During the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang pacified the four seas and unified the country. On this day, he suddenly sneaked out of the palace with a guard on a whim. He wanted to see the lives of the people at present. The two went to the southwest suburbs of the capital and wandered around to see the people living and working in peace and contentment. Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy.

At noon, they came to a remote village. As soon as they entered the village, they found two officials standing at the door of a house not far away. They were talking to an old man.

Zhu Yuanzhang was very curious and hurried over to see what was going on. The tall official saluted the old man again and begged: "Uncle Liu, please do well and sell us the geese at home. After saying that, he went to pay. "You just look at your son and sell the geese to us, otherwise the county mayor will definitely not forgive us when you go back."

"I fed the geese to lay eggs, and I haven't started laying eggs yet, so I won't sell anything! The two of you came to buy the geese, you must have listened to my unsuccessful son's words. It's not that I deliberately made things difficult for you, my son has been entangled a few times, but he hasn't taken the geese away, so don't think about it!" The old man's words were very firm, and there was no room for negotiation at all.

The short official gritted his teeth and said, "Uncle Liu, we will give you double the price, do you see the head office?" The old man was still unmoved: "Hurry up and buy it elsewhere, I will never sell geese, unless you catch me in the county yacht prison!" Seeing the pitiful appearance of the two officials, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't bear it and persuaded, "Old man, why are you so stubborn? The two officials must be in urgent need to buy your geese. Besides, they gave double the price, why don't you sell me a favor and help me?" The old man looked at Zhu Yuanzhang carefully, sighed and said, "I won't sell geese to them, because there is a sign of national ruin hidden in it! We ordinary people haven't lived a stable life for a few years yet."

Zhu Yuanzhang, who had hoped that the Ming Dynasty would last for thousands of generations, was very strange when he heard this: "If you don't sell geese or not, how can you hide the omen of the country?" He no longer persuaded the old man to sell geese, but said to the two officials: "Since the old man doesn't want to sell them, you can buy them elsewhere." The two officials had to shake their heads and sigh. One of them murmured, "The geese within a radius of dozens of miles have almost been sold out, where can you buy them?"

In order to understand what the old man said was a sign of the country's subjugation, Zhu Yuanzhang stayed at the old man's house for dinner. At the dinner table, the old man sighed with emotion: "The demise of a dynasty often lies in the corruption of officials, and the corruption of officials often begins with profligacy. Officials buy geese because the county magistrate loves to eat goose feet, and he needs dozens of geese every day. In addition, he needs a large table of dishes for every meal. A county official is so extravagant, let alone other officials? Officials who waste money will inevitably be corrupt, exploiting and oppressing the people. Over time, the people will suffer, and the world will inevitably be in chaos. The previous dynasty is an obvious example!"

Four dishes and one soup

After returning to the palace, Zhu Yuanzhang thought about it carefully and felt that the old man was very reasonable, so he decided to carry out a rectification to prevent officials from becoming extravagant and ensure the long-term stability of the Ming Dynasty. However, at the beginning of the world, the means should not be too fierce. After all, many officials are heroes who follow themselves to fight the world, and it is also appropriate to enjoy some wealth. It is really a bit of a fuss to punish them for eating and drinking. How can I find a way to get the best of both worlds? Suddenly, Zhu Yuanzhang thought of the four dishes and one soup that the old man entertained him, and his eyes lit up and he had a good idea.

Three days later, on the eighth day of August, it happened to be Empress Ma's birthday. According to the rules of the palace, the Empress was to be congratulated on her birthday. How could ministers miss this opportunity to perform in front of the emperor? They offered generous gifts in the hope of gaining favor.

But what surprised the ministers this time was that there was no joy in the palace at all, there was no dance music, and there were not even big red lanterns hanging. Although their hearts were full of doubt, no one dared to talk nonsense.

It was noon, and according to the usual practice, the Empress was supposed to entertain the ministers, but everyone waited left and right, but the Emperor and Empress were not seen for a long time. Ministers just sat there, not daring to discuss or ask. Everyone looked at each other, and no one could guess what medicine was sold in the Emperor's gourd.

After about two hours, the ministers were all hungry, and the emperor and queen arrived late. After saluting, Zhu Yuanzhang said to everyone with great interest: "Dear Qing, some time ago, I went to a village on the outskirts of the city. I ate a delicious meal in a farmer's house at noon, and after many days, my mouth still lingers. Today is the Queen's birthday, and everyone is usually tired of eating delicacies from the mountains and seas. I would like to invite everyone to change their tastes and taste the delicious food in this world together."

Hearing what the emperor said, everyone became interested one after another, and some saliva flowed out, eagerly looking forward to this delicious meal. Soon the first dish came, and everyone took a closer look and couldn't help but be disappointed. Isn't that a plate of fried radishes? How can it be considered a delicious dish? Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at the ministers and said loudly, "The public should not underestimate this dish. Radish is also known as'little ginseng, which is a high-quality medicine. If you eat it often, you can live a hundred years." Then the second dish also came, which was a plate of fried chives. Zhu Yuanzhang cleared his throat and continued, "Chives nourish the stomach, and green onions are lovely, just as this official is rejuvenating the country for the people." Then he served two more dishes, one plate of vegetables and one plate of mushrooms. Zhu Yuanzhang blurted out: "Vegetables and mushrooms are as fragrant, and the two sleeves are as clean as the Prime Minister." Finally, there was a bowl of scallion tofu soup. He glanced at the stunned ministers, took a sip of the soup and said: "The scallion tofu is innocent, fair and honest, and the people's wishes are clear." Then he paused for a while, and then said: "These four dishes and one soup remind me of the original intention of the rebels back then, which was to let the people live a good life. Now that the world is peaceful, everyone can't just focus on eating, drinking, having fun, and squandering the money, regardless of the lives of the people!" At this time, the ministers finally understood the emperor's meaning, and they kowtowed and said: Remember the teachings, engage in frugality, and be innocent officials.

The goal has been achieved, in order to make the ministers remember, Zhu Yuanzhang said sternly with a straight face: "All Aiqing, in the future, whether it is eating at home or sending people to and from, 'Four dishes and one soup is the ruler, if you violate it, you will be severely punished." Although everyone was very hungry, they were used to eating delicious food, and such four dishes and one soup was really difficult to swallow. If you can't eat it, you have to eat it. The Emperor is watching in front of you, and no one dares not eat it. How embarrassing is that?

Iron blood anti-corruption

Next, a vigorous "four dishes and one soup" movement was launched across the government and the public. Seeing the frugality prevailing, Zhu Yuanzhang smiled with relief. In order to prevent officials from appearing to be one thing behind the other, he secretly dispatched two groups of people to investigate and get all the happy news.

Zhu Yuanzhang was complacent about his intelligence. On that day, he was in a good mood, and with nothing to do with the dynasty, he went to the old man's house with his entourage. This time, he wanted to hear the old man's praise for the court's frugal movement.

In order not to make the old man suspicious, Zhu Yuanzhang deliberately walked into the old man's house at noon, and he had to talk to the old man at the dining table, so that he could hear the old man's truth. The old man very much welcomed Zhu Yuanzhang's arrival, and he was busy preparing meals. After all the dishes were served, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but widen his eyes. This time, the "four dishes and one soup" have all changed. There are no vegetarian dishes, all of them have become meat dishes, not only rare mountain brocade chicken, but also fresh seafood fish, and the soup has become yellow eel turtle soup. How did the old man suddenly become so extravagant after eating these dishes for no more than ten taels of silver?

Zhu Yuanzhang asked the old man where he got so many rare dishes, and the old man smiled bitterly and said, "How can the old man afford such expensive dishes? These are all leftovers from the county magistrate's house, and they were given to my son, who brought them to honor me. You came just in time to taste the delicious food in the county magistrate's mansion." "What is your son doing in the county magistrate's mansion? Why did he reward him with leftover meals?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked puzzled. The old man said faintly: "He worked as a cook in the county magistrate's mansion, because he presented the thirty geese in the house to the county magistrate, and the county magistrate rewarded him with some delicacies that he could not eat as soon as he was happy."

The more Zhu Yuanzhang listened, the more wrong he became, and he asked anxiously, "The imperial court issued an order to make all the officials frugal, how dare this county chief dare to be so extravagant?" The old man chuckled and said, "The imperial court's order has changed from below, and the officials still eat and drink like crazy. According to my son, there are two common patterns for officials to eat, one is'a large plate set with a small plate, and there are only four large plates and one bowl on the table, and there are several small plates in each large plate, and there is also a pattern called'Rotary Banquet. Every time the food is served, it is'four dishes and one soup. After eating, there is a different set of'four dishes and one soup. What is the frugality? It's a pity that the emperor lives in the imperial court and knows nothing about it!" When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, his heart and lungs were blown up with anger. He hated these officials for their disobedience and unrepentance. But he couldn't attack in front of the old man, so he had to suppress his anger and left in a hurry after eating.

After returning, Zhu Yuanzhang began using his iron-blooded wrist to crack down on extravagant and corrupt officials. Due to the concealment of the truth by two groups of investigating officials, he no longer easily believed what the officials said, and set about creating a brocade-clothed guard, directly obeying the emperor.