Soon, bags of white sugar were produced. Most of the white sugar was sent to the Kushan Empire's army, and the smaller half was taken back to the court and distributed to officials. It was even given as a reward to those who had contributed countless things to the Wei Dynasty.
Xianbei and Huns with cattle, sheep and horses.
In the court hall, Zhao Feng specially held a banquet for the ministers in order to show the breakthrough of the Wei sugar industry.
Everyone was happy about this banquet, but they didn't feel anything special. After all, it was common for the emperor to entertain ministers at banquets in the past. They were all the same things, nothing new.
After everyone took their seats, they chatted and boasted with Zhao Feng for a while, and the air warmed up a bit. For this kind of banquet, eating is secondary, the main thing is drinking and bragging.
After the wine is drunk, everyone can take advantage of the wine and come out to brag. This bragging will raise the atmosphere.
With some more beauties dancing, the atmosphere will reach its peak.
However, something was obviously wrong with today's situation. After everyone chatted awkwardly for a while, Jushou couldn't hold it in any longer: "Your Majesty, do you have any wine? Is there smoke coming from your throat?"
Zhao Feng smiled slightly: "Come here, give you some sugar water!"
"Sugar water?" Jushou was immediately stunned, "Your Majesty, if you are hosting a banquet for the ministers, you won't fool everyone with sugar water, right?"
Zhao Feng laughed: "There is wine, but it's not time to serve it yet. Today I am not here to listen to you chatting, but to let you eat and drink!"
Everyone immediately started talking quietly.
Jia Xu looked at Lu Su next to him blankly: "Zijing, would a banquet that only involves eating and drinking without chatting be interesting? Can it still be called a banquet?"
Lu Su smiled bitterly: "Your Majesty, there is obviously something in this banquet. Just wait and see the show."
However, after everyone took a sip of sugar water, their unhappiness immediately disappeared!
"How sweet!"
"It's sweet and fragrant, as if there's a milky flavor in the sugar!"
"Fragrant, Your Majesty, this is top quality!"
"Wrong! This time it's clearly the top grade! That's the best!"
Zhao Feng then smiled and said: "Which is better, wine or sugar water?"
Jushou rolled his eyes and said, "Everyone has his own merits, Your Majesty. They are all good."
Zhao Feng nodded with satisfaction. When he saw everyone chatting below, he immediately waved his hand: "Come on, serve the dishes, one by one!"
Soon, basins of big bones were brought out first.
"Ribs!"
Many ministers drooled.
Although the people sitting here are all high-ranking officials in the court, except for those of the third rank and above, they are almost all poor people.
Although the salaries of the imperial court are quite high, although there are some changes in today's official system, subordinate officials still recruit them out of their own pockets, perfectly inheriting the habits of the Han Dynasty.
Many officials have had their pockets emptied by their subordinate officials.
In addition, except for the senior officials who were rewarded with residences by Zhao Feng, everyone else must find their own residence in Xudu.
The west side is where the poor live, and everyone is a respectable person, and officials usually have to move back and forth after going to court, so the officials all live together in the east side.
In addition to the high officials of the court, there are also members of the royal family, local prominent families in Luoyang, and nationally famous businessmen.
Although Luoyang is big, it can't help having so many high-status people living there!
As a result, housing prices in the east have been rising year by year, especially as the people and officials' sense of belonging to the Wei Dynasty has greatly increased.
Everyone admired Emperor Zhao Feng even more and wanted to live in Luoyang, which further led to an increase in housing prices in Luoyang, so many officials spent their income on buying houses.
Many officials, relying on their official positions, negotiated with the house sellers, signed contracts, and gave away a large amount of their salaries every month to repay the money.
For the sake of face, these officials also married many wives and concubines, gave birth to many children, and even invited their parents and clan relatives to live together so that everyone could live a prosperous life, which further aggravated the complexity of life.
It’s difficult, many people can’t afford to eat meat.
Of course, you can afford to eat pork, but who lives in the rich area in the east and has the nerve to buy pork to eat? If you just buy it back, who will eat it?
This first dish of big bones immediately aroused great interest in everyone.
"It smells so good!" Jia Xu was the first to exclaim.
He happily grabbed a bone, eating it with gusto, and licking his fingers from time to time.
Jushou devoured his food and was speechless. He waited until he choked on his food, then desperately gestured to Zhao Feng: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I'm choked on wine!"
However, it was another bowl of sugar water.
After Jushou drank it, he showed an expression of enjoyment: "Well, sugar water with meat tastes pretty good! It's actually quite suitable for an old man like me to eat like this!"
However, Lu Su next to him looked at the big bone in the basin doubtfully, took a hesitant bite, put it down immediately, and then began to retching. Although he tried hard to hide it, others still saw it.
Jushou immediately said strangely: "Zijing, what's wrong with you? Did you eat the delicacies given by the emperor until you vomited?"
Lu Su quickly covered his mouth with a bone: "Eat yours! Don't talk nonsense! You were too drunk and your eyes were dazzled!"
Jushou immediately laughed: "Zijing is lying to me again! What I drank was sugar water! Can you drink sugar water until you are dizzy? Please tell me why you are like this? I remember that you like to eat meat the most!"
Xu You next to him also stared at him with a suspicious look on his face.
Lu Su felt bitter in his heart. He came here from Jiangdong and his family fortune was gone. Now in order to buy a house in Luoyang, he has not eaten meat for a long time.
He still remembered the time when he was greedy and secretly bought a pound of pork.
However, the moment he chews pork, he will always think of the unpleasant smell of pig urine, and he will immediately retching reflexively!
The memory is still fresh to this day!
And the texture and taste of these bones in front of me are clearly pork!
Lu Su naturally knew why he was like this, but he couldn't talk about it. He had already guessed some of the emperor's plans.
"The emperor should use this banquet to completely promote pork and sugar to the people and the people. This is for the ministers to take the lead!"
"It's not hard to imagine that if all the people of the Wei Dynasty were not ashamed to eat pork and liked to eat sweets, then the court could make a lot of profits from this."
Lu Su almost understood Zhao Feng's plan in his heart, so he gritted his teeth to prevent himself from spitting it out.
However, when he looked at the pot of pig bones in front of him, and after confirming that they were pork, he immediately felt that there seemed to be a strong pig stench emanating from it.
Lu Su lowered his head in pain.
The strong fragrance that I smelled immediately changed!
He also knew that there was something wrong with his heart, but he really couldn't overcome this obstacle.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty must know that this is pork. The question is, can he eat it?"
Lu Su suddenly looked up and saw that Zhao Feng was holding a big bone and eating it with gusto. He even took out the marrow and licked it up. Next to him, there were already two big bones piled up.
Lu Su was stunned for a moment: "Your Majesty is so noble, but he eats such lowly pork! If I, Lu Su, don't eat it, don't I think I am nobler than the emperor?"
