There is no second morning in a day, and time never comes back. In the blink of an eye, it has been more than a month since Zhu Ping'an joined Prince Yu's Mansion.
During this period of more than a month, Zhu Ping'an successfully established his foothold in Prince Yu's Mansion. Not only did he get along well with his colleagues, but he also gradually won Prince Yu's trust. He had a pivotal position in Prince Yu's mind and gradually entered the decision-making center of Prince Yu's Mansion.
The decision-making center of Prince Yu's Mansion is not a specific institution. Its members are all appointed by Prince Yu. Before making a decision, Prince Yu will consult their opinions, and the final decision will be made by Prince Yu. It is a bit like the cabinet and can be called Prince Yu's small cabinet.
The previous members of the small cabinet were Gao Gong, Chen Yiqin, Yin Shidan, and an old scholar named Gao Shiding.
Of course, there is also the new member Zhu Ping.
However, Gao Shiding is old and in poor health. He returned to his hometown in Chengdu, Sichuan, to recuperate half a year ago. Zhu Ping'an has not seen him since he entered Prince Yu's Mansion. Recently, he heard that Gao Shiding plans to resign and retire. It seems that Zhu Ping'an will not have the chance to meet Gao Shiding.
At present, the actual decision-making center of Prince Yu’s Mansion is Gao Gong, Chen Yiqin, Yin Shidan and Zhu Pingan.
Don't underestimate this small cabinet. Even though it is just the small cabinet of Prince Yu's Mansion now, after Prince Yu ascends the throne, it will become the cabinet of the Ming Dynasty.
After Prince Yu ascended the throne, Gao Gong, Chen Yiqin, Yin Shidan and others all entered the cabinet and became elders.
It can be said that entering the small cabinet is equivalent to entering the cabinet in the future.
On this morning, Zhu Ping'an, as usual, had breakfast and arrived at Prince Yu's Mansion early accompanied by Liu Dadao.
After arriving at Prince Yu's Mansion, Zhu Ping'an found that the atmosphere was a little strange. No matter whether it was the officials of the palace or the servants and maids, they all looked as if they were overwhelmed by a gloomy cloud.
"Master Zhang, what happened?"
Zhu Ping'an stopped an official named Zhang and asked curiously.
"Oh, it's Lord Zhu. Have you eaten?" Lord Zhang stopped, looked up and asked meaningfully.
"I ate it at home. What does it matter?" Zhu Ping'an was even more confused.
"It's good to eat it." Lord Zhang said with some envy.
Uh, it's just a breakfast, is it necessary to put on such an envious expression? Zhu Pingan was even more confused.
"My dear little Master Zhu." Master Zhang saw Zhu Ping'an's confused face and could not help but lean close to Zhu Ping'an's ear and whispered, "You don't know that our palace usually provides breakfast, although it is just porridge, side dishes, steamed buns and eggs, but today the public kitchen is not open. I asked a familiar kitchen servant and it turned out that our palace's public account does not even have the budget to buy the most basic ingredients."
Well
Is Prince Yu's Mansion so poor that it can't even afford to eat?!
Zhu Ping'an was stunned.
I've known for a long time that Prince Yu has a hard time, but I didn't expect it to be so difficult that he can't even afford to cook!
Fortunately, the salaries of all officials in the palace are distributed uniformly by the central government, otherwise Prince Yu’s life would be even more difficult. A wage arrears crisis would have erupted long ago, and the palace would have difficulty operating normally.
However, Prince Yu now seems to have reached the end of his rope.
Don't underestimate this breakfast.
People depend on food for their survival, and officials are no exception.
There were already official kitchens in the Qin and Han dynasties, but at that time it was just a special preferential treatment for outstanding ministers by the court, and it was not popularized. In the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong of Tang set up the ambition of "being able to rule the world and being diligent in governance". In order to realize this ambition, Emperor Taizong of Tang often extended the court meeting time, which led to many ministers going to court on an empty stomach to work, which not only affected the efficiency of work, but also left a reputation of being harsh on ministers. In order to solve this problem, Emperor Taizong of Tang ordered the court to provide breakfast for the ministers. Unexpectedly, the ministers responded very enthusiastically and praised it, and the work efficiency was greatly improved. Therefore, Emperor Taizong of Tang promoted the experience of this minister to all parts of the country, and ordered that all counties and prefectures across the country where there were official offices should set up public kitchens to provide breakfast for their officials. During the time of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, the prime ministers also held a meeting with the theme of "Serving Delicacy Soup in the Political Affairs Hall" to discuss the standards for breakfast supply.
The development of public kitchen breakfast has not only solved the problem of officials' hunger, but also has important significance behind it.
For the palace, whether breakfast is provided, how rich it is, and the standard of breakfast, etc., represent the trust and importance the prince has for his subordinates. A rich breakfast proves that the palace values, trusts and cares for subordinates, and that subordinates are highly motivated; otherwise, like today, if breakfast is not provided, it may be fine for one, two or three days, but if it continues for a long time, people's hearts will gradually fade away.
"It seems that from now on, I have to have breakfast at home before coming here. Oh, I have to get up at least fifteen minutes earlier."
Lord Zhang shook his head and sighed, looking with some envy in the direction of Prince Jing's Mansion, which was next to Prince Yu's Mansion. He heard that the breakfast at Prince Jing's Mansion was very rich, with delicacies from land and sea every meal, and no two dishes were the same again.
"Hey, Lord Zhu, let's stop talking for now. I'm going to go outside and find something to eat to fill my stomach." After complaining, Lord Zhang bowed and said goodbye to Zhu Ping'an.
"Okay, Sir Zhang, take care." Zhu Ping'an bowed in return and watched Sir Zhang walk out of Prince Yu's Mansion.
On the way to the office, Zhu Ping'an met several officials again. During the greetings, several of them mentioned the problem of breakfast suspension. Although it did not reach the level of complaining, it was obvious that they had some opinions.
Yes, compared with the Prince Jing's Mansion next door, Prince Yu's Mansion does not have many benefits. The light breakfast is one of the few benefits of Prince Yu's Mansion. As a result, even the breakfast is discontinued, and it is no wonder that everyone has complaints.
Judging from the expressions of the servants and maids, their breakfast was probably cut off or severely reduced.
It shouldn't cost much to simply provide a breakfast. If Prince Yu had any way, he would surely not stop providing it.
It seems that the financial crisis of Prince Yu's Mansion is already critical and imminent. Zhu Ping'an came to this conclusion after observing along the way.
Without a doubt, Zhu Ping'an knew the crux of Prince Yu's current predicament—the annual reward. Prince Yu had not received the annual reward for three years.
Due to a series of reasons, Yan Song and his son Yan Shifan looked down on Prince Yu and did not get along with him, especially Yan Shifan, who instructed the Ministry of Revenue to withhold Prince Yu's annual gift and not give him the annual gift and other benefits. Prince Yu repeatedly asked the palace attendants to go to the Ministry of Revenue to ask for it, but every year the Ministry of Revenue had an excuse and no response, so Prince Yu's palace could not receive the annual gift.
Prince Yu had no side business. The only thing he did was to open a pastry shop with Princess Ning'an, but it was still making losses every month. Apart from the annual gifts, there was no other income. All the expenses of the prince's palace were covered by the annual gifts as per customary by the court.
God knows how difficult it is for Prince Yu, who has not received the annual gift for three years, to survive until today relying on his previous savings, the subsidies from his mother, Concubine Du Kang, and the subsidies from the princess. He would rather spend every penny.
However, even so, Prince Yu can no longer hold on and has reached the end of his rope.