At eleven o'clock at noon, Simon carried the prey out of the forest.
Many tents were set up on the grass outside, and the accompanying ministers were chatting in the camp. Some nobles with close connections went fishing in nearby streams to exchange information and negotiate affairs.
Before Simon could rest for long, the head chef came over and asked:
"When will your Majesty have lunch?"
Simon never said a word to the emperor from beginning to end. He shook his head silently at the chef, and then sat on the grass in a daze.
After a long time, the guards carried out a Wild Boar from the woods. It had more scars than a wild deer, with three feather arrows stuck in its body, four bullet holes and more than a dozen spear stab wounds.
The guard informed the chef. "Your Majesty is expected to come back in half an hour. Your Excellency Pelato has ordered the camp to prepare the ingredients."
"Understood."
The head chef asked everyone to handle the ingredients. Due to the lack of people, Simon was called to handle the huge Stag.
Simon asked his companion to place the deer on the table and start skinning it with a sharp knife.
Someone asked nicely, "Your method of handling prey is a bit unfamiliar. It stands to reason that children from noble and gentry families all like hunting. Why are you different?"
Simon raised his arms to wipe his sweat and explained to them, "My family's fiefdom is Mykonos and Rimini Island in the west. There is no large forest in the area. We can only find some seabirds and hares."
Two years ago, I asked someone to make a shotgun with a larger caliber and shorter barrel, suitable for hunting small animals. However, there is a big difference between skinning a hare and skinning a deer.
Speaking of which, I have only hunted three deer in my life, and they were all encountered when I was a guest at someone else's manor and was invited to hunt."
What the upper class advocates is hunting large animals such as deer, bears, and Wild Boar. Rabbits and poultry are the targets of civilian hunters, and they are not popular. Simon sighed, feeling that his fiefdom was in terrible shape.
He carefully took out the heart and liver of the deer and placed them on a tray. The spleen, intestines and other internal organs of the deer were thrown into the wooden basin as food for the hunting dogs.
"Is the liver ready?"
A chef came over, observed the shape and size of the deer liver, then cut the deer liver into thin slices and marinated it with a little salt, spices, and spirits.
Not long after, cheers came from the direction of the forest, and the emperor returned with a hunting bow. The guards behind him carried a smaller Wild Boar, and there were also five Pheasant.
"No, we don't have enough time. It's all your fault for taking too long to deal with Stag."
The chef heats up the oil in a pot and stir-fries the deer liver over high heat. When the liver slices change color, take them out immediately. The next step is to stir-fry the onions and other side dishes, and then add the deer liver and chives again for the final stir-fry...
Fried deer liver is not a traditional dish from Europe and West Asia. Simon I don't know where the emperor learned this way of eating it.
He had heard a rumor: twenty years ago, the emperor captured Astrakhan on the edge of the Caspian Sea and ate the fried mutton liver of a certain Tatars chef. As a result, he was in a good mood and rewarded the chef with many belongings and a golden kitchen knife.
Simon feels that the credibility of this matter is very low because there are too many similar rumors.
For example, the emperor went on an expedition to the central part of Levant and met a young girl. The latter made some kind of refreshing cold dish. The raw materials seemed to be onions, bulgur, Parsley and other fruits and vegetables. This dish was praised by the emperor, and the girl was rewarded with a manor.
Another example is that the emperor pardoned a certain nobleman at Nile Delta after eating roasted camel or other specialties.
"I heard that some private restaurants use this as a gimmick. Alas, the rumors have been circulating for a long time, and some people must believe it."
After handling the venison, Simon walked to the stream to wash his hands. There was a minister fishing not far away. After seeing his appearance clearly, he was confused:
"Attendant, you look familiar. What is your name?"
Simon recognized the other party's identity - Agricultural Minister Tucha, and respectfully replied, "Sir, I come from the Mykonos family. You should have met my father Renaf."
The two briefly chatted for a few words. Tucha heard that Renaf's retirement plan was to open a blacksmith shop, and he felt a little envious.
"It's good to retire and don't have to worry about these messy things. In a few years, I will return to Gray Antelope Town and maybe open a mutton hotpot restaurant, or herd cattle like my ancestors."
Tucha put down the fishing rod and shifted his gaze to the bucket on the right. There was only one river fish in it, which was equivalent to half the size of a palm.
Taking such a harvest back would only embarrass oneself. Tucha poured the bucket into the stream and returned to the camp high on the hillside.
According to strict etiquette, Tucha was arranged to dine in the emperor's tent and sat in the front seat on the left side.
The emperor didn't like long speeches, so he said a few words briefly and ordered the attendants to serve the food and pour the wine.
In order to liven up the atmosphere, bands on both sides of the camp played folk tunes. In the center of the venue was a play about Hera-cles, with bland content.
From the performance point of view, this banquet was shabby and deserted, which was in line with Tucha's consistent impression of Court's banquet. The church regarded this as evidence of the emperor's piety and simplicity, but Tucha felt that the emperor just found it troublesome.
Tucha picked up the silver tableware and took small bites of the roasted venison, fried fish, Lasagna, and a bowl of rice cooked with a mixture of uncooked rice, chopped vegetables and bacon.
He raised his head and glanced at the emperor's dining table. There was an extra portion of fried deer liver on it, that's all.
There are rumors within the empire that fried deer liver and vegetable rice come from the East and are dishes the emperor learned from Golden Horde. Tucha doesn't think so. He has spent half his life in Steppe. Don't you know what Steppe eats?
This is simply not how Steppe should be eaten.
When khans hold banquets, roasted lamb is often the first choice, followed by beef and venison. The meat is mainly large pieces of pure meat. In terms of grains, the banquets include flour cakes and hand-picked rice.
"This is most likely a dish that the emperor learned in Tabriz during his attack on Persia. It may also be an oriental dish that the emperor learned from an Arab merchant during his attack on Egypt. The Arabs' business scope covers Africa and Asia, and they have the ability to hire chefs from all over the world."
In the afternoon, the emperor returned to the forest for hunting, and Tucha and three ministers were allowed to accompany him.
The team stayed in the forest until four o'clock in the afternoon and hunted two deer and three Wild Boar. The guards also shot many Pheasant and hares, and gained a lot.
As usual, the captured prey was distributed among the entourage. Tucha obtained a whole deer leg and carried it back to the mansion on horseback.
At night, Tucha was sitting in the courtyard kneading his sore thighs, watching the chefs busy in the courtyard, and sighed, "I wandered in the forest for a long time, and ended up looking like this. It seems that I am really old."
The roasting time of the venison leg is very long, so the chef cuts off an extra large piece of venison, slices it into thin slices and fry it in olive oil to temporarily satisfy the hunger.
Tucha took a fork and ate the fried venison, paired it with mellow wine, and recalled the hunting process in his youth.
At that time, Tucha could chase a Mongolian Gazelle from morning till night. After killing the prey, a bonfire would be set up on the spot for roasting. The only condiment was salt grains.
The surface of the mutton was charred black, but the inside was undercooked. He didn't care about this. He gnawed on the mutton and took a sip of the sour and tangy kumiss from time to time.
"Now, I definitely won't be able to eat the same food as before." Tucha stared blankly at the bonfire, feeling extremely lost in his heart, as if he had lost something precious.
In a depressed mood, he drank a lot, so he felt groggy the next day and slept in the office all morning.
After a long time, Tucha was woken up by a knock on the door outside.
"Sir, this is the department's summer report. Do you want to read it now?"
Tucha slowly opened his eyes, and then opened the curtains behind him. Sunlight poured into the room, and the brightness of the office suddenly increased. He walked over, opened the door, and took a thick work report.
"The spring report was rated as below average by Grand Auditor. I don't know what the result will be this time. Alas, Grand Auditor is even more difficult to deal with than Chancellor."
Returning to the desk, he opened the cover and read it carefully. According to chronological order, the work contents from June to August were recorded on it, and each thing was marked with the person in charge and the subordinates.
After reading the first few pages, there was another knock on the door. The subordinate fetched a lunch box from the canteen, which contained several common dishes and white bread.
Tucha picked up the white bread and thought to himself when he was halfway through eating:
"I went hunting in the city yesterday. Barley and oats are growing well, and the wheat ears are full. This year's grain output is normal. However, when the war comes, Army Department purchases grains and non-staple foods in large quantities. Private merchants sense that the wind is going wrong and begin to purchase more grains. The squires will also store more grains than in previous years.
Therefore, food prices this year are still higher than normal years.
I feel like my luck conflicts with this job. In the first year after taking office, we encountered a drought and food production decreased. In the second year, the military stockpiled supplies, but food prices continued to rise. When the war is over, what trouble will happen again?"
The food price problem ruined Tucha's good mood for lunch. He finished the food and continued reading this report.
"The output of Niter has dropped slightly, which is not a big problem. We import Niter through Arab merchants and can meet the demand for gunpowder."
For a long time, Niter has been a problem that has plagued the military. Agricultural Department is in charge of Niter Fields production and Niter collection, so part of the pressure has been transferred to Agricultural Minister.
Eastern Roman Empire and Europe Countries rely on "Nitric Bed Method" to produce Niter. The method is roughly as follows: dig a pit, cover it with waterproof clay, then put in raw materials such as manure, and water urine regularly. A wooden shed is built on top of the pit to prevent rainwater erosion.
At the same time, there are a small amount of Niter in the corners of toilets and stables. Each village provides a certain amount of Niter Soil as tax to meet the army's increasingly large Niter demand.
A Double-Deck Warship has more than forty naval guns. Assuming that it is facing the enemy on the side, one round of shooting consumes nearly one hundred pounds of gunpowder, and Niter accounts for three-quarters of it.
During the war with Venice, hundreds of warships from the two countries cruised and fought throughout the Mediterranean Sea. The price of Niter once skyrocketed, and along with it, military expenditures increased a lot.
After capturing Egypt, Eastern Roman Empire took control of the Red Sea Trade channel and was able to obtain Niter from India.
Niter in the eastern part of the Ganges Plain has a huge output and low price. When shipped to Constantinople, the price is cheaper than Eastern Roman Empire's local Niter.
Since then, the importance of local Niter Fields has declined, and when Agricultural Department was being assessed, Niter was no longer a key project.
In Tucha's impression, Central Administration stored India Niter in a warehouse in the suburbs, which was filled with three large warehouses. Under wartime conditions, the Niter in each warehouse is expected to last for one year.
The imaginary enemy in the next battle is the France camp. After the war begins, the Portugal fleet can cut off Red Sea Trade Route. Central Administration is still importing Niter in large quantities, with the goal of saving enough for five years.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, a subordinate's voice came from outside the door:
"Sir, Chancellor asked you to come over without giving any reason. I guess he is looking for trouble."
Tucha sighed deeply, straightened his appearance in front of the bronze mirror in the corner, and then came to South Gate in the palace and accepted a body search by the guards.
South Gate There was also a civil servant in black robe waiting to be summoned. Tucha recognized this person's identity. His name was William·Palaiologos, and he was a middle-level civil servant of the Agricultural Department.
William comes from Palaiologos--Montferrat Branch. A long time ago, the old Marquis sent his second son William and illegitimate son Orlando to the Eastern Roman Empire and entrusted the main branch to help take care of them.
Subsequently, Orlando has been serving in the army, while William has mediocre abilities and stayed in the country to serve as a civilian.
Over the years, William was subordinate to the Agricultural Department. The former ministers Ilya and Tucha disliked him and sent him to inspect Niter Fields and water conservancy facilities, out of sight and out of mind.
Tucha asked angrily, "What trouble did you get into?"
William shook his head, "It's our family's business. I want to see His Majesty."
Tucha didn't care about Montferrat Branch's affairs, so he kept silent and entered the palace after the body search.
William waited for a while, and a Eunuch came out, nodded to the guard, and then looked at William, "His Majesty is waiting for you at Garden, follow me."
According to imperial law, William is separated from the emperor by five generations, and he is Imperial Clan who is far away, so his succession order is extremely low. Neither the civil servants nor Eunuch regarded the relationship between William as important.
William has long been aware of this, and has positioned himself as a guest staying at a relative's house, muddle along all day long, with no hope of becoming Chancellor, or being canonized as a hereditary lord.
Arriving at Garden, he saluted the emperor and then began to cry about his family's experiences:
Some time ago, Charles VII sent an envoy to Montferrat, proposing military access rights and many demanding requirements. If Montferrat refused, Charles VII threatened to destroy this force and France would directly administer this territory.
Vitus looked at Orthodox God and thought, "Charles VII made a request to the Marquis. He must have expected that the Marquis would tell Eastern Roman Empire the news. Charles VII is determined to fall out?"
Unfortunately, Montferrat is located in the north of Genoa, facing French Army's offensive, and Eastern Roman Empire has no time to rescue.
Vitus made a promise: Even if the Marquis cannot withstand the offensive and surrenders to Charles VII, he will not be angry with William.
William took out an autographed letter from the Marquis (John IV): "He does not intend to surrender. If French Army really comes to attack, he will run away."
Vitus accepted the letter, said a few words of comfort, and sent the cousin away.
"Charles VII demands that Montferrat surrender. The goal is to allow the army to pass through this territory and attack Milan and Venice in the east. At the same time, he also supports Medici to return to Florence. By doing these two things, he can basically control the entire Italy. Well, this war is inevitable."