When it comes to food, the palace servants checking belongings have something to say.
Why? Because no noblewoman had ever brought a bag of rice back to the palace from outside before. The First Princess Consort was the first to do so.
It was not unusual for nobles in the palace to bring meat products from outside the palace; many people did so. Other dried goods were also quite normal.
They were stunned when they saw the Grand Princess's eunuch carrying a bag of rice. Could it be that the kitchen didn't provide rice for the First Prince and the Grand Princess? That was clearly impossible.
Granny Shi gave them some silver, saying it was for the eldest princess born to the First Princess Consort, and that the silver would shut them up.
From then on, every year when the new rice came to market, the Grand Princess Consort would bring some into the palace.
This is actually easy to understand. Why? Because the rations for princes and their wives were made of aged rice, which came from taxes. Generally, it was aged rice, but only the empress's rations were made of new rice.
In ancient times, transportation conditions were poor. In most areas, the rice was harvested in October. After the local people collected the rice tax, it had to be transported up the chain of command, from the village to the county, to the prefecture, and so on. It also had to be transported to the capital. Once in the capital, the Ministry of Revenue had to sort and store it. This was a very long process. It was considered good if it could be sorted and stored before the Lunar New Year.
Wouldn't distributing it just turn it into stale, old rice?
Only a very small number of southern regions have two harvests a year, with the first harvest in June. By the time people can eat the new japonica rice, it will be September, and the yield is very low. In the palace, only the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, the Empress, and the princes and princesses enjoy this ration.
As a powerful concubine, Consort Hui could naturally obtain new rice, but He Zhuo found it too troublesome. It was just a matter of eating some new rice, why make such a fuss? So he brought it into the palace himself.
Then he was left with the impression of being stingy in the eyes of those palace servants, but they dared not say it out loud.
Aside from this first birthday celebration, where He Zhuo gave some benefits, it seems that He Zhuo has rarely given them money. The kitchen staff dared not neglect their duties, as the mother, Consort Hui, was a powerful consort, her husband was the emperor's eldest son, and she herself had given birth to the emperor's eldest granddaughter and grandson.
The kitchen staff wouldn't be overly obsequious, nor would they make things difficult for the guests; the food was always standard and proper.
The imperial kitchen's cooking skills were top-notch, and Hezhuo didn't think there was anything wrong with it. In winter, there was a small vegetable garden, enough for Yinzhi, Xiaozhenbao, and Hezhuo to eat occasionally. It was more than enough.
That's how people are. If you keep giving them benefits and then suddenly stop, they'll feel uncomfortable and think you're not kind.
The saying goes, "A little kindness is appreciated, but too much kindness breeds resentment."
If things are always uneventful, and then suddenly you receive a favor, people will think you're nice in every way. Just one baby's first birthday celebration completely reversed the impression that the First Princess was stingy in the kitchen.
It wasn't that the First Princess Consort was stingy for not giving rewards; rather, it was because after she arrived, the First Prince stopped giving rewards, and she took care of everything. However, they got used to it over time.
Anyway, there are still quite a few princes below, so the money won't run out.
After marrying He Zhuo, he discovered that the biggest expense was giving gifts. He had to give gifts to princes and princesses of the same generation for their birthdays, to sisters from outside the palace for their weddings, to elders for their birthdays, and to close relatives by marriage. The biggest expense was the birthdays of the emperor, the empress dowager, and Consort Hui every year.
These things alone would cost several thousand taels of silver a year to complete.
He Zhuo flipped through the account book. Before the marriage, the old man was still a young prince. Although the gifts accounted for a large proportion, it was still okay.
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