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Chapter 139

Chapter 139. Surprised Four Seats

When everyone heard this, they couldn't help being puzzled.

The so-called catering culture has been handed down by the literati and bureaucrats throughout the dynasties, and only they have the money and leisure to study it.

As for ordinary people, it is good to be able to eat enough, how can they have such leisure time?

"Mr. Ren said it wasn't a banquet, but he didn't say that it was the food of ordinary people. In my opinion, it still belongs to the class of literati and bureaucrats."

"But what other tricks can be conjured up? In terms of meal-sharing elegant meetings, there is no more famous one in the Song Dynasty than the Luoyang Senior Elite Association. If you set up a table for the Eight Immortals to gather for dinner, he doesn't even have a main dish."

Several scholars shook their heads again and again, feeling that Ren Ping was in a dilemma, and the chance of turning things around was slim.

Jiang Rui, who hadn't spoken for a long time, sneered secretly. The current situation was exactly what he had planned long ago, making it difficult for Ren Ping to set the Eight Immortals table, and it was difficult to win in the meal sharing system.

For this reason, he did not hesitate to spend a lot of money to buy one of the scholars. If Ren Ping can easily solve this situation, he absolutely does not believe it.

"Hmph, what a kid with no hair, no matter how good his eyesight is and knowledge? Let me let you know that when it comes to business matters, you don't count for anything!"

When everyone had their own thoughts, Ren Ping finally stood up at this time.

I saw that he neither paid attention to the Eight Immortals table not far away, nor separated the utensils like Jiang's father and son, and put on a scene of sharing meals.

Instead, he placed the multi-layer wooden frame in front of him in the middle of the table, and then slowly placed the prepared bowls, plates and other utensils on it.

Jiang Jinwen couldn't help laughing when he saw it:

"You put the dishes on this broken wooden shelf, aren't you using it as a dining table?"

Then he laughed out loud.

Ren Ping ignored him, and still placed them lightly one by one. At first, he was a little jerky, and he had to think a little when he placed each dish, but soon, the more he placed the dishes, the more proficient he became. Ten dishes go up.

Everyone was slightly surprised, they didn't expect that the wooden frame didn't seem very big, it was only a few feet high, and the layers were only a few levels, but it could hold so many dishes, and it looked like it was just the beginning.

With a snap, Ren Ping seemed to press some button at the bottom of the wooden frame, and a log shaft in the center of the wooden frame turned slightly, and it turned out that the machine bracket was installed.

Immediately afterwards, the mechanism was activated, and the row of wooden racks at the bottom suddenly spread outwards, and along the wooden connecting rods, the original ten or so dish positions suddenly expanded to twenty.

The upper floors were also enlarged correspondingly, more than doubling in size.

It turned out that Ren Ping really wanted to use it as a dining table!
At this time, everyone finally saw the entire wooden frame clearly.

I saw that it was conical or pyramid-shaped as a whole, wide at the bottom and narrow at the top, and connected by a log in the middle. At the beginning, there were only three layers of wooden frames, but now it has expanded to five layers.

Each wooden frame is fixed on the log shaft by connecting rods, and at the end are circular wooden plates of different sizes, which are the positions for placing dishes.

Many of these wooden discs were originally covered and hidden, and they were presented in a staggered manner as soon as they were pressed.

Now it seems that the diameter of the largest wooden frame on the ground floor has expanded to nearly two meters. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a small dining table.

What's more, the five-story wooden frame is intertwined and intertwined, which is very layered, and it looks as lifelike as a peacock spreading its tail. This... is simply a work of art!
"What the hell is this? Why have I never seen it?"

"Is it a banquet utensil from the Song Dynasty? Is it a table or a food plate? Are those extended round wooden plates really used to place dishes?"

"Of course. Didn't you see that Ren Ping has put twenty or thirty dishes on it one after another? The first floor is already full, and if you add the upper four floors, you can place at least fifty more."

"Fifty dishes on a table? No matter how grand a banquet is, it can't be more than that! No wonder the Jiang family and his son just destroyed his main course plate and he couldn't see anything moved. It turns out that he had already made a choice. These fifty dishes were placed on the table. Go up there, it’s so dazzling, what’s the need for the main course?”

In the Song Dynasty, the diet was small and exquisite, and the main course was not necessary. It was very popular among literati and bureaucrats to share meals at a dozen desks as shown by Jiang and his sons just now.

However, Ren Ping now only relies on an exquisite wooden frame to avoid the problem of the main dish, which is unheard of in this situation.

All the scholars turned their attention to Tu Wenxiao for a while, and judging from his reaction just now, it seemed that he knew something about it.

Sure enough, Tu Wenxiao's eyes were like everyone else's, with a look of astonishment and talent, but he kept calm and said slowly:
"Teachers, have you heard of 'Jiashan'?"

"Cut the mountain? What is that?"

All the scholars shook their heads together.

"Inserting mountains, also known as 'inserting plate food racks', is a kind of wooden utensils that were popular in the noble lord's mansion in the Northern Song Dynasty. It is said that it was made by a well-known skilled craftsman at that time,"

"A normal table, no matter how big it is, can only hold twenty or thirty dishes. But this thing is divided into multiple layers. As you can see, it can hold more than fifty at most. It is very popular with some luxurious and luxurious families."

"As for why it is called Chashan, take a closer look at the shape of this thing, does it look a bit like Penglai Fairy Mountain?"

The words awakened the dreamer. Everyone thought that the wooden frame had a unique shape and did not look like it was piled up randomly.

Looking at it again at this time, the momentum is majestic, like a mountain peak, and there is no lack of delicate aura in it, what is it if it is not Penglai Mountain?
Everyone was stunned for a moment, never expecting that this thing was not only exquisite, but also had such a unique design.

Although the banquet is still held on a wooden frame several feet square, it feels like being in a fairyland. How could the literati of the Song Dynasty who were not both elegant and smart create such a marvelous thing?
"At the beginning, I didn't dare to make a conclusion. After all, this object was rare in the Song Dynasty. There were only a few words in some ancient books. Today, people have never seen it. Unexpectedly..."

While talking, Tu Wenxiao stared at the wooden frame in front of him with scorching eyes. Obviously, Ren Ping was able to bring this thing, which he never expected. Seeing it today, it was a worthwhile trip.

All the scholars also felt the same way. When they were about to say something more, He Suyuan who was on the side suddenly said:
"More than that, Mr. Tu, have you ever heard of 'push mountains and rain'?"

"It's raining in the mountains?"

Tu Wenxiao was startled when he heard the words, as if thinking of something, but the rest of the people had question marks all over their faces.

"That's right, inserting mountains and falling rain, inserting mountains naturally refers to this wooden frame, while falling rain refers to techniques,"

"To put it simply, there are more than 50 dishes on the top, which cannot be placed randomly, but should be placed in order of priority, hot and cold, meat and vegetable, etc., just like when it rains, there is heavy rain first, followed by light rain. ,"

"Otherwise, if you mix it up, even if there are utensils to make it beautiful, it will appear to be superficial and fly in the ointment."

The people were even more astonished when they heard the words. It is hard to imagine that the ancients even figured out such a technique for arranging banquets.

But looking at He Suyuan and then at Ren Ping, it is clear that as he said, they should be placed in an orderly manner by category, otherwise the more than 50 dishes, no matter how slow they are, should have been placed long ago.

At this time, the scholars paid more attention to it, and soon discovered that the dishes that Ren Ping placed seemed to be similar, but in fact they were slightly different.

The ones with slightly smaller diameter and lighter color should be cold dish dishes and vegetarian dish dishes, which should be placed on the first and second floors.

The ones with a slightly larger diameter and darker color are hot dishes and meat dishes, which are placed on the third or fourth floors.

As for the fifth floor, there are only two places on the left and right, each with a relatively large dish, which is naturally the main course.

In this way, although there is no main dish, the Chinese tradition has always paid attention to the distinction between the primary and the secondary, and the secondary surrounding the main, which has long been unconsciously realized.

"Teachers, how about this banquet in the rain?"

After placing the last dish, Ren Ping turned his head and smiled.

At this time, there were slight beads of sweat on his face, but he was still very pleased that he was done. He grabbed the bottom wooden plate and twisted it gently, and the entire wooden plate immediately started to rotate counterclockwise.

Good guy, there is such a function.

All the scholars smiled wryly, and finally admired it.

If it is said that the Qiying Club of the Jiang family and his son just now fought for their background, then Ren Ping's feast of cutting mountains and falling in the rain has both background and knowledge, and the winner has already been decided.

"Teachers, for the second round of judging, if you agree with President Jiang of the Ninth Five-Year Court, please raise your hand."

Tu Wenxiao suddenly said.

Before the words were finished, all the scholars remained motionless, only a tall middle-aged man in a suit raised his arm in the corner, and he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed when he saw that everyone was looking at him in unison.

But it's too late to let go.

"Teacher Liang, is that you?"

There was deep meaning in Tu Wenxiao's tone, obviously he regarded this person as the object of suspicion of the previous ghost.

That Teacher Liang was named Liang Zheng, and he was the one who was bribed by Jiang and his son to reveal the content of the competition to him. However, this matter had a great impact, so he couldn't easily admit it, so he forced a smile:
"Teacher Tu, don't get me wrong, I didn't do anything."

"Oh? Did I say what you did? This step is quite subjective and is not certain. There seems to be no need for Teacher Liang to be nervous, right?"

Liang Zheng frowned, knowing that it would be difficult to clear up the suspicion, and then turned his head, not far away, Jiang's father and son were giving him winks, asking him to take action.

Forget it, the reward this time is really expensive, for the present plan, it is better to keep the big house small, so as not to lose both ends.

"That's right, the so-called beauty of each eye, in my opinion, it is indeed President Jiang and his Luoyang Qiying who will be better."

"What's the reason?"

"Reason? Is it necessary?"

"Of course, we would like to hear Mr. Liang's opinion."

All the scholars looked at him coldly.

Liang Zheng wasn't afraid either. In fact, he had thought of an excuse just now, and said calmly:

"It's simple to say. This time we are comparing the catering cultures of the Song Dynasty and Song Dynasty. Among them, the culture is the main thing, and the utensils are only auxiliary. The culture should also be biased towards the mainstream,"

"Since this is the case, President Jiang's Senior Citizens' Association was not only a gathering of thirteen famous officials in the Northern Song Dynasty at that time, but the form of sharing meals was also widely adopted by literati and officials. Isn't this the most mainstream culture?"

As soon as this statement came out, Tu Wenxiao and others looked at each other, and it was really difficult to argue.

Jiang Rui took advantage of the situation and stood up and laughed:

"Well said! The Luoyang Qiying Society has been passed down through the ages, and it is admired by so many literati in the Song Dynasty. How can it be surpassed by a small skill?"

"Hmph! No matter how delicate this thing is, it's just a toy. If you put it into today, you can make as much as you want. It's just rubbish for boring people to pass the time when they are bored!"

(End of this chapter)