The Great Song Dynasty: You were put in charge of teaching, and you produced a whole bunch of prime

The carriage rolled over the bluestone slabs of Bianjing, the monotonous sound of which was unsettling.

The carriage was dark. Su Shi huddled in a corner, his back, soaked with cold sweat, pressed against the carriage wall, feeling sticky and uncomfortable. He felt like a fish that had just been pulled ashore, still panting heavily.

Yelü Hongji was quite unceremonious, swaggering to one side, clutching the folding fan he had taken, tapping the window frame with the hilt of his sword, and humming an unknown Liao Dynasty tune as he walked off-key to his grandmother's house.

"Headmaster."

Su Shi finally couldn't hold it in any longer; his voice became so hoarse it sounded like he had swallowed a handful of sand.

Jiang Lin leaned against the cushion, closed his eyes to rest, and didn't even lift his eyelids: "Let go."

"That couplet with the uncertain outcome..." Su Shi gritted his teeth, his face full of unwillingness, "If we only consider tonal patterns and parallelism, I have just reviewed no less than ten interpretations in my mind, which are definitely more perfect than yours."

"But why was it that at that moment... I felt like I was going to die, and couldn't utter a single word?"

This is not just confusion, but also a self-doubt about one's intelligence.

For the proud Song Dynasty scholar, admitting that his "talent was useless" was more painful than being killed.

Jiang Lin slowly opened his eyes. In the darkness, his gaze was as calm as two bottomless pools of cold water.

"Zizhan, do you think Zhang Shilian is playing a game of 'flying flowers' with you?"

Su Shi was stunned: "Isn't that right?"

"Stupid." Jiang Lin uttered two words, each one piercing to the heart.

Su Shi blushed, wanting to refute but not daring to.

"He presented you with the first line of a couplet, mentioning 'starving corpses' and 'chaotic times.' What does that mean?" Jiang Lin sat up straight, his tone indifferent. "It's a pledge of loyalty. It's also a noose that will push you toward the guillotine."

"If you are a treacherous official who whitewashes the 'prosperous age,' then you are not the only one who has purged the refugees outside the city."

"If you speak of 'suffering,' then you are a traitor who slanders the court and expresses dissatisfaction with the officials. This is not a literary question at all; it is a question of political stance."

Jiang Lin extended a finger and tapped Su Shi's brow from a distance.

"Remember, in the face of absolute political correctness, all rhetoric and literary flair are just fancy words. If you're biased, every word you write will become evidence in court."

boom!

Su Shi felt a chill run down his spine and froze on the spot.

These words were like a bucket of ice water, completely chilling his intellectual arrogance. He had always thought it was a contest of talent, but it turned out they were playing a game of interpretation.

If he had really forced a rhyming couplet just to show off his talent, he would probably be drinking tea at the Imperial City Guard by now.

"That...that abbot's 'great achievements for all ages'..." Su Shi stammered.

"That's 'momentum'." Jiang Lin's lips curled into a playful smile. "He uses the suffering of the people as a knife, and I'll use the rise of a great power as a shield."

When I say "the sun and moon shine again," I'm elevating the status of the government and the court to a historical level. From this perspective, the current difficulties are like "the darkness before dawn."

Su Shi's mouth was agape, and he couldn't close it for a long time.

This theory wasn't written in the classics!

This is a shattering of morality and ethics, revealing the bloody, game-like nature of the game. It's frighteningly straightforward, yet so truthful that it's impossible to refute.

"Alright, stop looking like you've never seen the world." Jiang Lin leaned back and waved lazily. "Go back and copy 'Strategies of the Warring States' and 'Han Feizi' ten times. Stop reading those romantic and sentimental things; they'll make your brain suffer from oxygen deprivation."

Yelü Hongji, who had been listening to nonsense, finally snapped: "Hey! Jiang, can you stop talking nonsense? You said we'd go home to eat meat, where's the meat? My stomach is growling louder than a car wheel!"

Jiang Lin glanced at him and chuckled softly.

"What's the rush? The pig's still on the chopping block; we have to slaughter it slowly."

……

Half an hour later, at Runzhou Jingshi Academy.

The kitchen was brightly lit and full of the aroma of cooking.

Jiang Lin rolled up his sleeves and twirled the kitchen knife in his hand in a beautiful flourish.

On the cutting board, a piece of premium pork with five layers of fat and lean meat has been cut into squares the size of mahjong tiles.

"Watch closely, this is the first lesson."

Remove the pot from the heat, bring water to a boil, add the meat to the cold water, and serve with scallions, ginger, and cooking wine.

"Zhang Shilian is just like this piece of meat." Jiang Lin said calmly, looking at the scum rising in the water.

"It smells fishy and filthy. To eat it directly? That's just asking for trouble with your stomach. You have to blanch it first to force out the filth and remove the fishy smell."

Yelü Hongji lay sprawled on the stove, his eyes wide like saucers, drool practically dripping from his mouth: "And then?"

"Then?"

Jiang Lin scooped out the meat chunks and drained them.

Leave some oil in the pan, then add rock sugar. Stir over low heat until the syrup melts and turns into a dark red, fine foam.

"Caramelizing the sugar. To make it look...more tempting, more like something good."

The meat chunks went into the pot and sizzled loudly.

The rich aroma of caramel mixed with the scent of meat explodes instantly, that domineering fragrance is like a hook, relentlessly drilling into your nostrils.

The originally pale white chunks of meat were instantly coated with a layer of bright red sugar coating. Under the light, they trembled and looked as tempting as red agate, tempting one to commit a crime.

Su Shi thought he was already full from being frightened, but the aroma forced its way into the top of his head, stirring up his most primal instincts. His stomach, quite uncooperatively, rumbled.

Add water to cover the meat. Add star anise, cinnamon, and bay leaves to the water in that order.

Cover the pot with the lid and turn the heat to low.

"This is called slow cooking over a low flame." Jiang Lin slowly washed and dried his hands. "If the cooking time is not right, the meat will be tough and dry, and you might break your teeth. If the cooking time is right, it will be soft, tender, and flavorful, rich but not greasy, and it will melt in your mouth without you having to chew it."

He turned to look at Su Shi, his eyes deep and unfathomable: "The same principle applies to dealing with enemies. Zhang Shilian has powerful backers; to confront him head-on would be reckless."

"First, create momentum, peel away the skin, blanch him, isolate him, and roast him over a fire. When public anger boils over and the officials become disgusted, then... he'll be fully cooked."

Looking at the bubbling iron pot, Su Shi felt a chill, followed by an indescribable sense of awe.

Governing a big country is like cooking a small fish.

So this is what's known as a "pig butchering scam"?

Half an hour later.

The pot lid was lifted.

The thick, crimson sauce coated every piece of meat, its vibrant red color breathtaking. Jiang Lin ladled out a large bowl, sprinkled on some bright green scallions, and pushed it directly in front of Yelü Hongji.

"Let's build it."

Yelü Hongji had long since lost patience. Regardless of whether it was hot or not, he grabbed a piece and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Ugh—!"

The Liao prince's eyes widened instantly, as if he had been struck by lightning.

The skin is tender and the meat is succulent; the fat explodes on the tongue, yet it's not greasy at all. The lean meat soaks up the broth and melts in your mouth. The rich, savory-sweet meaty aroma is like a thousand troops charging into battle in your mouth, so satisfying it's like your head is about to explode.

"Delicious! It's fucking delicious!"

Yelü Hongji, his mouth greasy, roared indistinctly, "What kind of divine meat is this? It's even more delicious than the whole roasted lamb I ate in the capital!"

"Dongpo... oh no, Jiang's braised pork." Jiang Lin poured himself a cup of tea, casually saying, "If you eat my meat, you'll have to help in fights from now on."

"I'll do my part! I absolutely have to!" Yelü Hongji thumped his chest loudly. "From now on, if anyone dares to mess with you, I'll twist their head off and use it as a football! As long as you provide food, I'll give you my life!"

Su Shi also picked up a piece and carefully put it in his mouth.

In that instant, all the grievances, fear, and resentment I felt before were healed by this piece of meat.

Of all things in the world, only good food and love should not be taken for granted. If one meal of braised pork can't solve something, then two meals will do.

Jiang Lin watched the two wolfing down their food, his eyes gradually turning cold.

"We've finished eating the meat."

Jiang Lin put down his teacup and tapped the table lightly with his fingertips, making a rhythmic "tap-tap" sound, like some kind of countdown.

"Next, it's time for those rats hiding in the sewers to vomit up the blood they've ingested."

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the kitchen.

Su Zhe rushed in, panting, waving several sheets of paper with undried ink in his hand. His face showed a strange excitement, as well as a bit of frightened tension.

"Headmaster! Elder brother!"

Su Zhe, drenched in sweat from running, swallowed hard, glanced at the Liao crown prince who was engrossed in his meal, and lowered his voice: "As you instructed, the front page of tomorrow's *Great Song Morning Post* has been printed! But... but..."

He trembled slightly: "Isn't this headline a bit too arrogant? If this gets published, half of the officialdom in Bianjing will probably explode!"

Jiang Lin took the sample copy and glanced at it.

Printed in bold, ink, was a striking headline. The font was sharp and menacing.

Jiang Lin's lips curled slightly upward, but there was no smile in his eyes, only a chilling light.

"mad?"

He casually slammed the sample magazine on the table, causing the braised pork in the plate to tremble three times.

"That's exactly the kind of explosive effect I wanted."

Su Shi curiously leaned over to take a look, and immediately gasped, dropping his chopsticks to the ground with a "clatter".

The title clearly stated—

A Deep Dive into the Horrifying Night at Fanlou: Who is Using This as a Pledge of Allegiance to Fawn Over an Enemy Country?