The eighth day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar is said to be the birthday of the Buddha Shakyamuni.

The Imperial Palace, from early in the morning began to prepare for the annual Buddha Bathing Festival feast, the eunuchs and palace ladies carried various utensils in and out, and the foreman eunuchs shouted and commanded their subordinates to set up tables and other things.

Emperor Chongzhen succeeded to the throne for 17 years, in order to save internal expenses, as early as a few years ago canceled the Buddha bathing feast, but this time somehow, suddenly announced the reopening of the feast to celebrate the Buddha bathing festival.

The emperor of the Ming Dynasty invited his ministers to feast, which was divided into small banquets, medium banquets, and large banquets, because the big banquets cost a lot, and only during important festivals such as the Spring Festival, the Lantern Festival, and sacrifices.

The emperor feasted the ministers, and the eunuchs shouldn't have said much, but Emperor Chongzhen, who has always been thrifty, not only had to hold a banquet on festivals like the Buddha Bathing Festival, which he usually didn't care about, but also feasted all the officials in Beijing who were above the seventh grade in the capital, which surprised the people in the palace.

You must know that there are no 1,000 or 800 officials in Beijing above the seventh grade, which is a lot of expenses, the Huangji Palace must not be able to sit down, it is the fourth month of the lunar calendar, the sky has been warmed, Chongzhen gave an order, the Huangji Palace went outside the Huangji Gate to the Huangji Gate, and it was also full of banquets.

At 6 p.m. on 8 April, all the officials who had received the oracle arrived one after another, and after greeting each other, they were all talking to each other about what was wrong with the emperor, and that they were feasting on such an unimportant festival.

Even if the ministers are full of questions, they are still happy to talk with their colleagues on the left and right, although the emperor's royal banquet is not necessarily as rich as the banquet at home, but because only the ministers in important positions are eligible to participate, it is a very honorable event, and all the ministers have smiles on their faces.

Only the atmosphere of the two tables headed by the Imperial Palace is a little cold, and on the table near the emperor in the Imperial Palace, there are Wei Zaode, the former head assistant of the cabinet and the current right attendant of the Ministry of Rites, Zhang Jinyan, the secretary of the Soldier Department of Wuyingdian University, Chen Yan, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and Zhang Qi, the right attendant of the Ministry of Rites......

Several people looked at each other, but they couldn't see any clues from their eyes, Chongzhen is an emperor who doesn't have too much scheming, and he has always been played with by everyone on the table in applause and didn't know it.

But this time...... On the contrary, it makes them feel like they are on pins and needles, although everything is so normal and everything is so reasonable.

The small yellow door of the food came from the direction of the Shang Shan Division with the dishes, and the table pressed two plates of wine, a plate of pods, a plate of cold cakes, a plate of small snacks, four colors of dishes (all vegetarian dishes), a bowl of soup, and six cups of wine.

The palace ladies dressed in plain clothes also walked through the halls and poured wine for the ministers.

In addition to the pastries, the four-color dish is easy to identify, one is fried radish, one is fried leeks, another is fried cabbage, and the last is fried spinach, which is light and tasteless.

The ministers were a little stunned when they looked at the dishes on the table, all of them were vegetarian dishes, there was no meat at all, although they knew that Chongzhen was poor, but they were not even reluctant to buy a chicken! Most people shook their heads unknowingly to show the shabby nature of the banquet.

Only Ni Yuanlu, the secretary of the household department in the rear right, saw some clues, and he leaned sideways to Zheng Sanjun, the secretary of the ministry who was already in old shape next to him.

"Lao Zheng, do you think the emperor is different today?" In the past, if the queen was not present at the imperial banquet, the emperor usually sat at the same table with the cabinet members and the pillars of the court such as the ministers and scholars.

But this time Chongzhen just sat on the throne, although his face was as usual, he didn't say a word, which made Ni Yuanlu extremely surprised.

"Well, something is not quite right, Ruyu (Ni Yuanlu character Ruyu), do you remember the time when Emperor Taizu Gao feasted his ministers in the history books?" Zheng Sanjun's eyes narrowed slightly, and he whispered to Ni Yuanlu.

Emperor Taizu Gao is the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Chongba, he is the most bitter of all the emperors, he was a monk to eat, and finally in the days of licking blood from the knife edge to establish the Ming Dynasty.

After becoming the emperor, Zhu Chongba saw that the corruption prevailed in the whole country, and the dignitaries and nobles were extremely extravagant, so he set up a special palace banquet in the palace, the dishes were four colors, all of them were vegetarian, and the soup was no different from the green onion tofu soup in front of him.

The four dishes and one soup that have been handed down in later generations are all here.

Cabbage and spinach are compared to the clean and honest officials with clean sleeves, not to mention the green onion tofu soup, and the shallots mixed with tofu - one is clear.

Before Ni Yuanlu could say something, Chongzhen coughed and motioned to the ministers to silence, only to see him take the wine glass from the hand of the eunuch Wang Chengen, his face was cold, and he stepped off the throne.

"Since Emperor Taizu Gao held high the banner of righteousness, expelled the Tartars, and established the Ming Dynasty, it has been two hundred and seventy-six years now, as a descendant, the ministers and ministers can not forget, and the countless soldiers who have sacrificed for my Ming Dynasty."

Chongzhen's face was calm, he raised his wine glass, and the ministers hurriedly picked up the wine glass and stood up, facing Chongzhen.

"This first cup of wine is a tribute to those warriors who have shed blood for these thousands of miles of rivers and mountains!"

After saying that, Chongzhen drank it all, and the ministers also bowed down and raised their glasses.

"At the beginning of the establishment of our dynasty, all kinds of waste were waiting to be revived, and the whole country was starving, thanks to the dedication of all the ministers around Emperor Gao, and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment.

Bingbi eunuch Wang Chengen poured Chongzhen full of wine, and the palace maids also poured wine again for the ministers at the table, Chongzhen glanced at the so-called ministers who were sincerely serving the country in front of him, and suddenly withdrew his gaze.

"This second cup of wine, to those Wenchen who have created the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty with their hearts and blood!"

Chongzhen drank it all again, and the ministers didn't know what medicine Chongzhen was selling in the gourd, so they glanced at each other, and had no choice but to pick up the wine glass.

"Now this country has been passed into my hands, internal and external troubles, natural and man-made disasters, the people are not living, I have been a cool virtue, I have committed six edicts, the ancestors are martyred, and the intention is to renew with the world, I do not touch meat and fish, exhaust my thoughts, and fear the decline of the country."

Chongzhen's speech slowed down, and his eyes were faintly red.

"However, what makes me sad is that some officials who rely on the pillars of the dynasty are bullying the king, corrupting the law, arrogant and lascivious every day, preying on the common people, and even colluding with Jianjun, intending to subvert my Ming Dynasty for a hundred years!"

Chongzhen gritted his teeth when he said this, and his eyes that almost wanted to spurt blood swept over Li Jiantai, Wei Zaode, Chen Yan and others in front of him, his eyes were extremely cold, and the hands of the few people who were holding the wine glasses began to tremble.

A considerable number of ministers below also lost their sense of proportion, and cold sweat broke out from being frightened by Chongzhen's words.

"My heart aches so much that I hate to eat its flesh and drink its blood to comfort the spirits of my ancestors!" Chongzhen's tears were like knives, stabbing in the hearts of these well-dressed pillars of the country in front of him.

Smack - Chongzhen slammed the wine glass on the stone pillar of the Imperial Palace, and the cracked fragments were scattered all over the ground.

"Come on, capture the national thieves for me, and eradicate the traitors!"