Chapter 261 Banquet

At the end of February, the imperial court issued an edict to Wu Jie and Zhang Jun. After receiving the edict, both parties naturally set out in a hurry and headed for the capital.

Among them, Zhang Jun came from Xuzhou, and the distance he traveled was almost half less than that of Wu Jie, but he arrived early in early March. Then he received an imperial decree saying that he would be summoned after Wu Jie arrived. So he just stayed in the mansion he bought in Beijing and gathered for news everywhere.

As for Tokyo City, especially the city whose population has now recovered to nearly 400,000... When has it ever lacked news?

Therefore, Zhang Boying only needed to make a little inquiry and he knew everything, including what he should and should not know, what was true and what was false.

Then, he began to... open the door to welcome guests!

That’s right, General Zhang suddenly opened the gates of his mansion and set up a buffet.

First, they entertained the neighbors, regardless of their status, according to their age and seniority in the village, with the oldest sitting at the top and the younger sitting at the bottom. Even Zhang Jun himself sat at the table for middle-aged people, and his nephews Zhang Zigai and Zhang Ziyi also sat below.

In this round of reception, there were no more than twenty dishes on each table, but they were all fresh spring vegetables, plus chicken, fish, meat and eggs, and the quantity was sufficient. The accompanying wine was also the mixed wine brewed by the villagers during the New Year. Because it was taken out of the cellar in the middle of the twelfth lunar month, it was called La wine.

So on the first day, everyone in the neighborhood praised General Zhang.

The next day was different. Zhang Boying held a banquet again. This time, he invited middle and lower-ranking officers from the various armies in and outside Tokyo. The dishes reached the level of a formal banquet with 30 dishes, and the proportion of meat dishes was also higher. He also invited a formal chef to prepare two hard dishes for each table, namely roasted lamb chops and stewed pork elbows. The wine was also replaced with good wines that were sold by ordinary restaurants.

In addition, there was a special storyteller who told stories in front of the courtyard before the banquet to liven up the atmosphere, telling the story of "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons".

On the third day, the banquet continued. This time, the guests were mainly officials and scholars who were acquainted with each other. Zhang Jun had been in Huaidong for four full years, three of which he had been the governor. There were not too many civil officials who had interacted with him. Although it was a sensitive period, many of them said that they had a clear conscience and came in person.

This time, the number of dishes at the banquet had reached forty, a luxurious level. Each dish was cooked by professional and experienced people. And since they were civil officials and scholars, Zhang Taiwei also invited singing girls and created ci tunes for them to compose poems. He also collected the poems and had them printed on woodblocks.

Of course, the drinks are more refined.

On the fourth day, people in Tokyo were already looking askance, but the banquet went on as usual.

This time, all who came were dignitaries from Tokyo, officials of proper backgrounds, and some well-known scholars. The number of dishes reached a luxurious number of fifty, the wines were of well-known quality, the chefs were all famous chefs invited from the surrounding restaurants, and fully half of the dishes were the signature dishes of the famous chefs.

Before the banquet, there were storytelling, singing, and variety shows; during the banquet, there were musical performances and dancing; after the banquet, there were acrobatics, pitching pots, and poetry.

So far, this has been a proper banquet that can be recorded.

On the fifth day, the party continued even after the banquet.

On this day, the people who came were mainly old friends of Zhang Taiwei's Western Army, old subordinates who were promoted and transferred from the headquarters, and a few civil servants who were recommended and appointed by him. In other words, those who came this time were all Zhang Taiwei's real "personal friends".

Logically speaking, at a banquet of this level, one could do whatever one wants behind closed doors. But in reality, Zhang Jun still left the door open and arranged the banquet in a clear manner.

The dishes were still fifty yuan, the drinks and entertainment were the same as yesterday, and the chefs were the same, but after the banquet, these close relatives of Zhang Taiwei were all given large amounts of money and silk in public, and those of appropriate age each took a beautiful concubine back home… For example, among them was a Guangzhou boy named Liang Jiaying, a so-called last-class Jinshi, the kind who read the imperial reports in the army, who just happened to come here in Tokyo to report, and then was preparing to go south to assist General Yue in suppressing the rebellion. It was only because it was General Zhang who had been the guarantor for entering the Imperial College that day, so he was invited here by chance, but was seen by countless people coming out of General Zhang's house with a pile of money and silk and two beautiful concubines, and finally hired a donkey cart to return to his residence in a daze.

It also made many people jealous.

On the sixth day, the banquet continued under the attention and expectation of the entire Tokyo city. This time, the guests included Yang Yi Zhong and Liu Yan, the direct commanders of the imperial guard; Lan Gui and Feng Yi, the escorts of the Ministry of Internal Affairs; the sons of Prime Minister Lu Haowen and Zhao Fen, the eldest son of Prime Minister Zhao Ding; and several commanders from inside and outside the city.

At this time, they didn't even set up the table, they just ate on separate plates, and the number of dishes was no longer important. They offered two rounds of wine and changed dishes. The wine and water were all from Lanqiao Fengyue, and dozens of dancers danced in the court... I don't know if Commandant Zhang knew the meaning of the Eight-Legged Dance in the Courtyard?

On the seventh day, under the anticipation of everyone, Lu Haowen, the Minister of Military and National Affairs, Zhao Ding, the Prime Minister of the Capital, Liu Ji, the Deputy Prime Minister, Zhang Jun, the Privy Councilor, Chen Gui, the Deputy Privy Councilor, Wang Yuan, the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Camp, Wang De, the Left Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Central Army, and the two fathers-in-law of the emperor, Wu Pan, arrived together.

At this time, the whole city of Tokyo watched with extremely complicated emotions a top-notch banquet that had not been held in Tokyo for a long time.

The banquet is divided into four sittings...the first sitting, the second sitting, the main sitting, and the resting sitting.

The first and second sittings are for fruits. Each time there are two rounds of vegetable dishes, a total of four rounds, including dried fruits, vegetables and fruits, candied fruits, salty and sour fruits, eight kinds of each.

Then comes the formal sitting, which is the formal banquet, divided into fifteen rounds of wine cups, each round is a main dish prepared by a famous chef, and each main dish has a corresponding ceremony, appetizers, and tea for rinsing the mouth.

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!