Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 426: Running water never rots, door hinges never rot
There were many people in Shuntian Prefecture, and since came with Zhu Ying, who was visiting with great fanfare, Zhang Chuan and Song Tuiguan could try to cover it up, but the news that the man brought by Zhang Shou and Ah Liu was being tried in the Criminal Court could not be suppressed, and no one was particularly bothered to suppress it. As a result, the news had spread throughout the capital before dusk.
And coupled with the major events decided by the emperor at the court meeting this morning, there have been many disturbances during this day. I don't know how many people are gloating, how many people are sighing, how many people are full of complaints, and how many people are worried... This is because most people don't know that the emperor actually left the palace for a small frame-up!
However, although the emperor often went out of the palace for a stroll, after the series of news was announced at the court today, many people were particularly concerned about his whereabouts, so they naturally found out that the current emperor suddenly visited Shuntian Prefecture as Zhu Ying's cousin. Soon, the story of a certain wooden man was circulated in the high-level circles, and the theory of witchcraft nightmare was very popular.
But people's speculation only lasted until the second day's court meeting. Because the emperor directly brought the wooden man into the palace, exposing the theft case in the Qianqing Palace. This time, it was like pouring a bucket of cold water into the boiling oil that seemed calm, but in fact it was already hot, and the officials exploded at once.
Even the cabinet, the six ministries, and many other officials who initially complained about the emperor's investigation of the Guanglu Temple, all became silent at this moment. The emperor produced a detailed and clear list of the qualifications of the so-called imperial chefs in the imperial kitchen, from bribery to nepotism to the entanglement of masters and apprentices from the same hometown... None of them squeezed in without connections.
The emperor's next words left the last remaining potential opponents speechless. "Since the reign of Emperor Taizu, the six ministries and the various temples have always had public kitchens to provide three meals a day, but how does it taste? Only you know whether it's hot or cold when you drink it. Ask yourself, how many people eat three meals a day from that big kitchen?"
"And the big kitchens of these government offices, as well as the Four Barbarians Halls that received envoys from various countries, were all managed by the Guanglu Temple. If the Guanglu Temple was not rotten to the core, how could the public kitchens of the major government offices be useless, and most officials had to spend extra money to get their three meals outside, and the huge amount of money and grain invested by the court was wasted because of this?"
Seeing that the court was suddenly silent, the emperor said calmly: "From now on, all the kitchens in the major government offices will be abolished. The original food expenses will be distributed to all officials from the Guanglu Temple in the form of subsidies. The specific amount will be re-examined and calculated by the Guanglu Temple. However, I believe that even if it is only a subsidy of 100 or 200 coins per month for your food expenses, it is better than the pig food in the public kitchen before!"
Originally, the emperor's words should have frightened the officials of the Guanglu Temple to the point of trembling, but these guys didn't even have the chance to tremble. Because yesterday evening, those who were directly taken to the Dali Temple's Tianlao, from Guanglu Qing, Shaoqing, Sicheng, to the directors of various offices, were basically all in. A lot of clerks were locked up, and only a few cats and dogs were left.
As for those who were temporarily transferred to maintain daily operations, apart from the students from Jiuzhang Hall who came to check the accounts, they were the capable personnel sent by Chu Kuan to take over this business. It is no exaggeration to say that the Guanglu Temple was completely cleaned up from top to bottom.
Today, Zhang Shou personally led the team to the Guanglu Temple to receive the accounts. When he walked past the several warehouses of the Guanglu Temple that stored tribute food and fine wines from various countries, and smelled the odor that was hard to tell whether it was fragrant or smelly, and inspected one by one the inventory that was either rotten or in bad condition and only looked passable, he could not help but sigh from the bottom of his heart.
There is a reason why the emperor chose to start with the Guanglu Temple. Food is the primary need of the people, and the emperor and high-ranking officials are also inseparable from food. Taking advantage of the food these people eat is simply intolerable!
When several students followed him out, he saw that everyone's face was filled with indignation. He knew that they were obviously angry at those greedy termites who neglected their duties. However, everyone would be angry, but when they really sat in this position, facing all kinds of temptations, they might not avoid repeating the same mistakes. Moreover, the accumulated malpractices of the Guanglu Temple were not a one-day thing.
But this was definitely not the time to throw cold water on the students, so he nodded and said, "You are all experienced accountants, and some of you have also worked for the Governor of Xuanda, Wang Zongxian. I don't want to say anything else, but I just want to warn you to be bold and cautious, check the accounts clearly, and don't let the emperor down."
"But the most important thing is not to make any mistakes. As for the new accounts, use the Longmen Accounting method I taught you before. This way, no matter who takes over the Guanglu Temple's accounts in the future, it will be much more difficult to tamper with them."
After receiving a unanimous and loud response, Zhang Shou turned and left.
As the only government office built in the outer imperial city, Guanglu Temple was originally like a private land of the royal family. Zhang Shou walked a short distance north from Guanglu Temple and saw Donghua Gate on one side and Dong'an Gate on the other. Since there were relatively few foreign officials who could enter the palace, he stayed here for a long time, but he did not see anyone except the imperial guards and eunuchs.
Ah Liu, who was waiting to meet him at the entrance of Guanglu Temple, didn't say anything until he saw Zhang Shou finally stop looking around and turn to walk towards Dong'an Gate. It was obvious that he was going to leave the palace instead of going to Qianqing Palace with the privilege of seeing the emperor at any time. So he followed him and couldn't help but ask after walking a few steps: "Are we going to taste the dishes and choose the imperial chef next?"
Zhang Shou almost stumbled, and when he stopped, he glared at Ah Liu: "There are priorities, don't just think about eating!"
"But tasting food in accordance with the emperor's order is an important task." Ah Liu muttered to himself, and then said frankly, "Master, if you think it's not a good idea to go alone to taste the food, why don't you ask Master Ge and the eldest lady to go together?"
As expected of Ah Liu, this idea is really a great one...
Zhang Shou laughed in silence, but he had to admit that this was indeed a good idea. Moreover, he just happened to have something to discuss with Ge Yong, so he nodded and said, "In that case, let's go to Ge's house. As for Yingying, forget it. We'll invite her out later."
"Oh." Ah Liu nodded very naturally and said as a matter of course, "With Master Ge here, it's inconvenient for the two of you."
Zhang Shou had never thought that he would be teased by Ah Liu one day. Although he felt that this guy was becoming more and more humane, he was still almost angry to death. He immediately sneered and said, "It's easy to talk when you are not feeling any pain! When I find you a beautiful wife, you will know what is convenient and what is inconvenient!"
Seeing Ah Liu blinking but not saying anything, as if he had no reaction to the teasing about asking for a wife, Zhang Shou was too lazy to continue bickering with this guy, and hurried to Ge's house after leaving Dong'an Gate. But when the deaf and dumb doorman took him and Ah Liu to the study without announcing anything, he heard two equally familiar voices in addition to Ge Yong's powerful voice.
"Old Ge, have you had enough? As soon as I got here, I heard you exaggerating about your longevity. It's a pity that you don't have a granddaughter. If you had a granddaughter, it wouldn't be Zhu Jing's turn! Oh, no, it can't be a granddaughter, because that would mess up the generations. You have to have a daughter when you're already old!"
"Humph, you are jealous! Do you think I don't know that you also want to take Zhang Shou as your student? But who was the one who was stumped by that question?"
"Old Chu thinks you are biased. We have known each other for so many years and I have never seen you praise your children and grandchildren. Now you only praise your students."
Hearing this conversation, in order to avoid embarrassing the three old men inside by barging in, Zhang Shou had to cough heavily to show his presence. Sure enough, after this cough, the door curtain was immediately lifted up, revealing Chu Ying's face. The face still had a picky and scrutinizing expression, but when he looked at him, it immediately turned into a smile.
"Oh, speak of the devil and he will appear! Old man Ge, your last disciple has come to see your teacher!"
Ge Yong was embarrassed when he was heard by the person who was talking about Zhang Shou behind his back. However, when Zhang Shou came in and greeted everyone with a smile, and then directly told him the task that the emperor had entrusted him with yesterday, his original embarrassment immediately disappeared, and he patted the armrest and readily agreed.
"Your Majesty has entrusted this matter to the right person. If you let others choose, they will consider those insignificant details. Isn't it simple to choose the imperial chef? First look at the skills, then check the family background and character. It's not like some people who just compete to see who has the strongest background! This is easy, I will go with you! But we are not short of money, so there is no need to taste the dishes under the name of the emperor's order. We can eat at each family!"
Zhang Shou saw Qi Jingshan smiling, while Chu Ying was pulling his rat-like beard with a twinkling look in his eyes. He smiled and said, "If Mr. Qi and Mr. Chu are free, can we go together? If I say yes alone, then maybe it won't work, but if you all say yes, then it will definitely work. Besides, I have something else I want to ask the teacher and the two gentlemen."
"It's enough to ask my old man, why ask them?"
Although he complained like this, Ge Yong still glanced at the two of them and said, "How about it, Lao Qi, Lao Chu, Zhang Shou has already asked for it, will you give him some face?"
If you don't give me face, I, an old man, will have to go out for a feast alone with my closed disciple!
Qi Jingshan felt that Ge Yong's eyes seemed to reveal such a meaning, and he couldn't help laughing. Seeing Chu Ying clear his throat as if to retort, he said first: "Since it is Zhang Xiaoyou who invited you, let's go together."
When Zhang Shou saw Chu Ying humming in agreement, he smiled and bowed his hands in thanks. When he invited the three to leave, he changed his mind and said with a smile: "I think the teacher and Mr. Qi and Mr. Chu have tried all the famous chefs in the inner city. Why don't we go to the outer city guild hall and taste the different flavors of each place?"
Without waiting for the three to say whether it was good or bad, he said sincerely: "Running water does not rot, and the door hinge does not rot. In my opinion, since local officials have to rotate, it doesn't make sense for the imperial chef to be the same person for a long time. Unless his skills are so exquisite that the higher-ups personally allow him to stay, otherwise, it would be better to rotate a few new people every one or two years to change the taste. That would be better."
He paused, then said meaningfully: "Moreover, as long as the imperial chefs who were released from the imperial kitchen are not bad at cooking, but have a reputation of being given money and released, not only will their reputation not be damaged, but they can continue to work as chefs under the name of imperial chefs and make a fortune. Isn't that killing two birds with one stone?"
"Money, money, money... You have such a good talent for mathematics, but you just keep thinking about that thing all day long!" Chu Ying scolded him angrily. Seeing Ge Yong glaring at him, he said angrily, "But if we rotate the staff like the government, this is a way to prevent the long-term bad habits. As the saying goes, the army may change but the camp remains the same."
Qi Jingshan found Zhang Shou's statement quite interesting. You know, nowadays, if a family hires a good chef, they will definitely keep him for a long time. Even the apprentices will learn from the master's cooking methods. At most, they will make some minor improvements or create a few new dishes, but they will not usually go beyond the scope of the cuisine.
Zhang Shou clearly meant that it was not enough to recommend a few famous chefs from the provincial guilds, but they should replace them every year or so so that the emperor could change his taste frequently!
So, the group went out of the Chongwen Gate in the inner city and arrived at the Guild Hall area in the outer city. Zhang Shou led everyone directly to the Suzhou Guild Hall. The two young men had seen Manager Hua bringing Zhang Shou here before, and they were surprised and happy to greet him, and then they heard a special request.
"We have four guests in total. Choose your specialty dishes or dim sum, and serve eight dishes. However, when ordering and plating these eight dishes, serve them separately to the four of us. The quantity does not need to be large, just one bite per person. As for the extra ones..." Zhang Shou paused, then raised his hand and pointed at Ah Liu who was standing beside him, "Put the extra dishes on the plates one by one and give them all to him."
Although Qi Jingshan and Chu Ying were a few years younger than Ge Yong, that was limited. When they heard Zhang Shou's request, they were stunned at first, but then they both felt it was appropriate. At their age, eating was just to taste the flavor. If they had too much, it would be a burden, but it would be a pity to waste it. This system of sharing food was also common in literary gatherings and poetry societies in previous years.
When they heard that all the remaining dishes were given to Ah Liu, they couldn't help but turn their heads to look at the seemingly silent and honest boy. Ge Yong also glanced at him and said with a smile: "In this way, maybe we can eat at a few more restaurants, let's do it!"
The two waiters were stunned for a moment before they hurriedly agreed to go to the kitchen to give the order. The shopkeeper also came up and served tea and water. When he heard Zhang Shou's name, he was surprised and regretful. Mr. Hua Si and Shopkeeper Hua actually went out today!
The eight dishes were served in small plates, one by one, in four portions. For Zhang Shou, it was just a taste, but for Ge Yong Sanlao, it was already half full - this was thanks to the fact that he listened to the waiter's reminder when he was serving the dishes, and really only took a small bite. As for the taste of these Suzhou dishes and Suzhou dim sum, that depends on each person's feeling.
However, when the three elders stood up with Zhang Shou, they saw Ah Liu going straight to the meeting room, while on the other table, the eight large plates were clean, as if they had been eaten up by someone without a drop left. The three were still amazed.
After eating six courses at Yangzhou Guild Hall and four courses at Shandong Guild Hall, the three old men were exhausted. Even Chu Ying, who had just teased that this was a good job, burped loudly and couldn't help but smile bitterly, "I think I'll just have simple meals for the next three to five days. Zhang Shou, you must remember that the imperial kitchen must have someone who is good at making healthy porridge and rice!"
