Chapter 289: Dining with His Majesty

"Your Majesty, it's time for lunch."

The accompanying eunuch reminded.

Emperor Mingcheng paused and looked back at the eunuch. "It is already noon without me noticing. Go and ask Qin Qi'an to come and have dinner with me."

"I'll do it right away."

The eunuch bowed, took a few steps back, then turned and left.

The ministers in the court were arguing with each other.

When they saw the eunuch coming to invite Qin Chi to accompany Emperor Mingcheng for dinner, they all became very quiet.

When Qin Chi followed the eunuch and left.

He didn't look back, but he clearly felt the blade on his back.

Following the imperial eunuch, they arrived at a palace with carved beams and painted buildings.

In the hall, the smoke of incense curled up, and the palace maids, dressed in uniform, carefully laid out the placemats and porcelain plates.

"Your humble servant greets His Majesty."

Qin Chi stepped forward and bowed.

Emperor Mingcheng was wearing a dragon robe, looking majestic yet relaxed.

He signaled Qin Chi to sit down with his eyes.

The emperor's chopsticks were made of precious ivory, delicate and smooth, his bowls were made of white jade, and his porcelain plates were made of blue and white, elegant and exquisite. The meals were rich, with soft wild ginseng chicken soup, tender East China Sea yellow croaker, and crispy palace roast duck. Each dish seemed to contain full sincerity and appreciation for the ministers.

This was not the first time Qin Chi accompanied Emperor Mingcheng to have a royal meal.

When he was studying at the Imperial College, Emperor Mingcheng heard about him and summoned him once.

That time he chatted and played chess with Emperor Mingcheng.

Afterwards we had lunch.

The dishes at that time were not as rich as they are now.

The palace maids spoke softly and poured plum wine for the two of them.

The wine rippled slightly in the crystal glass, exuding an enticing fruity aroma.

Emperor Mingcheng raised his glass with a satisfied smile on his face and said to Qin Chi: "My dear Qin, this is specially prepared for you. I hope you won't be polite."

Qin Chi bowed respectfully, holding up the wine glass with both hands, showing gratitude and respect on his face, and replied softly: "Your Majesty, thank you for your grace."

Say that.

Qin Chi was thinking, is this a case of giving someone a sweet date after a trick? He always had a feeling that Emperor Ming Cheng had sent him to the Ministry of Works for the current situation.

Emperor Cheng of the Ming Dynasty could once be considered a wise ruler.

There are absurd things, but there are also achievements.

As we get older, our tempers get worse, we become more unpredictable, and we act more and more as we please.

For example, the last absurd incident was that Yuan Shangshu should have committed a serious crime of confiscating his property and beheading, but he was solved by sending his granddaughter to the palace. The incident before that was the misappropriation of the national treasury to build a temple. The deity enshrined was the golden statue of Emperor Mingcheng himself.

It's a waste of time and money and I don't know what it means.

It all started because he had a dream of becoming an immortal.

Li Huarong opposed this and was dismissed from his official position by Emperor Cheng of the Ming Dynasty.

The next thing was that a beauty contest was held at an old age, in which all the outstanding ladies in the capital were taken into the harem. As a result, eligible men of that year could not find a wife who was of the same social status and who was satisfactory to them, and there were secret complaints.

There are not only three thousand beauties in the harem.

There is also a palace in the middle that enshrines several Taoists.

What the Taoist priest was doing in the palace had not been reported to the palace, and the spies had a vague guess, but no one dared to publicize such imperial secrets. Today's forced detention of ministers and forcing them to settle accounts was really not a big deal.

During meals.

The two ate together in silence.

There is a sense of tacit understanding and harmony in the air.

Occasionally, the light footsteps of palace maids and eunuchs could be heard, as well as the melodious sounds of stringed instruments in the distance.

After finishing his meal, Emperor Ming Cheng put down his chopsticks contentedly and said to Qin Chi with a smile, "My dear Qin, are you satisfied with today's meal?"

Qin Chi quickly stood up and bowed, "Your Majesty, I am very satisfied with the meal."

"Okay, back off."

Emperor Mingcheng spoke, and Qin Chi bowed and took his leave.

During the meal, the number of words spoken could be counted on one hand, but even so, it was a great blessing to the ministers.

This happened.

Qin Chi went back to the main hall.

There is no wrong version in the 1619 book forum!

A group of ministers who were sitting together, still discussing the matter, without eating or drinking, all had red eyes.

However, he did not dare to show such an obvious desire to kill Qin Chi with a knife, because this was a person valued by Emperor Ming Cheng.

"Qin Qian, do you have a solution?"

A man with gray hair and bright eyes asked.

Qin Chi looked up and saw that it was Liao Yong, the Minister of War and also a minister of the cabinet, who asked him.

He hurriedly bowed to Liao Yong and said, "Which of the masters here has less experience than me? I can just stand aside and learn. I dare not show off my skills in front of you masters."

"Just say what you are told to say. Why are you spouting so much nonsense?"

The Minister of War was also a military general and spoke directly.

Qin Chi saw that everyone was looking at him, seemingly waiting for him to speak. He spoke slowly as if he was being forced to do something: "I can't come up with specific rules. However, I can make a suggestion."

"When I was taking inventory of the Yuhengsi inventory, I saw some old items piled up. It's not that they can't be reused. For example, the cotton in old cotton clothes can be disassembled, washed, dried, and fluffed again. They can still be used. Although they are not as good as new ones, they can still be used, right? As for those abandoned farm tools, they can't be wasted. We can..."

Qin Chi had an advantage over these ministers, that is, he was born in the countryside, and was used to seeing the suffering of the people. He knew that some old things piled up in the inventory were good things for poor families. Therefore, a pile of discarded sundries, after Qin Chi's suggestion, had a place to go, and could be exchanged for some silver, reducing losses. As for the loss of silver, it was inevitable, and he could only find another way to make up for it.

There were many ministers who came from humble backgrounds, but they had lived a life of luxury for decades and had long forgotten the sufferings of the people, let alone their daily needs.

Someone wrote down the suggestions, and after discussion among the crowd, the best ones were selected and retained. Before the sun set, a presentable memorial was finally produced.

After discussing with Qin Chi for a day, the ministers' anger towards him unexpectedly reduced by more than half. In addition, they were hungry all day and had no time to care about Qin Chi, so they hurried out of the palace and returned home.

The only person walking leisurely was probably Qin Chi, who had just finished lunch.

"Isn't Master Qin in a hurry?"

A man's voice suddenly sounded behind me.

Qin Chi turned around and saw that it was the commander of the Jinyiwei. "Commander, I didn't know you were here. I apologize for your impoliteness."

"I am sorry for being rude. I am here to escort you back to your palace on the orders of His Majesty."

The commander of the Jinyiwei had an embroidered spring sword on his waist, and he walked like a killing god. When seeing him, officials and civilians all retreated.

Qin Chi really wanted to ask a question.

What does your Majesty mean?

Soon he understood again.

Emperor Mingcheng knew his situation and was worried that he would be assassinated if he left the palace, so he had his conscience changed and asked the Jinyiwei to send him home. Today, he was really hated by everyone.

Just one memorial offended more than half of the court officials.

Come to think of it, he's quite capable.