A Mouthful of Sky-high Fried Rice, Lao Tang Apprenticed on the Spot Chapter 684

Chapter 684: “Cooking the rice and offering it to the people” and “Killing the Lord and Disastering the Country”

 There is a poem circulating in Xuzhou.

Peng Keng, the ancestor of Yongwu Shanwei, visited ancient Pengcheng three times to seek his guidance.

 Jihui princes were appointed as cooks, and the princes were given banquets in eight dishes and five guis.

  Among them, Yongwu refers to Yi Ya.

 In the Zhou Dynasty, chefs were called Yong people, and their professional position and status were similar to those of wizards at that time.

 Before the Shang Dynasty, shamans had a transcendent status in the ruling class, even higher than the emperor, and belonged to the highest ruler in the country.

 But starting from the Shang Dynasty, witch became an official position, responsible for sacrifices and divination.

The famous King Wen of Zhou was Jichang, the Marquis of Xibo, who was the wizard of King Zhou of Shang.

In the Zhou Dynasty, with the improvement of various systems, the status of witches gradually decreased. In "Zhou Li", witches were only listed as sergeants.

However, Yi Ya can be called a witch, so he naturally has a certain status.

 Peng Keng in the poem refers to the famous Peng Zu, who is said to have lived for more than 800 years.

It is said that he was born in the late Xia Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Yao, because he offered pheasant soup, Yao granted Pengcheng to him, so later generations called him Peng Zu.

 Legend has it that he lived through the entire Shang Dynasty and lived seven to eight hundred years.

 At that time, Confucius respected him very much, and Taoism also regarded him as its forefather.

 It is said that he was proficient in the art of nourishing the body, and often took medicinal materials such as water osmanthus, mica powder, and Mijiao powder to prolong life.

 Hence, he is also regarded as the originator of Chinese health science.

 There are scattered records of his health-preserving contents in Taoist or medical works of the past dynasties.

For example, Peng Zu's nourishment technique, Peng Zu's guidance technique, Peng Zu's room technique, Peng Zu's cooking technique, etc.

 The art of nourishment refers to some tricks to control the body, such as holding one's breath, sitting still and wiping one's eyes, rubbing one's body, licking one's lips and swallowing saliva, breathing in and out, etc.

These nourishing techniques also evolved into part of the Taoist practice methods of later generations, as well as massage and other techniques.

Peng Zu Daoyin is the earliest fitness technique in China and the predecessor of Qigong.

 Wu Qin Xi, Baduan Jin, Tai Chi and other martial arts techniques and routines of later generations also evolved and developed from this basis.

Peng Zufangzhongshu is the earliest sexology culture in Chinese history.

It is said that Peng Zu had nearly fifty wives and fifty-four sons in his life, which is also directly related to his health-preserving skills.

 He believes that special attention should be paid to maintaining the Yin essence in sexual intercourse, and emphasizes that sexual **** should be in compliance with the law.

 And the relationship between men and women that conforms to the law is like the natural existence of heaven and earth. If the correct way of handover is followed, it will never end.

As for Peng Zu's cooking technique, it is the predecessor of medicinal diet.

The medicinal diet that Li Yi learned from Zhang Xuanqing evolved from Peng Zu's cooking techniques.

The pheasant soup he presented to Emperor Yao was the first medicinal meal in history, and was also known as the best soup in the world.

 Because of this pheasant soup, Peng Zu is also known as the first professional chef.

However, he is famous for his health-preserving methods. Even cooking is for the purpose of health-preserving, not delicious food first, so the ancestor he worships in the kitchen is still his disciple Yi Ya.

The poem "Yongwu Shanwei Zu Peng Keng" refers to Yi Ya asking Peng Zu for cooking skills.

The famous "Yang Fang Hidden Fish" was made by Peng Zu and later passed on to Yi Ya.

 The poem "Three Visits to Ancient Pengcheng to Seek a Disciple" talks about Yi Ya's three visits to ancient Pengcheng to seek a disciple.

The ancients believed that carp is the freshest aquatic product and mutton is the freshest meat. This dish is to stew these two ingredients together to achieve the ultimate deliciousness.

 The appearance of the word "Xian" is also because of this dish.

After Yi Ya learned this dish, he cooked it for Wei Ji, the concubine of Duke Huan of Qi. Changwei Ji lost her appetite due to illness. After eating this dish, her appetite increased and her illness was cured. Therefore, Yi Ya was appreciated by Duke Huan of Qi and appointed him as a cook.

 The princes of Jiuhe were appointed as cooks, and the princes were given banquets with eight plates and five guis.

These two lines of poems are talking about this matter. Jiuhe princes refers to the alliance meeting where Qi Huan Gong allied with the princes and became the overlord. It refers to Qi Huan Gong.

 The "eight plates and five 簋" refers to the specifications of tableware used for banquets with princes.

 However, although Yi Ya was a chef in the kitchen industry, his reputation was not very good in later generations.

 The position of cook, which was originally supposed to be the coveted position of cooks all over the world, has also been spurned by cooks of all generations and has remained in the hands of the descendants of the Yi family.

The reason for this is that Yi Ya had done things like "cooking sons and offering rice to people" and "bringing disaster to the country and killing the leader".

It is said that Duke Huan of Qi was fond of delicious food and felt that it was a pity that he had tasted all the delicacies in the world but never eaten human flesh.

Yi Ya kept this in mind, so he steamed his son's meat and presented it to Duke Huan of Qi.

Duke Huan of Qi therefore believed that Yi Ya respected and loved him more than his own flesh and blood, and he favored Yi Ya ever since.

Yi Ya was therefore able to work with Guan Zhong, the Prime Minister of Qi, who worked hard for the hegemony of Qi and made great contributions to the same dynasty, and had a transcendent status.

Later, Guan Zhong fell seriously ill, and Duke Huan of Qi went to visit him and asked him who could succeed him as prime minister.

Guan Zhong refused to say anything at first, so Duke Huan of Qi proposed to let Bao Shuya take over.

But Guan Zhong said that Bao Shuya was a gentleman, but he was too clear-minded about good and evil. He would not forget the evil done by others for the rest of his life. He could not serve in politics like this.

So Duke Huan of Qi wanted Yi Ya to serve again. Guan Zhong immediately said that in order to satisfy the king's request, Yi Ya would not hesitate to cook his own son to please the king. He was inhumane and unfit to be the prime minister.

He also reminded Duke Huan of Qi to keep away from Yi Ya, Wei Kaifang, and Shu Diao. If he trusted them, the country would be in chaos.

Immediately, Guan Zhong recommended Xi Peng to Duke Huan of Qi, who was honest, not ashamed to ask questions from his subordinates, and never forgot official duties at home.

When Yi Ya heard about this, he went to Bao Shuya to sow trouble, saying that it was Guan Zhong who prevented Duke Huan of Qi from appointing Bao Shuya as prime minister.

But Bao Shuya did not believe him, and said that Guan Zhong recommended Xi Peng, which showed that he was wholeheartedly considering the Sheji Ancestral Temple and did not favor his friends selfishly.

And Duke Huan of Qi appointed him as a military officer to drive out the sycophants, which was exactly what he wanted.

If he is allowed to be in power, where will there be room for Yi Ya and others?

This incident has also become another proof of Guan Bao's friendship.

Not long after, Guan Zhong died of illness. Duke Huan of Qi decided to listen to Guan Zhong's advice, dismissed Yi Ya and the other three, and ordered them never to enter the court.

 Three years later, Duke Huan of Qi could not see these three favored ministers, could not eat the delicacies made by Yi Ya, and felt like there was no food in his mouth.

 So he summoned Yi Ya and three others into the palace.

 The next year, he fell seriously ill. Yi Ya and the other two took the opportunity to support Prince Zhao, forcing Prince Zhao to flee to the Song Dynasty. As a result, a civil war broke out among the five princes of Qi State.

Yi Ya blocked the gate of the palace, falsely conveyed the king's orders, and did not allow anyone to enter the palace. In the end, Duke Huan of Qi starved to death in the palace.

Later, after Prince Wu Kui was killed, the people of Qi re-established Prince Zhao as their king, who was later named Duke Xiao of Qi.

 But after such a turmoil, Qi's strength declined greatly, and its dominance was transferred to Jin.

 It was precisely because of Yi Ya's operation that the kings of later generations were somewhat wary of cooks.

During the period when Duke Huan of Qi was hegemonic, his status was only that of overlord, and there was no so-called emperor.

 Otherwise Yi Ya would have been the first chef in history to kill the emperor.

It would be easier to tell if these things were unofficial records, but they are the true history recorded in official histories such as "Han Feizi. Erbang" and "Historical Records. Qi Dagong Family".

Hence, ever since Yi Ya failed to launch a coup and disappeared, Si Ke has become a title that must be avoided in the cooking industry.

Since then, this official position of commanding the world's cooks has become a shame engraved in the hearts of the descendants of the Yi family, and a shackle that binds their hands and feet.

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 (End of this chapter)

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