Chapter 685: Cooking together, never ending
Yi Ya has an absolute sense of taste, the so-called "Emperor's Tongue", which can distinguish the finest and most extreme flavors of ingredients, which is why he is good at seasoning.

People with this talent are born chefs.

Yi Xiang told Zhang Dongguan that Yi Ya's descendants have inherited this talent, but because of what their ancestor Yi Ya did, they are all ashamed to work as a cook.

But even if they are engaged in other industries, Yi Ya's descendants will often develop excellent cooking skills.

Because ordinary food is difficult for them to eat, they can only cook it themselves.

However, even if they have cooking skills, Yi Ya's descendants will not be engaged in cooking.

Including Yi Xiang himself, even if he sells medicinal candies on the street, he will not enter the chef's business.

It's just that Yi Ya left a last wish before his death, asking his descendants to take over the position of chief cook and inherit it from generation to generation.

As a descendant of the Yi family, even if you don't want to, you can't disobey your ancestors' orders, so the position of chef has been passed down from generation to generation.

By Yi Xiang's generation, it has been passed down to the 108th generation.

Because of the famine, Yi Xiang's parents, wife and children all died.

After witnessing the death of his family, he originally wanted to die, but due to some strange combination of circumstances, he was unable to die.

So he traveled far away from home and made a living by selling medicinal candies, hoping to die in a foreign land.

However, due to fate, he met someone who had the same absolute taste as him, that is, Zhang Dongguan.

After hearing Zhang Dongguan commenting on dishes in Deyuelou, he was sure that Zhang Dongguan, like him, was a person with an "emperor's tongue".

Therefore, he made a decision to accept Zhang Dongguan as his apprentice, and after he returned to the West, he passed the position of cook to Zhang Dongguan.

However, after accepting Zhang Dongguan as his disciple, he never found a suitable opportunity to mention this matter to Zhang Dongguan. He was also hesitant and didn't know whether he should do this.

Later, after Zhang Dongguan entered the palace and served as the chief chef of the imperial kitchen, it became even more difficult for him to say.

This position was equivalent to that of a chef back then. He believed that if Zhang Dongguan learned about his culinary heritage, he would inevitably feel guilty when facing the emperor.

If any clues are discovered, it may lead to death for Zhang Dongguan.

It wasn't until Zhang Dongguan's parents passed away that he suddenly had a premonition that his end was coming.

So he found Zhang Dongguan and told Zhang Dongguan completely about his life experience and the purpose of accepting Zhang Dongguan as his disciple.

He asked Zhang Dongguan if he was willing to accept the position of chef. If Zhang Dongguan was not willing, he would take the position in the coffin and there would be no more chef in the world.

After learning everything, Zhang Dongguan comforted Yi Xiang and said that Yi Zu had violated morality and it would be okay if future generations could change their past mistakes.

At that time, Qin Ju, the great-grandson of the traitor Qin Hui, resisted the Jin Dynasty and defended the country. All seven members of his family sacrificed their lives for the country. After his death, he was named a Liehou and was praised by the world.

What's more, it's a hundred generations later, so why should we bear the responsibility for the sins of our predecessors?
Therefore, Zhang Dongguan expressed his willingness to take over the position of chef on Yi Xiang's behalf to share his master's worries.

Yi Xiang was overjoyed and cried bitterly, and then passed a bronze medal representing the chef to Zhang Dongguan.

After returning, Yi Xiang fell ill and died within three days.

Zhang Dongguan buried Yi Shi and observed filial piety together, but he also contracted the cold and died the next year.

After he fell ill, he asked people to contact several direct disciples in the capital, intending to hand over the Si Bao bronze medal to them for safekeeping.

But before several of his direct disciples could come back, he passed away.

With all his memories peeled off, Li Yi raised his gaze and looked at the wooden monument in front of him.

Golden inscriptions appeared one after another, and Zhang Dongguan's life also appeared on the monument.

Zhang Dongguan (from the 50th of August in the 52th year of Kangxi to the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month in the [-]nd year of Qianlong)

Male, a native of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. He learned cooking from Yi Xiang, a descendant of Yi Ya, at the age of 22. At the age of 16, he joined Songhe Tower as the chief chef, ranking first in Suzhou and Hangzhou.In the 30th year of Qianlong's reign, he was rewarded for working in the weaving kitchen of Suzhou and preparing meals for Emperor Qianlong.In the 50th year of Qianlong's reign, he was appointed by Emperor Qianlong and came to Beijing as the chief chef of the imperial dining room.In the 51th year of Qianlong's reign, he was ordered by Emperor Qianlong to organize a banquet for thousands of old men, with Manchus and Han people at the same table. In the [-]st year of Qianlong's reign, he took over as the chief cook and died of a cold the following year.

Seeing the lines of inscriptions appear, Li Yi felt a little complicated.

This time, he did not receive a clear mission.In other words, he received the last main mission.

Before Yi Xiang died of illness, he called Zhang Dongguan to his death and told him that since he was the chef, he should strive for excellence, bring forth new ideas, study cooking skills, and benefit the world.

Yi Xiang said that there is no end to the journey of cooking together.

Chefs throughout the ages have tasted all the flavors in the world, but now, there are still new chili peppers that can be used in dishes to add an extra flavor to the chefs.

He heard that there were white-haired countries and yellow-haired countries overseas, barbarian lands that were good at producing new flavors, and the chefs there should also have their own unique features.

In the way of a chef, the most important thing to avoid is complacency and arrogance.

In ancient times, the position of chef had the ability to command the chefs all over the world, and also had the responsibility of creating and researching the most delicious dishes.

Nowadays, the position of chef has become vacant, but now that he has taken over this position, he must take on the responsibility of creating delicious food.

He told Zhang Dongguan to remain humble and eager to learn, and to strive to add delicious food to the people's meals and expand the territory for his cooking skills.

This is not a specific task, but an expectation.

Rumble!
A shock came, and Li Yi felt that the entire space around him was shaking.

Behind the wooden monument, the wall of fog that blocked the wooden monument and the eight-sided monument gradually dissipated with the vibration.

As the last trace of mist disappeared into the wall, the two spaces were no longer blocked and had become one.

Seeing this scene, Li Yi realized something.

He looked back at the bottom of Zhang Dongguan's inscription. There was still a blank space there, but it could only accommodate one person's life inscription.

He understood that that area should be reserved for him.

And he finally extracted all the cooking skills from the wooden tablet, and he may never be able to enter the wooden tablet space again.

Li Yi raised his hand and patted the wooden monument gently. Li Yi felt a little complicated.

A few months ago, he was just a small stall owner.

But now, he has become a nationally famous chef, thanks to this wooden monument.

And this wooden monument also represents the essence of various Chinese cooking techniques.

But just like the blank space at the bottom of the wooden monument, this is not the limit of Chinese cooking skills.

The reason why Chinese food is so broad and profound is that it can be inclusive, learn from each other's strengths, and always maintain progress.

This is also a characteristic of Chinese culture. It is the reason why Chinese civilization has maintained strong vitality and has been passed down to this day for thousands of years.

As soon as the thought came to his mind, he turned around and looked.

On the metal plate behind him, in the occupation column, [Famous Chef] was gradually disappearing, and then replaced by [Master Chef].

Seeing this scene, Li Yi breathed a sigh of relief.

After passing on his skills at the Gaoyou Food Festival and adding Zhang Dongguan's skills, his career as a chef finally reached its limit.

From now on, if he wants to go further, he will have to work hard to become a chef.

The teacher pointed out that spreading the branches and spreading the leaves, passing on the art to benefit others.

The family refers to the establishment of a sect and a sect, which is self-contained.

If he wants to become a generation of [cooking master], he must find a new path.

A way of cooking that is unique to him.

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(End of this chapter)

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