The central courtyard is not conspicuous in the huge palace forbidden courtyard group, but everyone knows that this is the real heart of the empire.

The people in the court, who inherited the emperor's orders, led hundreds of officials, commanded government affairs, and were in charge of military affairs, most of the affairs of this huge empire were decided in the words of several important ministers in the center.

It was noon, Qin Xiang Qin Weizhong was sitting in the room, and was just about to get up for lunch, when he heard a sound of footsteps, and Gao Yi, the personal eunuch of Emperor Chongning, led a group of chamberlains into the courtyard, shouting in a sharp voice: "Your Majesty's dictation!" ”

One by one, the central ministers hurriedly came out of their respective rooms.

"Zhu Qing is working state affairs, I am very relieved, this is a new dish created by Ming Yulou, I love it a lot, and I share it with Zhu Qing."

After speaking, Gao Yi immediately put on a smiling face, "Ladies and gentlemen, Your Majesty has specially given you a piece of Zhongjing roast duck, and you adults will use it slowly." ”

Qin Xiang smiled and said, "There is Lao Gao's father-in-law." ”

"Qin Xiang is polite, come on, present it to all your lords!"

Behind him, the chamberlains walked into their respective rooms with trays in their hands.

This time, of course, there were no whole ducks to show them, but the same plate with crushed charcoal kept warm was filled with sliced ducks, and as for lotus leaf cakes, only three were given to each person.

Just kidding, Your Majesty has only eaten three rolls, can you still eat more?

After some explanation, although several important ministers were a little skeptical, they still tried it, and their eyes immediately lit up.

It is light, but the taste is not light, and at the same time, the duck skin is crispy, the duck meat is tender, and the cucumber and dough are all easily digestible things, which is really very appetizing for these old men who are not too young.

The only thing that's a little bad is that I feel a little picky, and I just ate three volumes and it's gone.

Qin Xiang sat in the room, chewing slowly, his eyelids drooped, he didn't know if he was savoring or thinking about something else, after a while, he suddenly said: "Go to Mingyulou to help me book a place, and then go and talk to the rest of the people in the courtyard, the old man will invite them to dinner tonight." ”

Qin Sui was a little puzzled, "Xiangye, this roast duck is so delicious?" ”

Qin Xiang smiled faintly, "It's not important. ”

——

In the imperial dining room, Xia Jingyun and the steward eunuch of the imperial dining room each sat on a chair and waited leisurely.

After learning about Xia Jingyun's identity, the steward eunuch of the imperial dining room was obviously much closer, and laughed with him, "Xia Gongzi, you are really amazing, I know that you are unparalleled in poetry and literary talent, but I didn't expect you to have such attainments in the way of food and drink, and you can invent such a good thing." ”

Xia Jingyun shook his head, "Who said that I invented it, this is the chef of Mingyulou who invented it." ”

He took a sip of the teacup and said with a smile: "Let me tell you the story of the invention of the Zhongjing roast duck." There is a chef in Mingyulou, who likes to eat duck, but found that there are roast chickens and roast pigs on the market, but there is no roast duck, so he devoted himself to research and development, but found that if he followed the method of roast chicken, the roasted things were too similar to the taste of roast chicken, and lost the characteristics of duck meat, so he tried and tested, and finally thought of the method of hanging the oven to roast duck, and roasted an extremely delicious roast duck, accompanied by sauce and pastry, which was very delicious. After His Majesty and Concubine De knew about it, they invited him into the palace. ”

He turned his head to look at the eunuch in charge of the imperial dining room with a bewildered face, "What's your name?" ”

"The slave's name is Cao Jie."

"Hmm." Xia Jingyun nodded, "Cao Jie, the steward of the imperial dining room, saw the production process, and with many years of rich experience in serving His Majesty and the harem concubines in the palace, he pointed out that he should add some greasy cucumber shreds and green onion shreds, plus white sugar dipping sauce to meet the taste of the concubines, which has the way of eating Zhongjing roast duck that we see now." ”

He smiled and said, "What does Grandpa Cao think of this story?" ”

Cao Jie was stunned in place, and immediately understood, turned his head to look left and right, his eyes were filled with tears, and he arched his hand and whispered: "Young Master Xia, but there is an order, the slave and maid will never give up!" ”

Xia Jingyun smiled and patted his hands, "It's serious." You and I are both loyal and patriotic people, and we should be on the same path. ”

He looked at the cook of Mingyulou who came back from afar, "Okay, I should also go out of the palace." Father-in-law Cao, we will have a period later. ”

Cao Jie saluted respectfully, "Congratulations to Mr. Xia." ”

When Xia Jingyun and the three cooks left with all the guys' affairs, the imperial chef of the imperial dining room came over and said with a disdainful face: "Lord Steward, what virtue do these guys have, don't they just be ducks, and they are still hiding from people, who is rare!" If you look at it as a child, you should give them some hardship, otherwise it will really be a bully in our imperial dining room! ”

Cao Jie turned his head to look at him, slapped his round hand, directly slapped the man, and said sharply: "Your Majesty's arrangement allows you to make a mistake here!" A few heads! ”

When he went out, Xia Jingyun invited the other three into his carriage and listened to the person who went to meet the saint talking about the passage with a fluttering eyebrow.

After talking for a while, the man suddenly reacted, and hurriedly retracted his expression and said: "Thank you for the grace of Mr. Xia, without your guidance, how could we have such an opportunity." ”

The other two also echoed, but Xia Jingyun waved his hand, "After I go back, I will ask your host to post the ins and outs of Zhongjing roast duck, and the inventors are the three of you." ”

The faces of the three of them changed, "Master Xia, I can't help it!" This is enough to be passed down to the world, how can we do it."

Xia Jingyun raised his hand to stop, "What's not to do, I just said in the "Shi Shuo" I wrote a few days ago, there is a specialization in the art industry, you are a chef, and your attainments in cooking skills are completely sufficient." You don't have to think about anything else, when you are good at life and fame and fortune, don't forget to accumulate virtue and do good, just keep your duty. ”

The three of them glanced at each other, and saluted towards Xia Jingyun with fists, "Xia Gongzi, thank you for your great kindness, we must remember your great kindness, but there will be a dispatch in the future, there will be no two words!" ”

Xia Jingyun smiled, "It's serious, it's serious." ”

After everyone returned to Mingyu Tower, Xia Jingyun found Qin Li, and after telling him what had happened, Qin Li was naturally overjoyed, and as soon as the two discussed, they directly started relevant preparations.

Xia Jingyun asked Qin Li to find a wooden plaque, pasted red paper on it, and then hung the gold medal given by the emperor on it, and he wrote the story of the invention of Zhongjing roast duck in his own handwriting.

Qin Li was a little puzzled, Xia Jingyun said with a smile, "With a story, there will be a foundation, and there will be a foundation for dissemination." ”

Then, Qin Li had already figured out most of the roast duck banquet menu, and under Xia Jingyun's optimization suggestions, it was finally decided, one hundred and fifty taels of meals, written in black characters on a red background, and pasted on the wooden card.

Two wooden plaques were hung out and placed in front of the gate of Mingyu Building, two guards were sent to guard them, and a restaurant steward was sent to explain.

In the evening, Wei Yuanzhi, Wang Ruoshui, Gongsun Jing and others, who had been arranged early, led their own guests to Mingyu Building one after another, and ordered this roast duck banquet by name.

The rest of the guests who came also tried it under the recommendation of the little maid in Mingyulou.

And when Qin Xiang led the central ministers to come together, this momentum completely reached its peak.

As the guests returned to the house tonight, the name of Zhongjing roast duck spread throughout the upper circles of Zhongjing overnight.

The night was getting darker, and the lights of Mingyulou were about to slowly extinguish after the extreme brilliance, and suddenly people rushed to Mingyulou one after another, waving silver tickets to book tomorrow's meal.

Among them, most of them are businessmen, and there are also some small officials and small magnates who see the opportunity quickly, and they want to seize this opportunity to find a reason that cannot be refused by the big people they want to feast.

So, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, only tonight, the amount of reservations will be arranged for five days, and I don't know how big this battle will be by tomorrow day.

Looking at the book that was full of registrations, the steward of Mingyulou knew that this Zhongjing roast duck was completely popular.

No one stops!

No one can stop you!

(End of chapter)