Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 437 Everyone Strives to Be First
The reason why Lu Sanlang chose to visit Yangzhou Guild Hall unexpectedly in the dead of night was to catch the moment when Chef Fang, the imperial chef, had just finished cooking and countless people were staring at Yangzhou Guild Hall.
Sure enough, Chef Fang, who had just experienced a terrifying day of ups and downs, was originally extremely worried that he, the imperial chef, was just a tool for the emperor to calm public opinion and would be quietly disposed of after the storm. When he heard that Lu Sanlang actually wanted him to be in the limelight, he immediately felt that he had grasped a life-saving straw and nodded and agreed without thinking.
As for Yu, the leader of the guild, he had never expected that his guild would suddenly take the top spot. But once the initial attention faded, without Chef Fang in charge, it was hard to say how the business of the teahouse would be. After all, this was also a way to make money for the guild. In this case, why not go there with elite soldiers to show off his power and publicity?
What if the Yangzhou Guild Hall could produce a second imperial chef?
Therefore, both sides hit it off and were all happy. Especially when Yu Huichu finally confirmed that the specific person in charge of this imperial chef selection competition was the head chef of Jiuzhang Hall, he was immediately overjoyed, and Chef Fang didn't care about the fear he had been in all day, and rolled up his sleeves to personally cook for Lu Sanlang as a midnight snack.
Faced with two such attentive hosts, the fat boy was naturally very polite and tried to refuse in every way. One of them wanted to cook and the other wanted to stop them. The noise gradually became louder and naturally alarmed the guests upstairs.
It should be noted that in the south of the Yangtze River, Yangzhou and Suzhou have always been wealthy, and most of the people living in the Yangzhou Guild Hall are Huaiyang merchants. After sending someone to inquire, the head of the guild was a person who liked to show off, so he immediately spread the identity of the fat man and the good news he brought. At this time, many people didn't even care about sleeping, and they all hurriedly dressed and tried to make friends with the fat man below.
Who doesn't know this fat young master of the Lu family? Even the emperor has praised him personally? Moreover, he has gained the emperor's trust this time and personally handled such a selection? This is a major matter related to the emperor's diet!
Therefore, through Lu Sanlang's mouth, the Queen Mother actually personally allocated 50 taels of gold to prepare for this matter. When this news spread, it also caused a commotion. As for the matter of the Queen's abolition that was widely circulated after the evening, at this moment, it was completely forgotten by many people in the Yangzhou Guild Hall!
What did the dethronement of the empress have to do with them? They had no relatives serving as concubines in the palace, so who became the empress had nothing to do with them? Well, it couldn't be said that it had nothing to do with them. If a new empress was to be enthroned, the weaving bureau would have to make a batch of new dresses, and by then, all kinds of craftsmen and weaving owners in the folk would have been busy for a while! But generally speaking, the dethronement of the empress had no impact on them.
If we have to talk about the impact, it is probably that we don't have to worry about the eldest prince, who is more likely to cause trouble than to do good, inheriting the throne... In other words, those stupid and greedy merchants in Cangzhou will follow the eldest prince to mess around. If it were Yangzhou or Suzhou, where there are servants working for others everywhere, who would dare to force people to have no way to make a living? Force people to rebel?
The brightly lit and bustling Yangzhou Guild Hall naturally attracted a lot of attention in the outer city guild hall area in the middle of the night. Moreover, Shopkeeper Hua and Mr. Hua Si from the Suzhou Guild Hall across the street had been watching this place for a long time. Seeing the noise getting louder and louder, Mr. Hua Si saw Shopkeeper Hua as an ant on the hot pot, but he was worried that he could not find out the specific situation, so he made a decision in a moment.
"Instead of sitting here anxiously and getting no information, it's better to be proactive. Go to other nearby guild halls and gather everyone together. We'll go to the Yangzhou Guild Hall across the street and knock on the door openly to find out the truth in person. I don't believe that that idiot named Yu would dare to ignore so many of his fellow guild members!"
Shopkeeper Hua suddenly realized what was going on. He hurriedly agreed and went to knock on the doors of the neighbors. As expected, everyone who had been keeping an eye on the Yangzhou Guild Hall had noticed someone visiting in the middle of the night - and it was a suspicious person wearing a hooded cloak. Now that no one had come out, the Yangzhou Guild Hall was so lively. With the Hua family from the Suzhou Guild Hall taking the lead, who wouldn't want to go and find out what was going on?
So, in less than two quarters of an hour, Manager Hua knocked on the doors of five guild halls and invited out five guild leaders, and there were more than a dozen merchants who came to join in the fun. But before he had time to knock on the door again, three more guild leaders and seven or eight merchants followed him. So, with Mr. Hua Si, there were dozens of people who gathered in front of the Yangzhou Guild Hall to watch.
When the waiter of Yangzhou Guild Hall heard the knocks on the door and went to check, he was almost scared to death when he saw the dark crowd. He ran to report the news to the leader of the Guild. As soon as he opened his mouth, he shouted in panic: "Oh no, oh no, our guild hall has been surrounded!"
The lobby, which had just been in an uproar, suddenly fell silent. Countless eyes immediately focused on Chef Fang, and even Chef Fang himself was trembling like a frightened deer.
Having just met Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying, Lu Sanlang knew best what was going on in the palace. He smiled calmly and said, "I didn't expect that I was not the only visitor late at night. It's quite lively! Do you want to go and see who is so excited to be an uninvited guest?"
Without waiting for anyone to respond, he strode forward. As he took the lead, Yu Huishou didn't care about anything else and hurriedly followed. Then, the other merchants looked at each other and figured out what was going on. If Chef Fang was really guilty, how could he leave the palace? How could he be appointed as the imperial chef by the emperor? It seemed that the soldiers outside were definitely not here to arrest people!
As the gate opened, a large group of people from the Yangzhou Guild Hall followed Lu Sanlang out. When they saw the crowd outside, they were stunned. Yu, the leader of the guild, recognized the head of the guild, Manager Hua and Mr. Hua Si, and he was even more angry.
These people actually came to my door together, what a quick move!
Although Lu Sanlang didn't recognize the crowd outside, he was very good at identifying people by their clothes, so he immediately determined that they were all businessmen. He recognized others, and others also recognized him at a glance. After all, his signature figure was so easy to recognize.
Among the crowd, the leader, Mr. Hua Si, stepped forward with a smile, bowed and said, "I am Mr. Hua Si from Suzhou. May I ask if this is Master Lu of Jiuzhang Hall?"
"Oh, you are the Fourth Master Hua, the head of the Hua family, the richest family in Suzhou? I heard my teacher mention you. You are indeed a young talent." Lu Sanlang cleverly avoided the topic of admitting his identity - because he didn't want to say his name Lu Zhu. Moreover, he was still very senior, as if he didn't realize that he was at least ten years younger than the Fourth Master Hua, just like Zhang Shou!
His admission caused a commotion around him, and soon some impatient people came up to ask him about his purpose. Lu Sanlang's original intention was to follow Zhang Shou's instructions to show off his power, so he openly said that he would invite Chef Fang to be the judge, and that he would invite the head of the Yangzhou Guild Hall, Yu, to bring his best soldiers to demonstrate his cooking skills. This time, many people in the guild hall were not happy.
Especially the loud-mouthed Lu Huishu from Shandong, whose shouting was like thunder: "Not all the people in the world who can cook delicious food are in Yangzhou! Is Master Lu looking down on Shandong?"
Lu Sanlang's eyes widened immediately, with an innocent expression: "How could I look down on Shandong? Let alone Shandong, my teacher always said that the world's delicacies have their own merits, and the imperial kitchen should learn from the best of all. It was because of his saying that the emperor decided to abandon the custom of Guanglu Temple having the final say and hold such a grand event."
Seeing that everyone was holding their breath and listening to him, he smiled and said, "Moreover, if this event can be successfully held, the Emperor intends to hold it every year in the future and make it a permanent institution."
Although there have been rumors that the selection of imperial chefs might continue to follow this system in the future, most people still don't believe it. When Lu Sanlang said this, the crowd suddenly became agitated.
Seeing this, before Lu Sanlang could continue to explain why he chose Yangzhou Guild Hall, Fourth Master Hua immediately said, "Headmaster Yu, so many people heard that Master Lu was coming and rushed here to ask for advice. Don't you think that Yangzhou Guild Hall will fulfill its responsibilities as a host and let everyone talk like this at the gate?"
Yu Huishou cursed inwardly, "They are obviously bad guests who came uninvited in the middle of the night, but they still need us to entertain them. Why?" But even if he cursed, there were so many fellow travelers outside, and if he was not careful, he would offend too many people. Therefore, he had to swallow his anger and asked the waiter to invite all these dozens of people in.
Now, the originally spacious lobby of Yangzhou Guild Hall was so crowded that there were not enough chairs or even benches, and most people had to stand. Lu Sanlang was invited to the second floor stairs by the cunning Yu Hui Shou. Firstly, it was easy to talk to him from a high place, and everyone could see him. Secondly, of course, Yu Hui Shou wanted to avoid people from directly contacting Lu Sanlang.
There has to be a first come first served rule, right? If others take advantage, wouldn't Yangzhou Guild Hall suffer a huge loss?
Lu Sanlang didn't care about this at all. He didn't press the railing with his hands, because he didn't trust such seemingly solid things since he was a child, and he was afraid that he would push the railing with too much force, and then he would fall down.
He just supported himself vaguely, cleared his throat and said, "Someone just asked me why I only went to the Yangzhou Guild Hall. Do I look down on other provinces and prefectures for not having delicious food? This is actually unfair to me."
"Although the emperor directly allocated money from the inner treasury to handle this matter, and the empress dowager also paid out of her own pocket, the money is not much and must be spent wisely. You have all heard that the emperor's empress had her food and drink withheld by a group of villains in the Guanglu Temple. If it were told to others, it would be heartbreaking and bring tears to anyone who saw it..."
At this point, the little fat boy actually sniffed and looked a little sad.
Although his attitude was a bit fake, there was a lot of information from all sides about the mess in the Guanglu Temple, so many people in the crowd sighed and lamented.
But someone as perceptive as Mr. Hua Si immediately sensed the secret behind Lu Sanlang's crying poor for the emperor. So, he was the first to speak out loudly, "The emperor has gone against all odds and used such a fair method to select the imperial chef, giving equal opportunities to all provinces and prefectures. So when we promote our own famous chefs, how can we let the emperor worry about the expenses?"
He paused for a moment, then said loudly, "But please tell us where this event will be held, Master Lu. We at Suzhou Guild Hall are willing to cover all expenses from beginning to end!"
Fourth Master Hua thought very clearly. This event happened too suddenly, and those famous chefs in Suzhou could not catch up, and they could not fly to the capital even if they had wings, but Chef Wu from Suzhou Guild Hall could push it forward, and who said that this was just a food festival? It could also promote all kinds of exquisite silk fabrics in Suzhou!
Even if these ideas don’t work, it’s at least the best way to promote Suzhou!
As soon as he finished speaking, the leader of the Shandong Guild Hall, Lu, was not happy. He immediately patted his chest and shouted with the unique generosity of Shandong people: "Master Lu, although our Shandong Guild Hall is not as rich as those guys in Jiangnan, we can still afford this expense!"
As the two families in the north and south expressed their opinions one after another, the rest of the families also rushed to take on all the expenses of this event. In the end, many guilds in poor areas could only shout that everyone should share the cost.
But even so, Lu Sanlang still felt that if he was greedy, then maybe he could take all the money from each family, and still make such a grand event beautiful!
However, he had long passed the stage of being content with money, so he smiled and stretched out his hand to press it, and then said earnestly: "Everyone, everyone! What I said before was not accurate. The Queen Mother and the Emperor were not short of money. They just didn't want to make this unprecedented event too extravagant, so they were criticized by those who didn't know the truth."
He changed the subject and then smiled and said, "However, after the venue is chosen, if each family can set up a booth near the venue and invite a chef to demonstrate their cooking skills in public and show the food to the people of Beijing, this is a spontaneous act of each family, and of course others will have nothing to say."
This kind of food exhibition-like activity is naturally very new these days - although there are small streets in Beijing with food stalls, they usually sell small items worth a few coins, and it is absolutely impossible for a large number of famous chefs to gather together to show their cooking skills. Therefore, after a moment of silence, there were responses one after another.
"Master Lu, this is a really good idea!"
“This is how everyone can showcase their strengths!”
Faced with such an enthusiastic response, Lu Sanlang grinned, then cupped his hands and said, "As for the location, I have also made it clear to you all. It is to the west of the Guild Hall District, in the area of Yuexiu Hutong in the outer city. The terrain there is flat, and a teahouse has been expanded there. It will be the main venue for this meeting. How about this, everyone go check out the place tomorrow and warm up a bit?"
