When he eats, he has two kinds of dishes.
A pure bluff, there are probably dozens.
These are usually prepared, and some have been stewed and served when they are eaten.
Puyi recalled: Generally, there are eight main courses and four side dishes, plus hot pot, porridge, soup and so on. There are about twenty kinds of products together. After the formalities are finished, these dishes are of no use except ostentation and extravagance. The reason why you can quickly put it on the table in the order of a meal is because the imperial dining room was prepared half a day ago or a day ago, waiting on the fire. Who wants to eat? When eating, the dishes cooked by the chef are placed far away, just for show.
Puyi actually eats mainly her own chef and the chef of Toffee, and now there are generally more than 20 dishes, with different patterns every day: I actually eat the dishes sent by Empress Dowager Cixi, and then the dishes sent by the four Toffees after Empress Dowager Cixi's death, because Empress Dowager Cixi or Toffee have their own kitchens, and all of them use senior chefs, and the dishes they cook are delicious. There are always more than 20 dishes in every meal, which are the dishes placed in front of me.
From today's perspective, Puyi's chef is a first-class chef and a top chef in China. As for the ingredients, everything is available, and the monthly expenses are huge. Meat items such as chickens, ducks and pigs used in the imperial kitchen are mainly purchased by the Ministry of Internal Affairs at a cost of 42,000 silver.
So Puyi actually eats more than 20 dishes every time.
It should be noted that when the emperor is eating, if he is not with the queen mother, only he can sit, and the rest of the people, even the concubines or ministers, must stand. This is the rule.
Emperors usually live in the deep palace for a long time and don't take enough exercise. Besides, he eats very little all the year round.
Generally speaking, more than 20 dishes are just selected, so touch them a little.
According to the rules of the royal family, the emperor can eat three chopsticks at most for the same dish. It is impolite to eat too much.
The emperor's leftovers are generally treated in two ways.
The first is a reward, which is given to concubines, children, ministers and so on.
However, the food given is definitely not eaten by the emperor himself, but has never been eaten.
This is not for sanitary reasons, because it is a eunuch who picks dishes for the emperor and uses public chopsticks, which is very sanitary.
This is a strict confidentiality rule of the royal family.
Most of the emperors who were killed were poisoned.
Therefore, the food eaten by the emperor is also confidential, and outsiders must never know what the emperor likes to eat.
According to historical records, the four eunuchs standing behind the emperor were all dedicated to implementing family rules, and even the emperor had to abide by the rules set by his ancestors. The emperor looked at the plate with his eyes. The waiter eunuch moved the plate close to the emperor and then scooped it into the cloth plate with a spoon. If the emperor says "this dish is good" or nods approvingly after eating, the eunuch will scoop it for the emperor again, and at the same time, he will retreat to the back, and the third scoop will be impossible. If you scoop it three times and eat it three times in a row, one of the four eunuchs will shout "withdraw" and the other eunuchs will withdraw their vegetables, and they will not see each other for ten and a half months. The palace called this rule "pass the rice without persuasion".
Dining Bottom File is a court document that records the emperor's diet. Everything is recorded in detail, but what the emperor likes to eat can never be recorded, and the emperor will never say what he likes to eat or what he wants to eat today. Eunuchs and palace staff who serve meals are not allowed to talk casually, which is a taboo in the palace. Those who casually talk about or disclose the emperor's dining situation will be held accountable, and those who are serious will be beheaded. Without the will of the emperor, no one, including the queen, can eat with the emperor.
So, first of all, the chef has to change the pattern every day, and rarely cooks a dish many times. Second, the food eaten by the emperor is generally not given to others.
The second is to treat it as waste.
According to the rules, eunuchs and maids must not eat the leftovers of the emperor.
The emperor's leftovers can only be used as swill, thrown away or fed to pigs.
During the period of Puyi, the Qing Dynasty collapsed and everything in the palace was in chaos.
Some eunuchs even steal Puyi's food and sell it to foreign diners when dealing with swill, which is called imperial food.
This is naturally illegal, and once the eunuch is found, it will be over.
To put it bluntly, selling this dish can't turn a few dollars, which shows the eunuch's attitude of treating money like life.