No, I was just a concubine, how did I become the queen?

Chapter 535 The Best of Both Worlds

According to the rules of the Qing Dynasty, people were not allowed to eat meat during mourning, with the exception of fish, shrimp and crab, but they were also not allowed to drink alcohol and other miscellaneous foods.

However, the Fourth Master did not follow these mourning rules completely, and even scoffed at them.

It's just that he doesn't like eating meat anyway, so he just took this opportunity to avoid eating it.

But when it comes to Lin Mingyan and the children, he follows the rules on the surface, but still lets them eat in secret.

Lin Mingyan was a little surprised when he secretly fed her braised beef at first.

She chewed in surprise: "Huh? This is vegetarian beef? It tastes exactly like the real thing!!!"

She was still admiring the imperial chef, and the Fourth Master smiled wickedly: "Yes, it's vegetarian. Cha Cha, eat more."

Lin Mingyan became suspicious when she saw him laughing like that, and was a little confused after asking clearly.

She thought that the Fourth Master, with his obsessive-compulsive personality, would strictly observe mourning for Emperor Kangxi.

Who would have thought that he would break the principle without her saying anything.

Fortunately, there was no servant in the room at that time, and this plate of beef was brought by Su Peisheng himself from the imperial kitchen.

There was a covered food box outside, so no one knew it was delivered to the Yangxin Palace.

The Fourth Master poked her chubby cheeks and joked, "Someone is drooling over it, dreaming of chewing my neck at night. They must be craving for meat~~"

Lin Mingyan recalled the dream of chewing duck neck and sucked her saliva - well, eat meat, eat meat.

She was still a little worried: "Hmm (chew chew chew), if you do this, isn't it unfilial (chew chew chew) (chew chew chew)..."

Seeing how delicious she was eating, the Fourth Master took a piece as well and said with a smile, "That's nothing. These rules are made by the superiors and are followed by the inferiors."

"If I want, I can always remove beef or chicken or duck from the rules."

"No one can say anything about it."

"Besides, even if it's an ordinary family, as long as they don't eat there openly, who would know?"

Lin Mingyan said that she had learned something from it. It seemed that the ancients were not so rigid.

That day, she quietly called Yaliqi and Wuyunzhu to Kunning Palace and secretly gave them some meat to eat.

After all, she is a growing child. She was originally thinking about what to use to replace the nutrition of meat, but now she doesn’t have to worry about it.

Yaliqi also laughed secretly: "Mother, why are you like this? The emperor has secretly given us food several times~"

Wu Yunzhu next to her also smiled, obviously she had also received the care of the emperor.

When Lin Mingyan came to her senses, the Fourth Master had already brought the warm rice wine to her mouth. She took a sip and a blush appeared on her cheeks.

"Just eat a few crabs, it's okay~" She took a small sip and refused to drink.

She's in good health, just a few crabs, she can handle it~~

The Fourth Master didn't like to preach, so after hearing what she said, he didn't try to persuade her anymore. He just quietly fed her twice.

Lin Mingyan was very happy with the meal and did not refuse. The emperor and empress enjoyed the meal very much.

The two talked about the autumn harvest. This year is another bumper year, especially with the promotion of sweet potatoes. Almost every household has a full granary.

"Mongolia is not at peace this year. In early autumn, the sheep were struck by an epidemic," the Fourth Master said, rubbing his brow. "I'm afraid this winter will be difficult."

Although that is Mongolia, they are still citizens of the Qing Dynasty.

If we really don't care, it's not justifiable.

But if we take care of it, the war is still going on on the front line and the pressure is a bit too much.

In the court, two groups of people with different opinions were arguing fiercely.

Lin Mingyan also heard about this and knew that the Fourth Master was undecided, which made her feel annoyed.

"Master, you don't want to care about it?" she asked speculatively.

The Fourth Master loves his people. If he really wanted to control them, he would have suppressed the voices of opposition long ago.

The argument has been going on for more than half a month, and there is still no result in the court, which means that he is on the other side.

But now, considering my reputation, I have to find a time to suppress that side.

The Fourth Master was stunned for a moment when she pointed it out, and shook his head, saying, "Cha Cha still understands me."

Then he became entangled: "It's not that I don't want to intervene, but if I do, something might go wrong."

The campaign against Japan is already at a critical moment. The battle line has dragged on for so long that the pressure on food and grass is already quite high.

Thanks to Cha Cha who started promoting sweet potatoes a long time ago, we were able to withstand such a huge consumption.

If he went to support Mongolia at this critical moment, he was afraid that the people on the front line would have ulterior motives...

Lin Mingyan said, "Master, the Ministry of Revenue has no food support, so let the people provide it on their own initiative."

"Hmm? You mean donating grain?" The Fourth Master shook his head. "That won't work. Everyone wants to sell the grain or keep it. You can't force them to donate, right?"

Those are the people's own things. Even if someone really donates a little, it's just a drop in the bucket.

Even though the Ministry of Revenue now has money to purchase grain, some families are reluctant to sell too much.

Therefore, the food and supplies that can be raised at present can only guarantee the supply of the battlefield.

Lin Mingyan said, "I'm mistaken. Donations are certainly not an option, but trade exchanges are feasible."

"Except for the Jiangnan area, sweet potatoes have been grown in other areas for the third year this year, and everyone has stored a lot of sweet potato flour or vermicelli at home."

"When ordinary people have their fill, they naturally want to eat better. Who wouldn't crave a bite of meat?"

"But not many Han Chinese raise cattle and sheep, and pork cannot fully meet the people's demand for meat."

"In the past, Mongolia only provided a small amount of cattle and sheep to the nobles here, and they ate the rest themselves."

"Now that food is so scarce that we can't survive the winter, we don't have to eat meat, right?"

"Let's open up trade between the two sides and exchange beef and mutton for our sweet potatoes."

"This way, Mongolia can survive this winter, and our people can eat meat, improve their lives, and have a good New Year."

“Isn’t this the best of both worlds?”

The more the Fourth Master listened, the brighter his eyes became: "Great! That's a good idea!"

A sheep may only be food for a family for two or three days, but after being replaced with sweet potatoes, it can allow the family to survive for more than half a month.

This back and forth is really life-saving!

The officials in the court could not come up with this solution because they were all thinking about the problem from their own perspective.

But Lin Mingyan is different. She stands on the side of ordinary people and just wants to improve her life.

Sweet potatoes can fill you up, but when there are enough sweet potatoes, who doesn’t want to satisfy your hunger with some meat?

The Fourth Master was delighted with this good idea, but he did not immediately summon the ministers to discuss the matter.

After all, it is still autumn now. Although Mongolia has submitted a memorial complaining about its poverty, it is not really at the end of its rope yet, so there is no need to rush.