You have truly caused me great suffering!

Inside the imperial palace in Yili, cook Wang Jing sat in the courtyard, lazily instructing his apprentices.

There are thousands of people in the imperial city. Every day when they open their eyes, there are thousands of mouths waiting to be fed, so of course, they won't cook for everyone at the same time.

The emperor, empress, and several imperial concubines each had their own chefs.

Because Chen Shao was very pragmatic in choosing women, he basically arranged marriages with various powerful factions.

Therefore, each of them brought their own cooks, except for Chen Shao's, which was found for him by Chen Guanglie.

When his cousin helped Chen Shao find people, no matter what they did, he always prioritized safety and reliability, with ability being a secondary consideration.

“We’re in the capital, and we use the finest ingredients from the Jiangnan region. They’re so delicious that they’re fragrant with just a little cooking.” He casually tossed a sheep’s head in his hand and said, “It takes real skill to make something like this taste good.”

The apprentices nodded repeatedly, waiting for their master to show off his skills.

His Majesty has kept the same chef for so many years, everyone praises our Imperial Chef Wang's excellent skills.

Of course, those close to Chen Shao know that he has never dared to change cooks because he is cautious.

Not only the cook, but Chen Shao has never changed any of the people close to him. Outsiders just think he is sentimental.

Dong Dahu's rank rose rapidly, but when Chen Shao went out, he was still basically the same coachman.
For so many years, Cui Die Li Wanshu has been taking care of his daily life personally;
However, things in this world are always strange. It was precisely because Chen Shao did not change the cook that he was encouraged.

In the past few years, Wang Jing seems to have suddenly become very skilled at cooking. Not only has his culinary skills improved day by day, but he has also come up with quite a few innovations.

He was both moved and grateful for the emperor's trust in him, and vowed to repay this kindness by cooking well.

So he was full of energy every day, and with Chen Shao frequently hosting banquets for him, the ministers often got to taste his cooking skills, and thus Wang Jingzhen became the imperial chef.

In addition, as Dajing has become increasingly prosperous in recent years, people have become more and more attentive to food.

Culinary skills are being valued more and more, and are even being recognized as a high-class art form.

Therefore, his status was in a very ambiguous position. On the one hand, he was favored by many important figures; on the other hand, he was, after all, just a cook.

The entire landscape is like this, with many traditional elements preserved because the dynastic changes were peaceful abdications.

There were also many changes that led to a shift in customs and traditions.

Being in the midst of it all, Wang Geng was clearly unaware of these changes in the mundane world. Most people actually lived in a daze, only seeing the changes around them, without thinking about the deeper reasons.

What caused these changes?

Why is this happening?

Just like Jin Laosan keeps wondering why the ripe fruit fell to the ground.

Some things will simply be resolved naturally by letting things take their course.

However, some things require Chen Shao to use his vision, which is a thousand years ahead of its time, to guide them.

“In the past, it was said that a gentleman should stay away from the kitchen. You know Su Dongpo, the great scholar of the previous dynasty, right?” Wang Jing said eloquently, crossing his legs. “The great scholar Su and I had similar views. We both believed that cooking should not use vinegar and soy sauce, but should have a natural flavor.”

"Father, this sheep's head has a strong, gamey smell. If it's naturally cooked, His Majesty probably won't be able to stand it, will he?"

"Fool! I said no sauce needed, do you think we can eat it raw!" Wang Jing looked at his youngest apprentice, who was also his own son, and scolded, "When the great scholar Su was demoted to Huizhou, he started eating sheep's heads because mutton was scarce. He was right, it should be cooked thoroughly, drained, soaked in wine, and lightly salted and roasted before eating."

Su Shi's method of eating was actually extremely wasteful: first boil it, then marinate it in wine, sprinkle some salt, and roast it until slightly charred.

This is quite similar to barbecue in later generations. Su Shi was indeed very talented when it came to food, and he loved to eat. You can tell what kind of gourmand he was from his self-proclaimed title of "old glutton."

"Before cooking for the Emperor, you must rinse your mouth with water several times to avoid spoiling the taste when you breathe. You also need to take a bath and change clothes." Wang Jing rubbed his hands, which were red from the cold, and began to explain to his apprentices how to prepare the sheep's head.

Above the large stove next to the table, the steaming porridge pot was still boiling, churning and bubbling with snow-white pearly waves, the smooth liquid overflowing, and the aroma of rice filling the air.

When the food was served to Chen Shao, he had just come out of his study.

Chen Shao took meals very seriously. He rarely ate in the places where he handled government affairs, but instead would go to special places to eat formally.

He is not a person who pursues personal enjoyment, but he cares a lot about food and eats with great care.

That's why Li Shishi would occasionally study recipes, since she was the one who understood Chen Shao best.

After Chen Shao sat down, several palace maids served him food. Seeing the slightly charred mutton, he took a bite and nodded, saying, "The imperial chef's skills have improved again."

Food, clothing, shelter, and transportation are the four basic human needs. By the time of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, culinary skills had already experienced a major breakthrough, and they made significant progress again during the reign of Emperor Jingzong.

Chen Shao was quite pleased with the rise of various delicacies, believing that once a nation becomes prosperous, it will create such a brilliant culture.

This includes food culture, clothing culture, and vocal music culture.
The common people are always striving for a better life.

Chen Shao was thus outwardly firm but inwardly gentle; even when the entire country was at war, he never forgot to issue edicts for burning coal and cloth.

He was ruthless in launching wars against foreign powers, but domestically he consistently strived to benefit the people.

Chen Shaotai was well aware that as the emperor, as long as he retained his power, he didn't need to amass wealth to enjoy a sufficiently good life.

Accumulating too much wealth is not only useless, but it can also bring misfortune to one's descendants.

In history, the emperor who was most adept at accumulating wealth was probably Emperor Wen of Sui, Yang Jian.

His Sui Dynasty established a bureaucratic system that never suffered any loss.

All the wealth of the country was concentrated in one place, and the government granaries were overflowing.

The results of it?
The Sui Dynasty essentially collapsed after only two generations. Rebels in various regions used the wealth and grain he had painstakingly accumulated to wage a rare period of prosperity and power struggle at the end of the dynasty.

At the end of the Sui Dynasty, those who conquered large territories did not lack food, unlike the collapse of other dynasties.

Seeing that he seemed quite interested in today's dishes, Li Wanshu smiled and said, "If Your Majesty likes it, then have them make more of it in the future."

Have the people eaten?

After Chen Shao finished asking the question, Li Wanshu paused for a moment, her expression strange.

Chen Shao said, "Send an order to the kitchen staff to create a recipe and publish one article in the Dajing Gazette every seven days."

Chen Shao was willing to lend a hand to anything that could promote the progress of folk customs and culture.

A powerful military may one day decline, but once a culture emerges, it will continue to be passed down unless a nation is destroyed and its people are exterminated.
-
The Da Jing Gazette was read not only by officials of Da Jing, but also by a loyal reader in Xi Liao.

He is Yelü Dashi.

Yelü Dashi specially sent someone to send a large report to the Western Liao capital.

He not only looks at it every day, but sometimes he takes it out and looks at it repeatedly, pondering it over and over again.

He dreamed of learning from Jing Chang's skills to create his own scenery, but the more he looked at the scenery, the more desperate he became.

In the past, the Song Dynasty and the Western Xia Dynasty would steal each other's technologies, and while the three were fiercely competing, they were also making progress together.

However, Da Jing's speed was too fast, and they couldn't keep up at all.

With a major battle imminent, almost everyone on their side knew that they were about to resist the invasion of the Jing army.

But Da Jing didn't pay much attention at all.

The Dajing Daily contained absolutely no information about the Western Liao.

This angered Yelü Dashi.

Does the outbreak of war between Liao and Jing not seem like a big deal to your Great Jing?

In particular, when he saw that the Dajing Daily actually had articles teaching people how to cook.

Yelü Dashi was so angry that he laughed and slammed the Dajing Report onto the table.

According to the solar terms, it is now late spring and early summer, and the Ili River Valley is unusually cold this year.

In previous years, the snow and ice would have already melted.

However, given the weather, the margin of error wouldn't be too large, and Jing Jun would definitely still depart on time when the scheduled departure time arrived.

After all, when they were conquering the desert, they even went so far as to invent the "winter campaign" tactic, giving the Tatar tribes no chance at all.

Time is running out for the Western Liao. (End of Chapter)