Volume 4 Chapter 17 Banquet
At the end of February, the imperial court issued an edict to Wu Jie and Zhang Jun. After receiving the edict, both parties naturally set out in a hurry and headed for the capital.
Among them, Zhang Jun came from Xuzhou, and the distance he traveled was almost half less than that of Wu Jie, but he arrived early in early March. Then he received an imperial decree saying that he would be summoned after Wu Jie arrived. So he just stayed in the mansion he bought in Beijing and gathered for news everywhere.
As for Tokyo City, especially the city whose population has now recovered to nearly 400,000... When has it ever lacked news?
Therefore, Zhang Boying only needed to make a little inquiry and he knew everything, including what he should and should not know, what was true and what was false.
Then, he began to... open the door to welcome guests!
That’s right, General Zhang suddenly opened the gates of his mansion and set up a buffet.
First, they entertained the neighbors, regardless of their status, according to their age and seniority in the village, with the oldest sitting at the top and the younger sitting at the bottom. Even Zhang Jun himself sat at the table for middle-aged people, and his nephews Zhang Zigai and Zhang Ziyi also sat below.
In this round of reception, there were no more than twenty dishes on each table, but they were all fresh spring vegetables, plus chicken, fish, meat and eggs, and the quantity was sufficient. The accompanying wine was also the mixed wine brewed by the villagers during the New Year. Because it was taken out of the cellar in the middle of the twelfth lunar month, it was called La wine.
So on the first day, everyone in the neighborhood praised General Zhang.
The next day was different. Zhang Boying held a banquet again. This time, he invited middle and lower-ranking officers from the various armies in and outside Tokyo. The dishes reached the level of a formal banquet with 30 dishes, and the proportion of meat dishes was also higher. He also invited a formal chef to prepare two hard dishes for each table, namely roasted lamb chops and stewed pork elbows. The wine was also replaced with good wines that were sold by ordinary restaurants.
In addition, there was a special storyteller who told stories in front of the courtyard before the banquet to liven up the atmosphere, telling the story of "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons".
On the third day, the banquet continued. This time, the guests were mainly officials and scholars who were acquainted with each other. Zhang Jun had been in Huaidong for four full years, three of which he had been the governor. There were not too many civil officials who had interacted with him. Although it was a sensitive period, many of them said that they had a clear conscience and came in person.
This time, the number of dishes at the banquet had reached forty, a luxurious level. Each dish was cooked by professional and experienced people. And since they were civil officials and scholars, Zhang Taiwei also invited singing girls and created ci tunes for them to compose poems. He also collected the poems and had them printed on woodblocks.
Of course, the drinks are more refined.
On the fourth day, people in Tokyo were already looking askance, but the banquet went on as usual.
This time, all who came were dignitaries from Tokyo, officials of proper backgrounds, and some well-known scholars. The number of dishes reached a luxurious number of fifty, the wines were of well-known quality, the chefs were all famous chefs invited from the surrounding restaurants, and fully half of the dishes were the signature dishes of the famous chefs.
Before the banquet, there were storytelling, singing, and variety shows; during the banquet, there were musical performances and dancing; after the banquet, there were acrobatics, pitching pots, and poetry.
So far, this has been a proper banquet that can be recorded.
On the fifth day, the party continued even after the banquet.
On this day, the people who came were mainly old friends of Zhang Taiwei's Western Army, old subordinates who were promoted and transferred from the headquarters, and a few civil servants who were recommended and appointed by him. In other words, those who came this time were all Zhang Taiwei's real "personal friends".
Logically speaking, at a banquet of this level, one could do whatever one wants behind closed doors. But in reality, Zhang Jun still left the door open and arranged the banquet in a clear manner.
The dishes were still fifty yuan, the drinks and entertainment were the same as yesterday, and the chefs were the same, but after the banquet, these close relatives of Zhang Taiwei were all given large amounts of money and silk in public, and those of appropriate age each took a beautiful concubine back home… For example, among them was a Guangzhou boy named Liang Jiaying, a so-called last-class Jinshi, the kind who read the imperial reports in the army, who just happened to come here in Tokyo to report, and then was preparing to go south to assist General Yue in suppressing the rebellion. It was only because it was General Zhang who had been the guarantor for entering the Imperial College that day, so he was invited here by chance, but was seen by countless people coming out of General Zhang's house with a pile of money and silk and two beautiful concubines, and finally hired a donkey cart to return to his residence in a daze.
It also made many people jealous.
On the sixth day, the banquet continued under the attention and expectation of the entire Tokyo city. This time, the guests included Yang Yi Zhong and Liu Yan, the direct commanders of the imperial guard; Lan Gui and Feng Yi, the escorts of the Ministry of Internal Affairs; the sons of Prime Minister Lu Haowen and Zhao Fen, the eldest son of Prime Minister Zhao Ding; and several commanders from inside and outside the city.
At this time, they didn't even set up the table, they just ate on separate plates, and the number of dishes was no longer important. They offered two rounds of wine and changed dishes. The wine and water were all from Lanqiao Fengyue, and dozens of dancers danced in the court... I don't know if Commandant Zhang knew the meaning of the Eight-Legged Dance in the Courtyard?
On the seventh day, under the anticipation of everyone, Lu Haowen, the Minister of Military and National Affairs, Zhao Ding, the Prime Minister of the Capital, Liu Ji, the Deputy Prime Minister, Zhang Jun, the Privy Councilor, Chen Gui, the Deputy Privy Councilor, Wang Yuan, the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Camp, Wang De, the Left Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Central Army, and the two fathers-in-law of the emperor, Wu Pan, arrived together.
At this time, the whole city of Tokyo watched with extremely complicated emotions a top-notch banquet that had not been held in Tokyo for a long time.
The banquet is divided into four sittings...the first sitting, the second sitting, the main sitting, and the resting sitting.
The first and second sittings are for fruits. Each time there are two rounds of vegetable dishes, a total of four rounds, including dried fruits, vegetables and fruits, candied fruits, salty and sour fruits, eight kinds of each.
Then comes the formal sitting, which is the formal banquet, divided into fifteen rounds of wine cups, each round is a main dish prepared by a famous chef, and each main dish has a corresponding ceremony, appetizers, and tea for rinsing the mouth.
After fifteen rounds of wine, it was time to take a break. At this time, the dishes became clear, and they were exactly the forty dishes from the previous banquet.
Needless to say, all the wine was from Lanqiao Fengyue, and as for the water, everyone noticed at this moment, it was all water from pressurized wells, without any spring water or old well water.
On the eighth day, because all the previous guests had arrived, Zhang Jun was full of confidence and went to write the eighth invitation himself. However, before he finished writing the invitations, he received another invitation instead... It was from Emperor Zhao who sent Feng Erguan to deliver the invitation, inviting him and Wu Jie, who had just arrived in Tokyo today, to attend a banquet in the palace.
Zhang Jun was caught off guard for a moment, but there was nothing he could do but leave in fear.
According to the invitation, the commander-in-chief of the right army of the imperial camp first met with the commander-in-chief of the rear army of the imperial camp, Wu Jie, in front of Tongtian Gate in the north, and then went with Feng Yi towards Hanfang Garden.
Hanfang Garden is also known as Ruisheng Garden. As the name suggests, it is another private property of Emperor Zhao.
However, because this property was outside the city, it had been razed to the ground as early as during the Jing Kang period, leaving only a rough outline. But now it has been used by Emperor Zhao as a venue for the Small Cuju League in Tokyo City.
The so-called Small Cuju League is a new competition system formulated by the court based on last year's extremely effective Cuju League, but it divides the Cuju competition into two seasons, spring and autumn. It starts in mid-March in spring, with round-robin competitions in different regions and ranking based on points; in autumn, it is the playoffs, and the top eight teams compete in a series of elimination matches to determine the league champion. For this, Emperor Zhao even gave a special title, called the champion; and finally before the New Year, the four champions of Kaifeng Prefecture, Jingxi, Jingdong, and Imperial Camp Central Army will decide the victory in the World's No. 1 Cuju Conference... At that time, Emperor Zhao will personally award the badges to the World's No. 1 Cuju Team.
Back to the present, the two generals suppressed their anxiety and followed Feng Yi to Hanfang Garden, turning into the huge Cuju field that was shaped like a big pot... Of course, it was said that this was also designed by Emperor Zhao, who always liked to do some meaningless things... Then they went straight to the house on the top floor.
This simple house with an observation platform at the highest point has another name, called a private room, because Emperor Zhao reserved a large private room in the middle facing north and south, and designated the private rooms on the left and right to several prime ministers and two fathers-in-law, so all the dignitaries wanted to have a private room here.
As for today, it is not the official match day, but the day before the official match, when the public buys the box seats. There is only an exhibition match to liven up the atmosphere. The so-called buying is a very popular gambling behavior in the Song Dynasty, which is roughly equivalent to the bidding in later generations.
“Well done!”
Outside the box, Yang Yizhong was dressed in casual clothes, leading seven or eight big men standing solemnly. When they saw the two, they just said nothing. Inside the box, Emperor Zhao personally held the youngest Princess Yiyou, and by her side were the two little princesses Foyou and Shenyou, plus two concubines, and four or five attendants. When they saw the visitors, they greeted them casually. "Just sit and watch a game and wait for the results of the betting."
The two looked at each other, and could only step forward and pay their respects to the emperor and the two concubines in turn, and then carefully sat down on the stage outside the box.
The game seemed lackluster.
Of course, it is also possible that the competition was good, but no one’s mind was on it… There was no need to say much about the two generals, and the two imperial concubines were also not interested. They just sat there with a little princess each, and Emperor Zhao was even more intent on teasing the youngest Princess Yiyou… Everyone occasionally said something, but Emperor Zhao did not get involved, and although Imperial Concubine Pan was more imposing, she could not say much because of the presence of two foreign ministers, and the others just agreed.
Just like that, when a Cuju match was about to end, Feng Yi pushed the door open and handed over a piece of paper. Emperor Zhao just hugged the little princess and laughed and said, "These people, they said they fled south and north and lost most of their property, but they still managed to get so much money... Boying, you and Jin Qing take a look."
Zhang Boying quickly took it and went to see it with Wu Jie, and he was indeed moved.
It turned out that according to what was written on the paper, the wealthy and powerful who were interested in buying the private rooms at the Hanfang Garden Cuju Stadium rushed to buy nearly a hundred private rooms, one by one, and the transaction price kept rising, ranging from a few dozen to several thousand, and finally the total price was nearly 50,000! On average, each private room received 500 strings of cash!
Zhang Jun was fine, but Wu Jie was a country bumpkin on his first visit to Beijing. He held the paper in his hand and looked around. He felt that this strange-looking semi-open box was not worth 500 coins at all. How could it be sold for 500 coins? He was also shocked for a moment.
But at the same time, Zhang Boying turned around and laughed: "If the emperor had told me earlier, I would have bought a box closer to him."
"I left it for you." Zhao Jiu said casually, but he was also moved. "It's just that I didn't expect to get so much money... I have only visited this Cuju field twice. It was mainly designed by Chen Xianggong and repaired by Yan Dayin. Because it is my private property, I borrowed money from Wu Guozhang in my personal capacity to renovate it. It cost me more than 10,000 strings of cash in total. I have made 40,000 in free money before the game even started."
Zhang Jun listened quietly and laughed again: "In my opinion, if the Cuju competition continues like this, the government will make a fortune... Not only the private rooms, but also some shops and restaurants around Hanfang Garden can be rented out, and the annual rent will be a large sum of money."
The yellow-faced Wu Jie came to his senses immediately and nodded repeatedly.
"I am more greedy than you think." Zhao Jiu continued to hold the little princess in his arms and laughed. "I am also planning to start a Cuju betting in the Kaifeng Prefecture competition area, and place a bet on every game..."
Zhang Jun was slightly startled, and could not help but ask sideways: "I have just thought of this matter, but Your Majesty... will the ministers and the censors allow Your Majesty to do this?"
"This kind of thing is inevitable. If I don't do it, someone will do it privately. It will still be a mess. It's better to find a good name to be the banker, for example, set up a Fengzhuang gambling for the Northern Expedition, and the money from the banker will be used as the military expenses of the Northern Expedition..." Zhao Jiu said confidently, but soon shook his head. "But I also know that the Censorate will not allow me to get involved in this kind of thing. Therefore, I plan to give you Zhang Boying the Fengzhuang gambling in the Kaifeng competition area, the property rights of various Cuju fields, and the property in the Jingdong Road competition area."
Zhang Jun was stunned, and Wu Jie was even more confused.
"Nothing special." Zhao Jiu, who was dressed in casual clothes, watched the game below end, and stood up holding the little princess. "Leave the one in Jingxi to Han Shizhong, and if Guanzhong wants to do this, I'll give it to Wu Jinqing and Qu Duan... Yue Fei and Li Yanxian probably won't want these two."
Zhang Jun and Wu Jie wanted to say something, but the game was over and Emperor Zhao stood up, so they had to put their thoughts aside for the time being and followed Emperor Zhao's family out of Hanfang Garden, returning to Dongjing City, and arriving at the palace in the afternoon... They entered from the Gongchen Gate on the north, turned to the Linhua Gate to enter the back garden, and finally came to a pavilion inside the Yingyang Gate next to the fish pond and mulberry forest.
At this time, the two imperial concubines brought the three princesses out of the Yingyang Gate and entered the harem to rest, but Emperor Zhao sat down in the pavilion and invited the two to sit with him.
Wu Jie was still nervous. It was his first time in Tokyo. He didn't know anything and had no time to find out anything. Zhang Jun, on the other hand, felt a little more at ease because he knew that this was the emperor's favorite place to stay in private and the place where he had private conversations with important ministers. He had even drunk here in person.
After waiting for a while, three jugs of wine were served, of course, it was Lanqiao Fengyue, and then a few plates of fresh vegetables and home-cooked dishes were placed on the table, both meat and vegetarian, about ten or so dishes... but there was neither chicken nor fish, probably because the breeding in the back garden is not on the right track yet... Then, Emperor Zhao poured himself a drink and picked up his chopsticks, which was regarded as the official start of his banquet today.
Zhang and Wu did not dare to be negligent and followed suit, but they did not dare to relax at all, which was also hard work.
However, after three rounds of drinks and a few pleasantries, Emperor Zhao finally got down to business: "Do you two know why I called you here?"
Wu Jie immediately put down his chopsticks and tried to leave his seat and kneel down, almost as if he was jumping up, but Zhao Jiu raised his hand to stop him. He could only sit down again and face each other carefully:
"It is said that the Ministry of War impeached me for overestimating the cost of the Imperial Army."
Zhao Jiu nodded and looked at Zhang Jun again: "Where's Boying? You came so early, you must know more than Jin Qing, right?"
Having said that, Zhang Jun, who had been prepared, was speechless for a moment.
Zhao Jiu, on the other hand, couldn't help but chuckle when he saw this: "Is it hard to say, or do you know too much?"
Zhang Jun was embarrassed for a moment.
"But has anyone told you that the court is going to launch a comprehensive anti-corruption campaign in the army? Has anyone told you that the emperor is going to give up military power over a toast? Or that Emperor Zhao is going to trick Wu Jie and Zhang Jun into the capital and place them under house arrest, and then purge the rear and right armies of the imperial camp?" Zhao Jiu laughed as he picked up some food.
Wu Jie was in a trance for a moment, and Zhang Jun finally spoke, but he was still embarrassed: "I am sorry to make you laugh, but at that time the emperor did not want to see me, and I really had no choice but to ask around, and that's how I heard a lot of nonsense."
"No problem." Zhao Jiu chewed the spring vegetables slowly and swallowed them. He then continued, "What's that? I've heard of something even worse. It's said that Emperor Zhao has issued an order that anyone who embezzles more than 10 strings of cash, whether civil or military, will be skinned and stuffed with straw to be displayed to the world... Don't you say you haven't heard of it?"
Upon hearing this, Wu Jie and Zhang Jun relaxed and laughed.
Zhao Jiu suddenly sneered, "This is all because the dignitaries in the city have nothing to do, so they think of ways to spread rumors, hoping to use this method to attract my attention, and then ask for official positions and money... But they don't know that I have already made up my mind. I would rather lose the country than give these people a single salary or reward. Not only that, I will send people over now to confiscate the families of those who spread the most rumors to provide military funds."
The two generals were stunned at once, because after hearing this, Yang Yizhong, who had been standing beside them, bowed slightly and actually led the soldiers directly towards the Yingyang Gate.
"Bo Ying." At this moment, Zhao Jiu suddenly looked at Zhang Jun again. "Do you really believe these rumors? Is that why you did all that?"
At this point, Zhang Jun, who had come to his senses, dared not hide it anymore. He immediately stood up and bowed his head in embarrassment: "I am sorry to have embarrassed you, Your Majesty."
"If I accept your invitation today, how many dishes will you prepare to entertain me?" Zhao Jiu asked with great interest.
Zhang Jun was getting more and more embarrassed. "I originally wanted to find an old servant in Grand Tutor Cai's mansion and get a set of 180 dishes like the one in Grand Tutor Cai's mansion, but I have never been able to get it together. If the emperor really goes there, there will only be about 120 to 30 dishes..."
"How can you gather them all?" Zhao Jiu threw down his chopsticks and shook his head. "When Grand Tutor Cai was prosperous and prosperous, there was a group of people in the kitchen who specialized in making dumplings. Some rolled the dough, some pleated it, and some even cut onions... That kind of luxury was, on the one hand, too much, and on the other hand, it was just a temporary illusion of prosperity when the country was prosperous and prosperous, and it was something you could only encounter but not seek."
"Yes." Zhang Jun finally sighed. "I am just looking for a gimmick. I mainly want to invite you to my house for a chat. I have other things to tell you."
"Of course." Zhao Jiu shook his head more and more. "When you were in Xuzhou, you liked to exchange the money and silk you saved for gold and silver. You melted the silver into large silver balls weighing nearly 100 kilograms, 1,600 taels each, and gave them a nickname of helpless... In the past four years, you saved a total of 57 silver balls, and this time you sent 50 directly from Xuzhou overnight; you saved 8,000 taels of gold, and this time you sent 6,000 taels. From what you said, you should be planning to give it to me at the banquet, and then resign from the position of general, in order to seek long-term wealth and honor, right?"
Wu Jie was stunned when he heard this, and Zhang Jun was sweating profusely, so he could only kneel down in the pavilion.
"The government is wise."
"You still don't know what I'm asking for..." Zhao Jiu sighed. "I thought I allowed those people to attend your banquet, which meant I tacitly approved your decision, right?"
Zhang Boying quickly explained: "I have long been uneasy about your poor life, and I am afraid that this is why I misunderstood you."
"You didn't always misunderstand me." Zhao Jiu shook his head. "That day on the Huai River, you never misunderstood me... Boying, and Jin Qing."
"I'm here." Wu Jie also quickly stood up and knelt beside Zhang Jun.
"I advocate utilitarianism, and I can barely be considered a utilitarian person. The so-called utilitarian person is the kind of person who, when faced with so-called structural contradictions, always thinks of disregarding propriety, righteousness, integrity and shame in order to gain the greatest benefit in the end..." Zhao Jiu sighed as he clasped his hands and looked at the dishes in front of him. "The Western Army was originally a vassal state. I could reorganize and disband it in Guanxi, but once I left, it returned to its old ways. I know about this and am extremely worried. As for Boying, he has always been greedy for money. It has been an old problem for many years. When he was farming, he took the opportunity to occupy land. When he moved to a new place, he forced the soldiers to build a big house for himself. He ate empty salaries, calculated the depreciation money, and accepted bribes. I know this in my heart and have been accumulating dissatisfaction... There is nothing to hide. But I am dissatisfied and worried, not because I am suffering here, but you are so and so, so I can't calm down, but because you are the generals after all, and your subordinates are the main force of the imperial camp. If you continue to waste like this, when the time comes to the Northern Expedition, one side has no fighting power, and the other side intends to preserve itself. What should I say?!"
Zhang Jun and Wu Jie were both stunned, and then looked at each other... It was obvious that Wu Jie really didn't understand this official, and Zhang Jun had been comfortable for too long and misunderstood him.
"What else? If we really want to fight corruption now, why don't we fight with the whole army? If we really want to release military power with a toast, shouldn't we let Han Shizhong come first?" At this point, Zhao Jiu looked at the dozen dishes on the stone table, but his tone gradually turned cold. "I called you here for one thing... If you can make achievements in the Northern Expedition in the future, then I will eventually deal with the collusion and the mess of you, Zhang Boying, but I will only forgive the past, because after all, we have all been through extraordinary times. But if the Northern Expedition goes wrong with your two families, don't expect to get away with it by paying the money and resigning, because I will make you pay for it!"
Zhang Jun and Wu Jie were relieved and frightened at the same time, so they prepared to express their opinions together. Unexpectedly, Emperor Zhao did not give them any room to speak.
"Get up and eat." Zhao Jiu responded coldly. "After dinner, I will tell you in detail how to train these two armies!"
