Chapter 149 Paint or Gasoline (Please vote and subscribe)

"What? You want to exchange a big bowl of white salt for a tree like this? But what do you want this tree for, and this tree is poisonous?" Mao Li asked in surprise.

In his mind, the white salt of the Han tribe is very expensive, or it is very valuable, so valuable that it must be exchanged for people; but now Luo Chong is obviously going to exchange white salt for this poisonous tree, doesn't that mean that this tree is more valuable than people.

But what is its value? The fruit can't be eaten, and the wood is not strong. It breaks when it is bent. It's just light in weight, so it can be used as a disposable spear; but the Han tribe will use this tree as a weapon? He won't believe it even if he is beaten to death.

Mao Li really wants to know what the purpose of this tree is. If he can use it himself, will it make the Li tribe as rich as the Han tribe.

"How I use it is my business. You don't need to know. Don't think I don't know what you are thinking. You want to control all these trees and sell them to other tribes in exchange for people or things. I tell you, this is impossible, because I am the only one in the world who knows the use and purpose of this tree. Even if you give it to others, they can only use it for burning firewood."

Luo Chong looked at Mao Li's uncertain expression and had already seen through his thoughts. In order to prevent this guy from doing anything weird, he simply exposed him.

Mao Li just smiled awkwardly after being exposed by Luo Chong in front of him.

"Then how do we get it for you? Do we just cut it down? And how many trees do you need?"

"No, I want living trees, as many as I can get." Luo Chong said immediately.

"What? Living trees? Trees grow on the ground. How can we get living trees here? Won't they die if we cut them down?" Mao Li asked in surprise.

"Not cut down, but dig it out, dig it out from the roots, leave some soil on the roots, and then wrap the roots and soil with animal skins, then send it to me, and I will exchange it for white salt.

Also, I only want small trees as thick as my arms. If they grow too big, you can't get them, and they will be wasted. But for those big trees, I want the poisonous fruits on them. I want as many as you can get. As long as you can get them, I can exchange them for you." Luo Chong said his request.

"What? You also want those poisonous fruits? So you want the trees for the poisonous fruits?" Mao Li asked in surprise.

He thought that Luo Chong was using precious white salt to exchange a bunch of useless poisonous fruits. He was either a prodigal son who didn't know how to spend his money, or the poisonous fruits were more valuable than white salt. What were they used for?

"Haha, you don't need to test me. What I want is the poisonous fruit on that tree, but it's not for eating. You can choose not to send it to me. Then I will bring people to destroy your tribe and pick the fruit myself. You have to think clearly whether you choose to go against my tribe or exchange the fruit I want for these good things." Luo Chong made it clear and threatened him.

"This, I don't need to exchange it with anyone. I'm so happy that I can't wait to send it to you. Also, the fruit you want will not grow until autumn. Now there are only the ones that fell on the ground last year. Do you want them too?"

Mao Li didn't have the courage to go against Luo Chong now, not to mention that he didn't know what the fruit of the tung tree was used for, let alone fall out with Luo Chong.

"Yes, but I only want the seeds inside the fruit. There are about three or five round seeds in one fruit. I want that. You can peel the skin off in your tribe in advance and only send the seeds here to save manpower. Fill this wooden barrel with seeds, and I will give you a big bowl of white salt in exchange."

Mao Li nodded and continued to ask: "In this case, the fruit is no problem, but the tree you want is not easy to get. Also, I brought eight women this time. What can you give me in exchange?"

"Well, what you said is a problem. It is really hard for you to dig the tree. So don't ask for the pottery pot this time.

Come on, get two long-handled copper axes and two copper shovels, and fill him with a bowl of white salt." Luo Chong thought for a while and immediately arranged.

"Yes." Someone immediately went to prepare things.

After waiting for a while, Mao Li frowned when he saw what was brought to him.

He said with a bitter face, "Han leader, what is this thing you gave me? Can't you give me some more white salt or pottery?" Luo Chong took a copper shovel and slammed it into the ground. He pushed it with his foot, and the copper shovel was deeply inserted into the soil. Then he pressed the shovel handle with his hand, and a large piece of soil was dug out.

"See, this is a tool for digging soil. It is a copper shovel that only our tribe has. There is also this copper axe, which is sharper than any stone axe.

I exchange this for you so that you can dig trees. Use the copper shovel to dig the soil, use the copper axe to cut off the tree roots, and then wrap it in animal skins and send it to me. With these tools, are you still afraid of not having pottery and white salt? As long as you send the trees and tree seeds, I can exchange anything you want for you."

Mao Li was secretly surprised after watching Luo Chong's demonstration of using the copper shovel. The Han tribe even made such a high-end tool.

"Okay, I'll go back and dig trees for you, but you must change something for me." Mao Li agreed.

Luo Chong didn't say anything, just nodded, which was considered an agreement.

As the sky got darker, Mao Li left the eight girls behind, took the copper shovel and copper axe and took the warriors away. The Rat Wizard invited him to stay overnight, but Mao Li kept making excuses that the tribe had something to do. In fact, he didn't have anything to do. He was just scared. There were too few people around him and he couldn't sleep.

After Mao Li and his men left, Luo Chong, Xiaodie, the elders and the Rat Wizard ate dinner around a pot. The Rat Wizard couldn't help but ask first.

"Chief, what do you want to do with that tree? Is it important? And what's the use of the poisonous fruit?"

Luo Chong explained with a smile: "That tree is the tung tree, also known as the oil tung tree. Although its fruit is poisonous and cannot be eaten, it can be used to extract oil. Although tung oil is poisonous, it is a very good thing.

It can be used as paint on the surface of wood to make the wood more durable. For example, the bridge we built can be waterproof and moisture-proof and slow down the decay rate if it is painted with tung oil. If the current wooden bridge can be used for 5 years, then it can be used for at least 15 years after being painted with tung oil.

And the cars, houses, and tools we built , brush them with tung oil, and they can be used for a longer time.

Moreover, the tung tree is a very beautiful tree, with light gray smooth bark, straight trunk, emerald green leaves, and bunches of bell-like flowers. The fruit is so useful, so I plan to plant it in our city, on both sides of the main road as a street tree. "

Luo Chong said a lot of uses, and the elders and the rat witch nodded frequently. In short, this is a tree that can be squeezed to produce oil. This tung oil can make tools last longer. Since it is so useful, the two old men stopped asking, and the leader knew it himself.

In fact, what Luo Chong said is only part of the role of tung oil. He has not mentioned more uses, and others will not understand it if he says it.

Tung oil is a pure natural plant oil that dries quickly. It can be used as varnish on wood. It will form a protective film on the surface of the wood, and it will also penetrate into the wood to maintain the wood. Even if the surface of the wood is damaged, it can still be used for a long time.

The Han tribe was building a house. If a house was built, it would have furniture. Apart from other things, tables and stools should be made. Now was the time when natural paint, tung oil, was needed. Moreover, tung oil was not only paint, but also waterproof.

Applying tung oil on paper could make oil paper, which was waterproof. Most umbrellas in ancient times were made of oil paper, especially in the rainy Jiangnan region, where oil paper umbrellas were most famous.

Applying tung oil on cloth could also make waterproof tarpaulin, which could be used to cover things that were afraid of rain, and even made into raincoats.

Tung oil also had many medicinal values. It was mainly used for external application to treat skin diseases. If there was food poisoning or excessive drinking, it could also be used to induce vomiting. Hua Tuo once used tung oil to wash the stomach of patients poisoned by arsenic. It was recorded in medical books that those poisoned by arsenic should be given three liters of tung oil.

Moreover, tung oil was oil. As long as it was oil, they all had one thing in common, that was, they could be used to make soap and could be burned.

Tung oil can be used to make oil lamps, and the flames of burning are brighter. Similarly, tung oil can also be used in wars as a fierce fire oil for attacking and defending cities.

During World War II, due to the shortage of domestic materials and the shortage of fuel, the National Government of Yuzhou even used tung oil to refine fuel for cars and airplanes. Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to call it a natural renewable plant oil, and the importance of tung oil can be seen from this.

Moreover, in the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japan, in order to apply for military aid from the United States, the National Government once sold 220,000 tons of tung oil to the United States within five years in exchange for a loan of 25 million US dollars from the Export-Import Bank of the United States to China. This is the famous "Tung Oil Loan Contract" in history.

At that time, China was the world's largest producer and exporter of tung oil. The history of using natural paint can be traced back to the Stone Age more than 7,000 years ago. The use and development of tung oil directly runs through the entire history of human civilization. Even now, tung oil is still a natural paint that is superior to chemical blending varnish.

Such an important strategic resource, since Luo Chong knew about it, how could he let it go.

(End of this chapter)