How unpalatable was the meal sent to the emperor by Guanglu Temple?

Looking at the "breakfast" consisting of sixteen dishes and eight snacks, Shen Shiqing, who has learned a lot from the past and the present, didn't know what words to use to describe it.

There are mutton fried, goose wrapped in batter and fried, pork fried with yellow vegetables, fresh fish fried and poured with sauce... There are also a few indispensable wild vegetables with bean soup, tea, etc., there are many varieties. The plate is exquisite and colorful at first glance, but when you eat it, it's a completely different story.

After eating one chopstick of goose and another chopstick of mutton, Shen Shiqing could hardly tell the difference between the two dishes. They were all made of heavy oil and soybean paste. In order to set the shape, the specially prepared paste wrapped each dish that needed to be fried. Meat dishes.

If they had just come out of the pot, the dishes might still have a bit of crispiness wrapped in the sauce, but when they were sent from the Guanglu Temple kitchen in Dong'anmen to Chaohua Garden by car, they were packed all the way. The food box filled with hot water was still warm, but by the time we arrived at Gozen, even 30% of the heat had dissipated, so what kind of texture could we taste? All that was left in the mouth was the texture that was soaked by the sauce, making people not even want to taste the contents. smell.

When she first became emperor, Shen Shiqing had too many things to care about, and her appetite for food was put behind her. Now a few days have passed, and she can no longer bear it when she looks at the "imperial meals" that are beautiful on the outside and crumbled inside.

She felt that she was not a good cook, but she just liked to cook things she read about in books. Fortunately, they always tasted good.

It is precisely because of this that although she lived in poverty in Ning'an's residence, her expenses were meticulous and thoughtful.

Who would have thought that a dignified king of a country would not be able to eat as well as a widow like her?

After eating a bowl of pine nut and chestnut porridge that was quite hot, two vegetable steamed buns, and a few bites of some relatively fresh mixed wild vegetables, Shen Shiqing put down her chopsticks and refused to eat any more.

She deliberately said that she would not have to cook so many meat dishes that were only unpalatable in the future, but she knew that the dishes arranged by Guanglu Temple for the emperor were the same as those for the ministers. If she rashly reduced the cost, those ministers on duty would There is even less food for them to eat.

But these things are really unpalatable!

The emperor didn't have a good breakfast. Seeing the emperor immersed in reviewing memorials in the palace, several eunuchs made fun of each other, and the three cats quietly walked out of the courtyard. After about an hour, he came back happily. .

At the beginning of the founding of the Yong Dynasty, the founder of the country set extremely strict daily living hours for his successors. They would wake up at the first hour of the Yin hour, have meals, go to morning classes, go to court at the eleventh hour... and review the memorials until late at night. Staying up earlier than a chicken and staying up later than a rat. In order to make themselves feel better, successive monarchs promoted cabinets to select memorials for themselves, or held court meetings only on the third and fifth days.

When Emperor Zhaode arrived, the first thing he canceled was the morning classes given to him by the bachelors. Later, even the morning classes were held only once every ten or twenty days.

When he didn't have to go to court, he would occasionally sleep in and take a nap after breakfast.

When Shen Shiqing became the emperor, she didn't want to spend her time sleeping. After breakfast, she practiced riding a horse in the dim morning light. After the autumn wind cleared her mind, she began to review the memorials.

Putting down the booklet, Shen Shiqing raised her eyes and saw his beaming face.

"Your Majesty, I have a little fat sheep here. It has been bled, haired and scalded. I will put it on the rack and roast it for you!"

As soon as Sanmao finished speaking, he saw the emperor looking at him with interest. The emperor also asked him: "Bake? How do you plan to bake it?"

"Some cumin and salt. If you want something sweet, my lord, can you please go get some sugar?"

Sanmao's cooking skills were only developed in the past few years in order to feed the emperor. He is not a serious royal chef, and the dishes he can cook are limited. In addition to stewing, he is boiling.

After hearing this, Shen Shiqing felt a little worried about the sheep.

The emperor was not as happy as usual just because he could eat a roast lamb. Sanmao couldn't help scratching his head. He had also thought about learning some cooking skills before, but the emperor said that the food at Guanglu Temple was unpalatable because it was too elaborate. The head is not as original and fresh as his.

He followed the emperor's instructions and always cooked with original taste, and there were only a few tricks he could use.

"Then, then, did the slave cook this sheep for the emperor?"

Cooked? Shen Shiqing looked at the three cats, who looked as if they were about to fight for their lives with a dead sheep, then lowered her eyes and continued reading the memorial.

After a few breaths, she said leisurely:

"Take flour, mix with tangerine peel powder, ginger juice and water to form a dough. First roll it into a cake, then cut it into noodles as thick as your little finger. Put it in a pot and cook it thoroughly. Put the mutton upper belly meat and mutton bones into the pot with cold water and cook them together to cook out the blood. Then take it out and wash it with warm water. Then put a handful of white pepper, a handful of red robe pepper, and a handful of five-vein ground pepper in a cotton gauze bag, wash them twice, and put them into a hot water pot together with the mutton and mutton bones. Cook, put only a large piece of firewood under the pot. After three quarters, take out the mutton, stew the mutton bones in the pot until the firewood is burned out, add salt to the soup, put the meat slices on the surface, add green onion and coriander, and pour Serve the soup."

The seemingly simple but extremely sophisticated recipe was casually mentioned by the young king, as if it was as easy as boiling a pot of water.

The three cats stood at the bottom, already dumbfounded.

What to mix with what?

What kind of pepper, what kind of pepper and what kind of pepper?

1. How to make soup with a piece of firewood?

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..." The three cats took a few steps forward, "This slave is stupid... I still know about pepper and pepper, but I have never heard of ground pepper."

"Jijiao is a traditional Chinese medicine, and it is not a precious thing. Everyone in the pharmacy knows it."

"yes."

The three cats retreated, and Shen Shiqing read the memorial for another half an hour before hearing a chicken report that Li Congyuan was here.

These days, she often summons the cabinet to come to Chaohua Garden to talk to her about government affairs. Among the three ministers of the cabinet, Yang Zhai, the Minister of the Ministry of War, talks about the emperors of the past dynasties, as if he were a talking record of daily life, and Liu Kangyong, the Minister of Rites, seems to Li Congyuan was a man of few words and was extremely mature, but once he spoke, he was like, "The Master said it in poetry." Li Congyuan started from the practical point of view, and the methods of governing the country he spoke were thorough and to the point.

Shen Shiqing understood after comparison that if he wanted to know how the previous emperors behaved, he should listen to Yang Zhai; if he wanted to quote scriptures to refute the ministers when handling government affairs, he should listen to Liu Kangyong; if he wanted to do things well, he should listen to Liu Kangyong. You have to listen to Li Congyuan.

Shen Shiqing also found this feeling very novel. After her father passed away, her mother became seriously ill and she entered Ning'an's house again. No matter whether it was historical allusions or poems and classics, there was no one there anymore. In order to relieve her loneliness, she could only teach books to her maids. Therefore, Chuiyun studied "Spring and Autumn", Tunan studied "Mencius", Peifeng studied "Zhuangzi", and Achi studied "The Book of Songs". And she told herself as she lectured over and over again that everything she had learned in the past fifteen years was useful.

The vastness of the history books, the wisdom in the classics, and the clear breeze and bright moon in the poems will not fade away because she is trapped in shackles.

There are not many things that truly belong to her in this world, and she cherishes them all, just as she is eager to study as an emperor at this time.

Li Congyuan's visit to Chaohuayuan this time was not just to explain current affairs to His Majesty. He brought several memorials, all of which were to intercede on behalf of others.

The person being begged for mercy is Ning'an Bo Xie Wenyuan, who is currently imprisoned.

Turning over the memorials, His Majesty the Emperor, who was sitting at the desk, raised his eyebrows and smiled:

"I didn't expect that Uncle Ning An, who is usually silent, is quite popular in the court."

Li Congyuan lowered his head and said: "Your Majesty investigated Zhang Qi's case of embezzling military pay and military land. Everyone in the court praised your Majesty for his clear sense and decisiveness. It is natural for people like Zhang Qi to die without regret, but the Jin Yiwei and the Ministry of Punishment did not

It was found that Uncle Ning An had done something illegal... Xie Wenyuan is indeed a stupid and incompetent person. If he can be punished for the crime of bullying and disrespecting the emperor, I am afraid it will be difficult to convince the public."

After spending a few days with His Majesty, Li Congyuan could sense that His Majesty, who had been moody and free-spirited for many years, was really calmer than before. He would not drag people out and beat them up at every turn. He also became bolder and more direct in his speeches.

.

"What you said makes sense." His Majesty nodded, put down the memorial in his hand and stood up, "Isn't it enough for me to deprive him of his title because of his ignorance and incompetence?"

Li Congyuan pondered for a moment and said: "Your Majesty, although Xie Wenyuan has done nothing for the country, his father Xie Zhan once led troops to rescue the late emperor when he was trapped, and his mother Huaiyuan County Lord is the direct aunt of the British King. Huaiyuan County Lord is already old.

Gao, how can you withstand the fact that your own son is deprived of his title? I hope your majesty will spare Ning An for the sake of the British line."

Walking to Li Congyuan's side and looking at his gray hair, Shen Shiqing couldn't help but think of her father, Shen Shao.

Did her father stand in front of the late emperor like this back then and seek a chance for Xie Wenyuan's title?

Li Congyuan, who was standing aside, suddenly heard a burst of laughter: "Li Shangshu, if I remember correctly, when the late emperor was here, Xie Wenyuan almost lost his title.

He retained his title. At that time, Bachelor Shen must have said something similar, right? But in the past ten years, Xie Wenyuan still did not do a single good thing, and he only did some flattering things.

In more than ten years, will another great scholar come to me to intercede on his behalf?"

Li Congyuan was speechless for a moment.

If he didn't have to do it, he wouldn't want to speak for that insect-like corpse.

Shen Shiqing did not embarrass him: "Let Xie Wenyuan be imprisoned for a period of time to let him have a long memory. If it is really found that he has not committed any crime, I will naturally let him go."

When she said these words, Shen Shiqing had a smile on her face, as if she was extremely sincere.

Seeing that His Majesty relented, Li Congyuan stopped pestering him: "I would like to express my gratitude to Ning Anbo to express my gratitude to Your Majesty for your grace."

Grace?

Shen Shiqing, who had her back to Li Congyan, was playing with a paperweight on the desk.

The smile on his face became deeper.

Just after Chen hour, Li Congyuan withdrew from the palace and passed by the ear room under the osmanthus tree. He suddenly smelled a faint fragrance mixed with the fragrance of osmanthus.

It's like cooking meat, but the aroma is much more refreshing than ordinary meat.

In this important place of the palace, could it be that His Majesty has brought in a famous chef from outside? Academician Li was curious and wanted to take a look, but he met the four-rat eunuch hurriedly coming in from outside.

He nodded to the Four Rats, and his intention to visit the palace was gone. His Majesty had not clamored to build a courtyard for almost ten days. It was just a matter of appetite, and they, the ministers, did not need to dig into everything.

On the other side, as soon as Si Shu entered the main hall, he saw the emperor pointing to a pile of memorials on the table:

"I took the trouble to write a memorial to plead with Uncle Ning An, who has been idle at home for many years. These people are really interesting. Go check them out for me."

"yes!"

"Emperor Zhaode" wears ordinary clothes and has a long and graceful figure. His brows are less sinister and violent, but he is more unpredictable than before.

"Look deeper."

"Your Majesty, don't worry."

The four rats lowered their eyebrows and only thought about getting things done.

After retreating out of the Chaohua Palace, the four mice walked in small steps to the door of the wing room where the three cats were specially used to add a small stove for the emperor:

"Lai Maozi, what are you cooking for the emperor? Why didn't I hear where you brought in the cook from outside?"

There was no outside chef in the penthouse, only a cat in a daze.

"Mouse, do you smell the fragrance too?"

Opening the lid of the pot, the thick aroma of the broth made the three cats' eyes widen:

"The recipe the emperor gave me...isn't it too fragrant?"


Chapter completed!