Among the many building complexes in Xiyuan, there is one building complex that cannot be ignored. You can smell the mouth-watering fragrance when approaching this building.
This building complex is the imperial dining room.
Emperor Jiajing practiced immortality and refining elixirs day and night. However, apart from giving himself one immortal title after another that was too long to read in one breath, there was nothing remotely related to immortality in his body. Of course, Emperor Jiajing, who was born in mortal form, could not rely on him.
A life of drinking wind and dew cannot be separated from three meals a day, so the imperial dining room is the key part of Xiyuan.
The imperial dining room was originally located in the southeast of the Forbidden City. According to the I Ching Bagua, the east is dominated by wood, the south is dominated by fire, and the wood is responsible for fire. The attribute of the imperial dining room is fire, so it is located in the southeast of the Forbidden City. However, after Emperor Jiajing took refuge in Xiyuan,
, the imperial dining room was moved from the Forbidden City to Xiyuan, and the direction was also in the southeast direction of Xiyuan.
The Imperial Dining Room in Xiyuan is mainly a kitchen that serves Emperor Jiajing. Most of the most delicious delicacies in the world are produced here. Even though the Imperial Dining Room only serves Emperor Jiajing alone, the scale of this Imperial Dining Room is not small. The Imperial Dining Room
It is an independent hall with more than 30 rooms in total. There are more than 20 royal chefs in the royal dining room. These are the master chefs in charge of the dishes. There are also 50 kitchen servants. These are the little chefs who serve as assistants to the royal chef.
They pick vegetables, wash them, cut meat and make noodles, etc.; there are also husbands and servants, who do some physical work, such as fetching water, carrying vegetables, etc. In addition to these people, there are more than 80 eunuchs and chefs in the imperial kitchen.
They were not allowed to walk in Xiyuan. These eunuchs were responsible for serving food and were specifically responsible for serving meals, accompanying people, sitting on watch, and other matters.
In fact, it has to be said that Emperor Jiajing was a frugal emperor in terms of food. The overall size of these personnel was more than a hundred less than that of his predecessors such as Zhengde, let alone compared with later generations of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties.
Compared with Empress Dowager Cixi who cooked more than 100 dishes, Emperor Jiajing's diet can be described as simple.
It was already past noon, and the sunlight reflected colorful lights on the glazed tiles of the imperial dining room.
There were two eunuchs standing at the door of the imperial kitchen. They looked out anxiously at the door of the imperial kitchen, holding Buddha dust in their hands and pacing around, sighing softly one after another. The two had been waiting here for more than an hour.
.However, before the young eunuch who went to deliver the meal list returned, two young eunuchs were sent to inquire for news, and the news that came was only temporary.
"Your Majesty, I haven't eaten for two meals already. What will I do if my dragon body is starved?" A shorter eunuch in charge of the dining room sighed while pacing.
"That's not true. Our family is all worried. It couldn't be that we did something wrong in the imperial kitchen." The other eunuch in charge of the kitchen was also equally anxious, and also worried about the injustice.
"What nonsense are you talking about? You were rewarded for your meal last night." The shorter eunuch in charge of the dining room quickly waved the Buddha dust twice, as if he could get rid of bad luck.
"Yes, that's what Eunuch Liu said." The other eunuch serving the kitchen nodded repeatedly, feeling a little relieved.
It’s no wonder that he was worried at first. Emperor Jiajing could be said to be the most severe emperor on eunuchs except Emperor Yuanzhang and Emperor Yongle. Emperor Jiajing despised eunuchs, and felt that eunuchs were only qualified to clean toilets and toilets.
, if Emperor Jiajing found out that the eunuch had made any mistakes, a beating with a cane would be a light punishment.
"May I ask you two father-in-laws, the menu hasn't arrived yet, what are you going to cook?"
While the two of them were waiting, Liu Yuchu, the chef of the imperial dining room, came out. He raised his hands to the two eunuchs standing at the door and asked.
"Master Liu, our family is more anxious than you are, but today is different from the past. Your Majesty has not eaten for two meals, so you have to ask for permission before you can sit down. If what you cook is not in line with His Majesty's taste, we will be punished.
, It’s a big deal for the Holy Emperor to starve the dragon’s body.” The eunuch in charge of the dining room was also very anxious.
"Your Majesty has been fasting for half a month and has been a vegetarian for half a month. I need to take in some meat." Liu Yuchu said.
"Our family understands what Mr. Liu said, but the meal list has not been passed around yet. Otherwise, Mr. Liu should prepare it according to the meal list you proposed." The eunuch who served as the dining room thought for a while and said to Liu Yuchu.
"That's all we can do." Liu Yuchu nodded, and was about to return to the royal kitchen to prepare the meal for the Holy Emperor.
At this moment, I suddenly heard the excited voice of another eunuch who served as the chief cook. Here comes Dezi."
The little Dezi in the mouth of the eunuch was the little eunuch they sent to deliver the meal list. Xiao Dezi ran very fast and ran over breathlessly, like a general who had won a great battle, excited.
He solemnly handed the menu in his hand to the eunuch waiting at the door.
The eunuch who served the kitchen took the meal list and couldn't wait to read it. After reading it, his face looked a little strange.
It wasn't until Chef Liu saw the meal list that he realized why the two eunuchs in charge of the meal had strange expressions. The meal list passed to them was completely different from the one they handed over, and none of the dishes were the same.
Braised pork with bamboo shoots, steamed fish head, braised eggplant, braised chicken, fish-flavored shredded pork, braised chicken legs, steamed crab (no salt), sweet and sour fish, spicy chicken wings
The more Chef Liu looked at this menu, the more strange he felt. Generally speaking, these dishes were a bit unpalatable. He didn't know why the emperor suddenly wanted to eat these dishes.
However, I finally know what to do.
Liu Yuchu took the meal list and quickly returned to the imperial kitchen. He passed the menu in his hand to the chefs, and then the gourmet machine of the imperial kitchen began to move. The imperial chef is indeed an imperial chef, and the dishes on the menu were quickly added.
Then all the colors, flavors and aromas were presented to everyone.
There are a total of nine dishes on the menu. For ordinary people, nine dishes in a meal must be a luxury, but for the emperor, it is still too few.
In order to enrich the delicacies of the Holy Emperor, the imperial chefs also prepared six additional dishes, making up a total of fifteen dishes, which were then delivered to the palace where Emperor Jiajing was staying by the eunuch.
When Zhu Pingan was sorting out the tenth shelf, Zhang Siwei came again and said that the Holy Spirit had sent another small note. Hearing that the Holy Spirit had sent another note, Zhu Pingan put down what he was holding and followed.
Zhang Siwei went to the hall of the Hanlin Academy.
This time, the person who came to deliver the note to Emperor Jiajing was a little Huangmen. It was Feng Bao, an acquaintance of Zhu Ping'an. He was no longer the Huang Jin in the morning. Also, Huang Jin was a popular person around Emperor Jiajing, and it was Chu Ping's.
How can I have so much time to do errands in Zhangdong Factory?
When Zhu Ping'an entered the hall, he felt that the atmosphere in the hall was a bit strange. All the officials in the hall were looking at him.
"Master Zhu, this is given to you by the Holy One." Feng Bao unfolded the small note in his hand and said to Zhu Pingan.
For me?
No wonder the atmosphere in the hall is so strange, no wonder everyone is looking at me. It turns out that the Holy Emperor gave him a small piece of paper this time. When I first arrived, I received a small note from Emperor Jiajing, so it’s no wonder that they let them do this. It’s just that Jiajing
What kind of note did the emperor send to him? He had just joined the job, and Zhu Pingan was very curious about the content of the note.
"Your Majesty, I accept the order." Zhu Pingan knelt down and took the note.
After Zhu Pingan took the note, he opened it. After reading the contents of the small piece of paper, he couldn't laugh or cry, because there was only a simple sentence on it:
"Sweet and sour fish goes well with rice." (To be continued.)
When the ground comes down and the clouds come down, come to the pavilion and you can get the view.]