EBE Chapter 220 A Slap in the Face
Chapter 220 A Slap in the Face
If, if all the people in the world could grow potatoes like him, then why worry about not having enough grain to pay the grain tax!
Like all farmers, he only cared about the potato yield.
As long as it's edible, that's fine!
Yuanhua's tears fell not only on the ground, but also in everyone's hearts.
"Hasn't His Majesty already reduced the taxes for farmers? How can they not have enough to eat?" said a second-rank official.
"These taxes are just a drop in the bucket. The landlords have taken the lion's share of the grain, so where is there any extra grain to eat?"
Everyone was surprised that these officials had not gone down to the grassroots level to see the lives of ordinary people for a long time. They held onto their high positions but were unwilling to look down at their subjects.
In a single sentence, the veil of shame was torn away from the entire court.
Does that mean they didn't care about the people's livelihood? Not really. It's just that the interests of some nobles and gentry were involved, and they had no way to solve the problems. In addition, their subordinates deliberately misled them, causing them to be unable to see the dire straits of the common people.
An eerie silence fell over the entire imperial study.
It's no wonder that Yuanhua made this decision today. It can only be said that the inaction of these officials and their doubts about potatoes made Yuanhua, which had originally pinned its hopes on potatoes, afraid of letting go of this "lifeline".
Therefore, they were eager to gain the approval of the civil and military officials for this "potato".
However, what he didn't know was that he didn't need to do this; the emperor and his ministers had already made their decision.
They've even planned to plant these potatoes on the border.
However, not understanding the inner workings of the court, and unaware of the intentions of these people, seeing the silence of His Majesty and some ministers, they assumed that the emperor was going to give up planting potatoes, which is why they were so eager to use this method in the hope of changing their minds.
The emperor slowly closed his eyes and exhaled a breath of stale air.
"I understand what you're saying, so what you're doing today is to draw everyone's attention to this?"
"The slaves dare not!"
The emperor shifted his gaze from him and swept his eyes over the officials in the imperial study.
"Did you hear that? Do you have any objections to these potatoes?" The emperor's two questions left the ministers speechless.
Just as the atmosphere in the Imperial Study became unusually terrifying, someone suddenly knocked on the door.
"Your Majesty, the eunuchs from the Imperial Study have returned, and they have brought back some gifts to present to you."
The emperor frowned, and even Eunuch Fude, who was standing beside the emperor, couldn't help but frown as well.
It was only then that Fu De Gong Gong realized that only Yuan Hua had returned this time, while the other three had disappeared without a trace.
"Let them in!"
As soon as the emperor spoke, the heavy doors to the imperial study were opened.
Three young eunuchs, with their backs bowed, followed closely into the main hall.
They were all carrying food boxes.
Yuan Hua, who was kneeling before the emperor, suddenly became nervous when he saw them appear, but he was too ashamed to face them now.
They bowed deeply to His Majesty.
"See Your Majesty!"
"Why are you all only returning to the palace now?"
The emperor's casual question instantly made Yuanhua below extremely nervous. He could only slowly close his eyes and wait for the "verdict".
"Your Majesty, we were suddenly detained by several farmers arranged by Lord Ye. They wanted Your Majesty and the officials to taste the potatoes, so they asked the chef in the kitchen to prepare some. We couldn't refuse, so we had Yuanhua go back first to deliver the potatoes to Your Majesty, while we stayed at the estate to wait."
Yuan Yi's explanation was reasonable enough, but everyone present was shrewd and naturally sensed something was amiss, but they all tacitly refrained from pointing it out.
Yuanhua, who had been waiting for them to expose him, suddenly opened his eyes wide, which had been about to close.
He didn't expect that the three of them wouldn't reveal what he had done to them before, but instead covered for him.
What he didn't know was that when the two people who had been knocked unconscious by Yuanhua woke up, they saw Xiaohuazi tied up to the side and were furious.
They were not people who feared death, although they knew that Yuanhua did this in order to avoid implicating them.
But what angered them was that Yuanhua didn't believe them.
The thought that Yuanhua might have already entered the palace and presented the potatoes to His Majesty filled them with anxiety.
Just then, the steward of the manor came out and saw them.
There was no time to explain, so Yuan Yi could only return to the Zhuangzi to think of a solution.
It just so happened that it was lunchtime for the farmers in the village, so they had a bright idea. They asked the village's chef to prepare a dish, claiming that His Majesty wanted to try potato dishes.
Then they carried the food boxes into the palace.
We rushed as fast as we could and finally made it.
"Oh, a dish made from potatoes? I remember several of my ministers haven't tried it before and were worried it wouldn't taste good. Now they're in for a treat." His Majesty's sudden words pulled Yuan Yi back to reality.
The ministers who had been arguing heatedly with Ye Yuwu were instantly drenched in sweat.
His Majesty's words were clearly sarcastic.
Even if it was mockery, they didn't dare say anything, and could only nod and say yes with a forced smile.
"Open the food box and take a look."
As soon as His Majesty spoke, Yuan Yi opened the food box in his hand, and instantly a fragrance filled the entire Imperial Study.
"This is?"
The emperor, seated at the head of the table, could see more clearly the appearance of the food in the food box below.
However, it's not very clear from a distance; you can only see that the things inside are round and golden.
"Your Majesty, these are potato balls." Ye Yuwu, who had been standing silently to the side, explained, "These potato balls are made by steaming potatoes, mashing them into a paste, adding diced vegetables, flour, and appropriate seasonings, and then kneading them into balls. They are simple to eat and delicious. All of you are welcome to try them."
To be honest, these ministers had been in the Imperial Study from morning till afternoon without even having lunch. The aroma of these potato balls suddenly made them feel a little hungry.
Yuan Yi and the others brought quite a lot of potato dumplings, and each person was able to get one to try.
"Hmm! I didn't expect these potatoes to taste so good!" This is a self-remark from a minister who had never eaten potatoes before...
Meanwhile, someone nearby gloated, saying, "I wonder who said these potatoes are bad. Only someone who's never eaten potatoes and has never seen the world would slander them like that. What's this called? Sour grapes?"
The person who said this was a die-hard fan of Mr. Wuming. They had eaten potato fries at Chayun before, so they naturally knew that the potatoes tasted good.
So when this group of people kept questioning Potato, they wanted to speak up.
There were just too many people arguing, so their voices were suppressed. Now, they finally have a chance to make sarcastic remarks.