Not only did the palace spend money on food, there were other things as well.
Rumor had it that the Ming palace maids and imperial concubines spent 400,000 taels of silver a month on cosmetics. This was probably an imaginary figure, but it was hard to say how much it was. Women loved beauty. In order to attract the Emperor, if they really spent money on cosmetics, clothing, and jewelry, it would be quite frightening.
So the same thing happened to other departments that needed to purchase.
After the Audit Division had added an audit threshold, many things had been exposed. It was a ghastly sight to behold.
There was clearly no one to take care of, but the internal court's expenses were clearly abnormal. Xiao Ruxun immediately sent people to investigate and found a large number of palace servants who had committed crimes.
They thought that there was money to be greedy in this day and the previous Ming Dynasty. After the initial panic, everything went back to normal.
In the end, the highest number of internal court servants who were in charge of purchasing in one month was 60.
After that, after the great purge, according to statistics, the clothing and expenses of the internal court between April and August of the first year of Longwu had decreased by 91 percent compared to the same period in the 25th year of the Wanli calendar.
Xiao Ruxun deeply felt that there were many bad habits in the Ming Palace. There were many collusions between the inside and outside of the Ming Palace. He deeply hated this. On one hand, he slightly increased the monthly wages and living standards of the palace servants. On the other hand, he increased the restrictions on them.
The previous batch of Ming Palace servants who had committed crimes were all dealt with.
The female officials who had committed serious crimes were killed. Those who had committed minor crimes were chased out. Those who had not committed any crimes were set down. Those who were over 23 were moved out of the Palace and given a sum of money to marry.
The eunuchs who had committed crimes were sent to the mines that Xiao Ruxun had taken over to do hard labor in Zhu Yijun's mines.
Then, he recruited people from among the people with clean backgrounds to serve in the Palace. Then, he sent relevant personnel to educate them from the beginning. He then assigned them to serve in the various Palaces and increased the supervision.
Under Xiao Ruxun's great purge of the internal and external court, the various expenses in and out of the Palace were greatly reduced. The old system of the Ming court was completely reformed. In terms of expenditure, it was reduced by at least 70 percent and returned to a normal level.
Xiao Ruxun's own Royal Family's food and clothing expenses were all from internal funds, and not from the national treasury's accounts. This greatly reduced the pressure on the government's finances, which were currently not well-off.
For this, the Minister of Finance, Ye Xianggao, personally went to the palace to thank Xiao Ruxun.
After the great purge, the cooking standards of the Gwanglu Temple had improved significantly. The officials who ate in the temple praised the food and felt that it was much more delicious. If this continued, the title of "Gwanglu Temple Tea Soup", one of the four most unreliable dishes in the capital of the former Ming Dynasty, could be removed.
The Imperial Kitchen, on the other hand, would select famous chefs from all over the world to serve in the palace. At that time, Li Sheng had sent over a hundred eunuchs to various places to select suitable chefs for the Emperor. Then, he chose thirty chefs to enter the Imperial Kitchen and work for five years. Each of them would be paid two taels of silver a month.
The Imperial Kitchen usually only served the Emperor Emeritus, the Emperor himself, the Empress, the Crown Prince, and the Eldest Princess, but there were exceptions.
If the Emperor summoned his ministers into the palace to discuss government affairs for a long time, it was normal for the ministers to stay for a meal. If the Emperor suddenly wanted to have an extra meal, they needed to be prepared at all times.
The amount of money that Xiao Ruxun gave the Imperial Kitchen was not high. The dishes on the menu were all chosen from the chefs' own recommendations.
Usually, they were only allowed to make ordinary food. Those sumptuous meals made from expensive ingredients were only allowed to be made during the New Year and other festivals.
Even so, a famous chef was still a famous chef. The dishes they made were also very delicious.
In the morning, Xiao Ruxun liked to eat some simple porridge, side dishes, steamed buns, shumai, fried dumplings, fried buns, boiled eggs, or soy milk. Even the whole family ate like this. The expenses were very low.
Lunch was a little more sumptuous. There was roast chicken, roast goose, roast donkey meat, stir-fried mutton, fresh fish and shrimp, as well as some vegetables and rice.
Dinner was a little lighter, and they would also eat some tonics.
The Empress was currently eating the nurturing meal that the imperial physician had specially ordered. The Emperor Emeritus was also eating a nourishing meal that was suitable for the elderly. The ingredients were not too expensive. Li Sheng had specially ordered reliable people to buy them, and the Audit Department was in charge of inspecting and examining them.
Zhenbang ate with Xiao Ruxun, Yingying ate with the Emperor Emeritus. With the honor of the Imperial Family, the five of them only spent five taels of silver a day, but they all felt that the food was very good.
In Xiao Ruxun's view, the Ming Emperor's consumption of sixteen taels of silver a day was too much. Furthermore, this did not include the food that the Crown Prince, Empress, Empress Dowager, and the imperial concubines consumed.
But for other people, it was not the same. Now that they knew that the expenses in the palace had been greatly reduced, the food was even better than before. The taste was the same, and the variety was also the same. When they found out that the Imperial Family only spent five taels of silver a day, they were all very surprised.
After a long time, the people in the palace all said that the Emperor was too thrifty, eating so simply. Some of the older palace servants who still remained in the palace often thought back to the scene when Emperor Wanli and even Emperor Longqing ate. Thinking of how the imperial concubines in the harem ate, they all felt that it was no wonder that the Daqin could conquer the world.
The Imperial Family was so thrifty that the Gwanglu Temple did not dare to be extravagant. The officials knew that the Emperor had always liked to be thrifty. Whether it was sincere or not, they all restrained themselves.
However, Xiao Ruxun was still very kind to the officials who entered the palace to discuss government affairs. After a long time, they would stay behind to reward the food of the Imperial Kitchen, ensuring that they were full. In any case, there was a surplus every day, so it was not a problem for a few more people to eat.
Wang Xijue and Li Tingji were people who often enjoyed this kind of treatment, and the other major departments could also enjoy it.
How could the officials dare to be picky with the food that Xiao Ruxun rewarded them?
They were full of gratitude and planned to swallow it even if they had to. In the end, as soon as they entered their mouths, they found that the taste was very delicious. The dishes were clearly not complicated and used common ingredients, but they could be cooked very well.
After a long time, the cooks of the Imperial Kitchen had figured out the preferences of the officials who were often rewarded by the Emperor. For example, Grand Secretary Wang liked to eat donkey meat, Li Cifu liked to eat mutton, Ye Butang liked to eat fish, and Liu Butang liked to eat roast goose.
As a result, the officials gradually felt that the food they ate when they stayed behind was more to their liking, and they felt that the Emperor was taking care of them.
They felt very honored, and when they occasionally went to the cafeteria of the Gwanglu Temple to eat, they did not forget to publicize the delicious food they ate in the Imperial Kitchen and show off.
For example, Liu Huangshang told his colleagues that there was a chef in the Emperor's Imperial Kitchen who was good at making roast goose. The roast goose was tender and delicious, and the aftertaste was unforgettable.
There were also people who asked Wang Xijue how he felt eating the Imperial Kitchen, and Wang Xijue said that he had never eaten such delicious donkey meat. The Emperor's kindness was vast, and Lao Wang could not repay it. He could only do his best to work for the Emperor and the Daqin.
As a result, imperceptibly, being rewarded by the Emperor to eat the food from the Imperial Kitchen became a very glorious thing.
As long as anyone could eat it, it was something worthy of everyone's envy. There were even people who speculated about the direction of the political situation, as well as the Emperor's feelings towards certain people. It was very interesting.
Xiao Ruxun felt that the human body only needed so much nutrition. Meat, eggs, vegetable soup, and rice, there were only so many things that could satisfy one's appetite. If one insisted on eating some rare ingredients, it would only lead to unnecessary extravagance and waste.
The Emperor was the last person in the world who should reveal his preferences.
This food list was also arranged in consideration of Zhenbang eating with him. Eating meat, fish, shrimp, and vegetables was enough to ensure that the nutrition was balanced. Normally, the extravagance was meat, and in winter, the extravagance was vegetables and fruits grown in the greenhouse in the palace. Was this still not enough?
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