It was completely impossible to completely refine coarse salt into modern fine salt in the Northern Song Dynasty, mainly because there was no chemical solution at that time, but it was still possible to roughly refine it into fine salt, which was enough to scare someone like Lu Xu
Ancient people.
Lu Yao didn't find many things. A piece of unused gauze, which could also be said to be undyed plain cloth, and a few pieces of charcoal washed with water. A few pieces of good charcoal from a wealthy family like the Lu family.
Still no problem.
Next are some kitchen utensils, and the refining process is also carried out in the kitchen.
Regarding important matters such as salt, Lu Xu couldn't let his servants see it, so he drove them all out of the kitchen, and the three elders formed a circle in front of the stove.
"Can you make fine salt with just these few items?" Lu Xu looked at these crude equipment, obviously not believing that Lu Yao could succeed.
"Father, just wait and see." Lu Yao started to move his hands.
Seeing Lu Yao take action, Lu Xu and Lu Hao watched without saying a word or even blinking.
Lu Yao first boiled the water in the pot, then put the two remaining large pieces of coarse salt at home into the pot, stirred them evenly with chopsticks, and let them slowly melt.
After it was completely melted, Lu Yao put the salt water into a small jar for precipitation.
Now let’s start making a simple funnel.
There were no other materials, it was just made of wood, and it was made on site by the servants according to Lu Yao's instructions.
Lu Yao first put a piece of plain cloth on the bottom layer of the funnel, then spread a layer of charcoal on top, and so on, laying a total of five layers.
Then place a wooden frame on top of the iron pot, and place the funnel in the middle of the wooden frame, facing the iron pot.
At this time, the salt water has almost settled.
Lu Yao slowly filled the funnel.
Then just wait for the salt water to seep out from the funnel drop by drop.
After about half an hour, Lu Yao had poured all the salt water out of the jar, and no more salt water dripped out of the funnel.
The filtered brine is much clearer than before and no longer has a turbid yellow color.
After removing the wooden frame and funnel, the next step is to boil the water over a large fire.
After the water vapor is completely evaporated, fine salt can be produced.
Time passed bit by bit, and half an hour later, when he saw some white crystals slowly appearing on the bottom of the pot, Lu Xu was shocked and speechless, and kept pointing at Lu Yao and then at the pot.
fine salt.
"Father, you should believe this time that I made the salt myself." Lu Yao stood aside with his hands on the wall and said with a smile.
"It's really shocking! It's amazing! Why has no one thought of such a simple method from ancient times to the present?" Lu Xu, as a scholar, also started working as a chef.
Put all the fine salt into the previous container, but it feels a little less than the previous coarse salt.
"Why did the jar full of coarse salt become more than half a jar?" Lu Xu asked Lu Yao. In his mind, even if the coarse salt becomes finer, there will still be no shortage of salt.
Lu Yao smiled and said: "It's definitely reduced. In the past, the coarse salt was large and there would be a lot of gaps when placed together. The fine salt has no gaps, so it looks much smaller than the previous coarse salt. Now, again,
One reason is that I filtered out a lot of water-insoluble impurities and harmful things in the coarse salt, so the weight is now less."
After saying that, Lu Yao took out the gauze from the funnel. The white plain cloth turned yellow and there were some black dots on it. These were filtered from the coarse salt.
Lu Xu was a little disappointed. The Song Dynasty was already short of salt, but after filtering, the salt became less. This did not mean that the salt in the Song Dynasty became even less.
The price of salt is already very expensive. If it is turned into white and fine salt, wouldn't the salt become more expensive? Then this method is not advisable.
If it comes out and becomes white and fine, it is useless, it is better not to implement this filtering method.
However, Lu Xu still praised him: "My son is smart and can do things that the ancients have never done. It is very good. As a father, I still have something to do, so I should go to the Yamen first."
Lu Yao was stunned. Is this the end? There will be no follow-up?
But it doesn't matter if there is no follow-up. He didn't want to cause these random things in the first place. He thought that how to grow corn and potatoes was the top priority.
After a lively scene, the Lu Mansion returned to calm.
The box of fine salt that Lu Yao brought back could not be returned to Lu Yao's hands, so it was all confiscated in the kitchen.
Lu Yao shouted that it was unfair, but his objections were ineffective. Mother Lu said that you have been eating at home for more than ten years, so why should you eat some salt?
Lu Yao had no choice but to agree and brought a bag back as a souvenir. However, as compensation, Lu Yao's mother agreed to give Lu Yao half of the garden at home.
Not to mention how excited Lu Yao was, half of the garden was at least several acres, and it was enough to grow the crops he brought.
The first thing Lu Yao did when he got the garden was to dig up all the flower saplings and transplant them to the other half of the garden. He didn't care whether the transplanted flowers and plants could survive or not, they were in the way.
If so, then they must all be removed.
The next step is to wait until next February to sow and harvest in June. In this way, two batches of potatoes can be planted in a year, which makes me excited just thinking about it.
In the Han Mansion.
Han Yonghe's family sighed as they looked at the food on the table. The servants on the side were all trembling. They didn't know what they had done wrong. This was how they usually cooked their meals. Why didn't the master even eat a bite today?
"You guys can go down, you don't have to wait any longer." Han Yonghe also saw the fear of his servants.
The trembling servants hurriedly ran out of the main hall without wanting to stay any longer.
Han Yonghe sighed again.
Even Mrs. Han and Han Yunyu looked at these meals with sad faces.
It would be okay if they had never eaten the food cooked by Lu Yao. Once they had eaten it, after looking at the dishes and the aroma, they couldn't even feel the slightest bit of appetite, and they had no idea of using chopsticks.
However, they are also hungry, which is really a contradiction.
Han Wenyuan couldn't bear it anymore and said to Han Yonghe: "How about we invite Lu Erlang to visit us tomorrow?"
Han Yonghe gave his son a strange look. He wanted to be a guest because he wanted to be a free cook, but he didn't know what Han Wenyuan was thinking.
But he couldn't refuse such words, after all, he also wanted to eat the food cooked by Lu Yao.
Han Yonghe wondered: "Yuan'er, this is a bit bad. Lu Xu just came to the Lu Mansion yesterday, and there is really no reason to call him here tomorrow."
Originally, the Han and Lu families were in an embarrassing period. If Lu Yao came to their door every three days, they would definitely be criticized. Han Yonghe said this to let Han Wenyuan come up with a perfect reason.
"Father, I heard that the Cao family went to the Lu family today."
Before Han Wenyuan could finish his words, he heard Han Yong stand up and clap the table together, and became furious, "It's unreasonable. How dare Lu Yao kid deceive me? From now on, as soon as Lu Yao enters the door of my Han residence, I will order people to beat him out."
You can skip this meal, but you can't swallow your anger.
"Father, please listen to me first." Han Wenyuan was also shocked. He didn't expect Han Yonghe to react so strongly.
"Keep talking, no matter what, I will never let Lu Yao come to Han Mansion again." Han Yonghe seemed to be still angry.
Han Wenyuan lamented that his father was impatient and would regret it later.
Han Wenyuan continued: "Uncle Cao Guo carried Lu Hao back to the Lu Mansion early this morning. It should be that Lu Hao did not stop the agreement with the Cao family. Uncle Cao Guo also took Cao Han with him."
"What? Cao Yi brought his daughter with him? I will definitely cut off all contact with this old thief Lu Xu from now on." If Han Yonghe were a military general, he would have come to the door long ago.
Even taking his daughter with him, this matter is almost certain to happen. Can Han Yonghe bear this anger?
"Father, please listen to me first." Han Wenyuan is really a little tired. Why can't you just listen to what he has to say before making any remarks? Is it really okay to interrupt like this?
"you say?"
Han Wenyuan said quickly: "Uncle Cao Guo and the others did not find Lu Erlang when they went to Lu Mansion. It turned out that Lu Yao ran away very early, and no one knows where he went. By noon, Cao Yao
Han waited at Zhuque Gate for Lu Erlang, who had returned, and fought with him. The two fought fiercely, and finally Cao Han gave up after riding away on horseback. That was it."
He spoke too quickly and felt thirsty. Han Wenyuan took a sip of tea.
Han Yonghe's anger disappeared, and there was still a smile on his lips, "This Lu Yao is really smart. He knew he couldn't see the Cao family, so he ran away. He ran just right! Moreover, Lu Yao and Cao Han had a grudge.
It would be impossible for the two of them to be together."
"In that case, Yuan'er, please think of a reason for Lu Yao to come to the house tomorrow."
"Father, didn't you just say that if Lu Erlang comes to your door, you will kick him out of the house?"
Han Yonghe glared at Han Wenyuan fiercely, "Can you believe what you said in anger?"
Han Wenyuan nodded, and he would not believe anything Han Yonghe said in anger in the future.
"It's not that there's no way, it's just..." Han Wenyuan looked at Han Yunyu as he spoke.
Han Yunyu noticed her brother's gaze and lowered her head. After reading Lu Yao's poems, she wanted to know what kind of person he was. Someone who could write such poems must not be a bad person!
And his cooking skills are very good, I really want to eat.
"No, it's definitely not okay to use your sister as an excuse. How can you ignore your sister's reputation? Where can I put my old face?" Han Yonghe vetoed it, and there was no need to discuss anything about Han Yunyu.
"Father, you misunderstood me." Han Wenyuan yelled, "There have been a few good lyrics in the past few days. I used the poetry meeting as an excuse to ask the person who wrote the lyrics to come and talk about it. Isn't that Lu Erlang?
One of these people? In this way, you can invite Lu Erlang here without mentioning his name. When the poetry club disperses, I will leave Lu Yao alone in the name of eating. With the previous relationship between our Han and Lu families,
"It's not too much to leave Lu Erlang for a meal."
"It's really a good plan, it's a brilliant idea. Just do what you said, Yuan'er." Han Yonghe immediately agreed. Thinking of yesterday's meal, his mouth almost started to water.
"Let's eat a little to satisfy our hunger. We'll all have a big meal tomorrow."
From today on, the good food and rice from the wealthy families in Bianliang became Han Yonghe's only food.
Seriously, it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality.