Chapter 920 The Crisis Caused by Breakfast
Every morning never comes again, and time never comes again. In the blink of an eye, it has been more than a month since Zhu Ping'an joined Prince Yu's Mansion.
In more than a month, Zhu Ping'an successfully established a firm foothold in Prince Yu's Mansion. Not only did he get along well with his colleagues, but he also gradually won Prince Yu's trust. In Prince Yu's mind, He gained a pivotal position in the government and gradually entered the decision-making center of Prince Yu's Mansion.
The decision-making center of Prince Yu's Mansion is not a specific organization. The members are all appointed by Prince Yu. Prince Yu will consult their opinions before making decisions. Finally, Prince Yu makes the final decision. It is somewhat similar to the cabinet. It can be called This is King Yu's small cabinet.
The previous members of the small cabinet were Gao Gong, Chen Yiqin, Yin Shidan, and an old Confucian named Gao Shiding.
Of course, there is also the newly added Zhu Ping.
However, Gao Shiding was older and in poor health. He took a temporary job and returned to his hometown in Chengdu, Sichuan to recuperate half a year ago. Zhu Pingan has not seen him since he entered Prince Yu's Mansion. Recently, I heard news that Gao Shiding plans to resign and retire. It seems that Zhu Pingan has no chance to see Gao Shiding.
At present, the actual decision-making center of Prince Yu's Mansion is Gao Gong, Chen Yiqin, Yin Shidan and Zhu Ping'an.
Don't underestimate this small cabinet. Don't look at it. It's just a small cabinet of Prince Yu's palace now. When Prince Yu ascends the throne, it will become the cabinet of the Ming Dynasty.
After King Yu ascended the throne, Gao Gong, Chen Yiqin, and Yin Shidan all entered the cabinet and became cabinet elders.
It can be said that entering the small cabinet is equivalent to entering the cabinet in the future.
On this morning, Zhu Ping'an arrived at Prince Yu's Mansion early after having breakfast as usual, accompanied by Liu Dadao.
After arriving at Prince Yu's Mansion, Zhu Ping'an found that something was wrong with the atmosphere. Both the palace officials and the servants and maids looked like they were under a cloud.
"Master Zhang, what's going on?"
Zhu Ping'an stopped an official named Zhang and asked curiously.
"Oh, it's Mr. Zhu, have you eaten?" Mr. Zhang stopped, raised his head and asked pointedly.
"I ate it. I ate it at home. Does it matter?" Zhu Pingan was even more confused.
“It’s a good meal.” Mr. Zhang said with some envy.
Well, it’s just breakfast. Why do you put on such an envious expression? Zhu Pingan was even more confused.
"My Lord Xiao Zhu." Seeing Zhu Pingan's confused look, Lord Zhang couldn't help but approach Zhu Pingan's ear and whispered softly, "You don't know, our house usually serves breakfast. , although it’s just porridge, side dishes, steamed buns and eggs, but none of the public kitchens are open today. I asked an acquaintance of the kitchen staff, and it turns out that our palace doesn’t even have the budget to buy the most basic ingredients. "
Uh
Prince Yu’s Mansion is too poor to reveal the blame? !
Zhu Pingan was stunned.
I had known for a long time that King Yu was having a hard time, but he didn’t expect it to be so hard, and he couldn’t even lift the pot!
Fortunately, the salaries of all the officials in the palace are uniformly distributed by the central government. Otherwise, King Yu's life would be even more difficult. A crisis of salary arrears would have broken out long ago, and the palace would have difficulty operating normally.
However, now King Yu seems to be at the end of his rope.
Don’t underestimate this breakfast.
People depend on food for their livelihood, and officials are no exception.
There were already official chefs in the Qin and Han Dynasties, but at that time it was just a special preferential treatment given by the court to outstanding ministers, and it was not widespread. In the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty set a great ambition to "defeat the world and be diligent in governing it." In order to realize this ambition, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty often extended the time of court meetings, which resulted in many ministers going to court hungry to work. Not only does it affect office efficiency, it also leaves a reputation for being harsh on officials. In order to solve this problem, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty ordered the court to provide breakfast for the ministers. Unexpectedly, the minister responded very enthusiastically and praised it highly, and his work efficiency was greatly improved. Therefore, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty extended this experience of ministers to all parts of the country and ordered that all counties and counties across the country set up public kitchens wherever there were official offices to provide breakfast meals for subordinate officials. During the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, the prime ministers also held a meeting with the theme of "Precious Soups for Food in the Political Hall" to discuss the standards for breakfast meals.
The breakfast meal in the public kitchen has developed to this day. It not only solves the problem of officials being full, but also has a very important meaning behind it.
For the prince's palace, whether the palace's breakfast is provided, as well as its richness, breakfast standard, etc., represent the prince's trust and attention to his subordinate officials. The abundant breakfast proves that the palace values trust and care for its subordinates, and the subordinate officials are also highly motivated; otherwise, or like today, if breakfast is not provided, one day, two days and three days will be fine, but if it goes on for a long time, people's hearts will gradually weaken. Dispersed.
"It seems that I have to have breakfast at home before coming back. Hey, I have to get up at least two quarters of an hour early."
Master Zhang shook his head and sighed, looking at it with some envy. A glance at the direction of Prince Jing's Mansion, which is next door to Prince Yu's Mansion, I heard that the breakfast at Prince Jing's Mansion is very rich, with delicacies from all over the world, and nothing special.
"Hey, Master Xiao Zhu, let's not talk about it for now. I'm going to go outside to find something to eat to fill my stomach." After complaining, Master Zhang said goodbye to Zhu Ping'an.
"Okay, Mr. Zhang, walk slowly." Zhu Ping'an returned the gift and watched Mr. Zhang walking towards the outside of Prince Yu's Mansion.
Along the way to the office, Zhu Pingan met several officials. During the greetings, several people mentioned the problem of cutting off breakfast meals. Although it was not a complaint, it was obvious that they had opinions.
Yes, Prince Yu’s Mansion does not have many benefits compared to Prince Jing’s Mansion next door. Light breakfast is one of the few benefits of Prince Yu’s Mansion. As a result, even breakfast has been discontinued, and it is no longer available. I blame everyone for having opinions.
It can be seen from the expressions of the servants and maids that their breakfast meals are probably cut off or severely reduced.
It shouldn’t cost much money to provide a simple breakfast. If King Yu had some means, he would probably not cut off the supply.
It seems that the financial crisis of Prince Yu's Mansion is critical and imminent. Zhu Ping'an observed all the way and came to this conclusion.
Needless to say, Zhu Ping'an also knew the crux of King Yu's current predicament - the annual gift. King Yu had not received the annual gift for three full years.
Due to a series of reasons, Yan Song and Yan Shifan, father and son, looked down upon King Yu and did not deal with him, especially Yan Shifan. Yan Shifan ordered the Ministry of Household Affairs to withhold the annual gifts from King Yu and not to issue annual gifts to King Yu. Prince Welfare. King Yu repeatedly asked the royal family to go to the Ministry of Household Affairs to ask for the gift, but every year they pressed for it. The Ministry of Household Affairs made excuses every year and failed to deliver the goods. Prince Yu's house failed to receive the annual gift every year.
Prince Yu had no side business. He only opened a pastry shop with Princess Ning'an, but it was still losing money every month. He had no other income except annual gifts. All expenses of the palace depended on the court's customs. Life is given to you every year.
God knows how difficult it is for King Yu, who has not received the annual gift for three years, to survive until today with his previous savings, subsidies from his mother-in-law Du Kangfei, and subsidies from the princess. I wish I could break it into two halves.
However, even so, King Yu can no longer hold on anymore and has reached the end of his rope. (End of chapter)