Chapter 168 Night Banquet
Changsheng Palace was originally named Changsheng Palace. It was built at great expense by Emperor Longwu of the previous dynasty. This palace is the largest palace in the imperial palace, covering an area of more than 30 acres and can accommodate thousands of people at the same time.
Because of its huge size and extreme luxury, Song Yuzhu was reluctant to use it easily, after all, it would cost a lot of money to maintain it. Only during festivals would she send palace servants to clean it up and use it to receive distinguished guests and entertain ministers.
The gilded gate of Changsheng Palace is inlaid with fist-sized rubies. These rubies were tribute from Persia, and each one is priceless.
Walking in from the gate, the ground is paved with smooth marble. In the days when there were no machines, these stones were completely polished by stonemasons bit by bit by hand. You can imagine how much time and effort it took.
When you enter the hall, you will see a colorful glazed ceiling above your head. These glazed tiles are illuminated by candlelight at night, making the entire hall dazzling.
The walls were originally painted red, but Song Yuzhu didn't like it very much, so a few years ago he asked craftsmen to paint a layer of white lime putty to cover the original red walls, making them look more in line with modern people's aesthetics.
There are 7749 load-bearing pillars around the main hall, each as thick as a double man's. The middle of these pillars is hollow, so you can put ice in them in the summer and charcoal fire in the winter, making it warm in winter and cool in summer.
The banquet was scheduled for the evening. It was still early now, and the palace servants were coming in and out, adjusting the chairs in the hall.
It was the first time for the younger eunuchs to see such a scene. Their faces turned red with excitement and they kept running around following their seniors.
A eunuch named Xiao Fuzi said, "This place is really beautiful. Your Majesty, why don't you open the door more often?"
The old eunuch said, "Silly boy, do you know how much money it costs to open it once? Our emperor is a frugal person and doesn't want to waste money on this."
Xiao Fuzi wiped the table and murmured, "How nice it would be if one day I could sit here too?"
"Don't let your imagination run wild, and get to work. Be smart at night, don't get so many officials confused, and be quick when serving the dishes, so as not to anger the nobles."
"Hey!" Xiao Fuzi nodded in response.
The sky gradually darkens and the lights come on.
The invited ministers and envoys from various countries lined up in front of the palace gate, waiting to enter.
The envoys from the north were fine, as they were already accustomed to the cold climate. However, those from Nanzhao, Siam, and Persia were still very cold despite wearing thick cloaks. They all sniffed their noses, rubbed their hands and stamped their feet to keep warm.
Soon the palace gate opened, and dozens of guards were standing by to check, because the party tonight was quite mixed, and they were afraid that strangers would sneak in. After the inspection was completed, the eunuchs led them through half of the palace to the Changsheng Palace.
Amudan and Yeluta were walking at the back. It was the first time for both of them to come to the Daqi Palace. From the moment they came in, Yeluta's eyes had never left the nearby buildings.
The people of the Central Plains are always good at dealing with such useless but exquisite things, which makes his savage animal nature burst out with the desire to destroy these things.
"Amudan, this place is so beautiful." Yeluta said in golden language.
"Yes, it is very beautiful."
"I really want to take this palace and enjoy it for myself!"
Amudan remained silent. He felt that the Third Prince was dreaming. In the past, when the Sheng Dynasty did not have gunpowder and cannons, the Taigu clan could not defeat it even with 200,000 elite soldiers. Now, it was even more impossible to defeat the Great Qi.
When they arrived at the gate of Changsheng Palace, the guards conducted a second round of body searches. No one was allowed to bring sharp weapons into the hall to prevent the emperor from being injured during the banquet.
The second round of search was even stricter than the first one. Yeluta was a little annoyed and secretly sneered at the emperor of Daqi for being afraid of death.
They quickly found him and the guard asked him to raise his hands for search, but before he could touch Yeluta's body, he was pushed away by a palm.
"roll!"
The guards nearby rushed over instantly, surrounding Yeluta with weapons in their hands.
Amudan quickly stood in front of him and said, "I'm really sorry, our prince is not used to being touched."
The chief guard said, "Since we cannot touch them, we can only ask the prince of Jin to take off his clothes and make sure he is not carrying any knives before entering."
"This is outrageous! You are really going too far!" Yeluta waved his fist angrily.
"Your Highness, this is Daqi!" Amudan shouted loudly.
The commotion here attracted the attention of those nearby. In order not to embarrass more people, Yeluta could only raise his hands and allow the guards to search him.
"What is this?" The guard took out a silver dagger from his arms.
“Give it back to me!”
“No knives allowed in.”
Yeluta's eyes were red as if he wanted to eat someone, "I said, give it back to me!"
This dagger was a relic left to him by his mother. He had always regarded it as a treasure. Now that it was taken away by the lowly people from the Central Plains, Yeluta was almost going crazy.
The guard was shocked by his appearance, but still explained: "No weapons are allowed in."
Yeluta grabbed the guard by the neck and lifted him up.
"What are you doing!" The people nearby stepped forward to stop him.
It happened that Zhao Xiao also rushed over from the camp. Seeing this, he hurried over and kicked Yelu Ta without saying a word!
Yeluta was caught off guard and staggered after being kicked. His grip loosened and the captured guard quickly broke free.
"Is this how you, Daqi, entertain guests?!" Yeluta asked in a stilted Central Plains dialect.
Zhao Xiao narrowed his eyes and said, "Da Qi is only polite to guests."
Amudan recognized Zhao Xiao and knew that if the matter continued, it would be bad, so he quickly walked to Yeluta and said a few words in Golden Language: "The Khan said that if you cause trouble, you don't have to go back."
Yeluta's body stiffened and he slowly lost his temper.
Zhao Xiao asked the guard next to him: "What's going on?"
"General, the Jin prince wanted to bring knives into the palace, and he got angry when we handed them over."
Zhao Xiao took the knife and took a look at it. It was a palm-sized dagger with the blade still unsharpened. He threw it back to Yeluta.
"Don't cause trouble in the palace, or I'll throw you out!"
Yeluta's face turned pale and blue as he thought of Amudan's words. Finally, he put one hand on his chest, apologized hastily, and walked in.
The palace banquet was about to begin. All the ministers and foreign guests had already taken their seats. Thousands of candles illuminated the Changsheng Palace as if it were daytime.
The sound of stringed instruments and bamboo instruments rang out from a corner of the hall. The music of pianos and drums was cheerful and pleasant, without any sense of decadence, but instead carried a festive atmosphere.
There were people among the audience who were interested in music, and they quietly asked what piece the musicians were playing. No one knew, but they heard that it seemed to be composed by the emperor himself.
In fact, if there are modern people, they can immediately recognize that this is a variation of "Gong Xi Fa Cai" played in major shopping malls and supermarkets during the Chinese New Year every year. However, for ancient people, this kind of pop music was still very advanced.
After the song ended, the musicians played another ancient song familiar to all the officials, "Jinghong". This song was composed by a master of ritual and music in the Zhou Dynasty. Because of its brilliant and grand tone, it was often used on important occasions.
Song Yuzhu and her sister Princess Changle came out to the sound of music.
Today, the two of them were wearing clothes of the same color. Song Yuzhu was wearing a scarlet gown with auspicious clouds embroidered on it with golden silk thread. The collar was rolled with snow-white fox fur, which made his skin as white as jade.
I put on a black cashmere coat because I haven't fully recovered yet, and cashmere is light and warm to wear.
Of course, the purpose of wearing this clothes is not only to keep warm, but also to promote Daqi's wool industry to other countries.
Song Yutong also wore a scarlet skirt, which was not a traditional women's style, but a cross-collar design used by men. The collar was also rolled with fox fur, and she wore a dark red cashmere windbreaker on the outside, which was the style with pleated skirt that was popular in later generations.
As soon as the two of them came out, they could not help but brighten people's eyes.
All the officials stood up and knelt on the ground, shouting: "Long live the emperor."
Although foreign guests were exempted from the kneeling ceremony, they still had to stand up and bow their heads in respect.
"Everyone, get up. Today, everyone is invited to attend a dinner in the palace. First, it is to celebrate the upcoming Daqi New Year, and second, it is to welcome friends from neighboring countries who have come from afar." Song Yuzhu said in a clear voice.
Despite some unpleasant incidents at the entrance, Yeluta still managed a forced smile.
"Since its founding, Daqi has always adhered to the principles of unity, friendship and peaceful coexistence in its relations with other countries. I hope that we can continue to maintain this in the future."
The envoys bowed to express their gratitude.
With the current military strength of Daqi, it is actually easy to conquer the surrounding small countries. A big part of the reason why Song Yuzhu did not take action is because he was cultivated into a peace-loving character in his previous life, advocating that I will not offend others unless they offend me.
However, this concept was very incomprehensible to the ancients. Zhao Xiao's idea was to lead the troops directly to drive out the countries that posed a threat to Da Qi, and control the countries that did not pose a threat and make them vassal states.
Influenced by him, Song Yuzhu gradually changed in the past few years. He was very tough in his attitude towards Japan. He would capture all the pirates he found at sea. Japan became much more stable, and no pirates dared to cross the ship to rob.
Song Yuzhu said a few polite words, introduced Princess Changle, and then sat down.
Following the order, the eunuchs began to serve the dishes. Because there were so many people, each person was served ten dishes on average, which meant thousands of dishes for hundreds of people.
The official was of low rank and sat far away. The weather was cold, and the dishes behind him were frozen, so he couldn't even pick up his chopsticks.
In fact, no one really came for the meal in such an occasion. They all wanted to take this opportunity to leave a good impression on the emperor.
After the meal was served, it was time to present gifts, which was what all the officials were looking forward to the most. Each country presented the best things to Daqi to maintain peace.
The first to offer tribute came from the Tubo Kingdom, which was carried in by eight eunuchs carrying a huge wooden box.
The Tubo envoy stood up and walked to the middle and said, "This is a gift that our king specially prepared for His Majesty the Emperor, a piece of natural pine-grained jadeite."
The eunuch opened the lid, and everyone craned their necks to look inside. Sure enough, there was a half-foot-high stone inside. The emerald green jade on top looked like the crown of a pine tree, and the brown raw stone below was the trunk, which looked lifelike. Not to mention that the jade on top was priceless, the meaning alone was worth a thousand gold. In ancient times, pine and cypress trees were associated with longevity.
The envoy kowtowed and said, "May Your Majesty be as evergreen as the pine trees!"
"The King of Tubo is thoughtful. I will reward you."
After the emerald pine tree from Tubo was carried down, the next country to pay tribute was Goguryeo.
The one who came this time was the Goguryeo Princess Lee Hyeon-soo, but she did not come alone, but brought her husband with her.
She held a one-foot square box in her hand and said, "Your servant was entrusted by the King of Goryeo to send the thousand-year-old jade Ganoderma lucidum to celebrate the New Year of Daqi."
As soon as the box was opened, a faint fragrance wafted out, which was the unique fragrance of Ganoderma lucidum. Inside the box was a pure white Ganoderma lucidum the size of a child's palm.
The eyes of those who know the matter lit up. Although the emerald pine tree just now is priceless, it is not as precious as the jade Ganoderma lucidum. This thing is the real good thing for prolonging life!
(End of this chapter)
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