When Wei Wenhou Huo Yan served as prime minister, he was already authoritarian, overbearing, and self-centered. Every matter in the imperial court, big or small, had to be decided by his word alone, and he never tolerated advice from others. The civil and military officials harbored much resentment because of this. Now that Shentu Yang had replaced him as prime minister, his arrogance and tyranny were even worse.

Even though the entire court resisted fiercely going so far as to surround and attack the prime minister during a grand audience, only to be beaten by Shentu Yang with his scabbard until their heads were covered in bumps, with some left bruised, swollen, and bleeding from their noses Shentu Yang still clung stubbornly to his own way. He sent the recruitment decree, which stated “regardless of background, appoint only the talented,” across the empire.

Considering the vast territory of the Yin Dynasty, it would take time for His Majesty’s recruitment decree to reach the local regions, and it would also take time for outstanding talents from all over to rush to the capital. Therefore, the first recruitment examination after Yin Shuhuai took personal control of the government was set for the second day of the second lunar month in the third year of the Jianyuan era.

“The second day of the second month is when the dragon raises its head, which is a good omen.” Shentu Yang placed a piece of grilled meat he had cooked into Yin Shuhuai’s bowl, smiling mysteriously. “Your Majesty, please taste your servant’s cooking and see if it is much better than that of the Minister of the Imperial Household?”

This meat had been marinated in advance by Shentu Yang. While grilling, he had also sprinkled a handful of barbecue powder made from ground cumin, Sichuan peppercorns, black pepper, dried tangerine peel, and sesame seeds. It smelled incredibly fragrant, enough to make anyone’s mouth water.

Yin Shuhuai looked at Shentu Yang with a bit of suspicion, not understanding what trick Shentu Yang was playing this time.

Shentu Yang urged him with his eyes, saying, “Your Majesty, please just try it!”

Urged by Shentu Yang, Yin Shuhuai picked up a piece of grilled meat and put it in his mouth. After just two chews, he noticed a peculiar chewiness and a special savory flavor. “Is this beef?”

Yin Shuhuai looked at the grilled meat on the iron wire mesh in astonishment. “Did you slaughter a plow ox?”

“Does Your Majesty still remember that a while ago, you permitted me to send the methods for making various agricultural tools and fertilizers invented by the Palace Workshops back to the State of Yan?” Shentu Yang explained with a smile. “I had my advisor, Yao Wenruo, personally lead a team to escort fifty artisans back to Yan. When Yao Wenruo returned, he specifically brought ten thousand cattle to celebrate the New Year for Your Majesty.”

These ten thousand cattle were naturally not plow oxen; they were beef cattle that Shentu Yang had specially prepared for Yin Shuhuai. They were all calves that had just been born six months ago and had already been sent to the imperial estate outside Luoyang City, where the tenant farmers were raising them with great care.

“Whenever Your Majesty wants to eat it, you only need to order the Minister of the Imperial Household,” Shentu Yang said enthusiastically.

Perhaps because he grew up among the common people from a young age, even though Yin Shuhuai held the noble status of an emperor, he did not share the strict etiquette of the Yin Dynasty nobility, who forbade talking while eating or sleeping. Shentu Yang frequently heard Yin Shuhuai share various recipes and cooking methods for ingredients while they were eating and among them, cooking methods for beef were naturally indispensable.

Methods like braised beef, spiced beef, cumin grilled beef, steamed beef with rice flour, layered pan-fried beef cakes, stir-fried beef, toothpick beef, beef hand-pulled noodles, beef with soft tofu, sour cabbage beef noodles, sesame beef sauce, beef and vegetable porridge, steamed beef with okra, beef and glass noodle soup… The various cooking styles were an dazzling array. Listening to them often made Shentu Yang famished, which was why he concluded that Yin Shuhuai must really want to eat beef.

It was just a pity that this kind and generous little emperor, who was clearly extravagant and highly focused on satisfying his appetite even going so far as to order the iron officials to forge iron woks for stir-frying food happened to be incredibly stubborn when it came to plow oxen. Just because the laws of the Yin Dynasty forbade the slaughter of cattle, His Majesty had actually not eaten a single bite of beef since ascending the throne. Little did he know that the noble families and aristocrats outside were all raising cattle in private, and they even openly served beef to entertain guests at banquets.

Shentu Yang could not bear to see the little emperor look so pitiful. Therefore, he ordered Yao Wenruo that after returning to Yan, besides planning for the spring plowing and extensively building palaces in Youzhou, he also had to send ten thousand cattle over, specifically raised to give the Emperor extra meals.

“Ever since Your Majesty invented the curved-plow, the straight-plow that originally required two oxen to pull now only needs one, which has greatly reduced the people’s need for plow oxen. Since our State of Yan crushed the Xiongnu last year and captured countless cattle, sheep, horses, and slaves, there are signs of an overabundance of livestock in the country. Now that the people of our Yan region are also using the curved-plow, the saved plowing capacity will expand by twofold. This is all thanks to the merit of Your Majesty and the Palace Workshops.”

The land of Yan was cold and harsh, but most of its territory was vast and flat, stretching out like an open plain. It was just a pity that the land was vast but sparsely populated, and most people in the country lacked the strength to clear the wilderness. Fortunately, Shentu Yang had led the army to crush the Xiongnu last year, capturing tens of thousands of slaves, nearly one hundred thousand horses, and millions of cattle and sheep. With cattle and horses, the people could finally clear the wilderness. Combined with the artisans and advanced technology that Yao Wenruo brought back, it was believed that the cultivated land of Yan would expand by at least double in the coming year, and the summer and autumn harvests would increase several times accordingly.

Now, the State of Yan had strong soldiers, sturdy horses, and full granaries, its population was continuously growing, and the entire country from top to bottom was united, having long since become the secure rear base that Shentu Yang relied on the most.

Now that everything was ready, the only thing left was to trick the Emperor into going back there with him.

Thinking of this, Shentu Yang suddenly felt completely refreshed. He placed all the newly grilled beef into Yin Shuhuai’s bowl and enthusiastically pressed the Emperor for an answer. “Your Majesty hasn’t said it yet, how is your servant’s cooking compared to the Minister of the Imperial Household?”

Yin Shuhuai smiled and said, “Of course the Prime Minister’s cooking is better. As the saying goes, a craftsman must sharpen his tools if he wants to do his job well. The Minister of the Imperial Household could never produce such excellent beef.”

Speaking up to this point, Yin Shuhuai paused slightly, then added with a smile, “I just don’t know if the Censorate will impeach me for knowingly breaking the law once they hear about this.”

Shentu Yang raised an eyebrow. “Is Your Majesty afraid of the censors’ impeachment?”

Yin Shuhuai smiled with self-satisfaction; of course he wasn’t afraid. His reputation as a foolish ruler had already spread far and wide across the land back when Huo Yan was the prime minister.

“Exactly,” Shentu Yang said, feeding the Emperor while grilling the meat, finally revealing his true intentions. “Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, enjoying all things under heaven. What is wrong with eating a meal of beef? Why should those censors impeach Your Majesty? If they say Your Majesty eating beef violates the court laws, those noble families slaughter cattle and sheep every time they host a banquet, so haven’t they violated the court laws? I despise those hypocrites who are lenient with themselves but harsh on Your Majesty.”

“If Your Majesty were in Youzhou, I guarantee you could do whatever you want and eat whatever you want, and there would absolutely be no annoying officials to impeach Your Majesty.”

Yin Shuhuai raised his eyes to look at Shentu Yang, and Shentu Yang also smiled back at him. After a long silence, Yin Shuhuai calmly took a sip of red wine. “The Prime Minister has been in Luoyang for several months now, you must be missing your homeland.”

“Your Majesty must be joking,” Shentu Yang also raised his glass and drank the red wine in one gulp. “I stayed among the Xiongnu for fifteen years, and only took advantage of the Xiongnu chaos last year to lead a group of brothers to fight our way back to Yan. It’s just a pity that my royal father had already passed away…”

Shentu Yang sighed slightly at this point. “If we don’t count childhood memories, the time I spent in Yan is actually not much longer than my time in Luoyang.”

“But you still constantly think about Yan.”

“That is because the region of Yan is more like a clean paradise compared to the Central Plains. Our State of Yan not only has strong soldiers and sturdy horses, but also vast territory. If Your Majesty wants to display your grand talents and break free from the constraints of the noble families, you should come with me to Youzhou. If you blindly stick to defending Luoyang, you will only become a pawn for the noble families and aristocrats.”

After six hundred years of reproduction in the Central Plains, the land and population here had long since become the personal property of the major noble families and powerful clans. If Yin Shuhuai wanted to govern effectively, he had to suppress the noble families; otherwise, all the efforts he made would be like trying to stop a pot from boiling by scooping out the soup—completely useless. Not only would it fail to benefit the people, it would even make the world more and more chaotic.

But if he wanted to strike at the noble families and powerful clans, it would be equivalent to making enemies with the entire world. Did Yin Shuhuai have this kind of strength? Even if he currently had the loyalty of the Huo family, wasn’t the Huo family a noble family itself? Once the Emperor’s executioner’s blade swung toward the noble families, would the Huo family, as a fellow noble family, really be willing to surrender without a fight? Who could guarantee that the Huo faction wouldn’t betray him halfway through the process?

“After Huo Quan was promoted to Grand Marshal, he has been trying every possible means to win over members of the noble families. Whether it was Huo Yan recommending Zhao Bushi before his death, recommending children of noble families to be court attendants, or Huo Quan proposing that Your Majesty recruit talents, what they want to do is simply to win over the noble families and ease the relationship between the Huo family and the other major noble families.”

As Shentu Yang spoke, he turned the topic back to Huo Quan. Looking at Yin Shuhuai, who was silently eating his beef, he openly sowed discord. “Your Majesty, you treat the Huo family as your bargaining chip to sit securely on the throne, but little do you know that the father and son have already planned their way out. When the time truly comes for Your Majesty to fight hand-to-hand with the noble families, the Huo family might not necessarily stand completely loyal by Your Majesty’s side.”

“Then can you, the Duke of Yan, stand completely loyal by my side?” Yin Shuhuai countered sharply. He certainly knew that everyone under heaven came for profit and hurried along for gain. Shentu Yang repeatedly claimed that the Huo family was disloyal, but was he himself not also a traitorous minister?

“Duke of Yan, do you know the biggest difference between you and Wei Wenhou?” Yin Shuhuai put down his chopsticks and asked in a slow, deliberate manner.

Shentu Yang smiled slightly. “I would like to hear the details.”

Yin Shuhuai then said, “Wei Wenhou was a powerful minister, but he was a powerful minister who was loyal to the Yin Dynasty and loyal to my imperial father. He wanted to control the Emperor to command the regional lords because he had grand political ideals that forced him to act arbitrarily. But you”

Yin Shuhuai shifted his gaze, fixing it directly on Shentu Yang’s face, speaking in a relaxed yet firm tone, “You want to replace the Emperor to command the regional lords.”

As soon as these words fell, the originally quiet Chengde Hall became so silent that you could hear a pin drop.

The smile on Shentu Yang’s face froze for a fraction of a second, and a flash of fierceness, like having one’s disguise ripped away, even passed across his face. But in the end, Shentu Yang just quietly looked at Yin Shuhuai, sizing up this little emperor who seemed weak and muddle-headed but actually carried profound schemes in his heart. He remained silent for a long time.

It was not until the grilled meat on the wire mesh emitted a burnt smell that Shentu Yang suddenly snapped out of it. He smiled and transferred all the beef that had been grilled into charcoal into his own bowl, devouring and chewing it ravenously. That scene looked exactly like a wild beast feeding. It was only after swallowing all the charred beef into his stomach that Shentu Yang smiled slightly and said nonchalantly, “Grilling meat also requires the right intensity of fire. If Your Majesty wants to eat delicious grilled meat, you must not only learn how to choose the ingredients, but also learn how to master the fire. Otherwise, it will turn out just like a moment ago, where perfectly good beef turns into a pile of charcoal.”

“Your Majesty’s teeth are not as good as your servant’s. I can eat this charred beef because I have a good appetite and a strong body. Let alone charred beef, even if it were a bone ten thousand times harder than beef, I could still chew through it. Can Your Majesty do that?”

The monarch and the minister looked into each other’s eyes. After a long time, Yin Shuhuai broke into a wide smile and said, “My spleen and stomach are weak, and my teeth are indeed not as good as the Prime Minister’s.”

But when a gentleman eats meat, why must he use his own teeth directly? He can use a knife to slice it, an axe to chop it, or if all else fails, he can use a gentle fire to slow-cook it over a long period, until that hard bone is simmered so soft that the meat falls off completely, and the marrow is even drawn out. Then, he can enjoy it to his heart’s content.