In film and television dramas, we can always see such scenes. When a group of good men came to the hotel, they shouted to the treasurer or Xiao Er: "Two pounds of beef, one pound of good wine." When Xiao Er heard this, he replied, "Well, you wait." "The next scene is that the good guys in the jianghu are eating meat and drinking wine. When you meet some reckless people, you may even fight in the hotel. Many viewers are also very excited to watch, and feel that such a happy life is the life they want. But in real history, did chivalrous guests really dare to eat beef in hotels? Not necessarily.
As we all know, the mainland has always been a big agricultural country. In the ancient society where industry and commerce were not developed, agriculture was the foundation of the country. To increase food production, human labor alone is not enough. Therefore, at this time, the government will send some cattle to help the farmers cultivate the land. Because the number of cultivated cattle is not large, it is often several households that share a ploughing cow. Don't say kill cattle, that is, even stealing cattle will be sentenced by the government to increase the punishment. And the "plus" punishment here refers to the punishment of wearing shackles and locks.
From the beginning of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the official government stipulated that "the princes will not kill cattle for no reason", and in the Qin and Han Dynasties, it was even more "cattle thieves and cattle slaughterers, and cattle eaters punished". By the time of the Tang Dynasty, the property was more abundant, and those who killed cattle were sentenced to one year in prison. During the Song Dynasty, those who killed cattle privately were caught and either imprisoned for two years or exiled for three thousand miles. Those who do not report it will be seated together. Therefore, in "Water Margin", the scene where the whole society is eating beef is impossible.
So what is it that historically chivalrous people eat beef is fake? Not quite. For example, in "Water Margin", the good man of Liangshan was originally a hero Hao Jie who opposed the imperial court. The imperial court will not allow us to eat beef, so we will eat it. Can you control me? Moreover, in that society, those who dare to sell beef are not ordinary people, and nine times out of ten they are also good men who have fallen into the grass. So when those chivalrous guests sat down and shouted "two pounds of beef, one pound of wine", Xiao Er not only listened to it but also went up, then they are the same people in the same way, and they can eat it with confidence. And eating beef also makes people see their courage, and ordinary people dare not easily provoke. As for the heroes who came here with a pound of wine, it was because most of the ancient wine was rice wine and sorghum wine, and the degree was not large, and it was generally not drunk. If it is replaced by the current liquor, then Wu Song drank the eighteen bowls of wine, it is estimated that he would have been drunk and unconscious.