Chapter 26 Chapter 26 Assignment of tasks
During Yongzheng's reign, he issued several decrees to prevent food waste in the palace, but the results were not ideal.
The Queen had seen the imperial kitchen dumping leftovers into the ditch.
It was fine in the winter, but in the summer, food couldn't be stored, and there was even more waste. The area around the ditch was filled with the smell of sour food.
Over the past year or so, the Empress has been trying various ways to reduce waste. But simply cutting the allowances would be a no-go. First, the royal family must maintain its proper pomp and ceremony, and second, the amount of food provided is a reflection of hierarchy. The Empress Dowager's palace wastes the most, but if the Empress Dowager's allowance were reduced, others would accuse the Emperor of being unfilial.
The queen could only start from her own palace. In addition to giving the leftover food and snacks to the maids and palace girls around her, if there was any leftover, she would send it to the eunuchs who cleaned the house outside.
Unexpectedly, Yonglian noticed this problem at such a young age, but distributing the remaining food in the palace to the people was something the queen had never considered.
And the excuse this kid came up with is really tempting.
At least for the Emperor, who cares extremely about his reputation, it is too tempting to let his subjects be grateful for the royal kindness.
As expected, as soon as Yonglian left, Qianlong said, "Tomorrow, Empress, please help me check if there are any cases of people in the palace dumping leftovers into the drains."
He then muttered, "Regarding the current state of mourning in the palace, there should be much less waste."
The Queen said, "It's unavoidable to dump leftovers and some food scraps into the ditch. Most of them are cooked food. I have instructed them to be distributed to the eunuchs who clean the place, but some of the food is inedible to the eunuchs, so they have to throw it away."
The servants in the palace should try to eat less dishes with seasonings such as onions, ginger, and garlic, so as not to suffocate their masters.
But these seasonings are indispensable in the masters' dishes. When these dishes are distributed, the servants want to eat them but dare not.
Qianlong sighed, "It's like this when we're in mourning, and I don't know how much more is wasted when we're not."
If the remaining food could be distributed to the beggars in the capital, it would not only show the royal family's compassion for the people, but also inherit Khan Ama's frugal legacy, so that those old ministers would not grumble behind his back that he was violating Khan Ama's wishes.
In any case, it is better to give leftover food to people than to cats, dogs, hawks and birds.
"The Queen will have someone calculate which type of food is wasted the most in each palace, and roughly how much cooked food and raw food scraps are wasted every day."
The cooked ones can be sent out directly, while the raw ones need to be cooked.
Qianlong originally thought that if there was only enough for seven or eight people, he could just ask the imperial guards to take it out when they were off duty and distribute it to the beggars on the street.
But a few days later, the amount of food reported by the Queen was astonishingly large.
The most wasteful place is undoubtedly the Empress Dowager's Shoukang Palace, because the Empress Dowager's allowance is too large, and now she does not have to observe mourning, the amount of pork and mutton wasted every day is more than ten kilograms, not to mention the pork and mutton bones with meat.
Mutton soup, chicken soup and broth are all poured in pots.
There were also some snacks that were not well prepared and could not be sent to the master. Even if the servants divided them among themselves, they could not get so much.
After school, Yonghuang and Yonglian came to Changchun Palace to pay their respects, and happened to meet their mother and Khan Ama discussing this matter.
Qianlong asked Yonglian to sit next to him and said, "You are the one who brought up this matter. So, tell me, how should we distribute it to the beggars and who should do it?"
Yonglian said, "The inner city is inhabited by bannermen, so there shouldn't be many beggars. I think most of the beggars are in the outer city, so let's build two or three tents in the outer city and let the beggars come and take care of them."
"But transporting it to the outer city requires manpower, and I have to pay extra wages for nothing." Qianlong said.
It's not that he can't afford the money, he just thinks it can be saved.
Yonglian thought for a moment and said, "Just now, my mother said that there are still a lot of raw vegetables. We can make stews out of them and have the people in the Imperial Household Department sell them. We can use the money to subsidize the officials in charge of this work. This way, the Imperial Treasury can spend less on wages."
"That won't do. These are just leftovers, and we still want to make money from the people." Qianlong frowned.
Yonglian said, "But the leftovers in the palace are good food for the common people. Let's set the price lower, a few cents, so that ordinary people can afford it."
Qianlong and the empress looked at each other, and both felt that it was a bit cheap for the palace to make this money.
Yonghuang expressed the concerns of Qianlong and the empress, "Will people say the palace is short of money and is trying to make money even by the smallest penny? Giving out food as a reward is a good thing, but if we make money from the people, we'll lose our reputation."
Yonglian said, "There are certainly people who say that, but the important thing is that the people benefited." He tilted his head, "I wonder how much a bowl of stew costs out there?"
No one here can answer this question.
Little Niulun said that she had never eaten stew. The so-called stew is various vegetables stewed in one pot. The dishes in the palace are exquisite, and this kind of dish is a bit not presentable.
Qianlong thought for a moment and said, "Your sixteenth uncle is in charge of the Imperial Household Department. You should discuss this matter with him and ask him to write a set of regulations and present them to me later."
"Me?" Yonglian pointed at himself in disbelief. "Is this the job Khan Ama assigned to me?"
Qianlong patted him on the head and said, "Yes, if you don't do this well, you will be punished."
Yonglian: “…”
"Your sixteenth uncle will also be punished."
"Your Majesty, Yonglian is still young, I'm afraid..." The Queen couldn't help but dissuade him. How old was her own little Yonglian? It was okay for him to give some advice, but how could he really be responsible for this matter?
Even though the Imperial Household Department was composed of household servants, they were not easy to deal with. Furthermore, if this matter were to be implemented, there would undoubtedly be opposition within the court.
Qianlong looked at the empress and said, "Although Yonglian is young, he is quite thoughtful. Let him practice a little and understand how troublesome it is to implement a small matter. In the future, he won't dare to make such random suggestions."
Yonglian was displeased when he heard this, puffing out his cheeks: "...I'm not giving random advice, this thing will definitely be done."
"Yonglian." The queen frowned. Her son was really fearless and brave enough to take on anything.
Yonghuang also vaguely felt that this matter was a bit complicated, so he looked at Qianlong and said, "Khan Ama, can I help my brother?"
Qianlong smiled and said, "Okay!"
Little Niulun also raised his hand, "Khan Ama, I will help my second brother too."
Qianlong laughed heartily and pinched his daughter's pigtails. "Forget about it! I'll send you on an errand next time Khan Ama arranges one."
Little Niulen pouted.
Yonglian smiled and coaxed his sister, "Wait until the imperial kitchen is ready and let Niu Lun help us taste it. The food we sell in the palace must be delicious, right?"
When Niu Lun heard that he really had a mission, he nodded happily and said, "Okay!"
Qianlong pinched the little girl's soft cheek and said, "Our Niu Lun is good at this."
Everyone laughed. Although the Queen was a little worried, she thought that the Emperor would not stand by and watch this go wrong. If anything went wrong, he would definitely come out and stop it in time, so she stopped trying to dissuade him.
Yonglian asked, "Then when can I go see Sixteenth Uncle?" He looked up at Han Ama with a smile on his face, "Why don't you give us a day off tomorrow and we can go to Sixteenth Uncle's house to play."
The little guy almost bit his tongue and let out the last two words.
"Well, I'm going to..."
It was too late to change his words, as he was hit hard on the forehead.
Seeing his son's face wrinkled into a ball, but he was too obedient to cry out in pain, Qianlong couldn't help laughing and rubbed the light red mark that was ejected.
"You can discuss this during math class the day after tomorrow. Don't let this matter delay your serious studies." Qianlong warned with a stern face.
Yonghuang and Yonglian responded obediently.
After coming out of Changchun Palace, the two young boys immediately started discussing enthusiastically.
In Changchun Palace, Qianlong personally coaxed his beloved daughter to sleep before returning to the front hall.
The Queen sat under the lamp and looked through the accounts compiled by the Imperial Household Department.
Yonglian didn't recognize many of the words on it, so I don't know how he could be responsible for this matter?
"Don't worry, Queen. I'm here." Qianlong smiled and comforted his wife, "Can you really let him take responsibility? I just want him to gain some experience." Don't be like me. I have been concentrating on studying since I was a child and have few contacts with people. Only after I became emperor did I realize how complicated the affairs of the Imperial Household Department were.
The masters were often taken advantage of and fooled by these bondservants.
There were many such incidents during the reign of Emperor Kangxi. The deficits and debts owed by imperial merchants were often hundreds of thousands of taels, and they have not been repaid yet.
There was also the deposed crown prince. His wet nurse was the head of the Imperial Household Department. Under the banner of taking care of the crown prince, he did countless things to enrich himself. After the incident, he pushed all the blame onto the deposed crown prince.
Qianlong did not want his own Yonglian to repeat the same mistakes, so he had to let this kid interact more with people in the Imperial Household Department and learn to control and guard against them.
Furthermore, if this matter is accomplished, it will also be good for Yonglian's reputation. When he ascends the throne in the future, he will not have to go to great lengths to win over people's hearts and establish his reputation like himself.
He advocated frugality and cared about his people at the age of six or seven. Naturally, the people loved and respected such an emperor.
On the day of the math class, as soon as Yunlu entered the Shangshufang, Yonglian took the initiative to say, "Khan Ama assigned a task for me and my sixteenth uncle to complete together."
Yunlu thought that he was being asked to teach the Second Prince some skills, so he agreed with a smile and started the class. After he finished what he was going to teach today, he asked Yonglian what task he had to complete.
There is no need to avoid the two companions in this matter, Yonglian still has tasks to assign to them.
He then put forward his proposal.
"I don't know many words, so I'll have to ask Sixteenth Uncle to help me write the rules." Yonglian said, "And as for the Imperial Tea and Food Office, I'll also need Sixteenth Uncle to send a few reliable people to take charge of this matter."
Yunlu frowned. The emperor actually let such a little kid handle such a troublesome matter? This is not the right way to train a son!
Yunlu looked at his little nephew with some sympathy. The little guy probably just came up with an idea casually, who would have thought that he would take on such a task.
My nephew is the crown prince and will inherit the throne in the future. If this matter is not handled well, it will damage his image of wisdom in the future.
So this matter must be done beautifully, Yunlu sighed in his heart, knowing that his sixteenth uncle would have to worry more.
But what Yunlu didn't expect was that he actually just wrote a charter for the whole thing and sent a few people, and his nephew had already figured out what to do first and what to do next.
The Queen only reported the waste in the palace for two or three days during the New Year period. Yonglian needed to know more abundant and detailed data.
He first asked the imperial kitchen to count the food that each palace sent to the cat and dog room within five days.
He also inquired about the storage lifespan of various foods in the imperial kitchen. For example, the Empress Dowager's daily allotment of rice and flour was six liters of rice and twenty kilograms of flour, which the entire Shoukang Palace population might not even be able to finish. Rice was fine; noodles and snacks were generally prepared daily, but the Empress Dowager only ate two bowls of staple food and two or three snacks a day. After deducting the rewards, she still had half left over.
There will be a lot of sugar, oil and sauce left.
"No wonder the snacks at Shoukang Palace are sweeter than those at other places. It seems it's because they have more sugar in Shoukang Palace, so they don't mind using up the small kitchen." Yonglian frowned. "That's definitely not okay. The elderly should eat less sweets anyway. This is not only wasteful, but also bad for the Queen Mother's health."
Yonghuang nodded, "The food in Shoukang Palace is also greasier than what the prince likes. I used to think that was the taste of the Empress Dowager."
Yonglian thought about it and shook his head. "The Queen Mother doesn't like greasy dishes. I noticed last time that she likes cabbage cooked in vinegar and first-class tofu the most."
Yonghuang was stunned. His younger brother was observing very carefully, which showed that he cared about the Empress Dowager very much. The young boy felt a little ashamed and decided to pay more attention next time.
Yonglian's careful observation wasn't just out of filial piety. The Empress Dowager, Concubine Yu, and Khan's father were all long-lived elders. Last time, while dining at Shoukang Palace, Yonglian wanted to observe what the longevity trio liked to eat so he could learn from them.
As a result, the three of them liked different dishes. The Empress Dowager liked cabbage the most, Concubine Yu liked mutton, and Khan Ama liked fried meat with duck and leeks.
Yonglian decided to try them all and believed that consuming a rich variety of foods was the most scientific way to maintain health.
Although he didn't see any health tips, Yonglian remembered the tastes of the three people. Perhaps the Empress Dowager was dissatisfied with the food but couldn't bring it up.
But the allowance could not be reduced. If the Empress Dowager reduced it, everyone below her would have to follow suit. The concubines only had 2 liang of sugar a day, and if they reduced it any further, it would not be enough.
The remaining white sugar in Shoukang Palace can be used to make some other snacks.
Similarly, the remaining sauce and vinegar were used to cook meals sold to the people.
All the investigations have been completed, and now we can do an experiment.
"...Instruct the small kitchens in each palace to send the remaining ingredients to the imperial kitchen. Have the imperial kitchen make some food with today's leftovers. Try not to add any new ingredients or seasonings. See what you can come up with." Yonglian got up early in the morning and gave instructions to Chen Fu and Ma Rui while washing up.
The two eunuchs agreed and sent the young master to the Shangshufang first. After settling the young master, Ma Rui prepared to go to the various palaces to pass on the message.
Chen Fu hurriedly grabbed him and said, "How can we disturb the six palaces without the emperor's approval? Let's go and report to the emperor first."
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