Chapter 998
Chen Zeweng first left his seat to change his clothes, but he went straight to the back hall and hurriedly called his eldest son Chen Changshi and his wife together. At this time, the matter was clear. The emperor came to their house for free. This would lead to problems. The banquet prepared earlier must not work. It was not that he was afraid that there would be enough food, but how to set the standards. And now it is Chen Shi, and there is not much time to prepare. They must come up with a plan as soon as possible and buy and produce it as soon as possible.
"My husband, the emperor and the imperial concubine have arrived, so we must treat each other with kindness, so we can prepare according to the standards of the imperial banquet!" Chen Zeweng's eldest wife Xue said.
"Mother, the imperial banquet is cooked by the imperial chef in the palace. I have never seen the chefs in our mansion, so I am afraid I can't make it. Moreover, the ingredients used for imperial banquets are all delicacies from all over the country. Even if we have money, we can't buy them!" Chen Changshi's wife Zhou said with a wry smile.
"What should I do?" Xue was a little panicked. His eldest daughter-in-law was also from a famous family. Her father was the top scholar Zhou Da, so she naturally had knowledge. He also managed all the affairs of the mansion. What she said was very reasonable.
"You can't do a home kitchen, you can go to the restaurant outside to buy the ingredients as much as possible. It's just that time is a bit tight and the cost is more!" Zhou said.
"Oh, what a blessing it would be for the emperor to come to the mansion. Don't care about money, make improvements!" Xue also made a desperate attempt, and prepared to bleed for this meal. "If there is not enough manpower, gather the people of both families in one place and you will dispatch them."
"My husband, what do you think?" Zhou was also worried about this scene and turned his face to ask her husband.
"I think it's inappropriate. The imperial kitchen is a collection of famous chefs in the world. It's not comparable to those folk chefs. Even if you purchase all the ingredients, you can't make the taste of imperial kitchen in the palace. Instead, it makes it even more beautiful. What does my father think?" Chen Changshi shook his head and said. He served in the Ministry of Rites and saw the show of imperial banquets. He felt that it was difficult to make such an imperial banquet that satisfies the emperor with his strength.
"What I said is reasonable. If the banquet in our mansion is better than the imperial banquet, it is not a blessing!" Chen Zeweng pondered for a moment. He knew that the emperor's heart was the hardest to guess. If his mansion was better than the palace, how could he not be suspicious of the emperor, especially because he was the head of the Ministry of Revenue, his position was very sensitive, which forced him to guard against it. You must know that the little emperor is not a good person. The Wu family gave birth to a queen, but it was just because of a "small matter".
"It would be great if Minwu was here. He would always be with the saint, so he would naturally know His Majesty's preferences. Unfortunately, he was on the turn today!" He didn't do anything, and the butler Zhou sighed.
"If not, go and ask Shu'er, do you always know something?" Xue said in a hurry.
"Speaking nonsense, Shu'er is the current imperial concubine, and her identity is no longer the same as before, so how can you ask her?" Chen Zeweng glared at his wife and said. He knew that in order to prevent anyone from poisoning, the emperor's dietary preferences were the secret of the palace. If he asked from Shu'er, it would be fine. If there was a few things, the Chen family would be the biggest suspect.
"Then... why is it good to have a life?" Zhou saw that he could not discuss a plan for a long time, which made her unable to start. Seeing that time flew, she was a little panicked.
"Brother, why don't you go back? Only Erlang and Sanlang are there with the emperor. Isn't it rude for a long time?" Chen Renweng hurriedly came and said.
"Linzhou, Your Majesty is coming for the summer solstice banquet. We are worried about how to entertain Your Majesty..." Chen Zeweng briefly said what he had just discussed.
"Brother is so confused!" Chen Renweng heard this but complained, "We brothers have followed Your Majesty for many years. Do you still know their temperament? Your Majesty hates luxury in life the most and never pays attention to meals. Until today, he still prepares meals according to the unified dietary fee. He never overspends unless there are special things."
"I also know that your Majesty's rules are not only for eating outside, is this still the case in the palace?" Chen Zeweng nodded and said that he knew, but he still felt that he was only for his subordinates. He thought that he would not be so simple when no one monitored him in the palace.
"Oh, my brother still has many misunderstandings about Your Majesty. The emperor has always been like this. He abides by this rule whether it is a public or private banquet, and it is not for outsiders to see. Sometimes His Majesty stays in the army for more than a month, and is so frugal. He even eats the same meal with the soldiers and eats the same food, not for the sake of being innovative, but for the sake of being true. No one in the army knows it!" Chen Renweng sighed and said anxiously.
"I thought Shu'er would definitely live a life of luxury and wealth when she married into the palace. Who would have thought that Your Majesty was so frugal? Wouldn't Shu'er have to suffer in the palace?" Xue felt that her niece was wronged and said with a heartache.
"Sister-in-law, Your Majesty has been like this for more than ten years, so how can Shu'er endure hardships!" Chen Renweng was not concerned at all, but felt that it should be done so.
"Uncle, how should I prepare this luncheon?" Chen Changshi bowed to him and asked.
"It's as usual, and there is no need to prepare it. But Your Majesty has a large appetite. He should eat more bites when he encounters something he likes, but he should avoid wasting it the most. If someone has left it, he will be very unhappy. Therefore, the amount of dishes should be larger than before, and it should not be too much. The leftovers will be unbeautiful." Chen Zeweng said.
"Uncle, I wonder what your Majesty has to pay attention to food, and what do you like to eat?" Zhou also asked for advice quickly.
"I haven't noticed that Your Majesty has any food to eat, and everything can be eaten. When it comes to your favorites, it's just lake food and sea food. As long as it's made more refined, you only need to do a few simple things to do." Chen Renweng thought for a while, and remembered His Majesty's saying that watching the market is just to make it difficult to eat. It's really a waste. If you don't look at the market, it seems rude, he reminded him again.
"This is ready. All these things are ready in the house and there is no need to buy them separately!" Zhou said relieved when he heard this.
"The food can be simpler, but after all, His Majesty eats in our mansion. Whether it is meat, vegetables, fruits, and fruits must be fresh. There must be special people in the kitchen, so there must be no problem, otherwise the Chen family will definitely not be able to bear this sin!" Chen Renweng said solemnly.
"Uncle, don't worry, I'm just staring at the kitchen, and there will be no mistakes!" Zhou said.
"You can take care of me alone. People must be watching the food from purchasing, cleaning, cooking, and serving. There must be no problem in any link." Chen Renweng followed the little emperor in Yashan for a long time. At that time, the little emperor had just ascended the throne, and his foundation was unstable and the ministers were dissatisfied. In order to prevent anyone from secretly tampering with the food, the people of their escorts had to watch every link to death, and even test the poison with their bodies.
"In this way, I will preside over here, call out several wives and select a few old servants to help, so as to ensure that they will not lose it!" Xue thought for a while and said.
"How could my mother do these rough work here? The imperial concubine is still resting in front of her. Wouldn't she be polite?" Zhou waved her hands repeatedly.
"You are right. How can my sister-in-law be the elder? How can she be condescending to her junior here!" Chen Renweng also disagreed.
"Mother, I will call Erro, Saburo, Siro, and Goro's family here. Each of them only focuses on one place. Then let Qiro and Hachiro follow the purchase and serve food. They are all family members, so there will definitely be no mistakes." Zhou took out his sister-in-law's style and assigned errands to all the brothers.
"Okay, it's better to draw up a menu as soon as possible, add what should be added and reduce what should be reduced. In addition, you need to prepare some wine, just use the batch of daughters-reds purchased from Shaoxing on the Dragon Boat Festival in the past." Chen Zeweng still tried hard to see what else was there, "By the way, there is only tea in front of you now, you can send some fruits and snacks as soon as possible..."
"Brother, don't be too long. Why are there no one here? I'll leave a few children to talk to Your Majesty, wouldn't I be polite? My sister-in-law will take care of the matter here. If it doesn't work, let the insider come and help. Go and change your clothes and meet you!" Chen Renweng was a little funny. My brother has been adhering to the holy teaching of "A gentleman stays away from the kitchen" for so many years and never stepped into the kitchen. This time he not only came, but also kept getting involved. Obviously, he was extremely nervous, so he urged.
"Okay, okay, go and talk to Your Majesty first. Those little ones have never seen any big scenes. Don't do anything prejudiced!" Chen Zeweng urged his eldest son to go with him first, so as not to neglect the emperor.
"Let's go!" Seeing that the elder brother was still talking, Chen Renweng hurriedly pulled him to change his clothes first.
The others were also busy. The old lady rushed over and summoned everyone to explain the seriousness of the matter first. No matter who it is, they must strictly abide by the rules. Don’t ask what should not be asked. Those who should be avoided should be avoided. Those who have nothing to do must wait. Those who have nothing to do must be taken forward and make mistakes. Then Zhou began to assign personal duties, explaining the matters you pay attention to, and then go and do it immediately after there is no problem. For a moment, all the Chen family mobilized and became busy in an orderly manner...
Zhao Bing, who came here for free, didn't know that the Chen family's backyard was already busy as if facing a great enemy, but was drinking tea while talking to a few brother-in-law who were with him. Although he was young, he was actually a middle-aged uncle who was nearly forty years old. It was not difficult to communicate with several of them who were here to thirty years old.
While speaking, Zhao Bing found out the current situation of the Chen family. The eldest, second, third and fourth in Chen Zeweng's family have all entered the officialdom, and the fifth in the old man worked in front of his imperial office. But except for the eldest, Chen Changshi, who was promoted to the fifth rank of rank through Mojian this year and entered the ranks of high-ranking officials, the others are also small officials of the sixth and seventh ranks, either serving as cabinets in the ministry and provinces, or working in prefectures and counties in the capital.
The eldest son of Chen Renweng's family passed the imperial examination in Qiongzhou, but quickly transferred to the Ministry of War and was preparing to go out this year. The others were all studying in the Imperial Academy, but Zhao Bing was surprised that three of them could already participate in the imperial examination, but none of them applied for the exam, but instead continued to study. But he quickly realized that he had a falling out with the Wu family and strictly prohibited the children of their clan from participating in the imperial examination to weaken their strength. The two brothers of the Chen family were smarter and did not apply for the exam.
Zhao Bing thought that one could avoid suspicion, and also turned his face to the emperor's son-in-law in disguise; the two were currently one family and two ministers of the Chen family, and the Ministry of Revenue was known as the largest department of the court. After strengthening, the Ministry of War was second only to the Ministry of Personnel, and ranked third. It can be said that it is in power and is a rising official family in the Song Dynasty. However, with the Wu family's lessons in the forefront, they are also worried that they are afraid of being afraid of the emperor, so they slowed down their children's pace of entry into the government.
Of course, Zhao Bing suddenly decided to visit the Chen family, not really on a whim, nor was it just to make Chen Shu happy, but also had political purposes. Although he secretly left the palace and came here, he knew that the government would be well-known in a few days. And the emperor was indifferent to his ministers' family, which also showed his favor to him. In addition, the relationship between the imperial concubine also showed that the two had formed an alliance. Therefore, his move not only tied the Chen family firmly to his own chariot, but could only share the same woe in the future.
Zhao Bing was also considering the situation. He had already discovered that the Ministry of Revenue had too much power, and its function was equivalent to the work of several departments such as the modern Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Land, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Grain, Ministry of Commerce, State Administration of Taxation and Ministry of Materials, but lacked a supervision mechanism. Once problems arise, it would be too big to lose. In the past, the Song court established the Three Departments to divide their power, but the method was improper, which led to unclear responsibilities and even more chaotic.
Now the Ministry of Revenue is under the control of its relatives and trustees, and there is no problem at the moment, but who can guarantee the future? Therefore, Zhao Bing wanted to set up an independent department to separate some of the powers of the Ministry of Revenue and supervise it. However, he has not considered it mature, but he has already made a case for innovation, but he will not easily release the financial power.
The issuance of new coins in this time actually restored the exchange center, and was also preparing for decentralization. In this work, Chen Zeweng was able to achieve the conversion of currency in a calm manner in just a hundred days, greatly increasing the value of unit currency, completely eliminating the possibility of inflation, and revamping the appearance of the monetary system. It is also a very great event, which indirectly reflects his talent and organizational ability in financial leadership work.
In addition, although the Ministry of War has already gotten on the right track under the leadership of Jiang Yan, he and Jiang Yan have both civil and military power, which still makes Zhao Bing feel uneasy. Moreover, with the changes in the war situation, the Ministry of War also needs to keep up with the situation and make adjustments and deepen changes. He also needs a confidant who supports him unconditionally. Among the current group of military generals, Chen Renweng's qualifications and talents are sufficient, and he is younger than others, and he has enough time and energy to help him complete this change.
Chapter completed!