The date of the New Year is very close, and at this time, as an emperor, you must start preparing for the New Year. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoThis New Year is an important holiday that almost any emperor would take seriously. Especially in the New Year, I am looking forward to a bumper harvest next year, and even this year is more than a full year after Li Shimin ascended the throne, and it is truly a "whole year". Compared with the Xuanwumen Revolution that launched after ascending the throne at that time, the New Year must not have been very steady. Because any official, including the emperor, is walking on thin ice when he first takes office, and he does not dare to be too presumptuous.

Now Li Shimin feels that life is going well, especially the increase in grain production in the Gyeonggi area, which has seriously caused the price of grain to fall. Although the new challenges brought about by the increase in productivity, Li Shimin believes that he can control this gluttonous beast called productivity.

Now that the days are getting better and better, Li Shimin is really sitting on the throne.

"Linghonglu Temple, we must entertain foreign envoys well and make them all satisfied." Li Shimin said.

The so-called upper head opened his mouth and his lower head ran and broke his leg, Li Shimin entertained the foreign envoy well, and immediately made the entire Honglu Temple also run and break his leg. Especially when all kinds of complicated preparations are about to begin, a large group of people will soon encounter a headache, a very speechless problem.

"Shi Cao Chang, many people in Honglu Temple feel headaches, how to arrange this banquet for those foreign envoys. In particular, it is required that the foreign envoys should be treated equally in all aspects of their lives, and that they should be satisfied. It is necessary to reflect the wealth of our Central Plains, but also to treat those foreign envoys equally, and then make those foreign envoys feel that they are late to their hometown. ”

"But this is troublesome, first of all, the hometown cuisine of foreign envoys in various countries is different, and each place has its own flavor. Of course, this is not difficult, in fact, it is not difficult to do, but the emperor asks for fairness! If we just cook hometown food, then we might be in trouble. Because the value of ingredients varies from place to place, the value of each dish will inevitably vary. Once we give the banquet one by one, I am afraid that it will cause the dishes to be of different preciousness, will this make the foreign envoys dissatisfied? Especially if we don't suffer from inequality, wouldn't we have a lot of differences? ”

"So if you want to be fair, you should be fair in every way. However, giving each country its original characteristics alone can make them feel at home, but it will also create some ideas about the inequality between countries. Therefore, the food department of the Ministry of Rites feels very troublesome, how should we formulate this strategy? ”

The catering department is responsible for all kinds of internal and external banquet arrangements. But now I have encountered a problem, that is, the different degrees of value and difficulty of the dishes, if it is not difficult to simply give foreigners dishes of various countries and nationalities, but how can their "sensitive" hearts not be harmed. In particular, there will be problems under this mentality of not suffering from inequality, because everyone is a foreign envoy, can you be so special and preferential? Whether it is an opponent or a friend, then this time when you come to Datang, you should be treated equally, but the value of the dishes you give is different, what does it mean.

"Really, the emperor is really a man, since it shows the wealth of my Tang Dynasty, but I also want to make them feel at home, and even eat hometown food. But if you give it separately, it will also cause the possibility of not suffering from inequality, this emperor is really a mouth, running and breaking his leg below, and thinking about his brain. In fact, why is this kind of thing so redundant, just give a unified dish directly, so there is no problem. Die to save face! Shi Bufan began to complain about Li Shimin in his heart.

This Li Shimin is an emperor who wants to save face, and many ancient emperors are very generous in terms of foreign affairs, and they want to show their wealth in the Central Plains. In fact, this kind of display of affluence is not how much it costs, but how to show affluence is a headache. Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty once made the small merchants and hawkers in Chang'an free of charge for foreigners, and there was no compensation afterwards, which made the following complain. And some people wrap the trees in Luoyang in silk to show off their wealth, but the effect is also very poor. Because as long as the brain is not in the water, everyone will understand that your people are not wearing silk on their bodies, but the trees are all silk, what do you mean by this? People will just scold you in their hearts for being a pig's brain, and there will be no other results.

Therefore, this display of wealth is a headache, especially if it is not good, it costs a lot of money, but it has no effect at all, but it has the opposite effect. Li Shimin is really famous this time, and he actually wants foreigners to feel at home, but he obviously doesn't know the difficulties of the people below, and the people under his mouth also want to break their heads, and how to arrange this banquet has to be overturned and restarted.

"Well, you go and tell them, it's a buffet. It's a great way to put all your talents on a long table and let them choose their favorite dishes to eat. In this way, they can eat whatever they like without too much trouble. Even in this way, everyone is the same, they can choose for themselves, anyway, we have already put it on the table, whether they go to eat or not is their own business, regardless of our business. Even, so that they are free to choose, and on the contrary move around each other, there will be no serious situation, and there will be no clear hierarchical differences, so that there is no such thing as not being unequal. Shi Bufan said.

This method was sent to Honglu Temple, and it immediately made everyone feel very wonderful. This is a great way to do this, because this buffet is different from the traditional Chinese seat system. China's traditional seat system is often divided into first, second, or even many rows of seats. This is a clear hierarchy of seats, which is a reflection of a strict hierarchy. There are still many remnants of this system in later generations, such as the leader sitting in the front row, and the top leader sitting in the middle. As for the back, the lower the status within the unit.

However, this kind of solution proposed by Shi Bufan just solves this situation. Anyway, I've already put the dishes on the table, and it's your business whether you eat it or not. As for the fact that there is no strict seat system limit, there will be no problems in this way, and no one will say that there is no inequality in numbers.

And such a dazzling array of dishes can also show the wealth of Datang. Of course, in fact, these dishes seem to be full of eyes, but in fact the cost is not much, compared to many so-called means of showing off wealth, it is much less, for a country, the cost of these buffets is not much, compared to the so-called rotten eggs wrapped in trees by Emperor Yang of Sui, the cost is less, and the effect is better.

However, fortunately, there were not so many feudal rituals in the Tang Dynasty, otherwise I am afraid that this seat system would not have changed at all. Even in the early Tang Dynasty, there were many Hu customs, and it was not too difficult to accept, so this buffet was easily accepted. This kind of buffet method makes many people feel novel, but it is easy to know the benefits of this buffet.

Many officials who have suffered from the ushering in and sending them to the country actually raised their hands in agreement, which is actually the entertainment of officials. Don't think that officials like to eat and drink so much, maybe others envy those officials who eat and drink one by one, but you are not in it, how can you feel the pain here. People you don't like have to accompany guests, but other guests are actually victims of this stinky rule, and everyone is very reluctant to socialize.

Even if you don't like to eat, you have to pretend to like it. Everyone doesn't like such stinky rules, but they haven't changed much, so they finally feel that eating and exchanging feelings can be integrated, not something that can't be integrated.

In this way, those who have been ushered in and sent also feel supported, otherwise, once the feudal etiquette comes out, I am afraid that the various hierarchies will only be strengthened, not alleviated. Now the Tang Dynasty is the most suitable for them to change this traditional banquet model.

"Shi Bufan, this buffet you proposed is not bad, in the future, the palace can let the harem prepare it often, and let some women come to the banquet together." Empress Eldest Sun said.

Shi Bufan took the initiative to introduce: "Your Majesty, there is no obvious difference in seat level in this buffet, so everyone is actually more open." Otherwise, it's like the emperor's original kind of banquet, which is actually 'sin-giving', especially the various rules and restrictions, everyone dare not let go of eating, or even just taste it. Many times after the emperor gives a banquet, the minister has to fill his stomach when he goes back! So is this really a feast? It's better to say that it's better to give sin, so I think that when the emperor gives a banquet in the future, this buffet can also be used, and everyone can communicate with each other, which is much more cordial. ”

"Hahahaha, Shi Bufan, you dare to say anything. After the feast, the minister actually had to fill his stomach, but in fact, I didn't feel at ease eating. Well, in this case, in the future, all banquets will be given in this buffet way, and it will not be so complicated. Li Shimin also complained in the end.

This emperor's banquet is actually very pitiful, and the courtiers don't dare to eat it really seriously, just eat a few bites, there are too many rules, and it is too depressing. But the whole process of giving the feast stinks and is long. Many courtiers will hurry to fill their stomachs before the feast, and even go home again to replenish after the feast, so that in fact, the feast is all eaten in vain.

Eating is eating, so many ugly rules, countless times more than those rules of the dinner table of officials in later generations. Anyone complains about this stinky rule, but there is no suitable way to replace it for a while. Shi Bufan's buffet just solves this problem, not only can you choose the dishes by yourself, but even let the officials walk around by themselves and exchange feelings. It's not so depressing with that seat system, and it really integrates eating and exchanging feelings thoroughly. When you meet someone, you can talk a few words, it can be a variety of topics, and it is not as depressing as the seat system on weekdays.

This buffet method is very suitable for all kinds of banquets, especially Chinese like to exchange feelings during meals, this method is much better than the depressing and hierarchical seat system in the past, and it is really a good integration of dining and exchange feelings. Otherwise, the emperor would have given the banquet that grace, but it was better to say that it was a gift of sin, which would definitely make the minister's heart unhappy. This kind of hierarchical feast, the atmosphere is depressed to this point, it is really not suitable for eating.

"Shi Bufan, how did you come up with this solution? None of us have seen this method in a book, how did you come up with it? Did you come up with it yourself? Li Shimin asked.

Of course, it is difficult to say that this buffet method is actually commonly used by many foreign-related banquets in later generations, and this method has many advantages, as Shi Bufan said, especially in many non-governmental informal foreign-related banquets. This kind of banquet is simple to prepare, and everyone can accept it, and many international business talks like to use this, because maybe it is easier to negotiate business in a pleasant atmosphere, otherwise it is a depressing atmosphere who can have the heart to do business. When the time comes, it is easy to mess up the business, so the hierarchical seat system often does not prevail in the business setting.

However, if you want to talk about the origin of this buffet, Shi Bufan still understands.

"Your Majesty, in fact, I'm just picking up people's teeth. This is according to the habits of some people in the West, who start eating after they finish their work. So they used this method, not only can they handle the dishes simply, but they can even communicate friendships very well, which is a very good way. Shi Bufan said.

Li Shimin hurriedly asked: "Who eats like this in the West, is it because Western aristocrats are popular to eat like this?" ”

Li Shimin obviously still thinks that it should be an aristocracy, so that the Tang Dynasty adopts the identity to be equal. In the eyes of these ancient royal families, the aristocracy must have the style of aristocrats, and how to come if they are not grounded, so as soon as he opened his mouth, he subconsciously thought that it should be the practice of foreign nobles. Not enough, but he said a speechless object.

"Your Majesty, this buffet originated from Western pirates, and after the pirates finished robbing, because seafood was the main thing at sea. Moreover, the preservation capacity and production conditions on the ship are more troublesome, and even the space on the ship is not large, so it is impossible to make a variety of well-graded banquets. So just put it out and let everyone eat what they want to eat and choose for themselves. Even strengthen the friendship in this way, and improve the tacit understanding for the future cooperation to continue the robbery. Shi Bufan said.

Li Shimin and Empress Changsun almost spurted out a mouthful of old blood, they thought about a lot of objects, but they didn't think that it was a pirate. It's too ...... to imitate the pirate's way of eating.

(To be continued.) )