Chapter 30: The Cake of Resentment and Expectation
I don’t know whether this should be regarded as a reward, whether it should be regarded as a reward from the government, or a reward from the prince. Anyway, everyone present was lucky enough to enjoy it. It was a new snack created by the prince. The prince said that this snack should be called cake.
It's really delicious.
In the Song Dynasty, the emperor and the scholar-bureaucrats shared the world, and even delicious food was shared.
"Guan Jia, I think it's better not to mention the cake to your husband."
When the officials were preparing to reward the ministers with cakes, the Queen spoke up. She did not mean to cancel the reward, but she just hoped that Xi'er's self-inflicted matter could be ignored.
Xi'er warms the book, and the ministers all suggest that it is enough. The gentleman is far away from the kitchen. If the ministers know that this thing was created by Xi'er, it will be a lot of trouble.
These days, the queen did not allow Zhao Xi to study after school, so Zhao Xi tried to think of ways to make snacks.
In addition to cakes, he also made bread and puff pastry.
It is impossible for the servants in the palace to waste such food... Every time a new snack is baked, the servants are the first to enjoy it.
Not only were the officials displeased with this, but even the queen felt that she was at a disadvantage to Xi'er. Shouldn't the food made by Xi'er be enjoyed by those lowly people?
Therefore, fortunately, there were a lot of snacks prepared by Zhao Xi piled up in the palace.
"What the sage said is true, I know it."
…
Du Yan has been a little worried in the past few days. He is troubled by his little grandson.
It has been two or three days since the snacks were given by the officials. Although the older grandson wanted to eat them, he did not dare to say anything. The younger grandson has been humming and eating the cakes these days.
The servants went all over the capital, but they couldn't find this new snack called cake.
"Rich Prime Minister, is there any leftover from the cake that the officials rewarded?"
"Prime Minister Du, I'm sorry to say that Yan Guo has been troubled by the bad grandson these days, and it's all because of the cake."
"My servants have traveled all over Bianliang City, but have never seen food like this. The people of Yan State are ready to ask for some food from your majesty."
"Together?"
Du Yan and Fu Bi looked at Han Qi who had opened his mouth, and looked at each other happily... It was a strange conversation for everyone to share their worries and eat together.
They were all late, but when they arrived at Wende Hall, they saw Fan Zhongyan carrying a cake...
"Official..."
"Chen Lin, go get some more cakes and share them with everyone."
Zhao Zhen understood what the queen meant, but he didn't understand why Xi'er didn't allow a large reward of this food.
It's nothing more than food. The rewards over the years have never been as economical as cakes.
However, Zhao Zhen still listened to his son's words and smiled inwardly, pretending to be reluctant to give up.
…
"Dad, will there be a sutra feast in the court recently?"
"Xi'er, the Jingyan event is not scheduled at the scheduled time. My son is still young and cannot participate in the Jingyan banquet for the time being."
Zhao Zhen thought that Zhao Xi was asking about knowledge again, and he was happy and sad at the same time. He was happy that Xi'er was smart and eager to learn, but he was worried that Xi'er was so evil that even the princes in the court ordered him to stop studying.
"Dad, who will attend the feast?"
"At the time of the Sutra Banquet, those who are in the fifth rank or above in Beijing, regardless of their dispatch, are required to listen to the Sutra Banquet."
"Dad, can you give me a cake during the feast?"
Zhao Zhen was stunned. Xi'er has been refusing to give out large amounts of rewards these days. What does this mean?
"Xi'er, so what?"
"Dad, children have their own plans."
Well, Zhao Zhen didn’t think much about it.
With his little brain, he really couldn't figure out what Zhao Xi wanted to do.
"Xi'er, as usual, there is a feast for the Dragon Boat Festival. It will be here in ten days. Daddy will reward you with a cake."
Ten days, that is, ten days, Zhao Xi felt that time was a bit tight, but there were many handymen making desserts in the palace, so he should be able to make it in time.
It was going to be difficult again, and even the queen was surprised and stayed with Zhao Xi after school every day.
Zhao Xi first found a deserted and dilapidated palace near the palace wall, emptied out all the belongings in the palace, and then asked the imperial kitchen builder to build three large earthen ovens in the palace.
And asked the queen for Wanniang... This palace maid dared to eat two pieces of cake after knowing that it was poisonous. She was a bit brave.
If he knew that the palace maid wanted to die, he probably wouldn't think so.
Zhao Xi issued instructions one by one, and the entire inner garden started to move. Wan Niang could not hold back the crowd at all, so the queen went into battle herself. That is, she went to hang out and let these servants know that Wan Niang was behind her.
Zhao Xi learned about the number of people attending the sutra banquet from Sun Fu, and asked Liu Yi to buy cartons from outside the palace...
Zhao Zhen didn't like Jingyan very much, so he asked the scholars to tell him how to be a good emperor... He was in his thirties, he had been on the throne for more than 20 years, and he had been in charge for more than ten years, so he needed them.
teach?
Everyone has their own demands and positions. Even if they are talking about scriptures, who wouldn’t bring their own personal belongings with them?
The officials held a sutra feast, which allowed the princes to enjoy the feast, and they just took this opportunity to preach the new policy.
The Sutra banquet is a serious one, so of course no snacks or fruits can be placed... Zhao Xi has already prepared it.
When the prayer feast was over, every minister who left received a paper box containing a cake.
I had long heard that the officials had rewarded the princes with a new type of snack, and today they saw it and were rewarded... The red-eared arguments at the banquet were finally paid off.
…
"Mother, does uncle have any merchants?"
Three days after the banquet, after school, Zhao Xi suddenly asked the queen this question out of the blue.
"What's the matter with Xi'er? Just order the purchase. Don't contact my uncle's family."
"My dear, my child knows about it. It's just that my family has to be involved in this matter. My child doesn't want to cause trouble to his father. My dear, my husband is doing business in the back garden. Do you want to give me any advice to my father?"
Now Empress Cao understood. Xi'er wanted Houyuan to do business with her in-laws.
"Xi'er, what do you want to sell?"
"cake."
This... Empress Cao has always regarded cakes as a rare food, so she felt that the reward was useful. A few days ago, she saw Zhao Xi asking the imperial kitchen to build a huge earthen oven, but she didn't say anything because of Zhao Xi's intelligence in the past.
I didn't expect this... this could actually be sold.
To be honest, even though she was in the palace, Mrs. Cao felt that she was not as well off as she had been when she was young. In such a huge inner garden, every expense had to be counted on one's fingers, and it also depended on the appearance of the princes in the court.
"Xi'er, what should we do?"
"Mom, you just need to let uncle buy the houses next to the palace wall of the cake house. The other children can worry about it themselves."
He did have some concerns. At this time in the capital, people kept coming in and out of the dessert shop, asking if there were any cakes for sale...
In the past few days, from time to time among the ministers and ministers in the court, someone would sigh about the cake. Most of them were complaints, complaining about the scarcity of official rewards.
It's really hard for the princes to appeal to the officials anymore... Because of the food, they asked for rewards several times, and the princes couldn't lose their face.
In just the past two days, everyone in Bianliang knew that there was a new type of snack called cake, and only adults with grades above five had it in their homes...
Utility theory and hunger marketing, these tactics that were used badly in later generations, were copied by Zhao Xi for the first time in the Song Dynasty.
Zhao Xi knew without thinking that Bianliang City was already filled with resentment from Cake.