Chapter 126: Eating Crabs (Thanks to Canned Winter Melon Tea for becoming the leader)
Zhang Yue followed Ouyang Fa to the side hall to wait, and the two chatted for a while.
Zhang Yue and Ouyang Fa waited for Ouyang Xiu for a while. At this time, someone told them that when Ouyang Xiu was changing clothes, Empress Cao's younger brother Cao Yi sent someone to the house.
Zhang Yue heard a lot about Empress Cao in the public. Although Empress Cao was the main palace official, she was not liked by Song Shenzong.
Especially two years ago, the emperor fell seriously ill and shouted in a state of confusion, "The queen and Zhang Mao are plotting a treason."
As a chamberlain, Zhang Mao planned to hang himself to prove his innocence, but Han Qi came forward: "The official was sick and talked nonsense, and you died like this, leaving the queen to deal with herself like this?"
Anyway, the feud between the official family and Empress Cao is known to both the government and the public, but she seems to have a good relationship with the ministers. Because Empress Cao has a distinguished background. Empress Cao is from the Zhending Cao family, and is the granddaughter of the founding general Cao Bin.
Uncle Guo sent someone to visit the government because he had important matters, so he interrupted the meeting between Zhang Yue and Ouyang Xiu. However, Zhang Yue knew that Ouyang Xiu must be very busy with official duties in his current position, so it was very rare for him to take the time to see him today.
Zhang Yue and Ouyang Fa were chatting about gold and stone seal carving. At this time, a maid served osmanthus tea to the two of them. Zhang Yue was very familiar with this tea. The aroma of the osmanthus reminded Zhang Yue of studying at Nanfeng Academy.
The smell of sweet-scented osmanthus along the way.
"this……"
Ouyang Fa took a sip and said with a smile: "This osmanthus tea must have been presented by my wife. She knew that Sanlang was also from Pucheng, so she treated the guests with tea from her hometown."
Zhang Yue sighed: "As the saying goes, letters from home are worth a fortune, and this osmanthus tea has aroused my homesickness. I wonder how my family is doing? Thank you so much, Madam."
Ouyang laughed and said: "This is not worth mentioning. My wife knows that Sanlang and I hit it off right away, so I am not treating you as an outsider by serving this tea. Come, drink tea!"
Zhang Yue held up the tea and took another sip, but felt that the tea tasted sweet and the fragrance was refreshing. He felt Wu's thoughtfulness and then suddenly said: "This osmanthus tea must be brewed newly, but the osmanthus has not bloomed this year, so it must be
Picked last autumn."
Ouyang laughed and said, "Of course, it was Shi Qi who brought her to Beijing. I forgot to mention that Shi Qi is my wife's younger sister. Although she is a concubine, she is very favored in the family."
"She loves peonies very much, and the most prosperous peonies in the world are in Luoyang, so every year the Wu government sends fast horses from Luoyang to fetch peonies for her to enjoy."
"Horse luck?" Zhang Yue was surprised.
Ouyang Fa nodded and said: "There are six post offices from Luoyang to Tokyo. In previous years, we didn't enter the flowers. Since Li Xiangdi of Xuzhou stayed in Luoyang, we started to use the post horses to enter the peony to the imperial palace."
"Nowadays, not only the officials, but also the dignitaries in Bianjing also enjoy admiring peonies. Then the people of Luoyang filled the bamboo cage with vegetable leaves, then covered it to make it unshakable on the post horse. They also sealed the flower stems with wax, even for several days.
Before the sun sets, we can ride on a fast horse and ride from Luoyang to Bianjing. We can arrive there in one day and one night. In this way, the wealthy people in the capital can appreciate the beauty of Luoyang peonies."
Zhang Yue shook his head and said: "How much money did you spend to reward a peony? It's too extravagant."
Zhang Yue's implication is, 'Who can afford to raise a woman from such a family!'
Ouyang Fa took a sip of tea and said with a smile: "There is nothing happening in the country now. Bianjing is enjoying this peaceful and prosperous age. Take this tea as an example. Wax tea is popular in Jianjian, and herbal tea is popular in Liangzhe."
The number one herbal tea is Hongzhou Shuangjing Baiya. It is particularly exquisitely made in recent years. The outer bag is made of red gauze, but the number is only one or two taels. The nobles in Beijing usually feed it with more than ten kilograms of regular tea.
Use the energy to ward off heat and dampness. If Sanlang has a chance, you and I will taste it."
Zhang Yue heard that it took more than ten kilograms of ordinary tea leaves to grow one or two taels of tea, and he suddenly felt extravagant.
At this time, Zhang Yue couldn't help but think of the jasmine tea he loved to drink in his previous life. It seemed that the method of scenting had not yet been invented in the Northern Song Dynasty, so he said to Ouyang: "Tea is good at absorbing other flavors. If you simmer jasmine, osmanthus and new tea together, wait until the flowers are fragrant.
Suffocate the tea thoroughly and then sift out the dried flowers. The scented tea will be rich in fragrance."
When Ouyang Fa heard this, he thought about it and clapped his legs and said, "Sanlang is really ingenious. I will definitely give it a try."
At this time, Ouyang Xiu, who was dressed in a uniform, happened to enter the room and said with a smile: "What did you two talk about so happily just now?"
Ouyang Fa immediately told Zhang Yue's method of making flower tea. Ouyang Xiu was also refreshed after hearing this and said with a smile: "Sanlang is really amazing, he can think of such an exquisite method."
Immediately, the maid brought the dishes to the table. Ouyang Xiu and Ouyang Fa chatted with Zhang Yue about the tea ceremony, and then sat down at the table.
Zhang Yue couldn't help but lament that it was really troublesome to make friends with scholar-bureaucrats. If Jianzhou hadn't been rich in tea, and he had heard a little bit about it on weekdays, plus he had some knowledge of tea in his life, he wouldn't have been able to get involved in such a conversation.
But it was said that Ouyang Xiu had four sons, and the second son Ouyang Yiren lived in Yingzhou. It turned out that Ouyang Xiu did not buy a house in Bianjing, but he had already decided to return to Yingzhou to live in seclusion in the future.
When Ouyang Xiu was forty-two years old, he finally bought his first house in Yingzhou, and he kept buying it. History records that in his later years, Ouyang Xiu purchased more than a hundred houses in Yingzhou, and then rented them to others, successfully completing the project.
The leap from house slave to landlord.
The second son, Ouyang Yi, now lives in Shouzhi, Yingchuan, where he is studying.
The third son, Ouyang Pei, was studying at Taixue, and the fourth son, Ouyang Bian, was still young and could not spend time with him. In addition, there was also a daughter who had already married Pang Yuanying, the son of Pang Ji.
After the three of them sat down, the most eye-catching thing was a large plate of bad crabs.
But Ouyang Xiu smiled and said: "When I knew Yingzhou, I lived by the West Lake. The Yingchuan mutton is not cheap and not as fresh as the capital, but the crabs are the best. After I return to seclusion, I must live by the West Lake.
Eat fresh crabs when there are fresh crabs, eat bad crabs when there are no fresh crabs.”
It seems that Ouyang Xiu is a crab-eater.
Ouyang laughed and said: "My father is famous in Beijing for his love of eating crabs. I don't know if there is any official in the Song Dynasty who is like my father."
Zhang Yue remembered that Su Shi also loved to eat crabs. The famous saying that one crab is not as good as one crab comes from Su Shi. However, Zhang Yue certainly could not mention Su Shi, but Ouyang Fa said that no official in the Song Dynasty loved crabs as much as Ouyang Xiu. Zhang Yue said:
"I just remembered that someone also likes to eat crabs."
"oh?"
"In the past, Qian Kun, a descendant of Qian Mi, the king of Wu and Yue, was the governor. Officials asked him which official position he wanted to take. He replied, but he would have to be punished without passing the law!"
At this point, the three of them laughed together.
This is a unique joke that cannot be understood without some background knowledge.
Soon others brought wine, Zhang Yue accompanied Ouyang Xiu, and Ouyang Fa drank a few cups.
Ouyang Xiu's drinking capacity is indeed as rumored... It's not a lie. It's not a lie if he drinks less than he drinks. But Ouyang Xiu got a little drunk after only a few drinks. Zhang Yue also said that he was really drunk. He dared to claim that he had such a drinking capacity.
Drunkard?
But Ouyang Xiu picked up the wine cup and chanted: "Holding the wine glass in the right hand and the crab claw in the left hand, swimming in the floating wine boat will be enough for a lifetime."
Ouyang Fa and Zhang Yue both laughed.
After dinner, Zhang Yue said goodbye and left.
After Ouyang Fa had some wine and sent Zhang Yue off, he returned to the house and saw Mrs. Wu sitting in front of the window sill holding a round fan and waving it gently.
"What are you thinking, madam?" Ouyang Fa asked.
Mrs. Wu turned her head and said, "What do you want to do with Zhang Sanlang? Dad has finished the wine. Come here, bring us a bowl of noodle soup."
After the maid cleaned up Ouyang Fa, Wu said angrily: "Don't drink so much next time."
Ouyang Fa then smiled and said: "Today I am happy, I only ate two or three cents. Last time I went to Fanlou to drink more, I didn't say anything like this."
Wu held her fan and said with a smile: "Isn't this because everyone gets drunk without being drunk? Yes, daddy, what words do you have for Zhang Sanlang?"
Ouyang Fa said: "Dad is already drunk, how can I ask. But in my opinion, Sanlang has not studied literature and poetry yet, so I can't see it. However, he is very high in classics and theory. This kind of talent and understanding is really rare."
"How is it compared to Zhang Ziping and Zhang Zihou?"
Ouyang laughed and said: "I'm kidding, these two are both geniuses of the world. Saburo is still young and can't compare."
"Then you've been drinking all night today and haven't seen anything?"
Ouyang Fa said: "Isn't it better to be able to drink wine all night? When gentlemen meet, they can only have the same literary talent. From having tea and wine to chatting about anecdotes at the banquet, Sanlang always maintained the courtesy and made no mistakes. He also responded to
So, isn’t this much better than others?”
Wu nodded and said, "It's indeed rare."
Then Ouyang Fa talked to Wu about the tea-smelling method mentioned by Zhang Yue. Wu had the foresight to know it as soon as he heard it.
Ouyang Fa said: "In my opinion, Sanlang is not a thing under the pond."
Wu said: "Then it's better not to choose Sanlang."
"How to say?"
"Since he is the one born in the pool, now we have arranged a marriage for him that is a match for him. In the future, when Sanlang becomes a Jinshi, he will not be a match for him. Do you think he will blame us for marrying him too early?"
Ouyang Fa was stunned and said: "That's true, what should we do?"
Wu said: "Marriage is the order of the parents and the matchmaker. We are half parents and half matchmaker. We may not be happy with the choice of the third man. It is best if the third man likes it himself. We can then choose it."
Tell him something, wouldn’t it be nice?”
Ouyang Fa said: "This is the truth. I also told Sanlang, but he said that everything is up to us. What do you say, madam?"
Wu said: "This is really difficult."
"It's okay, let's think about it slowly. Yes, Sanlang said today that today's osmanthus tea made her feel homesick. Madam, you are so clever. How could you know that I was not aware of the osmanthus tea when I served it."
Wu also smiled quite proudly and said: "It was just a coincidence that the tea was brought by Shi Qi from Fujian, so I just got this. Is Zhang Sanlang really satisfied?"
Ouyang Fa said: "That's natural. Yes, speaking of seventeen and fifteen, sister's wedding is coming soon. What gifts should we give then? But dad and Mr. Wen have known each other for decades, so we might as well ask
his meaning."
"It's natural." The two younger sisters of the Wu family married Xia and Lu, the two prime ministers' families, and the marriages were not harmonious. Now that the fifteenth mother has married into Wen Yanbo's family, she is afraid that her sister will make the same mistake again.
Ouyang Fa didn't notice that Mrs. Wu was in no mood, and said: "After the fifteenth sister, it will be the turn of the seventeenth, but you can still wait for the seventeenth. Although the high-ranking women in Bianjing marry later, they can't live longer than that."
Eighteen or twenty. But there are quite a few men who get married at the age of fifteen or sixteen."
After hearing this, Mrs. Wu said: "My lord, please allow me to be quiet for a moment."
Ps: Thanks to Canned Winter Melon Tea for becoming the eleventh ally in this book.