"Your subject is here." The Minister of Personnel cried out in his heart that something was wrong, and forced himself to step out from the banquet and kneel on the ground.
Large beads of cold sweat had already seeped from his forehead.
When Lin Biaolian was first recommended, he felt that the man was glib and not the kind of person who would do serious work, but at the time, out of consideration for face, he arranged for him to be a vice minister of the Ministry of Personnel.
Looking back now, I really shouldn't have kept him.
What a menace!
"Go back and take a good look at your subordinates. Screen them all. In the future, don't just send any Tom, Dick, or Harry, or any scoundrels, into your Ministry of Personnel," the Empress Dowager said sarcastically.
The Minister of Personnel knelt on the ground with his head bowed. "Yes, Your Majesty the Empress Dowager is right. I will go back and clean up the Ministry of Personnel and streamline the staff."
After the Minister of Personnel finished speaking, he kowtowed and left, grabbing Lin Biaolian by the collar.
"Why aren't you leaving?! Kneeling in the middle of this hall, are you an eyesore to His Majesty and the Empress Dowager?!"
"Mother, please calm down and have a cup of hot tea." Seeing the Empress Dowager's unfriendly expression, Yun Beiye handed her a cup of hot tea and comforted her.
Because today is the little princess's first birthday banquet, Yun Beiye did not dismiss the officials. However, since the Empress Dowager has spoken, Lin Biaolian will be fired by his superior, the Minister of Personnel, when he returns. Moreover, the officials who recommended Lin Biaolian will also suffer the consequences.
After this farce ended, the faces of the officials present turned pale, and they immediately lost their appetites in the face of the various delicacies on the table.
Yun Duoduo frowned slightly as she looked at Lin Biaolian, who was about to lose his job. Was someone behind this shameless Lin? What was his purpose in doing this?
The situation today is probably not that simple.
There were always people trying to kill her; she needed to know the reasons behind it.
[She needs to investigate who this shameless Lin associates with and who she works for. Only by seeing through the enemies behind her can she make further plans and avoid these open and covert attacks.]
"Alright, my dear ministers, please begin your meal!" Yun Beiye waved his hand, picked up his chopsticks, and put a piece of meat in his mouth.
"Well, since we're on the topic of locust plagues, let's start with you. Everyone, please come up with a solution to control it," Yun Beiye said, looking at the minister to his left.
The minister hurriedly put down his chopsticks, pondered for a moment, and then said, "I think the villagers can use bamboo poles to support an eight-foot-long white cloth, and then use this cloth to surround and drive the locusts to one place. Then everyone can concentrate their strength to beat the locusts to death."
Upon hearing this method, Yun Duoduo couldn't help but feel doubtful, thinking it was too primitive.
After one person finished speaking, it was the next minister's turn. "I think we should dig a large pit in the open space of the farmland, the deeper the better. When the locusts appear, we should lure them into this large pit and then quickly fill it with soil."
"But what if the locusts emerge from the soil again and devour the crops?!" a minister in the room objected, disagreeing with this method.
"Then burn it!"
"At nightfall, light a campfire to lure the locusts over, and then burn them to death."
"But this could easily cause the crops to catch fire!"
"I think we should start in winter, find the breeding grounds of locust eggs, and then wipe them out all at once!"
Wow, nipping it in the bud, huh?
The ministers discussed the matter animatedly, each offering their own opinion, and began debating how to control the locusts.
Consort De rubbed her forehead. [How did a perfectly good first birthday celebration turn into a place for court officials to argue?]
She also arranged many song and dance performances. Before the first birthday banquet, she had rehearsed a lot with singers and dancers. Judging from the situation, it was not appropriate to let the singers and dancers come up to perform.
Moreover, she specially asked the imperial kitchen to prepare many novel snacks and sweet soups, which have not yet been served.
Today is her first birthday party, which she organized herself!
"Jinzhi, what do you think?" Yun Beiye listened to the ministers' suggestions but didn't think any of them were particularly good. He looked at General Jin Xiaoran and his son Jin Jinzhi, who hadn't said a word.
This kid is always full of ideas, and he has lived in the northern frontier before, so his knowledge and skills are extraordinary. We can listen to his thoughts.
"Your Majesty, I believe that we can use a drug that will kill or render the locusts unconscious after ingesting it to control the locusts. Ideally, this drug, or rather, this poison, should be safe for humans to ingest," Jin Jinzhi said, standing up and bowing respectfully.
"Hmm, Jinzhi's method is not bad. Let's entrust this matter to Xu Zheng of the Imperial Hospital!"
"Where's Xu Zheng?!"
"Your Majesty, I am here!" Old Man Xu Zheng put down his soup bowl and stood up.
"I hereby order you to develop a poison for locusts to assist the Ministry of Personnel in controlling the locust plague."
"Yes, Your Majesty, I obey the decree," Xu Zheng replied softly. [It seems a trip to Jiangnan is inevitable.]
This poisoning of locusts will inevitably involve using locusts for experiments, so the people from the Imperial Medical Academy and the Ministry of Personnel will have to make a trip to Jiangnan.
"Your Majesty, I have also ordered some trendy sweet soups and pastries to be prepared. Why don't we bring them out now for everyone to try?" Consort De suggested softly, seeing that the matter was basically settled.
"Oh? Consort De is so thoughtful. Have someone bring it up." Yun Beiye glanced at Consort De; indeed, the hot dishes on the table had been almost finished.
Consort De glanced at the few people standing in the corner of the main hall, nodded slightly, and the palace maids went to the kitchen to get some snacks.
Yun Duoduo licked her lips. [Finally, there's something she can eat!]
She felt a strong urge to eat as the ministers ate braised pork hock with their mouths dripping with oil and braised pork belly with their faces flushed red.
It's not bad to have sweet soup to drink now.
The palace maids brought out pastries one after another on white jade plates. The pastries were crystal clear and had a lovely appearance.
"Wow, this is so fresh! Is this something to eat? It looks so beautiful!"
Consort De looked at the reactions of everyone in the room with a smug look. She had put in a lot of effort to do this, but she also had to thank her son for his knowledge of food.
"Your Majesty, you ate a lot of greasy food today. This corn soup will help you cleanse your palate." Consort De brought a bowl of golden corn soup to Yun Beiye.
"Mm." Yun Beiye took the bowl of sweet soup.
"It tastes good."
Nanyang doesn't have corn as a crop; this corn was transported from Beiliang a while ago.
Ah Xiang emerged from the corner and fed Yun Duoduo a few sips of sweet soup. [It smells so good!]
Yun Duoduo thought the sweet soup tasted delicious, and in no time, she finished the whole bowl of corn soup.
Just as she was happily wiping her mouth with a handkerchief, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her stomach, so painful that she almost fainted.
[It hurts so much!]
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