There is no one morning, time does not come again, and in the blink of an eye, it has been more than a month since Zhu Ping'an joined Yuwangfu.

In this more than a month, Zhu Ping'an successfully gained a firm foothold in Yuwangfu, not only got along well with his colleagues, but also gradually won the trust of Yuwang, had a pivotal position in Yuwang's mind, and gradually entered the decision-making center of Yuwangfu.

The decision-making center of Yuwang's Mansion is not a specific institution, the members are all hand-picked by Yuwang, Yuwang will consult their opinions before decision-making, and finally Yuwang will make a decision, which is a bit similar to the cabinet, which can be called Yuwang's small cabinet.

The previous members of the small cabinet were Gao Gong, Chen Yiqin, Yin Shidan, and an old Confucian named Gao Shiding.

Of course, there is also the new Zhu Ping.

However, Gao Shiding is older and his health is not good, so he went back to his hometown in Chengdu, Sichuan Province half a year ago to recuperate. Since Zhu Ping'an entered Yuwang's Mansion, he has not seen him, and recently heard that Gao Shiding has plans to resign and retire, it seems that Zhu Ping'an has no chance to meet Gao Shiding.

At present, the substantive decision-making center of Yuwangfu is Gao Gong, Chen Yiqin, Yin Shidan and Zhu Ping'an.

Don't underestimate this small cabinet, don't look at the small cabinet of King Yu's Mansion now, and when King Yu ascends the throne, it will become the cabinet of the Ming Dynasty.

Gao Gong, Chen Yiqin, and Yin Shidan, after King Yu ascended the throne, all entered the cabinet and became cabinet elders.

It can be said that entering a small cabinet is equivalent to entering a cabinet in the future.

On the morning of this day, Zhu Ping'an, as usual, came to Yuwang's Mansion early after breakfast, accompanied by Liu Dadao.

After coming to Yuwang's Mansion, Zhu Ping'an found that the atmosphere was a little wrong, whether it was the subordinate officials of the palace or the servants and maids, they all looked like clouds were overpowering.

"Lord Zhang, what's wrong?"

Zhu Ping'an stopped an official surnamed Zhang and asked curiously.

"Oh, it's Lord Zhu, have you eaten?" Master Zhang stopped, raised his head and asked meaningfully.

"Eat, eat at home, does it matter?" Zhu Ping'an was even more puzzled.

"It's good to eat." Master Zhang said with some envy.

Well, it's just a breakfast, so why put on such an envious face? Zhu Ping'an was even more confused.

"My little Zhu." Seeing Zhu Ping'an's bewildered face, Master Zhang couldn't help but lean close to Zhu Ping'an's ear and whispered, "Don't you know, our house usually serves breakfast, although it is just porridge, side dishes, steamed bread and eggs, but today's kitchen has not opened, I asked a familiar cabinet servant, it turns out that our palace account does not even have the budget to buy the most basic ingredients." ”

belch

Yuwangfu, this is poor and can't open the pot?!

Zhu Ping'an was stunned.

I have long known that Yuwang is having a hard time, but I didn't expect it to be so bad that he couldn't even open the pot!

Fortunately, the salaries of the subordinate officials of the palace are distributed by the central government, otherwise the life of King Yu will be even more difficult, and the crisis of arrears of wages will have already broken out, and it will be difficult for the palace to operate normally.

However, now Yuwang seems to have reached the point of exhaustion.

Don't underestimate this breakfast.

People live off food, and officials are no exception.

During the Qin and Han dynasties, there were already official chefs, but at that time, it was only the special treatment of outstanding ministers by the imperial court, and it was not popular. When it came to the Tang Dynasty, Tang Taizong set up the grand wish of "determining the world and being diligent in governance", in order to realize this grand wish, Tang Taizong often extended the time of the court meeting, which led to many ministers going to the court to work hungry, not to mention the impact on office efficiency, and also left a reputation for harsh courtiers. In order to solve this problem, Tang Taizong ordered the imperial court to provide breakfast for the ministers. Unexpectedly, the minister's response to this was particularly enthusiastic, and he praised it very much, and his work efficiency was greatly improved. Therefore, Tang Taizong extended the experience of this minister to all parts of the country, and ordered all counties and counties across the country to set up public kitchens to serve breakfast for subordinate officials. During the time of Tang Gaozong, the prime ministers also held a meeting with the theme of "Serving Delicious Soup in the Political Affairs Hall" to discuss the standard of breakfast service.

The development of public chef breakfast to the present is not only to solve the problem of fullness of officials, but also to represent a very important meaning.

For the royal palace, whether the royal breakfast is served or not, as well as its richness, breakfast standards, etc., represent the prince's trust and attention to his subordinate officials. The rich breakfast proves that the palace attaches great importance to trust and compassion for its subordinates, and the subordinate officials are also highly motivated; Otherwise, or like today, if breakfast is not served, it will be fine for two days or three days, but if it goes by for a long time, people's hearts will slowly disperse.

"It seems that in the future, I will have to come back after breakfast at home, hey, I will have to get up at least two quarters of an hour early."

Lord Zhang shook his head and sighed, and glanced at the direction of King Jing's Mansion next door to King Yu's Mansion with some envy.

"Hey, Lord Xiaozhu, let's not talk about it yet, I'm going to go outside to find something to eat to fill my stomach." After complaining, Mr. Zhang said goodbye to Zhu Ping'an.

"Okay, Master Zhang, go slowly." Zhu Ping'an returned the salute and watched Lord Zhang walk towards the outside of King Yu's mansion.

All the way to the office, Zhu Ping'an met several officials again, and during the greetings, several people mentioned the problem of cutting off breakfast supply, although it did not reach the level of complaining, but it could be seen that there were also opinions.

Yes, compared to the Jingwang Mansion next door, the benefits are not much, and the light breakfast is one of the few benefits in the Yuwang Mansion, but now even the breakfast is cut off, and it is no wonder that everyone has opinions.

It can be seen from the looks of the servants and maids that their breakfast is estimated to be cut off or severely reduced.

A simple breakfast should not cost much silver. If Yuwang Danfan has a little way, he will definitely not cut off the supply.

From this point of view, the financial crisis of Yuwangfu is already imminent and imminent, Zhu Ping'an observed all the way and came to this conclusion.

Don't think about it, Zhu Ping'an also knows where the crux of King Yu's current predicament is - the New Year's gift, and King Yu has not received the New Year's gift for three years.

Due to a series of reasons, Yan Song and Yan Shifan father and son looked down on King Yu and did not deal with King Yu, especially Yan Shifan, Yan Shifan instructed the household department to deduct King Yu's annual gifts, and not to give Yu Wang New Year's gifts and other princely benefits. King Yu repeatedly asked the palace to go to the household department to urge, but every year he urged, the household department had an excuse every year, and there was no follow-up every year, and Yu Wangfu could not receive the annual gift every year.

King Yu has no side business, the only one who opened a pastry shop with Princess Ning'an, or loses money every month, and there is no other income except for the New Year's gift, and all the expenses of the palace are based on the court's customary New Year's gift.

God knows, King Yu, who has not received the annual gift for three years, relies on his previous savings, the subsidy of his mother Concubine Du Kang, and the subsidy of the princess, how difficult it is to survive to this day, and a copper plate is eager to be broken into two halves.

However, even so, Yuwang can't hold on now, and has reached the point of exhaustion.