The pork butcher is smoother than a pig butcher!

Chapter 434 Zen Master Hongming's Decision

The ancient commander descended from the sky just when the two young novices were in despair.

The moment he and a group of young guards rode up on wild horses at breakneck speed, the two young novices were utterly impressed.

then.

I wonder what General Gan wrote in his letter.

After reading it, Zen Master Hongming, contrary to his usual calm demeanor, became so excited that he called out to his disciple.

"Huiming, Jingxin, pack your things, we'll leave Kaiyuan Temple with this general right away."

The ancient commander opened his mouth, but couldn't quite grasp the master's train of thought for a long time.

What exactly did our general write?

The medicine is so potent!
The old monk, who looked utterly dejected, was about to return to Kansai with his ailing body and two young monks under the age of ten.
You should know that Guanzhong is more than 4,000 li away from Sichuan!

This journey may mean never returning to one's hometown.

The senior monk is already forty-eight years old this year!
Zen Master Hongming: "."

I am still young and can live for another twenty years!
No matter how far Kansai is, I'll crawl there if I have to!
In that garrison called Ganluchuan, there was a renowned imperial physician who could heal his leg bone.

The mighty general was willing to ask the Provincial Governor of Sichuan and Chongqing to vouch for him, guaranteeing that he would be cured!
If anything goes wrong, the guards at the garrison will be asked to send it back to him.

As for whether it's a scam or not?

He believed that a dignified and powerful general and the provincial governor of Sichuan would have no reason to deceive a monk like him.

The other party made it very clear in the letter that more than thirty families of the paper craftsmen he had taught had gone to Kansai with their entire families.

He truly shared all his knowledge with these papermakers.

Even without his master craftsmanship, these people can successfully produce Xuan paper after trying it a few more times.

and so.

It could only be that the mighty general had a kind heart and wanted to help him heal his leg!
A monk who loves calligraphy and painting in addition to meditation, and who spent ten years learning papermaking techniques in the production area, must be a very pure-hearted person who loves life.

Gan Minglan believes that only sincerity can move such people.

In her letter, she sincerely expressed:
If you wish to continue your Buddhist practice once you arrive in Guanzhong, after your legs are healed, I can invite you to preach at Xianyan Temple, an ancient temple with a history of over a thousand years, which is a must-pass place for eminent monks from the Central Plains traveling westward by land to seek the Dharma.

Zen Master Hongming: General, you are truly a good person!
Kind benefactor, in the days before leaving Sichuan and Chongqing, you were still driving people to frantically buy local specialties.

Other generals chose items that were easy to carry and valuable.

For example: Shu brocade and tea.

It's great for personal use or as a gift, and it keeps well.

The variety and types of local specialties that General Gan bought were incredible.

In the end, even Emperor Qianwu was astonished by the local specialties he had purchased.

He even specially invited the son-in-law of the newly appointed Provincial Governor of Sichuan to come and ask him questions.

"Isn't the land reclamation in Kansai going very well? Why is life in the garrison posts still so hard?"

This concerns his future granaries and horse farms, so he must get to the bottom of it. Gan Mingfu recalled the food at the Ganluchuan camp, swallowed hard, and really couldn't see how it could be described as austere.

But since it was a local specialty that my older sister bought, I had to find some suitable reasons.

He said:

"Your Majesty, it's probably because the cooks are from Guanzhong. Their cooking is a bit rough. Most locals cook in tandoor ovens. When the herders are grazing their livestock, they don't have proper cooking utensils, so they use fresh sheep tripe as a pot."

They stuff sheep with mutton, onions, and other spices, then roast them over a fire or in the sand. Seasoning is mostly just salt. Pepper is expensive; a pound of pepper costs more than a whole sheep.

The variety of vegetables in Kansai is limited. In spring and summer, most of the food consists of wild vegetables, such as alfalfa and wild onions, which have a very good flavor. Alfalfa sprouts are eaten every day in the camp, and no one complains of getting tired of them. Autumn and winter offer a wider variety of vegetables. Harvested beans can be sprouted, and scallions, cucumbers, and carrots are edible. Chamaegu (a type of wild vegetable) is best stewed with mutton and carrots in winter; it tastes delicious that way.

General Gan is now hiring cooks and buying vegetable seeds, seasonings, and poultry, presumably to enrich the food options for the immigrants and soldiers in Guanzhong. Perhaps if they could eat more palatable meals, the immigrants would be more willing to settle on the frontier for generations to come.

Emperor Qianwu: "."

Alright, my current meals aren't actually that much better than those in the Kansai military camp!
He thought of bringing back many artisans to the garrison and also enriched everyone's food supply. General Gan was a hundred times better than those generals who only knew how to scramble for spoils of war.

He also got very angry when he mentioned a few generals who had very bad eating habits.

Human desires are insatiable!
If someone like that were stationed in a region, who knows how corrupt they would become.

Upon his triumphant return, he would seriously consider bestowing titles upon some of his meritorious officials.

Right now, his only worry is:

“It snows heavily in Kansai in October! Winter is two months longer than in the Kansai region. The local herders have been herding horses and sheep for generations. Can these poultry survive if brought back to Kansai?”

Gan Mingfu quickly reassured his father-in-law:

"Don't worry! The local herders in Kansai don't raise poultry because they are nomadic and live in felt tents. Moreover, most of them are Muslims and are not allowed to eat pork. They prefer to raise cattle and sheep rather than poultry like chickens and ducks, which have less meat."

But our Han Chinese eating habits are different! Now every garrison in Guanzhong has a brick kiln. The newly built brick houses all have chimneys and firewalls, and coal is burned for twelve hours a day, making the livestock pens of each household very warm.

Poultry such as pigs, chickens, ducks, and geese have short growth periods and can be raised in enclosures. As long as they are hatched in late spring each year, there will be an endless supply of pasture and grass seeds in summer and autumn.”

Therefore, the Kansai region today truly has the conditions for raising poultry.

Emperor Qianwu: "Good! Good! Good! General Gan is a good general who knows how to manage a household and is considerate of his soldiers."

Gan Mingfu: "."

There are certain skills involved in speaking to the emperor's father-in-law. You should tell the truth, but you can't tell everything.

A few days ago, his sister complained to him about it.

"I've eaten plenty of beef, mutton, and horse meat since I came to the Northwest! But no matter what I eat, what I miss most is the pig-slaughtering feast my mother used to make back in our hometown."

Pork is delicious no matter how it's cooked. The lean meat is tender and juicy, perfect for stir-frying or boiling, while the fat has a nice, oily flavor without being as greasy as beef. The large-tailed sheep from the Western Regions, however, does have mutton fat, and most people can't stomach that kind of taste.

Furthermore, this time they've encountered a Sichuanese chef skilled in cooking pork; no matter the conditions, they have to bring these people back to Guanzhong.

Those who have eaten coarse food will find it impossible to endure any hardship given the opportunity!

In short.

General Gan went out for a trip and finally awakened his foodie nature in Sichuan and Chongqing.

Under the guise of enriching the food supply for the Kansai camp, their real purpose was to satisfy their own appetites.
(End of this chapter)