Chapter 123 Where is the Monster?

"Buzz buzz buzz!" Busy bees flew through the woods from time to time, flying in one direction.

"Oh, could it be that we really succeeded in attracting bees?" Old man Yang looked at the three or five bees flying by with a look of joy on his face.

There haven't been so many bees in this woods before, which can only mean there's a beehive nearby.

There was no need for Old Man Yang to lead the way, everyone just followed the direction the bees were flying.

"Buzz, buzz, buzz!" A beehive placed next to a big tree was densely packed with bees, which were coming in and out from time to time. From the buzzing sound, you could guess that there was a large swarm of bees inside.

"It's done!" Everyone lowered their voices and said happily, fearing that the loud noises would scare away the bees.

"You wait here and protect the adults. Don't come over. I'll go and take a look!" Su Ying instructed.

Everyone wanted to go and take a look, but they suppressed their curiosity and watched Su Ying walk over.

Su Ying slowly approached the beehive. The bees sensed that something foreign had entered their territory, and they buzzed even louder. Some of them even hovered over Su Ying's head.

Su Ying carefully pulled out a partition, and the bees inside flew out with a buzzing sound.

There is already a layer of honey on the partition, which is not too sticky, after all, the time is too short.

Su Ying raised the partition in her hand towards everyone so that everyone could see the results.

Then insert the partition back into place and walk back slowly.

"It really worked, haha!" The village elders laughed foolishly.

Impossible things became reality one after another. The excitement was beyond words. Everyone seemed to be walking on clouds, so unreal and dizzy.

Lu Zhaoshi and County Magistrate Hu nodded in satisfaction. If these methods were replicated in other places within their jurisdiction, they could reach a certain scale and become local specialties.

To verify, we went to several other places and, as expected, we were able to attract bees successfully.

When they came out of the woods, many villagers looked at them eagerly, "How is it?"

"Done, done!" Old Man Yang said happily, "Tell Wang Sanlang and the others to make some more quickly so we can put them in more places!"

"Oh, okay!" A villager ran quickly to inform the carpenters who were busy as hell.

Everyone went to Su Bucheng's house to drink water.

Lu Zhaoshi saw a few dilapidated houses, a lot of vegetables planted in the corner of the yard, a cow tied in the corner, eating grass quietly, and a brand new ox cart.

There were strange seeds drying in several winnowing baskets, and they were very dry.

"What is this?" Lu Zhaoshi asked curiously.

"Tea oil seeds, used to extract tea oil." Su Ying introduced, "Fry the tea oil seeds, grind them into powder, steam them in a steamer, and then put them into the oil hoop to extract the oil."

"Oh! So simple?" Lu Zhaoshi thought that the processing of such high-quality edible oil must be complicated.

"These are the main steps in oil extraction; the difference lies in the subtle details and the control of the temperature.

"And the sedimentation and preservation of finished oil." Su Ying replied, "This will require everyone to slowly figure out after production."

“Are there many oil tea fruits on the mountain?” Lu Zhaoshi asked County Magistrate Hu. It was the first time for him to directly experience the oil tea fruits.

"Your Excellency, these fruit trees are on the mountain, but they are scattered. The fruits ripen every autumn." County Magistrate Hu also went back to look up a lot of information and asked people for information.

"This tea oil is good. If feasible, we can consider planting some!" Lu Zhaoshi had some more ideas.

It is better to cultivate tea oil fruits artificially than to grow them naturally. This way, the amount of tea oil fruits will be larger and the oil production will also increase. How great is that?

"Your Excellency has a good idea!" Su Ying did not expect that the governor had such a good economic mind and thought of artificial planting.

In modern society, it is only in the last twenty years or so that tea oil has been vigorously promoted for artificial cultivation and the development of the tea oil economy.

It had been in a wild state before.

It seems that the ancients were really smart. With just a little inspiration, they could come up with many modern economic models.

"No, no!" Lu Zhaoshi said modestly, "I just think that tea oil trees are scattered and not as good as artificial planting. It is easier to pick and can also increase tea oil production."

"It would be best if tea oil trees could be planted in large areas so that tea oil can be processed sustainably and stably in the future.

However, the growth cycle of tea oil trees is long. It takes 3-5 years for them to bloom and bear fruit after transplanting, and they enter the peak fruit-bearing period in 6-8 years, which lasts for 20-40 years.

"Every hundred kilograms of tea seeds yields 20-30 kilograms of oil. If we really develop a tea orchard, we can generate profits for at least thirty years." Su Ying calculated the economic situation for the governor.

This project is time-consuming, with the initial investment mainly in time and labor costs, and the results will only be seen after several years.

When Lu Zhaoshi heard this, he felt both excited and a little regretful.

At that time, I didn’t even know where I would be assigned. It would have been great if I had just taken office so that I could see the results.

"People can be encouraged to plant their own trees. In addition to germinating from seeds, tea oil trees can also be grown from cuttings and grafted. Their growth cycle is 2-3 years shorter than that of seed germination.

The government only needs to pass on the planting methods and provide some encouraging policies, so that people can plant some in front of and behind their houses. With more people, the amount will not be small."

Su Yingman hopes to develop the cultivation of tea oil trees so that the people can have a sustainable and stable economic income.

"Well, that's a good idea!" Lu Zhaoshi nodded.

If the people are encouraged to grow crops themselves, some people will do it. The government does not need to invest special manpower costs and can just go with the flow. It will not be considered as dereliction of duty and may even be considered an achievement.

"Alas, there are still not enough things that can be used to press oil!" Lu Zhaoshi sighed, "If you take your oil mill into account, it must be idle most of the time, right?"

"There are many things that can be used to press oil. In addition to sesame and tea fruit, there are also radish seeds, rapeseed seeds, soybeans, etc. If you really make it, you can press oil all year round."

Radish seeds are the seeds of radish.

Rapeseed is the same as rapeseed. The ancients discovered that some cabbages with stalks had many seeds that could be used to extract oil, so they specially cultivated them and grew them into rapeseed specifically for oil extraction.

In the Tang Dynasty, oil was mainly extracted from radish seeds, sesame seeds, soybeans, walnuts, etc. Oil extraction from rapeseed seeds began to appear and flourished in the Song Dynasty.

"Oh, the girl has a plan. I think she has planned it out long ago." Lu Zhaoshi said with a smile.

"There is a little bit. The yield of camellia, sesame, radish seeds and rapeseed seeds is not high, so we can't extract oil all year round. But there is a lot of soybeans, which have two harvests a year and high yield. It is very good to use them as the main raw material for cooking oil.

Moreover, the soybean cakes that have been pressed for oil are not only excellent food for livestock, but can also be used to make tofu." Su Ying said with a smile.

"Bean cakes can be used to make tofu?" Lu Zhaoshi was surprised.

"Yes, one hundred kilograms of soybeans can produce about 20 kilograms of oil, leaving 80 kilograms of bean cakes. It would be a waste to feed all of it to livestock.

Mix 10 jin of bean cake with 70 jin of warm water, stir and soak for 4 hours, then filter with filter cloth after boiling, and you can make tofu.

This bean cake can produce more tofu than soybeans ground into pulp, and the remaining bean dregs can be used to satisfy hunger, feed livestock, or be used as fertilizer. In any case, nothing is wasted."

"?" Lu Zhaoshi stared at Su Ying blankly.

Who is this monster? He knows so much, he understands a humble soybean so thoroughly, and he squeezes it until there is not even a trace of residue left, and uses it all.

If only all crops could be so fully utilized!