Chapter 336 Carp Troubles

Later, the historians wrote down what happened today in the small notebooks they carried with them.

In the autumn of the second year of Yonghui, on the seventh month, on the day of Guisi, the emperor ordered the ritual officials and scholars to discuss the Mingtang system, with Gaozu paired with the Five Heavenly Emperors. Taizong paired with the Five Human Emperors.

As for the emperor's dinner, sorry, for the historians, this is just a small matter and is not worth recording.

After discussing the Mingtang system, it was already noon, and everyone felt hungry. Everyone was waiting for the emperor to say that dinner was served.

"Let's stop here today. I hope everyone will handle this matter well after returning? When the Taiwei, the ministers, and the kings ask about this matter, you can also have an explanation." Li Chengqian said.

"Yes!" The ritual officials and scholars saluted.

"It's getting late, so you should stay and have dinner with me. I have asked the Imperial Food Bureau to prepare the food." Li Chengqian said.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Everyone bowed and thanked him, full of joy. You know, it's not easy to have a meal with the emperor.

"Serve the food!" Li Chengqian said to Wang Quan beside him.

"Yes!" Wang Quan accepted the order, turned around and shouted, "Serve the food!"

Immediately, an eunuch ran out, and soon a group of palace maids and eunuchs brought today's lunch and placed it in front of everyone.

When the dishes came, everyone was dumbfounded!

Three dishes and a soup, the standard three dishes and one soup.

All fish, and all carp meat, how can they eat it?

There was a ban in the Tang Dynasty that prohibited the consumption of carp, and once it was violated, it would be punished.

For a moment, everyone didn't know what to do.

Li Chengqian picked up the spoon, scooped up the fish soup in the bowl, blew it gently, and then drank it into his mouth with a slurp. Immediately, his taste buds were wrapped in the deliciousness of the fish soup.

Li Chengqian picked up the chopsticks and was about to pick up the fish meat to taste it, when he felt that the atmosphere in the hall was a little wrong.

Looking up, everyone was sitting quietly, but no one started eating. In the past, this group of people would have started eating a long time ago, but why are they so quiet now?

Li Chengqian also found that Wang Quan on the side didn't look very good!

Li Chengqian had a black question mark face.

"What's the matter? Are these delicious dishes not to your taste? Why doesn't anyone start eating? What's wrong with you, Wang Quan?" Li Chengqian asked.

"Everyone! It was my negligence. I deserve death. Please punish me!" Wang Quan suddenly knelt on the ground and shouted.

Li Chengqian's face became even more puzzled after hearing this!

"What's going on?" Li Chengqian asked. Hearing Wang Quan's tone and everyone's expressions, he felt something was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Everyone! I didn't explain clearly. The Shangshi Bureau actually used red carp to make dishes for the ritual officials and scholars."

"These are all my negligence. I violated the ban. Please punish me." Wang Quan said. The Tang Dynasty banned the eating of carp, but he broke the ban knowingly. These should not be severely punished.

Speaking of the ban and the red carp, Li Chengqian remembered that since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, there has been a clear ban prohibiting the killing and consumption of carp.

Even if you catch a carp, you must release it immediately. If anyone dares to sell it, he will be severely beaten with 60 strokes of the cane.

Because the emperor of the Tang Dynasty was named Li, which is homophonic with the Chinese character for carp, eating carp is equivalent to saying you want to eat "Li".

In ancient times, in order to maintain the dignity of the hierarchy, when speaking or writing, the names of the monarch or the elders were not spoken or written directly, as a sign of respect.

This was to avoid using the names to make personal attacks and offend the transcendent status of the monarch or the elders, and other characters must be used instead.

For example, Li Hu, the grandfather of Li Yuan, the first emperor of the Tang Dynasty, stipulated that all characters related to tigers should not be spoken or used in order to avoid his name. For example,

the toilet was originally called Hu Zi, but later it was forbidden to call it that, so it was changed to Ma Zi. The military token for dispatching troops in ancient times was called Hu Fu, but it was changed to Yu Fu. Even the tiger in the mountains and forests could not be called Hu, but had to be called Da Chong.

Even carp had to be renamed as red carp. Of course, the emperor could still call carp carp. This was a privilege only the emperor had. No one else could even think about it.

In the entire Tang Dynasty, only the emperor and the royal family within three generations of the emperor could eat carp. No one else was allowed to eat it.

Of course, if everyone secretly ate carp behind closed doors, no one would care. As long as you didn't eat it blatantly, no one would do anything to you.

These ceremonial officials and scholars had also secretly eaten carp in private, but they didn't dare to eat carp in public now.

What's more, eating carp in front of the emperor was even more forbidden. Unless they were crazy and not afraid of death, they wouldn't dare to eat it even if they had two more guts.

It is not worth sacrificing your future for a bite of food.

What if, after they have finished eating, the emperor remembers this matter and takes the opportunity to punish them?

They don't want to end up in jail for a meal.

"Your Majesty! There is a ban in our Tang Dynasty that prohibits people from eating red carp. Anyone who catches and kills it will be severely punished." A ceremonial officer stood up and said. "

Of course I understand this ban. Our Tang Dynasty does prohibit people from eating carp. Today, I am actually inviting you to a full fish banquet, so I allow you to eat carp with me." Li Chengqian said.

As an emperor, he still has this small right.

Li Chengqian even had a sudden idea that he could use carp as a reward to reward ministers in the future.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" The ceremonial officer and the scholar saluted to express their gratitude!

With Li Chengqian's words, they could eat carp boldly in the Liangyi Hall today.

"Get up! I don't blame you for this!" Li Chengqian said to Wang Quan.

"Thank you!" Wang Quan thanked him.

He was scared to death just now. If the emperor blamed him, his life would be over.

"From today on, I will issue an imperial decree. In the future, when I entertain officials, anyone who has made contributions to the Tang Dynasty will be rewarded with carp." Li Chengqian said.

As long as Li Chengqian's edict is issued, anyone who can eat carp openly in the future will be honored.

Just like being able to enjoy the Imperial Ancestral Temple after death.

After Li Chengqian finished speaking, he invited everyone to have a meal together. With Li Chengqian's golden words, everyone was no longer restrained, and they all let go of their stomachs and ate and drank to their heart's content.

Being able to eat carp in front of the emperor openly and without restraint was enough for them to brag about for the rest of their lives.

After lunch, the ritual officials and scholars took their leave, and they still had to complete the matter of the late emperor enjoying the five emperors.

Li Chengqian sent Wang Quan to the Secretariat to draft an imperial decree to use carp as a reward for officials.

This decree was quickly passed. Although it was still said that carp could not be eaten openly, at least it was a good start.

In the future, if they could get the emperor's reward, they would be able to eat it openly once.