Back to the prosperous Tang Dynasty to be the emperor

Chapter 613 East Palace Banquet (2)

"Reporting to His Majesty the Emperor and Empress of Heaven, it has been verified that all kinds of food are non-toxic and edible!"

Waiting again and again, the long wait was annoying, but fortunately, the incense stick as a sign finally burned to the end. The eunuch leader who was in charge of food inspection asked a few little eunuchs who were trying the dishes in a low voice. Saying that everything was normal, he felt relieved, walked quickly to Gaozong's seat, and respectfully reported a sentence.

"Ah."

After waiting for such a long time, Gao Zong was quite displeased, he didn't give the little eunuch a good face at all, he just put a stern face, let out a soft sigh, and sent him away.

"Grandfather, here, Yier peeled the peanuts for you."

Although Li Chongyi is young, his ability to observe his face is not bad. Seeing that Gao Zong was in a bad mood, he quickly peeled a few peanuts, showing a childlike smile, and handed them to Gao Zong obediently.

"Well, okay, then Grandpa Huang will come and have a taste."

As soon as he saw Xiao Chongyi's innocent smile, Gaozong's unhappiness disappeared immediately. He stretched out his hand to take a few peanuts with a smile, stuffed them into his mouth, and chewed carefully. The more fragrant it felt, the more surprised the look on the face became.

"It's delicious, it's delicious, it's good, it's good, all you loves, try it together."

Gaozong didn't pay much attention to food, but after all, as an emperor, he had tasted a lot of delicacies from mountains and seas, but he had never eaten such crispy food, and when he ate it, he applauded again and again.

"Well, it's really good, good stuff."

"This food is fragrant, crunchy and chewy, not bad, really good!"

"Delicious, worthy of overseas delicacy, good!"

All the ministers and workers were originally curious, but when they saw Gaozong's words, they all started to move their hands, whether it was peanuts or roasted sweet potatoes, they picked them up and put them in their mouths, and they tasted delicious after eating. When it came, the voice of praise suddenly became louder.

"Grandma Huang, these are the peanuts peeled by Yier for you, please Grandma Huang to taste."

There were chewing sounds all over the hall, but Empress Wu was the only one who sat upright, her face was calm as usual, but there was a trace of gloom flashing in her eyes. Seeing this, Li Xian gave Li Chongyi a look quietly, Li Chongyi, who was extremely well-behaved, immediately walked up to Empress Wu with a small dish of peeled peanuts, and said crisply.

"Hey, Yi'er is so good, come on, put Grandma Huang here, Grandma Huang will eat right away."

Although Empress Wu didn't like Li Chongyi in her heart, she would never show it at this moment. Instead, she showed a kind smile, stretched out her hand to touch Li Chongyi's head, and replied in a sympathetic manner.

"Yi'er obeys."

Li Chongyi was not close to Empress Wu at all, and he would not act coquettishly in front of Empress Wu, but respectfully agreed, put the small plate in his hand on the position instructed by Empress Wu, and immediately retreated to Gaozong's side, while talking with Gaozong Zong was talking and laughing, while he was busy preparing food for Gaozong, the grandparents and grandson were enjoying themselves non-stop. When such a situation happened, although Empress Wu still smiled lightly, but the haze in her eyes changed even more. It's a little thicker.

For this grand feast, Li Xian had already made sufficient preparations a few months ago. The various dishes were all rare items that are not available nowadays, and he had the chefs in the East Palace practice them several times. It was delicious in color, fragrance, and even though it took some time to inspect the food before, but fortunately, the weather was hot, but the dishes were not too cold.

The more people ate happily, the deeper the dissatisfaction in Empress Wu's heart, but it's not easy to flare up casually in front of everyone, after all, the image is still needed, so she quietly made a look at Jia Chaoyin, signaling him to come forward and disturb the scene .

"His Royal Highness, I have heard that His Royal Highness said that he can solve the disaster situation in Henan and Hebei, and I don't know how to plan it out?"

Jia Chaoyin is Empress Wu's confidant, so she had already received an advance confession from Empress Wu. Seeing Empress Wu's signal at this time, she dared not neglect her, so she stopped the chopsticks in her hand and turned towards Li Xianyi. Hand over, began to attack.

"Don't be in a hurry, Mr. Jia. Since I dare to speak out about this matter, I dare to take it. Let's have dinner first, and it will not be too late to discuss it later."

Li Xian had long expected that Empress Wu's party would stir up trouble at the banquet, so he would not be offended by Jia Chaoyin's incident, so he smiled and replied confidently.

"I'm afraid Xianer's words are inappropriate. Millions of people in the two places are in danger of starvation. As the people in charge of the court, how can we have the intention to have a feast? This matter cannot be resolved for a day, as a mother. One day is not safe, Xian Er said that he can solve the problem, so he came up with a safe method."

Although Jia Chaoyin dared to take the lead in launching an attack, he didn't have the guts to fight against Li Xian in court, and was blocked by Li Xian's words, so he didn't know how to deal with it. Seeing this, Empress Wu immediately interjected, saying, Leave Li Xian with the slightest leeway.

"The empress mother taught me that the child should obey, but before the child tells the way, please invite the emperor father, empress mother and all the ministers to accompany the son and minister to the back garden."

There is no danger if you are prepared. Li Xian is not at all afraid of the troubles provoked by Empress Wu, but he did not follow Empress Wu's pace, but offered an invitation with a smile.

"Well, all right, dear friends, just go with me."

Although Gaozong was excited to eat, he was still concerned about the current severe drought. Hearing what Li Xian said, he immediately put down his chopsticks without hesitation, stood up first, and a decree had already been uttered. .

"The servants (subjects, etc.) obey the order!"

Now that Gao Zong had let go of the words, the group of people, whether they were willing or not, could only keep their promises, they stood up one after another, and led by Li Xian, they went straight to the back garden.

The back garden of the East Palace is not small, with a total area of ​​more than forty acres. It was originally a place where green grass and flowers intersected among pavilions, terraces and buildings, but now the back garden that appears in front of everyone is a full-scale vegetable field, which is half full. The back garden has been plowed by Li Xian, and rows of strange plants have been planted. There is still a small half-empty field ridge, and the soil on it is still freshly turned. Obviously, the plants on those field ridges have just been harvested down.

"Xian'er, these are some plants, how come I don't know them all?"

Although Gaozong was an emperor, he still knew about the five grains. Seeing the lovely green plants in the field, his curiosity immediately arose. He walked to the edge of the field for a while, but suddenly found himself Unable to recognize it, he had to throw the question to Li Xian.

"So that the father knows that the ingredients used in the previous banquet came from this. They were harvested in advance and made into dishes. Please look, father, this row is planted with corn. Those protruding green Inside the sac is the fruit, and on the side are sweet potatoes, whose leaves are edible, and whose tubers are buried in the ground, and these seemingly inconspicuous bushes are peanuts, and their fruits are also in the ground, and there are also those planted in this ridge. They are potatoes, and those red fruits are peppers, which are excellent condiments, and I invite my father, mother, and princes to come here, because I want everyone to be a witness."

Li Xian pointed to the plants in the field with a smile on his face, and listed the names of all kinds of plants like a treasure, but in the end he changed the subject and made a request.

"Testimony? What do you say?"

Hearing Li Xian's strange words, Gao Zong was a little confused, looked at Li Xian suspiciously, and asked hesitantly.

Li Xian bowed and explained with a smile: "Returning to the father, the minister intends to let the guards in the palace harvest all kinds of plants immediately. Please ask the father and the queen to see how the yield of these plants is."

"Oh? That's good, let's start now."

Although Gaozong didn't understand what Li Xian's intentions were, he didn't refute Li Xian's face, and agreed with a smile.

"Father, Queen Mother, please sit down in the gazebo, and I will tell the guards in the palace to start immediately."

As soon as Gaozong agreed to his request, Li Xian didn't dare to let Gaozong stay under the sun for a long time, so he respectfully let Gaozong and Empress Wu into the pavilion beside the field ridge, and arranged for the eunuchs in the palace to serve them After freshly brewed fragrant tea, he ordered the guards who had been standing by for a long time to go to the field to harvest.

After Li Xian gave the order, a group of guards got busy immediately. Some went to pick corn, some turned the field to harvest sweet potatoes, and some weighed the harvested fruits. They were the guards involved in farm work. There were more than two hundred people, but it took more than half an hour to get things done.

"Reporting to His Majesty the Emperor and Empress of Heaven, all kinds of crops have been harvested. Among them, sweet potatoes are planted on five points of the land, and the actual harvest is 520 catties; corn, six points of the land, the actual harvest is 430 catties; The harvest is 350 catties; peanuts, 57 catties per mu of land; peppers, [-] catties, eight taels of land."

Zhang Mingwu was in charge of the statistical data work. After all the data were collected, Zhang Mingwu didn't dare to neglect, but saw him walk into the gazebo quickly, bowed towards Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu, and reported loudly. After a while.

"Okay, Aiqing has worked hard."

Although Gaozong could distinguish five grains, he had no concept of the yield data per mu, and he had no special reaction to the data reported by Zhang Mingwu, and he just casually comforted him.

"Your Majesty, this is a godsend, if it can be generalized, why worry about the food and clothing of the people!"

Gaozong didn't understand, but Pei Yan, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, understood the advantages and disadvantages of it. Under the agitated mood, he didn't care what other people thought, so he stood up first and shouted excitedly.

"Huh? Why did Aiqing say that?"

Gao Zong really didn't understand, seeing Pei Yan's excitement, his curiosity was immediately aroused, and he hurriedly asked.

"Returning to Your Majesty, I should be in charge of the household department and have a little understanding of the yield per mu of five grains. As far as I know, the yield of rice in the south is less than [-] catties per mu, while the wheat in the north is only about [-] catties. Most of the common people rely on this for their livelihood, even in good years, but when the production decreases, the people will not be able to make ends meet. If you can use this sacred thing for use, why worry about the world being in trouble!"

Pei Yan took a few breaths, calmed down his excitement a little bit, and then explained.

"Oh? I don't know, so these things are really treasures. Let me tell you how these treasures are found?"

Gao Zong calculated the yield per mu of sweet potatoes and other things in his heart, and compared it with the yield per mu of five grains mentioned by Pei Yan, his interest immediately became high, but he did not rush to make a decision, but asked the bottom line with great interest .

(End of this chapter)