At the end of the continuous eaves, a red sun rises slowly and hangs on the sky. The magnificent scene makes people feel wider.

Watching the sunrise in Chang'an, as far as Meng Fan is concerned, is indeed better than watching the sunrise in Longyou.

Afterwards, he ate two cakes at the Taoist temple and drank a bowl of meat soup on the street. Still wearing the same Taoist robe, he went directly to the Taishi Bureau of the Imperial City.

The title of general is a false one, and it is impossible to actually lead the army. Just like the king of Zhou and the king of Xiang, they not only did not have the title of general, but they were also governors of several states. As a result, they were all enjoying themselves in the imperial capital.

Even if he wanted to go, the emperor and the court would not.

However, Meng Fan had indeed been promoted. As soon as he arrived at the official office, someone asked when the tail-burning banquet would be held.

For someone like a general, who only needs the title of Duke, he is already in a position of supreme authority. According to the rules, he has to specially entertain the two saints.

Of course, we also need to entertain relatives and friends who come to congratulate us, as well as civil and military colleagues.

Generally speaking, it is held at one's own residence, but if you consider yourself to be a romantic person, you can ask a famous prostitute to help organize it in Pingkangfang. The food and drink expenses will definitely keep up with the grade, but the face will not be able to live up to it.

Anyway, Meng Fan had no such intention.

However, a pure place like Taoist temple should not be disturbed.

In desperation, there is only one way in front of us: buying a house.

It just so happened that yesterday's imperial edict included various valuable rewards in addition to official positions.

Just hold the housewarming ceremony and the tail-burning banquet together.

Imperial Capital.

Of course, the house price will not be cheap, but it is not difficult to buy a house regardless of the location.

To the north of the city, every inch of land is worth a lot of money.

Because the city of Chang'an is divided into two parts, the north of the city is close to the imperial court and the east and west cities. Not only does it have good security, it is also extremely prosperous.

The south of the city cannot be said to be desolate, but it is not that lively either. The imperial court has always said that it can try to establish a market in the south of the city, which may promote balance. However, most of the settlements there are dilapidated, and it is difficult to revitalize them, so the proposal has been shelved.

, we can only wait for future emperors to try.

Since you have money, buy it in the north of the city.

To be honest, the richer you are, the easier it is to inspect a house. At least in the Tang Dynasty, this principle was completely feasible.

Prime Minister's Residence.

We first passed through the Wutou Gate and walked a long way before arriving at the main entrance of the cornice-filled building. There were rows of halberd stands outside, enough to accommodate thousands of people without being too crowded.

After all, the prime minister is already at the top of his position as a minister, with more than a thousand servants, hired workers, and guards, not counting the poor relatives, old acquaintances, and fellow countrymen who come here to make a living.

The mansion is luxurious and luxurious, and it is indeed difficult to sell it because the etiquette is displayed there.

Not to mention the land area, the halberd stand placed outside is very particular. Only high-ranking officials of third rank or above and princes and nobles can arrange it this way.

In addition, the imperial court did not allow residential courtyards to have their main entrances opened directly on the street, with the exception of dignitaries.

Because of this, it is difficult to sell a mansion. If a big businessman really spends huge sums of money to buy it, all the magnificent and majestic gatehouses, outer walls, main halls and other buildings must be demolished immediately.

And these are just the beginning.

A mansion that occupies such a vast area needs to be cut up so that only part of it can be kept for one's own use, and the rest must either be rented out or sold to others to live in.

Since many people might come to the tail-burning banquet, Meng Fan spent 5,000 gu to buy it. The price was much lower than the market price, but it was not a bargain.

This is the residence of Prime Minister Shangguan Yi. His family was confiscated and exterminated more than ten years ago. Shangguan Wan'er is his granddaughter.

With such a factor, it was even more satisfying for the Taoist priest to pay for the haunted house that others avoided.

Following the prompts from his colleagues, he sent an invitation to the palace, followed by the two kings with whom he had a good relationship, and the ministers who had previously greeted him outside the city...

The specifications are very high.

But they really didn't spend much money on this matter. Li Xian and Li Dan couldn't resist their hospitality and directly sent servants from the palace to help. Therefore, the dishes were made extremely finely. There were fifty-eight dishes on each table, which was full of delicacies.

seats.

There are cold dishes, such as Wuxing with bream;

There are barbecues, such as red sheep sticks and bright shrimps;

In addition, soups, desserts, and noodles are all available, and the names of the dishes are quite eye-catching.

Such as Bailong, which is shredded mandarin fish; Snow Baby, which is frog meat wrapped in soy flour and served in hot pot; Royal Yellow Queen Mother Rice, which is a rice bowl made with meat, eggs, etc....

During the banquet, in addition to his colleagues from the Taishi Bureau, other officials whom he did not know also warmly congratulated him and made an appointment to come and give gifts. In such an atmosphere, Meng Fan was not without emotional intelligence, so of course he did not refuse, and he would just have a banquet when the time came.

This is how the life of the dignitaries in Chang'an was: wine and meat every day, singing and dancing with beauties every night.

The toasters and flatterers came up one after another, and while the cups were being exchanged, Meng Fan showed what a huge amount of wine was, but the others were left drunkenly.

It is worth mentioning that the emperor did not arrive for this banquet, but the prince and the second king came with the ladies from the palace, and they were specially blocked by curtains.

In addition, for some reason, although my aunt Wu Zetian did not come, she sent all the children of the Wu family in Beijing. Wu Chengsi and Wu Sansi are both trash and villains who will be famous in future generations...

After the banquet was over, the stage began to be set up again, and there were performances for people's entertainment.

As the host, Meng Fan wanted to leave, but everyone was in high spirits, so he couldn't just leave. He had to sit there, drinking tea and eating cakes, while waiting to watch the show.

During the Sixteen Kingdoms period, Later Zhao Shile was embezzled by an official who joined the army. Therefore, he ordered an artist to pretend to be a soldier, while another artist made fun of him. This gave rise to the prototype of modern cross talk performance.

When Meng Fan looked up, he saw a man who looked like a scribe in Confucian robes sitting in the middle of the table, and another man in Taoist robes but without any temperament sitting in the corner.

At this glance, I didn't think there was anything new, but I was worried that the tricks inside might be a trick. But then I thought about it, this was arranged by the children of the Wu family, and they would not be stupid in this kind of thing no matter how they cheated.

On the side, Prime Minister Li Dan said as if he was an expert: "This should be "The Balance of Three Religions". It is a new play. I heard it is very funny. It has become popular in Chang'an City recently. I only heard about it, so my cousin started to perform it here.

.”

Three religions?

Meng Fan knew very well that the dispute between foreign Buddhism and Confucianism and Taoism in terms of doctrine and practice lasted for nearly a thousand years.

Telling a joke about something so serious?

Suddenly, the man dressed as a Taoist priest sitting in the corner spoke.

He asked: "Sir, since you have learned a lot about the three religions, who is Sakyamuni Tathagata?"

The scribe replied: "Woman."

The Taoist was surprised: "Why?"

The scribe sat calmly and said: "The Diamond Sutra says: Just sit on the seat. If you are not a woman, why bother sitting down with your husband and then your son?"

Suddenly, the guests burst into laughter.

The fake Taoist in the corner of the stage asked again:

"Who is Taishang Laojun?"

The scribe said: "She is also a woman."

The fake Taoist pretended to be angry, but he heard the scribe say again:

"The Tao Te Ching says: I am in great trouble because I have a body. But if I don't have a body, what trouble do I have? If I am not a woman, why should I be pregnant?"

Are you just talking nonsense?

Misinterpret the saint’s words?

To be honest, Meng Fan was a little disgusted with these two cross talk scum on the stage.

The result was unexpected. Before the performance was over, the fake Taoist seemed to have forgotten his displeasure. He was impressed by those words and asked again:

"Who is King Wenxuan (Confucius)?"

"Women too."

"How to know it?"

"The Analects of Confucius says: Sell it! Sell it! I am the one waiting for the price. I am not a woman, what should I do if I want to get married?"

Two lowly actors were making fun of the sages of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism on the stage, making most people laugh.

The host, Meng Fan, was unable to move up or down. He was a serious Taoist from Maoshan. When he heard the actor making fun of the Taoist ancestor, he was naturally furious. He wanted to curse but he was considerate of the people around him.

Fortunately, the colleagues from the Taishi Bureau who were both Confucian and Taoist stood up angrily, scolded the actor for being disrespectful of etiquette and saints, and spoke up for Meng Fan.

Then, his eyes turned to the children of the Wu family.

Intentional?

Still really stupid?

Finally, Meng Fan had an answer.

No wonder we can only be proud of ourselves for a while in the future. It's all rotten fish and shrimps. When we meet for the first time, we arrange it like this and give eye drops?!

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After all, he really didn't know where he had offended these guys.

In the end, all those who acted in the drama of joining the army were scolded from the stage together, including literati who believed in Lao and Zhuang's thoughts, as well as serious Confucian disciples.

"Buddhism is the sun, Taoism is the moon, and Confucianism is the five stars."
To be continued...