All the officials and ministers who were sitting in the hall on the second floor of Shengping Restaurant had been silent for more than two hours. Finally, it was time for the banquet to begin. Their uneasy mood was much more stable. They all let out a long sigh of relief, and the thin layer of sweat on their foreheads slowly dried up.
Seeing that it was time for the lunch, the Zhao family, who seemed to be laughing and joking on the surface, slowly stood up. First, he swept his tiger eyes around and looked around. After that, he announced in a powerful voice,"Ladies and gentlemen, today is my son De Fang's 16th birthday. Thank you for coming to the banquet. At this moment, the time has come. Pass on my decree, let the banquet begin!”
As soon as Zhao Guanjia finished speaking, the servant who was waiting on the side immediately passed the food from the hall on the second floor to the hall on the first floor. In less than a moment, the palace maids waiting in the imperial kitchen of Shengping Building walked briskly with a tray in each hand. On the tray was a plate of exquisite and beautiful delicacies. They were sent to the banquet in the hall on the second floor of Shengping Building in an orderly manner.
After less than two hours, the various delicacies that were initially placed on each table had been eaten up. It was unknown whether it was because they were hungry or the dishes that were served this time were really delicious. In any case, there were no leftovers left on the plates on the table. Of course, the vegetable soup and meat bones were an exception.
Zhao Defang, who was sitting on the chair, first saw that the people at the same table as her were all eating until their stomachs were round. From the corner of his eye, he saw that the civil and military officials at the neighboring tables were also in the same state.
What was even more unbelievable was that all the guests were ministers who had made great contributions to the founding of the Great Song Dynasty. When they ate the food, they all wolfed it down like hungry wolves that had been hungry for three days.
In Zhao Defang's eyes, they had status and status. They had lived a life of luxury. Although they did not often eat imperial food in the palace, the chefs in each of their official residences were experts in cooking hired with high salaries. According to the standard of evaluation of chefs in his previous life, all the chefs in the residences of the civil and military officials present here should be special chefs.
In fact, Zhao Defang, who had been " imprisoned " in the Eastern Palace all day, did not know that the reason why the civil and military officials in front of him, who usually looked dignified, would behave like hungry ghosts was because at the beginning of the founding of the Song Dynasty, the Zhao family had been promoting frugality throughout the country. Moreover, the Zhao family was a good emperor who set an example. Other than attending court meetings, receiving foreign guests, envoys, and programs, they usually wore a simple set of clothes.
Not only that, the meals that Zhao Guanjia ate in the beginning were also the meals of ordinary people. In the past few years, after the assessment of Jing Lake, there were no foreign invaders in Great Song, and there were no rebellious rebels. It could be said that the country was prosperous and the people were peaceful. Therefore, the food he ate was a little extravagant. But even so, Zhao Guanjia had to start from himself. He would never waste his old clothes and delicious food education. At the same time, he also asked the concubines and princes around him to develop the habit of being thrifty.
As ministers of the court, they naturally had to be strict with their own interests. Today, Zhao Defang's birthday luncheon was quite sumptuous. It was also royal food. They rarely ate it. Moreover, the Zhao family was present. They naturally did not dare to leave too much food on the table where they were sitting. Naturally, if they could not eat it, they would use their stomachs to carry it away.
In addition to the sumptuous dishes, there was naturally no lack of good wine. On each table were two stalls of top-grade imperial wine. While the ministers were filling their stomachs, they also ate a lot of high-quality imperial wine. It had only been two hours, but all the officials were already red with embarrassment.
However, the wine in ancient times was different from the wine in modern times. This was because the wine in ancient times was usually brewed from rice or kaoliang. The alcohol content was very low, just slightly higher than the alcohol content of modern beer. As a modern person, Zhao Defang had a bitter look on his face when his father, Zhao Guanjia, asked him to accompany him to drink. After he personally ate a large bowl of royal wine and toasted a few times, he felt as if nothing had happened. His consciousness was very clear and his mind was not dizzy at all.
After seeing this scene, Zhao Defang carefully tasted the imperial wine in the bowl. He felt that the strength of this imperial wine was simply incomparable to the white wine that he had eaten in his previous life that was more than 50%.
Moreover, ever since she started university, the unsupervised Zhao Defang would gather with her roommates in the same dormitory on the weekends. Naturally, drinking was a must for every gathering. The alcohol content of this wine had slowly increased from the low alcohol content of the rice fragrance to Hengshui Laobaigan. By the time he entered graduate school, it had become Niulanshan Erguotou. The degree increased as he went to university.
Zhao Defang, who had no problem drinking a pound at the wine table, naturally did not have stage fright at all at this moment. After he regained his senses, he stood up and acted according to the instructions of his father, the Zhao family. He frequently raised his bowl and toasted the six generals who were about to be ousted. After a few rounds, Shi Shouxin and the others were all drunk until their faces were red and their heads were dizzy. However, the young Zhao Defang looked normal and did not have a trace of drunkenness.
At first, Zhao Guanjia had thought that his fourth prince would just serve wine to his six sworn brothers who held military power. What he never expected was that his son, who had just turned sixteen today, would actually pour wine into his mouth as if he was drinking tea. After four or five rounds, there was no trace of drunkenness on his face. When he picked up food and poured wine, his hands moved freely. He was not drunk at all. He was surprised.
After the dishes on the table were all eaten, leaving only soup and bones, and the jar was empty, the Zhao official, who had only eaten three or four bowls of wine, swept his fierce eyes around. After glancing around, he saw that all the officials were drunk. He immediately announced the end of the banquet and let them return to their respective residences.
After Zhao Guanjia finished speaking, although their stomachs were full and the wine was drunk, the civil and military officials who had been reminding each other in their hearts quickly stood up and bowed to Zhao Guanjia before leaving resentfully.
After all the officials at the other tables had left, the Zhao family allowed Prince Jin, Zhao Guangyi, who had been accompanying him but had not said a word, to return to his residence. Only his Fourth Prince, Zhao Defang, and the six generals who had been summoned by the imperial edict to stay behind.
At this moment, in the large hall on the second floor of Shengping Building, only the starving Zhao Defang and his son, as well as Shi Shouxin, Gao Huaide, Wang Shenqi, Zhang Lingduo, Zhao Yanhui, and Luo Yanhuan, who had come from afar, were left. The rest of the irrelevant people were all waved down by Zhao Guanjia's hand.
"Shouxin, Huaide, Shen Qi, Ling Duo, Yan Hui, Yan Huan, the six of you are sworn brothers with me for many years. Today, I am very pleased that you are able to come from thousands of miles away. This one doesn't know how to thank you all. At this moment, only this one, this one's fourth prince De Fang, and six brothers are left in this hall. There are no outsiders here anymore. Why don't we drink to our hearts 'content?”The Zhao family's official, who was sitting on the imperial chair, saw that the six sworn brothers sitting on his left and right had their heads lowered and looked sad. It could be seen that their morale was very low. Therefore, he took the opportunity to ask them to stay for a drink to express his gratitude to them.
"Official, official, butler, emissary, you can't. We, we've already eaten a lot of wine just now. I'm afraid that we can't hold much wine in our stomachs. Please, please show mercy and take back the order.”Among the six of them, Shi Shouxin, who was the eldest brother, saw that the other five people present did not dare to respond. From the corner of his eye, he saw that the Zhao family's expression was normal and there was a slight smile. He strengthened his courage, stood up, cupped his hands, and begged.
Seeing that their big brother, Shi Shouxin, was the first to step forward, it would be too unreasonable for them to sit still and wait for death. Therefore, the other five people also stood up to support Shi Shouxin and echoed in unison,"Official, General Shi is right.”
"Uh, I am the revered one. My words carry nine tripods. Since I have said this, how can I take it back? "All of you should stop trying to persuade me. Sit down and listen to my arrangements. If you disobey…" Zhao Guanjia, who had a murderous look on his face, paused for a moment. When his expression returned to normal, he pretended to have a solemn expression. After his tiger eyes swept across the six people who were standing in front of him and begging bitterly, he spoke in a dignified manner.
Before Zhao Guanjia could finish his sentence, Shi Shouxin and the other six people were already scared out of their wits. They all hurriedly said in unison,"Please calm your anger, we will listen to your arrangements.”
After Shi Shouxin and the other six returned to their seats, the solemn expression on Zhao Guanjia's face gradually disappeared, and then replaced with a few faint smiles. He turned around and looked at Zhao Defang, who was sitting on the brocade chair beside him. He ordered with a pleasant expression,"Fang 'er, there is no wine on the table in the hall on the second floor. Go down and bring a jar of high quality wine. Zhen wants to drink to his heart's content with your six uncles.”
After hearing the Zhao family's orders, Zhao Defang, who was stunned on the spot, quickly stood up from the brocade chair. She bent down and bowed, cupped her hands, and said,"Your son has received the decree!"
After Zhao Defang went downstairs, Zhao Guanjia smiled at the six generals who were sitting on pins and needles and asked seriously,"Six brothers, what do you think of my Fourth Prince? You haven't seen my Fourth Prince for many years. After meeting him today, tell me your opinions. You must tell me your true thoughts. If anyone dares to lie to me, I won't let them off easily.”
"Returning to the official family, when this Fourth Prince was very young, he was pampered by the Empress, causing him to be mischievous. After a few years of separation, the Fourth Prince had just turned sixteen years old, but he was polite and generous in his speech and behavior. It was indeed a blessing for the official family.”
Shi Shouxin, who was sitting on the left side of Zhao Guanjia, once again saw that Zhao Guanjia's voice had fallen for a long time, but no one answered. His head was numb, and he could only chase the duck. He stood up and bowed to Zhao Guanjia. His mouth was as if it was smeared with honey, and he praised Zhao Defang.
"Official, General Shi is right. However, although the Fourth Prince is still young and not yet twenty years old, his alcohol tolerance is above ours. Just now, he had been drinking with the Fourth Prince for seven to eight rounds, but the Fourth Prince's expression had not changed at all. Just now, the Fourth Prince had also walked down the stairs swiftly. In this subordinate's opinion, this Fourth Prince is definitely a rare talent in drinking.”Gao Huaide, who was sitting on the right side of the Zhao family's official, had already eaten until his face was red. His mind was also a little dazed. When he heard the Zhao family and Shi Shouxin mention the Fourth Prince, the first thing that came to his mind was the scene of Zhao Defang gulping down wine. Therefore, he evaluated Zhao Defang in this way.
After hearing Gao Huaide's evaluation of his fourth son, whom he now doted on and trusted, as a drunkard, Zhao Guanjia felt quite displeased. However, on the surface, he did not reveal the slightest bit of displeasure in his heart. He still had a faint smile on his face as he nodded at Shi and Gao.
Following that, the other four people echoed. They were a little tipsy and focused their evaluation of Zhao Defang on the fact that he had eaten more than ten bowls of wine but was not drunk at all. This made Zhao Guanjia very angry in his heart, but he still did not show it on the surface and continued to have a faint smile on his face.
"Since all of you think that this Fourth Prince of ours is still a promising child. In that case, I can rest assured. When I am old and weak, I will pass the throne to my four sons. However, this fourth son of mine has yet to make any contributions to the army. After this emperor passes away, the six brothers here are all generals who hold military power. If one day, your brothers prepare a yellow robe for you like they did at Chenqiao Posthouse a few years ago, wouldn't this fourth prince become the little emperor who abdicated from the previous dynasty?”The seated Zhao official glanced at Shi Shouxin and the other six generals who were sitting on his left and right with his tiger-like eyes. He sighed lightly and pretended to have a heavy heart as he spoke thoughtfully.
"We dare not. We swear our loyalty to the Zhao family and the Fourth Prince!”After hearing Zhao Guanjia's words, Shi Shouxin and the other six felt as if they were sitting on pins and needles. When Zhao Guanjia finished speaking, they felt as if they had heard a thunder on the ground. Immediately, they felt a deafening rumble. They immediately stood up and quickly stood in front of Zhao Guanjia. Cold sweat broke out on their foreheads. They lowered their heads and bowed, cupped their hands, and said in unison.
"My six good brothers, I know that you will definitely defend the Great Song to the death and pledge your loyalty to me. However, I believe that my Fourth Prince, who will inherit my throne in the future, may not believe it. Even the officials in the court might not believe it. You can't just talk. You should take action and show them your determination to pledge your loyalty to the Imperial Court.”Seeing the ashen faces of Shi Shouxin and the other six, the Zhao family was extremely happy. On the surface, they pretended to be worried. They immediately stood up and walked in front of them. They patted their shoulders and said.
"We, we, are willing to hand over our military power to express our loyalty to the official family and the Fourth Prince.”After listening to Zhao Guanjia's meaningful words, the six of them finally understood the purpose of Zhao Guanjia's banquet. However, when they thought that they might not be able to protect their lives because they each held military power, they all knelt on the ground and kowtowed as if they were pounding garlic, begging for mercy.
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