Chapter 106 Oil and Sauce [1]

After entering the main hall, Scholar Shang didn’t ask the three individuals any questions. Instead, he instructed Ah Jiu to fetch the Four Treasures of the Study from the mule cart. He handed each of them a piece of paper, a brush, a bit of ink and said, "Write down what you think you’ve learned best. Be it calligraphy or an essay, either is fine."

"Ah?" Gu Dewang was confused: "Isn’t the scholar supposed to ask questions?"

Mom said that Scholar Shang would only ask a few questions, and that he just needed to answer as he had been taught. But why the change to writing now? What was he supposed to write? He had never attended private school at all.

The only one in Village Chief Gu’s household who had attended private school was Gu Dexing. Gu Dewang was just eight years old, and during the drought two years ago in the Northwest which led to the hardships, he was only six and hadn’t attended school. He had only learned a few characters and read the Three Character Classic for a few days under Village Chief Gu’s instruction.

Scholar Shang simply smiled, not responding, but had Ah Jiu stay behind to watch them write. He himself then said to Third Grandpa and Gu Dashan, "Third Uncle Gu, Brother Gu, your family’s tofu is an intriguing delicacy. Wenyuan has been very curious. May I have the chance to observe its making?"

Third Grandpa and Gu Dashan, eager to be on good terms with Scholar Shang, naturally agreed with pleasure.

They first visited the Luo Family’s courtyard to watch the grinding of soybeans. Scholar Shang pointed to the white soymilk flowing out from the millstone and asked, "Is this the soymilk?"

Third Grandpa nodded with a smile, "Yes, but this is soymilk mixed with bean dregs. The bean dregs need to be filtered out, then cooked in a pot, curdled, turned into tofu pudding, then pressed to become tofu."

"And the soymilk? Can it just be boiled and sweetened for consumption?" Scholar Shang did not inquire about the curdling process, aware that it was the Gu Family’s secret recipe, which he shouldn’t pry into.

Third Grandpa said, "That soymilk has to be diluted with water. Pure soymilk has too strong a taste and isn’t pleasant to drink."

"I see." Scholar Shang was enlightened, then added, "How much tofu do you produce in a day? One millstone doesn’t seem sufficient."

Third Grandpa replied, "Indeed, it’s not enough. We’re planning on getting a stone to make another stone mill."

This was a plan from before, which had been postponed due to issues with the Lu Family.

Upon hearing this, Scholar Shang looked at the reticent Gu Dashan, a look of surprise gracing his face, his tone filled with admiration as he said, "Brother Gu can even make a stone mill, that’s quite a significant skill."

Gu Dashan replied with a simple grin, "What skill? It’s all work I’ve done before."

From his youth, he had been driven by Granny Gu to do all sorts of work—carpentry, masonry, well-digging, stone masonry; he’d done it all.

However, Scholar Shang then said, "My family’s old mansion has an abandoned stone mill. I’ll have Ah Jiu deliver it to you tomorrow. That way, you won’t have to buy a new one."

Creating a new stone mill required a great deal of effort, and since the Gu Family was short on manpower for tofu making, it would be better to gift it to them.

Hearing this, Gu Dashan hurriedly waved his hands in refusal, "No, no, that millstone would cost quite a bit of money. Brother Shang, you’ve already given us many generous gifts today, you really mustn’t give more."

Scholar Shang smiled and said, "Brother Gu, that stone mill has been lying unused in the old mansion for nearly twenty years. If you don’t take it, it will just continue to accumulate dust. Please don’t refuse."

Gu Dashan had no choice but to accept.

Gu Damu and Gu Dalin brothers, who were standing by, found this exchange quite gratifying. This Scholar Shang showed none of the haughtiness typical of the son-in-law of a County Captain, and was extremely affable.

Gu Dagui and Gu Dafu were filtering soymilk nearby. Seeing Gu Dashan approaching, they quickly signaled to him with their eyes. Once Gu Dashan came over, Gu Dagui asked in a low voice, "Brother Dashan, that woman of ours hasn’t caused trouble for your family, has she?"

Last night, Mrs. Chen had mentioned taking a few children to have Scholar Shang take them as pupils, to study for free under him. He had scolded her fiercely, accusing her of never having enough, always wanting more.

Mrs. Chen agreed with him at the time, saying she wouldn’t bring it up again. But today, as soon as he and Brother Gu arrived at the Luo Family’s courtyard to work, she took her four children and dashed to Brother Dashan’s house. He saw it and wanted to chase after them but was afraid of making an unsightly scene, worrying that it would make Scholar Shang dislike them, so he restrained himself.

But he really couldn’t rest easy about Mrs. Chen, fearing that she might offend the son-in-law of the County Captain and bring disaster upon their families.

Gu Dashan said, "With Third Aunt there, it will be fine."

Scholar Shang, upon hearing their conversation, didn’t say much. People from farming families are all like this, also for the sake of their children’s future. But as for accepting disciples, that’s his decision to make.

Scholar Shang wandered around the Luo Family’s courtyard, chatted for a moment with the brothers Gu Dalin and Gu Damu, and Gu Dafu and Gu Dagui, and then turned back to the Gu Family’s house to check on the simmering soy milk, the separated tofu pudding, and the pressed tofu.

"It’s truly magical. To think that beans, once ground, boiled, and pressed, can turn into a new food," Scholar Shang remarked in amazement.

Gu Jinli was conversing with Mrs. Cui, Gu Jinxiu, and Gu Yumei, accompanied by Ms. Jiang and her daughter. Upon hearing this, she stood up, approached Scholar Shang, and took the opportunity to say, "Besides tofu, beans can be turned into many foods, such as soybean paste, bean sprouts, soy oil, and a kind of soy sauce that tastes similar to Hai Xian Sauce."

Upon hearing this, Scholar Shang was shocked and hastily asked Gu Jinli, "They can make oil and something like Hai Xian Sauce? Is this true?"

Hai Xian Sauce, made from meat, is an expensive condiment—sold for one tael of silver per small jar on the market, only affordable for the wealthy.

Yet soybeans sell for mere three copper coins per catty. If they could produce a soy sauce that tastes similar to Hai Xian Sauce, that would be... he dared not imagine the sensation this soy sauce would cause.

And there’s also the soy oil.

In Great Chu, there are only two types of oil: edible fats and pine oil used for lighting. In Da Rong, it’s said they have a butter made from cow and sheep’s milk. He had never heard of soy oil before. If soybeans can indeed be turned into soy oil, that would be a great blessing for both the country and its people.

Scholar Shang knew that this matter was too significant. With his current abilities, he simply couldn’t protect these two things. He then asked Gu Jinli, "Child, who else have you told about this?"

Gu Jinli replied, "Uncle Shang, rest assured. As for soy oil and soy sauce, only a few of us present are aware of it."

She understood the principle of attracting envy due to one’s treasures, so she wouldn’t reveal everything she could make all at once. Instead, she would introduce them one by one, only making those she could protect.

Initially, she only wanted to make tofu because she met Scholar Shang. Knowing that Scholar Shang was the son-in-law of the County Magistrate, she then thought of making Hai Xian Sauce and soy oil.

Given the abilities of County Captain Jiang in Tianfu County, he should be able to protect these two things and prevent them from bringing fatal disasters upon them.

Having heard this, Scholar Shang finally breathed a sigh of relief. He then roughly inquired about the methods for making the soy sauce and soy oil from Gu Jinli.

Gu Jinli gave a rough explanation: "The production of soy sauce takes longer than Hai Xian Sauce. It requires fermenting the soybeans for half a year before it can be turned into soy sauce. As for the soy oil, the production time is shorter, but it requires substantial labor to make."

Grinding beans and frying them is simple, but extracting oil is a troublesome process. Without the labor of at least ten people, you couldn’t possibly extract the oil by hand.

"And ten catties of soybeans can only produce a little more than one catty of soy oil, so the yield isn’t too high."

"However, soy sauce is much better. Although the fermentation process takes a long time, from one catty of soybeans you can produce two catties of soy sauce. The process isn’t laborious and is quite cost-effective."

Gu Jinli laid out the advantages and disadvantages of soy oil and soy sauce.