The dishes were sent from Sifanglou.
The wine is Xishan Tianchun from Sima Che's family.
About ten people sat around and started eating and drinking in the backyard of Piaoxiang Garden.
The atmosphere became more relaxed, but everyone still maintained the appropriate distance. After all, these two were the prime ministers of the current dynasty!
The Prime Minister, a second-rank official!
According to their thinking, for people of the status and position of these two, destroying any family in Daxia with just a word is a piece of cake.
This is actually true, but the current emperor has put their enormous power in a cage.
In addition, the current emperor is very observant, and the officials below, at least the officials in Kyoto, will definitely not dare to act recklessly.
As the person who introduced Yan Xiwen and Ning Yuchun, Sima Tao seemed to be much more active.
"Prime Minister Yan, Prime Minister Ning, I think you haven't tasted the flavors of Sifanglou for a long time. Come, come, try this braised lion's head!"
He used a spoon to scoop up two braised lion's heads and placed them on Yan Xiwen and Ning Yuchun's plates, then added, "I've traveled to many parts of Daxia over the years, but when it comes to food, the flavors of Jinling are still the most authentic. And the best flavors in Jinling are still at Sifanglou."
"But now this Sifang Building has encountered an opponent. I wonder if you know it?"
Yan Xiwen and Ning Yuchun had dinner with Fu Xiaoguan at Sifanglou a few days ago, but they had been busy with the rural revitalization plan these days and had not really paid much attention to the latest news in Chang'an City.
Ning Yuchun looked at Sima Tao and asked, "What's going on? Could it be that another imperial chef has opened a restaurant?"
"No," Sima Tao shook his head, "I came from the Far East. The name of the restaurant is Zui Mei Seafood Restaurant!"
"Because of the smooth shipping and regular flights, as well as the advancement of freezing technology, seafood from the Far East was something we had never heard of before. But now, whether it's Guanyun City or Jinling, any major city with shipping services has seafood for sale."
"The owner of this Zuimei Seafood Restaurant is a woman. She doesn't look very old, maybe in her twenties or thirties, and she's very beautiful. Last autumn, the first seafood restaurant opened in Guanyun City. The following month, the second opened in Jinling City. The month after that, I heard one opened in Janggeum City as well."
"Tailing City, Chi Le Chuan, and the Far North Road of the Western Xia Autonomous Region haven't had one yet because they don't have shipping. Just before the New Year, a restaurant opened in Chang'an City, which also doesn't have shipping."
"The proprietress personally manages Chang'an City. All the ingredients are shipped from the Far East Road to Jinling by ship, and then transported from Jinling to Chang'an by train. It is said that the chef here is also from the Far East Road."
"They only serve seafood: shrimp, crab, and sea fish. There's a wide variety of them, and the taste... well, how should I describe it? It's quite light, and supposedly good for your health. Now, it's a favorite among wealthy people everywhere, and it's even showing signs of surpassing Sifanglou."
When Yan Xiwen heard this, she thought it was a good thing!
Thanks to the convenient transportation, seafood ingredients from Far East Road have entered the homes of ordinary people.
It is also because of the convenience of transportation that more merchants from the Far East came to Daxia.
"In that case, we should definitely try out Zuimei Seafood Restaurant sometime. A hundred flowers bloom, and tasting the Far Eastern cuisine is also a way to liberate our minds... By the way, what's the name of the beautiful proprietress you mentioned?" Yan Xiwen asked.
Sima Tao laughed and said, "Her name is Aida Misa, tsk tsk tsk..." He shook his head, "That face and that figure... Anyway, I think she's much more alluring than Yinhe Jiutian's Yingmu Hanayu!"
Wang Qiyue also laughed, "You kid, be careful, or your wife will not forgive you!"
This was just an episode during the meal, and Sima Tao just thought of it as a topic to liven up the atmosphere. Instead, Ning Yuchun remembered the name of Zuimei Seafood Restaurant and Aida Misa in his heart.
He didn't think too much at the moment. He just felt that it was not easy for merchants from the Far East to establish themselves and do business in Chang'an City. He thought he should mention this to Zhang Mengze, the prefect of Chang'an, and ask the detectives to be careful so that no ruffians or powerful people would bully others.
After three rounds of wine and five kinds of dishes, Ning Yuchun talked about the theme of this trip to Piaoxiang Garden.
"Starting this year, Daxia will implement another national policy, the Rural Revitalization Plan. If you have been following the Daxia Weekly, you should know this."
Sima Tao and others actually knew about this matter because the Daxia Weekly published this national policy on the front page.
As businessmen, the first thing they think about is the business opportunities that may be contained in this national policy.
But Ning Yuchun wasn't here to reveal the business opportunity to them. "You all know before this, I've been serving as the prefect of Southwest Jingdao, and Xiwen has also been serving in West Jiangnan Dao. We were later transferred to Tailin City."
"Over the years since the founding of Daxia, we haven't been able to visit many places in Daxia, especially those remote areas, such as Chongzhou in Yueshan North Road, Qiongzhou in Jingdong Road, and Yuzhou in Jingxibei Road."
"Those remote mountainous areas haven't yet been connected by roads, and the Imperial Censorate has limited staff, making it impossible to oversee every county. I've heard that many families in those areas are still too poor to afford food, and some even say they share a pair of pants with several people..."
"This is due to both natural conditions and the inaction of local officials. Local officials are now driven by performance evaluations, creating a bad trend where they only report good news and not bad news!"
"When this good news came, everyone from top to bottom was overjoyed. The court didn't even know about it. With a stroke of the pen, those who deserved promotions got promotions, and those who deserved rewards got money. But who suffered?"
"It's hard for those ordinary people who have nowhere to seek redress or who dare not seek redress!"
"So I'm afraid Xiwen and I'm here to spoil your fun today, but this matter is very important to us, so we want to hear your opinions after visiting those places."
"This is a private matter and has nothing to do with policy. We will never let anyone else know what's been said here except Your Majesty. Don't worry about your family's business being hit by local pressure. We hope you'll share everything you know!"
The place suddenly became quiet.
Sima Tao pondered for a moment and was the first to speak: "I have indeed been to many places over the years, such as Ganling County, Qianshan County, and Yuanning County in Chongzhou."
"Well, His Majesty has given us merchants a broad horizon. He also once expressed the hope that merchants would shoulder social responsibilities."
"So my father asked me to go to those impoverished areas, with the intention of seeing if I could do something for them. Of course, it wasn't just about doing charity, but I hoped to open a workshop or plant mulberry trees and raise silkworms so that they could learn a skill to make a living."
"My Lords, let me tell you this: there's a reason why those places are poor, and that reason really lies with the local officials."
"Sometimes I just can't understand what's going on in the minds of these local officials."
"I started a weaving workshop in Qianshan County, but it closed down within a year."
"I know the tax rates stipulated in the Dachen Tax Law, and they know them too. So the problem isn't the tax rates, but a whole bunch of other things, like... the chief tax, the charity granary tax, the agricultural equipment tax, the silkworm salt tax, the market tax, the public security tax, the fire prevention fee, and so on and so forth."
"They call it local taxes," Sima Tao raised his eyebrows and laughed. "Don't even mention the common people. They keep asking for it every other day. I can't handle it either. I can only run away with a huge loss."
"Actually, I went to visit the governor of Yueshan North Road, Yan Xibai... Mr. Yan, come on, let's drink!"
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