Chapter 48 Wang Dan's Banquet
"Wang Xiang, what are you going to do?" Zhao Heng asked, "Is it like what Kou Zhun said?"
"That's right, officials." Wang Dan stroked his beard and said, "Ding said, his eyesight is too short, he only saw too much food, but now I, the Song Dynasty, only have food to give out."
"Hey, Guan Jia, you know that the Tan Yuan Alliance was signed because the Song Dynasty suppressed the Khitan, but also because of domestic changes. What kind of changes are there? Isn't it just a lack of food and fodder?"
Wang Dan sighed and said to Zhao Heng: "That's why we went to look for the Champa rice to prepare for the future. But veteran, I looked through the history of the Song Dynasty a few days ago and found that although the Champa rice is good, after the Song Dynasty,
The population is too large, the land is too little, and the Song Dynasty can't help annexing land, making more people and less land, and the yellow dragon often dances, Xixia is also in chaos from time to time, so the old minister took the lead in destroying Li Deming, just for the sake of land.
And then there is land to raise horses so that we can prepare for the next step of destroying the Liao Dynasty."
"Although I was preparing to destroy the Liao Dynasty, I did not plan to take advantage of the chaos to attack the Liao Dynasty this time because the soldiers and horses were not good enough! Taizu was worried about the chaos in the vassal towns in the Tang Dynasty, so he deliberately made the soldiers of the world old, weak, sick and disabled to serve as soldiers.
The people of the Han and Tang dynasties have also changed from the good family members of the Han and Tang Dynasties to the army of thieves and thieves with mixed good and bad, and the martial style of the Han people has gradually disappeared since the Taizong period when they suppressed military power with culture."
"There is nothing we can do about it. During the Five Dynasties, if you sing and then I will appear on the stage, there will be a drama of wearing a yellow robe every few years. Therefore, the strategy of weakening the army is a last resort."
"What I didn't expect was that the army and horses of the world would be ruined, and the Han family would also be destroyed. This is the fault of my officials."
Wang Dan knelt on the ground and said: "I am the prime minister. The change in the national policy of raising troops is because I failed to adjust the yin and yang and corrected the mistake. Please forgive me and make it clear to the world."
"The national policy of raising the army was decided by Taizu. The decline of the army and horses is not the fault of the king and prime minister, but also the fault of me and my father. I have nothing to do with you, so there is no need to blame yourself. In the future, the king and prime minister will have to worry about the state affairs. Please come up.
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Zhao Heng stretched out his hand to help Wang Xiang up and all the way to the seat. The two looked at each other for a long time, and both sighed deeply. They both knew that the training of soldiers was urgent, but they couldn't rush it.
"Prime Minister, I will have more to do with you tomorrow."
"Old minister, I will not give up even if I die."
Zhao Heng asked: "Prime Minister, what are your plans for tomorrow?"
"Let's take a look first. The food must be given!" Wang Dan sighed: "I must give more than 30% this time. Alas, Ding said, it's too calculated, and I can't be the prime minister."
"The officials can rest assured. Even if they pay 40%, they will still have several times more food than we have now."
"After we have negotiated about the food, I will ask about other things. We will see what we can find out then," Wang Dan said.
"Well, I'll leave this matter to the Prime Minister."
"The officials can rest assured."
The next day, around ten o'clock, not long after Zhuo Qun and Tang Xiaoxiao got up, Wang Dan sent Xu Liang and someone to invite them.
"Wang Dan asked you to invite us?" Zhuo Qun looked at Xu Liang's white eyebrows and said, "Where are you going?"
Xu Liang replied respectfully: "The Prime Minister has set up a banquet in Fanlou and would like to invite you two to go as an apology drink for yesterday."
"Zhuo Qun, do you think we can go?"
Tang Xiaoxiao asked in a low voice.
"Go, you must go. Now wait outside while we change clothes." Zhuo Qun said loudly.
Then the doors were closed.
"What's the matter? Do you have to go?"
"Go, Wang Dan is here to negotiate too, just go, I just want to take a look around Tokyo." Zhuo Qun changed into Chinese clothes and said, "Xiaoxiao, you can come too and have a nice walk around."
"Oh, then there won't be anyone here?" Tang Xiaoxiao asked, "What should I do if someone comes?"
"It's okay, no outsiders will come today." Zhuo Qun said, "Just leave."
"Okay then, I'll go shopping as well." Tang Xiaoxiao also changed into Chinese clothes.
The two of them followed Xu Liang in a sedan chair all the way to Fanlou. On the way, Tang Xiaoxiao took a camera and took pictures of the Northern Song Dynasty market scene and all kinds of people.
"This city of Tokyo really has everyone." Zhuo Qun looked at the pedestrians on the road and sighed: "People from all over the world gather here."
It has to be said that Tokyo is indeed an international metropolis. All kinds of people have been seen, from Han Chinese to Khitan people, from Silla maids to Japanese maidens, to Arab businessmen and dancing girls.
Blinded.
Slowly arriving at the door of Fan Tower, Wang Dan was already waiting at the door.
"You two are finally here. I have been waiting for you for a long time. Please!" Wang Dan said to them.
The two of them were a little embarrassed to let an old man wait for them. After all, respecting the elderly and loving the young is a traditional virtue!
Zhuo Qun stepped forward, supported Wang Dan and said, "Why did the Prime Minister invite us to Fanlou today? What are we doing?"
Wang Dan Wang Dan took the two of them all the way to the west building, asked someone to open the door, and took the two of them in.
"This West Building never allows anyone except the royal family to enter. Today I have benefited from you and can only come in."
Wang Dan said with a smile: "Today I came to apologize for Ding Wei's incident. Ding Wei usually seems to be quite clever, but I didn't expect him to be so short-sighted."
"Prince Wang, don't you doubt that I want to control the price of food for you, the big loser?" Zhuo Qun deliberately called Song Dynasty a big loser.
"I don't doubt it, I don't doubt it. If you can give us such good seeds, it means it's not harmful to us. If you want to control the price of grain, it's not as simple as just having grain." Wang Dan looked at Zhuo Qun.
"In other words, he still has too little experience, so I let him practice for a few years. He is still young. It is also beneficial to go to places to learn and practice."
Wang Dan said this while greeting people to serve food.
"It's up to you, guests. I don't know what you like to eat, so I ordered some dishes on my own. But the cooking skills of Fanlou's cook are still very good. Fanlou's wine is also very famous. Come on.
Come on, you're welcome, just eat."
While we were talking, the dishes were placed on the table, including chicken, duck, fish, hot dishes and cold dishes, soups and snacks, as well as vegetarian dishes and snacks.
Fruit was served first, then candied fruits and "salty and sour" appetizers, then a few flavors of preserved meats were served, and another round of fruits was served. Before the main course started, another round of new fruits was served, and another round was served.
Fried with carved honey, one round of fragrant, salty and sour, one round of long-wrapped fruits, one round of preserved meat, followed by fifteen rounds of main dishes, each with two dishes.
In addition, there are eight "food-inserting" dishes, ten "cooking and drinking" dishes, and several famous Beijing wines.
Wang Dan invited a group of singers to perform team dances, and a banquet was held from noon to evening.
Because there were too many dishes, Zhuo Qun and Tang Xiaoxiao could only eat a few bites of each dish, and only drank a little wine before they couldn't eat any more. Wang Dan ate nearly half of the dishes alone.
In the next few days, Wang Dan hosted banquets every day, eating, drinking, and having fun every day, but every day was different. Tang Xiaoxiao's camera never stopped, and kept recording, singing, dancing, and drinking, taking pictures of whatever was available.
Chapter completed!