Rise From the Humble

There is no morning or two in the day, 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 and gained a pivotal position in Prince Yu's mind. , 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 Prince 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 in Prince Yu's palace now. When Prince Yu comes to 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. Whether it was the palace officials or the servants and maids, they all looked like they were under a cloud.

"Master Zhang, what's going on?"

Zhu Pingan 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.

Uh, it's just a 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 face, Lord Zhang could not help but approach Zhu Pingan's ear and whisper softly, "You don't know, our house usually serves breakfast, even though it is just porridge and 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’s public accounts don’t even have the budget to buy the most basic ingredients.”

Well

Prince Yu's Mansion is too poor to open the pot? !

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 it would be difficult for the palace to operate 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 only a special 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.

With the development of public kitchen breakfast, 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."

Mr. Zhang shook his head and sighed, and glanced enviously in the direction of Prince Jing's Mansion, which is next door to Prince Yu's Mansion. He heard that the breakfast at Prince Jing's Mansion was 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 Pingan.

"Okay, Mr. Zhang, walk slowly." Zhu Ping'an returned the gift and watched Mr. Zhang walking towards the outside of Prince Yu's Mansion.

Going all the way to the office, Zhu Ping'an met several officials. During the greetings, several people mentioned the problem of the breakfast supply. 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. No wonder everyone has objections.

It can be seen from the expressions of the servants and maids that their breakfast meals are probably cut off or severely reduced.

A simple breakfast shouldn't cost much money. If King Yu had some means, he would probably not cut off the supply.

From this point of view, the financial crisis of Prince Yu's Mansion is already critical and imminent. Zhu Pingan 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 Prince Yu's annual gifts and deny Prince Yu's annual gifts and other princely benefits. 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, which was still losing money every month. He had no other income except annual gifts. All expenses of the palace depended on the royal court's customary annual gifts.

God knows how difficult it is for King Yu, who has not received the annual gift for three years, to survive today with his previous savings, subsidies from his mother-in-law Du Kangfei, and subsidies from the princess. He would like to break a copper coin in half and spend it. .

However, even so, King Yu can no longer hold on anymore and has reached the end of his rope.