C173 dietary etiquette

Ever since he heard the little herdsman say that the Tarantula was nearby, Xiao Wen felt a sense of unease.

He noticed that although the vast grassland was still very quiet, it was still normally very quiet. In fact, there were many wild animals passing by.

But tonight, the guards who went out to hunt said they had to run three miles to find their prey.

Helpless, Xiao Wen could only urge the guards to build the fortifications as soon as possible.

Very soon, everyone had used the carriage to surround the camp and then pulled open the fender on top to connect all the iron chains.

Soon after, in the middle of the camp, a few guards used the building modules that Xiao Wen had prepared beforehand, and quickly pieced together a complete watchtower.

The three guards climbed up to the top and started eating dinner.

From now until midnight, they would be on guard.

In addition to the protection of the fortifications, it would be very difficult to harm the archers unless they were attacked jointly by a few of them.

At the same time, the guards below had also distributed their weapons.

There were a total of 120 powerful single-shot crossbows, which were allocated to the guards.

As for Xiao Wen, he actually still had more than 20 crossbows.

Although the power of this item was not strong, it was much weaker than the single-shot lever crossbow.

However, the crossbow bolts that could be fired multiple times were extremely powerful in this era of cold weapons.

After all, in this era, the power of the lever crossbow had already overflowed. Therefore, although the power of Zhuge Lianjun was not as great as that of the Lever Crossbow, he could still deal a lot of damage if he pulled Zhuge Lianjun's saber in an effective range.

Thus, Xiao Wen formed up the guards who were holding the crossbows in their hands and led them himself.

Once a fight broke out, they didn't have to participate in it immediately. They had to fight until a critical moment, before they could come on stage as a strong force.

Aside from the smoked jerky that had been prepared beforehand, tonight's meat was the vicious rabbits that were the guards of the caravan.

After swapping one of the rabbits with a bunch of copper coins, Xiao Wen got the chefs in the camp to peel the rabbit, remove its internal organs, and clean it up.

This was because Xiao Wen didn't lack seasoning. Hot peppers imported from Ming Kingdom to some unknown source of cumin, even honey and white sesame seeds.

With these seasonings and the fact that the chef in the caravan had ordered a barbecue specialty, he had a good grasp of the temperature of meat.

As such, it was still difficult to cook the unpalatable roasted rabbit meat.

At this moment, everyone was sitting at separate tables according to the tradition left behind during the Spring and Autumn Period. They had no intention of eating together.

Xiao Wen originally wasn't too happy about this.

Compared to the meal sharing system from the pre-Qin era, Xiao Wen preferred to have a group of people gather around the table, which was filled with food.

However, after trying a few times, Xiao Wen felt speechless.

The guards had ordered Xiao Wen to pay for their meals and wash their hands. However, there were always a few people who forgot this order before they ate. Furthermore, they did not use their tableware, but rather directly touched the food with their dirty hands.

Needless to say, their hands were sometimes sucked into their mouths because they ate with relish. Saliva covered hands, touch the food, so disgusting.

Because of this, Xiao Wen no longer dared to touch the food.

Helpless, Xiao Wen could only restore the habits of the ancient people and let the guards eat the same thing.

It was already dark. Because Xiao Wen was rich, he was not short on money. Moreover, if he succeeded in his business trip north this time, he would be able to earn a ton of money.

Thus, besides the campfire, Xiao Wen also had people light the campsite with candles.

Two rows of three-foot-tall bronze lampstands were set up on the walls of the carriage.

As it was a temporary item, its shape could not be considered to be that exquisite. Most of the time, it was a small bronze figure in the shape of a slave kneeling on the ground, both hands holding onto the lamp.

There was animal oil on the plate, and the wick burned quietly, giving off a faint burnt smell, a tantalizing aroma of protein and fat.

At this moment, the people who were given food in the camp were all sitting in their own seats, eating their own dinner.

Most of the tools they used were wooden chopsticks and pottery bowls.

Only Xiao Wen and his five students had the qualifications to use the head of the art produced in Han Dynasty — the lacquer ware.

In fact, in the Spring and Autumn Period, the officials, doctors, scholars, and concubines, as well as the utensils used for eating, all had different rules of etiquette. People of low status would never be able to use the bronze artifacts that were popular at that time.

But as the saying goes, "A duke or a general would rather have a son?"

Gradually, some nobles became poor while some scholars became rich.

Though restricted by etiquette, the use of bronze cauldrons was still too much for the use of them, another tool was popular and, like bronze, became a symbol of affluence.

This is the lacquer.

Historically, the Liang Song of the Central Plains, known as the "thousand tree lacquer", is the Central Plain lacquer machine made in the handicraft industry center.

In those days, Zhuang Zi was a minor official in the lacquer garden in Song Kingdom.

However, the lacquer here was not cheap. The price of a good lacquer was comparable to gold. It could be said that the value of this thing could be compared with porcelain of later generations.

In fact, in the music and etiquette system that was maintained during the Spring and Autumn War, the Chinese aristocrats had a complicated diet that was far more complicated than just bronze artifacts.

In fact, in addition to chopsticks and spoons, cutlery and forks were essential kitchen utensils when they ate.

That's right!

Knife and fork, although in the 21st century is the symbol of Western cuisine. However, this thing was not the only one in the West.

From the Zhou Dynasty to the Warring States Period of Spring and Autumn, then to the Qin and Han Dynasties, the Chinese ate their meals, especially the banquets of the scholar-officials and aristocrats.

The dining table not only uses chopsticks, spoons and other common tableware for future generations, but also has knives and forks for future generations.

Xiao Wen had dined at Uncle Li's house a few times, and had also dined at the Yang Family and Huan Yan's house once.

He knew that the nobles of the Han Dynasty, if they paid attention to anything, would clearly identify the uses of any tools during their meals.

As the saying goes, the beginning of the ceremony began with meals. In the music and etiquette culture, eating was not only about eating, but also about rituals.

The Confucian school had even debated with others before, which was the most important thing to eat?

The Confucian answered yes: "Of course it's respectful!"

Even though Taoism was prevalent in the Han Dynasty.

However, although the eight hundred years of Zhou Dynasty didn't leave much of a military legacy to China, in terms of culture, it was impossible to say that the eight hundred years of history didn't leave a mark on the Chinese.

Even at mealtimes, people were very particular.

For example, before entering the banquet, one must be calm and collected, and one must not change one's facial expression. One must hold the clothes a foot off the ground, and do not lift the top of the shirt, let alone stamp one's feet and emit sounds.

When serving, the dishes should be arranged in an orderly manner, taking other people into account when eating...

In addition to manners, the proficient use of a variety of tableware is also part of the "gift of eating."

For example, the wooden spoon in front of Xiao Wen was called "Dagger" or "Spoon" in this era.

The spoons and chopsticks are usually used in conjunction with each other and usually appear on the table at the same time, but the division of labor is quite clear and the two cannot be used together.

Beside Xiao Wen, the noble Sun Shangxiang and Yang Xiu were doing the same thing.

They first raised their chopsticks, picked up the dishes from the plate, put them in their mouths and chewed on them. After swallowing it, he put down the chopsticks, picked up the spoon, and put the steaming hot porridge into his mouth …

Fortunately, Xiao Wen was able to accept this set of etiquette.

After all, his eating habits were mainly influenced by the culture of Guangdong. Therefore, he would not be like some inland or northern parts of the world, with a strange diet and culture, with the habit of exclusion.

Even when he was using his knife and fork, there were no obstacles.

Although Guangdong people rarely use knives and forks, they always eat Western food at those times of the year.

Over time, when Xiao Wen used his knife and fork, although it wasn't considered elegant, when he used his knife and fork, he would at least avoid making a noise.

It doesn't cut the meat too crookedly.

After all, Confucius had also said, "If you don't cut properly, you don't eat."