In the Xipu Palace where the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty temporarily resided, a royal family banquet was in full swing.
The emperor of the Zhu family fled from Beijing in panic, and the original imperial dining room had long been disbanded. However, here in the southeast, there is a wealth of wealth, and in terms of food and clothing, it is only better than the palace in Beijing, so there is no need to worry about not having good cooks. The cooks currently serving Chongzhen and his son were provided by the two emperors of Zhou and Tian and the five salt generals of Yangzhou (Jiang, Hu, Wang, Shen and Su Laomi).
Among them, those who served Chongzhen in Xipu were found by Zhou Kui and Tian Hongyu - these two relatives had no credit for their hard work in the process of moving south, and they are now on the sidelines. However, they are both from the south. Zhou Kui is from Suzhou and Tian Hongyu is from Yangzhou. They still have some industries in Suzhou and Yangzhou, so they can still be rich.
Emperor Chongzhen was afraid of food poisoning, so he asked these two reliable royal relatives to find chefs from Yangzhou and Suzhou to serve in the palace.
In addition, the internal officials serving in Xipu are not "eunuchs who overcome difficulties", but Lu Jiude and Pang Tianshou were found from Zhongdu, Nandu and other places - as Zhu Cihong's power in the southeast becomes more and more stable, He also deliberately relaxed his control over Emperor Chongzhen, allowing him to use a few trusted eunuchs. To prevent him from living in fear every day, it would be bad if he scared himself to death.
The chef Zhu Cihong used himself was the chef of the five salt generals of Yangzhou (mainly the four Hui Gang salt generals Jiang, Hu, Wang, and Shen). These five Yangzhou Salt Managers almost made their fortunes thanks to Zhu Cixiang, but they dare not give the Crown Prince food poisoning!
The eunuchs serving in Dakongfang are mainly "eunuchs who overcome difficulties", and their number is only a few hundred.
In addition, many maidens, old palace maids and ordinary servants were employed in Dagongfang - now the Ming Dynasty's internal official system is also undergoing reform. From the original large and comprehensive, it has become less but refined. At least Zhu Cihong's internal servant system in the East Palace is now following the "Northern Song Dynasty internal servant route" of being small but refined.
That is to say, while drastically reducing the number of internal servants, we will adopt an elitist and bureaucratic approach. Under Zhu Cihong, eunuchs were no longer coolies, but became officials with a weak body and a strong mind.
To this end, they must receive systematic practical and military training. An internal school was also opened in Dagongfang, which was jointly responsible for the eunuch Tian Shuchen, the eunuch of the imperial horse supervisor, Shi Su Ziwen, the right commander of the generalissimo's palace, and Tang Ruowang, the imperial eunuch. Confucian scholars and missionaries who were well versed in Chinese and Western studies served as teachers.
The teaching materials used were selected by Zhu Cixiang himself. There are not only Confucian courses, but also military and Western studies, especially the mathematics courses, which are very advanced compared to this era!
As for the students studying in the inner school, in addition to the young and astute "eunuchs who overcome difficulties", there are also the children of heroes who overcome difficulties and the best among the clan's children.
As eunuchs became more elite, the hard work in the palace was naturally handed over to able-bodied servants and officials.
Therefore, there are many officials and handymen in Dakongfang where Zhu Cihong lives. In addition, a group of female officials and old palace maids were recruited to work together.
The cooks who were sent to Dagongfang by Yangzhou salt merchants were all officials. The officials working in the Dagongfang and Grand Marshal's Mansion systems can get a good salary and have their own promotion paths.
Of course, the promotion path for civil servants is different from that for civil servants. The promotion path for civil servants is to serve as a "technical officer". The magic officer pays attention to specialization and cannot be transferred unless he resigns.
Today's royal family banquet was hosted by the chefs from Xipu and Dagongfang under the joint supervision of Huang Dabao and Lu Jiude. Nothing too greasy or oily, just some delicious and light Huaiyang dishes. It looks bland, but when you eat it, it's extremely delicious.
When he was eighty percent full, Emperor Chongzhen put down his bowls and chopsticks, and his eyes slowly passed through the hall. He first looked at Zheng Zhilong, who was a little reserved, and then at Zhu Cihong, who was eating hard-boiled eggs. This traitor must have eaten hard-boiled eggs. It was a shame that he had done too many things and was afraid that people would harm him, so he left the delicious food in front of him without eating. He asked the cook he brought from Dakongfang to cook a plate of hard-boiled eggs and ate them without fear of choking...
"Brother Chun, are the hard-boiled eggs here delicious?" Emperor Chongzhen asked with a smile.
"It's delicious, it's delicious!" Zhu Cixiang nodded repeatedly, "They are all grass eggs, so delicious!"
What are grass eggs? Look down on chickens? Chongzhen said in his heart: The hens I have here are all golden chickens, not grass chickens!
"Then you can come to me often to eat eggs in the future." Emperor Chongzhen said with a smile.
"Thank you, Father."
Chongzhen glanced at Zheng Zhilong with a smile, and then asked Zhu Cihong: "Brother Chun, the daughter of the Zheng family is well-educated, dignified and steady, and she has the air of maternal etiquette. Your mother and I like her very much... Why not make her your concubine?"
As a concubine?
Princess?
Zheng Zhilong was still pretending to take small bites - he actually also likes to eat grass eggs, but he was too embarrassed to ask Zhu Cihong for them, so he had to eat less, so that if they were not clean, he would not die. Now that I heard what Emperor Chongzhen said, how could I still think about pretending to eat? He immediately looked at Zhu Cixi secretly.
Zhu Cixiang's face turned slightly gloomy, but he immediately put on a smile and said with a smile: "Father, you have forgotten that we are still discussing marriage with Donglu! How can I be canonized as the crown prince?"
"Isn't the marriage proposal going to work out?" Emperor Chongzhen asked.
Zhu Cixiang smiled: "It may not be impossible. Zukefa sent someone a memorial a few days ago, saying that Dorgon had promised us to set up a marriage conference hall and a business hall on Haisha Island... He also said that his son-in-law sent a memorial to us. Gege likes Dongguo Gege’s gift very much. I think there is still hope for this!”
"But the Tatars are cunning after all!" Emperor Chongzhen said, "They haven't stopped the siege of Datong Mansion now, have they?"
"No." Zhu Cihong said, "According to the secret report from the Prince's Mansion on December 25, Datong Mansion was surrounded by a large army led by Azig, the British King of the East, in early December.
However, there are plenty of reserves in Datong City, which can last for at least a year, so my father does not need to worry too much. In addition, Dai Fan has already established a royal palace in Luliang Mountain. Even if Datong falls, Dai Fan can continue to hold on. "
OK! Just let your brother attract Tatar troops in the Luliang Mountains... Emperor Chongzhen gritted his teeth and tried not to get angry. "If Cijiong cannot hold on in the Luliang Mountains and there is a war between the north and the south, we will discuss it." Do you want to continue the marriage?"
Zhu Cixiang smiled: "By then, the whole people will naturally be resisting the Qing Dynasty. How can there be any possibility of negotiating peace or marriage?"
"Okay!" Chongzhen looked at Zhu Cixiang, "Then who will be your crown princess by then?"
By then she will no longer be the princess... Zhu Cixiang thought to himself, doesn't the emperor just want to use this prince's marriage to create friction between the Wu family and the Zheng family? Don’t you know the truth about family harmony and everything being prosperous? Father, it's useless for you to do this!
