In the past impression, the institution that cooked for the emperor was the imperial chef. But this is the impression that TV programs give us. In fact, this was not the case in the Ming Dynasty. In addition, the people who cooked for the emperor in the Ming Dynasty had different responsibilities in different periods of the black widow.
At the beginning, Ming Chengzu's diet was given to Guanglu Temple.
This institution, Guangsi Temple, has a long history among the court institutions in China. By the Qin dynasty, it had already appeared. At first, it was not responsible to the royal family. Later, the court canteen was established.
The diet of members of the royal family is basically contracted by Guanglu Temple.
Of course, as an institution with the highest officials, Guanglu Temple must be responsible for more than that. Including royal sacrifices, banquets in the palace, serving court ministers and generals, preparing seasonal fruits for the palace, and what to prepare on holidays.
Including foreign envoys and kings, Guanglu Temple must obey the orders of the Ministry of Rites and prepare banquets and tea and rice.
Anyway, most of the things related to eating in the palace are the busy figures of Guanglu Temple. Although they are responsible for many things, the level of cooking is average. Nothing special. This may be related to the hardships of Zhu Yuanzhang's early life.
He is frugal rather than extravagant. Moreover, life was so hard in the early years, and now it is good to live with food.
By the time Emperor Yongle arrived, the emperor who had experienced military career was as frugal as ever.
He was angry because the eunuch fed chicken rice. He said that this generation is enjoying luxury, but they are not. I don't know how hard people's lives are. As for the cost of raising a day's sacrifice, I have banned it as food for a hungry family. If you are a mistress, you will be punished if you dare to chase.
After Judy, Renzong and Xuanzong were good emperors who sympathized with the people and still advocated frugality. However, since Zheng De, the court diet has gradually become extravagant.
However, the cooking level of Guanglu Temple has not been improved at this time. It may also be that these people in Guanglu Temple are lazy and fool the emperor all day. Anyway, in the Ming Dynasty, the reputation of poor chefs in Guanglu Temple has been spreading. Even non-governmental organizations have always had jokes about Guanglu Temple.
The food is so bad that the emperor will naturally not tolerate it. After all, they don't want to live a hard life like Zhu Yuanzhang. Moreover, in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, with the development of commerce and trade and the establishment of tribute system, many foreign new things were introduced into China.
Corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes, tobacco, peanuts, peppers and cloves all dipped into China at this time. The people are also rich and rich in material resources. The food in the court is becoming more and more luxurious.
During the Wanli period, the monthly expenditure of court catering reached 12200 yuan. Even in the Chongzhen period, in the case of thrift, it cost 9200 taels of silver every month. At this time of the emperor, eating is basically not the responsibility of Guanglu Temple, but to the eunuchs in the palace.
According to Zhu Zhongzhi's records, two or three people take turns to handle the food eaten by the Sheng family every day, write by hand and take charge of the East Factory.
Master handprint, pen writing, Dongchang, is the highest ranking eunuch in the Ming Dynasty. They usually stay with the emperor and can directly participate in court affairs. Although the status is extremely high, it is equivalent to a domestic slave.
Not only the emperor, but also ministers. I don't like the food in Guanglu Temple. Xia Yan, a record of the reign of Emperor Jiaqing, said that although the court provided daily meals, he always brought meals from his own home. But Guanglu Temple has survived, although its cooking is terrible. Even if the Ming Dynasty perished, it remained firmly on Mount Tai, continued to be preserved, and was responsible to the imperial court.