I have been listening to the opera until now, and I am really hungry at midnight.

The county magistrate Zhu Wenjing heard that His Majesty wanted something to eat, and hurriedly said, "I will order someone to cook some food, for fear that it will not suit His Majesty's taste."

Emperor Hongzhi shook his head: "Didn't I say that, I want to eat this dried fish."

"There is no need to bother the chef. It's midnight, and I think I've already fallen asleep. Why not..." Emperor Hongzhi glanced at Zhu Wenjing: "Can you cook at your family?"

Zhu Wenjing shook her head quickly: "A gentleman stayed away from the kitchen, why... how could this happen?"

Emperor Hongzhi said lightly: "The former prefect Wen Yansheng of Ningbo was proficient in this way. I see him as a gentleman."

Zhu Wenjing: “…”

Emperor Hongzhi said, "Where is the kitchen? Follow the feudal..." He cheered up and seemed to have developed a strong interest in small things in the family.

Zhu Wenjing was surprised and dumbfounded for a moment, but at this time he had to bite the bullet and lead Emperor Hongzhi to the kitchen.

Emperor Hongzhi said: "Wen Qing's family can cook, and I want to try it too. Come and make a fire for me."

Fang Jifan only carried the dried fish aside and said nothing.

Zhu Wenjing was shocked and hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty... How can Your Majesty be a daughter-in-law...can you do such a thing."

In the eyes of the literati and officials of this era, such as cooking, was an inconsistent activity. Zhu Wenjing was obviously anxious. He thought that His Majesty was self-practicing. Could it be... he deliberately expressed his dissatisfaction with the hospitality?

He was just a mere little county magistrate, located in a remote place, and that was like this. For many people, the emperor was already sacred, as if he was not in the world, and always was a clay statue sitting under the plaque of the Dharma Ancestor of Heaven, enjoying only fireworks and without humanity.

Just like Mr. Ye is like a dragon, when the dragon really appears in front of him, Zhu Wenjing felt shocked. Oh, the emperor still had midnight snacks.

Emperor Hongzhi frowned and looked at Zhu Wenjing strangely: "I am a daughter-in-law. Isn't my stomach hungry? Don't eat something when I'm hungry? What's the reason for eating and cooking?"

Zhu Wenjing was stunned.

Seeing Emperor Hongzhi directing Xiao Jing to make a fire, he also rolled up his sleeves and looked eager to try.

Zhu Wenjing suddenly stretched her neck, as if she had made a great decision, and said seriously: "Your Majesty, I... I can do it for you."

Emperor Hongzhi said: "Didn't you know how to cook?"

Zhu Wenjing said with a tense face: "Yes."

Emperor Hongzhi smiled and said, "So, are you bullying the emperor?"

"This..." Zhu Wenjing smiled bitterly: "Even if you know how to do things in the kitchen, you should not show them to others, otherwise you will inevitably be laughed at by others. I will die."

Fang Jifan was also convinced by this person.

Zhu Wenjing seemed to have been busy in order to show that she could do it for her. She suddenly started to get busy and said, "Your Majesty, there are so many inconveniences at night, so it's not advisable to eat too much. You might as well make some porridge and use dried fish to deliver the porridge. Add rice first. The porridge needs to be cooked on a low heat, but... I'm afraid I can't wait at the moment, so I have to cook it on a high heat. The dried fish..."

He took the dried fish from Fang Jifan, rolled up his sleeves, took the kitchen knife, cut the onion and garlic, chopped it up, and cleaned it. Fang Jifan asked him to add more peppers.

He then took the chili again skillfully, chopped the chili with excellent knife skills, soaked the chili with oil first, and cooked the oil pan on the other side. After a moment, he threw it into the main dish and auxiliary ingredients, picked up the pot, stir-frying it back and forth, and said, "This kind of dish needs to be stir-fried over high heat. If the heat is not enough, the taste will be insufficient. Go and turn the blower bag.

So the wind blew straight into the stove, and the heat rose up. The red oil mixed with peppers in the pot was boiling and sputtered. Zhu Wen raised the pot quietly, and the flames even rose from the pot. He took advantage of the fire, his hands were flying. In a moment, he covered the oil pan, and the hot oil was boiling. He sighed: "Okay, you can put out the heat."

After saying that, he opened the pot and added onion and garlic, mixed Shao Xu's vinegar, and said, "Don't add too much salt to stir-fry this dried fish, be careful." He pinched his hands and only sucked some salt and threw it in.

Then the fried golden fish was put on the pot.

At this moment... the aroma of this dried fish began to overflow.

Emperor Hongzhi kept standing by and watching silently, but was actually a little confused.

Zhu Wenjing said that he could not cook, but just now he looked at his methods, and he was afraid he was still a 'wizard'.

At this time, Zhu Wenjing said, "Your Majesty, it is not suitable to eat this spicy fish now. First, the porridge water is not cooked yet. Second, it is best to eat other dishes while it is hot. Dried fish does not have to be eaten while it is hot. When it gets cold, you can enjoy the porridge. Instead, it tastes a little more delicious. Please ask Your Majesty to move and go to the hall to rest. There is a lot of oil smoke here. After waiting for half an hour, you can eat."

Emperor Hongzhi and Fang Jifan were both stunned.

This person, you will know that after listening to these words... is very skillful.

It's a talent.

Emperor Hongzhi nodded and returned to the hall with Fang Jifan. After waiting for half an hour, a plate of dried fish and hot porridge were indeed delivered.

Fang Jifan said first: "Your Majesty, be careful, I will try the poison first."

So I picked up the chopsticks, took the dried fish first, and ate it with hot porridge. I first realized that the spicy taste of the tip of my tongue was dispersed, and then I had a bit of chewy dried fish and mixed the porridge water, which immediately made the taste stronger between my mouth.

At this time, my stomach was a little hungry, and I felt my appetite wide.

Emperor Hongzhi saw that Fang Jifan had eaten delicious food, so he also took the chopsticks.

The meals in the palace are the same as the doctrine of mean emphasized by the scholars and officials. They are always neither salty nor light nor spicy nor sweet. The reason is that if they are too sweet and spicy and are too spicy and dislike them, it is a sin.

But if the taste is just right, or it is neither good nor bad, although it is useless, it is not bad.

This is the survival instinct of the imperial chefs.

Therefore, after Emperor Hongzhi ate it suddenly, his tongue was greatly stimulated. After a while, his whole body was sweating and his face turned red.

The whole taste buds felt uncomfortable, and Emperor Hongzhi quickly mixed the porridge and ate the dried fish together.

But after this feeling passed, I felt inexplicably unable to stop.

"It tastes good." Emperor Hongzhi exclaimed, then continued to sweat and continue to eat porridge, and it felt like eating the side stove.

Especially the dried fish, which was very chewy and the spicy taste was very enjoyable.

After drinking a bowl of porridge, Xiao Jing handed over a handkerchief. Emperor Hongzhi wiped his sweat and felt a little more satisfied. He couldn't help but smile: "Your family said he didn't understand the kitchen, but who would have thought he was still an expert."

Zhu Wenjing looked ashamed and extremely embarrassed and angry, and hurriedly said, "My...My...My is helpless."

"What can I do?" Emperor Hongzhi glanced at Zhu Wenjing strangely.

Zhu Wenjing hesitated for a moment and finally said, "The salary of the court is really meager. Just a little money and grain, I still have to bear the expenses of sedan chairmen and cooks. Although I occasionally have some filial piety, I really dare not take some money. On the one hand, I can't bear to exploit the people, and on the other hand, I have to take some money and food, so I will inevitably be controlled by others. But how can I support the ministers? My family is actually quite good, and I rely on some money and food sent from my family, but I can't use unnecessary expenses like this chef. Therefore... I have always... made fire by myself."

Emperor Hongzhi was extremely surprised to hear it.

A dignified parent official actually has to rely on the family to send money to support himself? Not only that, just this... can't afford to hire a cook?

Emperor Hongzhi couldn't help but look at Fang Jifan: "Have Jifan heard of this?"

Fang Jifan was not surprised at all, saying: "This salary was set by Emperor Taizu Gao. At that time... it was actually a bit meager. However, over the past hundred years, the depreciation of silver prices, coupled with the reasons for inflation, in fact... although there are occasional measures to increase salary, it is all a drop in the bucket. Even the current salary of money, grain, and salary, compared with Emperor Taizu Gao, if inflation is taken out, it is actually more difficult than Emperor Taizu Gao."

Emperor Hongzhi looked dumbfounded: "Since I can't take the blame, why is no one reporting?"

Fang Jifan said awkwardly: "What is involved in this... is the subtle heart of the people. If they are bad officials, they have other sources of wealth and look down on this little salary at all. Even if they report a memorial, the court raises the salary, it is limited. It has little meaning to them, so they will let it go. But if they are good officials... they have already decided to be good officials, and of course they don't want to raise money and grain and other things that are unethical. If they don't talk about money, they just eat braised vegetables."

Emperor Hongzhi: "..."

Emperor Hongzhi seemed to have taken a lot of brain cells to digest what Fang Jifan said.

He sighed for a long time: "I didn't expect it... Zhu Wenjing, your family wants to support you as an official, how much money and food is sent every month."

"Not much." Since everyone said they had opened, Zhu Wenjing did not hesitate any more and said truthfully: "It's probably ten taels of silver for money and food, but... if you are an official, you always need a car and a sedan to go out, and you have to hire some people, so..."

Emperor Hongzhi understood and said to Fang Jifan again: "Why didn't you tell me before?"

Fang Jifan couldn't help but complain in his heart, Your Majesty talked to me every day about how to be frugal and bragged about how to save money, dare I mention this?

Of course, Fang Jifan could not say what he was in his heart, so he smiled and said, "I will die."
Chapter completed!