It was true that Xiao Ruxun was a general.
After becoming the Emperor, he did not forget to practice martial arts to keep fit. Now, he also took time out every day to practice martial arts. He consumed a lot of energy and naturally ate a lot.
But no matter how much he ate, he could not eat sixteen taels of silver for a meal in one day. Could he eat hundreds of catties of meat? Was he still human?
That was almost the rations of the common people for several years.
Xiao Ruxun, who was rumored to eat hundreds of taels of silver in one meal, felt that they were not human. According to Zhu Yuanzhang's methods, they should have been skinned, their tendons pulled out, and they should have been lit as sky lanterns.
However, he didn't care too much about it. He just wanted to set an example for the world. Every month, he would personally attend the financial audit meeting, and he would be able to calculate a lot of surplus silver, which could be used for the next month's expenses.
Over time, this kind of behavior could form a virtuous cycle and save a lot of money to subsidize the country.
Even though the imperial family would increase in the future and the number of people in the palace would increase, it was still a matter of saving.
At present, Daqin had a lot of money and the silver collected from the Jiangnan gentry was far from being spent. But the national policies that Xiao Ruxun had set each required a large amount of money to be invested. Not to mention other things, horse policy was one, the expansion of the cavalry was another, the Dadi Road plan was another, and the education reform was another.
There was never enough money to spend.
So the work of the Audit Division was increasingly recognized by Xiao Ruxun. Unnecessary expenses were saved as much as possible. When the time came, the ones who would benefit were the country, the people, and Xiao Ruxun himself.
Xiao Ruxun repeatedly praised the work of the Audit Division and rewarded the officials of the Audit Division with a lot of silver and silk.
Only when they felt that they did not have to worry about food and clothing could their loyalty be maximized. The Emperor did not lack starving soldiers, did he?
Today's lunch was very sumptuous with everything that should be there. Xiao Ruxun held Zhenbang's hand and led him to the side room to eat with him.
Xiao Ruxun liked white rice and had a large appetite. Every lunch, he would eat three bowls of white rice and a large amount of meat. More than half of the food on the table was eaten by him. Zhen Bang only ate a small portion, but in the end, he would definitely finish all the food on the table.
He didn't have those so-called rules. He could only eat three mouthfuls of a dish and take the rest away. What did that mean?
What was the point of having a eunuch by his side to help him eat and not being able to do it himself?
What was the point of having leftovers after eating and not eating for the sake of finishing the food?
How many people in the world don't have enough to eat?
Few people could eat their fill, and only the people in the three southeastern provinces and Northern Zhili could live a life of eating three meals a day, and most of them were potatoes and corn.
Xiao Ruxun sent people out of the palace to teach them how to grind corn into corn flour and make corn buns and corn cakes. There were also various ways to eat potatoes such as steaming, roasting, and stir-frying. These methods were spread to various places as soon as possible in an attempt to give the people more variety in eating.
The people were so poor. Faced with this sumptuous meal, how could he bear to leave a single grain of rice?
Li Sheng waited on the side, adding rice for the Emperor and wiping the Crown Prince's mouth. He did his best to serve the most honorable father and son in the world.
As a low-level internal servant in the former Ming Palace, he had participated in the work of serving the Emperor. He had seen with his own eyes how the former Ming Emperor and the other nobles ate and what they ate. How could he compare to the current Emperor of the Daqin?
He couldn't help but think of the sighs of some of the old people in the palace — no wonder the Daqin could rule the world.
The last piece of pork was eaten by Xiao Ruxun and the last grain of rice. Xiao Ruxun wiped his mouth in satisfaction.
He wasn't a picky eater. There were very few things he didn't like, but he couldn't accept fatty meat. So, he ordered the buyer to only sell lean pork, the kind that couldn't be seen at all. When this kind of pork was cooked, he could eat a plate of it in one meal.
Of course, when he was craving for it, he would order Li Sheng to get someone to buy some fatty meat and put it in the pot to refine the oil. The lard would be left for cooking and the leftover oil would be sent to him with a small plate of salt. It was fragrant and crispy, a very good snack.
The imperial chefs of the imperial kitchen expressed their knowledge that fatty meat could be used in this way.
They didn't know why the Emperor wanted to eat this, but when they ate a piece in private, they found it to be very delicious, fragrant and crispy.
Later, Xiao Ruxun ordered that some of the lard oil be given to the officials as snacks. Wang Xijue and the others ate some and felt that it was fragrant and crispy and very delicious. However, the Emperor said that they couldn't eat too much. They could only eat a bit when they were craving or when their mouths were tasteless, so they didn't eat too much.
However, this little thing caught the eyes of many other officials. They felt that this was another way for the Emperor to express his concern for his officials. It further confirmed that Wang Li's paper-made cabinet would not fall.
In the side room, Xiao Ruxun finished eating and put down his bowl and chopsticks. Li Sheng immediately handed him a wet towel. Xiao Ruxun wiped his mouth and sat for a while before getting up and walking a few steps. At this time, Zhen Bang also finished eating. He put down his bowl and chopsticks, wiped his mouth, and then asked Li Sheng if he wanted some sweet melon to eat.
"Crown Prince, wait a moment. We need to rest after the meal before eating melon."
Li Sheng persuaded Zhen Bang with a bitter face. Xiao Ruxun turned his head and looked at Zhen Bang. His gaze shifted to his bowl and his face immediately darkened.
"Zhen Bang."
Xiao Ruxun sat down again. "Why didn't you finish the rice in your bowl?"
When Zhen Bang saw Xiao Ruxun's dark face, he immediately knew where he was wrong. He quickly picked up the bowl and finished every grain of rice. Then, he put down the bowl and obediently sat down, not daring to stand up.
"Recite 'Compassion for Farmers' once."
Xiao Ruxun said.
Ever since Zhen Bang learned to read and read poems, Xiao Ruxun had personally taught Zhen Bang this "Compassion for Farmers".
"Hoeing the fields at noon, sweat dripping into the soil. Who knows that every grain of rice on the plate is hard work?"
Zhen Bang recited it very skillfully.
"You are very skillful, but why can't you remember it? Who knows that every grain of rice on the plate is hard work? Every grain of rice is obtained by the hard work of the common people. It's not easy to get. How many people in the world don't even have food to eat? Every day, I rack my brains for this so that the people in the world can eat their fill, but you are wasting food? "
Xiao Ruxun's tone wasn't heavy, but Zhen Bang was very afraid. Previously, there was a time when he didn't finish his meal. Xiao Ruxun reprimanded him and made him finish his meal. Then, he taught him the poem "Compassion for Farmers".
Zhen Bang was still young, so his understanding wasn't very deep.
Therefore, Xiao Ruxun had to use all kinds of educational methods to make him remember.
"Write 'Compassion for Farmers' twenty times from memory. Your handwriting is not allowed to be sloppy. Father forgave you once before, but this is the second time. If there's a next time, Zhen Bang, just wait to starve! Li Sheng, keep an eye on the Crown Prince! "
Xiao Ruxun glared at Zhen Bang, causing him to lower his head and not dare to speak. Li Sheng immediately accepted the decree. "This old servant obeys."
After saying this, Xiao Ruxun got up and walked out of the side room. Zhen Bang could only obediently follow Li Sheng to write 'Compassion for Farmers'.
Xiao Ruxun walked out of the side room and took a few steps to ease his mood. With a glance, he saw a few important officials still eating in another side room.
There were many things to do today, so the important officials stayed behind to eat. He even rewarded the two Cabinet Elders Wang and Li, as well as the Minister of Finance Ye Xianggao and the new Minister of War Han Sheng, who had stayed behind to eat lunch, with a plate of lard and dregs for each of them. He even gave each of them three slices of watermelon grown in the greenhouse to quench their greediness.
The officials didn't feel that the Emperor's attitude towards them was bad. In fact, the Emperor's attitude towards them could be considered relatively good.
Although the waves of purges were frightening, the Emperor didn't purge himself or seek death. There was nothing to say about how the Emperor treated his officials. He was much better than some of the stingy Emperors of the previous Ming Dynasty who didn't even give them a meal.
They didn't dare to ask for anything.
At least, when Xiao Ruxun was alive, they didn't dare to ask for anything.
Xiao Ruxun walked into the side room. Han Sheng's sharp eyes saw Xiao Ruxun and he immediately put down his bowl and stood up.
"Greetings, Your Majesty."
The other three also stood up and looked at Xiao Ruxun.
"Greetings, Your Majesty!"
Xiao Ruxun smiled and waved his hand. Seeing that Wang Xijue's mouth was bulging, he clearly hadn't finished eating. He said, "Quickly sit down and continue eating. Eating is more important. Cabinet Elder Wang, don't be in a hurry. From the looks of it, are you going to spit out the food in your mouth to learn from Zhou Gong?"
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