Chapter Ninety-One: News of Liu Yuxi

A fine thing indeed! Wei Ren-shi, Jiao Haiqing, and Zhang Ji stood around the charcoal stove, watching oil burst and sparkle in the pot at the center as lamb tumbled and rolled, a rich fragrance flooding toward them. All three could not help praising it aloud.

“It is truly splendid,” said Zhang Ji, wiping the sweat from his brow, “but rather hot. I am already drenched.”

“This is meant for winter use,” Wei Ren-shi replied. “I just have not had time to make the everyday version yet, so this will have to do for now.”

“Winter...” Zhang Ji looked around and sniffed again. “Excellent, excellent! If one had this inside the house in winter, it surely would not be cold. It would even give hot water besides, and one could boil congee right there in the room, or read beside it at a neighboring table without freezing. This... does Master Wei still have more of these?”

Wei Ren-shi shook his head. “Not for the moment. This one is only an experimental piece I made, so I cared only that it worked and did not worry about its appearance. When I make more in the future, they will be both practical and handsome. Then I can give Lord Zhang a few sets.”

“That would be most kind of you, Master Wei.” Zhang Ji nodded his thanks, then said, “I have eaten this old-style hot broth before, but never one with such a flavor as this.”

“Master Wei’s cooking is unquestionably first-rate,” Jiao Haiqing said.

“It is not only the cooking or the taste,” Zhang Ji said. “To sit here gathered around it, chatting idly while each person picks up the ingredients he likes and drops them into the pot, waiting for them to boil before lifting them out to eat again—there is something about it that is indescribably relaxing.”

Old-style hot broth was, in truth, the ancestor of hot pot: a clay pot placed over a stove, filled with broth and brought to a boil, then ingredients were added to it. Because the food made a soft gurgling sound when it entered the boiling liquid, it came to be called by this elegant name.

A group of people would sit in a circle around the fire, drinking wine and composing verse as they used chopsticks to pluck the cooked food from the pot.

Such hot broth had already appeared as early as the Later Han, but the methods of preparation, the utensils, and the seasonings available were so limited that its flavor was far removed from the hot pot of later ages.

And that was to say nothing of the dipping sauce Wei Ren-shi had made with Japanese pepper and sesame.

The sesame had been bought from a foreign merchant in Luo-yang; it was what people called sesame seed. As for the Japanese pepper, its heat fell far short of chili, but chilies were still on the far side of the earth. Wei Ren-shi could only use Japanese pepper in their place, imperfect though it was.

Hearing Zhang Ji speak thus, Wei Ren-shi smiled and said, “What hot pot really values comes down to just two things. One is reunion: family or friends gathered around one table, laughing and talking, even snatching at each other’s chopsticks and food. That is its delight. The other is warmth: in the bitter cold of winter, to sit with family or friends around the fire and eat until your head is covered in sweat, enjoying every mouthful to the fullest—that is the warmth of the body. And if the people around you are family, kin, friends, or intimate companions, then with a few cups of light wine, who cares how fierce the evening wind blows outside the window? Family reunited, friends together—that is warmth of the heart. So hot pot is best suited to winter, when a family gathers to eat together, or a group of close friends and companions crowd around this charcoal stove, talking and laughing, playing and chatting, cooking and eating all the while, bodies and minds equally warmed, hearts thoroughly content.”

“Precisely! Precisely!” As soon as Zhang Ji heard this, he nodded repeatedly. “Brother Ren-shi, these words of yours...”

He paused, then shook his head with a smile. “Whenever I speak with Master Wei, I always forget that Master Wei is only a youth.”

“Yes, I feel the same way,” Jiao Haiqing said with a laugh beside him. “So later on I simply stopped treating him like a youth and started treating him like one of my own generation. It is much easier to talk that way.”

Wei Ren-shi laughed. “A poor man’s child learns the household early! Come, come, the lamb is done.”

At once the two of them lowered their chopsticks in haste. They competed with one another and ate with great merriment.

During the meal, Wei Ren-shi suddenly asked, “Does Sir Zhang know Master Liu Mengde?”

“We are acquainted,” Zhang Ji said, nodding.

“I heard that Master Liu went to Wei-nan to serve as magistrate clerk, and I wonder how he fares now,” Wei Ren-shi asked.

“Liu Mengde is a capable man; he ought to benefit the local people,” Zhang Ji said. “Some days ago I heard that he submitted a memorial that greatly pleased the Son of Heaven. I imagine his transfer will go smoothly. My teacher has heard that he may be moved to the Imperial Censorate, though I do not know whether that is true. With Liu Mengde’s present rank, if he is transferred there, he would most likely serve as a supervising censor.”

“Master Liu is the sort of man who cares for the common people and knows how to get things done,” Wei Ren-shi said. “For such a man to enter office would be a blessing to the people.”

“There are still many who are willing to work for the people,” Zhang Ji said. “Though the realm is in decline, the present Son of Heaven still has the will to restore it. Though he has at times been deceived by villains and has therefore shown some faults, he has allied himself with the Uighurs and Nanzhao to strike at the Tubo, reversing our Great Tang’s disadvantage against them. And the present Crown Prince is kind and filial, broad-minded, benevolent, and skilled at making decisions. He often listens to those who read to him and speaks of affairs under Heaven and the hardships of the people. With the present Son of Heaven bringing the surrounding states back from decline, and with the Crown Prince as he is, he will surely be a sage ruler in time. Thus the Great Tang may yet rise again.”

“Even so, he must have a healthy body,” Wei Ren-shi said with a sigh.

Li Song might not have been an unwise ruler, but his health was poor. Before he had even ascended the throne to inherit the great seal, a stroke had left him unable to care for himself, unable even to speak. What could a ruler do, however wise, if it were so?

“Master Wei also knows that the Crown Prince is frail?” Zhang Ji asked in surprise.

Wei Ren-shi shook his head and changed the subject. “Sir Zhang seems to know much about the court.”

“My teacher is a Doctor of the Fourth Gates at the Imperial Academy. I study under him, so I know a few things,” Zhang Ji said with a smile.

“Doctor Han does not seem very old,” Wei Ren-shi said with a grin.

“Indeed, he is two years younger than I am,” Zhang Ji laughed. “Yet the accomplished can be one’s teacher. I admire my teacher’s writings and his character beyond measure, and he has given me much guidance besides. Though I consider myself his pupil, he has never accepted that, preferring instead to treat me as a friend. Even that has made me admire him greatly.”

Then Zhang Ji added, “Though my teacher’s rank is not especially high, his literary fame is widespread, and he has many connections. If Master Wei were willing to enter his school, you would not only receive instruction in literature from a master but also gain many useful connections for the future.”

“So we come back to that again,” Wei Ren-shi said with a laugh.

Zhang Ji also laughed. “Just now Master Wei changed the subject by mentioning my eye trouble. What will you use this time?”

“Then let us use this lamb,” Wei Ren-shi said, reaching out with his chopsticks to take some from the pot. “Tender beyond compare!”

The three of them burst out laughing and began another round of competing for the food.

At last they had eaten and drunk their fill, and Zhang Ji prepared to take his leave.

Wei Ren-shi escorted him to the door. Zhang Ji said, “Today was truly delightful! In a few days I shall return to the capital. If Master Wei ever changes his mind, you may come straight to Chang-an to look for me. If I am no longer there, then seek out my teacher, Han Yu, and that will do.”