Linxia

Chapter 220, Exploding Crab

Fang Lin went forward on the ship to rescue Mr. Ge. He introduced him to Fang's father, mother, and Tian Xuan: "Ge Chong, with the courtesy name Hongyuan and the pseudonym Kunwu, was a Jinshi in the third year of Hongtai. He was the prefect of Yao'an, and later resigned and retired..."

The ideas of Ge Chong seemed to be heretical to people of his time.

How to be heretical?
He described the teachings of Confucius and Mencius as the source of all evil, and strongly criticized the mainstream Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism of the time, pointing out that these things could not only educate the world, but were instead false Taoism and pseudo-classics. He also pointed out that the so-called words of sages were not all said by sages, but most of them were hyped up by later generations. All the ideas of male superiority and female inferiority, and emphasis on agriculture and suppression of commerce were all used under the guise of sages to achieve ulterior motives. They were called spreading ideas, but in fact they were meant to restrict the hands and feet of the world.

Later, he even went a step further and proposed: "If one has a kind thought and a conscience, even an ordinary person can become a saint."

It was once said: "When I walk down the street, I see saints everywhere; when I sit in a tavern, I see saints everywhere; even the street vendors look like saints."

Such thoughts, no matter which dynasty or generation they were spoken, would be earth-shattering. But for the official, this is not only heresy, but also heresy. It is not only disrespectful to the saints, but also treasonous and forgetful of one's ancestors. Is such a person still a scholar? He is simply a mad dog!

Ge Chong was quite open-minded. Didn't you call me a mad dog? He simply resigned and returned to his hometown, where he wrote books and became very famous among the people. Even the boatman named Lu knew about it.

Fang Lin had heard of this man's reputation for a long time and felt that he was quite suitable for the job. He had originally planned to visit him when passing through Xuzhou Prefecture. In addition to wanting to see the demeanor of a true celebrity of this era, he also had the idea of ​​recruiting him.

Soon, Ge Chong was rescued. Although he was soaked to the skin, he did not panic or feel scared after surviving a disaster. Instead, he smiled generously and said, "It's my fault that I didn't check the almanac carefully before going out today. That's why I got into this disaster."

He saluted each of his lifesavers with great respect, including the boatman named Lu. When he learned Fang Lin's name, he was even more delighted: "Mr. Zidun, we have known each other for a long time, and I just met you today!"

"Zidun" is Fang Lin's courtesy name, which was given to him by Master Ou when he was crowned a few years ago. "Zi" is a respectful title for men, and "dun" means loyal, honest, upright and serious. It roughly means a loyal, upright and serious man.

"I have also long heard of Mr. Kunwu's great name and was just about to pay him a visit, but I didn't expect to meet him here."

While Ge Chong and Fang Lin were talking, Mr. Jiang and Mr. Qian came over to apologize.

——Although they were from a wealthy family, Ge Chong was a Jinshi and had extensive connections, including many friends who admired his character and talent. Otherwise, he would not have been able to come up with such an idea and remain safe.

Ge Chong was a man of temperament, with a clear distinction between what he loved and hated. He was too lazy to meet her, so he just turned his back on her and pulled Fang Lin's sleeve, inviting him to visit his home.

Fang Lin declined on the grounds that there were too many people, and agreed to settle down and visit him tomorrow.

……

The next day, Fang Lin came with gifts and Ge Chong personally welcomed him in.

The courtyard where Ge Chong lived was not big, and there were not many servants, but it had an indescribable literary elegance.

There is a phoenix tree in the courtyard, three meters high, casting a thousand layers of green shadows. There is a vacant space on the west side of the wall, which is filled with a few wintersweets. There are a few square bamboos by the back window, swaying in the wind, unrestrained and carefree.

When Fang Lin was in the middle of it, he looked up and saw green shadows. The sparse sunlight cast a crystal-like and colorful shadow like glass mica. Ge Chong introduced: "In spring, there are mountain orchids under the wall, and there is half an acre of peony in front of the door. I unbuttoned my clothes and sat cross-legged here to read; in summer, Jianlan and jasmine flowers bloomed, and people were fragrant among the flowers; around the Double Ninth Festival, I moved the chrysanthemums to the north window, divided the chrysanthemum pots into five layers, and placed flowers of different colors in an interlaced manner, reflecting the sunlight; in winter, the leaves of the sycamore fell, fluttering, and the wintersweets bloomed. My family took a blanket to the ground, sat in front of the window to bask in the sun, and then burned this small stove..."

Afterwards, he took Fang Lin to visit his own study, "Buerzhai", which housed a large collection of books.

——The Ge family’s collection of books over three generations is said to number tens of thousands, making them a true scholarly family.

Fang Lin was brought in and saw that the walls were covered with books, extending all the way to the walls. As the rooms were filled with books, the drinking utensils could only be placed beside the bed. He could imagine the scene: when Ge Chong was reading, if he wanted a glass of wine, he could just reach out and get it.

"Meow!" At this time, a calico cat meowed and came out of the book.

Ge Chong smiled and introduced to Fang Lin: "Last year, I used salt to exchange this tabby cat. My family was so poor that I only had these books left. I hoped that raising it could protect my collection of tens of thousands of books... But the mice here are rampant, running around everywhere, biting the books on the bookshelf, but it was like nothing happened, just pretending not to hear anything, and sleeping comfortably in its nest, seeming to be quite comfortable.

Alas, although this tabby cat can't catch mice and only knows how to eat fish and be lazy, it looks so cute and heartless all day long, and my mood has improved. Then I thought, what are a few volumes of books? Even if I spend all my money, I can still get it back, so I'll just forgive it for now!
It’s just a pity that I’m not well-off most of the time, so I don’t prepare much fish for it, but it’s a good thing it doesn’t despise it.”

"Haha!" Fang Lin laughed after hearing this, feeling that Ge Chong was indeed a wonderful person.

As a Jinshi of Daxia, he enjoys privileges such as tax exemption and corvée. Even if he is not short of money, it depends on his personality and his love of books. Most of the time, he will spend money when he has it and worry about it when he has no money. That's why he said "most of the time he is not well off".

Ge Chong invited Fang Lin to stay for dinner. This person loves books and delicious food. I guess when he has money, he spends it on food and books.

This person doesn't care about the saying "a gentleman should stay away from the kitchen". He not only knows how to eat, but also knows how to cook. Today, he took out his favorite crab to entertain us.

“The only thing that has all five flavors without adding salt or vinegar is crab!” Ge Chong eats crabs, and he is an expert at it. You can tell by the crabs he chooses: their shells are as big as plates, and their purple crabs are as big as fists.

Fang Lin watched him steam the crabs, then skillfully grill them over charcoal, dipping them in sweet wine and sesame oil while grilling. He was surprised and said, "Hongyuan's method is unheard of."

"This is a method I developed myself, called 'exploding crab'." Ge Chong said this with some pride and boasting like a naughty boy. He saw the crab shell floating up and about to fall off, its two claws and eight legs, all the bones burst, and its umbilical and ribs were cracked. He flicked it gently with his hand, and the crab shell fell off, leaving only the roe and meat.

This is simply magical. You don’t even need the three-piece crab-eating set: a hammer, a knife, and pliers!
Fang Lin had eaten a lot of crabs in his previous life, but he had never heard of such a magical method of 'exploding crabs'. It was probably lost later.

"Zidun, try it quickly." Ge Chong handed it over and looked at it expectantly.

When Fang Lin saw the crab meat, which was crystal clear and cohesive, he took a bite and found it so sweet and rich, so delicious that he almost wanted to swallow his tongue. His eyes lit up immediately.

He discovered that Ge Chong was definitely a talent. Even if he was not allowed to do anything else but be a cook, it would definitely be worthwhile to kidnap him.

……

(End of this chapter)