At the same time, in the Zichen Hall, everyone was puzzled to see that they had been seated for a long time, but the emperor and empress had not arrived, and no dishes had been served.
Just when everyone was getting a little impatient, Cao Xiong finally led a group of palace servants out from the side door.
When I entered the hall, I saw a row of palace maids lined up.
Each person held a lacquer tray in his hand, but it was covered, so no one knew what was inside, and it looked mysterious.
Cao Xiong waved his hand, and the palace officials placed the lacquer trays on their seats one by one.
Cao Xiong then smiled and said, "My worthy friends, His Majesty has spoken: The delicacies have been served. You may enjoy them first. I will be here shortly."
Everyone had their own thoughts upon hearing this, some curious, some skeptical, but they all stood up and bowed, saying, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for the banquet!"
However, their eyes couldn't help but subconsciously glance at the lacquer trays on their seats.
I thought to myself: Is this the only banquet given by the emperor? This is too...simple, right?
However, they came here just to give the emperor face, and also wanted to see if they could meet the emperor in advance before he actually took power.
So even though the interest was a little fading, no one would say it out loud in such an occasion.
After they sat down again, everyone sat upright. At this time, a palace servant naturally brought clean water. After everyone washed their hands, a palace servant came forward and opened the lid of the lacquer tray.
Everyone was stunned when they saw the delicacies on the lacquer plate.
The first reaction was what is this?
Then the second reaction is, isn’t this too little?
Feed the civet cat?
Then everyone subconsciously looked at the seats of other people around them.
Seeing this, everyone couldn't help but be stunned again.
I was surprised to find that the contents of the lacquer plates in front of everyone were different.
Someone found a jade bowl in a lacquer plate, and in the bowl was a crystal clear soup made of some unknown ingredient.
Another was a silver plate with beautifully carved flowers on it, and in the center of the flowers was a small pile of things that looked like jade belts...
There are also some fragrant thin lines...
There were also many small pieces of some cooked fruit placed in the center of an equally beautifully decorated silver plate.
All of them are surprisingly different.
Either their character and appearance are different, or they have the same character and appearance but do completely different things.
In an era when most food was only boiled, even though these people were famous officials and came from aristocratic families, no one could recognize what was on the plate or how to cook it.
Some people did recognize that many of these foods were prepared in a similar way to the Tianxiaju restaurant that had just emerged in Beijing.
"Is this Jiahe? Why are they all different?"
"Cao Daban, may I ask how many varieties of Jiahe there are?"
They are all famous officials and they usually follow the rules. They don't talk while eating and don't talk while sleeping.
But at this time, I couldn't help but open it.
Seeing these people's rustic appearance, Cao Xiong secretly despised them, but he smiled reservedly and said, "My dear gentlemen, you are joking. Jiahe is a gift from heaven. It is a blessing to have just one kind. How can we have so many kinds?"
"Then why are the things before us all different?"
An old royal man sitting on the left asked.
Upon hearing this, Cao Xiong bowed and said, "Your Majesty's question hits the nail on the head. Although Jiahe only has one kind of food, it can present such a wide variety of delicacies. This is all thanks to your majesty's wisdom."
After saying that, he walked over to Dr. Jiang, who was sitting at the last table, and pointed to a piece of steamed sweet potato on Dr. Jiang's plate. He said, "Look, Dr. Jiang, what's on your plate is the simplest way to prepare Jiahe. Just cut it up and steam it until cooked."
Jiang Banyan was originally observing what was on his plate. When he heard his words, his face darkened slightly.
Well, here is the simplest way for me.
But everyone's eyes looked over involuntarily.
Some people even couldn't help but stand up and walk closer, reaching out to pick it up and take a look. Fortunately, they immediately realized that something was wrong and withdrew their hands in disappointment.
But he couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, "So this is Jiahe. I wonder if Your Majesty has given it a name?"
Before, everyone was skeptical about whether the so-called Golden Harvest was real.
Now that the real thing was right in front of them, everyone couldn't help but feel tempted.
In this era, farming is the most important thing in the world.
Even for aristocratic families, it is of utmost importance.
After all, the aristocratic families of this era had not yet developed to the level of decadence that they did in later generations.
At least most of the aristocratic families still know what their roots are.
If Jiahe was just a lie, that would be fine, but now that we see that Jiahe might be true, how can people not care?
Cao Xiong smiled slightly upon hearing this and said, "Your Majesty has already given it a name. It is called sweet potato."
"sweet potato……"
Everyone repeated the question subconsciously, and then someone asked, "Cao Daban, can these Jiahe sweet potatoes really produce ten dan per mu? They consume a lot of soil, so what conditions are required to grow them?"
The person who asked this question was none other than Mr. Tai'an.
Everyone couldn't help but look at Cao Xiong.
Cao Xiong, however, smiled again and did not answer the question. Instead, he chuckled and said, "My worthy friends, why don't you enjoy the delicious food on the plate first?"
Then he said proudly, "To be honest, I just went to the back garden to inform His Majesty of your arrival. His Majesty took pity on our hard work and gifted us a bowl of delicious food personally cooked by His Majesty and the Empress."
"Tsk tsk, it's really delicious!"
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