Chapter two hundred and seventy second not doing business properly
While Lin Xuan was preparing for the start of the college, time passed day by day, and before he knew it, the Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching.
The Mid-Autumn Festival was not taken very seriously in the Tang Dynasty and was not an official festival.
There are no special festival foods to eat. The custom of eating mooncakes only gradually appeared after the Song and Yuan Dynasties. However, the Tang people connected the Mid-Autumn Festival moon appreciation with legends such as Chang'e's flight to the moon and the laurel tree in the moon, adding a lot of romantic feelings.
In the Tang Dynasty, admiring the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival and playing with the moon were quite popular. Many poets included poems praising the moon in their famous works. The Mid-Autumn Festival began to become a fixed festival. "Tangshu Taizong Ji" recorded that "August 15th"
"Mid-Autumn Festival". Legend has it that Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty dreamed of traveling to the Moon Palace and got the song of colorful clothes and feathers, and the custom of celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival became popular among the people.
Despite this, Lin Xuan has special feelings for the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Although there was no custom of eating mooncakes in the Tang Dynasty, it does not mean that there were no mooncakes.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is known as the Moon Festival, and moon worship is a very ancient custom in our country.
Autumn is the season of harvest. The meaning of the word "autumn" is: "autumn when crops are mature." During the Mid-Autumn Festival in August, crops and various fruits mature one after another. In order to celebrate the harvest and express their joy, farmers use the day "Mid-Autumn Festival" to celebrate the harvest and express their joy.
As a festival, "Mid-Autumn Festival" means the middle of autumn. The eighth month of the lunar calendar is the middle month of autumn, and the 15th is the middle day of this month. Therefore, the Mid-Autumn Festival may be a custom inherited from the ancients' "Autumn Report".
So the original Mid-Autumn Festival was used to offer sacrifices and celebrate the harvest.
According to legend, at the end of the Sui Dynasty, on August 15th, the 13th year of Daye, the Tang army Pei Ji successfully invented mooncakes based on the idea of a full moon, and distributed them to the army as military pay, successfully solving the military food problem caused by absorbing a large number of anti-Sui rebels.
This is a legend after all, and no one knows whether it is true or not, but it is true that there were mooncakes in the Tang Dynasty.
It’s just that mooncakes were a tribute to the Mid-Autumn Festival at that time.
It was not until the Northern Song Dynasty that August 15th was officially designated as the Mid-Autumn Festival, and moon cakes were regarded as seasonal food.
At that time, moon cakes were not called moon cakes, but small cakes or moon cakes.
Su Dongpo wrote in a poem, "Small cakes are like chewing the moon, with crispy and sweet fillings in them."
The term mooncake first appeared in "Meng Liang Lu" by Wu Zimu in the Southern Song Dynasty. At that time, it was just a snack food.
It was not until the Ming Dynasty that people gradually combined moon appreciation with moon cakes, which symbolized family reunion and expressed their longing for each other.
Since then, mooncakes have also been an important gift used to connect friends during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Lin Xuan doesn't care whether others eat moon cakes or not, but he feels that if he doesn't eat moon cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival, he will be in trouble.
Lin Xuan, besides being busy with college affairs, took the time to instruct the chef and cook at home to make a lot of mooncakes.
The Tang Dynasty was already good at making mooncakes. Lin Xuan just asked them to add some candied fruits and other things to make mooncakes with various flavors. It was not difficult.
Lin Dongyang and Zhang Qing were full of praise after eating it, and Lin Duoduo liked it even more.
"Xuan'er, these mooncakes are really good. Let them make more of them and send some to Duke Su's Mansion, Duke Yi... They all give some to our family," Lin Dongyang said.
After listening to the meaning of mooncakes told by Lin Xuan, Lin Dongyang already recognized the name of mooncakes.
Lin Xuan smiled and said: "Dad, don't worry, I have thought of it a long time ago."
Cheng Yaojin and the others would usually send someone to bring some cakes or something to his home, so of course Lin Xuan would reciprocate the favor.
"The palace should send some as well!" Zhang Qing added.
"I know, mother." Lin Xuan nodded. With Li Shimin's stingy spirit, if he didn't give it to him, I don't know how he would deal with her.
Even if they don't give it to Li Shimin, Li Lizhi will always give it to them.
On the day before the Mid-Autumn Festival, Lin Xuan first sent mooncakes to several princes' palaces, and finally came to the palace.
Nothing major happened during this period, and Li Shimin felt a lot more comfortable.
When Li Shimin was teasing Princess Jinyang in the Zheng Palace, he heard Lin Xuan asking for an audience.
Li Shimin originally couldn't imagine it, but thinking of movable type printing, he asked the palace maid to take Princess Jinyang down, and asked Lin Xuan to be brought in.
Lin Xuan walked into the hall carrying the food box, put down the food box in his hand, bowed and saluted: "I pay my respects to your Majesty, the Queen!"
Li Shimin waved his hand and said, "Excuse me, what are you bringing?"
Lin Xuan smiled and said: "Your Majesty, these are snacks made by my family. I specially sent some to your Majesty and the Queen to try."
Li Shimin raised his eyebrows and said, "You came to me just for this trivial matter?"
He had also eaten the steamed buns and glutinous rice balls made by Lin Xuan before.
But it feels so-so and I don’t like it very much.
He thought Lin Xuan sent those things again this time.
In addition, Lin Xuan disturbed him from teasing his daughter, so he was a little dissatisfied.
Empress Changsun glanced at Li Shimin angrily and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, this is all Zichu's filial piety."
Li Shimin nodded and said, "Send it over."
Ruxue and other serving maids quickly stepped forward to open the food box and took out the mooncakes.
When Li Shimin saw the moon cake, he said angrily: "Isn't this just a small cake?"
He thought Lin Xuan sent some pastries that he had never seen before.
What mooncakes are, aren’t they just small cakes?
If he hadn't seen her before, I would have been fooled by him.
"Your Majesty, although this is a small cake, I have made some improvements and added some other things, so I call it moon cake!" Lin Xuan explained.
Queen Changsun asked curiously: "Why is it called moon cake?"
Lin Xuan pointed at the moon cake and said: "My dear, this cake is as round as the fifteenth day of the moon, so I changed its name to moon cake."
Li Shimin snorted coldly: "Not doing your job properly!"
In his opinion, Lin Xuan is talented, but he does not want to serve the country, but he messes with these messy things, which is not doing his job properly.
Empress Changsun covered her mouth and smiled softly: "Your Majesty, I think this name sounds much better than Xiaobing."
Women are always emotional, and she thinks the name Mooncake is very nice.
Lin Xuan smiled and said: "I still have a good eye. This moon cake has another name, called reunion cake."
When Li Shimin heard what Lin Xuan said, his face turned as black as carbon.
Doesn't this mean he has no vision?
Queen Changsun asked with some confusion: "Reunion cake? Does it have any meaning?"
Lin Xuan explained: "My dear, the mooncakes are round and round. On the 15th day of the eighth lunar month when admiring the moon, the whole family eats them together, symbolizing reunion and harmony. So it is also called reunion cake!"
Queen Changsun's eyes lit up and she said, "Yes, this has a very good meaning."
Li Shimin also thought it was good, but he was angry with Lin Xuan just now, so he didn't say anything.
"Your Majesty is going to invite all the ministers to enjoy the moon tomorrow. I think this moon cake is just right to share with everyone. Why don't you ask the Shangshan Bureau to prepare some." Empress Changsun suggested.
Li Shimin said noncommittally: "Let's try it first and then talk."
After speaking, Li Shimin took a piece and started eating it.
Seeing this, Queen Changsun also took a piece and tasted it.
Although Lin Xuan brought the item, it must have been inspected at all levels before it was delivered to him.
Queen Changsun's eyes lit up. She had never eaten small cakes before, but the taste of this moon cake was very different from the small cakes she had eaten before. It was very delicious.
"What do you think, Your Majesty?" Queen Changsun asked.
Li Shimin nodded, glanced at Lin Xuan with evil intentions, and said: "The Queen's proposal is very good, but it doesn't need to be done by the Shangshan Bureau. Isn't there a ready-made candidate?"