Chapter 861: The dragon who fails to become a dragon returns with the mortal fish
The banquet was very lively,
Various kinds of dishes are abundant. Jiangzhou is right on the Yangtze River, so today’s dishes naturally focus on river fresh food.
“Live grilled mandarin fish, crucian carp fish painting, steamed bream, pan-fried grass carp, spicy shrimp and jade eel soup, steamed crab, Farewell My Concubine...”
Xu Jingzong introduced the dishes for today’s river fresh feast,
Wu Huaiyu is no stranger to these dishes. He has basically eaten them all. There are all kinds of sturgeon, herring, carp, bream, trout and mandarin fish in the Yangtze River, and they are all very delicious.
For example, the point-fronted fish is also called jumping over the dragon gate, and it uses tuna. These two fish are actually sturgeons of later generations, not carps. Before the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the fish that jumped over the dragon gate were not carps, but tuna. The shape of sturgeons is more like
Dragon, and there is a custom of swimming back to lay eggs in February, but later, I don’t know why, it slowly changed into carp leaping over the dragon gate.
If you can't become a dragon by counting your forehead, you will be accompanied by ordinary fish when you return.
However, there were still a lot of carp in the Tang Dynasty, and everyone liked to eat carp. However, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong and Li Longji of the Tang Dynasty, he began to issue edicts prohibiting people from catching and eating carp. Taoists also called carp Chihun Gong. From then on, carp became rampant in the Tang Dynasty.
, the people can only eat it secretly, just like wild boars have become protected animals in later generations and are not allowed to be hunted if they damage crops.
"Are these dishes suitable for the military minister?" Xu Jingzong asked with a smile.
"Did this cook come from Fanlou?" Huaiyu asked.
"Oh, the Prime Minister is so powerful that he can eat it with just a pair of chopsticks. He is indeed the cook invited from Fanlou, Jiangzhou,"
Fan Lou is the property of Fan Xuanfu, and now it has opened many branches. Jiangzhou, an important water and land terminal, naturally also opened one.
Xie Shufang said from the side, "I went to Fanlou to eat once when I was in Chang'an. It was very unforgettable. I heard that the chefs in Fanlou's main store and branches in various places are mostly female cooks. The good dishes they cook are good-looking and young.
Well, I’ll call you later to have a look.”
Governor Xie said again, "Prime Minister Wu, when will we open a Fanlou in Hongzhou? It will be opened on the bank of Ganjiang River. The business will definitely be prosperous."
Speaking of Hongzhou and Ganjiang, Huaiyu thought of Prince Teng's Pavilion, but there was no Prince Teng at this time. In the fourth year of Wude, Li Yuan named his 13th son Yuan Yi as Prince Teng, but this year he changed the title to Prince Zheng. In history,
Li Yuanying, the king of Teng who built the Tengwang Pavilion, was the 22nd son of Li Yuan. He was still weaned and had not yet been enfeoffed.
“This shrimp and jade eel spicy soup is quite good.”
The chef from Jiangzhou Fanlou who was summoned from the back kitchen was indeed a cook, about thirty or so, tall, plump, and smooth.
After asking, I found out that her ancestors were from Jiangzhou. She used to work in the kitchen of the Duke of Jin in the Wu family and had quite a talent for cooking. Later, she became a veteran of Fanlou and performed very well. When she opened branches in various places, she started from the head office.
The chefs and shopkeepers of the store passed by,
"For this dish, blanch the shredded eel, rinse the peeled shrimp in clean water, stir-fry together, add water and cook slowly, and finally add starch to thicken, and a spicy shrimp, jade and eel soup is ready."
Xie Shufang asked, "There is a word for spicy in this dish, but no pepper?"
"It's true that no chili pepper is used. This dish is an old recipe and uses pepper as a seasoning."
Pepper is very expensive, so this dish used to be a royal dish and could not be afforded by ordinary people. Of course, there is also a popular version, which is spicy with ginger.
Nowadays, Prime Minister Wu introduced the chili pepper, so there is also a marina version of spicy shrimp, jade and eel soup, but it uses chili pepper and ginger, which is spicy enough, and even more garlic is added. The taste is actually very different from the original version.
Fan Lou is a high-end restaurant that follows the most authentic cooking methods.
In addition to this dish, there is also a similar shrimp, fish, bamboo shoots and fern soup on the table, which is also seasoned with pepper.
However, Xie Shufang was very interested in the dish called Jin Yuguo.
This is also a fish dumpling, using seabass.
The plump cook explained to Governor Xie, “The fish in this dish is made from seabass, and the golden jellyfish is made from golden oranges.
The method is to clean the fresh seabass and make it into dried fish shreds, marinate it with seasonings, then wrap the fish meat in a cloth to drain the water. Mix it with fragrant, soft flowers and leaves and cut it into thin strips.
The fish fillets are then mixed with fine streaks of golden orange,
The golden-orange silk is as yellow as gold, and the seabass fillet is as white as jade, so it is known as Jinyuyu."
Yang Guang was full of praise for this dish when he tasted it.
The cook was a good talker. Even when facing these powerful princes, she still looked calm. She even quoted a related poem written by Wu Huaiyu in public:
"On a winter night, I am sad and separated from Wuxi. Herrings are falling in the snow and oranges are falling. Looking at the slanting moon on the road in front of Wugang, the clouds in the boats are heading west."
"We also have homemade orange juice in Jiangzhou Fanlou, which tastes very good. If the officials don't dislike it, they can take two bottles back to try it."
Orange jelly, the restaurant’s homemade ponzu sauce, is great when eaten with fish fillets. Thinly sliced and translucent sashimi, dipped in this ponzu sauce, is delicious.
Xie Shufang was surprised by the unusualness of this cook. After careful questioning, it turned out that she was really from a noble family before. Her family also used to be an official family. She received a good education since she was a child. However, her father was convicted and the family fell into decline.
slave,
But fortunately, she later joined the Wu family and had a chance to make a comeback. Now she is the chef of Fanlou in Jiangzhou, has gained freedom, signed a long-term employment contract, and has a very high salary.
Hearing this, Xie Shufang felt a little regretful. He had originally taken a liking to this fat and tall cook and wanted to take her away.
Huaiyu, Xie Shufang, and Xu Jingzong chatted while eating, which was quite relaxing.
But the Jiangzhou officials at the other tables were all drunk, because before the banquet, Xu Jingzong not only read out the emperor's oral edict in front of everyone, but also granted Wu Huaiyu the appointment and dismissal of Jiangzhou officials below the sixth rank, and the recruitment of new officials.
right,
Wu Huaiyu was also asked to conduct a round of examinations on the existing officials in Jiangzhou.
Use the capable ones and eliminate the mediocre ones.
Thinking that maybe after this meal, they might be demoted or even dismissed. In fact, no one would be happy.
How could Jiangzhou, a good imperial court, turn into Wu Huaiyu's Jiangguo?
Why didn't Wu Huaiyu change his title to Jiang Guogong?
The swordfish, known as one of the three delicacies of the Yangtze River, was brought to the table, and each person had a portion placed in front of them. The fish was long and thin, silvery in color, quite like a silver knife, and the meat was not very spiny but had many thorns.
The meat of this fish is delicious, fat but not greasy, and can be steamed, braised or fried.
There are many such fish in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River from the mouth of the Yangtze River to Jiangzhou. Especially during the Qingming Festival, saury fish return to produce seeds. They are easy to catch and are also the most delicious season.
Fanlou also has many famous saury dishes, including steamed saury, double-skin saury, hibiscus saury, dried fried saury, hairy saury ball soup, grilled saury, etc.
The saury dish we served today is steamed saury. Compared with the Yangzhou double-skin saury that is cooked without the spines, it retains its original flavor.
If it were in the past, the officials would have been patient enough to taste this one of the three delicacies of the Yangtze River, but now they are distracted and are not so careful when picking up the thorns.
As a result, someone got stuck from time to time.
In fact, ordinary fishermen and people don't like to eat saury very much. They think it has less meat and more spines. They prefer to eat meat instead of eating fresh food.
A dish of steamed saury,
In the end, more than a dozen Jiangzhou officials stopped their throats and made it very embarrassing.
Wu Huaiyu also knew why these Jiangzhou officials were still choked by Jiang's sword. It was all because of exams. All he had to do was announce that he would not take exams. Hello, I am okay, everyone is good.
But Wu Huaiyu saw through it but did not say that he would not take the exam. Instead, he followed Xu Jingzong's suggestion and proposed that the exams for one state and three counties would start tomorrow. All officials from Jiangzhou, big and small, would come to Jiangzhou Governor's Yamen to take exams.
The exam includes your own work report, as well as comments from your superiors, subordinates, and colleagues.
after meal,
Wu Huaiyu asked people to serve tea,
Several assessment matters were also announced in public.
All Jiangzhou Liu internal officials will first report themselves to Wu Huaiyu, and then their superiors, subordinates, and colleagues will also make comments. Finally, Wu Huaiyu will conduct overt inspections and secret inspections, and finally there will be a public announcement.
According to the official's performance, the eight categories are: greedy, cruel, impetuous, inadequate, old, sick, tired, and careless.
Those who are old or sick will be promoted to official positions;
Those who are soft and do nothing, and are careless in their behavior, will live in peace and quiet;
Those who are greedy for cruelty and are on the run are the people;
For those who are not talented enough, consider changing the position. The fourth-level ending will ultimately indicate whether the official will stay or leave.
For officials who have left the country, the state meritorious officials will first be responsible for the assessment, and finally report to Wu Huaiyu for decision on disposal.
In short, the emperor transferred the power of evaluating, appointing and removing officials in Jiangzhou from the Ministry of Personnel to Wu Huaiyu, the governor of the world.
After he makes a decision, he can just send a report to the staff.
Of course, in exchange, the Shifeng Governor's Office will be responsible for the salaries, daily necessities, and welfare expenses of Jiangzhou officials in the future, which can be regarded as a reduction in the burden on the imperial court.
This is actually equivalent to the opening of the governor's office, and Jiangzhou officials have basically become private staff.
Wu Huaiyu felt that the emperor had taken too big a step, but the emperor insisted on having his own way.
"Starting tomorrow, officials from various departments, first from the prefectures and then from the counties, will line up to come to the Governor's Yamen to state their duties to me."
After saying that, Wu Huaiyu ended today’s reception banquet.
All the officials left with their own thoughts, and it was obvious that they were very heavy-hearted. Most of them felt that this exam was actually a pretense. From now on, Jiangzhou would be the country of Jiang, so Wu Huaiyu would definitely replace all the officials in Jiangzhou with his people.
So everyone will definitely fail the exam.
Those who have a way are already thinking about starting operations immediately after returning, and quickly move out of Jiangzhou to move seats for Mr. Wu's people. Don't be annoying to rush. If you anger Duke Jiang, no, you anger Duke Jin,
I'll lay some charges on you then, but I'll regret it later.
Xu Jingzong pulled Xu Ang and said, "In the past two years, the Prime Minister Wu has no time to teach this traitor. He has become more and more crazy and has wasted a lot of studies. I brought him here specially this time and asked the Prime Minister to stay by my side to teach me. I hope
This kid studies hard, and in a few years he will be able to keep up with Guanyi Li Yifu and others, and be named a Jinshi on the gold list."
Huaiyu looked at Xu Ang, then at Xu Jingzong,
"Would Dalang be willing to go to Lingnan?"
Xu Ang was very conflicted. He didn't want to go to Lingnan, but in the end his father glared at him. After all, his wings were not strong enough, so he had to bite the bullet and say yes against his will.
After the matter was settled, Xu Jingzong sent his son to take his junior brother Wu Chengsi to play.
"When will the Prime Minister's Military Guard's Office, Tent's Office, and Marriage Office be recruited?"
Huaiyu shook his head.
The emperor's decree stated that the kings should be enfeoffed, with three guardian armies for the big country, two guardian armies for the secondary country, and one guardian army for the small country. The big country and the small country were calculated according to the upper, middle and lower states.
Wu Huaiyu had more than 17,000 Zhongzhou households, but his location was critical, so he was promoted to Zhongzhou.
However, Wu Huaiyu is a meritorious official, not a sect king, so he has to be downgraded to one level in the military protection area, and can have a military protection mansion with 1,000 people.
In the early years, Li Shimin and Li Yuanji's Qin and Qi princes' palaces each had six military guard palaces, and there were five unified army palaces under each military guard palace. However, the current princes' military guard palaces are actually equivalent to the original unified army palaces.
As for the marriage, there are two palaces in the tent, which are the guards who guard the entourage.
There are 333 people in the Prince's Marriage Office, and 677 people in the tent, led by the Dianjun and the Deputy Dianjun. The Marriage Officer is the personal bodyguard and guard of honor inside, while the tent is responsible for the guard of honor outside.
All princes and princes have marriage affairs, princesses, princesses, and county lords have city officials, first- to fifth-grade ministerial officials have Fangge, sixth- to ninth-rank ministerial officials have common servants, state and county officials have Bai Zhi, and executive officials.
Clothes, the garrison officer has a strong body.
Different from the Hujunfu, it is actually the unified Fubing.
For marriage affairs, the palace in the tent is dominated by bodyguards, which are similar in nature to the three guards and five palaces of Qinxunyi. However, the candidates for the prince's marriage tent are the descendants of officials below the sixth rank.
This is also a way for motley people to enter the mainstream. These descendants of low-level officials take turns serving as bodyguards for the princes. After ten years, they can be awarded official positions after passing the exam.
For Wu Huaiyu's marriage, the palace wanted to recruit people. They were not recruited randomly. They had to look at their background, which meant that they could only recruit high-ranking officials, or descendants of high-ranking officials or casual officials.
Serving as a guard for the princes is a kind of sexual service, a kind of birth, and even requires rotation, just like the imperial army.
