Volume 1: My Territory, I Am in Charge Chapter 32: Laba Festival

  "What's wrong, didn't I make myself clear?" Zhao asked unhappily, seeing that Zheng Fu seemed somewhat embarrassed.

  "Second Master, no, no, one tael of silver can weigh several catties, twenty taels I'm afraid they won't be able to carry!" Zheng Fu hastily explained.

  Zhao Zhuang suddenly came to his senses, and at that time the money was not RMB, but copper coins. One guan of money was equal to one thousand wen, and one wen of copper coin weighed six grams. Twenty guans would be equivalent to 120 kilograms now, which is a huge pile of things. Selling three thousand guans of money would yield more than a ton, and he didn't know how Old Zheng had managed to bring it back? "So what do you think we should do?" He looked at the young servants, seeking their opinions.

  "Second Master, what Big Manager said is right. We really can't take this money. We all trust Second Master, why not put the money in the account room? We can go and get it whenever we need it!" Zhao Yi spoke up at this time.

  "Let's go, let's go! We all trust that Second Master won't cheat us. Let's just do as Zhao Yi said!" The others also chimed in and said.

  "Alright, I promise you'll always be able to get the money, I won't welch on the deal!" Zhao Chu stretched out his little finger and hooked it with theirs as he spoke.

  "Second Master, the mutton is done, you can eat now!" At this time, Zhao Xin cut a piece of meat from the sheep's neck with a knife and handed it to Zhao Shu.

  "Ah, delicious! Let's eat together, the roasted meat won't taste good if it gets cold!" Zhao Chu nodded and said after taking a bite. He looked at Zhao Xin again, wondering how this little guy knew the customs of the barbarian tribe, giving the sheep neck meat to the person with the highest status first.

  "Wow..." The young men cheered and sat in a circle, waiting for Zhao Xin to cut the meat and distribute it among them. Zhao Xin seemed very skilled, the thickness of the meat slices was just right, each piece had a golden crispy skin.

  "Old Zheng, why haven't you gone to work yet?" Zhao Zhe took a roasted bun from the fire, split it open, and inserted some roasted meat. Suddenly, he found that Zheng Fu was still standing on one side.

  "Second Master, I haven't eaten yet either. Want to have something together!" Zheng Fu licked his lips and swallowed his saliva, his eyes shining brightly as he spoke.

  "Haha, looks like you're starving! Everyone squeeze in and make room for the big boss to sit down!" Zhao Ye said with a big laugh. Zheng Fu seemed to be really starving too, and didn't care about anything else, he sat down next to Zhao Ye, wiped his hands on his body, and started cutting meat to eat. The two servants who came along also found a place to sit down and followed suit in eating.

  "Zhao Ren, where did you buy this mutton?" Zhao Yan asked while eating.

  "Second Master, I bought it from the Grass Market, what's wrong with that?" Zhao Ren said, wiping the oil dripping from the corner of his mouth.

  "This sheep must be one of our local mountain goats, the meat is a bit tough. If it were a sheep from the grasslands, it would be dripping with oil when roasted and taste even better than this!" Zhao Yan said.

  "Second Master, wanting to eat the mutton from the grasslands isn't easy. The sheep we buy from the market every year aren't enough for the high-ranking officials in the palace and the capital, let alone making it to our place!" Zheng Fu said with a shake of his head.

  In the imperial palace, "the royal kitchen only uses mutton", in principle "does not serve pork", which means that the emperor only eats mutton and does not eat pork. Pork is something that lower-class people eat, it's not suitable for the imperial court. This leads to a situation where the upper class sets an example for the lower class, and the people also think that "eating mutton is honorable, eating pork is shameful". Everyone wants to eat mutton, but the supply is tight due to production issues. Sheep raised in plain areas are not as good as those from grasslands, which is why high-quality hairy crabs are so expensive now. Good mutton needs to be imported, but that's subject to quotas, and priority is given to wealthy families with connections. Ordinary people can only make do with eating locally-raised sheep.

  "What's difficult about that? When we grow up, we'll retake the sixteen prefectures of Yan and Yun, fight our way to the grasslands, and turn them into our own territory. There will be cattle and sheep everywhere, and won't we be able to eat mutton whenever we want?" Zhao Jue said with a big mouthful of lamb leg that Zhao Xin had handed him.

  "Alright, when Second Master becomes the Grand Commander of the Expeditionary Forces, we'll follow him to the grasslands to plunder sheep!" Zhao Yong shouted loudly, waving a sheep's femur.

  "Right, let's all go, and after we've conquered the grasslands, we can eat mutton every day!" The whole group of people were moved by Zhao Tie's depiction of a better life.

  Just after the Winter Solstice, it's already Laba Festival. Legend has it that this is the day when Sakyamuni Buddha drank a bowl of "mixed congee" and attained enlightenment. To commemorate this important day, Buddhist temples offer free congee to all, accumulating good deeds. As time passed, the ingredients in the congee became more diverse, with seven main items used during the Song Dynasty: glutinous rice, walnuts, pine nuts, milk, mushrooms, persimmons, and chestnuts, making it "Seven Treasures Five Flavors Congee", also known as Laba Congee. Large temples would hold a Buddha bathing ceremony, offering congee to monks, donors, and aristocrats. Under the influence of Buddhism, ordinary families began to follow the example of temples and make Laba Congee on Laba Festival.

  On this clear morning, breakfast had become Laba porridge. Just after finishing the meal, Wang Taigong arrived, "Second Master, I've just made a new batch of Tiger Head Dan and Bagong Tusu, here to give everyone!" The old man said as he took out several red envelopes from his medicine bag, respectfully presenting one to Zhao Sheng, and distributing the rest to the delighted Guihua and others in the room.

  "Royal Doctor Wang has a kind heart, let's sit down and have a bowl of porridge together!" Zhao Zhan thanked him, but he was still confused. What medicine would this old man who wasn't sick or in trouble give to himself? He invited Royal Doctor Wang to sit down and had Guihua serve him a bowl of porridge.

  The old man didn't stand on ceremony, and sat down to drink two bowls of porridge in a row. During the conversation at the table, Zhao Zhan only knew why the old man sent him medicine. It turned out that during the Song Dynasty, doctors had the custom of making medicine on the 21st day of the twelfth lunar month, called "腊药" (preserved medicine), and sending it to everyone was also for auspiciousness.

  "Old Master, the New Year is approaching and you should return to Beijing for the celebration. Do you need me to arrange someone to send you back? Is your allowance sufficient?" Zhao asked after finishing his congee and rinsing his mouth.

  "Your Highness, I was just about to tell you this, but for New Year's, I don't want to go back, I want to stay in the mansion and spend the holiday!"

  "Old Master Physician, you've been away from home for a year now, it's time to return and reunite with your family, enjoy the joy of family reunion. Don't always hang around the mansion, if you don't have enough money, just go to the accounting house to withdraw some!"

  "Your Highness, thanks to the kindness of Imperial Concubine Meng, my eldest son was appointed as a medical jinshi this year and entered the Medical Bureau, which can be considered as having an official position. I have nothing to repay with, so I have submitted a memorial to the Taiyi Hospital requesting to resign and would like to stay in the mansion to serve Your Highness wholeheartedly!" The old man stood up and said with a bow.

  "Ah!" Zhao Xiang's heart was moved, his mother had truly gone all out for him. The old man was also someone who repaid kindness, "Is there anyone else at home?" he asked again.

  "There's an old wife and two concubines at home, as well as two unmarried young children living with us; the older ones have all moved out already!"

  "Alright, let the old doctor stay in the mansion then, and his monthly salary will be doubled!" Zhao Yi thought for a moment before saying. The old man was overjoyed and bowed to take his leave. He also understood that as long as he served the king well, the noble consort in the capital would protect his family, and his eldest son's career would surely go smoothly.

  "See Xi, discuss with the steward and see who else in the mansion cannot return home for New Year's. Those who are willing to come here, arrange for someone to bring their whole family over to spend the New Year together. For those who are not willing to come, buy some New Year's goods and send them to their homes!" Wang Taigong went out the door, and Zhao Che beckoned See Xi over to instruct him.

  "Second Master, that's quite a number of people and no small expense either?" Xǐ Dàgài said after calculating, knowing that the king had a 'financial obsession'.

  "You, don't be stingy with money when it's supposed to be spent. Everyone works hard all year and can't even go home for the New Year, let alone have a good time. Don't worry about that little bit of money, this time the round-trip fare and food and drink will all be put on the government's account. We'll get the houses in the outer courtyard ready, if not we just got a new estate didn't we? It's fine to arrange for them to stay there too!" Zhao Shu said with a knock on Jian Xi's shoulder.

  "It's settled then! I'll go and arrange it right away. The others will be overjoyed when they hear the news!" he said with a delighted smile.

  "Second Master, can you bring my parents here?" asked Gui Hua cautiously, who had been listening for a long time.

  "What's your opinion? You're not from the government, are you?" Zhao Yan teased her, looking at her tense expression.

  "I am a person from the mansion, who dares to say I'm not?" Guihua heard this and immediately became anxious, looking at the wickedly smiling Wang Ye, her face turned red. "Second Master is always bullying people, I'll write a letter to Father and Mother right away!" The little girl said coquettishly and left happily.

  Just as they had finished cleaning up, Zhao Yi suddenly heard the sound of wooden fish drums coming from outside, and faintly made out the chanting of Buddhist scriptures. "Second Master, it must be the monks coming to beg for alms!" Jian Xi saw that Zhao Yi didn't understand, so he hastily explained on the side.

  "Come on, let's go take a look at the excitement!" Zhao said with a furrowed brow. He had come to this era without knowing much about it, but he had learned about traditional Chinese festivals.

  In ancient times, there were too many festivals of all kinds. Some had never been heard of before, just like the recent Winter Solstice. Although it was also celebrated in the past, where did so much fuss come from? It used to be just eating some dumplings and that's it. But now it's become a major festival, with everyone wearing new clothes, every household preparing wine and dishes, worshiping ancestors, and treating it like New Year's Eve, calling it "Minor New Year". It is said that in the capital city, the emperor will offer sacrifices to heaven, mobilizing tens of thousands of people, on an even larger scale.

  Zhao Zhan and Jian Xi walked through the courtyard to the front gate, where they saw several monks standing outside the door. They were all wearing brand new monk's robes and red kasaya, with a young and robust one at the front holding a copper sarira on which sat a sandalwood Buddha statue with bright golden lacquer, smiling as he held a flower. Behind him were two monks beating wooden fish drums while reciting scriptures, and the rest had their backs to them, carrying alms bags and looking like they were receiving offerings from donors.

  "Second Master, you've arrived!" The two gatekeepers bowed and greeted as they saw Zhao Che approaching.

  "They've been knocking for half a day now, why aren't they leaving? Didn't we give them anything?" Xixi asked.

  "The three officials had already given them several dou of white rice, but they thought it was too little and refused to leave, asking for more money. The three officials went back to get some!" replied the gatekeeper.

  "They have the energy to knock, let them knock, a group of parasites, not even giving them a single cent!" Zhao Shu said with disdain, these monks just recite scriptures and chant Buddha every day without producing anything, the temple generally has a lot of land and property, hiring tenants to farm and collect rent without paying taxes, they are not short of money at all, now it's just a way to extort money, Zhao Shu is too lazy to bother with them.