Converted, the emperor's daily food standard is about 16 silver, which is equivalent to thousands of dollars now. Although the amount of money sounds small, the mention of pork and sesame oil turns people off. If you buy the money into something like double-headed abalone, it will make people look much more comfortable if it is listed in the menu.
This situation did not fundamentally change in the Qing Dynasty. Emperor Xuan Tong of the Qing Dynasty also recorded his own food list in his memoirs. According to him, when he was 5 years old, he had to deal with about 1 10,000 kilograms of pork and nearly 3,000 chickens and ducks a year.
The reason for this may be that the chef has his own considerations.
In addition to the regular food listed in the list, the emperor can of course ask for any new food he wants. But when the emperor asks for something, it will bring endless trouble.
For example, Qin Long, the father of Emperor Wanli, especially liked donkey intestines and asked for them several times. Although the emperor doesn't eat donkey intestines every day, the chef still kills a donkey every day, for fear that the emperor can't eat hot food with his mouth open. Who will bear the responsibility? So from now on, the donkeys in Beijing will lose more than 300 heads a year.
This is still a donkey. What should the emperor do if he eats a whale slice one day? Therefore, the most far-sighted way is to prevent the emperor from eating whale tenderloin, and let him honestly and diligently eat ordinary meat, such as pork.
In view of the fact that the emperor's food standard cannot be set too low, the reasonable result is that Emperor Wanli has to handle more than 40,000 kilograms of pork a year. The survival strategy of the royal chef is to make the emperor and queen trapped in the ocean of pork.
In the novel The Duke Of Mount Deer, the eunuch chef taught Wei Xiaobao this lesson: "The dishes of the Empress Dowager and the Emperor are fresh fruits and vegetables in season, so they can't be sacrificed". At least, "some fruits and vegetables that are only one or two months a year can't be sacrificed." Otherwise, "the emperor eats delicious food, winter bamboo shoots and fresh broad beans", why should everyone be careful?
Wei Xiaobao put on a horse face and taught the eunuch: "The queen mother and the emperor are extremely holy. How can this happen?" In fact, even if the empress dowager and the emperor are wise, it is more appropriate to eat pork with peace of mind after all.
This strategy of Imperial Restaurant has a very successful case in history. During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, there was a small court named Chu in Changsha. Ma Xisheng is the leader of this small court. This small region * * * has its own idol, that is, another big * * *-Zhu Wen, Emperor of the Back Beam.
Ma Xisheng learned from somewhere that Zhu Wen likes chicken very much. It seems that Ma Xisheng didn't particularly like chicken before, but this information fundamentally changed Ma Xisheng's diet view. He began to believe that eating chicken, like driving a Rolls Royce, was the only sign of success. As a successful person, he also has the obligation to follow Zhu Idol and try to eat chicken.
So he ordered the court canteen to prepare 50 chickens for him to enjoy every day. Ma Xisheng, a fanatic of chicken, basically achieved the goal of not liking chicken, and did not forget to take time to eat several plates of chicken before attending his father's funeral.
I very much doubt that this is a conspiracy of the Chu chef. Like the current advertising companies, they sell goods in the name of culture and fashion in order to cut corners and search for money.
Ma Wang stares at chickens every day, which saves them trouble, but in the long run, Ma Wang's nutrition is unbalanced. Who can guarantee his health? Sure enough, Ma died after a few years in power. His untimely death, I always think it has something to do with eating those 50 chickens every day.