Chapter 428 Who is the housekeeper, selection contest
After eating three meals at noon, Zhang Shou drank a lot of tea with three elders in a small teahouse in the afternoon. First he talked about Longmen account and then Jiuzhangtang. He spent a lot of time talking, and then the three elders dragged him
Two royal chefs were selected in a decent manner - because he specifically ordered that in each guild hall, all dishes should be the work of one chef - and in the end, Huaiyang cuisine and Shandong cuisine were selected.
As for the slightly sweet Subang cuisine, he thought it was good, but the elders didn't like it, so he only got one vote out of four. Although he could decide it by himself, he finally decided to go back and mention it to the emperor.
.However, at the same time, an extremely bold idea came to his mind.
By the evening of that day, when Zhang Shou sent Ge and Yong home one by one, it was already evening. He was no longer feeling full after eating three meals at noon. Although he was not yet ravenous, he could no longer bear it.
I laughed at myself and wondered if the more I ate, the more hungry I became.
At this moment, he heard Ah Liu beside him whisper: "Can arithmetic really be a living thing?"
Zhang Shou glanced sideways at Ah Liu, who had been mute all afternoon. Since persuading him to learn was completely useless for this boy, he could only smile and said: "For the teacher and those two gentlemen, that is indeed a delicacy.
, and it is also the elixir of eternal youth. Can you imagine how painful it will be for the teacher and the two gentlemen when they are old and unable to study these things?"
Ah Liu tilted his head and thought carefully, then nodded knowingly: "That's right, I can't imagine what will happen if I get too old and can't fight anymore."
When you get too old and can’t fight anymore... Haha, I can’t even imagine what that would be like!
Zhang Shou couldn't help laughing, but then he heard Ah Liu suddenly say: "Would you like me to check again to see what the frame-up thing is about? I think it is true that Guo Shanggong stole things.
It is true that the man named Zhou from the imperial kitchen had an affair with her, and that he had taken advantage of her countless times over the years, but there was something wrong with that frame-up."
Zhang Shou had never doubted Ah Liu's sensitivity, and he himself believed that there might be something fishy behind this matter. But at this moment, seeing Ah Liu's murderous look, he couldn't help but laugh: "Your Majesty
Didn't you ask the imperial attendant to investigate? That means your master is leading the team, so what do you have to worry about?"
Ah Liu frowned a little irritably: "But lunatics do things very randomly!" Besides, we can't tell where the source of this thing is!
It sounds like you don't do anything haphazardly! Zhang Shou couldn't help but laugh: "It involves palace affairs. Unless you want to change jobs and go back to your old job, don't expect me to promise you! Don't think too much, maybe they deliberately put such a person
The fool and the wooden man that the emperor often played with were sent to you. Instead of worrying about the details now, it is better to think about where to get it back in the future!"
"I know." Although he agreed readily, Ah Liu once again began to think about the followers of the three religions and nine sects on the ground in the capital. Although he had beaten some of them with his fists, poached some with promises, and let some of them stare at them.
Another part of the people, but as a dragon who has just arrived in the capital for more than a year, he still feels that his means are lacking and those in his family are not working hard enough.
Isn’t it just that I sleep for two hours a day and use the rest of my time to do things instead of practicing martial arts? This is actually a lot of trouble!
If Zhang Shou knew that Ah Liu would impose his own strict standards on others, he would definitely find it funny and blame this kid for being too demanding. But since he doesn't know, someone is under pressure from top to bottom in the family.
Everyone who was in dire straits was destined to be unable to escape within a short period of time. No one had the courage to complain to Zhang Shou about this matter.
When the master and servant arrived at the gate of Zhangyuan, it was completely dark. In front of the door, two lanterns with huge Chinese characters were hanging on both sides of the gatehouse. The two black doors were tightly closed, with only one side for people and horses to enter and exit.
The little door is still open.
According to Zhang Shou's rank, the shape of this gatehouse was obviously illegal. However, the emperor had already planned to keep it as it was, so he only repainted the vermilion gate with black paint - there were only the imperial palace and villas in this place.
In the days when the gates of Cai Cai were painted with red paint, just the color of the gates shows how glorious and domineering the King of Lu was back then.
He rode in and listened to Old Liu Tou talking about the situation at home. He couldn't help but think of the past in the countryside. He didn't feel that the person was verbose for a moment. It was only when he dismounted and threw the reins out that he suddenly realized
A very important question. Although Ah Liu recruited a lot of people and the Zhu family also borrowed a lot of people and sent them over, but...
The inner courtyard is okay, with the Wu family as the head of the family, and it is enough to have two mothers in charge to assist, but in the outer courtyard, who is the housekeeper?
He thought about this question and saw that Ah Liu had also dismounted and followed him, so he casually asked such a question. But then, he saw Ah Liu glance at him with an extremely strange look, and then he stood upright.
Chest. At this moment, he suddenly thought of a possibility that he had never thought of before.
"Could it be...that it's you?"
"It's me." Ah Liu burst out five powerful words. Seeing Zhang Shou's face full of disbelief as if he had seen a ghost, he suddenly felt depressed and a little aggrieved on his face, "Why, can't I do it?
Lu Sanlang is in charge of the expenses of the outer courtyard, old Liu Tou is also in charge of hospitality, lame An Lu is also in charge of defense, and Mrs. Xu is in charge of the outer kitchen. There are not enough people in the family, so we can only have one person who can do more."
It's understandable that the few at the back are also in charge of Zhang Shou, and this is normal, but what the hell is Lu Sanlang acting as an interrogator for expenses? How could the little fat man agree to take care of such a trivial matter? The more he thought about it, the more suspicious he became, and he felt funny at the same time.
, but then he couldn't help but look at Ah Liu and said: "Then what do you do as a housekeeper?"
"I don't care about them! If anyone is lazy, takes advantage of others, and cheats... Haha."
Hearing this laugh, Zhang Shou couldn't help but cover his forehead. He knew it! Ah Liu really took the word "housekeeper" to a literal level. Isn't a housekeeper a person who takes care of the family? He
I took a deep breath and finally decided not to explain what a housekeeper was to this little guy who believed that he was very loyal to his duties.
After calculating the current manpower in the family, he has realized that with the current configuration of the family, if he wants to choose a housekeeper who can shock everyone, he is indeed the only one in front of him. Because who else is there?
He couldn't control the scene! However, when he thought about Ah Liu following him out all day long, he sighed.
"Well, if you continue to be the butler, there is indeed no one else who can replace you. No one else has the prestige you have."
Seeing Ah Liu suddenly showing a proud smile, he continued to add, "But Lu Sanlang can't audit the accounts for a long time. If you say it, it will become a joke. Little Peanut can learn from it in the future... No, then
The boy was even scolded by Old Xianyu for refusing to study hard, so remember to remind me later that everyone in Jiuzhangtang will give me ten four-arithmetic arithmetic problems for him to do every day."
"Those who go to Guanglu Temple and Public School don't have time, so let others help. For them, this kind of thing can be done in just one breath. After the little peanut is done, you can take it and ask someone for help.
Correction. If you make one mistake, the boy will be punished to copy it ten times!"
Ah Liu's face suddenly showed deep sympathy. Thinking back to when he was in the countryside, Zhang Shou forced him to calculate forty questions a day, and he almost died from the torture. What's more, little peanut now has to do at least two hundred questions a day?
At that time, he had begged in every possible way and was punished by squatting on horseback for a wrong question, but he was finally not as miserable as Little Peanut is now!
Since he had given Xiao Peanut such a task, Zhang Shou thought about it and said with a smile: "Let's find a companion for Xiao Chengya. Although Xiao Peanut is a few years older than him, he also grew up among the people. He is not
He keeps clamoring to be self-reliant, so let him go to Jiuzhangtang to do odd jobs. If he can hone his talent in numbers in the future, he can at least be able to help you, the housekeeper, with the accounts."
Hearing Zhang Shou once again emphasize his legitimacy as a housekeeper, Ah Liu was very happy and immediately agreed.
Zhang Shou left Guanglu Temple that day and picked up Ge Yong and the others. They just went shopping and drank tea. They were so leisurely that they didn't even go to Guanglu Temple to ask about the results of today's audit. However, staring at him
But people could not help but suffer enough again. And among the many big shots in the court who received the message from Guanglu Temple in the evening, some were happy and some were sad.
For example, even though he didn't know what Chu Kuan had given him behind his back, he could not forget that his in-laws had served as Guanglu Shaoqing. There were a lot of royal chefs in the imperial dining room.
They were all dismissed, and some were even imprisoned. Their homes were confiscated and their property far exceeded what they should have, so he was not unaware of it.
But now he heard that Guanglu Temple's account books for the past three months were in a mess. Even before he checked five years ago, he had to consider whether he needed to kill his relatives out of justice. With such a stupid and greedy in-law, he
I used to be so blind!
It is not just a Confucian scholar who has a big head. Mr. Wu Ge, who has always been kind to others and tries to figure out the Holy Will in everything, is also a big head because his nephew works as a casualty in Guanglu Temple. Although his position is too low and he does not have enough time.
The captain was not among those imprisoned this time, but his official position was still lost. His wife cried endlessly in front of him, which almost annoyed him to death.
As for Zhang Yu, a scholar of Zhang University who was promoted by the emperor at the beginning of last year. He is the lowest ranked among the cabinet members but has always had a strong character... Although he has nothing to do with Guanglu Temple, it is not known who spread the word. His housekeeper and
The steward named Zhou in the imperial dining room was from the same clan. Before he could intervene, the steward ran away, and he also fell into trouble.
This is only the cabinet, the Six Ministries, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and other temple supervisors. There are also many people who are inextricably connected with the people of Guanglu Temple and the Imperial Kitchen.
Even if the emperor only limited the scope of the thorough investigation to the two places of Guanglu Temple and the Imperial Kitchen, and even had personal and physical evidence that the palace had stolen forbidden items and Guanglu Temple had embezzled money, some people would still be in danger.
Although Guanglu Temple and the Imperial Kitchen were not very powerful places in the past, they were the closest places to the emperor. Therefore, the people who were in contact with them were naturally the prominent figures in the court - shameless people would ignore you! But once
If something goes wrong, the former prominent figures involved in these two places will inevitably be disgraced.
Therefore, when the three ministers in the cabinet met each other in the morning, the elders who were at odds with each other met each other. Academician Kong noticed the black circles under Wu Ge's eyes, and Mr. Wu noticed the yellow complexion of Academician Zhang.
, and Academician Zhang...he discovered a strand of messy hair that had fallen beyond the official hat of Academician Kong Da, who had always been meticulous.
At this moment, the three of them almost had the same mind and smiled bitterly at the same time.
It is said that one person is inferior to tens of thousands of people, but when he worries about gains and losses, what is the difference between him and ordinary people?
Sure enough, the court meeting on this day was dull and boring. There was nothing worth talking about or worth fighting. It ended quickly and calmly. After the court meeting was over, all the officials returned to their respective yamen to serve as Confucian scholars and other officials.
When the three of them cheered up and prepared to leave, someone suddenly came and invited them to move to Qianqing Palace.
Although the three of them now have their own evil intentions, and of course the degree of guilty conscience is different, when they entered the Qianqing Palace, everyone still had a serious face, and their frank demeanor would make anyone praise the prime minister's demeanor. However,
When they stood up after bowing in front of the emperor, and saw the emperor turning the wooden figure in his hand to the front, their expressions all changed.
Even without the emperor's explanation, they knew that it was the cause and effect of the theft in the palace.
"The imperial dining room will be under the jurisdiction of the palace from now on. Since my food and expenses allocated by the inner treasury have nothing to do with the outside world, there is no need for Guanglu Temple to manage it. This is one of them." The emperor seemed to say.
After Xiaofeixiao said this, he saw that Grand Scholar Kong was slightly startled, and then he immediately opened his mouth to protest, but he stretched out his hand to directly stop him.
"I have made up my mind. The messy scandals in Guanglu Temple and the Imperial Kitchen have been widely circulated throughout the capital. I don't even know how many literati have written them into their own miscellaneous notes. I am afraid that even the common people in the city know that I am dignified.
The emperor was actually deprived of food and drink by a group of corrupt officials and cooks who colluded with each other, and even the concubines in the palace became a joke."
"I don't believe any of the rumors related to you before, but you should not have any thoughts of trying to calm things down, let alone suppress this major case. Some things are better blocked than cleared. I believe you know better than me."
The emperor had spoken so seriously that the three of them looked at each other and were speechless in the end.
If it weren't for the fact that the rumors were getting more and more outrageous, how could they be so worried?
However, Academician Confucius was not an ordinary person after all. He was so stubborn that he recovered in an instant. He bowed and saluted again: "Your Majesty, many people have been blamed in the imperial kitchen, but since you are in charge of the meals in the palace, you must not
I have been absent for a long time and I don’t know if there is a backup candidate? If there is no backup candidate, and I cannot trust Guanglu Temple, I can ask the admonishers at Chaozhongtai to recommend them.”
Asking the picky censors to recommend chefs to me? Are you sure this is not a joke? The emperor smiled and then said lightly: "I originally asked Zhang Shou, a foodie, to carefully select a few chefs for me, but Zhang Shou
He gave me a better idea. Since the officials and people in the capital are in a state of panic recently, let’s hold a royal chef selection competition in the name of selecting the royal chef!"