Lu Xuan was a little surprised. He knew very well how much Liu Tan valued soybean oil. Compared with other soy products, soybean oil was his most advantageous weapon.

So according to Lu Xuan's understanding, he must have kept the formula secret, so why did he make it public right away?

Although he was vague about some things, such as how long steaming and boiling take, as long as you know the whole process, you can slowly try out these details.

It is always easier to try something knowing the outcome than to grope around without knowing the outcome.

Seeing Lu Xuan's surprised expression, Liu Tan couldn't help but laugh and said, "Because I changed the formula."

From boiling to physical pressing, in fact, he used this method at the beginning because it was simple and easy to produce results, so he had this support no matter how hard he tried.

But boiling is indeed a waste of time. Even without mentioning the wasted time, a lot of energy is also wasted, and the whole process cannot be separated from fire.

Liu Tan calculated that if he wanted to expand production capacity, the external supply of honeycomb coal would inevitably be reduced a lot. At that time, except for places outside the Northern Border, the price of honeycomb coal would definitely rise sharply. Then, people who could originally afford honeycomb coal would no longer be able to afford it and would have to use firewood.

This will also increase the price of firewood, and people who originally could only use firewood for heating may not be able to afford it.

So basically, you have to choose between the many people and the economy of the Northern Kingdom.

Although Liu Tan has always focused on the development of the Northern Border Kingdom, he cannot ignore the other Han people.

So he had to find another way out, and he began to improve the process.

After trying many methods, he finally realized that the two steps of steaming and frying could not be omitted, but there was an additional step before steaming and frying, which was crushing.

The beans need to be crushed first, then steamed and fried, and finally squeezed.

This method is the traditional method of pressing soybean oil, which saves a lot of honeycomb coal compared to boiling.

Liu Tan and Lu Xuan had nothing to hide. The main reason was that even if Lu Xuan knew the recipe, he wouldn't be able to make it. After all, neither the current Wusun Kingdom nor the territory that Lu Xuan wanted to fight for in the future had any place suitable for farming.

Or there is no place suitable for growing crops.

It is true that there is land suitable for cultivation in the Xiongnu territory, but the yield is too low, and the nomadic people are accustomed to such a life, so it is difficult for them to cultivate it.

Lu Xuan frowned, "But if these people knew the recipe, they would also want to sell soybean oil. Wouldn't that also consume a huge amount of energy?"

Liu Tan shook his head. "It's different. They want to make money. Even if it's the same product, my method can make it cheaper than theirs, even with shipping costs. If they lower the price, they'll lose money, but I can make money. So I'm not afraid of a price war. In the end, they'll just have to exit the market."

Lu Xuan asked curiously, "What if they can figure it out too?"

Liu Tan didn't hide it from him. "I wasted a lot of time figuring out the exact process before I learned about this method. Otherwise, we might not have used boiling in the first place. How talented do they have to be to find the right method? Even if they figure it out, getting it will be harder than it is for us. Right now, the best soybeans should be from Qi or Changyi. Even if they figure it out, it won't matter. They're too far away to affect us. Besides, with the personalities of Liu Fuling and Liu Bo, they'll definitely charge a high price to make a profit."

Lu Xuan was a little surprised: "What about you?"

Liu Tan shook his head. "My goal is to change the types of crops grown in the Northern Territory. Don't insist on growing things like glutinous rice when they're not suitable. Working yourself to death only to end up with a poor harvest is a vicious cycle. So, I set my prices so that after deducting all costs, there's a small profit to cover taxes."

Lu Xuan more or less understood Liu Tan's intentions. There was no way to force people to change their crops. Liu Tan could indeed give orders, but others could also pretend to obey but secretly disobey.

Only when people find that growing soybeans is more profitable than growing other things will they be willing to switch to soybeans.

Lu Xuan suddenly understood and smiled, "You deliberately let those people know about the recipe, perhaps hoping they would help you spread it?"

Liu Tan nodded vigorously. Although these people were all following Liu Che, they came from all over the country, and few of them had their ancestral home in Chang'an.

Even if these people got the prescription, they would definitely not dare to do it in Chang'an, as that place is probably the private domain of the nobles.

So they will definitely do this in their hometown, so that more people will know that beans can produce oil and are very cheap.

It also saved Liu Tan from having to send people to explain the origin of soybean oil if he wanted to promote it. It was too tiring. If he continued to do it bit by bit, how long would it take to promote it?

Moreover, Liu Tan did not intend to kill them all. First, he would let these people take the initial profits, and then compete with them for the market with lower prices and higher quality in the later stage.

The only thing we need to worry about is that those local tyrants will cause trouble, but there is nothing we can do about that for now.

In fact, the best way is to cooperate with the princes, but the problem is that Liu Tan is not very close to those people. Apart from a thin blood relationship, they are worse than strangers - many people are jealous of the preferential treatment Liu Tan receives.

Lu Xuan's eyes turned and he said, "I think someone in the Western Regions would like this thing."

Liu Tan waved his hand: "Don't worry, let's see what happens."

In addition to finding a way out for the Northern Border Kingdom, he did this more to change the dietary structure of the Han people.

A small amount of soybean oil may not change anything, but so many soy products can allow people to supplement more protein while spending less money.

So even though his place is closer to the Western Regions, transportation is more convenient, and perhaps he can sell it at a higher price, he still wants to give priority to the people of the Han Dynasty.

Of course, the Wusun Kingdom is an exception, because the Wusun Kingdom is now also considered a citizen of the Han Dynasty.

However, this matter could be left to the people below to handle. It wasn't that Liu Tan didn't want to make money from doing business with Lu Xuan, but rather that the two of them already had little time to spend together, so why waste it on something like this?

After Liu Tan finished expressing his thoughts, he turned and asked, "When are you going to tell my father?"

Lu Xuan smiled and said, "Haven't you already told His Majesty?"

"That's different. I'm just saying hello to the Emperor and trying to get him to support you. However, it seems that the Emperor's attitude is rather ambiguous at the moment. Whether it works or not depends on you."

Liu Tan was very calm about not being able to persuade Liu Che. Apart from being persistent and gullible in his search for immortals, Liu Che was fine in other matters. If he was someone who could be persuaded so easily, the Han Dynasty would have collapsed long ago.

And the most important point is that Liu Che probably wanted to hold the minerals there in his own hands, but the Han Dynasty was not suitable to go to war with the Huns now.

Wusun is a very suitable candidate. Although it is a vassal state of the Han Dynasty, Lu Xuan has always been very arbitrary in sending troops. It is estimated that the Xiongnu would not think that Lu Xuan is truly loyal.

And it doesn't matter even if the blame is put on the Han Dynasty. The Han Dynasty doesn't want to fight, and the Huns don't want to fight either. They prefer to plunder the border, and robbing the civilians who have no ability to resist is their favorite thing.

Therefore, Lu Xuan probably needs to discuss this matter with Liu Che in person to figure out how to reassure Liu Che.

Lu Xuan wasn't worried. He trusted Liu Tan, and therefore believed there were mineral deposits there. But the problem was that Liu Tan had previously mentioned that Qi and Changyi had mineral deposits, so they hadn't been found yet. Uncertainties weren't worth fighting over.

He said, "Your Majesty needs to rest for a few days, so let's wait a while."

Because Liu Che came here this time to escape the summer heat, unlike the last time when he was in a hurry, the whole itinerary was arranged to be very relaxed. No matter which one, Liu Che could go if he wanted to, and it didn't matter if he didn't want to go.

When Liu Che woke up, it was already getting dark. Liu Tan accompanied him for a walk around the Changshou Palace, and then they could prepare dinner.

This was how they did it the past two days, but today Liu Che didn't want to go out, so he called Lu Xuan over directly.

After Lu Xuan came over, Liu Tan originally wanted to leave first. It was not because he was afraid that Liu Che would think too much, but because he had never been good at fighting and could not understand much when listening.

However, Liu Che kept him. After Lu Xuan sat down, he asked lazily, "Tan'er said you have something to report?"

One advantage Lu Xuan had was that he knew he was no match for Liu Che, so he was very straightforward in front of him. He simply said, "I am joining forces with several other countries to fight for the land south of Mount Yanran."

"Why?"

Liu Che was very interested in Lu Xuan's motives. Through Liu Tan's narration, he knew that when Lu Xuan first came up with this idea, he had no idea that there were mines there, so he planned to migrate there from the beginning, which made Liu Che a little strange.

In real comparison, the climate and land there are not much better than those in the Western Regions, and may even be worse.

Lu Xuan was very calm: "The Western Regions cannot be dominated by one single power. The Wusun already have enough power in the Western Regions. Most importantly, Princess Danyang is now in power and will further influence the Western Regions. It is not good for me to stay there."

Not to mention that Princess Danyang herself has ambitions, even if she does not have ambitions, the Han Dynasty will push her to continue. If she can't do it, let her actual husband or their son come. Anyway, it is best for this land to fall into the hands of the Han Dynasty, which is the most reassuring.

Liu Che nodded and asked again: "What else?"

Lu Xuan's eyes flickered as he said, "This will also further cut off the Xiongnu's control over the Western Regions."

The Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu fought for the Cheshi Kingdom in the Western Regions for a long time. There were wins and losses in the battle, but generally speaking, the Han Dynasty suffered a bit of a loss.

The Western Regions is the gateway for the Han Dynasty to communicate with other countries, and it is also the only gateway now.

To the east of the Han Dynasty was a vast ocean, to the north was the Xiongnu, and to the west was part of a plateau, so apart from the Western Regions, the only way to communicate with other countries was to go south.

However, there are a large number of small countries in the south. The Han Dynasty has sent envoys there many times in recent years. However, those small countries have the advantage of geographical location and have never been respectful to the Han Dynasty. Most of the delegations sent there never returned.

In fact, the same is true for the road leading to the Western Regions. It’s just that Zhang Qian worked hard and finally opened up a road. This road is too important and the Han Dynasty cannot give it up, so it needs to hold this road in its hands.

If he could help the Han Dynasty open up this route to the Western Regions and stabilize it, then Lu Xuan would feel more confident.

He made it clear, so Liu Che didn't bother beating around the bush and asked, "What do you want?"

Lu Xuan said, "I don't want anything, just...if I don't win, don't blame me."

Liu Che looked at him with a half-smile: "You really don't have any requests?"

Lu Xuan hesitated for a moment, then said cautiously, "I don't have any other requests. If I really win, can you build a palace there?"