A mouthful of fried rice at a sky-high price, Old Tang apprenticed on the spot

Chapter 684: "Cooking the Son and Serving the Rice" and "Destroying the Country and Killing the Lord"

There is a poem circulating in Xuzhou.

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

The princes of the Nine Conferences were appointed as chefs, and the princes were given a banquet 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, witches had a transcendent status in the ruling class, even higher than the emperor, and were among the highest rulers in the country.

But starting from the Shang Dynasty, witchcraft 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 Rites", Si Wu was only listed as a sergeant.

However, if Yi Ya can be called a witch, 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 Pengzu.

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

Confucius respected him very much at that time, and Taoism also regarded him as its ancestor.

Legend has it that he was proficient in the art of tonic and often took medicinal materials such as water osmanthus, mica powder, and elk horn powder to prolong life.

Therefore, 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, Pengzu's nourishment technique, Pengzu's guidance technique, Pengzu's room technique, Pengzu's cooking technique, etc.

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

Later martial arts techniques and routines such as Wu Qin Xi, Baduan Jin, and Tai Chi also evolved and developed from this foundation.

Peng Zufangzhongshu is the earliest sexology culture in Chinese history.

It is said that Peng Zu married nearly fifty wives and had 54 sons in his life, which is also directly related to his health care skills.

He believed that special attention should be paid to maintaining the Yin and Yang essence during sexual intercourse, and emphasized that sexual intercourse should be in compliance with the law.

Moreover, 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 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 down to Yi Ya.

The poem "Three Visits to Ancient Pengcheng to Seek Disciples" talks about Yi Ya's three visits to ancient Pengcheng to seek his disciples.

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 "fresh" 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 allowed him to serve as a cook.

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

This is what these two poems are talking about. The nine princes of the union refer to the alliance where Qi Huan Gong allied the princes and became the overlord. It refers to Duke Huan of Qi.

The "eight plates and five 簋" refers to the tableware specifications used when entertaining 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 should have been 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" and "causing 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 had 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 loved him more than his own flesh and blood, and he favored Yi Ya ever since.

Therefore, Yi Ya was able to work with Guan Zhong, the Prime Minister of Qi, who worked hard and made great contributions to the hegemony of Qi, in 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 asked Bao Shuya to take charge.

But Guan Zhong said that Bao Shuya was a gentleman, but he was too clear-eyed about good and evil. He would never forget the evil he saw in others, and he could not serve in politics.

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

He also reminded Duke Huan of Qi to stay 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 devoted to the Sheji Ancestral Temple and had no selfish motives for favoring his friends.

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

If he were allowed to be in power, where would there be room for Yi Ya and others?
This incident also became another proof of Guan Bao's friendship.

Soon 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.

But three years later, Duke Huan of Qi could no longer see these three favored ministers, couldn't eat the delicacies made by Yi Ya, and felt like there was no food left 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 three took the opportunity to support Prince Wuqi, forcing Prince Zhao to flee to Song. As a result, a civil war broke out among the five sons of Qi.

Yi Ya blocked the palace gate, falsely conveying the emperor's orders and not allowing anyone to enter the palace. In the end, Duke Huan of Qi starved to death in the palace.

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

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

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

During the period of Duke Huan of Qi's hegemony, 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 Grand Duke Family".

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

And this official position of commanding the world's cooks has since then become a shame engraved in the hearts of the descendants of the Yi family, as well as a shackles that bind their hands and feet.

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(End of this chapter)