Chapter 130 Fried bacon with chives, it's time to show the real technique
Yanzhou, Chenliu County, the backyard of Cai Mansion.
"哐, 哐, 哐..."
The sound of forging was heard constantly. Since the first piece of steel was successfully forged by Dian Wei, three more furnaces have been added here. The forging base that originally occupied only one courtyard was expanded to three courtyards.
This is all what Lu Yu ordered. His support for forged steel can be said to be sparing no effort...
In addition, the Forged Steel Experimental Base has deployed many new craftsmen, all of whom are the most outstanding blacksmiths in Longxiao Camp...
The entire backyard has been expanded from the original five or six craftsmen to twenty or thirty craftsmen.
Because the skill of steel forging is not yet mature and the success rate is only about 30%, Lu Yu has not yet started large-scale steelmaking in the forging shop in Longxiao Camp.
This is also to avoid wasting the best iron as much as possible.
According to Xun Yu, Cao Ying's iron and iron reserves have bottomed out.
Logically speaking, this forged steel should be the business of a group of rough old men, but in this backyard, almost every day at dawn, a graceful, confident and pretty girl will come here... and will not leave until sunset.
go.
Because of the four furnaces, the temperature in the backyard is extremely hot.
Living in it, this girl's clothes were almost completely soaked with sweat every day, and the dust here also dyed her fair cheeks gray, like a country girl.
All the craftsmen here know that she is Cao Mu, the eldest daughter of Duke Cao and the female disciple of Miss Cai Yan!
Because of Lu Yu...she was determined to learn blacksmithing.
How could Lu Yu stop the eldest lady of the Cao family? He simply asked her to go to the backyard to learn from these craftsmen...
What surprised Lu Yu was that this girl was quite capable. She became a disciple of Dian Wei and asked Dian Wei to teach her personally.
However, with her thin arms and legs, she couldn't even lift a piece of iron, let alone forged steel.
I originally thought...this girl would quit after her excitement was over.
But I never thought that she seemed to be hardened by the weight, and she would never give up until she understood the subject of "Hundred Works and Blacksmithing".
"Master Dian? Is the flame temperature controlled at blue-white this time?"
Cao Mu asked Dian Wei while observing the iron in the furnace...
"Yes, it is blue and white. The bellows is increasing the temperature to make it pure white." Dian Wei answered patiently.
Speaking of which, this always carefree Gu Zilai was surprisingly patient when facing Cao Mu. As for the reason, Cao Mu always stole some good dog meat from Cao Mansion every day when he came here.
And what Dian Wei likes to eat most is dog meat...
After going back and forth, I naturally became one with this little girl.
"Then the temperature of this forging is the same as the one hundred and forty-third forging of steel, and it also changed from blue and white to pure white... The forging of steel that time was successful." Cao Mu said these while talking.
The contents are recorded on the bamboo slips held in the hands.
Just because she can't move iron or forge steel doesn't mean she can't learn to forge...
Dian Wei was forged with experience, and she recorded every detail of Dian Wei's forging process, including when and how much temperature was used, the rate of temperature increase in the direction of the wind, and the corresponding changes in the iron and steel in the furnace, all in detail...
Record them one by one and summarize them slowly when you go back.
Facts have proved that this approach is of great benefit to forged steel.
Why was this forging successful? Why was this forging failed? What was the same reaction between the flame and the iron in the two failures? What are the similarities among the successful examples!
Because of Cao Mu's meticulous summary, today's forged steel has avoided at least thirty kinds of mistakes, and the success rate has increased from a little more than 20% to 30%.
Of course, there is no way to measure the temperature specifically in this era, and even... the outside temperature, wind direction, rain and snow will all affect the fire temperature in the furnace.
But...as we all know, there are eight colors of flame - namely red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, indigo and white.
If we extend it further, in physics, flames are atoms of matter. They hit the magnetic field at different frequencies and produce different light waves;
The ability to convert external energy per unit time is different, and a total of eight colors will be produced;
The arcs of electron orbits between different atoms are different, and the reflected light is also different, so we can see different colors.
Of course... it is impossible for Dian Wei and Cao Mu to understand these physical knowledge.
They only knew that the different colors of the flames in the furnace corresponded to different states and temperatures, which was very helpful for Cao Mu's records.
Her "Fire Control Technique" has recorded more than seventy bamboo slips, and this number is still increasing.
Just then...
"Eh..."
Dian Wei suddenly raised his head and his nose moved obviously.
Cao Mu was a little surprised. You must know that when Dian Wei was forging steel, he was almost concentrating on it. No matter how loud the outside sound was, he seemed to be completely unable to hear it, and this smell...
Cao Mu's little nose also moved. It smelled so good... This kind of incense was different from incense and sachets. It had a mellow aroma that made people move their index fingers and make their stomach growl.
stand up.
"This is…"
Before Cao Mu could come to his senses, he could only hear the sound of "tap, tap, tap" footsteps coming from all directions outside the courtyard. It seemed that... they were running towards the courtyard next door...
The Cai Mansion was very large, with eight or nine courtyards in the front and back courtyards, and in Cao Mu's impression...
It seems that except for the main hall, Lu Yu's dormitory, Master Cai Yan's dormitory, and the exclusive courtyard for servants, the rest of the courtyards are basically empty...
And the one next door is also empty...
While I was still thinking, the sounds outside became louder and louder.
"Why are you still standing there? Look where you are... Mr. Lu Yu is pressing oil. He said it is pure natural vegetable oil... Oh, it smells delicious!"
"Go quickly, go quickly... I can smell this fragrance from a long distance away. I really want to take a bite!"
"Master Lu said that today, the maids and servants of the mansion will each send a small bucket..."
"Oh, come to think of it, besides smelling good, what else can this thing do?"
Words of discussion spread out...
Lu Yu was pressing oil in the courtyard next door.
On this side, the two courtyards were connected and became a forged steel experimental base. The courtyard next door was idle, so Lu Yu simply changed it into an oil mill... trying to squeeze oil.
Actually, extracting oil is not difficult…
For example, to press sesame oil, which is the so-called "flax seed" oil in this era, you can use the method in "Essential Art for Qi Min" - "Fry the sesame oil, the water vapor will be smokeless, and it will still be cold when it no longer boils. You can stir it with your hands
If you get water, the flames will rise, and the soldiers will be scattered and will not be extinguished."
Speaking in human terms - just one word: fried...
This is quite similar to the method of refining animal oil, which is a piece of cake for the cooks hired by Lu Yu.
But... what surprised them was that besides animals, this flax can also produce oil? How amazing...
Of course, the magic is yet to come...
According to the literature records of "Agricultural Book" and "Tiangong Kaiwu", Lu Yu simply drew a set of wooden pressing equipment.
It is left to the craftsmen to extract oil from "rapeseed", "tea seeds" and "red dates". The principle is to use the huge pressure generated by wooden wedges to squeeze out the oil!
In the Han Dynasty, frying animal oil had already appeared, but extractable vegetable oil was still very rare. The earliest extracted vegetable oil had to be pushed back to the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
Normally, flax can get 40 kilograms of oil per stone, rapeseed can get 27 kilograms of oil per stone, and "tea seeds" and "red dates" are slightly less, and can also get more than ten kilograms.
However... because he doesn't have much experience, Lu Yu's fuel consumption at this time is basically at a discount.
"It smells so good..."
Dian Wei has a very sharp nose, and he really can't stand the smell, which is more fragrant than dog meat.
Cao Mu muttered in a low voice, "What kind of tricks does this Lu Yu... do again?"
Looking at the courtyard next door, but just for a glance, Cao Mu shook her head. She was a girl who always worked hard. Since she decided to learn blacksmithing, she must perfect the steel forging...
She immediately retracted her mind. "Master Dian, the wind direction has not moved for a long time, and the reaction of the iron in the furnace seems to be wrong..."
This sentence directly brought back the thoughts of Dian Wei and all the craftsmen...
Only then did everyone realize that they were still making steel.
"Master Dian, all masters, you probably also know that this fine iron and steel is expensive and rare. We are refining it here and you will lose a piece, so... you still have to cherish it."
Well…
This is undoubtedly a reminder to everyone.
No matter how fragrant it is next door, it has nothing to do with steelmaking. Every waste of such an expensive iron material is a waste of resources.
"What Miss Cao is talking about is..." An old craftsman squatted down, recovered his mind and devoted himself to observing the iron and steel again.
Others, including Dian Wei, quickly returned to their respective posts.
"There is a white flame in the furnace, the iron is red in color, and iron sheets are falling off... The pig iron is melting and reacting with the wrought iron."
A craftsman shouted, and after Cao Mu observed it carefully, he picked up his pen and wrote it down one by one.
Fortunately, he is a woman and careful. What the craftsmen said was simple, but what she recorded was quite detailed——
——"Liquid wrought iron and pig iron melt, the pig iron skin begins to fall off from the outside to the inside, white gas is produced, and the flame temperature and state are milky white..."
…
…
People say that the aroma of wine is not afraid of the depth of the alley, but the aroma of pressed oil is no less than the aroma of wine.
"Kong Ming, did you see it? This is oil extraction!"
Lu Yu pointed at the drops of grease being squeezed out of the wooden instruments and reminded Zhuge Jun.
Zhuge Jun was dumbfounded. He had only heard of boiling fish oil and frying oil over high fire... But this was the first time he saw using wooden instruments to squeeze rapeseed oil.
certainly…
In this pavilion, it was the first time I saw that Zhuge Jun was not the only one extracting vegetable oil.
In just one morning, the entire courtyard was filled with people...
In addition to the servants of the Cai Mansion, Cai Zhaoji had also arrived here long ago, gaping at the fragrant unknown liquid. In addition to Cai Zhaoji, there were also Xun Yu, Xiahou Dun, Cao Chun... they all came after smelling the fragrance.
It is no exaggeration to say that the entire Dongcheng of Chenliu County can smell the aroma here. Out of curiosity, who doesn't want to come and see what Lu Gongcao is up to?
However, after all, there are only a few people who can enter the Cai Mansion!
"What is this? It smells so good?" Xiahou Dun, who came in a hurry, couldn't stand the smell and asked quickly...
"Oil!" Lu Yu answered truthfully. He seemed to feel that the style was a bit lacking, so he added, "The sesame cake is made like Kyoto, and the noodles are crispy and fragrant."
Huo... fuel tank? Out of the oven?
Xiahou Dun scratched his head, wondering if he could speak human language.
Xun Yu on the side had a wisp of beard and asked curiously: "This oil? Besides its fragrance, what else can it do?"
Xun Yu is very sensitive to fragrance. The so-called Xun Ling keeps fragrance. There are more than 30 kinds of spices in the sachet he carries...
But it seems that none can compare with the fragrance of this oil, especially flax oil...the fragrance is simply overwhelming!
Speaking of which, Xun Yu was originally going back to Juancheng this morning, but because of the smell, he came to Cai Mansion to have a closer look.
Well...
Lu Yu paused for a moment, then subconsciously blurted out, "It's edible... I'll eat stir-fried vegetables, fried fish, and fried meat!"
Eat? Shouldn’t it be drink?
In this era, there was no concept of cooking, frying, or frying. Xun Yu subconsciously thought that this thing was a liquid. How could it be described as "eating"? It should be drank like water, right?
Before Xun Yu could continue to speak, Lu Yu's voice came out.
"It's rare for you to come to my place today, so let me show you my skills!"
Although Lu Yu is extracting oil now, in fact, he is preparing for frying grasshoppers in the future. Of course... In addition, Lu Yu has another idea.
The so-called oil extraction, people with low EQ are extracting oil? People with high EQ are extracting worldliness!
Lu Yu had an idea. He wanted to take advantage of the opportunity of frying grasshoppers to monopolize Lao Cao's oil shop, so that everyone would know that oil can fry grasshoppers, and grasshoppers can satisfy their hunger!
If this step can be achieved, it will be easy to mobilize the entire army and civilians of Yanzhou and the people to hunt locusts.
Lu Yu has always been thinking about this so-called "June, locusts in seven states!"
You must know that the harm of locusts is very great, and a severe drought is approaching. Unless they can be killed when they are still in the larval stage, they will really multiply in such staggering numbers that even an army of 100,000 ducks will be helpless.
Moreover, once the grown locusts gather, their bodies will release the volatile compound "phenylacetonitrile", and when the locusts are attacked, they will immediately convert "phenylacetonitrile" into the highly toxic compound "hydrocyanuric acid".
It can be said that once these locusts have grown up and become a disaster, they will no longer be able to eat them... and it will be extremely difficult to drive them away.
The only way is to catch them while they are larvae or in their developmental stage, and fry them in one pot. Of course... if they can't be fried in one pot, then use two pots.
However, this matter... Lu Yu cannot do it alone.
There must be some partners, and Xun Yu, Xiahou Dun, Cao Chun and others, some of them have soldiers, some have power, the size is just right.
Speaking of which, as for the construction of the oil mill and the sophistication of people, Lu Yu actually did not lack this small amount of capital. He mainly wanted to use this opportunity to allow Xiahou Dun, Xun Yu, and Cao Chun to make a fortune...
There is a saying in the officialdom - Only when you have me and you have me can we all be friends without being bound by interests. How to... make the relationship between each other go further?
As for giving out some money, Lu Yu really didn't care, it was so light.
As long as everyone can work together to survive the locust plague, and everyone becomes a grasshopper tied to the same boat, then everything will not be a problem.
It seems... everyone is still a little surprised because of Lu Yu's words?
Showing one's hand? What does one mean by showing one's hand?
What skill does Lu Yu want to show off?
Before they could think about it, Zhuge Jun directly handed Lu Yu a big iron pot...
That’s right, it’s the big iron pot!
According to historical records, there were no large iron pots in the Han Dynasty. The pots these days were called "woks" or "kettles" and were used for steaming vegetables and cooking rice. There was no concept of frying at all!
Lu Yu specifically asked Dian Wei to take the time to help forge this large iron pot a few days ago.
Of course, when the big iron pot came out, everyone present was stunned.
"What is this?" Xiahou Dun asked curiously. At first impression, he actually felt that the big iron pot was a shield.
Ahem... Lu Yu knocked on the back of the iron pot, and then grinned. "This thing is called a pot, and it is specially used for cooking. You will know later what this thing can do!"
While talking, Lu Yu called Zhuge Jun, "Kong Ming, go get the bacon and leeks I prepared."
Leeks originated in Great China. "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" records: There are many leeks in the mountains and fields of Hebei and Shaanxi!
It can be seen that leeks have been around since very early times, and bacon was even more popular during the Zhou Dynasty...
Today, in order to demonstrate the wonderful effects of this vegetable oil, I pulled these leeks... ah no, I pulled these civil and military officials into a trap. Lu Yu had to show off his cooking skills - stir-fried bacon with leeks!