The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

After being praised by Heifu and Gongao, Zhang Bo's show of wealth ended up being a joke...

He had no choice but to clap his hands, let it go, and let the servants serve the dishes quickly!

Maids in green clothes wearing white socks came in one after another. Although these women were not very beautiful in Heifu's eyes, in the eyes of the several Qin soldiers with titles who came with him, these maids were beautiful ladies that they had not seen for a long time, and they immediately swallowed their saliva.

The maids looked at the group of Qin soldiers with wide eyes, frowned, or smiled, put the dishes and drinks on the table in front of everyone, and then bowed their bodies and backed away from the hall.

Hei Fu took a look and thought to himself, "Zhang really spent a lot of money today."

But in addition to Liang rice, there were also a lot of meat on the table. The meat with bones was placed on the left, the large pieces of cut meat were placed on the right, the rice was placed on the left hand, and the soup was placed on the right hand. There were also roasted meat outside, and condiments such as scallions and dipping sauce inside, which was for easy access. The wine was placed in a pot on the side, and chopsticks, daggers, forks, and knives were served.

When Hei Fu was a pavilion chief, he had been to several county officials' homes and attended several banquets. So he knew that the Chinese people in the Warring States Period had various rules for eating, especially the banquets of the Central Plains scholars and officials, and not only chopsticks were used on the table, but spoons, knives, and forks were also common tools.

That was just the Qin State. The Wei State was located in the Central Plains. It not only had a long history, but also Confucianism was prevalent and was more influenced by the ritual and music culture. The Zhang family in Youxiang also claimed to be the descendants of a great official in the Spring and Autumn Period. There were poems and books in their home, and many of their children followed Confucian scholars to learn. Therefore, although they were only local sages and local tyrants, they also regarded themselves as a family of rituals and music, and they were particular about everything.

As the saying goes, the beginning of rituals is food and drink. In the culture of rituals and music, eating is not only eating, but also a ritual.

Confucianists also debated with others about which is more important, ritual or food?

The answer of Confucianists is affirmative: "Of course, ritual is more important!"

Because they knew Zhang's rules, the local sages and elders at the East Seat paid more attention to: be calm and composed before entering the banquet, do not change your expression, hold your clothes with your hands, and keep them one foot off the ground, do not lift your clothes, and do not stamp your feet to make noises. When serving, the dishes should be placed in order, and you should consider others when eating...

In addition to polite behavior, the proficient use of various tableware is also part of "food etiquette".

Take the wooden spoon in front of us, for example. In this era, it was called "bi" or "sho". Spoons and chopsticks are usually used together, and usually appear on the dining table at the same time, but the division of labor between the spoon and chopsticks is quite clear, and the two cannot be used interchangeably.

At the East Seat, everyone first raised their chopsticks, picked up the dishes from the plate, put them into their mouths, chewed them in small bites, and after swallowing, they put down their chopsticks and chopsticks, picked up the spoon, and put the hot porridge into their mouths...

This is exactly what "Book of Rites·Quli Shang" said, "Don't use chopsticks to eat rice and millet", and "Use a spoon for soup with vegetables, and don't use a spoon for soup without vegetables."

At the West Seat, except for Heifu and Gong Ao who knew a little about the etiquette of eating, the rest of the Qin soldiers didn't understand it at all. Some used chopsticks throughout the whole process, some used spoons throughout the whole process, and some even used their hands to grab the rice! They had worked too hard in the camp for too long, and they were eating happily at this moment, so they didn't care so much.

The same is true when eating meat. The bone fork with two teeth and thin handle is matched with the short and thin copper knife, all wrapped in silk fabric. Therefore, the local elders of the East Seat all cut the large pieces of white meat with a knife like the later generations eating Western food. This is what Confucius emphasized in the past: "If it is not cut properly, it will not be eaten." Then, they put the meat into their mouths with a fork, close their eyes and savor it...

The Qin soldiers of the West Seat are very different. They all eat very recklessly, or directly hold the meat bones in their hands and chew them, swallowing them whole in big mouthfuls, and wipe their mouths with oil when they eat. He made a loud noise while drinking the soup. After finishing the meal, he laughed and threw the bones to the dogs in the yard. Then he picked his teeth in public and commented loudly on the food...

These are all forbidden behaviors in the etiquette of eating. This scene made the local elders who were chewing slowly at the east banquet stunned, and the maids serving in the hall whispered and laughed. It also made Zhang Bo, who was slightly shocked by Hei Fu's words just now, look contemptuous again.

"It turns out that they are a group of Qin people with the same customs as Rongdi! They don't know what etiquette is!"

However, Hei Fu looked normal and ate in his usual way. He didn't think it was shameful.

Originally, the meal was divided into separate meals, and the chopsticks and wooden spoons had to be raised and lowered, which was really tiring. As for the two tools, forks and knives, they were special products for the upper class and the patents of "meat eaters". It was impossible for them to be very popular. As "Huo Shi", Qin soldiers did not need to prepare meat-eating forks and knives in their daily lives because there was no meat in their food, so they naturally did not know how to use them.

So, should we blame them for their lowly origins and the fact that they had no chance to learn aristocratic etiquette after working hard in farming and fighting all day?

Shang Jun said it well, etiquette is to make things convenient!

The so-called etiquette is to simplify from complex to simple, which is to make things convenient for the people. The knives and forks used exclusively by the upper class in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period were gradually eliminated from the dining table in the Han Dynasty, because the former peasants had overthrown the blood aristocrats, sat in high positions, and created a situation where commoners could become ministers. They simplified their cumbersome etiquette system again and again, and only some old Confucian scholars insisted on maintaining the customs that were out of touch with social culture, and tried to restore the long-dead Zhou rituals.

After leaving aside the red tape, the essence is still eating, drinking, defecating, urinating and sleeping!

Etiquette that is limited to a small circle and allows a few public intellectuals and dignitaries to show off is a false etiquette; etiquette that can be popularized throughout the world and benefit the majority of people is a true etiquette!

Of course, Heifu is not making excuses for his and his comrades' "lack of culture", but just feels that...

"If Wei's rule is the same as before, the common people and the local sages, the untouchables and the rich and powerful, these two types of people will never be able to dine in the same hall."

Besides, if we really want to talk about nobility and inferiority, the people in the East Seat must be more noble than the Qin soldiers in the West Seat?

If we count blood relationship, family background, and mastery of etiquette and music, of course it is true.

But now this place has surrendered to Qin, and the way Qin calculates nobility and inferiority is very different from that of the six countries.

Our Qin counts titles. The ten people that Heifu brought with him, without exception, were all beheaded and promoted to titles in the last battle of Waihuang, either as Shangzao or as Gongshi. On the other hand, except for Zhang Bo and Zhang Fu, the other people in the East Seat can only be regarded as soldiers!

Who is noble? Who is humble?

The East Seat and the West Seat, Shandong and Qin, have two different understandings of etiquette and customs, and two ways of thinking to distinguish between noble and humble. There is a huge gap between the two sides, and they have almost no common language. There are countless conflicts just on this small dining table.

The winner has his own set of rules and will not easily believe in the rituals and music of the loser, and the loser will not easily give up what he has adhered to for hundreds of years.

Hei Fu thought secretly: "This is just the beginning of the conflict between Qin and the six countries in terms of etiquette and customs. There are still many days to come..."

The integration of different states and the exchanges between different classes cannot be achieved by simply killing all those who are different from themselves with swords, nor can it be solved by a decree of "same track and same writing".

The Qin people who rose from peasants to nobles and were sent to the old land of the six kingdoms in Shandong to serve as officials need to carefully learn the etiquette of the East and integrate into the new cultural circle so that they will laugh at themselves less and less.

The nobles and sages of the six kingdoms also need to learn. Under the oppression of power, they need to learn the laws and regulations of Qin, learn to pay less attention to the old customs, and live in peace with the Qin officials they despise. After all, the family needs to survive.

If there is not enough time for integration, and the power of power suddenly disappears, then the next step is resistance and collapse.

Fortunately, not everyone on the East Seat side despises the Qin people's rudeness. Seeing that the atmosphere is not right, the third elder of the village, Zhang Fu, stepped out to smooth things over.

He raised his wine cup and said with a smile: "Don't rush to eat. You Jiao has just come to take up his post today. This wine is specially used as a companion to show our respectful welcome and to wish You Jiao a long life..."

Zhang Fu looked at the Qin soldiers who stopped eating and stared at him, and said with a stiff face: "It is also for all the warriors."

With the three elders taking the lead, Zhang Bo also raised his wine cup reluctantly, and the people in the east seat also stood up and raised their cups.

If it were a normal banquet, the guests in the west seat should immediately avoid the table and kneel down, saying that they dare not, and then drink the wine respectfully.

However, today's Qin soldiers were unmoved. No one raised the wine, but all looked at Hei Fu.

First, they didn't understand what the Wei people were saying. Second, the Qin army had strict orders and prohibited even drinking wine. Although everyone was greedy for the wine, they still didn't dare to taste it without Hei Fu's order.

"Today is a special case. It's okay to drink a little."

After Hei Fu said this, the Qin soldiers' eyes lit up. They immediately picked up the wine cups, and did not stand up, let alone avoid the table to be humble. They sat down and drank the little wine!

The guests at the East Seat were embarrassed, feeling insulted, and cursed in their hearts. Just when they were about to sit down angrily, they heard Hei Fu say to the maids in the hall: "Fill the wine!"

The maids were stunned, looked at the master, and after getting Zhang Bo's consent, they hurried over and filled the empty wine cups again.

Hei Fu smiled at his comrades who had not drunk enough, and ordered: "Two or three, stand up and toast the master!"

As soon as the voice was finished, ten Qin soldiers stood up in unison! At the same time, they raised the wine cups that had just been filled!

At the East Seat, the people who were about to touch their heels finally understood what was going on, and had to stand up again.

"Thank you for the hospitality, and wish the king a happy birthday! I also wish General Wang to conquer Daliang as soon as possible! Destroy the Wei state! Raise the white!"

"Long live the king! I also wish General Wang to conquer Daliang as soon as possible! Destroy the Wei state!"

Following Heifu's words, more than ten people shouted this slogan with all their strength, and then they picked up the wine cups in unison and drank it all! Then they showed the bottom of the cup to the people at the East Seat, which was called "Raise the white".

I drank it, what about you?

Zhongming translated it as usual, and the Wei people at the East Seat looked at each other after hearing it, and had to bite the bullet and shout "Long live the king" under the leadership of Zhang Bo and Zhang Fu. But when they thought that they had changed their king in the blink of an eye, they still felt strange, and as for the phrase "destroy the Wei state", it made them a little distracted, and the more they read, the smaller their voices became...