Good son-in-law of the Ming Dynasty

Duan Jiong was taken aback: "Governor Weng, how do you know that I went out to drink last night?"

Governor Weng laughed loudly, pointed to his chest and said, "Look, look, there are oil stains on it. Also, Brother Duan, you still smell of pepper and alcohol, obviously you are hungover, honestly Say, what delicious food did you have last night?"

Hearing Governor Weng's shout, the other governors also booed: "Master Duan, but which yamen invites you to eat, why did you forget me?"

Duan Jiong: "Our Secretary of General Administration is just a dawdler, and we don't have much power. How can other yamen invite us to eat?"

"Brother Duan has become rich, so you can eat out of your own pocket to enjoy yourself?" Someone asked in surprise.

"How is that possible?" Duan Jiong said triumphantly, "Actually, a township party member who worked in the governor's office in Gansu came to visit yesterday. I found a way to find me. However, Duan was an eighth-rank official, so he couldn’t help much, so he had to refuse. But when I was with a fellow villager, he still invited me to dinner. Hospitality is hard to beat, and the table of wine Ah, it took two hours to finish, it's so annoying!"

After letting out a sigh of relief, Governor Duan began to report the names of the dishes.Sixi meatballs, braised knuckles, bacon, pine flowers, small tripe, dried meat, sausages, assorted sous vide, smoked chicken, white tripe.

Chinese people are delicious, especially in the ancient times when material was scarce, and they had a soft spot for eating.Diet for men and women, food is the most important thing for the people, and diet is ranked in front of men and women.

As soon as Duan Jiong chatted, the other governors' eyes lit up, their Adam's apple rolled up and down, and occasionally made a gurgling sound, with envious expressions on their faces.

Su Mu is a foodie, and when he heard about this content, he also became energetic. After listening to it for a long time, he was quite disappointed in his heart: What is this, it is a very common dish!Basically, one pig eats more and eats different parts.Quite a few parts were refurbished in different ways.It seems that the cuisine of the ancients is also very ordinary, which is not comparable to the major cuisines of modern society, which integrates ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign, and some of them have ingredients and methods that you can't imagine.

Gradually, Su Mu didn't take it seriously: it's just some ordinary food and drink, how excited you are?

After thinking about it, and looking more closely, I was surprised to find that these eighth-rank governors and officials in Beijing were actually very shabby.

The official robes on his body were all washed white, which was a face, and it was better.The clothes they wore inside were all worn out, and some people even patched the collars and cuffs.

Su Mu doesn't despise them. In fact, honest officials are always admirable.These governors are only two or three taels of silver a month. With this amount of money, it is not enough to socialize and support the family, and the Beijing officials do not want to have a lot of inexplicable gray income like local officials. , let alone a small official in the Qingshui Yamen like the Secretary of General Administration, it is possible to starve.The main reason is that the salaries that Zhu Yuanzhang set for officials back then were too low. For example, the magistrate of the seventh rank was only two or three taels of silver a month.Converted into the RMB of later generations, that is 2000 yuan.

Unlike modern society, women in ancient times did not work to make money, nor did they practice family planning. An income of 2000 yuan usually needs to support six or seven people, which is impossible when you think about it.

High salaries may not be able to maintain integrity, but low salaries will inevitably lead to corruption.If you are poor, you will change, and if you change, you will be greedy.

Facing the pressure of survival, only a character like Hai Rui can maintain the integrity of a scholar-bureaucrat.The problem is, there was only one Hai Rui in the entire Ming Dynasty.

Beijing officials are poor and Beijing officials are miserable, especially middle and lower level officials.If you are not able to mix up to the fourth rank and above, and become a high-ranking official who can participate in the early court, you are simply a fart.

There are not many other things in a place like Beijing, except that there are many officials.

Su Mu took a closer look and found that the officials of the Experience Department had a bad diet.

Among the five governors of the entire experience department, two are from the north and three are from the south.People in the north eat noodles, and people in the south eat rice.However, things like white noodles are also expensive. Duan Jiong's lunch is a bowl of millet rice with a few dried radishes and a small amount of bean sprouts.The other southern ones are slightly better, with a few pieces of bacon added.

Talking about the banquet last night, Duan Jiong was elated and seemed unsatisfied, and several other people also listened with envy.

Just as he was talking vigorously, he moved a little harder, and a ball of small rice fell on the table.

Duan Jiong stretched out his hand naturally, stuck rice grains with his fingers, and stuffed them into his mouth casually.A few grains of rice probably fell into the cracks of the table. Governor Duan fiddled with it for a long time, but he couldn't get it out.

He was also attached to these few grains of rice, he tore off a piece of paper, rolled it into a small stick and picked it for a long time before he got it into his mouth.

Su Mu burst out laughing, as soon as the laughter came out, he regretted it in his heart.He was also a child from a poor family when he was a child, and his life was hard.Later, he became a university teacher, and he didn't have any contempt for the children of poor families.

I just simply think that it is unnecessary for Duan Zhi to have a hard time with a few grains of rice. Everyone is an official of the eighth rank. Diligence and thrift are of course a virtue worthy of praise, but if it is too much, it will be dishonorable.

Hearing Su Mu's laughter, several governors turned their heads at the same time.

Only then did Duan Jiong realize that his subconscious actions had caused Su Mu to ridicule, and his face turned red with anger.

He snorted, walked up to Su Mu, looked down into Su Mu's lunch box, and said, "I heard that although you were the son of a rich family in Baoding, Su Ziqiao, your family fortune has fallen. Why are you laughing at me?"

Su Mu felt a little embarrassed, "Governor Duan, Su Mu suddenly remembered something else, misunderstood, misunderstood."

Governor Duan looked down and saw that Su Mu's lunch box was very rich, including a fried shrimp ball, a fried bean curd stick, a stewed lamb and scorpion soup, and a fried lotus root slice.Xiaodie's craftsmanship is good, and Su Mu's lunch is really delicious, compared with her own lunch, it's really shabby.

An inexplicable envy and jealousy welled up in his heart, Duan Jiong sneered, and asked sourly: "Governor Su's lunch is really rich, and they all have the same salary. When did you eat it so well? Don't eat it." If you don't stop, you have to think of other ways!"

Hearing these provocative words, Su Mu was taken aback, his heart ached, and he said lightly: "This is how I eat on weekdays."

Duan Jiong curled his lips: "If I want to save face, I can eat like this in the yamen every day, but it's a pity that the family members will suffer."

The irony of these words is stronger, and the consciousness is that Su Mu wants to save face in order to die.I just put on an appearance in front of everyone these few days, and I will be beaten back to my original shape in a few days.

Su Mu felt that it was meaningless to argue with a few sour literati, no matter what he said or did, it was wrong.They have prejudice against me, Su Mu.

Seeing Su Mu bowed his head and remained silent, the ironic smiles on the corners of the governors' mouths grew stronger.

After lunch, Su Mu wanted Wu Shiqi to take a leave of absence and hired a sedan chair to go to Xiyuan.

Zhang Yong and Taoist Chongxu had been waiting there, and led Su Mu to meet Emperor Zhengde directly.

On the way, Su Mu countered quietly: "Master Daoist, when I see His Majesty later, I said, just agree with me."

Daoist Chongxu just nodded with a smile, and followed behind with fluttering sleeves, looking like an outsider.

Zhang Yong glanced at them, and interjected: "It's too much to say and wrong about things like Miansheng, just Cheng En."