Chapter 44 Night Banquet at the Hall of Martial Arts
Fortunately, the fifth brother told him that the person who kissed him was their uncle, Cao Guogong Li Zhen, who was also the only living relative of his father. His Royal Highness the King of Chu felt a little more at ease.
Who wants someone to be the only elder relative? Hey, if you are old and don’t cultivate, there is nothing you can do. Our prince is so open-minded...
Following Cao Guogong was another Cao Guogong, his cousin Li Wenzhong.
That's right, there are two Cao Guogongs right now. In the early stages of the country's founding, Boss Zhu was not very educated, so he was able to confer the title of King of Wu on the fifth brother. Is there anything strange about conferring the title of two Cao Guogongs?
Moreover, it was Li Wenzhong who first conferred the title of Cao Guogong. Later, when Lao Zhu felt that I had a lower title than his son, it was not good-looking, so he also gave Li Zhen the title of Cao Guogong. This is the strange scene of father and son sharing the same title.
Zhu Zhen didn't argue with his uncle, mostly because of his handsome, yellowish-skinned cousin. After Chang Yuchun's death, cousin Baoer became the number two figure in the Ming Dynasty army.
In the early years of Hongwu, when there were many arrogant soldiers and powerful generals, without any real achievements and superhuman abilities, even if he relied on nepotism, he would not be able to secure the position of deputy general.
The young man following his cousin is even more powerful - his name is the most handsome companion in Dabentang, the next Cao Guogong, the founder of the Yongle prosperous era who turned the tide for the Yan army, and the 'God of War' Li Jinglong!
Li Jinglong is tall, has long legs, has arms and waist, and is very handsome. Even if he is a straw bag, he is still an embroidered straw bag that can intimidate people.
What surprised His Royal Highness the King of Chu was that the ‘God of War of the Ming Dynasty’ actually had a very good relationship with his fourth brother.
"Hey, cousin, why are you here?" The two of them put their arms around each other and chatted and laughed freely as soon as they met.
"You're celebrating the New Year, you're busy socializing. Unlike your fourth uncle, you can't even get out of the way." Li Jinglong also teased with a smile: "I'll take you out tomorrow to see the Qinhuai River?"
"Fuck you, you know I can't get out..."
Seeing the two people's irritating attitude, Zhu Zhen understood a little bit why many people said that Li Jinglong was the first contributor to Jingnan.
Because of his distraction, he didn't have time to take a closer look at many of the princes, but he did catch a glimpse of Marquis Deqing, whom he had met once before.
Because everyone else was in groups, chatting and laughing. Only Liao Yongzhong had a dark face, as if he should avoid strangers, as if everyone owed him eight hundred coins.
Liao Yongzhong went straight into the main hall without even looking at his brothers.
Zhu Zhen remembered that two months ago, this guy was very high-spirited and very respectful to their brothers.
Why do you look so unlucky after not seeing each other for two months?
~~
At four o'clock in the hour, Shao music sounded, and His Majesty Emperor Hongwu arrived.
Order was immediately restored in the chaotic Fengtian Hall, and all the ministers knelt down to welcome the superior.
"Hahaha, everyone comes to our house to have dinner, don't be formal. Get up, it's time to laugh, haha, haha." Zhu Yuanzhang's face was full of spring breeze, and he spoke Fengyang dialect.
"As ordered, come on!" All the ministers responded loudly.
The superior is the person who sits at the head of the table when eating. This is the unique name given to Zhu Yuanzhang by the old Huaixi brothers. It is closer than calling him "Emperor", and it also shows their superior status.
"Sit down." Zhu Yuanzhang sat down at the top of the main table, and then asked everyone to sit down too.
"Thank you, sir." All the ministers took their seats one after another. Li Zhen sat on Zhu Yuanzhang's left hand side, and Xu Da sat on Zhu Yuanzhang's right hand side. Following them were Li Wenzhong, Song Guogong Feng Sheng, Wei Guogong Deng Yu, Zheng Guogong Chang Mao, and so on.
The prince will accompany you.
The remaining marquis and counts also sat down under the guidance of Xiaohuo Zhe, accompanied by King Qin, King Jin, King Yan, and King Wu respectively.
After sitting down, the marquis and counts, as well as the Huaixi civil servants, began to look around to see which table they were at and who was sitting where?
From ancient times to the present, seating arrangements have never been as simple as where people sit. The heroes of Liangshan had to arrange seats, and so did the rebels of the King of Wu back then. It is the same now when you become a lord.
Zhu Zhen followed his fifth brother and sat at a table in the corner of the second row. By coincidence, he sat at the same table as Marquis Deqing.
Seeing that Liao Yongzhong's face was darker than before, he knew that Marquis Deqing was not satisfied with his seat.
"I'm not satisfied with sitting at a table with children, really..." His Highness King Chu secretly complained, and then began to eagerly wait for the table to open.
At this time, the Minister of Guanglu Temple invites you to open the banquet.
"Is everyone here?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked loudly.
"Reporting to the superior, everyone is here, and those who didn't come have also taken leave." Right Prime Minister Hu Weiyong, who was sitting at the next table, quickly stood up to report.
"Who didn't come?"
"Uncle Sincerity, I said it's an old habit that I'm doing again."
"Oh." Zhu Yuanzhang nodded expressionlessly and ordered: "Let's start the banquet."
"Let the banquet begin!" Qing Guanglu Temple sang loudly.
As the Zhonghe Shao music played, the palace people in costumes filed in carrying gold lacquer trays.
As dishes after dishes were placed on the table, all the officials were dumbfounded.
I saw exquisite porcelain plates filled with fried leeks, fried spinach, fried shredded lettuce, fried shredded white radish, and a large bowl of vegetable leaf and tofu soup.
In the end, there was no trace of meatiness at all.
Good guy, a table full of green makes the green people feel panicked.
Fortunately, this is not Boss Cao, but Boss Zhu, otherwise a group of warriors might have drawn their swords.
Of course, complaints are inevitable.
"Why are you so plain?" Zhu Zhen heard someone whisper.
"Feed the rabbit? Is this it?"
"My dogs eat better than this..."
"Shh, keep your voice down."
Even the fifth brother couldn't help but smile to Zhu Zhen and said: "You don't have to be sad, my father wants everyone to help you lose weight."
"Yes, you don't have to worry about selling your weight loss pills." Zhu Zhen curled his lips, then put his hands on his shoulders and lay down at the table, ready to watch the show.
Sure enough, I heard Zhu Yuanzhang laugh and say: "Why can't you move your chopsticks? Is our dish not to your liking?"
"Hehehehe..." the honorable nobles said with a smile, but their words also sounded like 'hehehe'.
"These four dishes and one soup are the menus we personally ordered. We put a lot of thought into them." Zhu Yuanzhang picked up a piece of shredded radish with chopsticks and smiled at everyone:
“For example, this recipe ‘Eat carrots regularly and you won’t suffer from any disease’.”
"Hahaha..." All the nobles laughed awkwardly.
"Let's talk about this again," Zhu Yuanzhang picked up another chopstick and picked up some cabbage stalks soaked in vinegar and said: "A hundred vegetables are not as good as cabbage. If you have cabbage at home, you can make money from all kinds of things."
While all the honorable nobles cheered, they secretly complained: ‘You are so smooth-talking, why are you going to take the imperial examination?’
"And this green onion tofu..." Seeing that the atmosphere was not lively, Zhu Yuanzhang simply asked: "Who knows, what does it mean?"
"Go back to your superiors. This is what our superiors are teaching us. We must be clean as an official." Seeing that no one said anything, Hu Weiyong had no choice but to come up and say.
"Very good, Hu Xiang understands people." Zhu Yuanzhang nodded approvingly, and then asked everyone to use their chopsticks while picking up vegetables and eating.
The nobles had no choice but to take two chopsticks, but they had long been accustomed to eating delicacies from the mountains and seas, and their mouths were very picky. How could they eat such a simple meal?
Zhu Yuanzhang ignored them and ate with relish for a while, then picked up the spoon, scooped out a bowl of vegetable leaf and tofu soup from the soup bowl, and said to everyone:
"This bowl of soup is even more incredible. It is the most delicious soup we have ever tasted in our lives! We call it Pearl Jade White Jade Soup."
"Hahaha!" The nobles laughed loudly: "The superior is really good at telling jokes!"
"Yes, Pearl Jade White Jade Soup, you are really good at naming names!" A group of rough guys slapped the table and booed. "Isn't it just leftover soup with Caibangzi tofu and some broken rice grains?"
"If the superiors are doing business, what will happen to Shen Wansan..."
However, the laughter soon died down, because they found that Zhu Yuanzhang's face darkened.
