Yi Ya has an absolute sense of taste, also known as the "emperor's tongue", which can distinguish the finest and most extreme taste of ingredients, which is why he is good at seasoning.

People with this talent are born cooks.

Yi Xiang told Zhang Dongguan that Yi Ya's descendants have inherited this talent, but because of what their ancestors Yi Ya did, they are ashamed to engage in cooking.

But even if they are engaged in other industries, Yiya's descendants will often practice good cooking skills.

Because they can't eat ordinary food at all, they have to make it themselves.

However, even if he has a cooking skill, Yiya's descendants will not engage in cooking.

Including Yi Xiang himself, even if he sells medicinal candy on the streets, he will not enter the kitchen business.

It's just that Yi Ya left a will before his death, asking his descendants to take over the position of secretary and pass it on from generation to generation.

As a descendant of the Yi family, even if he is unwilling, he has no way to disobey his ancestors' orders, so he has passed on the position of secretary from generation to generation.

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

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

After witnessing the death of his family, he wanted to die but was alive, but he made a mistake and failed to die.

So he left for a living, selling medicine and candy for a living, hoping to die in a foreign country.

However, as fate would have it, he met a person who had the same absolute sense of taste as him, that is, Zhang Dongguan.

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

Therefore, he made a decision, that is, to accept Zhang Dongguan as an apprentice, and after he returned to the west, he passed on the position of secretary to Zhang Dongguan.

It's just that after accepting Zhang Dongguan as an apprentice, he never found a suitable opportunity to mention this matter to Zhang Dongguan, and he was a little hesitant, not knowing whether to do it or not.

Later, after Zhang Dongguan entered the palace and served as the chief chef of the imperial dining room, he was even more difficult to say.

This position is equivalent to the secretary of the year, and he believes that if Zhang Dongguan learns about his culinary heritage, he will inevitably be weak in the face of the emperor.

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

It wasn't until Zhang Dongguan's parents passed away that he suddenly had a premonition that he was about to reach his limit.

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

He asked Zhang Dongguan if he would like to accept the position of secretary, and if Zhang Dongguan was unwilling, he would bring this position into the coffin, and there would be no more secretary in the world from then on.

After learning everything, Zhang Dongguan comforted Yi Xiang, saying that Yi Zu violated morality, and if future generations can change their past wrongs, it is not impossible.

At that time, the great traitor Qin Hui's great-grandson Qin Ju resisted Jin Weiguo, and all seven members of the family sacrificed their lives for the country, and after his death, he was named a martyr, and he was also praised by the world.

What's more, it is already a hundred generations later, why should we bear the responsibility of our predecessors?

So, Zhang Dongguan said that he was willing to take over the position of secretary on behalf of Yi Xiang and share his worries for the master.

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

After going back, Yi Xiang fell ill, and within three days, he died with a whimper.

Zhang Dongguan was buried for Master Yi and kept filial piety together, but he also contracted a cold and died in the second year.

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

But before a few of his disciples rushed back, he passed away.

The memory was stripped away, and Li Yi raised his gaze and looked at the wooden tablet in front of him.

A series of golden inscriptions appeared, and Zhang Dongguan's life also appeared on the stele.

Zhang Dongguan (August 13 of the 50th year of Kangxi to the 7th day of the lunar month of the 52nd year of Qianlong)

Male, a native of Gusu in Suzhou Province, 12 followed Yi Xiang, a descendant of Yi Ya, to learn to cook, and 22 entered Songhe Tower as the chief chef, crowning Suzhou and Hangzhou. In the sixteenth year of Qianlong, he was rewarded for entering the weaving kitchen in Suzhou to make food for Emperor Qianlong. In the 30th year of Qianlong, he was appointed by Qianlong and entered Beijing as the head chef of the imperial dining room. In the 50th year of Qianlong, he was ordered by Emperor Qianlong to make a banquet of thousands of people, and the Manchu and Han Dynasty sat together, and Qianlong took over as the secretary in 51 years, and died of a cold in the following year.

Looking at the inscriptions of this line, Li Yi felt a little complicated.

This time, he was not given a clear assignment.

Or rather, he received the last main quest.

Before Yi Xiang died of illness, he called Zhang Dongguan to the front of the collapse and explained that since he was the director, he would strive for excellence, bring forth the new, study cooking skills, and benefit the world.

Yi Xiang said that the kitchen is endless.

Chefs have tasted the taste of the world in the past, but now, there are still new chili peppers that can be added to the dishes, adding more flavor to the kitchen.

He heard that there are white-haired countries, yellow-haired countries, and barbarian lands overseas, and the cooks there should also have their own uniqueness.

The way of cooking, the most taboo is complacent, complacent.

In ancient times, the position of the cook had the ability to command the world's cooks, and also had the responsibility of creating and researching the taste.

Today, the position is vacant, but since he has taken over this position, he has to take on the responsibility of creating and researching.

He exhorted Zhang Dongguan to remain humble and studious, devote himself to adding flavor to the people's meals, and expand the territory for the way of cooking.

This is not a specific task, but an expectation.

Thundered!

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

Behind the wooden stele, the wall of fog that separated the wooden stele and the eight-sided stele gradually dissipated with this vibration.

As the last trace of mist submerged into the wall, the two spaces were directly unobstructed, and they became one.

Seeing this scene, Li Yi realized something.

He looked back at the bottom of Zhang Dongguan's inscription, where there was still a blank space, but there was only room for the inscription of a person's life.

He understood that that area should be reserved for him.

And he finally extracted all the cooking skills in the wooden tablet, and he may not be able to enter the wooden tablet space again in the future.

Raising his hand and gently patting the wooden tablet, Li Yi was in a somewhat complicated mood.

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

But today, he has become a nationally renowned chef, thanks to this wooden monument.

And this wooden tablet also represents the essence of various cooking skills in Chinese cuisine.

However, just like the blank space at the bottom of the wooden tablet, this is not the limit of Chinese cooking.

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

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

As soon as the thought moved, he turned to look.

I saw that on the metal plate behind me, in the occupation column, [Master Chef] was gradually disappearing, and then replaced by [Master Chef].

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

After the Gaoyou Food Festival's art and benefit, plus the addition of Zhang Dongguan's skills, his chef career has finally reached its limit.

In the future, if he wants to go further, he will have to work towards the level of a chef.

The teacher refers to the spread of branches and leaves, and the art benefits people.

Family refers to the establishment of a sect and its own self-containedness.

If he wants to become a generation of "chefs", he must take a new path.

A way of cooking that belongs to him.

3

(End of chapter)