Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 329: Eliminate hidden dangers! The chain reaction of the emperor's anger!

In the Nuanxin Pavilion, murderous aura suddenly filled the air, as if a cold blade had been unsheathed, and the air became stagnant.

Yang Rong and Yang Shiqi's expressions suddenly changed, their eyes filled with shock and fear.

Detaining all the Shangshenjian was an unprecedented move in the deep palace. It was like throwing a huge rock into a calm lake, causing huge waves.

Zhao Rui's body trembled slightly, and he spoke cautiously with a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, if all the Shangshenjian people are detained, who will cook the imperial meals for Your Majesty in the future?"

Zhu Yunhuan's face was grim, and he snorted coldly, his voice seemed to be wrapped in frost: "If Zhang the butcher is gone, will I have to eat the hairy pig?"

His attitude was resolute and firm, like a towering mountain that could not be shaken.

The people in the Shangshenjian have long developed a bad habit of embezzling a large amount of money from the food.

It's like I have a stubborn disease that is difficult to get rid of and has penetrated deep into my bones.

For them, not being able to seek personal gain from it is a huge loss.

Zhu Yunhu had a clear mind and knew very well that once this distorted mentality took root, it would be extremely difficult to reverse the situation.

Even if the imperial power is used to suppress it, it can only keep it dormant on the surface.

Deep down they must still be indignant and full of resentment.

How could Zhu Yunhuan keep a group of cooks who harbored "grudges" against him?
This is tantamount to placing a group of people with ulterior motives next to his bed, which will make him feel like a thorn in his back and unable to rest day and night.

It is equivalent to rashly handing over your life and death safety to the hands of others and becoming a fish on someone else's chopping board.

Looking back at history, there are countless princes and concubines who died in unclear circumstances.

If we look into it carefully, we will find that the mysterious deaths of many of them are closely related to what they eat every day.

Even for the emperors who were high above us, those who were recorded in history books as having died of illness, how many people dared to assert that the real cause of their death was not the food that was secretly poisoned?

Maybe someone is fanning the flames and misleading the people behind the scenes.

But if those chefs had no resentment towards the emperor, how could they be easily provoked and used?

Now that these people’s minds have already “deteriorated”, how can Zhu Yunhuan dare to continue to keep them?
Furthermore, those chefs who took leave have already revealed their true colors, but for those who are still on duty today, are they really free of problems?
not necessarily!

They were just afraid that they would not all take leave and leave the emperor without food, for fear of his wrath, so they left some people behind to barely maintain the situation.

There is no guarantee that those who stay behind will not take turns to take leave, they just happen to be here today.

What kind of tricks are hidden behind this requires careful investigation to get to the bottom of it.

In addition, the people in the Shangshenjian have worked together for a long time, and the relationships between them are complicated and extremely close.

If only some of the people are punished, the rest will inevitably feel grieved.

If one of them is on good terms with the person being punished and they have a deep friendship, then this emotion will become even stronger.

The emperor punished their "brothers and friends", so how could they not direct their resentment towards the emperor?

At the very least, this is bound to become a huge security risk, like a bomb hidden in the dark that may explode at any time.

This is the key reason why Zhu Yunhuan firmly rejected Yang Rong’s proposal.

Zhu Yunhuan turned to look at Yang Rong and asked, "How many cooks are there in the Guanglu Temple?"

Yang Rong hurriedly stepped forward and answered respectfully: "Your Majesty, there are about 500 cooks in the Guanglu Temple, and there are also kitchen assistants and miscellaneous servants, totaling about 3,000 people."

Neither Yang Rong nor Yang Shiqi were the kind of people who only cared about superficial things, empty talk, and not practical matters.

They are fully aware of the situation of all the institutions under the court.

When the emperor asked, he responded immediately.

The Guanglu Temple was in charge of many matters such as sacrifices, court meetings, banquets, and food. The banquets on these occasions were large-scale and naturally required a large number of manpower.

"Okay!" Zhu Yunhuan's majestic voice sounded again in the pavilion.

"Immediately convey my order to carefully select suitable candidates from the cooks and kitchen assistants of the Guanglu Temple and transfer them to the imperial kitchen."

"The Shangshan Supervisor will be reorganized from now on."

"All the former Shangshenjian and others will be expelled from the palace."

After saying this, his voice paused slightly, and his tone softened a little, but the murderous intent and coldness in his words did not diminish at all. He said: "However, before they leave the palace, they must be strictly examined one by one."

"Anyone who embezzles money or enriches himself will be severely punished according to the laws of the Ming Dynasty."

"Don't let any of those who deserve to be killed go!"

"If it is proven that he is innocent, I will never wrongly accuse a good person."

"The court will give them silver as severance pay and let them find their own way out."

Upon hearing this, Yang Rong and Yang Shiqi knelt down together and said in unison: "We obey your orders!"

This time, Zhu Yunhuan did not directly order the execution, but ordered an investigation first. It seemed that he was showing mercy, but in fact, it was not the case.

As the saying goes, freezing three feet is not a day's cold.

The current corrupt atmosphere in the Shangshenjian was by no means something that could have been formed overnight.

I believe that those who have no record of corruption and are clean and honest are rare.

Prior to this, after the Ministry of Posts and Communications was established, a reporting mailbox was also set up in the palace.

This was used to strengthen the management within the palace, which resulted in a significant reduction in the profits that the Shangshenjian could make. This aroused their dissatisfaction and led to today's turmoil.

However, the last time Zhu Yunhuan, just like the old Zhu before, showed leniency to the people in the Shangshenjian and only warned them not to commit the same mistake again. He did not pursue their past crimes, but instead doubled their salaries.

He thought that these people would be grateful and loyal to him, but they did not feel grateful to him. Instead, they became resentful because their benefits became less.

Now that Zhu Yunhuan has ordered a thorough investigation, how many of them can escape unscathed?
I'm afraid that there will be quite a few people who will be beheaded by then!
Zhu Yunhuan then instructed: "The newly established Shangshenjian will implement closed management from now on."

"All the cooks, helpers, servants, and eunuchs who entered the Imperial Kitchen lived next to the Imperial Kitchen and were sealed off from the Imperial Kitchen. They were strictly prohibited from going out, and were not allowed to have any contact or contact with people outside."

“We must cut off all possibilities of collusion between the inside and the outside.”

"The imperial chefs have abolished the lifetime tenure system and have changed it to a three-year term. After the three-year term is up, if someone does not wish to continue to serve here, they will leave the palace immediately; if they are willing to continue to serve, they can continue their term for another three years."

"But before the three years are up, no one may enter or leave the Imperial Kitchen without my permission."

"In addition, a catering department will be set up to be responsible for the procurement of dishes for the palace."

"The Imperial Kitchen will issue a note for the items that need to be purchased, and then pass the note on to the Food Purchasing Office to be responsible for the purchase."

"After the food procurement office completes the purchase, the items are sent to the imperial kitchen via a special mechanical transmission device."

"Officials in the Food Collection Office must be selected from people with clean backgrounds, who are loyal and reliable, and they will be given generous salaries and benefits."

"In addition to the court's salary, I will give you an additional reward."

"But there must not be even a penny of corruption."

"Order the Audit Department to audit the accounts of the Food Procurement Office every quarter, and the Censorate to strengthen supervision. Anyone who manipulates the accounts of the Food Procurement Office, falsifies the information, or embezzles money will be killed without mercy."

"The food procurement office and the Shangshan Supervisor are only allowed to exchange goods, not personnel. Apart from purchasing and delivering on demand, there is no other contact or communication allowed."

"The dishes cooked by the Imperial Kitchen Supervisor are also delivered through a mechanism, and then the Imperial Kitchen Bureau is responsible for delivering them to the Emperor."

"There must not be any private contact or communication between the Imperial Kitchen Supervisor and the Imperial Food Bureau."

After dealing with the original Shangshenjian people, Zhu Yunhuan immediately began to make new arrangements.

Ever since he came into this world, Zhu Yunhuan has always been deeply concerned about his own food safety, as if a haze always shrouded his heart and could not be shaken off.

Whenever I ate, I couldn't help but feel uneasy deep down, always on guard whether someone was secretly poisoning my food in an attempt to murder me.

After all, in this era, scientific testing methods are extremely scarce and there is no advanced detection technology.

There is no surveillance equipment such as cameras for real-time monitoring.

The entire process of preparing palace cuisine is like hiding in a dark corner, making it difficult to peek into the secrets.

Under such circumstances, it would be very easy to quietly tamper with food and poison people. On the other hand, the so-called preventive measures currently in place in the palace were quite useless.

In Zhu Yunhuan's view, sending someone to taste the dish first to test whether it was poisoned was just a helpless act to comfort himself, even close to "self-deception".

There are all kinds of poisons in this world, including many "chronic" poisons.

The onset of its toxicity is like a ghost lurking in the dark, and its hideous face may only be revealed quietly after several hours or even days.

However, you can't just put the carefully prepared dishes aside and wait for several days, and then serve them on the table for yourself to enjoy after confirming that the person who tasted the food is safe and sound, right?

If cooked in this way, the dishes would have already gone bad. Even if they were originally non-toxic, they would breed harmful bacteria over time and become "toxic" and inedible.

What's more, the delicious taste of the dishes will disappear completely and become nothing during the long wait.

As for those poisons with a slower onset, which take months or even years to cause the human body to exhaustion and death, it is even more difficult to detect them through this simple poison testing method.

The method of sending someone to taste the poison first can at best only detect those poisons that will cause a violent reaction in the human body and immediate onset within a short period of time.

The principle of testing poison with silver needles is exactly the same, and it has great limitations.

The reason why silver needles can detect the toxicity of arsenic trioxide is actually due to the rough and simple refining technology of that era, which resulted in the arsenic trioxide's purity being generally not high and being mixed with a large amount of sulfide.

When sulfide meets silver, a wonderful chemical reaction occurs, producing a striking black silver sulfide precipitate, allowing the naked eye to clearly observe the phenomenon of the silver needle turning black.

However, there are many kinds of poisons in the world, as numerous as the stars.

When it comes to other types of poisons, silver needles are like a blind man touching an elephant. They are completely ineffective and it is difficult to detect their potential deadly threats.

People of this era were not completely ignorant of poisons.

Many medical books contain a lot of knowledge and information about poisons, which deepened Zhu Yunhuan's inner worries.

What's more, Zhu Yunhuan himself had strongly advocated introducing the concept of "science" into the Ming Dynasty, which enabled the medical level of the Ming Dynasty to develop by leaps and bounds.

But as the saying goes, medicine and poison have the same origin.

Medicine and poison techniques have always been closely linked and inseparable.

The significant improvement in medical standards and the widespread popularization of medical knowledge, while bringing benefits to the people of the Ming Dynasty, also meant that more people would be able to come into contact with and learn about various new types of poisons.

This undoubtedly provides more opportunities for those with ulterior motives.

As an emperor, how could he be willing to die in obscurity?

However, considering the current level of scientific development in the Ming Dynasty, it is undoubtedly a fantasy and impossible to conduct accurate and comprehensive chemical testing on dishes.

The development of drug technology is like a wild horse running wildly, far exceeding the pace of progress in laboratory testing technology, forming a huge gap between the two.

This unbalanced development trend makes poisoning easy, but preventing poisoning extremely difficult.

Zhu Yunhuan pondered for a long time before deciding to implement closed management of the Shangshenjian in order to eliminate the hidden danger of poisoning from the source.

The imperial chefs were isolated in the imperial kitchen, unable to contact the complicated people and things outside, so it was naturally difficult for them to obtain poison.

In this way, the possibility of poisoning is cut off at the source.

As for the food collection department, there is even less chance of interfering.

After all, the ingredients they purchased were to supply the entire palace, and the quantity and variety were huge.

They had no way of knowing what ingredients the imperial chefs would choose when cooking for the emperor, so they naturally could not mix poison into the ingredients accurately.

Otherwise, once the poison was administered, it would most likely not be the emperor who would be killed, but the innocent palace maids and eunuchs.

Not only is this meaningless, it will also put you in an irretrievable situation.

The Shangshi Bureau is only responsible for the final delivery of the dishes.

Different from ordinary people's families, dishes in the palace would be tightly covered with exquisite bowls after being cooked, and would not be uncovered until they were served on the table.

As long as multiple people are dispatched to guard closely throughout the process, those who serve food will not be left with any chance to be alone.

In this way, his food safety will no longer be a problem.

However, being banned is almost like being put in jail.

Therefore, the imperial chefs cannot be sealed up for life, as they will go crazy and do unpredictable things in there.

The imperial chefs inside must also be well managed.

Give them better treatment, appropriate space and time for entertainment activities, and psychological counseling.

Therefore, Zhu Yunhuan set a period of three years.

After working in the imperial kitchen for three years, you can find a job for yourself under the title of "imperial chef".

Many wealthy and powerful people and high-end restaurants would scramble for it.

In addition, the salary offered by the imperial kitchen is extremely high. Even if it is closed for three years, I believe that people who are willing to come will still flock to it.

In the history of the Ming Dynasty, since the imperial chefs implemented a lifelong tenure system, the second and third generation imperial chefs who inherited their fathers' business often had inferior cooking skills to their predecessors, and the food they cooked tasted worse and worse.

The imperial court had to recruit new skilled imperial chefs from outside.

However, the second and third generations who had inherited the throne could not be expelled, but had to continue to be supported by money.

The new ones who came in inherited the throne again and became worse again, forcing the court to recruit people again.

As a result, the size of the imperial kitchen grew larger and larger, until it expanded to nearly 10,000 people and was completely out of control!
Zhu Yunhuan's current three-year term system has completely eliminated this drawback.

Unlike the hereditary imperial chefs, the newly recruited ones must have superb cooking skills.

Otherwise, you won’t be able to pass the numerous tests.

People will be transferred from the Guanglu Temple temporarily, and they can be selected from the public later.

Just strict scrutiny.

Come to Shangshenjian to study for three years, and your value will increase a hundredfold after you graduate. I believe many chefs will flock to you.

"Your Majesty is wise, this arrangement will be foolproof." Yang Rong and Yang Shiqi bowed again and said, "We will go and do our work first."

Zhu Yunxi nodded.

The two of them retreated.

Soon, the Imperial Guards surrounded the Imperial kitchen and arrested all the people in the Imperial Kitchen.

Immediately afterwards, the Censorate, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Justice all investigated and tried the case as quickly as possible.

When the emperor was angry, he laid down millions of corpses and bled for thousands of miles.

Zhu Yunhuan's imperial edict was issued, and a "imperial kitchen case" that shocked the court and the country began.

This was also the first case after he ascended the throne.

What Zhu Yunhuan had never expected was that the investigation of this case would be like a domino effect, with many court officials and even princes being involved, leading to a series of chain reactions.

Some things that he had not even anticipated were also revealed because of this.

……

Just as Zhu Yunhuan was furious and investigated the Shangshenjian, launching the "Imperial Kitchen Case", Zhu Gaoxu was riding in a carriage and arrived at a military factory outside the city of Jinling.

He stopped the carriage and jumped out.

He looked towards the military factory, his eyes suddenly narrowed, and his fists clenched slightly.

Soon, it was released again.

My brother doesn't support me and my father doesn't understand me, so I'll do it myself!

I swear to let them see clearly what I, Zhu Gaoxu, am capable of!
As a real man in the world, you should be brave and fight hard!
He stepped forward and walked towards the arms factory.

……

(End of this chapter)