Inside Chongde Hall, Shentu Yang sat formally across from the Emperor. His eyes were filled with anticipation as he looked at today’s lunch.

Yin Shuhuai was not an inflexible person. The reason he used to abstain from eating beef was due to the scarcity of farm cattle in the Central Plains. As the Emperor, supported by all the people under heaven, Yin Shuhuai could already enjoy every kind of delicacy imaginable. He could even freely consume various rare ingredients that would be outlawed by criminal codes in later generations, so there was naturally no need for him to make things difficult for the farm cattle that ordinary people desperately needed.

If he did not eat beef, he could still eat mutton, rabbit, chicken, duck, goose, venison, partridge, sparrow, pigeon, donkey, fish, shrimp, and crab. The world possessed an abundance of delicacies, and the cooking methods were even more dazzling. Since his time-traveling arrival, Yin Shuhuai had not yet tasted them all, so he naturally did not care much about eating beef.

However, since Shentu Yang had specifically ordered Yao Wenruo to transport ten thousand cattle all the way from the State of Yan for the Emperor to enjoy, Yin Shuhuai was not the kind of party pooper who would constantly preach about how a holy emperor ought to behave.

As a result, the frequency and variety of beef dishes served in the palace had been steadily increasing lately.

For lunch on this particular day, the Minister of Imperial Entertainments had prepared braised beef according to a recipe provided by His Majesty the Emperor.

Freshly slaughtered, premium beef brisket was placed into cold water, with scallion segments, ginger, dried tangerine peel, and white vinegar added to blanch the meat and remove any gamey odor. This process also helped make the brisket more tender and soft. After fifteen minutes, the brisket was scooped out and set aside. Then, the iron wok was cleaned and heated over high heat. A proper amount of soybean oil, water, and rock sugar was added and constantly stirred until the sugar melted into a thin, bright red liquid, eventually thickening into a deep sauce color. At that point, the scallion, ginger, seasonings, and the previously blanched brisket were added to continue stir-frying.

Once the brisket changed color, soy sauce and yellow wine were added to impart a rich color, remove any remaining odor, and enhance the flavor and aroma.

Finally, the stir-fried brisket was transferred to a bronze pot containing a braising sauce made from various bean pastes, scallions, ginger, spices, white sugar, pepper powder, and yellow wine, then simmered over low heat for the duration of a single stick of incense. After opening the pot, it was returned to the iron wok over high heat to reduce the sauce. In this manner, a pot of bright red, delicious braised beef was complete.

The chefs of the Minister of Imperial Entertainments poured the freshly made braised beef into two bronze vessels with double handles and carefully covered them with bronze lids. They also placed other newly prepared dishes onto the tray, including bear paw with five-spice dipping sauce, pan-fried fish in black bean sauce, barbecued deer tenderloin, clear-stewed leopard fetus, abalone slices in clear broth, fragrant Yunmeng rice mixed with wild rice, and two vessels of orchid-scented wine, delivering everything to Chongde Hall while it was still piping hot.

Shentu Yang had been waiting with bated breath. The moment the eunuchs withdrew, he impatiently lifted the lid of the bronze vessel. A dense cloud of steam, carrying the rich aroma of the braised beef, rushed toward his face. Shentu Yang could not help but take a deep breath and look closely. The glossy sauce was thick yet not greasy, and large chunks of beef brisket were thoroughly soaked in the rich, glistening gravy, making his mouth water.

Shentu Yang looked up at the Emperor. Seeing that Yin Shuhuai had started eating, he also quickly picked up his chopsticks and grabbed a piece of beef brisket. When pinched by the chopsticks, the brisket actually trembled as if it might fall apart at any moment. A drop of oil clung precariously along the grain of the beef, gleaming with an amber brilliance in the sunlight.

With a loud gulp, Shentu Yang swallowed his saliva uncontrollably and immediately popped the brisket into his mouth. Instantly, the thick braising sauce, blended with the unique, savory aroma of beef, exploded across his palate. The brisket had long been stewed until tender, yet it still retained a hint of that special texture and chewiness unique to beef. After chewing and swallowing it, he felt a rich, lingering fragrance spread from his mouth directly to his internal organs, as if his entire being was enveloped in this mellow aftertaste. The meaty aroma refused to dissipate for a long time.

“Is this the braised beef Your Majesty often mentions?” Shentu Yang’s eyes sparkled with pleasant surprise as he stared at the bronze vessel filled to the brim with beef. He was utterly blown away. “This is simply too delicious!”

Shentu Yang could swear that this was absolutely the best beef he had ever eaten in his entire life!

Compared to this tender, aromatic piece of braised beef, the rare delicacies like bear paw and leopard fetus paled into insignificance, and their flavors no longer seemed quite so extraordinary.

“No wonder Your Majesty always pined for beef in the past,” Shentu Yang sighed with emotion. He had previously thought the Emperor only lamented because he could not have it, never imagining that beef prepared with the Emperor’s method could taste this heavenly.

“It is truly bizarre,” Shentu Yang clicked his tongue in wonder. “In the past, I also tasted the braised horse whip that the noble families bragged about so much, but I did not find it particularly delicious. Why is this braised beef so fragrant?”

Yin Shuhuai calmly looked at Shentu Yang, who had inadvertently let slip a secret, and smilingly picked up a piece of brisket. “That is probably because the Chancellor has never eaten proper braised beef before.”

Furthermore, the secret braising recipe Yin Shuhuai had handed over to the Minister of Imperial Entertainments was a version refined over multiple generations in the future. It differed slightly from current braising methods. For instance, contemporary chefs rarely used rock sugar to make a caramel coloring because the production of cane sugar was complex and costly, making the rock sugar derived from it even more expensive. Most of what circulated among the common people was maltose made from malt. As for the soybean oil used by the Minister of Imperial Entertainments to caramelize the sugar, that would not even appear until the Northern Song Dynasty. People today were more accustomed to using lard, believing that soybean oil pressed from stone mills and wooden rams was not only troublesome to make but also possessed an unpleasant, fishy odor.

Only after Yin Shuhuai ordered the Imperial Workshop to conduct numerous experiments and basically recreate the screw-press oil extraction technology of later generations did he gradually have the Minister of Imperial Entertainments use soybean oil for cooking. However, the cost of this oil extraction was so exorbitant that ordinary citizens could not afford it at all.

As mentioned earlier, Yin Shuhuai, as the Emperor, was supported by all the people under heaven. Even though he was currently just a semi-puppet ruler stripped of power by influential officials and constrained by noble families, the resources he could enjoy were still unimaginable to people of later generations.

Upon hearing Yin Shuhuai’s words, Shentu Yang did not think that deeply. He truly had never eaten beef prepared with the braising method.

Due to the constraints of raw materials and the law, beef cooking in this era was mostly limited to steaming, boiling, and roasting. This was because, without breaking the law, the people of the Yin Dynasty only had opportunities to eat beef during military rewards and victory celebrations. In either case, if one wanted to prepare food for hundreds or even tens of thousands of people in a short time, steaming, boiling, or roasting was naturally the most convenient method. As for the Xiongnu, their productivity was not as developed as the Yin Dynasty’s to begin with, and though many raised cattle, sheep, and horses, those who actually got to eat the meat were still a minority.

In any case, over all these years, the beef Shentu Yang had eaten was either boiled or roasted. If even someone like him, who had been abducted by the Xiongnu in childhood and served as a slave for fifteen years, experienced it this way, then where did Yin Shuhuai, an emperor who grew up exiled among the common people, learn so many ways to cook beef?

“Just assume I thought of it in a dream.” Sitting gracefully at the head of the table, the Yin Emperor was also enjoying the food. However, compared to the easily excitable Shentu Yang, his demeanor was very calm.

He put a piece of tender brisket into his mouth and ladled some gravy over his rice. The glossy, thick sauce coated each grain of translucent rice, offering a unique fragrance. Yin Shuhuai narrowed his eyes with satisfaction and said, “We can also use this broth to cook noodles tonight; the taste will be even better.”

Shentu Yang instinctively sat up straight. “Is it the braised beef noodles Your Majesty mentioned before?”

“Exactly,” Yin Shuhuai nodded reservedly. “Have the chefs grind wheat into flour, knead it into dough, and pull it repeatedly to get chewy hand-pulled noodles. Then, toss these noodles into the braised beef broth to simmer for a moment, letting the noodles absorb the aroma of the braised beef. It tastes smooth and chewy, making it the perfect match for braised beef.” It was even more fragrant than mixing it with rice!

Shentu Yang’s mouth watered as he listened, and even Gao Jingde and the others standing guard outside the hall experienced loud stomach growls, salivating intensely.

Zhou Tai subtly took several deep breaths, as if doing so could allow him to inhale all the aroma of the braised beef lingering in the air. Sucking in his stomach and tightening his posture, he grumbled in his heart, what kind of heavenly delicacy is this braised beef? This smell is simply too overpowering!

Hopefully, Big Brother would still remember their group of brothers, even if it was just leaving them a sip of broth to taste the seasoning!

The two generals guarding the door looked at each other, suddenly feeling that this situation was inexplicably pitiful.

If Yin Shuhuai knew what these two generals were thinking, he would most likely agree wholeheartedly.

It was indeed pitiful! As the old saying goes, you watch while others eat, and you stand while others sit! If you are not pitiful, who is!

Oh right, you two door gods cannot even see it; you can only close your eyes and take a sniff!

Fortunately, Shentu Yang was indeed a good big brother who could share trials and tribulations with his men. After eating half of the braised beef in the bronze vessel, Shentu Yang stopped his chopsticks with immense self-control and sent the remaining half of the braised beef to the brothers outside the door for an extra meal.

Gao Jingde and Zhou Tai, who had been drooling for a long time, could not wait to enter the hall. They first bowed with clasped hands to the Emperor, and then excitedly carried out the bronze vessel holding the braised beef. There were three thousand Imperial Guards on duty today. Sharing half a vessel of braised beef among three thousand guards was something even Yin Shuhuai could not bear to watch.

He immediately ordered the Minister of Imperial Entertainments to slaughter a cow and make a fresh, large pot of braised beef to reward the soldiers. He also set aside two portions to be sent to the residences of Huo Quan and Zhao Bushi.

Seeing this, Shentu Yang could not help but smile and praise, “Your Majesty truly loves your soldiers like your own children.”

As for the Emperor’s intention to win over the Three Ducal Ministers, it was also within Shentu Yang’s expectations.

Yin Shuhuai offered a faint smile and said casually, “It is merely borrowing someone else’s flowers to offer to the Buddha.” After all, these ten thousand cattle were brought over from the State of Yan by Shentu Yang.

Shentu Yang was stunned upon hearing this. “Does Your Majesty like Buddhist teachings?”

“No,” Yin Shuhuai denied it flatly. “I am an atheist.”

Yin Shuhuai’s choice of words was a bit strange, but Shentu Yang still understood. His gaze fell upon the remaining half-vessel of braised beef on the Emperor’s desk, and he said mischievously, “I gave my beef to Gao Jingde and the guys. Could Your Majesty share some of your beef with me?”

The Yin Dynasty practiced a system of separate dining. When Yin Shuhuai ate, he directly used his chopsticks and spoon to pick up meat and scoop soup from the vessel. Shentu Yang’s request was not only a breach of etiquette but also offensive. Hearing this, Yin Shuhuai instinctively glared at him.

Yet Shentu Yang had already stood up and walked over to the Emperor, directly picking up a piece of beef from the Emperor’s vessel and putting it into his mouth. A moment later, his eyes lit up, and he said with an exaggerated expression, “How strange, why do I feel that the beef in Your Majesty’s vessel tastes even better than mine?”

As Shentu Yang spoke, his burning gaze fell upon Yin Shuhuai’s bright red lips. He mischievously lowered his pitch, teasing in a voice only the ruler and minister could hear, “Could it be because it is laced with Your Majesty’s saliva?”

Yin Shuhuai was instantly grossed out and lost his appetite. “Can you stop being so disgusting?”

With a grin, Shentu Yang picked up the bronze vessel and polished off the remaining beef like a whirlwind. Meanwhile, he even stretched his claws toward the Emperor’s leftover half-bowl of fragrant Yunmeng rice mixed with wild rice. “Is Your Majesty really not going to eat anymore? Then please bestow it upon this minister. I am not full yet.”

“Eat up! Eat up! I hope you choke on it!” Yin Shuhuai snapped, glaring at Shentu Yang. Yet he could only watch helplessly as Shentu Yang devoured all the food on his desk.

The appetite of a military man was indeed enormous!

After the meal, Yin Shuhuai ordered the young eunuchs to bring the students’ policy essays into the hall.

When the imperial court issued the decree to recruit talented individuals this time, a total of three hundred candidates arrived from various regions.

Probably in defiance of the principle advocated by Yin Shuhuai and Shentu Yang to recruit talent regardless of background, among these candidates, apart from the two hundred recommended by Huo Quan and Zhao Bushi, not a single one of the remaining one hundred came from a noble family.

“The knowledge and experience of students from humble backgrounds are indeed not as solid and extensive as those of aristocratic children, but they do have their merits.” Shentu Yang casually flipped through a few of the essays and remarked, “For example, this one named Yan Yan actually advocates for political reform, using harsh laws to prevent court officials from colluding with local powerful gentry. He shows potential to be a stern official.”

“And this one named Gongsun Yan believes the court can reinstate the property reporting decree from the Emperor Li era, encouraging ordinary citizens to expose the illegal actions of local wealthy clans. Once verified by the court, the whistleblower would receive half of the accused person’s property as a reward.”

“This person named Fan Tianqiu is even more extraordinary. He actually proposes that the court set up copper petition boxes among the public to allow citizens to anonymously report lawbreakers. This way, ordinary people can avoid the fear of retaliation from noble families and will not be afraid to expose the crimes of aristocratic clans.”

“Your Majesty, do you think these people had their entire families wiped out by the aristocratic clans? Otherwise, how could each one be more ruthless than the last?” Shentu Yang looked at Yin Shuhuai with a beaming smile and leaned forward. “Your Majesty, this minister’s method is quite good, is it not?”

Yin Shuhuai glanced at Shentu Yang, raised an eyebrow, and asked, “Even if it is, what of it? You do not want to ask Me for a reward again, do you?”

Before Shentu Yang could speak, Yin Shuhuai stood up, patted his head, and casually brushed him off, “I have already given today’s reward. The Chancellor should not push his luck.”

“Now beat it!”