Everyone knew that...
Huaxia was the light of civilization in the East, while the West had its own light of civilization: Italy.
Italy was called the light of Western civilization, first because the Roman Empire had existed there, and second because it was the birthplace of the Renaissance.
One reflection of the latter was Italy's influence on European food culture.
A classic example was the fork.
Forks first appeared in Italy. Catherine de' Medici brought them to France in the sixteenth century, while they did not become widespread in Britain until the eighteenth. Before then, people mainly had two utensils:
A spoon for soup and a knife for cutting food.
Other than that, the British ate with
their hands.
That was right—hands. You could see this in many early British paintings, such as The Peasant Wedding, which was treasured at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria.
The habit had even survived in some places in later times. For example, a failed writer called Novice Angler had once seen a British person put instant noodles in a bowl, pop it in the microwave, then pick them up and eat them with his bare hands.
Well, it wasn't that he meant to mock them, but John Bull really wasn't too particular about food.
Of course, another theory held that the Chinese had brought knives and forks to Europe.
But there wasn't much solid evidence for that claim, so it was best taken with a grain of salt.
Back to the dinner table.
Some people might have the mistaken impression that only river fish needed to be treated to remove their fishy smell, while eels didn't.
There were actually two errors in that assumption.
First, British eels were river fish too. They lived in the River Thames—and in 2019, the high levels of benzoyl, caffeine, and cocaine in the river led to mass "eel uprisings."
Second, British eels were every bit as fishy as carp. If you were curious, you could look up or try jellied eels, one of Britain's reigning champions of dark cuisine, rivaled only by Stargazy Pie.
In short,
untreated eel soup was undoubtedly hard to swallow for a modern person like Xu Yun. But in a poor British household in the seventeenth century, it could be considered one of the finest delicacies around.
"Whew..."
After gulping down a mouthful of steaming fish soup, William's face took on a look of contentment.
He set down his bowl, picked up a piece of bread with his left hand, and took a piece of cauliflower straight from the plate with his right. He dipped the bread in the gray-green sauce, then shoved the whole piece into his mouth, letting the juices drip onto the table.
No maids or servants, no wine or candlelight—barely a step up from eating raw meat, since they were too poor to add salt. This was Xu Yun's first meal in seventeenth-century England.
He couldn't stomach the eel soup, but he still had to show his host some courtesy. After hesitating for a few seconds, Xu Yun picked up the bread in front of him and spread on a little butter.
The bread Mrs. William had made was somewhat like the dense, layered steamed buns from back home. It was heavy and hard, with a grainy interior. It was dry to eat, but incredibly filling.
Xu Yun had spent some time in Wendeng, Ludong Province, where he'd eaten those layered steamed buns and cornmeal buns for months. So he was quite used to this kind of bread.
Unlike the Chinese tradition of "not speaking while eating or sleeping," John Bull loved to chat at the dinner table. The only rule was that you couldn't talk with food in your mouth.
So after drinking a couple of mouthfuls of fish soup, William spoke up:
"Mr. Fat Fish, how long are you planning to stay in Woolsthorpe?"
Xu Yun thought for a moment, then answered as the mission required:
"About one or two months. With the plague raging and the route between Britain and the Netherlands cut off, it'll probably be a while before I can write to my grandfather, Sir Zhang San."
At the mention of the plague, a trace of worry appeared on William's face.
"The plague... I hope those gentlemen can figure out a solution soon. It may be God's will, but at this rate, I'm afraid things will really get out of hand."
Watching William make the sign of the cross over his chest, Xu Yun shook his head slightly.
Whether it was the plague or cholera, their infectious causes had only been discovered in the past century or two.
For example, the bacterium responsible for the plague was not isolated until Alexandre Yersin identified it in 1894.
In the seventeenth century, Europeans had realized that quarantine could slow the spread of an epidemic, but they knew nothing about the underlying disease. After all, even cells had only been discovered by Hooke.
Most people believed epidemics were
divine punishment.
Some astrologers blamed bubonic plague on a malign conjunction of Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars, and the theory had plenty of believers.
Similar things had happened back home, too. The famous Five Pecks of Rice School, for example, had risen to prominence by taking advantage of the fear caused by plague among the people.
By the way, speaking of the Five Pecks of Rice School, here was an interesting fact:
Tao Yuanming had a famous line: "I cannot bow for five pecks of rice, nor humbly serve petty men in my village." Many people believed Tao had refused to lower himself for a meager salary. Even Baidu Baike said as much.
But that explanation had a huge hole in it. County magistrates in the Ming Dynasty had been described as impoverished despite earning seven shi and five dou a month. Could a magistrate in the Jin Dynasty really have earned only five dou?
Obviously not.
In fact, the "Five Pecks of Rice" referred to the Five Pecks of Rice School, the earliest Daoist sect. Officials had to maintain good relations with the sect.
When Tao Yuanming served as the Libationer of Jiangzhou, he clashed with his superior, Wang Ningzhi, who followed the Five Pecks of Rice School. Later, the Inspector who came to investigate was also a member of the sect, so Tao would rather resign than bow to him.
Although both interpretations conveyed Tao's integrity, the line itself mocked two entirely different things.
All right, back to the point.
When William heard that Xu Yun planned to stay in Woolsthorpe for two months, William Askew said nothing, but Mrs. William raised an eyebrow.
If he stayed here for two months, wouldn't that mean Little Ox would come over to mooch meals every day?
If Xu Yun had been called Xu Yun—or, rather, if he'd been a girl—the situation would have been easier. A girl's appetite probably wouldn't be that large, and she'd eat about as much as Lisa.
But Xu Yun was a young man in the prime of his youth. As the saying went, a growing boy could eat his father out of house and home. That would put the William family's food stores to the test.
William was already deep in debt, with only a little emergency money left under his pillow. The family still had some wheat flour and potatoes, but even with careful rationing, they would only last until January.
If Xu Yun ate as much as the Ailula Sisters and Lisa put together, then the family's provisions would probably last only until early December. And if the plague still hadn't been brought under control by then...
At the thought, Mrs. William's expression changed slightly.
My new book could use some support. Could you give me the monthly votes you earn from subscribing to other books? It'd give me the thrill of stealing someone else's love, and I'd update even faster!!!
Before you continue