Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

In Yanfu Palace, three ministers were singing an opera.

Li Bangyan was responsible for writing notes on daily life, Wang Fu was responsible for the imperial examination, and Cai You was the scholar's attendant. The three people belong to three different factions, but they all circle around the emperor all day long. With them checking each other, Song Huizong can sit back and relax.

Li Bangyan put on makeup and powder to disguise himself as a woman, flirting with Wang Fu.

Cai You also pretended to be a woman, wearing a short shirt and narrow trousers, and her blush was particularly bright. In the play, he is Wang Fu's old lover, while Li Bangyan is his new love. The two women compete for one man, and it turns out to be a love triangle plot.

This is a drama with an affair as the theme. Li Bangyan wrote the script himself and contains a lot of explicit lines. But because it was a man playing the role, the performance was more like a comedy, making Song Huizong laugh out loud.

Liu Wanrong has been promoted to Liu Wanyi. She only gave birth to a son last year, and now she is pregnant again. This shows that the emperor is very kind to her.

Sitting next to Liu Wanyi is Cai You's wife, Mrs. Song.

The Song family was allowed to enter and leave the harem freely, which meant that Cai Yousheng's family was growing rapidly. Many times, he could ask his wife to please the concubine, and then let the concubine give the emperor a pillow blow.

Seeing her husband dressed as a woman and competing with two men on the stage, Ms. Song felt uncomfortable, but she covered her mouth with Liu Wanyi and snickered.

Zhu Guoxiang had already arrived with corn cobs. Song Huizong didn't say anything, but just waved to him.

Zhu Guoxiang immediately took his seat to watch the show. The two opposite characters on the stage made him feel a little queasy.

It would be better to take another look at Liu Wanyi. Dean Zhu had to admit that Liu Wanyi was the most beautiful woman he had seen since traveling through time. No wonder the Dog Emperor was so obsessed with her.

She is both gorgeous and charming, with two parts of purity and one part of purity. She can be called a beauty in the world.

Even Cai Jing and Zheng Juzhong are not qualified to see Liu Wanyi. It has become a privilege for close officials to see this woman's grace with their own eyes.

Later, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty hosted a banquet for all his favorite ministers, made a drinking order with Liu Wanyi as the title, and allowed them to enter the Yuzhen Pavilion. Everyone, including Cai Jing, thought they could see Liu Wanyi in person, but the emperor only let them admire the portrait. Afterwards, Song Huizong also told Cai Jing that he would definitely let Cai Jing see the real person in the future, treating this as a special reward.

The farce on the stage was finally over, and the three actors came to drink with the emperor without changing their clothes.

Song Huizong asked: "Where is the immortal food?"

Zhu Guoxiang said: "It has been brought."

The eunuch came forward with a corn cob. Zhu Guoxiang picked up one, tore open the light green cob, held it in both hands and presented it to the emperor.

Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty took it and looked at it carefully and praised it: "It is as crystal clear as jade, it is really pleasing to the eye, and it deserves the name of corn."

The artist-student emperor fell in love with him at just one glance.

The main reason is that corn is very beautiful, better looking than rice and wheat.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "Corn has never been seen in ancient times. Even the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors have not seen it. The appearance of this thing depends on the Holy Emperor coming to the court and the auspicious king from heaven to nourish the people."

Dean Zhu also risked his life for his son and fully integrated into his identity as a lucky minister.

These words made Song Huizong feel comfortable. He took the corn and looked at it again and again. The more he looked at it, the more he liked it. He even handed it to Liu Wanyi: "What do you think of this, my beloved concubine?"

Liu Wanyi observed, stroked, and poked with her finger: "Like that beautiful jade, there is no such good food in the world, and it must be obtained by a saint. You can't bear to eat such beautiful fairy food."

Song Huizong asked: "How to cook?"

Zhu Guoxiang said: "It is fresh and tender at this time and can be steamed, boiled or baked. When mature, it becomes like wheat. After it is dried and threshed, it can be ground into powder."

Song Huizong immediately ordered: "Bring in the charcoal stove and the big pot."

Zhu Guoxiang said: "Another steamer basket."

Everyone strolled to the garden. The charcoal stove and large pot had been set up, and a steamer was placed on the pot.

Zhu Guoxiang directed the eunuch to add water to the pot, and he cut dozens of corn cobs into three parts. Some are thrown into the pot to cook, some are steamed in the steamer, and some are placed on the stove for cooking.

Song Huizong found it interesting, so he asked the eunuch to move closer to the golden chair and imitate the example of roasting corn himself.

Li Bangyan, Wang Fu and Cai You saw this and came over to help, but the eunuch was completely squeezed away.

The scene was quite ridiculous. Several ministers gathered around the charcoal stove, and there were no benches. They were all squatting on the ground roasting corn, and the three actors did not change their costumes. Only Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty was sitting there, looking like stars over the moon, sticking the two largest corns in with chopsticks and roasting them.

Song Huizong asked casually: "What kind of delicious food is there in Shimei's hometown?"

Li Bangyan replied: "It's just like Tokyo."

Li Bangyan's hometown is in Huaizhou (Qinyang). Although it belongs to Hebei West Road, it is actually close to Kaifeng.

Song Huizong did not ask Cai You and Wang Fu because they both grew up in Tokyo. Instead, he asked Zhu Guoxiang: "What kind of delicious food is there in Yuanzhang's hometown?"

Zhu Guoxiang only had a few dishes, and most of them required chili peppers. He said perfunctorily: "My hometown is remote and there is no delicious food. When I was traveling in the south, I saw a beggar cooking a dish called Beggar Flower." Chicken. This beggar is a beggar."

"How dare you use beggars' food to deal with officials?" Cai You took the opportunity to ask.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "Those beggars lacked cooking supplies, so they stole poultry, wrapped it in lotus leaves, and then covered it with a layer of mud. They built an earthen kiln, filled it with firewood, and then heated it with the hot earth. Burying the chicken and roasting it. I thought it was interesting, so I learned to make it a few times. Compared with the beggar, I added onions, ginger, salt and other condiments. After roasting, the meat is tender and juicy, with the fragrance of lotus leaves."

Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty imagined the process of making beggar's chicken and guessed: "Wrapping it in lotus leaves is a bit elegant. I think the fragrance will penetrate into the meat and the taste will be quite good. Go find the lotus leaves and the chicken!"

The accompanying eunuch immediately called the inner Huangmen, who then took the small Huangmen with him and rode on horseback to the Huiling Temple in the south of the city.

Ouyang Xiuyou's poem says: "In June, there are heavy summer rains in the capital, and the south wind blows the gorge every night. The Ningxiang Pond locks the spiritual garden, and the Pushe Huangpi An can be planned!"

This poem is exactly describing the glutinous rice of Huilingguan.

In the Ningxiang Pond of Huiling Temple, there are not only many gorgon seeds, but also many lotus flowers.

When the eunuch gathered the lotus leaves and asked the cook to kill the chicken and wash it, the corn was already roasted.

The color is golden, with a little bit of burnt black, and the smell is so fragrant that it makes your index fingers tickle.

Song Huizong handed the roasted corn to Liu Wanyi, and even blew a few breaths on it himself, fearing that Liu Wanyi would burn it: "My dear concubine, please try it."

"Thank you, officials." Liu Wanyi said happily.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "There are also steamed and boiled ones. Madam, please save some appetite."

Song Huizong picked up one himself, blew it to cool down a little, broke off a few pieces and put them into his mouth. It was fragrant, sweet and glutinous. He immediately praised: "It is worthy of the name of fairy food, and it is the delicacy of the world."

Li Bangyan was a prodigal, and he didn't pay much attention to his image. He took a bite of the roasted corn, patted his thigh and said, "It tastes great! The officials can summon Dasheng poets to taste it and ask them to write more about corn." The first great poem is to let everyone in the world know about this auspicious and beautiful thing."

"This is a good idea." Song Huizong said happily.

Corn, a grain of high value that is as crystal clear as jade, is worthy of the holy king of this world.

Let the poets of Dasheng arrange the music and write the lyrics, and sing the praises. It will be spread all over the world, and the people will know that the auspiciousness is coming from heaven. The fact that the common people can eat corn is God’s reward for the saint’s kindness.

Seeing that Li Bangyan was praised by the emperor, Wang Fu quickly said: "We can make all Kaifeng Mansion plant this kind of thing, and the saintly king's kindness will benefit all people!"

Song Huizong nodded and said, "This is a good idea."

Zhu Guoxiang advised: "It is better to plant wheat in the upper and middle fields, and only need to plant corn in the barren lower fields. In this way, the people will not be disturbed, and food production can be increased."

Cai You raised the pole deliberately: "How can immortals cultivate on thin soil? Isn't this disrespectful to heaven?"

Zhu Guoxiang said: "Growing immortal food on thin land can better demonstrate the benevolence of officials."

Huizong of the Song Dynasty said to Xini: "Ai Qing leaves some seeds and plant half in the middle field and half in the lower field."

"I obey the order!" Zhu Guoxiang clasped his fists and accepted the order.

Song Huizong smiled and said: "When there is a good harvest next year, we can use corn to reward the ministers, so that they can all taste the taste of immortality."

Li Bangyan flattered him and said, "The officials show great love to their ministers. The three emperors in ancient times were nothing more than this."

Wang Fu said: "The official family is the emperor of Yao and Shun."

Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty said happily: "I am still incomparable to Yao and Shun."

Cai You then said: "Although he is not as good as Yao and Shun, he is not far behind. There has been no such wise and benevolent king in the official family for three generations or less."

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Song Huizong laughed proudly. Although he knew it was flattery, he was still very happy in his heart. Moreover, he felt that this kind of flattery should not be very watery.

Song Huizong was very aware of the factions in the court, but he was completely divorced from the people.

In his opinion, under his own governance, the people should be living well. Wherever famine or riots occurred, it was also caused by the brutality of local officials, and the various policies of the imperial court were definitely fine.

The cook has come over, and under Zhu Guoxiang's guidance, he puts in the condiments and wraps them in lotus leaves and soil.

There is no need to build an earth kiln, just bake directly, and the imperial chef can control the heat.

Song Huizong drank wine and began to taste steamed corn and boiled corn. It had a different taste from roasted corn. He was very satisfied with it: "Ai Qing has done a good job in offering immortal food. What reward do you want?"

Zhu Guoxiang took the opportunity and said: "The dog is too arrogant in Puzhou and is easy to break if he is strong. Please transfer him to Sichuan, Shaanxi or Jinghu."

Song Huizong said: "I have transferred him to Hangzhou."

Zhu Guoxiang said: "Hangzhou is prosperous and young people will inevitably indulge in pleasure. It is best to let the dogs go to remote and poor places to experience."

Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty said: "In a remote and impoverished place, people are not promoted but demoted. How can I treat a wise minister poorly?"

"Young people, it's better to suffer more." Zhu Guoxiang said.

Although Song Huizong was extremely smart, he lacked perseverance, was changeable in his actions, and had a soft ear.

It can be seen from Ma Zheng that this guy can listen to suggestions, but he will listen to whatever he thinks makes sense. Sometimes I think this is right, and sometimes I think that is right. The horse policy is changed every three or four years on average, which makes the private horse farmers feel happy.

Changing orders from morning to night is like child's play.

He originally thought that Zhu Ming and Zhu Meng could not collide, but Cai You induced them to search for immortals at sea.

However, the search for immortals is illusive, and it cannot be done by civil servants. It must be left to the eunuchs who are close to him. What if Ju Ming finds a real immortal and takes the elixir himself instead of leaving it to the emperor?

Now I think I should give Zhu Guoxiang some face. After repeated considerations, I don't want to transfer Zhu Ming to Hangzhou.

Song Huizong asked: "How about making him the prefect of Chengdu?"

That's where the road management of Chengdu Prefecture Road is located. There are transfer envoys, punishment envoys, Changping envoys, and tea and horse officials. Zhu Guoxiang is afraid that his son will not be able to do anything, so he said: "Young people should endure more hardships. Chengdu Prefecture is too rich. The officials can just ask him to go to Zhijinzhou."

Cai You saw that the emperor had changed his mind and could no longer let Ju Ming go to Hangzhou, so he agreed: "Jinzhou is just right."

The state government of Jinzhou is in Ankang. Except for the relatively developed river trade, the rest is a place where birds have nothing to do.

In Cai You's opinion, since Ju Ming cannot offend Zhu Meng, then he should be thrown into a poor place. It doesn't matter what he does, it is better to die of illness if he is not acclimatized.

As soon as the two sang in harmony, Song Huizong's ears softened, but he felt that the place was too poor and had to make up for it: "So he was asked to go to Zhijinzhou, where the fine and salary were cancelled, and he was promoted to a post-remuneration official."