The emperor was the most powerful person in ancient China, and because of the distinct hierarchy in the feudal era, the emperor stood at the top of the pyramid, and as long as they were not subjugated, their behavior would not be restricted in any way. In short, emperors can do whatever they want, for example, they can dominate the life and death of anyone. Emperors usually lived in luxurious palaces, and except for occasionally presiding over the imperial government, they lived almost every day in fine clothes and food.
Through some historical records, every meal of the emperor was extremely rich, but it was obvious that they could not finish it, so how were the rest of the meals handled, and where did they go?
In this regard, some historians said that the method was surprising, and some of them were estimated to have gone without even the emperor. You must know that although the emperor will set a large table at each meal, in fact, there will always be only a few chopsticks in the end, which means that if you throw it directly, it will be wasteful.
Moreover, the imperial palace gathered the best chefs in the country, and the ingredients of the emperor's meals were mostly mountain treasures and seafood, so the meals that the emperor ate were actually the things that everyone dreamed of at that time. So some eunuchs in the palace had a chance to think of a way to make money.
These eunuchs would take the "leftovers" outside the palace through special channels after the emperor had eaten, and then sell them to some of the large restaurants. And these dishes are guaranteed in taste, the restaurant does not have to worry about not being able to sell, under normal circumstances, they are happy to make deals with eunuchs.
Some restaurants are even more exaggerated, they directly use the emperor's meal as the signboard, many people in order to taste the emperor's food, even if the long queue is willing to buy. Of course, the backstage of such restaurants is usually relatively hard, otherwise it is estimated that they would have been seized long ago.
In addition to taking it for secondary sale, in order to show his identity, the emperor would also reward some of it to the ministers or concubines around him at the dinner table. They did not dare to refuse what the emperor rewarded, so under normal circumstances, the ministers and concubines would eat these "leftovers" to show their respect for the emperor.
Of course, the delicious food eunuchs will not let go, so many times the eunuchs will leave some to eat themselves, and the rest even if the emperor has gnawed bones, etc., are all taken to the outside of the palace to sell. However, leftover restaurants that do not have good dishes will not be wanted, so there is a very disgusting way to deal with it.
In order to make money, some vendors will stew those dishes that are not good in shape into a pot, and then sell them to the people at low prices. You must know that although these dishes look disgusting, they can still find some meat in them, and many poor people will still be willing to eat such a big pot of rice in order to experience the food of the palace.
In general, the emperor did not care what to do with these leftovers, after all, there were new dishes appearing at every meal. Imagine if the ancient emperor had learned that his leftovers had been grabbed and eaten outside the palace, would he have been happy or angry?