The ancient emperors had a rule that "no more than three spoonfuls of food is allowed". No matter what kind of food, you should eat at most one or two mouthfuls, and the dishes that have eaten three mouthfuls should be removed immediately. According to the catering etiquette of the palace, after eating, the emperor will give the leftover dishes, cakes, snacks, etc. to the empresses and princes, and if they can't finish eating, they will give them to the ladies-in-waiting and eunuchs.

when the emperor is in a good mood, he will also reward his ministers to accompany him to eat, which is also a means for the emperor to win over his courtiers. It's just that this kind of opportunity is not common. All the courtiers who get the gift will often be flattered and grateful, and they have repeatedly made up their minds to go through fire and water to repay the emperor's attention.

Extended information

Ancient people only ate two meals, even the emperor was no exception. Ancient emperors usually had two dinners a day, with breakfast at 7 am and dinner at 1 pm. These two meals are dinner, and the Qing dynasty required 18 courses for dinner. In addition, in order to support the imperial power, local products from all over the country will be gathered in the palace.

The emperor usually eats in his bedroom and office. When delivering meals, the eunuchs in the imperial kitchen are responsible for putting three dining tables together, laying a table list, and eunuchs holding red lacquer boxes quickly serve various dishes, meals, soups, etc. After the emperor was seated, the eunuch handed over the meal first tasted it himself, and then the emperor began to eat.

When the emperor dines, besides eunuchs, there will be people standing nearby to listen to the appreciation, such as minions and princes. The emperor doesn't want to eat, or he is happy for a while, and more often he can't finish eating, so he will reward the food. The rewarded person can only eat it standing in front of another table. Because it was rewarded by the emperor, you have to eat it even if you are not hungry and don't want to eat it, and you have to say "delicious".

Baidu encyclopedia-imperial cuisine