The banquet of the Edi is indeed a bit noisy, this is not to say that the banquet is dereliction of duty, it is really because the place provided by the host is too ordinary, outside the inner hall, it is a smooth side of the venue, not even a tree is planted, set up a pergola, put on the tables and chairs, look at the spacious venue is cramped, because there is no verandah twists and turns, the pavilions are scattered, and the screen is even more dull and boring, it is better to make a Chase seat, and the atmosphere is warm.

The first thing to do is still to watch the dishes.

Look at the dish is a variety of makeup plates carved from melons and fruits, just look at it and don't eat, if you change it to another family, there will be music and dance at this time, but there is no thanksgiving banquet in the Edi, only the drums are bursting, even the female banquet is like this, the peculiarity is peculiar, but it seems to be a little solemn.

Eni whispered to Fang Qi: "This should be the idea of a banquet, my father and my mother can't make such a fancy thing." ”

"It's probably a banquet arrangement, I think this is in line with the honor of the military commander of the Edi." Fang Qi agreed.

The status of David's military generals has always been lower than that of civilian officials, and even if military generals have made meritorious deeds, they are rarely given titles.

It is inevitable that there are financial constraints, and there are only a handful of people who can afford to arrange a banquet, which is in the impression of the Fang period...... General E seems to be the only one!

Then there is the candied fruit and fried fruit, and the first wine is drunk at this time.

Then there is the fresh fruit insert, don't think it's a hangover, this is actually the second round of looking at the makeup plate, which means that you can only see but not eat.

Then there was another round of candied fruit and fried fruit, well, at this time to drink the second wine.

The fifth round of sour and salty snacks, such as fragrant papaya, water red ginger, miscellaneous plum cakes and so on.

Next is the line of preserved meat, shrimp wax, milk/room, swirling and so on.

Then there are eight plates hanging down the hand, ivory plates, elm oranges, and small olives seventeen or eight kinds.

Afterward...... In addition to looking at the dishes, the above procedures are almost repeated in the previous round, first focusing on fruits, slicing and then fresh fruits, and adding more delicate fruit products, such as lychee knotweed, frosted jade bees, which can be seen and eaten, and the guests eat a few fragrant grapes, and basically feel that the wine they drank before is solved, the same as not drinking.

Then there is the appetizer, a round of wine on a few dishes, a few dishes, and a few more, in short, there will be no shortage of hand-washing crabs, sheep tongue sticks, such as mandarin duck fried belly, mackerel fake clams, five treasures and two-color cocoon soup, etc., basically should be prepared, what if you don't have it? The host is waiting to be laughed at by the guests, there was a ridiculous joke, the guests drank too much wine, not satisfied with the banquet did not wash the hand crab, and actually made a fuss to ask for the banquet gift sent out, angry that the host blew his beard and stared, the guest of honor rolled up his sleeves and did a fight, and then the wine woke up, the guest was guilty, and the host also specially asked someone to make a hand crab, the two shook hands on the surface, and still threw poison darts at each other behind their backs, and the result was - both sides were hurt, no one made a good fuss, this is really a bloody case caused by a hand-washing crab.

There are also intercropping foods, such as running chicken, fried white kidneys, and so on.

Then on the persuasion of wine snacks, the indispensable thing is to carve nectar fried.

Next is the chef's advice to drink ten flavors, which is the meaning of the chef's special recommendation, depending on the chef, it may have its own emphasis, but it is basically burbot ray fried belly, simmered oysters, ginger vinegar raw snails and the like.

It's over, right? But not yet.

There are also honey fried, salty and sour, Shixin, preserved wax and so on for another round.

Well, the feast is over, but the wine feast is not over, and at this time the big guys usually leave the banquet hall and either wander around the garden of the main family, or watch the songs and dances prepared by the main family.

But today in the Edi, the women's banquet, the prepared program is the sumo wrestling of the families of several soldiers, and the women are stunned, the sumo scene is the fashion of Wei Chu for decades, and now in addition to the people love to watch, the nobles have regarded it as rude.

How can a vulgar man's game be elegant?

But Fang Qi was thinking, maybe the two dishes she made were finally served to Yan Chi's table now, and there should be no third person in the future, she understood today, General E was really maverick, and he really did a thing of leaving the guests in the mansion and toasting with Yan Chi alone.

Erni quietly pulled Fang Qi aside again and asked, "Ah Qi, how do I feel as if many guests are still not very satisfied?" ”

This woman was very surprised, the banquet that took nearly 1,000 people to prepare, that is, the scenery was nothing to appreciate, but after eating so richly, what did they have to dissatisfaction with?

Fang Qi looked at Eni's thirsty eyes and sighed, she was ready to tell the truth.

"Although the general banquet is enough to organize a rich banquet, because the banquet cannot afford to invite top chefs, although the dishes cooked are also delicious and delicious, they still lack a little bit of characteristics. Some people in Lin'an City hold a feast, not only to invite the banquet to arrange, but the main dish must be cooked by the chef hired by their own family, which can be different from the wine banquet of the next family and earn praise for the scenery. ”

"That is to say, my family's thanksgiving banquet today is actually ordinary, so it is looked down upon by those high-ranking magnates?"

Fang Qi nodded silently.

E Ni also lowered his head and was silent for a while, and sighed: "When I was in Xiangyang with my father, I saw the people who fled from Xuzhou, Ruzhou and other places one after another, they were also able to live and work in peace and contentment in the past, and there was no shortage of food and clothing, so although they knew that the south of the Huai River was trapped in Liao, they were still difficult to leave their homeland at first, and they thought that David would recover the lost land and drive away from Liaoyi sooner or later, and their lives would be able to return to the stable years before."

Therefore, when our army clashed with the Liao, they tried their best to support them, and they dedicated the new wheat harvested in the fields to the army as grain and grass, leaving only the old grain that could make a living. The imperial court ordered the army to withdraw to Xiangyang to defend the town, and they were increasingly exploited by the Liao.

They have no way to continue their lives except for selling their children, and even if they sell their children, the money they get is not enough for half a year's expenses. The peasants were busy all year round, and the harvested grain was forcibly requisitioned by the Liao court, and the remaining 10% could only be sold cheaply, and they could no longer afford to eat the grain, even if it was the income of their own labor. Does Ah Ji know what they eat? It is a wheat straw wild vegetable boiled into a thin soup. ”

"Then these refugees, the imperial court should be able to resettle them." Fang Qi asked.

E Ni shook his head: "They have experienced nine deaths and a lifetime, it can be said that only a few people can be lucky to arrive outside Xiangyang City, but the court suspects that they have Liao State details, and they are not allowed to accept these refugees, they can only continue to live outside Xiangyang City, at night, I go to the top of the city wall, I can often hear the wailing of these refugees, I was thinking about why the official family could not let the army recover the lost land, the shame of David's territory being invaded by Liaoyi, why the official family ignored the suffering of these refugees, they are also David's people, they are the subjects of the official family. ”

"Then these subjects really have no way to get shelter?"

"Daddy wrote the shackles, and the official family only allowed Xiangyang to help these refugees, if David finally decided to negotiate peace with Liao...... These people will be sent to the Liao court for disposal. E Ni looked at the numb noblewomen in the field: "Ah Qi, a Huai River is just separated, and they are subjects who have been passed down from generation to generation, but they live a life like an abyss. On the south side of the Yangtze River, the delicacies of the mountains and seas are still insufficient, and on the north side of the Yangtze River, the young and strong can still be slaves, and the old and sick can only wait for death. ”

Fang Qi suddenly felt that his face was hot.

Because of her family, isn't it just that the delicacies of the mountains and seas are still insufficient? And it is impossible for her grandfather not to know the suffering of the remnants of Jiangbei, but when will she take these people's livelihood and sufferings to heart? If the official family wants to be in a corner of peace, the ministers plan to continue to spend time in luxury, wealth, poverty, luxury, and extravagance.

At this time, Eju also ate the two dishes that Yan Chi particularly admired, but he only tasted it, and then he was silent.

"But Duke E thought of the remnants outside Xiangyang City again?" Yan Chi asked.

"If the official family insists on peace talks, can you advise the Liao court to treat the people of Jiangbei well?"

"The Liao court agreed, but it can also be untrustworthy, and as long as the south of the Huai River is safe, the official family will not tear up the agreement with the Liao court and take the initiative to declare war."

"There's really no way to ......?"

"Yes." Yan Chi interrupted Eju's words: "Whether these refugees can be carefully screened or not, this is not the key to the imperial court's refusal to shelter them, the key is that the official family is worried that accepting these refugees will anger the Liao ministers and be detrimental to the peace talks." ”

"Then what is Yan Lang's way to convince the official family?"

"If David doesn't care about the life or death of the remnants, the remnants of Jiangbei will surely surrender to the Liao Court and turn against David. Yan has been trying to make the officials understand that the Liao court's heart is not dead, so the peace talks can only last for a while, and the Liao court wants to use this time to rest and expand its military strength and annihilate the defense of the country in one fell swoop, so although the peace talks are an expedient measure, the defense of the country also needs to expand its military strength and maintain its combat capability. and can be peaceful, but can not really dismantle the armament, with the blessing of a corner of peace. ”

Eju said solemnly: "Wei has a wise man like Yan Lang, and the national Zuo can continue." ”

Yan Chi smiled slightly, but he was noncommittal about this.

Suddenly, he said off-topic: "The concubine of the Duke of E, it seems that she is familiar with Qin Sanniang of the Xiangdi?" ”

"Hey, it's not an exaggeration to say that E and Qin Xun are your political enemies to the death, where will the little girl get acquainted with the little lady of the Qin family? It was still because Yan Lang mentioned that he wanted to eat these two dishes made by the chef of Xiangdi, and Neiko thought of a way, thinking that he could let the little girl and the little lady of the Qin family explore the style...... Hengzhu E listened to Yan Lang's good advice and agreed with the strategy of temporarily taoguang and obscurity, and it was unnecessary to go-for-tat with the Lord and faction, but E really didn't want to have a deep friendship with them, so he agreed with Neizi's method, just to let the ladies move around slightly. How do I know that because of Xu Erlang, the little girl heard that Qin Sanniang could play polo, so she specially invited Qin Sanniang to come to my house, and Qin Sanniang said that she would cook these two dishes, the little girl was because Qin Sanniang's temperament was really refreshing, and she could talk to her very well, but she said that after a while, when the weather was cool, she would invite Qin Sanniang to play polo. ”

Yan Chi took a sip of wine and smiled.

He deliberately mentioned that he wanted to eat these two dishes, trying to see if Eju had a relationship with Xiangdi, and it didn't look like it when he heard this.

That's strange, why did the yellow-haired girl of the Qin family ask him to rescue Eju? Is the person who instructed Qin Sanniang the Xu family, or her treacherous grandfather? Qin Xun saves Eju? This is really like a vicious wolf, with pity for the lamb to be slaughtered.

There are strange things every year, and this year seems to be a lot of them.

Yan Chichong saved General E because he was deceived, and raised his glass again.