[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-overthrowing-the-ming":3,"chapter-overthrowing-the-ming-overthrowing-the-ming-chapter-36":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Overthrowing the Ming",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2289263,4476,"Chapter 36: Delicious Food","overthrowing-the-ming-chapter-36",36,"\u003Cp>(Thanks to everyone for the support; I saw 21 active readers at noon. Let’s aim for 30 today and witness our growth together.)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Skin it!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Qinxiang’s expression remained unchanged as he finished speaking, then he picked up his dagger and walked toward the wolf carcasses!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Coward!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Guan Hongxin muttered, then stepped over the iron chains and followed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Over here, Lady Wang, Lady Xing, Crippled Liu, and the others were busy setting up pots and boiling water, while children like Yu Zhengchun and Heiliuzi were running back and forth with flushed faces, as if it were the New Year, fetching firewood and coal balls!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Several miners, along with Qian Zhong and Qian Yong, went to dismantle a few wooden planks from the shed to use as cutting boards, while Song Man hurried to the kitchen to fetch salt blocks and some simple seasonings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dang Xiongxin and Xiang Hu led several miners to first bury Gu Laosan, and upon returning, they built several bonfires together, instantly illuminating the cold, desolate night and making it warm and bright.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Little Orange and Little Niang were in the crowd, and having been teased by someone, they let out silver-bell-like laughter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li You sat on a high rock, chatting idly with Wang Qiong. Watching the scene before him, he felt a strong urge to protect them; if a person lived from birth to death only for themselves, that would surely be a very boring life!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Time flies. The last time I skinned a wolf was when I was fighting with Commandant Zhao!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Qinxiang had perfectly skinned the alpha wolf that had been shot through the belly and had its head smashed; if that arrow had hit the eye socket, this wolf pelt would have been worth much more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was from Suide Prefecture, Shaanxi; his father was a street performer, and he had attended a private school and learned sword and spear techniques since childhood. After the world turned chaotic, to earn a living, he became a retainer for the family of General Zhao Menglin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the second year of the Tianqi reign, the Later Jin army attacked Guangning and simultaneously occupied over forty cities outside the pass.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Governor Wang Huazhen abandoned Guangning and completely withdrew from all the towns outside the pass.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Menglin’s son, Zhao Lujiao, petitioned the Coordinator Wang Zaijin, stating he was willing to go and recover the Qian-Tunwei city, and he led thirty-eight retainers to do so; among these thirty-eight, the youngest was Li Qinxiang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the second year of the Chongzhen reign, the Later Jin army moved south from Daan Pass. Lujiao was anxious and galloped his horse frantically, reaching Santunying in three days and nights.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But strangely, Regional Commander Zhu Guoyan refused to let him in, so Lujiao had no choice but to ride west.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the battle began at Zunhua on the fourth day of the eleventh month, Zhao Lujiao, without any rest, was suddenly ambushed and killed by a flying arrow. Almost his entire force was wiped out; Li Qinxiang managed to escape, and in his despondency, he returned to his hometown.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the eleventh year of the Chongzhen reign, he fled south during the famine and later joined forces with Guan, Wang, Gao, and others for mutual support. Among the six, he was the most strategic and steady, so he was usually the leader, though the recent opportunistic raid on Longmen was instigated by Guan Hongxin and Zhou Yin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Guan Hongxin naturally knew something of Li Qinxiang’s background, though he didn't know which Commandant Zhao he meant. He couldn't be bothered to ask, muttering, \"Donkey, a hero shouldn't dwell on past glories; who hasn't been a hero in their day? My ancestors even went abroad and fought in the bloody battle of Byeokjegwan!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Guan Hongxin was 30 years old this year, from Yan'an Prefecture, a military household for generations. He was burly and dark-skinned, tall as a tree, and because he was stout, he walked like a crab.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the twentieth year of the Wanli reign, Toyotomi Hideyoshi of Japan, in order to divert domestic land conflicts, decided to use force to first occupy Korea, then conquer China, and then plot to take India, thereby dominating Asia. (This is the root of the \"three-month\" slogan.) On the fourteenth day of the fourth month of that same year, the Japanese army landed at Busan; nineteen days later they captured the capital, Hanseong, and within just one month, they swept through Korea's three provinces and eight circuits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Wanli Emperor overcame all opposition and decided to aid Korea!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Guan Hongxin’s father, Guan Zhengxiong, during the Imjin War in the twentieth year of the Wanli reign, was under the command of Assistant Regional Commander Yang Wudian, and later participated in the bloody battle of Byeokjegwan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But because of his misconduct—teasing Korean women and trading all his military merits for silver to gamble—he never attained any official rank, and later returned to Yulin Guard to muddle through life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the second year of the Chongzhen reign, a Squad Leader embezzled the money meant for Guan Zhengxiong’s coffin and burial. Nineteen-year-old Guan Hongxin, furious, stabbed his superior to death. Just then, roving bandits were everywhere, so he followed \"Ke Tianfei\" He Chongwei and became a roving bandit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the fourth year of the Chongzhen reign, Bai Guang'en, a second-team captain under \"Huntianhou\" Zhang Mengjin, defected to Hong Chengchou. In the sudden betrayal, He Chongwei was sold out, and his subordinates were either killed or surrendered. Guan Hongxin, looking down on both the roving bandits and the government troops, began wandering south alone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the eleventh year of the Chongzhen reign, he met the Gao Conglong brothers and came to Hanzhong Prefecture together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Sigh... never mind!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Qinxiang and Guan Hongxin chatted idly, both of them focusing on the wolf pelts before them, and even more so on examining the wounds on the wolves. After checking several, they looked at each other, both seeing shock in the other's eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Whoa... good fellow, Old Li, the wolf skin you peeled is really smooth and oily... Hey, what's wrong? What are you looking at?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Conglong picked up a bloody pelt and leaned in to look; it was incredible—two wolves had been skewered together by a single heavy arrow!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My goodness... two birds with one stone? Could it be that Yang Youji has descended to earth to shoot this?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Conglong was truly stunned; looking closer, there was another one with its head pierced, the arrow shaft still stuck in it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One must know that wolves are known for having \"copper heads, iron bones, and tofu waists.\" For an arrow to actually pierce a wolf's skull, and another to pierce through the bellies of two wolves, how heavy must that bow be? How great the strength?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They couldn't help but look at the bow case at Li You’s feet, but they could only see that the bow tips were very large; they couldn't see what it actually looked like.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Donkey, that must be at least fifteen units of strength, right? Does the army even have such powerful large-tip bows?\" Guan Hongxin whispered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The \"large-tip bow\" he referred to was the standard military term, while scholars liked to call it the Kaiyuan bow!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Is he really just a scholar?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Conglong stared at the blood-covered Li You and couldn't help but mutter; Li You felt more and more mysterious to them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The two over there were chopped in half, and each was just one strike!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Qinxiang’s voice was not loud, but his tone still held an irrepressible horror.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Conglong swallowed his saliva and was about to speak when suddenly, the sound of knives and axes rang out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Clang... clang... clang...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Longjin carried a wolf carcass that had been decapitated and began chopping it with a Xuanhua axe. First, he chopped off the wolf's paws and limbs, then the head. Little Niang and Lady Wang helped on the side, filling basins and jars with the removed wolf heart, lungs, stomach, and intestines. Even the wolf blood was caught from start to finish in coarse earthenware jars. To them, these offal were rare delicacies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once these were removed, there wasn't much meat and bone left on the wolf. It wasn't just wolves; in this era, the meat yield of pigs, sheep, and dogs was never high. Even the meat yield of pigs was no more than fifty percent. As for the white-striped pigs in the markets of later generations, those were Danish pigs introduced in the 60s and 70s. Our own native pork had a very low lean meat percentage and poor fertility, and was not favored by the people. Breeds like the Jinhua pig in Zhejiang, the Rongchang pig in Sichuan, and the Taihu pig in Jiangsu were basically on the verge of extinction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Therefore, the \"fish and meat at every meal\" in ancient times, even in the so-called \"prosperous ages,\" was only for the wealthy and powerful meat-eating class. If the common folk weren't eating Guanyin clay, they had to know how to be grateful, kowtow quickly, and shout \"Prosperous Age!\" How could it compare to the peaceful and prosperous age under the red flag?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although there wasn't much meat, fortunately, there were wolf paws, ribs, offal, and bones that could be eaten. The large bones could be boiled into soup, and adding some Wugen, mountain spice roots, and sumac roots made it a great tonic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most importantly, Li You had killed eight wolves by his own strength today, two of which were alpha wolves, each weighing nearly a hundred catties. Even with the large number of miners and salt slaves, counting meat, bones, and soup, each person could eat about eight catties, which was enough for two or three meals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was far more luxurious than the New Year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone was eager to eat meat, so their movements were nimble. Li Qinxiang’s side had already finished their work, and soon the aroma of meat wafted from the two large iron pots. On the cutting boards in front of Wa Qingyun and Liu Longjin, there was still a large pile of cut meat and bones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Qinxiang and Guan Hongxin each held a roll of wolf skin and walked toward Li You. Wolves are animals with spirit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wolf skin can be moisture-proof and heat-insulating, especially in the late Ming Dynasty during the Little Ice Age; it is no exaggeration to say that a good animal skin could save a life in extreme cold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Sir, tsk tsk, these two skins are amazing! This year is sure to be another cold winter. If we tan these wolf skins, they will make a cloak or bedding that will be very warm.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Guan Hongxin enthusiastically spread out the wolf skin. From nose to tail, it was over two meters long. The cheeks had black fur, the ears were a scorched gray, the hair on the whole body was dense and coarse, there was a black mane along the spine, and the tail was gray-white, thick, and long. The two ears were still standing upright; it was truly a fine pelt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Qinxiang also spread out the wolf skin in his hands. His craftsmanship was superb, and the skinning was even more perfect, with only a coarse arrow hole at the belly—that was where Li You had shot it, and he had only added a kick later—so this pelt was far better than the one Guan Hongxin had.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Qiong, standing to the side, also looked on with envy. He had plenty of silk and satin, and good sable too, but they were all too small, used for scarves, hats, and the like. He really didn't have a pelt as large as this one; not to mention him, even Wu Nai, the head of the miners, didn't have one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I heard that a mattress made of wolf skin is very comfortable, and wolves are cautious by nature. If you lie on it and someone else walks nearby, you will feel it; the wolf fur will stand up immediately.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Qiong stepped forward, touching it while clicking his tongue, looking as if he couldn't bear to let go.\u003C\u002Fp>",2032,"2026-06-20T03:32:06.992Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","010897c8313cf7559a5a835c7c6d3ddb9896c5de94e54767590083e0d6b0d39b","overthrowing-the-ming-chapter-37","overthrowing-the-ming-chapter-35",71,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Foverthrowing-the-ming-cover.jpg"]