On the fifth day of the fifth month, the emperor will reward all the ministers, and the senior officials of the third rank or above will appreciate summer clothes, five poison bags, hundred-shou wisps, moxa tigers, folding fans and other items. Then, the number will be reduced according to the official rank. At the end, the ninth rank only has one five-shou wisps, one hundred-shou wisps, and a folding fan. Everyone has a share of the zongzi, not civil and military ministers, small officials in the yamen, eunuchs in the palace, and women in the palace.

There must be no busy with so many zongzi just relying on the imperial kitchen. Starting from April 20, the kitchens of each yamen have joined the ranks of helping the kitchen, and they can only be cooked day and night to meet the needs. During the Great Wei Dynasty, "As for the county governments in Beijing, if there are Caoshu, there are public kitchens." The Great Zheng Dynasty also inherited this rule. During the festival, it is when the kitchens of major yamen compete for craftsmanship. Take the shape of the zongzi, as for example, if you wrap it into a cone, I will tie it into a diamond shape, and it will wrap it into a cylinder. The filling is ever-changing. Date rice dumplings, bean rice dumplings, meat rice dumplings, bean paste, eight treasures, ham, mushrooms, and egg yolks can all be stuffed into the rice. The salty and sweet tastes are very different, but they are also glutinous and delicious. The whole capital is filled with the fragrance of rice leaves.

As the chef of Shangshijian, Fu Fuying was the imperial chef of the world. Since his ancestor Gaozu, he has been an imperial chef in the palace. In his generation, he became one of the sixteen staple foods of Shangshijian. Although he was only a third-ranked chef, he was considered the "top scholar" among the chefs from the chef to the official position. There were 784 staple chefs in the palace, and each staple food had 49 chefs. He mainly focused on pastries, sweets, and the Dragon Boat Festival rice dumplings were naturally managed by him.

Fu Fuying is not short of money. His family has been an imperial chef for generations. His uncle and uncle opened several large restaurants in the capital city, making money every day. As the eldest son of his family, he occasionally went to the restaurant to cook two dishes when he was not on duty, and the money came like water. The salary of those five and sixth-rank Beijing officials in the year is not as good as that of him for a few days a month. Every time Fu Fuying went to help the kitchen cook, the restaurant business had to be booked in advance. Fu Fuying knew very well that his skills were similar to those of his uncle and uncle and brothers. The reason why he was so popular was that the people who came to eat were just for the word "Imperial Chef". This golden sign was more valuable than real craftsmanship.

Last year, the Dragon Boat Festival rice dumpling art competition was ranked after the Ministry of Rites and Guanglu Temple, and the face was lost in the palace. Since April this year, Fu Fuying has been racking his brains to carefully plan how to excel and regain the reputation of the rice dumpling head. Referring to the practice of Jiuzi Brown, Fu Fuying developed the "Liu Liu Shunxin Zong", which used bean paste, eight treasures, ham, mushrooms, egg yolks, and plate millet as a group of six rice dumplings. Each six groups were colored and tied into a large rice dumpling, and a total of six sixteen rice dumplings were synthesized with 6636 rice dumplings, meaning "Liu Liu Shunxin" and "Smooth Sure". After the new rice dumpling was made, it was sent to the harem to try and be praised by Queen Wang, Concubine Liu, and Concubine Huang Shu. Naturally no one else could say that it was not good, which made Fu Fuying full of confidence in recapturing the rice dumpling head.

As the Dragon Boat Festival approaches, joy is spreading in the brown fragrance inside and outside the palace. However, the eunuch Liu Weiguo, Bingli, found that the frost on the face of Emperor Shi Fangzhen is getting heavier and heavier. As the eunuch Liu Weiguo, as an eunuch, knows some reasons. The Emperor is worried about the collapse of Yuanhua River. Two days ago, Longwei reported that because the collapse of the dike also triggered a rebellion, the bandits from Zhongshanzhai went down the mountain to capture Xingling County. The Yuantian Sect took the opportunity to make trouble and burn disaster relief grain. Although this group of rebels was defeated in Linhua County, more than 10,000 people died.

In the past few days, memorials have been sent. Liu Weiguo noticed that the dark clouds on the emperor's face were getting heavier and heavier, and his heart was full of worries. The emperor was over fifty years old and had dizzy and his hands and legs were shaped like a wood. The imperial physician in the medical supervision advised the emperor to eat light food and be calm, and not be overjoyed or sad, especially not to be angry. Liu Weiguo tried to distract the emperor and let the emperor go to the imperial garden to relax, and finally relieve Shi Fangzhen. Liu Weiguo thought about long live the Dragon Boat Festival on the fifth day of the fifth month, and the emperor and his ministers would be given a banquet for the ministers. At that time, the king and his ministers would have fun together, and this matter might be over.

However, what should come will come. On the fourth day of the fifth month, a secret memorial was placed on the table in the imperial study room. Liu Weiguo took the memorial from the box and muttered in his heart. Which shameless minister had seized the opportunity to write so much, and at least a hundred pages. When will the emperor see it? It was still half an hour before noon. Queen Wang sent someone to tell him that Princess Anshou was here and asked the emperor to return to Kun'an Palace for lunch.

The weather was already hot, and Shi Fangzhen changed into a light silk shirt, cleaned her face and rolled up her sleeves and sat at the table. Liu Weiguo told the emperor the words of Queen Wang. Shi Fangzhen whispered and began to read the thick memorial. Liu Weiguo quietly retreated, stood half a foot away on the right and served, secretly looking at the emperor's expression.

After a while, Liu Weiguo's heart rose. He saw the emperor frowning and his face began to turn green.

He said it was not good, so he nervously paid attention to the emperor's expression and was ready to remind him at any time. Shi Fangzhen looked at the ten lines faster and faster, and nodded at times and showed joy. Liu Weiguo was relieved, and Shi Fangzhen slapped the table hard and raised his heart. Liu Weiguo didn't know what the memorial was written, how to make the joy and sorrow of the long live.

When he saw it almost halfway through, Liu Weiguo saw the emperor's face flushed and his temples were beating. He knew that the emperor was angry and quickly stepped forward to massage the emperor. Shi Fangzhen slapped the memorial in his hand heavily on the table, and four words popped out of his mouth: "I'm so angry."

Liu Weiguo did not dare to be negligent. He stood behind the emperor, stretched out his hand and gently pressed Shi Fangzhen's temple, and advised worriedly: "Long live, it's not that I'm a slut. The imperial physician said that you must not be angry, as being very angry hurts your body. You are the king of a country, and the lord is worried about the humiliation of the ministers. There are civil and military ministers to relieve your worries. Otherwise, what would you do to raise so many civil and military officials in the Golden Palace?"

After saying a few words, Shi Fangzhen was amused and sat upright. Shi Fangzhen laughed and scolded: "You old slave, you are almost becoming a spirit now. I think you can be a censor, and even Kong Sheng is not as good as you."

Seeing that the emperor's complexion improved, Liu Weiguo asked the eunuch to give him medicine. When Shi Fangzhen swallowed the water and took it, Liu Weiguo said in a slight sense: "I just want to live for another twenty or thirty years and be able to watch Long Live become the emperor of the ages."

If you look at this sentence in detail, it is a bit overly unrestrained, but Shi Fang was deeply moved and sighed: "Liu Weiguo, I borrow your auspicious words and you can live well. When I die, you can accompany me to the tomb."

Liu Weiguo cried in tears and knelt on the ground and couldn't speak.

Shi Fangzhen picked up Jiang Anyi's memorial again, endured his temperament and finally did not get angry on the spot. When Liu Weiguo accompanied him to Kun'an Palace, he noticed that the emperor was holding his hands behind him tightly.

On the fifth day of the fifth month, the emperor gave a banquet to Hanyuan Hall. Civil and military officials above the fifth rank in the capital were qualified to participate. No one would miss this opportunity. The huge golden hall was filled with four or five hundred people. Because it was a banquet, it was not as many rules as the court meeting. Everyone gathered together to chat, and there were some fun and tea on the table for them to eat.

When Shi Fangzhen arrived with three princes, the zongzi banquet officially began. The third-rank official had a table, the fourth-rank two were one table, and the fifth-rank four were one table, and the six dishes and a pot of wine on the table were not rich. The emperor was still frugal, and all the ministers knew that there was a huge zongzi in the middle of each table - Liuliu Shunxin Zongzi, which could be taken away if you couldn't eat.

Since it was a banquet, singing and dancing were naturally indispensable. After the singing and dancing, the emperor asked everyone to be at will. He stood up to toast a few old men and ordered three princes to toast the ministers for him. The prince Shi Chongwei is already in his twentieth year. He is in a yellow dragon robe and is full of spirit and spring breeze is warm; Chuan's King Shi Chongjie is already sixteen years old, and is full of heroic spirit and laughs with familiar ministers, without any concern about the prince's gradually stiff smile; Luo Huai King Shi Chongren is fourteen years old this year, and the yamen is opened in the 17th year of Fengle. This childish prince obviously doesn't care about the errand toast. As the two brothers raised their glasses, their eyes fell on the shooting zong opera by the side of the hall.

After a round of wine and toasting, almost half an hour passed, and everyone sat down again. A highlight of the Dragon Boat Festival banquet was about to be staged - Eating the owl soup. The owl is an evil bird. Ancient books once recorded that the owl bird eats her mother. Since ancient times, there has been a custom of eating the owl soup. Emperor Wen of Qi first gave the ministers the owl soup on the Dragon Boat Festival, which was called expelling the unkind and unrighteous traitors. This custom has been passed down in the court to this day.

While waiting for the palace maid to convey the owl soup, Shi Fangzhen said loudly: "Eating rice dumplings on the Dragon Boat Festival is to commemorate Chu Yuan, a wise minister of the Warring States Period. He thought deeply about the white and clear loyalty, and the eternal tragic wind on the Miluo River. Chu Yuan is the loyal and kind of country, but unfortunately he was mistaken by the foolish monarch. I ask myself that it is not stupid. As long as the princes are exhausted, you will definitely not end up with a tragic wind."

The ministers here did not know what Shi Fangzhen wanted to refer to, and were confused and did not know how to deal with it. As the head of the officials, Kong Sheng stood up and said, "Long live the wise king. The ministers and others are lucky enough to follow him. I dare not do their best to do their best."

The other ministers couldn't sit still and stood up and said, "I should devote myself to my work."

Shi Fangzhen signaled everyone to sit down and pointed to Xiaoguo on the table and said, "I am not a wise monarch. It is said that eating Xiaoguo can expel traitorous ministers, but I see that all the princes are pillars of the country, so there are no traitorous people. Under the sky, are there kings, and the shores of the land, and are kings, and twenty-seven states in the world. I cannot govern them personally. I have to rely on you wise ministers."

There was a silence above the Golden Palace, and only the footsteps of the palace maids teleporting the ox soup were heard. As long as they were not stupid, they could hear the anger in the emperor's tone. Everyone could only shrink their necks and listen, terrorizing that the thunder fell on them and turned themselves into powder.

"Liu Weiguo said it well. The lord is worried about the humiliation of his ministers. I can't finish the world. The collapse of the Yuanhua River caused the rebellion of the thieves in Zhongshanzhai. The Yuantian Sect revived, and more than 10,000 people in Linhua City died. I always heard good things about the world being peaceful, the people living and working in peace, the country being rich and the people being strong, and I am really a little arrogant. I think I am a wise king in private. Today, I want to ask you, is the emperor who cannot distinguish between loyalty and treacherous?
Chapter completed!