Pots and pots of whale oil have been boiled, but the whale carcass is still as big as a hill. Even the best oil refining craftsmen in Hangzhou have never experienced this kind of thing. One barrel, two barrels, or ten barrels can be found.
All the barrels were used, but the loading was still not finished. In the end, there were really no barrels left, so we pulled the empty boats over to use them as barrels and loaded them one by one.
Nearly 100,000 kilograms of grease cooled naturally at the port and gradually solidified.
A pot of oil weighed nearly 100,000 kilograms. After it was heated and cooled, it was put into a basin and gradually began to solidify.
People in this era rarely eat fat. Most people can't afford meat, and ordinary fish have almost no fat. So much fat naturally makes people salivate.
But when they secretly put the fat into their mouths, they found that the fat was not delicious and had a strange taste. They couldn't help but draw a question mark in their hearts, can this thing be eaten? If it can't be eaten, what's the use of cooking it?
Gu Sizhi also tasted it, but his thoughts were different from ordinary people. Li Mu had been deified in his heart. The Marquis could not be wrong. If the Marquis asked him to refine the oil, he would definitely be able to eat it. Now
If you can't eat the oil you have trained, there must be something wrong with you. How should you explain this to the Marquis?
With an anxious mood, Gu Sizhi came to Yuelai Inn and stammered about the matter. Unexpectedly, Li Mu laughed.
"Do you think I asked you to refine the oil for food?"
Gu Sizhi said in confusion: "Isn't it?"
"It's used to make lamp oil. I always think about eating it!" Li Mu said angrily. He couldn't explain to Gu Sizhi that before humans used oil, that is, before the middle of the 19th century, most Western sailors
The country used whale oil for lighting at night. At that time, whale oil was a scarce resource and only wealthy families could afford it.
Later, when humans developed petroleum, whale oil fell off the altar and was replaced by kerosene.
After thinking for a while, Li Mu said: "Have you ever heard of the ever-burning lantern in the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang?"
Gu Sizhi was stunned. When he was young, he also read a lot of miscellaneous historical records. Of course he had an impression. He nodded and said, "I have heard a little bit about it."
"It is rumored that the ever-burning lamp in the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang is made of whale oil. Whale oil is the best lamp oil. It is common and not available. It is a first-class rarity, right? I asked you to refine the oil just to make lamp oil. One hundred thousand kilograms of it
If the lamp oil is presented to His Majesty in the name of Yangzhou Port, will His Majesty be delighted?"
Li Mu winked, and Gu Sizhi understood now, and immediately agreed: "The Marquis is right, only your Majesty can enjoy such rare things. I will go and supervise the work now. Whoever dares to hide it will be severely punished."
No. In the future, Your Majesty..." Gu Sizhi hesitated for a moment and said, "Let His Majesty's mausoleum use Qin Shihuang's ever-bright lamp!"
"Fart!" Li Mu didn't care about Gu Sizhi's age anymore, picked up a fan and hit him, saying: "You want to die yourself, don't kill me! This is His Majesty's mausoleum, who told you that this lamp oil must be
Do you need a mausoleum? You bastard, you dare to curse His Majesty, believe it or not, I will chop off your head with Shang Fang's sword?"
Gu Sizhi hurriedly knelt down and said, "Master Hou, that's not what I meant by being promoted to official position. It's definitely not what I meant!"
"I'm sorry you don't dare!" Li Mu snorted coldly and said: "I'll punish you by writing "Your Majesty has a long life without boundaries" a thousand times. Show it to me tomorrow. You must write it in block letters. If you dare to scribble a single word, you will die! Get out!"
Gu Sizhi agreed without a word and ran away. At the same time, a waiter passing by the door slowed down for a moment, and then went to the next room to deliver refreshments as if nothing happened.
When Gu Sizhi returned to Gu Yuan, he found paper and pen, and began to write "Your Majesty may live forever" meticulously. He kept writing, but what he said in front of Li Mu was not so sincere.
Why must only His Majesty enjoy it? Since whale oil is so good, why don’t I save some for use? There are hundreds of thousands of kilograms of whale oil, and there are hundreds of craftsmen who refine it. Who doesn’t steal some, can you stand it? One less person
How can we find out if it weighs three thousand or five thousand catties?
I asked the butler to bring a bowl of whale oil and lit it with a fire twister. The light was indeed much brighter than an ordinary candle. Compared with a candle, it was not far behind. One hundred thousand kilograms of lamp oil is equivalent to one hundred thousand kilograms of wax.
There is also the rare bonus of the 'whale'. If this is sold on the market, how much will it cost?
Gu Sizhi looked at it for a while, picked up the pen and continued writing, saying: This lamp is indeed quite bright.
A thousand times your majesty may live forever, it’s in block letters, and it doesn’t take more than two or three hours to finish. Gu Sizhi can’t remember the last time he wrote so many words. Maybe it was during the Sui Dynasty, when he took part in the imperial examination.
That year? The memory is very long ago, but when I look at my handwriting, I am still very satisfied. Although my skills over the past few decades are not as good as everyone else's, I can really say that I have made a breakthrough.
The rooster crowed in the middle of the night, and he finally finished writing the last word. His neck and waist were already sore. Gu Sizhi called a maid to massage and knead him, and asked him to pack up all the papers and put them in a box to return them in the morning.
I have to send it to Li Mu to check the work.
Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of the lamp containing lamp oil from the corner of his eye. He was stunned. He couldn't help but move over to look at it, and said in surprise: "This whale oil has been burned for so long, and there is almost no loss?"
He asked the maid waiting next to him, "Did anyone change the lamp oil when the master was writing just now?"
"This slave has been serving here, and I have never seen anyone change the lamp oil."
"That's really amazing!" Gu Sizhi exclaimed. He had to re-evaluate the value of whale oil. Originally, he thought that one hundred thousand kilograms of whale oil was equivalent to one hundred thousand kilograms of wax, but now it seems that this is not the case.
It’s 100,000 jins of wax. If the loss is this level, 300,000 jins is enough!
No wonder the Mausoleum of the First Emperor of Qin used this material to make everlasting lamps. If 300,000 kilograms of whale oil were used as the oil for the everlasting lamp, wouldn’t it mean that it would be everlasting? At least it could burn for eighteen hundred years!
After careful observation, Gu Sizhi discovered that the whale oil was not only durable, but also smokeless. There was no black ash produced after the candle burned. It simply crushed the candle in all directions without blind spots.
"This is a treasure." Gu Sizhi hurriedly called the housekeeper and asked him to send more people to the dock to keep an eye on it. Now this whale oil is not for ordinary people to use. It must be strictly guarded, otherwise he will be held accountable.
, he couldn’t bear it.
Of course, it’s still okay to hide a 1,800-pound bag at home.
"One whale can produce so much oil. If so, if more are caught, how much can be produced each year?"
He had just weighed it. When the butler brought it over, the cup was full, about half a catty. Now when he weighed it, it only burned less than one tael. One tael of oil can actually burn for three hours, which is enough for ordinary people to use for three or four days.
Well, you know, ordinary people almost don't light up lights at night.
One hundred thousand kilograms of oil, converted into candles, can produce at least one million candles, and that's just one whale. Even if a candle only sells for fifty cents, which is half the market price, the profit from a whale's oil alone is
Breathtaking.
Gu Sizhi couldn't help but make a calculation in his mind. If he could have a ten thousand stone ship to hunt whales, he would definitely make a profit.
Of course, he just thought about it. The patent for Wanshi Ship belongs to the Xiao family, and Li Mu is in charge of its use, so it's not his turn.
He is almost seventy, and he will never see the Gu family have a thousand-stone ship in his lifetime.
…
Yangzhou famous chef, Liu Sanwei.
He took this name because he had a father who believed in Taoism. His father was also a cook. According to rumors, when Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty went to Jiangnan, his father was the one who served him, but no one has seen it.
It became a legend.
Father Liu firmly believes that cooking and fire are inseparable. So, between heaven and earth, which fire is the most powerful? Of course it is Sanwei Zhenhuo, so he named his son Liu Sanwei.
But Liu Sanwei himself doesn't like this name. He is a cook, how can he only have Sanwei? In contrast, he prefers his other nickname Liu Sanshao, because he pays attention to excellence in cooking, and every dish
Not much, just take it out of the pot, no more than three spoons.
He was originally the chef of Haihe Tower, the best restaurant in Yangzhou, but when Li Mu came to Hangzhou, in order to serve Li Mu well, he specially transferred all the chefs here, including Liu Sanshao.
Yesterday, Yuelai Inn also brought over a piece of whale meat. All the cooks were eager to try it. Everyone knew that this was a good opportunity to become famous. Whoever can cook whale meat well will surely become famous.
But whale meat is too fishy. Ordinary cooking methods cannot remove the fishy smell in the meat. After tinkering for an afternoon, most of the cooks gave up. This is destined to be cheap meat for ordinary people, and dignitaries will not do it.
Eat such fishy meat.
They are all famous chefs in Yangzhou, and they serve dignitaries. There is no need to waste time on food for ordinary people.
Liu Sanshao was the only one who didn't give up. He discovered that although whale meat was fishy after being cooked, it tasted similar to beef.
Beef is a rare thing. The laws of the Tang Dynasty stipulate that cattle cannot be slaughtered and can only be eaten after old age. Not to mention ordinary people, even wealthy people like Gu Sizhi have to come up with a reason to eat beef. They can't eat it all year round.
several times.
After all, not everyone has the surname Cheng, and no one's cattle are so unlucky that they can fall to death in a ditch of one foot.
If whale meat could be cooked well, more than 100,000 kilograms of whale meat could be eaten as beef. How many times would the value be doubled?
It's just to remove the fishy smell. Can't we do such a small thing?
I have been experimenting for half a night, but I still can't find the method. Steaming and boiling are not working, and expensive exotic spices are thrown in, and the fishy smell cannot be completely removed. Now, the only option is dry frying."
If possible, Liu Sanshao would not want to fry, because cooking consumes oil. Cooking oil is very expensive. But now that he has tried other methods, he has no choice but to give it a try.
Wow, the expensive oil was poured into the pot. Liu Sanshao put his hand on the pot and felt the temperature of the oil. It was almost ready. He put the pepper, sauce, green onion, ginger and other things in, fried it for a while, and then took it out.
, to get its flavor. Put the thinly sliced whale meat into the pan and stir-fry it. After it is cooked, put in a small handful of celery. After taking it out, heat two drops of mature vinegar and a spoonful of rice wine, and the aroma will spread instantly. "
“Success or failure depends on this!”
Liu Sanshao picked up the chopsticks, calmed down, picked up a piece of meat, and put it in his mouth. After chewing it twice, he started to smile.
The meat slices are tender and chewy in your mouth. It has the chewiness of beef, but without the texture of old beef. It melts in your mouth! Done!
"Liu Sanshao, you are indeed a genius!"
…
Although whale meat is not very tasty, it was sold out in just two days because of its rarity.
All the money from the sale was distributed to the sailors and their families who participated in the sale in the past few days. Each person received more than a dozen coins!
Even the children who joined in the fun to help run errands also got Sanguan. After receiving the real benefits, the sailors were all happy, more energetic, and worked harder.
On the other side, Liu Sanshao, who had been preparing whale dishes all night, finally put together a whale meat feast for Li Mu to try.
Li Mu was so pampered that he had eaten almost all the good food available in the Tang Dynasty. And with a good uncle like Cheng Yaojin, there was never a shortage of beef in the family. After the fishy smell was removed from the whale meat, it had the texture of beef.
But compared with pure beef, it is still a little different.
Li Mu was used to eating beef and whale meat, but he didn't find anything particularly good about it. But considering Liu Sanshao's difficulty, he still said some words of encouragement and paid for his formula.
The patent was published, so that all people who bought whale meat could taste the taste of fake beef.
After eating the whale meat, Li Mu closed the door, wrote a memorial and a letter, and ordered the whale's skeleton to be transported to Chang'an as soon as possible.
…
With the eyes of the bad guy and Dongchang, Li Shimin always knew what happened to Li Mu immediately. Not long after the report was finished here, Li Mu's memorial and letter arrived. Li Shimin opened the memorial first and read it carefully.
.
"...If you want your country to be strong and prosperous, you must not ignore the ocean. Wealth comes from the sea, and danger also comes from the sea. If the Tang Dynasty wants to be strong, it must control the ocean. Once the king of another country seizes the Western Ocean, the crisis will be close to the coast, and the Tang Dynasty will be in danger."
Under the observation of the enemy... After the fleet is built, it can be used to communicate and do business, and to subdue foreign lands so that they do not dare to covet them."
After reading the memorial, Li Shimin took out the letter again. It was about private matters, and Liu Sanshao's formula was also in it.
"On the vast ocean, there are countless fish, which are inexhaustible to eat. If we catch them, we can alleviate the court's food shortage problem, and also enable the people to satisfy their appetites, killing two birds with one stone. I was lucky enough to get a whale.
, transportation is inconvenient, so I specially extracted the essence and presented it to Your Majesty. I have a recipe from a famous chef in Yangzhou, please use it at your discretion. In addition, whale oil will be shipped to Chang'an one after another. Whale oil is the best lamp oil that I have discovered so far.
Compared with ordinary candles, it is more durable, brighter and smokeless. It is about 100,000 kilograms and can be used by Your Majesty for a while. If it is not enough, I will definitely capture another one and present it to Your Majesty..."