Chapter 27: The Long Table

Adults really don't enjoy life, how good it is to eat well, and the children are very happy, because there is something more fun here - Chinese food using chopsticks!

For this Chinese food, Downing's request to the chef is to use ordinary ingredients as much as possible, so that guests can know what meat and what dish at a glance, so that the British are more likely to accept exotic food. Otherwise, when the dish is brought up, I ask, this is "water", that is "chop", as well as the tongue and large intestine, it's okay not to ask, who can stand it when I ask?

Tang Ning was most disgusted with the use of expensive ingredients but not delicious famous dishes, and he quoted the words of the poet Yuan Mei's "Suiyuan Food List" to educate chefs to abstain from ear food and eyes food.

What is an ear meal? It is to pursue the reputation of expensive dishes and show respect for customers with an exaggerated style. It's for the ears, not a delicacy. Yuan Mei advocates that cooking should be delicate and attentive, and the ingredients do not have to be luxurious. When the tofu is ready, it also beats the seafood. Unpalatable and expensive dishes such as boiled bird's nest are all satirized by him as "ear meals": Anyway, you just want to be expensive, why don't you just put pearls in the bowl?

What is eye food? It's greedy. Some people admire the vanity of dining generously, and the dishes are large and large. It's for the eyes, not the mouth. When I wrote here, the old man said: You don't know, famous writers write, and if you write too much, there must be failures; Celebrities make poems, and if they do more, they will also have mediocre sentences. Everything should be an essence, not greedy, too extravagant but rough. Cooking, what we ask for is the real enjoyment of the people who eat, not to show off to others. Life is the same: pomp, fame, face, that is not what really falls on you; The well-prepared porridge and side dishes may not be beautiful or expensive, but they bring the most intimate and comfortable feeling to the stomach.

The chef knelt down, this "foreigner" was too powerful, I originally thought that my "Suiyuan Food List" was borrowed by Tang Ning to see it for a good time, but I didn't expect Tang Ning to not only understand it, but also understand it so deeply!

With such a knowledgeable master, the chef had to wholeheartedly implement Mr. Suiyuan's concept, carefully select the ingredients, strictly adhere to the knife work, and carefully grasp the fire, and give the richest, most powerful, noble, and most famous elders, nobles, and children in Britain a Chinese feast with good color and fragrance from any point of view, completely comparing the Indian curry meal that was popular in Britain at that time. This is called food culture!

The ladies said that they wanted to hire a Chinese chef, and looked at Xu Rongcun, the only Qing country man among the guests present. Lao Xu didn't know much about the British constitutional monarchy, and he felt a lot of pressure and incredible when he saw the Queen of the British Empire, who had slapped the face of the Qing Emperor, so easy-going. It seems that this trip back will have to bring a few more celebrity chefs over, the question is, are there any real celebrity chefs who are willing to travel all the way to Europe?

The Qing Dynasty had such a delicacy, and the queen was more interested in the Far East, and asked Tang Ning what he had seen in China.

In addition to the history of science and technology, Tang Ning really didn't study the history of the Qing Dynasty, and he couldn't even figure out how far the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had gotten now, and whether Jiangning had been captured? Her Majesty the Queen asked, and Downing had no choice but to say in the general direction: "With England as the benchmark of civilization, all those who are on par with England in terms of global geography, industrial science and technology, and democracy and legal system are civilized countries, such as the United States, which has a system that is almost not inferior to England, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg are good, France is okay, Prussia has a good development momentum, and Russia is worse, but Europe is still the echelon of modern civilization." The aborigines of Africa, Australia, the Americas, and Southeast Asia belong to uncivilized places, and they cannot even be called countries, which are the original form of human society. Like the Middle East, India, and the Qing Dynasty, they are all semi-civilized countries with quite interesting civilizations and histories, for example, the food of the Qing Kingdom is great, and the artists with bureaucratic literati as the main body often have masters. Chinese poetry is the most beautiful, because Chinese characters are pictographs, and people can form extremely rich images in their minds when writing poems......" Speaking of this, he said to Xu Rongcun: "How are you writing?" Do you want to put on a show for Her Majesty the Queen? ”

Which Chinese who has studied does not write a good hand? Lao Xu was naturally very proud, and he was able to perform calligraphy in front of the powerful. Downing's Chinese chef occasionally writes calligraphy, so he also has pen, ink, paper, and inkstone here.

Tang Ning deliberately asked Lao Xu to write a few special pictograms to show how elegant the great Chinese characters are.

After using calligraphy to show the beauty of Chinese characters, Tang Ning talked about Chinese painting, combined with Taoism and Buddhism, resulting in a very unique aesthetic, which can use very limited painting tools and delicate and uncomplicated brushstrokes to abstract style freehand, pay attention to the amount of blank space, pay attention to simplicity, and Western oil painting is often months and years of realism art form is very different, Chinese painting pays attention to one go, art and life, self-cultivation combined.

After saying this, everyone yearned for Chinese art, and Lionel suddenly said: "Is it possible for us to turn China into a colony?" ”

Major events related to the motherland, Xu Rongcun immediately pricked up his ears.

Tang Ning was silent for a long time before he said: "The Han people have been conquered by the fighting peoples of North Asia twice, except for the Manchus, the last time was the Mongols. On both occasions, both the Manchus and the Mongols, who were conquerors, chose to respect the Confucian tradition of the Han Chinese and learn the Han language. Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan dynasty, which ruled the Han Chinese, imposed the Mongol system in the north of China and the Han Chinese in the south, and fell out with the three Mongol khanates of his own clan.

Why did these two ethnic groups integrate into Han culture? Because the Chinese value their own culture the most, have the strongest self-esteem, and their combat effectiveness, learning ability, and revenge ability far exceed that of Indians. Both the rulers of the Yuan and Qing dynasties had to use Han culture to govern the Han people. The British Empire was far more powerful than the Mongol cavalry, but it was too far from the Far East for a total conquest to be quite difficult, and it was not difficult to defeat any of the rulers of China, as was already illustrated in 1840. ”

After Lionel raised this question, he immediately found that something was not right, because there was a Qing man on the spot, and their food was still prepared by the Qing chef, which was a little embarrassing, but Tang Ning's statement aroused his interest again, it turned out that Tang Ning had such a deep understanding of China. He asked, "What do you think we should do with China?" Now the businessmen are quite dissatisfied with China's opening process, and their implementation of the treaty is really not sincere! ”

Tang Ning looked at Mr. Xu, who was not far away, and said, "Let's assume that Mr. Xu is the richest man in the Great Qing Kingdom, so will he have a lofty position in the Great Qing Kingdom?" No, it won't. Because his status is not protected by the law, a small official, it doesn't need to be too big, about a provincial level, or the mayor level of a large city in the province, to make China's richest man bow his head. If he is not satisfied, the officials will have various ways to subdue Mr. Xu. Excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes, delays in formalities and documents, and what errands do the officials and royal families have to do? Only when China establishes a society with a legal system and protects the sanctity of private property can it conform to the interests of Chinese businessmen and foreign businessmen, and businessmen are a representative, and in fact, the same is true for peasants, factory owners, and handicraftsmen.

Adam, the father of economics? Mr. Smith had already summed up the institutional mystery of England's rise in The Wealth of Nations—that we had established efficient markets, and that laws and parliaments had strengthened the rules of the game that were fair to the market. My personal premature thinking is that it is in our interest that Britain should help China to establish such a system. （http：／／.)。 In addition to fair trade, if China really refuses to open its market, even if it resorts to war, we must find an opponent who respects the law and respects the contract. Otherwise, as in the war of 1840, the Entente was signed in vain. Our businessmen and diplomats will also be in a dangerous situation. ”

Rawlinson applauded. Lionel also nodded in agreement, if the Chinese do not respect the treaty at all, it is useless to fight China.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Wood also became interested, saying: "According to your opinion, how should we 'help' China establish a legal system?" ”

Tang Ning: "China has never had a tradition of legal system, and in order to truly establish a legal system, we must first start with education, and education must start with running newspapers. And how to find this person who is not the same? Take your time! Now is the best time to do this, because there are anti-Qing forces in southern China, so that there will be various forces in which we can find a leader who can support him in running newspapers and education. Of course, the most important thing is not to let the Qing army or the Taiping army destroy each other so quickly, we have to play balance, and whoever is weak will help whom. Until we find the right leader who can build a new civilization for China. ”

Wood nodded and smiled: "This idea is very instructive, to support a trustworthy government, this is to the point." No wonder you asked to be the governor of the Straits Settlements, it turns out that you really have political ambitions in your heart! ”

Queen Victoria was very secretive about this, and rarely spoke, and the prince also found it quite interesting, saying: "At least Downing knows China very well!" ”