Kangxi Catches Cicada

During the reign of Emperor Kangxi, there was a restaurant in the capital called Wangchuanlou, and there was a cook named Yuan Baoqiang in it, who was good at roasting meat.

After a while, Yuan Baoqiang was preparing ingredients with the back kitchen when suddenly someone came to send him a message saying that his brother-in-law Liu Longchang had been beaten up by the emperor and had just been sent home and was in a hurry to see him. Yuan Baoqiang quickly put down the work at hand and hurried home.

Liu Longchang is the deputy commander of the Shenji Battalion. Recently, Emperor Kangxi gave Shenji Ying a job to hunt and kill cicadas around the Forbidden City, so as not to disturb his sleep. But the Shenji Camp was unfavorable, and the cicadas continued to make noise, which made it difficult for Emperor Kangxi to sleep, so he vented his anger on the commander on duty, so Liu Longchang received 30 slaps first.

When Yuan Baoqiang saw Liu Longchang being beaten bloody, he said distressedly: "My silly brother, with your great abilities, why can't you deal with those little cicadas?"

Liu Longchang said helplessly: "I will tell you my brother-in-law, we have thought of all the tricks we can think of, but none of them work. I don't think I can survive this summer, brother-in-law, my father and mother, I will entrust you to take care of me." La."

Yuan Baoqiang said angrily: "Don't say such depressing words. I'll go out and look around, maybe I can come up with some tricks." He went out and followed the cicadas to find him.

When he came out and took a look, he saw that Mingtang was coming. Outside the Forbidden City, Chinese toon trees are planted in every household. The toon tree grows tall and big, and its branches are so brittle that no one can get on it, while the cicada is too small to shoot with a bow and arrow, and Shenjiying can't do anything with it.

The death of Zhou Peigong in the Kangxi Dynasty_Kangxi Zhou Peigong_Kangxi guarded the spirit of Zhou Peigong

Yuan Baoqiang rolled his eyes and quickly came up with a solution. When he went back and told Liu Longchang, Liu Longchang also thought it was very good, so he quickly invited several commanders to negotiate. Everyone thought this trick was feasible, so they carefully arranged it according to Yuan Baoqiang's idea.

Yuan Baoqiang chose a courtyard in the northwest corner of the Forbidden City. The two soldiers of Shenji Camp arbitrarily drove the owner of the family into the house, occupied the courtyard, brought the stove and kitchen utensils, and lit a fire. As soon as the drum sounded, Yuan Baoqiang asked the soldiers to heat up the fire. He put the iron pot on the fire, and poured neither oil nor soup until the pot was heated up. Then he asked people to replace the hard wood in the stove with soft wood , put the piece of meat on the iron pan. But when I heard the sound of "stinging", the aroma immediately caught my nostrils. Yuan Baoqiang took out the big cattail fan and fanned it vigorously to set it on fire.

After a while, he was drenched in sweat and his arms became weak, so he asked the soldiers to replace him and continue fanning. At the same time, he kept turning the piece of meat, and when the color of the meat changed, he cut off the cooked meat on the outside and continued to roast the raw meat inside. The aroma of barbecue permeated the entire small courtyard, and drifted out with the northwest wind until it reached the Forbidden City.

After tossing like this for an hour, they didn't stop until the second watch drum sounded. Several people were exhausted, and they sat down on the ground, motionless, just gasping for breath.

Not long after, a soldier from Shenji Battalion rushed over, with all smiles on his face, he leaned into Yuan Baoqiang's ear and whispered, "Brother, your idea is really good. The emperor smelled the fragrance and asked what it was so fragrant, brothers said According to your report, it is said that the surrounding people caught the cicada and were roasting it. The emperor asked in amazement, saying how much meat does the cicada have, and it eats so hard. Our commander took the opportunity to tell the emperor, the people Life is hard, I can’t afford meat, so I rely on roasted cicadas to satisfy my cravings. The cicadas sing happily, and it’s time to throw their seeds for joy. If they are all shot by us, next year the people will have no I have to eat. The emperor listened and remained silent."

Yuan Baoqiang smiled triumphantly and said: "The emperor loves the people like a son. Hearing you say this, you must think carefully, and you must not break the way for the people to satisfy their greed. Maybe, tomorrow morning, the emperor will order no more catching cicadas." , and you will be freed from the sea of ​​suffering." Hearing this, the soldiers hurriedly cupped their hands in thanks.

Zhou Peigong

The next morning, Yuan Baoqiang was busy in the restaurant when several soldiers from the Shenji Battalion rushed over in a panic and said eagerly to Yuan Baoqiang, "Brother, something is wrong!"

Yuan Baoqiang was taken aback, and quickly asked, "What's the matter?"

The soldier told him that early this morning, the emperor suddenly became furious, saying that the rhetoric of last night was intended to deceive the emperor, and he wanted to find out the culprit who made up the lie and punish him for deceiving the emperor. As a last resort, they had to come to him.

When Yuan Baoqiang heard this, his legs softened and he fell to the ground. This crime of bullying the king is to destroy the family. How can he bear it for a commoner? No matter how many soldiers there were, they carried him into the palace.

Emperor Kangxi is a stubborn master, and he likes to find opportunities to show his ingenuity. He didn't hand over Yuan Baoqiang to the Ministry of Criminal Justice, but had someone take him outside the South Study Room. He asked the eunuch to move a chair, and sat at the door of the study to try the case. The leaders of the Shenji Battalion were also found, and they knelt aside, their faces pale and their bodies like sifting chaff. Even Liu Longchang was carried here, half lying on the door panel, looking at Yuan Baoqiang, feeling regretful in his heart.

Yuan Baoqiang was busy saluting Emperor Kangxi. Emperor Kangxi cleared his throat and asked, "Last night, I smelled a strange fragrance. When I asked them, they all said that it came from the roasted cicadas in people's homes. You are a chef, so you should know how to roast the cicadas, right?"

The death of Zhou Peigong in the Kangxi Dynasty_Kangxi Zhou Peigong_Kangxi guarded the spirit of Zhou Peigong

Yuan Baoqiang couldn't figure out what the emperor was thinking, and he didn't dare to say anything else, so he hurriedly nodded in response: "Young people know how to roast."

Emperor Kangxi nodded: "Okay, you can bake it for me to taste. You go catch some cicadas."

A commander got the order and hurriedly led the soldiers down.

After more than an hour, the commander ran back panting with the soldiers, with a dozen cicadas in the bag in his hand. Yuan Baoqiang took the cicadas, pinched off the legs and wings, thinking that the emperor's usual meals were not short of oil and water, maybe he was tired of greasy food, so why not have something light. He warmed the iron pan with a slow fire, then dipped the cicadas in the seasoning and put it on, and the aroma soon overflowed. A while later, Duke Zhou Pei of the Kangxi Dynasty died , and the cicada was roasted until it was crispy and crispy, and the fragrance was very fragrant.

Yuan Baoqiang put the cicadas on a plate and handed it to the little eunuch, who presented it to Emperor Kangxi. Emperor Kangxi smelled it first, and it was already a joy to Longyan. After tasting a few, he was very satisfied, and nodded with a smile: "Well, the taste is really good. But," he suddenly put on a straight face, and asked coldly, "Is this the scent I smelled last night?"

Yuan Baoqiang hurriedly knelt down and told the truth.

After hearing this, Emperor Kangxi snorted, and said slowly: "Want to lie to me? You are too young. Even if you can fool my nose, you can't fool my wisdom. You clever tricks It took more than an hour for the battalion experts to catch these cicadas, but it is even more difficult for the common people to catch them. It is even more difficult to make the formation last night."

Yuan Baoqiang and the leaders of Shenji Battalion turned pale with fright, and their bodies couldn't stop shaking.

Emperor Kangxi continued: "Also, you underestimate my common sense too much. As for the cicadas, the male cicadas can only sing, but the female cicadas can't. You have something to eat next year. Tell me, what is your intention?"

Yuan Baoqiang knelt down and saw the situation before Zhou Peigong died in the Kangxi Dynasty . Fear is useless, as long as the emperor punishes him, it will be a death penalty. The good times are not enough, of course he doesn't want to die, but right now, no one can save him. The only one who can save him is himself. He rolled his eyes and quickly came up with an idea.

Emperor Kangxi saw that the leaders all bowed their heads and dared not speak, so he turned to Yuan Baoqiang and asked, "What else do you have to say?"

Seeing the opportunity, Yuan Baoqiang hurriedly said: "Xiaomin's bad idea, originally he couldn't fool the emperor, the reason why he wanted to give it a try was because he heard that the emperor loved the people like his own son and would give the common people a chance to satisfy their greed, so it came out. This is a bad strategy. Your Majesty's sageness has seen through Xiaomin's tricks at a glance, and I hope your Majesty will be merciful."

When Emperor Kangxi heard the rumors from the people that he loved the people like a son, he was very happy. But he still asked with a straight face: "Why do the common people say that I love the people like my son?"

Only then did Yuan Baoqiang say that the people rumored that the emperor was busy day and night, and only took a nap at noon. But those cicadas are ignorant and insist on disturbing the emperor to sleep. The emperor originally wanted Shenjiying to kill these cicadas, but he heard that the people wanted to eat these toon leaves to survive the bitter spring. The emperor cared about the suffering of the people, so he ordered Shenjiying When catching cicadas, the branches of the tree must not be hurt. In this way, the cicadas will be difficult to catch.

These few words of his not only flattered the emperor, but also excused Shenji Ying, Emperor Kangxi didn't know. But Emperor Kangxi was still very happy. He thought for a while and said, "I think your intentions are not bad. You can avoid the death penalty, but the living penalty is inevitable. Since this cicada tastes good, you can make it for me."

Yuan Baoqiang and the leaders of Shenji Battalion kowtowed to express their gratitude.

Since then, Yuan Baoqiang has stayed in the palace as a cook. He groped for a way to make cicadas, and it didn't take long before he invented a delicious dish of crispy cicadas in an iron pot. Emperor Kangxi ate so happily that he never got tired of eating for a long time. The soldiers of the Shenji Battalion naturally did not dare to slack off in the slightest. They went out early and returned late every day, and they had to catch some cicadas so that Emperor Kangxi could feast on them.

Yuan Baoqiang is so smart, after serving the emperor for a while, he figured it out. Emperor Kangxi was not afraid of noise, he asked the people from Shenji Camp to catch cicadas, but he was afraid that their idle time would be too long and their skills would be wasted, so he specially thought of a way to force them to practice archery. It's a pity that those commanders didn't understand what the emperor meant, and there was nothing they could do to deal with the cicadas. He was only angry when he sent off the incident, and severely reprimanded them. Yuan Baoqiang was just a cook, eager to save people, but he thought in a wrong way, so he came up with such a bad idea. Thanks to his quick mind, he made Emperor Kangxi happy, so he saved his life.

Yuan Baoqiang wanted to think about it, but he didn't dare to say anything to the leaders of Shenji Camp. If you want to be crooked again, can you keep your head?

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