Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 123 Meticulous
“Fengweixuan offers two dishes: crab-flavored spareribs and steamed eel!”

"Gong Daolin presents two dishes: roasted duck with lychee and sea cucumber tendon!"

"Donglinzhai offers two dishes: vegetarian roast chicken and vegetarian red meat!"

The courtesans brought exquisite dishes to the huge round table. The table, tableware and dishes were all rare or even never seen before. The ninety-nine dishes were even more interesting. They were not prepared by anyone, but were provided by forty-seven best restaurants in the entire Jiangnan Road, which were selected by merchants from all over the country.

When these restaurants heard that not only could their meals be served to His Majesty but that His Majesty's name could be called out when the dishes were served, they invited all of their best chefs to Jiujiang. They prepared the ingredients before His Majesty boarded the ship, and the dishes were already waiting in the kitchen after His Majesty boarded the ship.

The imperial chefs in the palace were indeed amazing, but they could not compete with the famous restaurants from all over the country. Besides, what good food could the emperor eat? Most of the time, after being cooked and waiting, he didn't know how many times the food had been heated by water by the time it came to him. Some people just wanted it to be dry and boiling hot, and once it was put back into the pot, it would become watery and tasteless.

Xia Lin also put a lot of thought into the seasoning. The salt of that era was not very good and tasted a bit bitter, so he invented the method of adsorption and refining to make refined salt, and also made oyster sauce and MSG from kelp, seaweed, abalone, oysters and other seafood from the seaside, as well as crystal clear white sugar, etc. These were things that had never been seen on the market.

Anything made with these treasures, even stewing a shoe insole, can be incredibly delicious.

No chili peppers? But there is hot pepper. The alcohol extraction method of hot pepper can purify pure capsaicin. A few drops of it will taste just as spicy as chili peppers.

The table was filled with ninety-nine dishes, which looked exquisite, elegant and extravagant. Emperor Hongbao actually had no major problems but he was quite vain. When the dishes were served, his face flushed as he sat in the main seat even before he drank any wine.

At this time, when everyone should have been enjoying themselves, an imperial censor suddenly stood up and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me for speaking frankly. These dishes are so luxurious, I don't know how much of the people's money has been extorted. Please let your Majesty take a closer look."

The official sitting next to him instinctively stretched out his hand to protect the dish, glared at the censor, and thought to himself: "Just say it, don't spray it on the dish. If you don't eat it, we will have to eat it."

Emperor Hongbao, who was originally happy, immediately drooped when he heard this, but what others said was also reasonable, and as an emperor, he could not say much, so he could only turn his head and say, "Tian En, go call the person in charge of food and ask him how much these cost, so that we can take money out of the treasury to give it to him, and don't let people say that I took away the people's food."

"I will be there soon."

Tian En walked away with his head lowered. When he passed by the censor, he glared at him fiercely. But the censor did not buy it. The meaning of his life was to constantly irritate the emperor so that the emperor would chop him to death. In this way, he would naturally be remembered in history. Just imagine that the history books would record: On a certain day of a certain month of a certain year, the censor Huang Ran implicated Your Majesty for tyranny and was killed.

Oh my...this is so blissful.

After a while, Lao He was brought up by Tian En. Although he had seen big scenes before, this was his first time to see the emperor. As soon as he entered the room, he immediately fell to the ground: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty... Ah... Long live the emperor."

Seeing his panic, Emperor Hongbao and the civil and military officials couldn't help laughing. Then Emperor Hongbao tossed his sleeves and said, "Forget it, don't bow, stand up and talk. I want to ask you, how much did this table of food cost?"

Lao He stood up and took a look at the dishes on the table. "Your Majesty, I didn't spend a single tael of silver. Before Your Majesty came, my master contacted restaurants all over Jiangnan Road and asked them who would be willing to provide Your Majesty with one or two specialties. At that time, there were a hundred responses, and more than 700 names were reported. My master said that this was not possible, and 700 dishes were not decent. So after repeated word-of-mouth screening, asking passing merchants or personally tasting the dishes, these 40 or so were screened out. My master said that he would pay, and also said that it would be bad for Your Majesty's reputation if you ate their food for free, but they all refused. They said that under Your Majesty's rule, the country is peaceful and the people are safe, and the world is peaceful, which is the greatest blessing for the people. If you ask Your Majesty for money for such a small thing, you will have to kneel in the ancestral hall when you go home for the New Year."

These words made the whole dragon boat burst into laughter. The tension that had been caused by the censors suddenly eased, and they all stood up and bowed to congratulate him: "Your Majesty is the people's favorite, which is cause for celebration!"

Emperor Hongbao was fooled by this. He laughed loudly and said, "Oh, what should I do? This makes me feel awkward. Tian En, please remember these shops and give them plaques according to the names of the dishes they serve."

This is incredible. A plaque bestowed by the royal family means this dish must be a gold medal dish. In the future, those gourmets will definitely go to taste this dish even if they are thousands of miles away, if not for anything else, then just to try what the dish prepared for His Majesty tastes like.

"I ask you, who is your master? You are really concerned about it."

"My master is the magistrate of Fuliang County."

Oh~~ It's that boy. Hong Baodi understood immediately that it was his nephew's husband. There was nothing to say, he squinted his eyes and nodded with a smile: "Okay, you can go down."

After Lao He left, Emperor Hongbao took out his chopsticks and was about to speak when he saw the beautiful courtesans coming up with drinks. Then a dozen beautiful women walked up to the stage and began to play soft music behind the screen, which matched the beautiful scenery outside. "Okay, okay, you've thought of everything. My dear ministers, since you're not in the palace, don't be polite. Let's get started!"

Every dish here is extremely exquisite. Although Hong Baodi is not a foodie, he can hardly resist delicious food. What makes him most comfortable is that there is a woman standing next to him who not only exudes a faint fragrance but also serves him meticulously. As long as his eyes fall on a dish, the woman will pick up some with a pair of long chopsticks and put them into Hong Baodi's bowl. After that, she will wash the chopsticks in the basin of hot water next to her, and the small basin will be immediately replaced with clean boiled water.

Even Emperor Hongbao would hardly enjoy this kind of enjoyment under normal circumstances, but today it really opened his eyes.

After a meal, people say that it is difficult to satisfy everyone, but there are as many as ninety-nine dishes, covering the flavors of all ethnic groups from all over the world, including the customs of Bashu and the flavor of Lingnan. It is hard to say that there is a person who does not like them all.

So even the most picky people will be extremely satisfied after eating, and by then it has already gotten dark.

After having eaten and drunk their fill, everyone sat there and started chatting about love and romance, and at that moment, two bursts of fireworks suddenly appeared from the two speedboats in front with two bangs. The huge fireworks exploded in the night sky of Poyang Lake, with red, yellow, blue and green colors complementing each other, making the bright moon in the sky look especially bright. Emperor Hongbao led the civil and military officials to watch the fireworks, and they felt that they were beautiful beyond words, showing that the country was peaceful and the people were prosperous.

The fireworks lasted about thirty minutes. After watching them, everyone on the boat was amazed. But when they returned to the cabin, the show began.

The entire performance was carried out in the form of a gala, with dances, acrobatics, and singing, turning the entire Poyang Lake into a sea of ​​laughter and joy.

And after enough laughter, it was time for the main event, as the rehearsals of the various groups began. This half-musical, half-drama format was a completely new version they had never seen before, and even Emperor Hong Bao was fascinated as he watched, and only felt a little sleepy when the first act ended.

Although he was sleepy, he was still reluctant to leave. Only when he was told that there would be a second act tomorrow did he go back to his room to rest with peace of mind.

The guest rooms in this cabin were also unusual. Other places did not surprise Emperor Hongbao very much. What he found most interesting was that there was a toilet in the room. The toilet was actually made of porcelain. After using the toilet, one only had to pull the rope and the dirty things would be automatically discharged to feed the fish. This really made him feel novel.

As an emperor, he spent a full half hour studying in the toilet...

“Yan Rong, Yan Rong.” Emperor Hong Bao came out like a child and found the queen, calling her by her childhood name: “Do you know what I found?!”

The queen was lying on a rocking chair by the window, looking at the twinkling lights of the river in the distance through the window. She had actually fallen asleep. Seeing her peaceful and comfortable appearance, Emperor Hongbao could not bear to disturb her. He turned around and continued to play with the toilet until he found that the bathtub next to her was emitting hot water...

Actually, this is not shameful. Even Gao Shilian, who is always very cool, played in the bathroom for more than ten or twenty minutes. Or the entire accompanying team of officials played in the toilet...

It was thanks to someone in the water tank above who was constantly pumping water upwards, otherwise the water tank would have been emptied long ago if they had just played like this...

The three essentials of travel are relaxation, cleanliness and comfort; these cruise ships have them all. Even the beds are woven from coconut palms shipped from Qiongzhou. They are elastic but not too soft, and lying on them is much more comfortable than lying on hard wooden boards.

There is also a pillow filled with tea leaves, which brings with it the scent of tea while you sleep. Oh... it's really comfortable.

The next morning, almost everyone overslept. It was hard for them to imagine such a stable cruise ship. If the lake shore had not been moving, they would not have realized that they were on a boat.

After His Majesty got up, breakfast began. After the big meal of fish and meat last night, today's breakfast seemed much milder. There was fish porridge with various pickles from Jiangxi, and broth made with pork and various foods. It was fresh, elegant and lingering.

After finishing his breakfast, His Majesty sat on the observation deck, with a large oil-paper umbrella above his head and a comfortable bamboo lounge chair below him. There was a small coffee table next to him, and a young girl was making tea and burning incense for him.

"This life is more comfortable than being an emperor." Emperor Hongbao suddenly sighed: "Gods are no more than this."

(End of this chapter)