Chapter 551 A Dream of Youth 83
Celestial jade and precious stones, scattered willow catkins, flakes of goose feathers.
Today, Doctor Gu was not on duty, so Xie Ning had some free time to go out with the Xie family elders to set up a stall at the Vermilion Bird Gate. Although there was no place to sit on the food cart, Xie Ning was small enough to sit directly on the handlebars.
When this car first appeared, it became quite popular, attracting many people to join in the fun and indirectly increasing the popularity of Yunzhou fried rice.
In addition, Xie Yun's cooking skills were truly excellent, which made the business even more booming.
The customers coming and going are no longer just the initial target customers; even those eating at other stalls or restaurants will order a box of fried rice.
"Madam Xie, bring three plates of fried rice! One with pickled cabbage, one with meat and vegetables, and one with meat and egg." A waiter dressed in linen clothes came over, carrying a wooden box with a handle, not made of bamboo.
"Hold on."
Although the weather is cold now, there are still vendors selling lettuce, leeks, and orchid sprouts on the street.
The sauerkraut was homemade pickled. As for the meat, Xie Yun glanced at the waiter and asked, "What kind of meat do you want, lamb or pork?"
The oil is already hot in the wok, the waiter quickly added, "Lamb, lamb."
Those who come to their restaurant are all wealthy, so naturally they eat mutton.
Xie Yun's first dish was fried rice with vegetables. There were no fancy techniques involved, but once the finely shredded pickled vegetables and rice were added to the pan, an enticing aroma with a sweet and sour flavor wafted out.
Xie Ning swallowed hard. She had eaten pickled cabbage fried rice before. Her grandmother was very good at pickling vegetables. It was said that her sister-in-law taught her how. The pickled cabbage was sour and crunchy, and extremely refreshing. Xie Yun even added a little sugar to neutralize the sourness, making it very palatable.
Adding some shredded lamb would make it even more fragrant; the shredded lamb is slightly browned and has a roasted meat texture.
Seeing Xie Ning staring at Xie Yun's movements, Grandmother Xie could tell that the girl was craving it, so she ladled half a bowl of mutton soup for her, saying, "Bao'er, drink some mutton soup first to warm yourself up."
I've already eaten quite a bit, I can't eat anymore.
"good."
As soon as Grandma Xie opened the lid of the bucket containing the mutton soup, the aroma instantly attracted a group of people. "How much is this mutton soup?"
In this kind of weather, just the smell of mutton soup is enough to make you feel warm.
"Six coins a bowl, would you like clear broth or spicy broth?"
There are two buckets of mutton soup. One bucket is white like milk, with water and fat blended together, and has a pure texture. It tastes fresh without being gamey, and fragrant without being greasy. The mutton inside is tender but not sticky.
The other bucket looks very bright red, but it's not spicy at all, and it's fragrant and tender!
"I want clear soup, and a mutton bun!"
"Red soup, red soup, do you have sauerkraut buns?"
"have!"
Grandma Xie and Grandpa Xie also got busy. They prepared their food and brought it over to sell, including Xie Yun's fried rice. However, Xie Yun's fried rice sold out very early today, so they had to take it out of the pan and make some more on the spot.
As dusk fell, Xie Ning spotted Xie Qi running towards them from afar and waved.
"Grandma, I want soup too!"
Grandma Xie was packing up her stall when she said helplessly, "Qi'er, all the soup is sold out."
The students who ran over with Xie Qi stared wide-eyed; they had come specifically to eat there, but they hadn't expected it to sell out so quickly.
"Then, is there any fried rice left?" A student stared at the clean oil pan, looking quite pitiful.
"There's still some fried rice left." Xie Yun was a little conflicted. There was only enough for two bowls, but Xie Qi had brought so many students.
Everyone was disappointed, and the students who had eaten there were even more upset. "We came all this way, thank you! Why don't you sell it at the gate of the Imperial Academy? That way we could eat it for lunch and dinner too."
They have such a sweet tooth; the food outside is always much better than what they eat at school.
Xie Qi also wanted to eat his aunt's fried rice. "Auntie, why don't we set up a stall at the entrance of the Imperial Academy tomorrow? I want to eat your fried rice too!"
Xie Yun had already finished preparing the last two portions of fried rice, and upon hearing this, she readily nodded, "Tomorrow, Auntie will be setting up a stall at the entrance of the Imperial Academy, and you all must come and support Auntie!"
The students cheered. They could divide the two portions of fried rice among themselves, and Xie Yun didn't want their money.
Xie Ning also contributed her small purse, which was filled with snacks. Xie Qi had brought so many people; it wouldn't be good for them to leave empty-handed.
However, she also raised her question, "Brother, isn't tomorrow the eighth day of the month? Won't school be closed?"
ah?
Xie Yun chuckled, "That's right, tomorrow is Laba Festival, so we won't be setting up a stall. Come back the day after tomorrow."
Although there was the pain of not being able to eat fried rice, the thought that tomorrow was a holiday cheered everyone up again.
"Aqi, are you going to the Buddhist festival tomorrow?" On the eighth day of the lunar month, major temples in the capital will hold a bathing Buddha ceremony and give away Seven Treasures and Five Flavors Porridge to believers.
"I think I'll go." Xie Qi wasn't sure, because his family were all Taoists, not Buddhists. Of course, Xie Wangzhi, as the head of the family, didn't believe in anything.
Xie Qi couldn't help but look at his grandmother, who picked up Xie Ning and said with a smile, "Of course we'll go, to share in the good fortune."
The group cheered up again. Xie Ning and the others walked ahead, while Xie Qi played around with his classmates for a while before returning home.
It didn't snow the next day. Xie Ning went to the clinic in the morning. When she returned, she saw several monks and nuns standing at her door begging for alms. Each of them held a silver-plated copper sala, inside which was a copper Buddha statue soaked in perfume.
The monks and nuns chanted a few sutras, then dipped willow branches in perfume, flicked them gently, and used them to bathe the Buddha statue.
Chen Wanniang had someone give her some rice and beans, then bowed and looked up to see Xie Ning holding Zhang Mama's hand, standing not far away.
"Bao'er." Chen Wanniang beckoned, and Xie Ning ran over and bowed when he reached the nun.
After most of the people had left, Xie Ning quietly asked Xie Wangzhi, who was standing beside him, "Father, I saw a lot of monks and nuns today."
Although there are usually many, there are an unusually large number today.
"It's a festival today, so the monk will naturally be begging for alms."
Xie Ning didn't actually want to ask that. "Father, what's the difference between monks and nuns and ordinary people? I see that they also marry and have children. My brother said that monks used to follow certain rules and regulations, and there weren't that many monks back then."
Nowadays, monks and nuns can not only marry and have children, but also do business. They are not only merchants, but also craftsmen and so on. Under their monk robes, they play all sorts of roles, such as poet monks, calligrapher monks, and painter monks. They associate with scholars and officials... Xie Ning felt that the current dynasty's policies were really lenient.
Xie Wangzhi was at a loss for how to explain the reason to a small child.
The reasons for this situation are complex and cannot be explained in a few words. It involves not only the policies of the current dynasty but also historical reasons, including events from the previous dynasty and the chaotic period before its establishment.
To be honest, Xie Wangzhi felt that the imperial court should change its policy as soon as possible to restrict Buddhism. After all, there are hundreds of temples in the capital alone.
Since they had come up with this topic, Xie Wangzhi brought Xie Qi into the study to teach him as well, while Xie Ning just listened in because she was still too young.
“Qi’er, it just so happens that your younger sister asked about monks and nuns today, so let’s have a lesson before going to the Buddhist assembly.”
Xie Qi looked at Xie Ning with a blank expression, wondering why he had suddenly gained another assignment.
"Well, let's start with the previous dynasty's policies toward Buddhism. Why did the previous dynasty restrict Buddhism?"
“Speaking of Buddha…” Xie Qi scratched his head. He really hadn’t studied this thing very seriously, so his head drooped lower and lower, and he almost cried.
After thinking for a long time with his eyes closed, Xie Qi finally managed to organize his thoughts.
"Due to the war in the previous dynasty, people had to flee into the Buddhist order to avoid disaster. As the number of people increased, Buddhism flourished. However, since everyone became monks and nuns, temples had the privilege of being exempt from taxes and corvée labor."
Therefore, in a sense, there are fewer people belonging to the imperial court, and with fewer people, taxes become impossible to collect, and the conscription of soldiers and laborers becomes increasingly difficult.
In addition, criminals and deserters often took the opportunity to shave their heads and become monks to escape punishment. Therefore, the flourishing of Buddhism in the previous dynasty seriously affected the court's taxation, corvée labor, military service, and social order, which is why Buddhism was restricted.
However, the restrictive measures were rather drastic, which provoked resistance from the people.
Xie Wangzhi nodded, barely satisfied, but the words were too blunt.
"Continue, let's talk about the previous dynasty's policies on restricting Buddhism." This one needs to be more detailed.
Xie Qi stammered for a long time before finally managing to squeeze out two points.
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