When the emperor was dining, no one spoke.
Xu He was full of doubts and trepidation at the beginning, and he didn't know how to taste the food.
But gradually I relaxed.
The so-called trembling is just the fear of imperial power. To put it bluntly, if Emperor Zhizheng is stripped naked, he will be nothing more than an ordinary person.
monasticism?
If he practices Taoism, he will stop eating, drinking, and urinating?
emperor?
Doesn't an emperor have any emotions or desires?
Since everyone is the same creature, I just have to be polite. Why should I be too cautious?
After calming down, Xu He suddenly felt relaxed.
Why should a military commander not be a military commander? Even if he becomes a military commander, who would dare to really regard him as a military commander?
You ask the general to take the Xiaosanyuan, Jieyuan, and Huiyuan exams?
We have reached this point in our lives. Even if the Wei Dynasty dies tomorrow, when the next dynasty compiles the "History of Wei", his name will definitely be included.
Why?
When I reached the stage of reading Xu He, it was the only one in this dynasty that scorpions shit!
After thinking about it, Xu He raised his head slightly and looked at the food in front of him for the first time.
"This eggplant is good. It's what the emperor eats. I want to try it too!"
For the first time, Xu He took the initiative to stretch out his chopsticks and pick up a mouthful of eggplant and put it into his mouth.
I had just heard that this dish was called "Eggplant". Xu He felt that the name sounded familiar. When Xu He put the dish in front of him, he finally knew what it was.
The so-called 鲞 is dried fish with its belly opened and dried.
For example, beef bream and bamboo shoot bream generally refer to dried flakes that have been cured.
Eggplant, as the name suggests, is eggplant cut into slices and pickled.
Xu He was familiar with the name of this dish because in "A Dream of Red Mansions" Grandma Liu had eaten this dish when she entered the Grand View Garden.
The recipe for this dish is recorded in the book. Wang Xifeng told Grandma Liu: "It's not difficult either." You just cut off the skin of the eggplant, clean the flesh, cut it into small pieces, fry it with chicken, then add the chicken breast meat with mushrooms, new bamboo shoots, mushrooms, spiced dried bean curd, and various dried fruits. Cut into dices, simmer with chicken soup, add sesame oil, mix with vinegar, seal tightly in a porcelain jar, take it out when you want to eat, mix with fried chicken and melon. "
Many people actually think of the so-called chicken melon as chicken feet, but in fact...
This is talking about chicken tendons or breast meat.
Xu He looked into the bowl of eggplant, and sure enough, there was something like diced chicken.
It was said in later generations that Cao Xueqin was actually a descendant of an official, and it seems to be true now.
Only the families of royal families and important ministers can afford this kind of dish that never gets tired of fine food. Even when the official is young, he can't bear it.
Look at the whole table of dishes. Almost everything looks unspectacular, but in fact the exquisite workmanship inside is shocking!
Although Emperor Zhizheng remained silent, he actually paid attention to Xu He during the meal.
At the beginning, this boy was very restrained, like a country boy who couldn't let go.
But suddenly he seemed to be generous again. When others ate with him, he only dared to pick up one or two dishes in front of him.
It got so bad that even Emperor Zheng scrawled some of it and had it removed.
But today...
This kid actually tasted all the dishes within his reach in the fan-shaped area in front of him.
Moreover, after finishing one bowl, it was not enough, so the little eunuch went to fill up another bowl, which attracted the side glances of the eunuchs serving around him.
However, Emperor Zhizheng did not think that Xu He was rude. Instead, he felt that this boy was courageous, had no twists and turns, and had an innocent and lively personality!
And being able to eat, in the eyes of Emperor Zhizheng, is a good thing. Young people, if they feel full after eating something like an old man, are they still called young people?
Finally, seeing Xu He eating so deliciously, Emperor Zhizheng was also greedy.
For the first time, he said to Wang Ji: "Go, give me another half bowl of ham and fresh bamboo shoot soup!"
Wang Ji looked at Emperor Zhizheng in surprise. It took him a long time to realize what he was doing, and happily took another small bowl to fill the soup.
Emperor Zhizheng finished half a bowl of soup quickly, while Xu He was still staring at an abalone-flavored white radish and devouring it.
However, when he saw Emperor Zheng put down the bowl and chopsticks, he quickly swallowed the food in his mouth, then also put down the bowl and chopsticks, stood up and waited.
Emperor Zhizheng smiled and said, "You have a good appetite!"
Xu He's face turned red and he said, "I have to receive food from His Majesty. I secretly want to eat more so that I can tell my mother what the food tastes like when I get home!"
"Hahahaha!" Emperor Zhizheng rarely smiled so happily.
Xu He's words made Wang Ji and all the young eunuchs next to him laugh.
"You are interesting. When you work hard in the future, I will ask the queen to bring your mother into the palace. Isn't it better for her to taste it in person than to tell it to you?"
Xu He quickly stepped aside, knelt down and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Emperor Zhizheng stroked his beard and said: "Eat, eat as much as you want, don't worry about me!"
At this moment, Xu He felt that Emperor Zhizheng was quite a good person, at least he was kind to him, he was gentle, and he did things in an honest way.
Much like the director of the unit in later generations who was considerate and caring for his subordinates!
But Xu He knew that if the leader asked you to eat, you couldn't really let the leader wait for you to finish. He quickly replied: "Your Majesty, I'm full!"
Emperor Zhizheng nodded, waved his hand to ask people to take all the dishes off the table, and Wang Ji personally brought two cups of tea and placed them in front of Emperor Zhizheng and Xu He.
Emperor Zhizheng said warmly: "Sit down and let's talk."
After he sat down, Emperor Zhizheng stirred the tea leaves with the lid of the bowl and asked casually, "I heard that the cooks in the Lianghuai Salt Farm are now relying on your Xu family, and their lives are much better than before?"
There are hundreds of thousands of people in Lianghuai Zaoding. If you ask, who dares to talk nonsense?
Xu He's heart, which had just been relaxed for a while, suddenly became tense again.
"The lives of the kitchen servants are good because after the imperial court promulgated the Gangyun Law, the kitchen servants have bargaining power over salt goods. That is the favor of the imperial court and has nothing to do with the ministers!"
Emperor Zhizheng smiled noncommittally and then asked: "I heard that you came up with the Gangyun Method? I remember that when you came up with this idea, you were not even a child, right? There are so many ministers in the court, but you are not allowed to do it. How do you think you came up with this idea?"
what happened? Every minister in the government has his own interest group, so what else can happen?
"This, uh, this is a humble minister and a fool who will surely gain something after all his considerations!"
Emperor Zhizheng smiled: "You are so old-fashioned!"
"As far as I know, you have also fought against bandits and Japanese pirates, and it stands to reason that you have some knowledge of military strategy. You mentioned the incident in Hefei and sent it to the regiment for training. Are you sure about it?"
After all, what this person cares about most is the rebels in the south!
Xu He didn't want to give the emperor the impression of being cunning and wise just after meeting him.
So after thinking for a while, he replied: "One of my friends is the secretary of the Haiphong Camp. This person is from Huzhou, his name is Zhou Bi. He has military books passed down in his family. He is quite resourceful. If the officers and soldiers stationed at Lengshuiguan can listen more, His opinion…”
When Emperor Zheng heard this, he stroked his beard and said nothing!
