"What, abandoned?? Then you..."
“Your Highness, there is no need to panic. I have inspected all these dishes and they are harmless. The reason they are discarded is that County Magistrate Lu had too high standards for the dishes.”
"That's too high. But the dishes we had at his tavern weren't any better, were they?"
"It's different. The tavern's dishes are for the guests. But these dishes are all made for him. He experimented with each one repeatedly, but in the end, they were mostly given to the servants at home."
"Such elaborate and exquisite dishes are something even I, the crown prince, can't afford. He only cooks them for himself at home? From what you're saying, he's not satisfied with these dishes?"
"Has Your Highness thought of anything?" Changyuan asked calmly.
"Such refined manners are not what a swordsman from the Western Regions should have. Who was he before he lost his memory? Could he have been a scion of some noble family?"
"Changyuan initially thought so too. But he later overturned that idea."
"Tell me about it." The Crown Prince waved for the servants to remove all the dishes. Then he poured himself and Changyuan a cup of tea, adopting a listening posture.
“The scions of aristocratic families are usually quite distinctive. They are raised with strict discipline and have very unique manners and demeanor that make them easy to identify at a glance. However, this County Magistrate Lu, although he is also well-versed in poetry and literature, is completely different from those scions of aristocratic families in terms of temperament.”
He possessed a kind of...freedom. It was a freedom born from detachment from power, status, and all of that. It was as if he didn't belong to our world. Sometimes I even envied him; I've cultivated the Tao for many years, yet I've never felt that way.
Changyuan's words caused the Crown Prince's expression to change slightly. This was indeed very high praise, but it was different from what he had imagined.
"What I really want to know now is whether he is suitable to enter the court."
"I can't guarantee that from Changyuan. But I just received some very interesting news. That is, this County Magistrate Lu is buying pigs everywhere."
"Pigs? Those domesticated animals, their meat is smelly and only eaten by the lower classes?"
"Yes, as I mentioned before, this County Magistrate Lu has tried various new dishes, many of which are made with pork. However, he doesn't seem satisfied with them. I feel that he is now trying to solve this problem."
Crown Prince Li Heng was no fool; he was arguably one of the most well-educated people in the world. Therefore, he grasped the crux of the matter almost instantly.
"If he can solve this problem, the people of our Great Tang will have another type of meat to eat. This is a great benefit to the country and the people, and can be described as a meritorious deed."
"If Your Highness wants to know whether he is suitable to enter the court, you only need to see if he can succeed. Although this matter may seem crude and lowly, it is actually related to the people's livelihood. If he succeeds, then Your Highness's worries will naturally not be a problem."
The crown prince nodded slightly. But then he seemed to remember something.
"Changyuan, go to Master Mao Shun's place later and ask him to forge a knife for me."
Changyuan smiled slightly, clearly understanding the Crown Prince's thoughts. Regardless of whether Lu Xuan succeeded, it was always wise to pay a small price to establish a connection. The Crown Prince's move was undoubtedly brilliant. For ordinary people, who would never even meet Master Mao Shun, he naturally couldn't afford to act arrogantly in front of the Crown Prince.
Lu Xuan was unaware that the Crown Prince and his best friend were discussing him. At that moment, he was attempting his first pig castration...
Xiao Si and the old man were looking at him with pained expressions.
"Boss, if you want to eat this, just tell me. You don't have to do it yourself."
"Shut up," Lu Xuan snapped irritably. But he didn't know how to explain. He could only let the two of them hold the piglet down while he tried to do it himself.
He remembered seeing pig castration in the countryside when he was a child. It must have involved cutting off the two testicles. So he followed suit, and with a swift motion, his small knife made a cut...
Holy crap, something seems wrong with the cut. The little piglet was bleeding profusely from its genitals, and nothing could stop it. Before his testicles were even removed, it started convulsing...
Lu Xuan: "......"
Old man: "......"
Xiao Si: "......"
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Chapter Thirty-Five: On the Question of Hens Laying Eggs
The first attempt at castrating the pig was a complete failure. Absolutely perfect; the piglet died before it was even fully castrated.
Lu Xuan was not giving up, so he decisively made another one...
This time he was much more careful, gently cutting open the outer skin, and then, mimicking a blurry memory, he squeezed it out. The piglet let out a scream that didn't sound like a pig, and then began to struggle violently.
This time, however, it was full of energy. It showed no sign of dying suddenly. Lu Xuan was overjoyed, feeling he had found the right direction. Then, in one go, he castrated all six remaining piglets.
After finishing, Lu Xuan felt refreshed. At this moment, the old man brought out a large bowl of eggs and handed it to Lu Xuan.
"Boss, everyone's here. What are you planning to do with this? Boil it or fry it? By the way, is this thing even edible?"
Lu Xuan really wanted to say that this thing was not only edible, but also nourishing and kidney-tonifying, making it an excellent tonic. However, he knew that saying so would only deepen the misunderstanding. So he simply didn't explain, took the bowl, and planned to stir-fry it that evening...
After being castrated, the piglets immediately lost their vitality, spending their days eating and sleeping. Lu Xuan was very satisfied with this. This was exactly the effect he wanted. If pigs are too active, they won't gain weight. The meat will become tough and unpalatable. After castration, the piglets, without the stimulation of sex hormones, will lose interest in most things, thus spending their days eating and sleeping. This makes them grow faster and gain weight more easily. The meat will also be more tender, and the gamey smell will be significantly reduced.
A few days later, the old man rushed over to find Lu Xuan.
"Boss, there are a few piglets, something's not right."
Upon hearing this, Lu Xuan immediately became anxious. This concerned the fate of his braised pork, so he rushed over to check on it.
Upon arriving at the location, Lu Xuan understood immediately. He had oversimplified the situation; the piglets' wounds were likely infected. Castration surgery, though minor, was performed in a very important location. The pigpen's dirty and unsanitary environment naturally made infection more likely.
Infections like this rarely occurred in later generations because anti-infective drugs were already very advanced. However, in the Tang Dynasty, for Lu Xuan, it was an incurable problem...
Lu Xuan told the old man to find a doctor, but the doctor, upon hearing that he was treating a piglet, felt insulted and kicked him out. The old man went to another doctor, but upon hearing the cause of the piglet's illness, the doctor diagnosed the old man as mentally ill...
Left with no other choice, the old man could only get some human wound medicine and take it back to try on the pigs.
...............
The tavern was thriving, but this strong liquor was only popular among the lower and middle classes. The aristocratic class considered it unbecoming of their status. They preferred milder yellow wine. This actually suited Lu Xuan's tastes better. He hadn't wanted to do business with the wealthy nobles from the start, because he didn't want to attract their attention too early.
The efforts to improve their living conditions continued. After consuming more than a dozen piglets, Lu Xuan had basically mastered a reasonable castration process. At the same time, he also concocted a wound medicine specifically for piglets using human wound medicine, increasing their survival rate to 80% to 90%.