Shao Song

Vol 2 Chapter 21: Sheep head

   The wind blows over the apricot blossoms in March. In Tokyo, it is the time to eat sheepskins, cut sheep's heads, and stewed sheep's hooves.

   Let me say that this day is the day of rest at the end of the tenth month. In the afternoon, the provincial minister Zhao Ding declined most of the guests as he did in the past, and only read to the flowers under the old apricot tree in the courtyard.

  While waiting for the current minister general to finish reading the half-volume of the new book in his hand, he could hardly feel the turmoil, so he got up and went to the back hall to find his wife, and then told him to his face:

   "I will not eat at home today..."

   "Officials have an appointment today?" Madam Zhao was surprised for a while. "Why did you say this at this time?"

   "It's not an appointment, but a temporary intention." Zhao Ding smiled lightly. "It's been a long time since I went to Cai Henan City. Let's change our clothes and have a meal to cut sheep's heads."

   Madam Zhao couldn't help but laugh, but she was a little embarrassed: "How can I go out? The official can go to eat with Fen'er, and just bring some back with me."

   "It's okay." Zhao Xianggong waved his hand and didn't care. "Nowadays, it’s not more than before. Officials have said it over and over again. It’s only right for women to enter and exit the streets of the city at will when the atmosphere of the Tang Dynasty is followed. Moreover, the official family and two imperial concubines have also entered and exited many times, going up to Xuande Building, visiting Hanfang Garden, and even at night Secretly drill into the Maxing Street night market, I should be a minister in the province, and I should set an example."

   Madam Zhao was still a little embarrassed, but after another thought, she also missed the lamb's head by Cai He, she couldn't help but nod.

So Zhao Xianggong called his son, Zhao Fen, to lead the two servants to the front station, and then called six or seven guards, let them take off their clothes, and then changed into ordinary common clothes, waiting for the old wife to wear the curtains. Mao came out with a few small children, a group of more than ten people, took three big mule carts hired by his son Zhao Fen, and went directly to the Caihe area in the south of the city.

In the afternoon, the warm spring flowers bloomed, just past Zhuquemen, before reaching the market south of Cai Henan, just before Wuyueguan, the smell of meat continued in the south wind, and a few children started yelling... Only the older prime minister's eldest son, Zhao Fen, had no interest for a while.

After all, before Jingkang in the past, Zhao Ding was an iron-fighted Kaifeng Fu Shi Cao. The reason why he was an iron-fighter was because he did not want to go with other people. The recommended person was Wu Min, the former chieftain, and it was not easy to be pushed Those who went down were only squeezed out. In those years, Zhao Ding's salary could not afford the delicacies of the restaurant, and Mrs. Zhao made careful calculations and often only bought some cheap sheep's heads and sheepskins in Cai Henan to fight the teeth. Poor Zhao Fen can be called the first government in the dynasty. He grew up in Bianliang since he was a child, but he has only been used to eating sheep's head with all kinds of delicacies. Where is the sentiment now?

Of course, here is one more sentence. Wu Min, Jingkang, made a huge political mistake. One was to protect the leader Cai Jing, and the other was that the Jinren had not crossed the Yellow River, and the former let him be in Yuansheng (Song Qinzong). The era was repeatedly degraded, and the latter made him unable to stand up during the Jianyan years.

   However, Wu Min is really interesting to talk about. Although he was cited by Cai Jing, he also recommended two people, one named Li Gang and the other named Zhao Ding.

   So, in the early days of Jianyan, although Wu Min had been unable to stand up to his actual position, with the help of Li Gang, he resumed his political treatment. And now, after Zhao Ding became the minister of the capital, he did not forget his recommendation, but it was Wu Min who lifted the Dongxiao Palace as the envoy of the Guangnan West Road...It is conceivable that Yue Fei will wait for this time. The successful suppression of the rebellion, coupled with the special preferential treatment of Liangguang Road officials in the Song Dynasty, as long as Wu Min did not make a mistake, after a term of office, it was inconvenient to return to Bianliang.

   I can only say that the changes in Jingkang have turned upside down. Who would have thought that a clerk in the past would pull out a Kaifeng Fu Shi Cao with his hand in exchange for today's score twice?

"Cut three whole sheep's heads, one for each table, spin five catties of sheepskin, one catty here, and two catties for the other two tables, and find some miscellaneous for the soup, two pots of sweet wine, don't... How much is it?" After Cai He, Zhao Ding came to a stall with sheep’s heads at random, and Linhe sat down, then just like a few years ago, casually ordering sheep’s heads, and he always knew that this kind of table was for public use. Yes, it is appropriate to pay first.

   "The guest officer will come right away...a total of 800 yuan." The stall owner saw the good visitors and ordered a lot, and he was overjoyed, so he hurriedly came to serve him.

Zhao Ding heard this. Although at first he was surprised that lamb’s head meat and sheep’s skin were much more expensive than in previous years, but considering that a small half of the country was still occupied, Hebei, an important sheep-producing area, was still in the hands of the Jinren, but he quickly accepted this. Facts, and then motioned to the servant to give money.

   However, after receiving the money, the stall owner probably saw that the family was obviously from an extraordinary background, so he hesitated for a while and continued to ask: "Guardian, nowadays mutton is also cheap, can I still need some mutton?"

   Zhao Ding was startled slightly, but curiously asked: "Do you also sell lamb here now?"

The stall owner quickly replied: "The guest official knew that he was an acquaintance of Tokyo City. Before Jingkang, this stall by Caihe could not sell mutton, but now it is different... The best mutton only costs 300 texts. ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? One catty, why not cut a few catties, one catty is very tender, I let the Hun family stew the mutton soup for the cat official cleanly, and use it for the dipping sauce of the table of the guest officer, and the other few catties thick for the next, Don’t use haggis anymore?"

   Zhao Ding suddenly moved his index finger, and he nodded, and the servant immediately gave the money. The stall owner was happy that he had done a big business, and he went back to cut the meat himself.

   However, Zhao Ding can't help but frown.

   "Daddy." Zhao Fen smiled when he saw this, knowing it in his heart. "You are wondering how sheep's head sheepskin is a lot more expensive, but mutton is a lot cheaper? And it is sold by the Cai River?"

   "Not bad." Zhao Ding was immediately surprised. "Do you even know?"

   Zhao Fen couldn’t help but laugh again: “This matter is simple to say. It’s just that my father is busy every day and I don’t know the situation here, but my son is too far away from school. It’s not far away, how clear...”

   "Then just say it, don't sell it."

   "This is because mutton is no longer eaten in the palace, and before Jingkang, 10,000 sheep were used up in the palace every year..." How dare Zhao Fen betray his Laozi, he quickly answered. "Then dare to ask, if there are no sheepskins, heads, and miscellaneous after taking only mutton from 10,000, shouldn't the price be increased? And the palace is simple and simple, and there is no need for so much mutton, Kansai The sheep still have to come, and the mutton will naturally become cheaper, and it will flow to the Cai River."

   Zhao Ding immediately woke up, and for a while, he sighed with emotion.

   "Father doesn't know, there was something in the palace about this sheep's head mutton..." Zhao Fen saw his father with emotion, as if he was intrigued, so he hurriedly said again.

   "What's the matter?" Zhao Ding was really curious.

"In the early spring, although officials did not like to eat lamb, but occasionally wanted to drink lamb soup and lamb stalks, they asked Feng Erguan if there was a cook who could make yokan, but Feng Erguan really found it in the Gao family. A former chef who was good at making soup with goat’s head at Taiwei Gao’s mansion was sent to the palace...Who would have imagined that the chef used only a bit of meat from the face of the goat when making mutton soup, but he used three bowls of soup for a meal. Five sheep's heads! Not only that, after she used the sheep's head, she threw it on the ground, and no one was allowed to use it again. The other cooks in the palace who were domesticated by the official to be simple and accustomed to pick it up and prepared to make soup. Was scolded by her as "Ruogouzi"!

   Zhao Ding was dumbfounded, and Madam Zhao was also urging: "What happened later?"

"Later, the palace clerk came to the official family, and the official family was also stunned for a long time, and then sent the cook out again, and laughed at herself as a dog... It is said that this time the Gao family is unlucky. The cook is related!" Zhao Fen naturally explained the result to his mother.

Madam Zhao sighed and did not mention it. Zhao Yuanzhen Zhao Xiangguo also shook her head for a while: "They all say that Tokyo’s old dream is good, but I don’t know whether it is a beautiful dream or a nightmare... It’s just that the officials are also people who experience such prosperity, but why? Don't have old dreams?"

Lamb soup, lamb heads, and lambskins began to be served one after another. The two tables next to it immediately became lively, and the few children on my own table also chatted without mentioning it, which caused Mrs. Zhao to hurriedly talk, but for some reason, I was originally interested in it today. Zhao Ding lost his appetite for a while.

   It was Zhao Fen, who was awakened in his heart and couldn't help asking: "Daddy isn't ready to present the book to Meng Shishu?"

Zhao Ding continued to shook his head more than just: "Thinking that Meng Yue was incompetent for half his life. He had always been arty, but he actually wrote a back to the original notebook. For his father and his colleagues in Kaifeng Palace for many years, he is rarely sought after. It’s always hard to stop him. This "Tokyo Dream Hualu" is still to be presented for him. It's just a lament for the frugality of the officials."

"Uncle Meng Shi is a member of the prime minister's clan. He was much richer than his father in Kaifeng's mansion that day. Cai He came, and Fanlou also went. If it weren't for Jingkang's change, I am afraid that he would die in this dream for a lifetime." Zhao Fen can also be regarded as watching. After it came out, today's father is rarely touched by the "Tokyo Dreams", and he really doesn't like eating sheep's head, so he would be happy to chat with his father here a few more words. "But it is exactly the same. Suddenly suffered the changes of Jingkang, and fled to Yangzhou with the clan. The so-called turbulent times, the disaster of soldiers, and the southeast for a while, and then longing for the prosperity of Bianjing, and the deepest love can only be Go back to the basics and write this book."

"If you can say this, it can be seen that you have grown up. According to me, you don't need to rush into scientific examinations. You can study the original science for a few years first, and during the period, you will find a marriage." Zhao Ding heard that it was a rare twist. Relieved. "It's convenient to take care of family affairs for my father."

   "They were delayed a few years ago..." Madam Zhao, who was looking after a few children, suddenly interrupted.

   "Speaking of official frugality..." When Zhao Fen saw his mother interrupted, he hurriedly laughed at his father again. "When there was a period of chasing abuse and shady, there were rumors, and there were many ridiculous words in Taixue, saying that the officials were actually robbed of their minds by the demon in Mingdao Palace, otherwise it was just the life in the former King Kang’s mansion. As for being so frugal!"

   "Shut up!" This is not a particularly serious rumor, and it spreads so widely, so when his son finished speaking in one go, Zhao Ding didn't rush to scold it. "I don’t know about the amnesia of the official’s falling well? Why do you spread this ridiculous argument? Besides, the official’s frugality is by no means that simple. Just think about it and you will know that in the past, the palace used to eat one meat in just one year. Ten thousand sheep, how much is the cost? And the officials saved this, even digging fish ponds, feeding chickens and ducks, to feed their own meat, and made Pan Guifei personally lead the palace maids to raise silkworms. I am invincible!"

   "Officials are indeed simple." Zhao Fen hurriedly took a moment to respond, but immediately, he continued to face each other in a low voice. "I heard that later, the official still remembered the old things slowly?"

   "About so." Zhao Ding also sighed. "That's why I have doubts before for my father...Why didn't the officials dream?"

   "Why?"

   "Maybe it's another dream, right?" Zhao Ding shook his head slightly. "Previous officials have publicly stated their own thoughts... They want to follow the example of Wei Wu to swallow Liaodong and then swing the East China Sea; want to set up a stele to record heroes for all of Kyushu; want to make the world well-off and burn the table in Mingdao Palace."

   "The people also work hard, and you can be well off... The three things are actually just one thing." Zhao Fen answered casually. "It's just that you want to try your guts, and then eliminate the gold and unify."

"Yes, that's what the officials meant." Zhao Ding, who had recovered a little, answered, and finally picked up the mutton soup to dip in the sauce, but for some reason, the food he had been looking forward to was only two bites, and he was uninterested. , So he put down his chopsticks again, just looking at the surrounding scenery with emotion. "Actually, Tang Mingzong would be called well-off after only a few years without any military action. There is also a saying in the Book of Jin,'The hills are solid, the Zhongxia is well-off'... If you do not seek the Northern Expedition and negotiate with the Jinren, you will only be able to make peace with the Jinren. Half of the country, with the simplicity of today’s officialdom, and the state of surging the government, the redundant officials and the army are removed, and a little operation is carried out. In a few years, it will be a well-off world."

   "I forgive my son for being outspoken. The officials do not allow it, and the 200,000 imperial army does not allow it, even the people of the two rivers." This time it was Zhao Fen's turn to shake his head. "Daddy, although my name is Fen, I grew up in Bianjing since I was a child, so it's fine, but you grew up in Hedong, don't you remember it? Why do you have this language?"

   "Of course I remember for my father." Zhao Ding became more and more sad. "But it is precisely because my father is from Hedong that I can say it like this...Before my father was in Huainan for a long time, I had long been aware of the hearts of the southerners, and only used soldiers in the north as a burden... and the people in the south did indeed work hard."

   "But in any case, officials are not allowed." Zhao Fen quickly persuades. "If Daddy says such things, he is afraid that he will violate the official family."

Zhao Ding shook his head again: "The father naturally understands this truth, but if you don't say it for your father, these people from Henan and Jiangnan will naturally look for other people to say... living in it for your father can feel the majority of the officials and people below. They don't want to fight."

   "But the officials still cannot be violated below." Zhao Fen disapproved. "The officials hold the military power, and their confidants are in the ruling and the field... Isn't it the daddy is the official confidant? Moreover, the second saint is in the north, and the northern expedition is the righteousness. In such a situation, dare to make peace, I am afraid it is not to learn Liu Guangshi and Du Chong are here."

   Zhao Ding slowly shook his head: "Your remarks are roughly correct... But the only thing is that the official Northern Expedition is definitely not for the second sage."

   "Who doesn't know about this?" As the sun began to sink, Zhao Fen held a bowl of mutton noodles and smiled again and again. "If the Jinren really sends the second sage back, saying that he can't be an official, he will have a headache. The son is just saying the righteousness... only this one sentence can make the world's scholar-officials speechless and can only fight the Northern Expedition! Not to mention the official hands. Lead the imperial army and many courtiers?"

   "Not bad." Zhao Ding blurted out, but frowned again. "But do the people also know the official attitude towards the second sage?"

   "This is natural." Zhao Fen quickly put down the mutton noodles and explained again. "We have liquidated the accumulated fraud before, let alone all kinds of incidents have been rumored? At the very least, Tai Xuezhong has long since tacited it."

   "The folks...or how does Taixue talk about officials?" Zhao Ding spoke seriously. "Are there any inappropriate words?"

"There are improper remarks. It used to be the most when chasing abuses of grace and shame, but with the prestige of the official family in the old capital and Yaoshan's great victory, there are always more excuses and praises... As for the second sage, Involving the word filial piety, on the contrary, there is less discussion."

"Those improper words... Except for some absurd ones, do you remember?" Zhao Ding looked around, and saw that it was dinner at this time, Cai He was constantly on the boat, and there was no stopping, even the stall owner behind him and the next door. The class straight on the table couldn't hear clearly, so they couldn't help but ask a few more questions. "It's not just a way of filial piety."

   "Naturally remember." Zhao Fen also looked around and smiled after knowing the opportunity to hold up the bowl. "The son said a few interesting things... Some people say that the officials know their mistakes and they like to brace their faces...'Cangzhou Zhao Jiu' is the proof!"

"what for?"

"It is said that when the officials used this painting on the Huai River, they lost their memory and remembered their hometown wrongly, and remembered the Zhao clan of Zhuozhou as Cangzhou... It's okay, after all, I am amnesia... But then I gradually remembered the old things, but how did I not wake up? However, it is still used over and over again, which shows that he is a person who loves face and does not want to repent."

   "The paintings are a weird one, and the paintings of'Cangzhou Zhao Jiu' are already familiar to the two countries. Why change? How do you know that it is not the official intention?"

   "Actually, there is also such a saying... It is said that the official abandoned the two sages and abandoned the country, and was ashamed of the Zhao clan of Zhuozhou. It was specifically changed to show that it was completely different from the two sages."

   "This is a bit of a meaning, and Chaozhong also has such guesses...Is there any more?"

   "There is... that the officials do not learn and have no skills...'Fate is not enough to fear' is the proof!"

"Destiny can also refer to changes in the heavens, one meaning, it doesn't matter...Does the official really say that he is not afraid of the emperor? A few words are just false, not worth mentioning! You must know that the official itself is a prince of pleasure, if not After experiencing major changes, have you ever thought about becoming an official, and what destiny changes you still study?"

   "This is the reason."

   "Are there any more?"

   "Said the official Anmu Yi'an layman..."

   "Nonsense! The Yi'an is almost fifty, about the same size as the Queen Mother, so why is there such a paradox... At most, the official secretly admires the talent of Yi'an in poetry."

   "If you understand the truth, you will understand, but your dad must also know that this city likes to talk about these gossips at the royal custody.

   "It's also...what else?"

"The officials are talented, but they are frivolous, and when they become depressed, they are somewhat cruel, and in some things, they are quite selfish and unscrupulous... Therefore, they are actually very much like the Emperor Taishang! "

   Zhao Ding was silent suddenly, before nodding his head for a while: "It really looks like it!"

   This time, Zhao Fen became uncomfortable for the officials: "If so, why is one the king of subjugation and the other the king of rejuvenation?"

   "Because the officials saw the world drifting away, the whole city was vacant, and the blood flowed into a river, they added a bottom line to themselves!" Zhao Ding sat with his hands dead, facing solemnly. "The emperor has boundless power. The most important thing is not how to be wise and martial. It is to know how to hold the bottom line and not to act arbitrarily... You look at the officials, but you know how to constrain; the temperament is frivolous, but you know how to hide; To kill people when depressed is only to kill during the war. Even so many people who criticized the public before, after Chen Dong's incident, now they are absolutely not arrogant to increase their lives; there is also resistance in the Korean politics, and the officials can also Persuading is persuading, doing what you can do, never imposing party restraints or making involvement; as for the size of the harem and the cost of the palace, it is more than enough to shame an unknown number of emperors... and these are the bottom lines."

   "Daddy's words do have some truth."

   "It's not just that there is some truth, but I think that the bottom line of the official family is three points higher than the so-called Mingjun in the history books!" Zhao Ding became more emotional.

   "So, isn't it a rare saint for officials?"

   "What do you think?" Zhao Ding suddenly glared at each other. "If the sage is not in the court, and I have been my father, and I have been a leader of Kaifeng's ceremonies for more than ten years, how can I do it with respect?! If the official is not a sage, but just like a Taoist emperor, what am I? Which of the six thieves?"

   Zhao Fen lost his voice on the spot, and the stall owner behind Zhao Ding who was about to come up to deliver some small dishes was even more shocked. He hurriedly lowered his head and pretended not to hear anything, and then secretly replaced the braised lamb with clean seasonal vegetables before coming over.

   But Zhao Ding didn't speak any more, just bowed his head and ate the lamb.

   After a meal, Zhao Xianggong was rarely interested in mentioning it. The next day, the provincial minister still went to the palace and presented the "Tokyo Dream Hualu" to his old friend. Regarding this, if the Zhao official’s family received the most precious treasure, they personally collected the original, and promised to publish it, but on the grounds that the text was not enough to be a country, they refused to reward Meng Yue with the contribution of the book. They only allowed it at Zhao Ding’s request. The province was based on Meng Yue's previous official position, and it was only slightly dispatched.

However, although Zhao Guan’s family was reluctant to give the other Meng Yuan an official position, they were still shy about using other people’s books. According to the evidence, just looking for food everywhere for a few days.

In this way, after another two days, as the officers from Huaidong came to Beijing, Wuxue reopened... Yes, I must say one more thing here. Zhao Guan's family is indeed a generation of ignorance. There is a system of martial arts, but the effect is not good... But in any case, it is not time to care about these things, because on the day of the reopening of martial arts, the envoy of the Kingdom of Jin Ulin Dazanmo came to Tokyo. city.

Moreover, this envoy of the Kingdom of Jin, whose surname is Ulinda, was the most professional heavyweight envoy of the Kingdom of Jin, who traveled between Jin Liao and Song Jin several times in his early years. Therefore, he was just one of the most professional heavyweight envoys of the Kingdom of Jin. The arrival immediately attracted the attention of the government and the public, from relatives and expensive ministers to traffickers and pawns.

   And Ulin Dazanmo also "lives up to the expectations," he came up to open the sect in the capital and the Privy Council. Jin Guo intends to negotiate a peace with the Song Dynasty while maintaining the status quo, so as to calm the fighting that lasted for more than six years.

  Rao is what everyone expected, but Jin Guo took the initiative to make peace and shocked the ruling and opposition parties.

   After all, according to Zhao official’s clear rules, within the Zhao Song court, no one is allowed to initiate a peace talk... Whoever makes a peace will kill whoever!

   And now, the Jinren actually took the initiative to make peace, and it was unpopular.

  Https://

   Genius only remembers the address of this site in one second:. Mobile version reading URL:

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like