first minister

Chapter 238
The small central courtyard is not conspicuous in the huge group of forbidden courtyards, but everyone knows that this is the real heart of the empire.

The people in the courtyard were appointed by the emperor, commanded hundreds of officials, commanded government affairs, and took charge of military affairs. Most of the affairs of this huge empire were decided in the words of several important officials in the center.

It was noon, Prime Minister Qin Weizhong was sitting in the room, just about to get up for lunch, when he heard footsteps, Gao Yi, Emperor Chongning's personal eunuch, led a group of servants into the courtyard, and shouted in a shrill voice: " His Majesty's word of mouth!"

One by one, the central officials hurried out of their respective rooms.

"I am very relieved for your hard work in state affairs. This is a new dish created by Mingyulou. I like it very much and share it with you."

After Gao Yi finished speaking, he immediately put on a smiling face, "My lords, Your Majesty has given me a special piece of Zhongjing Roast Duck, and my lords will use it slowly."

Qin Xiang said with a smile, "Thank you, Eunuch Gao."

"President Qin is being polite, come on, present it to your lords!"

Behind him, the servants walked into their respective rooms with trays in their hands.

This time, of course, there was no whole duck for them to see, but the sliced ​​duck was placed in a plate that was also baked with charcoal to keep warm. As for the lotus leaf cake, each person was only given three pieces.

Just kidding, Your Majesty only ate three rolls, how can you eat more?
After some explanations, although several important ministers were somewhat skeptical, they still tried it, and immediately their eyes lit up.

It is light, but the taste is not too weak. At the same time, the duck skin is crispy, the duck meat is tender, and the cucumbers and noodles are all easy to digest. It really suits the appetite of these old men who are not young.

The only thing that is a little bad is that it feels a bit sloppy, and it disappears after eating three volumes.

Qin Xiang was sitting in the room, chewing slowly, his eyelids drooping, not knowing whether he was savoring carefully or thinking about something else. After a while, he suddenly said: "Go to Mingyu Tower and book a seat for me, and then go and talk to me." Let the rest of the people in the courtyard say, I will treat them to dinner tonight."

The attendant was a little puzzled, "Master Xiang, is this roast duck so delicious?"

Qin Xiang smiled faintly, "It's not important."
-
In the imperial dining room, Xia Jingyun and the eunuch in charge of the imperial dining room each sat on a chair and waited leisurely.

After learning about Xia Jingyun's identity, the eunuch in charge of the imperial dining room was obviously much closer, and laughed together, "Young Master Xia, you are really amazing. We all know that you are unparalleled in poetry and literary talent. There are still such attainments in the Tao, and they can invent such a good thing."

Xia Jingyun shook his head, "Who said I invented it, it was invented by the chef of Mingyulou."

He took a sip from the teacup and said with a smile, "Let me tell you the story of the invention of the Zhongjing Roast Duck. There is a chef in Mingyu Building who likes to eat ducks, but he found that there are roast chickens and roast pigs on the market. But there was no roast duck, so I devoted myself to research and development, but found that if the roast chicken was roasted according to the method, the taste of the roasted chicken was too similar to that of the roast chicken, and the characteristics of the duck meat were lost. So I tried repeatedly, and finally thought of the method of hanging the oven to roast the duck. I ordered an extremely delicious roast duck, served with sauce and bread, it was very delicious. After His Majesty and Empress De Fei knew about it, they invited him into the palace."

He turned his head to look at the bewildered eunuch in charge of the imperial dining room, "What's your name?"

"The servant's name is Cao Jie."

"Yeah." Xia Jingyun nodded, "Cao Jie, the steward of the imperial dining room, Eunuch Cao saw the production process, and with his rich experience in serving His Majesty and concubines in the palace for many years, he suggested that he should add some greasy cucumber shreds to it. And shredded green onion, plus sugar dipping sauce to meet the tastes of concubines, this is how we eat the Zhongjing roast duck we see now."

He smiled and said, "Eunuch Cao, what do you think of this story?"

Cao Jie froze on the spot, but soon understood, turned his head to look left and right, with tears in his eyes, cupped his hands and said in a low voice: "Young Master Xia, but I have an order, the servant will never refuse!"

Xia Jingyun patted his hand with a smile, "It's serious. You and I are both loyal to the emperor and patriotic, so we should walk in the same way."

He looked at the Mingyulou cook who came back from a distance, "Okay, I should go out of the palace too. Eunuch Cao, we will meet later."

Cao Jie saluted respectfully, "Send off Mr. Xia."

After Xia Jingyun and the three cooks took all the guys to leave, an imperial cook from the imperial dining room came over and said with contempt: "My lord, what kind of virtue are these guys? Why don't they just be ducks and hide their secrets?" If they don’t let people see them, who cares about them! From a young age, we should give them a little trouble, otherwise we will really treat our imperial kitchen as a bully!”

Cao Jie turned his head to look at him, slapped the man with a rounded hand, and staggered the man, and said sharply: "Your Majesty's arrangement allows you to make trouble here! How many heads!"

When going out, Xia Jingyun invited the other three people into his carriage, and listened to the one who went to visit the saint happily telling the story.

After talking for a while, the man suddenly came to his senses, quickly restrained his expression and said: "Thank you, Mr. Xia, for your kindness in teaching me. Without your guidance, we would not have such an opportunity."

The other two also echoed, but Xia Jingyun waved his hand, "After I go back, I will ask your boss to post the ins and outs of Zhongjing Roast Duck. The inventors are the three of you."

The expressions of the three of them changed immediately, "Young Master Xia, you can't do it! This is enough to be handed down to the world, what can we do."

Xia Jingyun raised his hand to stop him, "What's wrong, I just talked about it in the "Teacher's Talk" I wrote a few days ago. There is a specialization in art. You are chefs, and your attainments in cooking are completely sufficient. You don't have to think about it In addition, in the future, when you manage well and gain both fame and fortune, don't forget to accumulate virtue and do good deeds, just stick to your duty."

The three of them looked at each other, and saluted Xia Jingyun with fists cupped, "Young Master Xia, I will never thank you for your kindness. We will definitely remember your kindness and virtue in our hearts, and we will never say anything if we are sent out in the future!"

Xia Jingyun smiled, "It's serious, it's serious."

After everyone returned to Mingyu Tower, Xia Jingyun found Qin Li. After talking about the process, Qin Li was naturally overjoyed. Once the two discussed it, they immediately started the relevant preparations.

Xia Jingyun asked Qin Li to find a wooden plaque, first pasted red paper on it, and then hung the gold medal bestowed by the emperor on it. He wrote the story of the invention of Zhongjing roast duck in his own handwriting beside it.

Qin Li was a little puzzled, Xia Jingyun said with a smile, "With a story, there will be a foundation, and there will be a basis for spreading."

Afterwards, Qin Li had already figured out most of the menu for the roast duck banquet, and with Xia Jingyun's optimization suggestions, he finally settled on it, 150 taels per meal, written in black letters on a red background, and pasted on the wooden sign.

The two wooden plaques were hung out and placed in front of the gate of Mingyu Building. Two guards were sent to guard them, and a restaurant steward was sent to explain them.

In the evening, Wei Yuanzhi, Wang Ruoshui, Gongsun Jing and others who had been arranged in advance led the guests they had gathered, walked into Mingyu Tower one after another, and ordered the roast duck banquet by name.

The rest of the guests who came here also tried it under the recommendation of the servant of Mingyulou.

And when Prime Minister Qin led the central ministers to join hands, the campaign reached its peak.

As the guests returned to the mansion tonight, the name of Zhongjing Roast Duck spread throughout the upper circles of Zhongjing City overnight.

The night was getting darker, and the lights of Mingyu Building were about to be extinguished slowly after the extreme brilliance. Suddenly, people rushed to the front of Mingyu Building, waving bank tickets to make reservations for tomorrow's meal.

Among them, most of them are businessmen, and there are also some small officials and dignitaries who are quick to see the opportunity. They want to seize this opportunity and find an undeniable reason for the big shots they want to entertain.

So, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, just tonight, the reservations are scheduled to be five days later. I don't know how big the battle will be until tomorrow day.

Looking at the fully registered notebooks, the steward of Mingyulou knew that the Zhongjing Roast Duck was completely popular.

No one can stop it!

No one can stop it!

(End of this chapter)