In Tianjin, as the night gradually envelopes, the lights begin to turn on, and the bell rings for get off work, the whole city of Tianjin suddenly becomes extremely noisy.
On the sixth floor of Wanghai Tower, officials from the Ministry of Rites hosted a banquet to welcome the arrival of envoys from various Southeast Asian countries. They also invited the Japanese king of Japan and the envoys of Korea.
The entire Wanghai Tower was booked by the Ministry of Rites, but those who could come to the highest building for dinner were envoys from various countries, such as Godala, the Eastern King of the Sulu Kingdom, Emperor Kashiwahara, the Japanese Queen of Japan, and powerful ministers of the shogunate, Yoshitaka Tadashi and Shimazu.
Zhongchang, and Park Wonjong, the envoy sent by King Yeonsangun of Joseon.
“There’s a lot of traffic and a lot of people~”
On the sixth floor, you can overlook the entire Tianjin through the windows, and you can have a panoramic view of all the scenery in Tianjin.
At this time, it was the peak period for getting off work, and every road in Tianjin was very crowded. The dense flow of people poured out from factories, workshops, and construction sites, turning the spacious cement roads into overcrowded.
Thousands of lights are constantly lit, and glass windows and glass lamps are widely used. Everywhere is bright. Farther away, in the many real estate developments in Tianjin, inside the buildings, all the rooms are lit up with whale oil lamps.
, it looked very spectacular and resplendent.
There are also lively commercial streets, which have not become depressed because of the cold winter. On the contrary, they have become more lively. Every shop is brightly lit, making this commercial street look as bright as daytime. On the high buildings,
When you look at it, it looks like long bright dragons.
If you look at Tianjin during the day, you will feel that it is noisy and lively, then at night, overlooking the entire Tianjin from Wanghai Tower, you will feel as if you are living in a dream world.
Everything is so unreal, there is such a bright and bustling night market under the sky, it seems to be even more lively than during the day.
“It’s so beautiful~”
"As expected of the Ming Dynasty~"
Some people couldn't help but sigh.
I used to hear Ming businessmen bragging about how prosperous Tianjin was in the Ming Dynasty. Sometimes I always felt that the Ming people were bragging.
But now that they saw it with their own eyes, everyone immediately understood that this was not bragging by the people of the Ming Dynasty. On the contrary, at this moment, everyone felt that the people of the Ming Dynasty were quite humble, and it was difficult for them to find some words to describe the Tianjin in front of them.
"The extremely powerful Ming Dynasty~"
Emperor Gokashiwara firmly remembered the scene in front of him. At this moment, he had an intuitive feeling about the Ming Dynasty. Compared with the Ming Dynasty, the Japanese country was still a primitive tribe.
Even Kyoto, the most prosperous city in Japan, was only one ten thousandth of the size of Tianjin in the Ming Dynasty, and this was just one city in the Ming Dynasty. There were many cities like Tianjin in the Ming Dynasty.
"Everyone, please take a seat~ Please take a seat~"
Fu Han, the Minister of Etiquette who was in charge of the reception, couldn't help but smile when he saw these people looking like bumpkins.
Almost everyone who comes to Tianjin for the first time will be deeply shocked by the prosperity of Tianjin. Yanran here has become the most prosperous place in the entire Ming Dynasty. Even the capital city is far less prosperous than Tianjin because of many restrictions.
The Ministry of Rites used to entertain these envoys with hot pot.
That's right, it's hot pot.
Since hot pot was invented by Liu Jin, it quickly became popular throughout the Beijing and Tianjin areas, and soon spread throughout the Ming Dynasty.
In winter, eating hot pot in the room while watching the cold wind howling outside has almost become a favorite thing for young and old men in Beijing and Tianjin.
From princes and nobles to ordinary people, they all fell in love with hotpot out of hand.
Godara, Emperor Gokashiwara, Yun Seizhong, Park Yuanzong and others checked in one after another. They looked at the big pots boiling in front of them. There were lamb bones, tomatoes, corn and other fresh things in them. Next to each person
They were placed on individual plates, containing oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, chili peppers, green onions, sesame paste, peanut butter, etc.
"Did Ming Dynasty use these things to entertain us?"
Yin Shizhong frowned slightly. No matter how he looked at it, these things in front of him seemed to be impossible.
There are just some bones, tomatoes and corn in the clear soup pot. Eat these?
Also, what you see in front of you looks like seasonings, so why don’t you just eat the seasonings?
"Pah~pah~"
Fu Han, the Minister of Etiquette, clapped his hands gently, and the staff at Wanghailou immediately began to push carts in one after another. The carts were filled with a variety of fresh ingredients. Thinly sliced mutton and beef, and
A variety of fresh ingredients suitable for hot pot.
"Everyone, this is the most popular delicacy in our country right now, called hot pot."
Seeing that everyone was full of doubts, Fu Han also smiled and stood up to introduce everyone.
"The way to eat this hot pot is very simple. You only need to put the thinly sliced mutton, beef and other ingredients into the hot hot pot, lightly rinse it a few times, and then dip it in according to your preference.
You can taste the ultimate deliciousness with your favorite sauce.”
Fu Han himself demonstrated it first, picking up the mutton slices and rinsing them gently in the boiling soup. He would take them out as soon as the blood color of the mutton disappeared.
Then he very skillfully began to mix his favorite sauce, then dipped it in it lightly, and then tasted it carefully, and an extremely fresh and sweet taste suddenly poured into the tip of his tongue.
"Please feel free to do so. These cattle and sheep were all brought from the grassland and slaughtered just now."
When everyone heard Fu Han's words, they all started to imitate him.
"Hmm~"
“Delicious~”
“So delicious~”
Then very quickly, all of these people couldn't help but squint their eyes.
Everyone ate all kinds of meat. After all, they were all the upper echelons of the country, but this was the first time for them to eat such delicious mutton and beef.
Especially with such a unique way of eating, the ultimate deliciousness, coupled with the various sauces carefully selected by Wanghailou, the various flavors are perfectly blended together, allowing people to taste the ultimate deliciousness.
“It’s so delicious~”
Dongwang Godala couldn't help but sigh while eating.
He had eaten a lot of mutton and beef, but the taste was so delicious, without any mutton smell. His taste buds were opened up, and he couldn't help but put the mutton into the soup pot, and then devour it.
"As expected of Ming Dynasty, this delicious food is really unforgettable."
“Delicious~”
“It’s really delicious~”
As for Emperor Gokashiwara, who had always been short of food and clothing, he couldn't help but lament that the Japanese emperor of this era was so poor that he couldn't even afford to wear trousers, and he almost died.
His father, Emperor Gotsuchimikado, died a few months ago, and he never had the money to hold a decent funeral. Later, his neighbor Shimazu Tadamashi gave him money to bury him.
Emperor Gokashiwara, who had lived a hard life since childhood, finally experienced the treatment of a monarch after coming to the Ming Dynasty. Now he even tastes hot pot, and everyone can't help but marvel at it.
Tonse Tadada and Shimazu Tadamasa, one was a powerful official in the shogunate and the other was a local daimyo. They had both seen the world and tasted all kinds of delicacies.
But when I tasted this hot pot at this moment, I couldn't help but nod my head. The food is better from Daming.
"As expected of the Ming Dynasty, this delicacy alone is unforgettable."
Park Yuanzong also doesn't care about his image, and everyone is the same anyway.
Especially the envoys from Nanyang. At this time, all of them had forgotten their identities and were all feasting. Some of the impatient ones even poured plates of mutton and beef into them, and then kept picking them up, eating to their fullest.
Head sweating profusely.
"Haha, everyone eat slowly, don't be in a hurry, we have prepared a lot~"
Fu Han, the Minister of Rites, looked at everyone and couldn't help laughing.
Barbarians are just barbarians, they just eat and don't care about their own identity.
But having said that, Wanghailou in Tianjin and Wangyuelou in Beijing are both famous places for gourmet food. The mutton and beef here are carefully selected, and the chefs have been strictly trained.
Here in the capital, Emperor Hongzhi often went out to eat secretly.
There is no way. Compared with the delicacies outside, all the cooks in the palace should be dragged out and beheaded. The food they make is simply inedible.
"What is this red thing?"
Godala kept trying the condiments in front of him, and soon he noticed the red chili peppers, and after thinking about it, he added a little to his condiment bowl.
Then he habitually scooped up a piece of mutton, dipped it lightly, and put it into his mouth.
"Ah, so spicy~ so spicy~"
Soon, he couldn't help but scream, it was too spicy.
"Water~water~"
Godala quickly drank some water and felt better.
"Haha, I forgot to tell everyone."
"This thing is called chili pepper. It is something that our Ming Dynasty brought back from Golden Continent. It is very spicy. But in winter, if you taste this chili pepper, your whole blood will be stimulated by the spiciness.
It is good for promoting blood circulation and ventilation.”
Seeing Godala's appearance, Fu Han couldn't help laughing and introduced Chili Pepper.
As soon as everyone heard this, they all went to try it one after another, and everyone couldn't help shouting because it was so spicy.
"Haha, chili is a good thing."
"It's very expensive here in Daming. You may not be used to it at first, but after eating it a few times, you'll fall in love with it."
Fu Han looked at everyone and immediately laughed happily, then added some chili peppers for himself and tasted them carefully.
Yeah, it's spicy enough, and that's the taste.
When everyone saw that Fu Han was eating with gusto, they immediately started trying it again, but there were still many people who couldn't stand it.
Even though some people couldn't stand it, they still pretended to be delicious. Their faces turned red, which immediately caused a burst of laughter.