The backyard of the Cai residence in Chenliu Commandery, Yan Province.
"Clang, clang, clang..."
The sound of constant hammering echoed. Since Dian Wei successfully forged the first piece of steel, three more furnaces were added. The forging base, originally occupying only one courtyard, expanded to three.
This was all ordered by Lu Yu, who wholeheartedly supported the forging of steel...
In addition, several new artisans, the most outstanding blacksmiths from the Dragon Soaring Camp, were transferred to the steel forging experimental base...
The entire backyard, which previously had only five or six artisans, now had twenty to thirty.
Because the forging technique was not yet mature, with a success rate of only about thirty percent, Lu Yu had not yet started large-scale steel refining in the Dragon Soaring Camp's forge.
This was also to avoid wasting the superior Damascus steel as much as possible.
According to Xun Yu, the reserve of Damascus steel on Cao's side had been depleted.
Logically, forging steel should be the work of rough men, but it happened that every day at dawn, a dignified, confident, and pretty girl would come to this backyard... only to leave when dusk fell.
Due to the four furnaces, the temperature in the backyard was extremely high.
Enduring it, the girl's clothes were almost completely soaked with sweat every day, and the dust here also stained her fair cheeks... making them grimy, like a country lass.
All the artisans here knew that she was the eldest daughter of Lord Cao, Cai Yan's disciple—Cao Mu!
Because of Lu Yu... she was determined to learn forging.
Lu Yu could not stop the young lady of the Cao mansion, so he let her learn from these artisans in the backyard...
To Lu Yu's surprise, the girl was quite resourceful, managing to become Dian Wei's apprentice and have him teach her personally.
However, with her slender arms and legs, let alone forging steel, she couldn't even move a piece of iron.
He initially thought... she would get discouraged after the initial excitement wore off.
But unexpectedly, she seemed to have made up her mind, vowing not to rest until she understood this "Hundred Crafts - Forging" subject.
"Master Dian? Is the flame temperature for this batch to be controlled at blue-white?"
Cao Mu asked Dian Wei while observing the iron in the furnace...
"Yes, it's blue-white. The bellows are increasing the temperature to make it pure white," Dian Wei replied patiently.
Speaking of which, Dian Wei, who was usually rough and unrestrained, was uncharacteristically patient with Cao Mu. The reason was that whenever Cao Mu came here, she always managed to sneak some high-quality dog meat from the Cao mansion.
And Dian Wei loved eating dog meat the most...
Over time, they naturally bonded with the young girl.
"Then this forging will have the same temperature as the one hundred and forty-third forging, changing from blue-white to pure white... that forging was successful," Cao Mu said, recording this information on the bamboo slips she held.
She couldn't move iron or forge steel, but that didn't mean she couldn't learn forging...
Dian Wei forged based on experience, while she recorded every detail of Dian Wei's forging process—the temperature used at each stage, the rate of increase in wind direction, and the corresponding changes in the Damascus steel in the furnace, recording everything meticulously... to summarize later.
This approach proved highly beneficial for forging steel.
Why was this forging successful? Why did that forging fail? What were the common reactions between the flame and the Damascus steel in two failed attempts? What were the commonalities in the successful examples!
Thanks to Cao Mu's meticulous summaries, steel forging had now avoided at least thirty types of errors, increasing the success rate from a little over twenty percent to thirty percent.
Of course, at this time, it was impossible to accurately measure temperature. Moreover... external temperature, wind direction, and rain or snow could all affect the flame temperature in the furnace.
But... as is commonly known, flames have eight colors—red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, white.
Extending this further, in physics, flames are the atoms of matter colliding with the magnetic field at different frequencies, producing different light waves;
The ability to convert external energy per unit of time is different, resulting in eight colors in total;
The curvature of electron orbitals between different atoms is different, reflecting different lights, hence we see different colors.
Of course... Dian Wei and Cao Mu could not understand this physics knowledge.
They only knew that the different colors of the flame in the furnace corresponded to different states and temperatures, which was very helpful for Cao Mu's records.
Her "Flame Control Art" had already filled over seventy bamboo slips, and this number was still increasing.
At this moment...
"Huh..."
Dian Wei suddenly looked up, his nose twitching noticeably.
Cao Mu was a little surprised. She knew that when Dian Wei was forging steel, he was almost completely focused, seemingly oblivious to any external noise. But this smell...
Cao Mu's little nose also twitched. It smelled so good... this fragrance was different from incense or sachets; it was a rich aroma that made one's mouth water, and her stomach actually started to rumble.
"This is..."
Before Cao Mu could regain her senses, footsteps could be heard from all directions outside the courtyard. It seemed they were heading towards an adjacent courtyard...
The Cai residence was vast, with front and back courtyards, totaling eight or nine courtyards. In Cao Mu's memory...
Apart from the main hall, Lu Yu's living quarters, Master Cai Yan's living quarters, and the servants' quarters, most of the other courtyards were basically empty...
And the adjacent one was also empty...
While she was pondering, the sounds from outside grew louder.
"What are you waiting for? Hurry up and go see! Young Master Lu Yu is pressing oil. He said it's pure natural plant oil... Oh, it smells so good!"
"Quick, quick... the fragrance can be smelled from afar. I really want to have a taste!"
"Young Master Lu said that today, each of the guards, maids, and laborers in the mansion will receive a small bucket..."
"Oh, speaking of which, what else can this stuff do besides smelling good?"
Discussions echoed...
Lu Yu was pressing oil in the adjacent courtyard.
On this side, two courtyards were combined into the steel forging experimental base. With one courtyard idle, Lu Yu decided to convert it into an oil mill to try pressing oil.
In fact, pressing oil is not difficult...
For example, to press sesame oil, also known as "Hu Ma Zi" oil in this era, one could use the method described in "Qi Min Yao Shu"—"When frying sesame oil, once the water vapor has evaporated and there is no smoke, and it no longer bubbles, let it cool. You can stir it with your hand. If water is added, flames will rise; scatter them and they will not extinguish."
In plain language—it's just one word: stir-fry...
This is quite similar to the refining method of animal oils, which is a piece of cake for the cooks Lu Yu hired.
However... they were surprised that besides animals? This sesame could also produce oil? How magical!
Of course, the magical things were yet to come...
Based on the literature from "Nong Shu" and "Tian Gong Kai Wu," Lu Yu simply drew a set of wooden pressing equipment.
He handed it over to the artisans to complete, using it to extract oil from "rapeseed," "tea seeds," and "red dates"—the principle was to use the immense pressure generated by wooden wedges to press out the oil!
In the Han Dynasty, stir-frying animal oil had already appeared, but pressing plant oil was still rare. The earliest extraction of plant oil would be pushed forward to the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
Under normal circumstances, one stone of sesame could yield forty catties of oil, one stone of rapeseed could yield twenty-seven catties, and "tea seeds" and "red dates" slightly less, around ten catties.
However... due to the lack of experience, the amount of oil Lu Yu obtained at this time was basically discounted.
"It smells so good..."
Dian Wei's nose was particularly sharp. This fragrance, even more so than dog meat, was unbearable.
Cao Mu muttered softly, "What is this Lu Yu... up to again?"
She looked towards the adjacent courtyard, but with just one glance, Cao Mu shook her head. She was a girl who saw things through to the end. Since she had decided to learn forging, she was determined to master steel forging.
Immediately, she refocused. "Master Dian, the wind direction hasn't changed for a long time, and the reaction of the Damascus steel in the furnace seems a bit off..."
This remark directly pulled Dian Wei and all the artisans back to their senses...
Only then did they realize they were still refining steel.
"Master Dian, masters, you all probably know that high-quality Damascus steel is already expensive and scarce. We are refining one piece less for each piece we use, so... we should cherish it."
Uh...
These words undoubtedly served as a reminder to everyone.
No matter how fragrant the adjacent courtyard was, it had nothing to do with steel refining. Wasting even a single piece of such expensive Damascus steel was a terrible waste.
"Miss Cao is right..." an old artisan crouched down, regained his composure, and returned to observing the Damascus steel.
Dian Wei and the others also quickly returned to their respective positions.
"The furnace has white flames, the Damascus steel is red, and iron flakes are falling... the pig iron is melting and reacting with the wrought iron,"
A craftsman shouted. Cao Mu observed carefully, then picked up her brush and recorded each detail.
Fortunately, she was a woman with a meticulous nature. The craftsmen spoke simply, but her records were quite detailed—
"Liquid wrought iron fuses with pig iron, the surface of the pig iron begins to peel from outside to inside, producing white gas, and the flame temperature and state are milky white..."
...
...
People say that good wine needs no bush, but the aroma of pressing oil was no less than that of wine.
"Kongming, do you see? This is pressing oil!"
Lu Yu pointed at the drops of oil being pressed out from the wooden equipment and reminded Zhuge Jun.
Zhuge Jun was dumbfounded. He had only heard of rendering fish oil and stir-frying oil over high heat before, but seeing rapeseed oil pressed with wooden equipment was truly a first.
Of course...
In this courtyard, Zhuge Jun was not the only one seeing the extraction of plant oil for the first time.
In just one morning, the entire courtyard was crowded with people...
Besides the servants of the Cai residence, Cai Zhaoji had also arrived long ago, staring in amazement at the fragrant, unknown liquid. Besides Cai Zhaoji, Xun Yu, Xiahou Dun, and Cao Chun... they were all drawn by the aroma.
It's no exaggeration to say that the entire eastern part of Chenliu Commandery could smell the fragrance here. Out of curiosity, who wouldn't want to see what Administrator Lu was up to?
However, only a few could enter the Cai residence!
"What is this? It smells so good?" Xiahou Dun, who had rushed over, couldn't stand the smell and asked immediately...
"Oil!" Lu Yu replied truthfully. Seeming to think it lacked a certain gravitas, he added, "Sesame cakes are made like those in the capital, with crispy dough and fragrant oil, freshly baked."
Huh... oil tank? Baked?
Xiahou Dun scratched his head, wondering if he could speak in plain language.
Xun Yu, stroking his beard, added curiously, "This oil? Besides the aroma, what else can it be used for?"
Xun Yu was very sensitive to fragrances. It was said that Xun Ling left behind fragrance, and his personal sachets contained over thirty types of spices...
But it seemed none of them could match the strong aroma of this oil, especially sesame oil—its fragrance was simply overpowering!
Speaking of which, Xun Yu was originally supposed to return to Juancheng this morning, but because of this aroma, he specifically came to the Cai residence to investigate.
This, well...
Lu Yu paused slightly and blurted out instinctively, "It can be eaten... for stir-frying, deep-frying fish, pan-frying meat!"
Eat? Not drink?
At this time, the concept of stir-frying, deep-frying, or pan-frying did not exist. Xun Yu instinctively felt that this thing was a liquid, so how could it be described as "eating"? It should be drunk or consumed like water, right?
Before Xun Yu could speak further, Lu Yu's voice rang out.
"Since everyone has come to my place today, how about I show you all a trick!"
Although Lu Yu was pressing oil now, he was actually preparing for future fried grasshoppers. Of course... besides that, Lu Yu had another idea.
The saying goes, the low-intelligence people press oil? The high-intelligence people press relationships!
Lu Yu had an idea: he wanted to use the opportunity of fried grasshoppers to monopolize the oil presses in Lord Cao's territory, making everyone aware that oil could be used to fry grasshoppers, and grasshoppers could fill one's stomach!
If he could achieve this, it would be easy to naturally mobilize all the soldiers and civilians in Yan Province to catch locusts.
Lu Yu always remembered the so-called "June, Seven Provinces Locusts!"
It is known that locusts are very harmful, and with the impending drought, unless they are eliminated in their larval stage, their reproduction would be staggering, and even ten thousand duck armies would be helpless.
Moreover, once adult locusts gather, they release volatile compounds "phenylacetonitrile," and when encountering attacks, locusts immediately convert "phenylacetonitrile" into the highly toxic compound "hydrogen cyanide."
It can be said that once these locusts mature and become a plague, eating them would be out of the question... and driving them away would be extremely difficult.
The only way was to catch them when they were larvae or in their developmental stage, fry them in one pot. Of course... if one pot was not enough, then two pots.
However, Lu Yu could not accomplish this alone.
He needed some partners. Xun Yu, Xiahou Dun, and Cao Chun, some of whom had soldiers, others had power, were all suitable.
Speaking of which, regarding the establishment of oil mills and the cultivation of relationships, Lu Yu did not lack the initial capital. The main reason was to use this opportunity to let Xiahou Dun, Xun Yu, and Cao Chun also earn some money...
There is a saying in officialdom—if you have it, and I have it, then we can be friends. Without the binding of interests, how can... relationships be further advanced?
As for giving away some money, Lu Yu really didn't care. It was mere pocket change.
As long as everyone could work together to overcome the locust plague, and by extension, become grasshoppers tied to the same boat, then everything would not be a problem.
It seemed that everyone was somewhat surprised by Lu Yu's words?
Show a trick? What did "show a trick" mean?
What trick did Lu Yu want to show?
Before they could ponder further, Zhuge Jun directly handed Lu Yu a large iron pot...
That's right, a large iron pot!
According to historical records, there were no large iron pots in the Han Dynasty. The pots of this era were called "huo" or "fu," used for steaming dishes and cooking rice; there was no concept of stir-frying!
This large iron pot was specially forged by Dian Wei for Lu Yu a few days ago.
Of course, everyone present was stunned by the appearance of the large iron pot.
"What is this?" Xiahou Dun asked curiously first. His first impression was that the large iron pot looked like a shield.
Cough cough... Lu Yu tapped the back of the iron pot and then grinned. "This thing is called a pot, specifically for stir-frying. You'll know what it's for later!"
Saying that, Lu Yu beckoned to Zhuge Jun, "Kongming, go and get the cured meat and chives I prepared."
Chives originated in the vast land of China. The "Shan Hai Jing" records: "Chives are abundant in the mountains and wilds of Hebei and Shaanxi!"
This shows that chives have been around since very early times, and cured meat was popular as early as the Zhou Dynasty...
Today, to demonstrate the versatility of plant oil and to draw these civil and military officials into the fold, Lu Yu had to show off some culinary skills—stir-fried cured meat with chives!
It was time to showcase the real skill.
...
...