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 since been disbanded. However, the southeast here is rich, 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 are 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 did not have any credit or hard work in the process of moving south, and they are now on the sidelines. However, they are both from the south, and Zhou Kui is from Suzhou. Tian Hongyu is from Yangzhou. In Suzhou, there is still some industry in Yangzhou, and a rich man can still be a man.

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 so that he could use some trusted eunuchs. This would prevent him from living in fear every day. It would be bad if he scared himself to death.

The cooks Zhu Cihong used were the chefs of the five Yangzhou salt generals (mainly the four Huibang salt generals Jiang, Hu, Wang, and Shen). These five Yangzhou salt generals almost made their fortunes through Zhu Cihong, and they did not dare to betray the prince. I got food poisoning!

The eunuchs serving in Dakongfang are mainly "eunuchs who overcome difficulties", and their number is not large, only about a hundred.

In addition, there are many female officials, old palace maids and ordinary servants employed in Dagongfang - now the internal official system of the Ming Dynasty is also undergoing reform. It has changed from large and comprehensive to few but refined. At least Zhu Cihong's internal servant system in the East Palace , now he is following the "Northern Song Dynasty chamberlain route" of being less but more refined.

That is to say, while drastically reducing the number of eunuchs, the eunuchs were becoming more elite and bureaucratic. Under Zhu Cihong, eunuchs were no longer coolies, but became officials with physical disabilities and strong ambitions.

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 in charge of the imperial horse eunuch, Shi Su Ziwen, the right commander of the generalissimo's palace, and Tang Ruowang, the imperial eunuch. They also invited many 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 were not only Confucian courses, but also military studies and Western studies, especially the mathematics courses, which were 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 naturally had to be handed over to able-bodied servants and officials.

Therefore, there were many officials and handymen in Dagongfang where Zhu Cihong lived. 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 who served in Dagongfang and the Grand Marshal's Mansion system could get a good salary, and also had their own of the ascending channel.

Of course, the promotion path of civil servants is different from that of civil servants. The promotion path of civil servants is to serve as a "magic officer". Technician officers pay attention to specialization and are not allowed to change positions unless they resign.

Today's royal family banquet was organized by the chefs from Xipu and Dagongfang under the joint supervision of Huang Dabao and Lu Jiude. There was nothing oily or greasy, just some delicious and light Huaiyang dishes. Look.

The taste is bland, but the taste is 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 because 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, do the hard-boiled eggs here taste good?" 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? Looking down on chickens? Chongzhen said in his heart: The hens 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 eat something - 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, in case it was not clean, it would not kill him. Now he heard the words of Emperor Chongzhen

, how can he still think about pretending to eat? He immediately looked at Zhu Cihong furtively.

Zhu Cixiang's expression 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 crowned the crown prince?"

"Are you afraid that the marriage proposal won't 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 has 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.

Dongguo Gege’s gift, Gege likes it very much. I think there is hope for this matter!”

"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 abundant reserves in Datong City, which can last for at least one year, so my father does not need to worry too much. In addition, Dai Fan has already established a palace in Luliang Mountain, so even if Datong falls, Dai Fan can continue to hold on."

Okay! Just let your brother attract Tatar troops in the Luliang Mountains... Emperor Chongzhen gritted his teeth and tried not to have an attack. "If Cijiong cannot hold on in the Luliang Mountains, there will be a huge military disaster between the north and the south."

Come on, do you want to continue the marriage discussion?"

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, don't you, 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 that the family and everything
Chapter completed!