Chapter 65 That's a plaque bestowed by the emperor
Amid the daily anticipation of officials from the Ministry of Revenue, the Hanlin Academy, and students from the Imperial College, the restaurant of Shen Huazheng and his friends was finally renovated.
Emperor Jingning kept his promise and personally wrote a plaque to name the restaurant that was about to open "Yipinlou".
Chen Huazheng and others followed the rules to go to the palace to express their gratitude, and when they came back, they had the plaque hung above the restaurant.
At one time, many well-informed families in Beijing knew about this matter.
His Majesty personally wrote a plaque for the restaurant that is about to open. Even the name of the restaurant was given by His Majesty. This is unprecedented!
When it became clear that the restaurant was jointly run by Chen Huazheng, Zhou Ying and Princess Lejia, everyone discussed it privately.
Princess Lejia was deeply favored by the emperor, but his majesty did not favor her enough to personally bestow a plaque on her.
Some people secretly speculated whether Emperor Jingning had taken a fancy to Shen Huazheng and wanted to summon her into the palace as a concubine.
Of course, it is also possible that he fell in love with Zhou Ying, but she has been married, so the possibility is smaller.
However, this idea was quickly rejected.
In the eyes of court officials, Emperor Jingning was an emperor who was pure-hearted and nostalgic.
He reigned for more than twenty years. Apart from the empress, there were only a handful of concubines in the harem, most of whom had been with him since Emperor Jingning was still the crown prince.
The only beauty pageant in the palace was held in the third year of Emperor Jingning's reign, and was personally organized by the Empress Dowager.
Later, court officials asked Emperor Jingning several times to fill his harem and hold a beauty contest, but he refused without hesitation.
Emperor Jingning also spoke earnestly to his ministers:
"Since I ascended the throne, I have always encouraged myself to be diligent. I have followed the way of heaven and the will of the people. I have been worried day and night, fearing that I would go against the way of heaven if I were not careful. Now the country is peaceful and the people are happy. The crown prince is intelligent and virtuous, and the princes are sensible and polite. I am very happy."
Each of the ministers was an old fox, so they could naturally hear the hidden meaning behind Emperor Jingning's words.
Emperor Jingning was busy with state affairs and worked hard every day, and was already exhausted. He simply did not have enough time and energy to devote to the harem, and there was no need to fill it at all.
Moreover, he had already accomplished the task of expanding the family branch and leaves excellently, and did not need to rely on winning over ministers to consolidate the imperial power.
The ministers should just help share the government affairs and not keep an eye on his harem.
Seeing that Emperor Jingning really had no such intention, gradually no one mentioned the matter of selecting concubines anymore.
On second thought, if Emperor Jingning really took a fancy to Chen Huazheng, he would probably summon her into the palace immediately instead of letting her show off and do business outside.
Therefore, the possibility that he would be attracted to Shen Huazheng was extremely small.
There are also people with quick minds who thought of another thing -
Not long ago, Chen Ci Fu asked Emperor Jingning for permission to retire and return home on the grounds of his advanced age.
Emperor Jingning had allowed him to retire, allowing him to return to his hometown to spend his remaining years in peace.
Now that a position in the cabinet has been vacated, I don’t know how many people are eyeing it, not to mention that it is the position of second assistant.
Logically speaking, Wei Yu from the Ministry of Personnel and Shen Zhaonian from the Ministry of Revenue were the most likely to enter the cabinet.
Wei Yu is older, so his chances of winning are greater.
Could it be that His Majesty favors Shen Zhaonian more, so he favors his daughter?
If this is true, it would be incredible!!
In any case, judging from the information we have received so far, the Shen family is only suitable for making friends.
When this restaurant opens, I must go and support it.
Those who had eaten with the Shen father and son were a little surprised at first when they heard that His Majesty had personally bestowed the plaque.
But they soon calmed down.
Your Majesty must have tasted the food made by Shen Huazheng, which is why he bestowed the plaque.
In comparison, they are more concerned about the opening day of Yipintang and the food sold there.
For a time, almost all the dignitaries in Beijing were paying attention to Yipinlou, just waiting to come and support it on the opening day.
Yipinlou doesn't need to spend any time or effort on promotion, its fame has already been established.
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