I brought a Jurassic

Chapter 293: Chatting about the past at the table

Anyway, the two parties are talking nonsense because they are not in the same profession at all. One is traditional Chinese medicine passed down by our ancestors, but it is unscientific to people like Professor Geng who have received modern education.

However, Ye Guizong and Dr. Jiang believed that Chinese medicine was the best. They thought that scorpions were used as medicine to save lives. It was meaningless to them to say that it was an important page in biology or that it filled in a blank.

After a heated debate, they finally decided to go find Wang Luo to see whether Wang Luo had much stuff. If there was a lot, everyone would be happy. If not, then there was nothing they could do. There was only one scorpion, so they could take it for theirselves.

"Daqing, don't look down on this thing. It's really good as a side dish for drinking, not much worse than eating meat!"

When Wang Luo returned home, the spicy strips were already prepared. Li Jun and He Daqing each had a small wine glass, and were drinking medicinal wine, eating spicy strips and chatting!

"You have traveled extensively since the Qing Dynasty, and have eaten countless delicious foods. It is rare that this snack has caught your eye. It seems that my cooking is pretty good."

When He Daqing heard that Li Jun liked to eat it, he was immediately happy.

I don't deny this. When I was wandering around, I traveled all over China. I've tried all eight major Chinese cuisines and local specialties. I was even lucky enough to eat the dishes that were served to that old witch Cixi. That old witch is not worthy of eating my leftovers, huh."

Speaking of this, Mr. Li became proud.

"Hey, Master, you've been to the palace before?"

Wang Luo's curiosity was piqued. He was very curious about some of the old stories in the martial arts world. He immediately became interested and casually ate spicy noodles while planning to listen to the story.

"It's just a palace, no problem. Our Yanzimen's light body skills are not just for fun. We can get in even if the palace is heavily guarded. I stayed in the palace for a month. Every day I just tried to get good food from the imperial kitchen. What an old witch. She eats so extravagantly. All the money of the people has been squandered by them. It would be strange if the Qing Dynasty didn't end. She deserves it."

Well, this Mr. Li's ability is comparable to that of Hong Qigong in the martial arts novel written by the writer named Cha. Hong Qigong also often went to other people's palaces to steal food and drink, and stayed there for a long time without being discovered. It turns out that this stuff is not made up, it has a prototype. He seriously suspected that when writer Cha wrote this paragraph, he used Mr. Li as the prototype. It is even possible that Mr. Li had gone to the Cha mansion to steal things and was discovered by the young writer Cha, haha.

"Brother Li, how can this be called extravagance? I have only heard rumors from the outside world, but I have never seen the real thing. My Tan family cuisine is already extravagant enough for me. Tell me and Xiao Luo about it today."

He Daqing smiled and toasted the old man, then started asking questions.

"Haha, okay, since I have nothing to do anyway, I'll just brag about it. Then I'll tell you about it."

After putting down the wine glass, Li Jun started talking.

"To put it bluntly, the Manchu-Han Banquet is nothing special. It's just made from some rare wild game and ingredients. As long as the ingredients are available, it's not a problem to have a few dishes. Isn't pea yellow one of the snacks in the Manchu-Han Banquet back then? The most important thing is that it's extravagant. I don't know if you've heard of a dish called Xishi Tongue. Wow, this dish is made entirely of tiny chicken tongues. We ordinary people can't bear to eat a chicken, but she uses chicken tongues to make a dish. Just imagine how much good stuff is wasted. Moreover, this is far more than that. During the month I was in the palace, I occasionally went in for a stroll at other times. The extravagance was simply indescribable.

I estimate that the old witch's daily food expenses were no less than one hundred and fifty taels of silver. One hundred and fifty taels, how much did an acre of good irrigated land cost in that era? A whole family would have to go without food and drink for a year to buy one acre of land. Her daily spending could buy almost ten acres of such land.

And it's not just the imperial kitchen, this old witch has her own private kitchens in the palace and the Summer Palace. In the palace, her small private kitchen is called "West Kitchen", which is managed by the chief eunuch. Under the chief eunuch, there are 5 "bureaus", and many imperial chefs and eunuchs work in each bureau.

The five departments of the West Kitchen are: The Meat Department: This is a department specializing in cooking meat dishes, including poultry, seafood, river fish and other meats.

Vegetarian Restaurant: The “vegetarian” here refers to vegetarian dishes made from tofu and soy products.

Dinner department: This department is specialized in making porridge, rice and various pasta.

Dim Sum Bureau: This is the department that specializes in making dim sum for breakfast, lunch and midnight snacks.

Boshi Bureau: Manchus are accustomed to eating Boshi, so there is a Boshi Bureau in the west kitchen that specializes in making puff pastry Boshi, puff boxes, cream pastries, sachima and other pastries.

According to palace regulations, each stove in the kitchen is looked after by three people: the chef, the side dish maker, and the odd jobber, who can supervise each other. Of course, the kitchen manager will also supervise during the meal preparation process. There will be a meal record book next to each prepared dish, which records the names of the three people who cooked the dish. Just in case, two copies of each dish will be prepared, one for the emperor and one for the record.

The imperial chefs and eunuchs in the western kitchen had a fixed monthly allowance. If they could please Cixi, they would receive a higher monthly allowance and rewards.

The imperial chefs in the western kitchen were not able to cook all kinds of dishes. They often specialized in one type of dish, or even just one or two delicacies. According to records, there was an imperial chef named Xie Er who was good at making fried cakes and steamed buns, and was very popular with Cixi.

Once, when Cixi went to the Eastern Qing Tombs for sacrifice, although the Western Kitchen also sent imperial chefs to accompany her, Xie Er was not among them. When Cixi ordered steamed buns, she found that the taste was not right. When she learned that the steamed buns were made by another imperial chef, she was furious and ordered the imperial chef to be whipped and Xie Er to serve her.

There was also an imperial chef named "Wang Yushan", who was good at the "Four Major Dishes" - stir-fried pork belly, stir-fried fish fillets, stir-fried kidney and stir-fried shrimp. Cixi specially gave him the title of "King of Stir-Frying".

The old witch also liked to eat a dish called "bean sprouts with inlay", which was created by the imperial chef Zhang Yongxiang. To make bean sprouts with inlay, the two ends of the bean sprouts were cut off, and then the bean sprouts were hollowed out with copper wire, and then minced meat was stuffed in and steamed. This dish alone required 10 people to spend a whole day to prepare.

When she left the palace, the imperial chefs and eunuchs from the western kitchen would follow her.

Every summer, she would go to the Summer Palace and other places to escape the heat, accompanied by eunuchs, palace maids, and of course, imperial chefs. In the Summer Palace, Cixi had a private kitchen, known as the "Shou Shan Fang". What is incredible is that the Shou Shan Fang had more than 100 rooms, where more than 100 chefs and attendants brought by Cixi lived. Usually, she would eat in the Le Shou Tang in the Summer Palace, which was only 100 meters away from the Shou Shan Tang. When the chief eunuch gave the order, the food prepared in the kitchen would be sent to the Le Shou Tang.

According to the regulations, meals were taken at regular times every day, including two meals and one snack. Breakfast was taken at 6 a.m., dinner was taken between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., snacks were taken around 6 p.m., and of course there would be midnight snacks. However, outside of the regulations, if Cixi wanted to eat, she could order food at any time.

The eunuch in charge of the kitchen leads the other eunuchs in order to enter the room and place the food on the table. Then the procedure of tasting the food with silver coins begins. If the silver coins turn black, it means that the dish is poisonous and cannot be eaten.

When eating, when she looked at a dish, the eunuch would bring it to her and she would take a bite or two. Cixi would usually only taste part of the dish, and the rest would be given to the empress, concubines, and others. Sometimes, these dishes would also be given to the royal family, or even to favored servants like Li Lianying.

I also know that the old witch's private kitchen has about 8080 kilograms of Yuquan wine. I have secretly drunk it. As for the taste, hey, it's really not as good as our Erguotou. The wine tastes bland and not good. There is also a story about taking a train to the Western Qing Tombs for worship. Her kitchen occupied 4 carriages, with 50 stoves, and 100 imperial chefs accompanying her. They prepared 100 dishes and 100 kinds of pastries for every meal. Just looking at the numbers, you can tell how luxurious it was.

Isn't this luxurious enough? But it's even more than that. You've heard of the "Four Great Vajras" and the "Five Hundred Arhats". The so-called "Four Great Vajras" are four senior eunuchs in the palace. They usually don't have any tasks and only come out to serve on some important occasions.

The "Five Hundred Arhats" were five hundred young and strong eunuchs. They lined up from the entrance of the main hall to the entrance of the longevity kitchen. They were responsible for serving meals to the empress dowager. In front of this team of five hundred people, a lantern was placed every five steps. From a distance, it looked like a "fire dragon" extending from the longevity kitchen to the hall where she ate. In this way, the hall inside and outside was brightly lit.

There are three tables in the main hall, representing "Heaven, Earth, and Man". The "Heaven" table is in the east, the "Earth" table is in the west, and the "Man" table is in the middle - and this "Man" table is the table where the Queen Mother has her meals.

After the old witch took her seat accompanied by the emperor and the empress, the "Four Vajra Kings" saluted the empress dowager, and the "Five Hundred Arhats" shouted: "Long live the old Buddha!" ​​The loud voice spread throughout the palace. At the same time, "swastika" firecrackers were set off outside, and the sound would not stop during the empress dowager's meal.

As if it wasn't lively enough, specially trained eunuchs would crack a special sheep intestine whip together. The sound of the whip was rhythmic like music and was said to have the effect of exorcising evil spirits.

Assuming that the old witch's daily food expenses are 100 taels of silver, then according to the price of the year, she can sell 12000 kilograms of rice. If the average person consumes 300 kilograms of rice per year, then 100 taels can feed a person for 40 years.

Moreover, in the later period of the old witch's rule, floods and droughts occurred frequently across the country, and many people who survived the floods and droughts also died in famine. Even in such an environment, he still maintained such an extravagant attitude towards life. Damn, just for this, he should have been finished long ago.

These are the things I did when I was young, then I traveled around the world, and finally I wrote books. We are fortunate to see this country stand up and no longer be bullied by the foreigners and those bastards. Although the lives of ordinary people are still very hard, this country has given us hope. Everyone has the ambition and is united. As long as this is the case, sooner or later, our country will become better and better.

Yanzimen, living in this era, no longer has to rob the rich and help the poor like in the past, so let him truly retire from the world."

Li Jun took another sip of wine and finally said with emotion.

"I've learned a lot today. I didn't expect that old witch to be so extravagant. Alas, if there is such a person in power, why not get rid of him and let him spend the New Year? The sooner he gets out, the better. By the way, Brother Li, you have traveled all over the country and are a member of the Swallow Sect. Do you think there is any big difference between our country's martial arts and those foreign boxing, taekwondo, karate, etc.? Or simply, if we fight with bare hands, can he be our opponent?"

He Daqing asked this question again.

Wang Luo was also very curious, because he had gained a lot of strength and was very flexible, so he would have no problem fighting with those foreign masters. As long as he didn't use hot weapons, even Tyson would have to kneel down. However, he was not very clear about what it would be like when ordinary martial artists fought each other, so he wanted to hear Li Jun's evaluation.

This question has been buried in Wang Luo's heart, or in his previous life's heart, for a long time, because martial arts in his previous life were all performance-oriented, and some sports universities or majors only required good performances when enrolling students, but did not require actual practice. So many netizens who did not understand it said that martial arts were not good. Coupled with the continuous promotion of Korean and Japanese films, many parents let their children learn these instead of martial arts.

There is no comparison. Let's not talk about anything else. Just take the Bajiquan that Xiao Luo learned from Master Xiang. If you use real-time hand-fighting against them, there are no rules and you can kill them. Xiao Luo, you are one of the few people who have reached the master level in Chinese martial arts. You can kill forty or fifty of them by yourself, provided that you have the physical strength to keep up.

What our national martial arts emphasize is to kill with one strike, and to attack directly at the key parts. When we were fighting against the little bookmen, the broadsword team of the 29th Army was the best proof. When Ma Fengtu used his Broken Blade Eight Swords, the little bookmen would be scared as long as they met someone with a broadsword stuck in their backs. They still dare to talk to us about their broken Bushido spirit, bah, we can't beat the shit out of their asses. But now society is not the era of cold weapons. If they come to attack us with machine guns and cannons, no matter how good our national martial arts are, we can't withstand it."

Li Jun was a man with a bad temper. He got excited when talking about beatings. There was no other way. This was a national hatred and a family feud. Not to mention anything else, in these coastal provinces, every family had relatives and friends whose lives were lost to the Japanese devils, including people of other identities as well. This kind of hatred could not be forgotten easily. It was something that would be remembered forever by generations of ancestors and future generations.

In later generations, there are some people who I don’t know if they received money, set up an account, and created a self-media or something, waving flags and shouting, saying that this hatred cannot be passed on to the next generation, and that there is peace now, and arrogantly whitewashing the little notebook. Bah, what a bunch of shit, it means that no one in later generations is willing to pay attention to them. If you live in this era, if you have the guts to say such things, just try to say them, even if you are beaten to death, your death will be in vain, no one will care about you, and you won’t be able to enter the ancestral tomb after you die, and you are bringing discredit to your surname and family.

"Isn't it said that the Eight Blades of Broken Blades was invented by Li Yaochen of Taiji? Who is this Ma Fengtu? Why have I never heard of him?"

Wang Luo asked curiously. In the past, on the Internet, when people mentioned the swordsmanship of the Big Knife Team, the first thing they would think of was Li Yaochen, but no one knew who Ma Fengtu was.

"It's different, it's different. Actually, the broadsword team back then had two kinds of sword techniques. One was invented by Li Yaochen, who invented it later. This one is called Wuji sword technique. After the September 29th Incident, the whole country was outraged, and the 29th Army was always ready for a decisive battle with Xiaobenzi. Li Yaochen was invited by General Tong to teach his subordinates how to kill the enemy with broadswords in battle. At that time, the th Army was extremely short of guns and ammunition, and the top brass had no choice but to find martial arts masters to teach ordinary soldiers hand-to-hand combat. Based on the characteristics of the war knife and the Wujizi Lu sword training method, Li Yaochen created a routine and named it Wuji Sword. This sword is very practical. When wielded, it can be used as a knife or a sword, which greatly enhances the soldiers' hand-to-hand combat skills.

The Eight Blades of Breaking the Front is the sword technique used by the entire Northwest Army. It was probably invented by Ma Fengtu, Wang Ziping and other martial arts masters in 1926. At that time, the Northwest Army still used the old military training textbook "Twelve Methods of Pi Dao". They integrated the essence of traditional sword techniques such as Qi Jiguang's "Xinyou Sword Technique", Cheng Zongyou's "Selected Single Sword Techniques", and Wu Shu's "Illustrated Single Sword" in the Qing Dynasty based on the tactical style and tactical characteristics of the Northwest Army. It has the practical characteristics of simple movements, swiftness and fierceness. It has repeatedly played a miraculous role in the battles against the Japanese invaders, greatly promoting the prestige of Chinese soldiers and making the Japanese invaders tremble. "

When talking about these old stories in the underworld, Mr. Li would talk endlessly. At his age, he can't do anything anymore and can only reminisce. So when Wang Luo asked him, he was willing to tell him about the old days. They were just chatting over the wine table.

"As for Ma Fengtu, he should be in the Northwest now. I remember that he seemed to be an associate professor of physical education at Northwest Normal University a few years ago. Now I don't know where he is!"

"I see. If I have the chance to meet you, I must pay you a visit. I am now worried that in this age of hot weapons, the national martial arts passed down by our ancestors will disappear in the future. That would be a sin."

Your worry is not impossible. After all, as more and more different hot weapons appear, there will be fewer and fewer opportunities for real stabbing and fighting like before. The times are always progressing."

It is not impossible, it is certain. Wang Luo came from the later generations, and he knows best how the traditional martial arts of the later generations have developed. In modern society, many pursuits of good-looking "martial arts performances" and replicable "martial arts routines" have made the real traditional martial arts covered with dust. Most of the martial arts in society are pseudo-martial arts that pursue handsome postures. So, where did the real traditional martial arts go?
(End of this chapter)