Chapter 155: Zui Qiong upstairs, looking at the winter solstice
In the Divine Capital City, Zuiqiong Tower’s business is as good as ever, especially tomorrow is the Winter Solstice.
Throughout history, the winter solstice has always been one of the most important folk festivals in China. During the Zhou Dynasty, November in winter was the first month. The winter solstice is the beginning of the new year, the yin and yang, the sun and the moon, and the beginning of all things. Until modern times, it is still celebrated in many places.
The saying of "Winter New Year".
Cao Zhi, a great talent in the Three Kingdoms era, said: "Seeing the old rituals, the country offers shoes and socks during the winter solstice, so it welcomes blessings and grows."
Wearing new shoes and socks during the winter solstice, stepping on the shadow of the sun, absorbing the yang energy, can welcome blessings and eliminate filth. Later, people extended this meaning and also changed new clothes on the winter solstice to correspond to the solar terms. Song lyrics also say:
""Someone came here specially to give me a new make-up."
Therefore, the business of clothing shops on the street is the most prosperous, ranging from silk and satin to blue shoes and socks.
There are even paper clothes that have disappeared in modern times, but in this era because they are the cheapest, they are still favored by some people at the bottom.
In short, as long as you come here, you will be satisfied.
In the private room on the third floor of Zui Qiong Tower, Xiao Tianfang, Prince of Zhongyi County, respectfully served food to the Supreme Emperor who was looking at the scenery.
"Grandfather, this restaurant is really weird. There is soup in the name of this dish, but my grandson can't see any soup. Also, although this eel is rare, it is not really that rare. It actually requires
If you book two months in advance, are you pretending to be a ghost?"
The Supreme Emperor withdrew his gaze and glanced at Xiao Tianfang. The corners of his mouth raised slightly and he said: "If you understand the name of this dish, you will naturally understand it. You can take a bite first and then talk about it."
"Yes." Xiao Tianfang lowered his head and looked at the plate after hearing this, "It looks like ordinary shrimp meat..."
He picked up a piece and put it into his mouth, and his pupils immediately shrank.
"It's so hot! But, it's delicious! Although you can't see a drop of soup, it seems like there is soup without soup. When you take a bite, the soup will be pumped out from the shrimp meat. It is indeed extremely delicious!"
After finishing speaking, he looked at the Supreme Emperor with admiration: "My grandfather can see the secret at a glance. He really has a bright eye."
After hearing Xiao Tian's flattery, the Supreme Emperor only slightly curled his lips: "I'm just taking advantage of my age. When you live to my age, you will naturally have this knowledge."
Xiao Tianfang noticed that the Supreme Emperor kept looking downstairs, so he found a chance to turn his head and glance, his eyes slightly condensed.
Those are victims kneeling on the edge of the street begging.
Xiao Tianfang turned his gaze and quickly scanned the Emperor's face, but saw that his lips were pursed hard, and his entire face seemed to be shrouded in anxiety and sorrow.
Just as he was about to say some words of comfort, the voices of the guests in the private room next to him drifted over.
"Hey, when will this new year... come to an end?"
"No, I thought the floods the year before last were scary enough, but I didn't expect this year to be even weirder. When spring came, heavy snow fell in the Jianghuai and Huaihe areas for a month, and the sea ice in the east of Huaibei was more than 40 miles away. It was really unbelievable.
Unforgettable."
"I heard that tens of thousands of people died of freezing and starvation in Suzhou and Changzhou alone?"
"My hometown is in Huzhou. The real situation is simply shocking and beyond calculation. I heard that some villages in the mountains have completely disappeared."
"Do you know? Even the Qiyang River and the Yuyao River are all frozen. If I hadn't crossed over earlier, I don't know how long it would have been. Many caravans missed their deadlines like this. It would have been very difficult."
At this time, a voice said: "I heard from merchants from the sea that there is a big island in the South Seas. When an earth dragon turns over, it erupts into a thick fire. The fire burns day and night. The wind is not fierce, the rain is not extinguished, and the big trees are deep and dark.
, there was no one left alive, and it covered the sky and the sun for more than a month."
After the person finished speaking, the surrounding area suddenly became silent.
It took an unknown amount of time before someone said, "It's scary, it's really scary!"
Xiao Tianfang saw that the Emperor's face was getting darker and darker, and he was about to give Dai Zhu a wink, but he heard the conversation next to him change: "Fortunately, Your Majesty is kind, in order to raise money to buy food for disaster relief, I heard that the court approved ten
Ten thousand pieces of ultimatum."
Others echoed one after another: "Also, if the emperor is not clever in his methods, how can we say that he understands the generosity of the nobles in the capital?"
Someone snorted coldly: "How can those wealthy families care about the life and death of us common people?"
"It's not like that. After all, these families value their family's reputation most, and they still need to show off. Moreover, not every family is so stingy, like the Wu family of the empress, the Censor Wang family, and the Yongping Marquis Xu family.
Wait, isn’t it also dedicated to disaster relief?”
"Absolutely, absolutely! Have you heard that the price of the lobster in soup that needs to be ordered two months in advance is amazing, but why are there always an endless stream of people ordering it? It's just because the shopkeeper of Zui Qionglou has spoken.
After deducting the labor costs, all the money is used to buy food. The soup kitchen without a brand in the west of the city is run by Zui Qionglou!"
After hearing this, everyone praised: "It's rare."
Xiao Tianfang's heart moved slightly when he heard this. He looked at the Supreme Emperor again, but saw that his face had relaxed a lot, so he immediately said: "Grandfather, please don't be too worried. This disaster looks serious, but the court's response is in order, so there is no need to worry too much.
”
The Supreme Emperor sighed and turned to look at Xiao Tianfang.
After many years of military service, he had already become calm, and no matter what Xiao Tianfang did, he could not see his inner emotions.
Finally, the Supreme Emperor sighed softly: "What I am worried about is nothing else, but the health of the emperor and the prince..."
Xiao Tianfang was immediately shocked when he heard this.
Just when he was about to say something, the Supreme Emperor changed the subject and asked: "I heard that Jialan is coming back soon?"
"Back to the emperor, Xie Yuanlang came north from Jiangning two months ago. Calculating the schedule, he should arrive in Shenjing City in the next few days." Dai Zhu, the chief manager of Longshou Palace who had been silent, answered at this time.
"Oh, I heard that he encountered a thief on the way?" the Emperor asked with interest.
"It is said that he encountered robbers on the canal, but Xie Yuanlang was surrounded by guards from the Jia family. Not only did he kill the robbers, but he also rescued many hijacked businessmen. They were grateful for Xie Yuanlang's life-saving kindness and expressed their willingness to sell
The proceeds were converted into food and sent to Shenjing for disaster relief."
The Supreme Emperor smiled, said "funny" several times, picked up a piece of shrimp meat with chopsticks and tasted it slowly, and invited Xiao Tianfang, who was standing aside, to eat together.
"This dish is not easy to make. You won't find it even in the imperial kitchen. I only ate it a few times in Fujian and Zhejiang during my southern tour."
Xiao Tianfang, who came back to his senses, responded repeatedly, picked up a piece of shrimp meat and ate it, but now the delicious shrimp meat seemed to have no taste in his mouth, because he was preoccupied with thinking about just now.