuang Jun was sitting upright at first, but seeing Wei Chen eating so happily, he couldn't help but be aroused.

Seeing that the crab meat in the orange was about to be finished by Wei Chen alone, Zhuang Jun finally couldn't sit still anymore. He stood up and knocked off Wei Chen's fast food. He snatched the whole orange and wolfed it down regardless of the image.

Seeing Wei Chen and his apprentice eating so happily, and Zhang Xu stuffing his mouth full, Wei Ruyi couldn't help but give Zhang Ming, who arranged the banquet, a look of appreciation: "This is a good job. "

Zhang Ming said with a smile: "I also heard that the food made by Yuxianlou is the best in Bianjing, even inferior to the famous Fanlou, so I wanted to give it a try. It seems that the rumors are absolutely correct. . Brother Chen, think about it, when you get married, how about we hire the chef from Yuxian Tower to entertain the guests?"

Wei Chen was currently tasting the mutton tongue pick, and when he took a bite, he saw the shredded pork roll wrapped in a golden coating. The meat was not only delicate, but also crispy and chewy.

Taking another bite, the surface was actually wrapped with minced fish. After chewing it a few times, I felt it was smooth and refreshing, and full of umami. It was so delicious that Wei Chen had never tasted it even in his previous life.

Wei Chen's taste buds had been completely conquered. When he heard Zhang Ming's proposal to let Yuxian House host his wedding banquet, there was no way he could disagree. He nodded immediately and said without hesitation: "This is it!"

ride a piggy

Chapter 252 Visiting the Palace

In the early morning, Wei Chen got up as usual to practice Daoyin, then boxed and drew a bow to strengthen his muscles and bones.

After a whole set of movements, heat was steaming all over his body, and his close-fitting clothes were soaked with hot sweat, outlining Wei Chen's burly and straight shoulders and back.

After the Chinese New Year, Wei Chen died. Over the years, he had eaten well and drank well. Not only had he grown strong, but he had also grown taller.

If you look at it from the perspective of the previous life, Wei Chen is now about 1.8 meters tall, less than half a head taller than Gu Tingye.

After practicing for about an hour, the sun came out, and the golden morning light spread all over the Wei family's backyard.

Wei Chen took the sweat towel handed over by Yuan An and wiped his sweat. He went back to his room and scrubbed himself. Then he changed into the official uniform he was wearing and got on the carriage and left the house.

When passing the gate of Sheng Mansion, Wei Chen just opened the curtain and looked at it silently, without instructing the driver to stop.

In order to rush home to reunite with his family yesterday, Wei Chen asked his entourage to report to Xuandemen for him.

This is no longer in line with the rules.

It's just that the imperial court understands the hardship of foreign officials serving in the local area, so it generally does not pursue them.

Today is the triennial pilgrimage for foreign officials. The emperor will give a banquet to the officials in the Jianji Hall in the palace.

On such an important occasion, if Wei Chen continues to delay due to personal matters, it will be unreasonable. At least he will be cited by the censor, and Zhao Zhen will also have objections.

Therefore, no matter how eager Wei Chen was to see his fiancée, he had to go to the palace first and finish the Hajj banquet.

Wei Chen's carriage did not stop at the entrance of Sheng Mansion, but left Jiying Lane and walked slowly along Nanxunmen Street.

Drive all the way to the majestic Xuande Gate, which is the main entrance of the imperial city and the only way to enter the imperial city.

When Wei Chen arrived, many officials who came to the banquet had gathered outside Xuande Gate.

There were more than 8000 Beijing officials and more than [-] foreign officials in the Great Zhou Dynasty. During this Hajj, in addition to some local officials who had to stay behind, there were [-] foreign officials entering Beijing.

For many officials with low official positions in remote areas, this may be the only opportunity in their lives to go to Beijing to meet the saint, so they cherish it very much.

During Zhao Zhen's reign, his administration tended to be lenient. Even if there were foreign officials with poor performance evaluations, Zhao Zhen would usually give them verbal orders or fine them a few months' salary. He would not dismiss hundreds of people from their posts like he did during the Hajj inspection at the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Therefore, the officials went to the banquet in a very relaxed and happy mood. They walked together on the way to the palace, chatting and laughing. If they met a long-lost old friend, they would happily hold each other and talk.

Wei Chen got off the carriage in the square outside Xuande Gate, stepped forward and showed the official documents to the imperial guards guarding the gate. He quickly entered the palace through the Youye Gate smoothly, and then went straight to the place where the Hajj Banquet was held. Go to Jianji Palace.

The banquets given by the palace are divided into two categories: large banquets and medium banquets. Among the large banquets, the most solemn ones are Suburban Sacrifice, Zhengdan (New Year's Day), Winter Solstice, and Wanshou (the emperor's birthday).

As for today's Hajj banquet, it only reached the level of the mid-level banquet, and was far inferior to these major banquets.

Of course, this was a banquet given by the emperor after all. Even if it was just the middle banquet, hundreds of tables were set up, which could not be accommodated in the huge Jianji Hall.

Most of the officials had to sit outside the palace. Only the governor,

Only officials at the level of governor can sit on the upper table in the palace.

Wei Chen, a fifth-rank magistrate of the state, could call the shots in Yuzhou, but here he was not qualified to enter the palace and sit with the real frontier officials.

However, after all, Wei Chen ranked first in the performance evaluation of Henan officials. Guanglu Temple, which was responsible for arranging official seats, still arranged Wei Chen near Jianji Hall, second only to the top seats in the hall.

After arriving at the square outside Jianji Hall, Wei Chen found his seat under the guidance of Guanglu Temple officials.

Before taking his seat, he glanced at the officials already sitting at the table. His eyes lit up and he said in surprise: "Ze Cheng, Boyong, you are here too!"

It turned out that the people sitting at the table with Wei Chen this time were Wei Chen's old friends, Sheng Changbai and Wang Yaochen.

When Wang Yaochen saw Wei Chen coming, he immediately stood up and bowed his hands towards Wei Chen and said: "Congratulations to Wei Zhizhou. He is ranked first in the Gyeonggi area. He will be praised by the emperor today. On the day when Wei Zhizhou is prosperous, don't forget to support your younger brother!"

Wei Chen smiled hurriedly and returned the courtesy: "Bo Yong is joking. The so-called Zhizhou sounds powerful, but in fact he is just a people-friendly official. Zhizhou has to worry about all the big and small things in a state, and he also has to smile at all the superiors. , how can it compare to the noble status of you and Zicheng in the Hanlin Academy?"

Wang Yaochen couldn't help but raise his lips slightly when he heard this.

Of course he knew that Wei Chen was being self-effacing. How could Wei Chen, a magistrate, be comparable to ordinary magistrates?

However, what Wei Chen said really scratched his itch.

Generally speaking, after three years of training, Shujishi will be dismissed and awarded officials. Some will be appointed as Hanlin reviewers, some will be appointed as censors, and the rest will be assigned to the six departments as directors.

Of course, those with outstanding performance among common people can also be awarded officials in advance.

And Sheng Changbai and Wang Yaochen are the best among the common people in Tianyou's sixth year.

In June this year, the two of them were awarded the title of seventh-grade Hanlin editor, catching up with Li Zuochang and Cai Xuan, who were ranked second in the same subject.

Now, although Wei Chen is from the fifth rank of Zhizhou, and his rank is higher than Sheng Changbai and Wang Yaochen, but in terms of gold content, he may not be as good as them, the seventh rank.

After all, they serve as Hanlin editors. They are not only Beijing officials, but also the most noble Hanlin officials among Beijing officials.

Theoretically, a Beijing official at the same level is generally two levels higher than a local official, while a Hanlin official is almost one level higher than a Beijing official.

After such a calculation, the grades of Sheng Changbai and Wang Yaochen are almost as high as those of Wei Chen.

To be honest, when he was first awarded the title of Hanlin editor, Wang Yaochen was still a little proud.

Although he and Wei Chen are good friends, he has always regarded Wei Chen as the target of his pursuit. Now he finally sees the hope of catching up with Wei Chen.