Chapter 39: Tianjiazhuang

  Qin Yu left the Qin Mansion and strolled around Chang'an for a while before returning to Qingfeng Residence with big and small packages, which were actually seasonings and spices. In the Tang Dynasty, they were still used as medicinal materials and had not been used for cooking yet. Qin Yu bought them back purely for cooking purposes.

  Of course, Qin Yu didn't just buy this much stuff, he also bought a lot of soybeans and walnuts. These things were too many, they needed to be delivered by the merchant, Qin Yu couldn't carry them back himself.

  Soybeans and walnuts are used by Qin Yu to extract oil, after all, vegetable seed oil has a strong irritating smell, and animal oil is not liked by Qin Yu, wanting to eat well can only be done by himself.

  As for peanut oil and sunflower seed oil, forget it. Peanuts and sunflowers are still in their places of origin, waiting to be discovered.

  Corn oil is possible, but it has to wait until corn grows in the Tang Dynasty. Otherwise, there's no chance. Even if corn takes root and sprouts in the Tang Dynasty, making corn oil will have to wait for two or three years, otherwise, the quantity won't be enough.

  Back at the Clear Wind Residence, Qin Yu told Da Niu about the method of extracting oil and then didn't bother with it anymore. It wasn't that difficult, and although Da Niu was foolish, he wasn't like a stone without any brains.

  As a landlord, it's like this, everything is handed over to the people below to do, how can you personally take care of every matter, that's not possible.

  The brewing equipment is almost done, and it can be assembled by tonight. Tomorrow, the formal brewing can begin. Qin Yu let out a sigh of relief as he saw this. As long as the brewing starts, the silver will definitely come pouring in, and then he can buy ginseng to help Qin Qiang recover his health.

  The ginseng in Chang'an is really not ordinary, but compared to modern times, the price is like picking it up for free. Of course, the prices of goods are different between these two eras. Relatively speaking, there's a common point - being ridiculously expensive.

  To live a life, one must consider clothing, food, shelter, and transportation. As for clothes, Qin Yu doesn't need to worry about that for now, after all, being too unconventional isn't good. With Qingfeng Residence as his home and horse-drawn carriages as his ride, in the Tang Dynasty, he can at least be considered a respectable person.

  The only thing that was a problem with the food was that many dishes required pork, but this pork was too smelly and Qin Yu couldn't stand it. After returning to Qingfeng Residence, Qin Yu used the wine brought by Cheng Huailiang to distill a jar of liquor, then took some stones and headed towards Tianjia Village.

  This village raised a lot of pigs, and this was something Qin Yu had asked about when he was buying things in Chang'an; otherwise, Qin Yu wouldn't have known.

  Qin Yu came here with a simple purpose, which is to teach the villagers how to castrate pigs. If the pigs are not castrated, they will not taste good when eaten. At the same time, he also wants to see if the village is willing to raise pigs for Qingfengju.

  It's better to have a clear and clean living environment, but if you raise pigs, even if it's far away from the clear wind residence, it's still not acceptable. It's like having a toxic bomb there, as soon as the wind blows, it's all over, the more suffocating it is, the more suffocating it will be.

  Tianjiazhuang is adjacent to the Qinling Mountains, southeast of Qingfengju, about 12 miles away. The road is not easy to walk, and it's hard for horse-drawn carriages to pass through, so when Qin Yu arrived at Tianjiazhuang, he was shaken enough.

  Qin Yu's carriage had just arrived at Tianjiazhuang when the village head came up with a smile on his face, it turned out that the village head happened to be out for a stroll and saw Qin Yu's carriage.

  Although Muramasa was also a small official, this official in Chang'an was really worthless. Any servant of a powerful family could show off in front of them, let alone Qin Yu's carriage which was obviously not something an ordinary family could own, so they had to be extremely careful.

  Qin Yu got off the carriage, and Village Chief's eyes lit up, "What a dashing young man!" He immediately stepped forward and said, "I am the village chief of this place, nice to meet you, sir."

  "Muramasa?" Qin Yu was slightly taken aback and hastily stepped forward to pay his respects, "Qin has seen Muramasa, I'm afraid I've disturbed you, please forgive me."

  "What brings you here, young master? Can I be of any assistance to you?" Villager Zheng asked with a smile.

  Qin Yu smiled and said, "Being able to get Village Chief's help is quite a relief, it saves me a lot of trouble. Qin certain thanks Village Chief for that." After saying this, Qin Yu bowed slightly and continued speaking.

  "Qin certain this time came, in fact, is heard that Tianjiazhuang has many pig farms, so specially came to purchase one or two, and conveniently discuss the matter of Tianjiazhuang raising pigs for Qingfengju. I wonder if the village head can introduce me?"

  Muramasa was taken aback by Qin Yu's words, no matter whether it was buying pigs or discussing pig farming, just sending someone over would be enough, but Qin Yu insisted on coming in person. Moreover, nobles generally didn't like to eat pork, yet Qin Yu specifically wanted to buy some, which naturally made him puzzled and perplexed.

  Qin Yu sighed secretly, "Indeed, some things are better left to others to do, lest people think you're eccentric."

  Qin Yu smiled and continued, "This pig may look dirty, but in fact it's not. If handled properly, it's a rare delicacy. I've come for another reason, to castrate the pig, yes, to neuter it. Others don't know the technique, so I must come myself."

  Mura heard vaguely, Qin Yu's reason for eating pork was barely passable. Who doesn't have a hobby? Mura felt that Qin Yu had a strange habit of eating pork, but going to the pig's momentum was somewhat incomprehensible. What's the point of going to the momentum of a good pig? He asked in doubt, "Going to the momentum? What's the use of this pig's momentum?"

  "Pigs won't go into heat, but their meat will have a strong smell if they don't. So we need to castrate them to get rid of the smell." Qin Yu explained patiently.

  The pork smells foul, and naturally, the village head knew. Qin Yu explained it once, and suddenly he was enlightened. If the foul smell of the pork is removed, then the pork will definitely become delicious. He nodded his head and opened his mouth to say, "So that's how it is, Master Qin. First go to my humble abode to rest for a moment, I'll go gather the villagers."

  "In that case, let's trouble Villager Masahide then." Qin Yu smiled and followed Villager Masahide as he headed towards his home.

  Muramasa had Qin Yu sit down in his home and then sent someone to gather the villagers. Removing the smell of pork was a big deal, regardless of whether Qin Yu bought pigs or not, Muramasa wanted to learn this technique himself. Pigs without a strong smell would definitely sell well, and their price would also increase significantly.

  A cup of tea's work, the villagers of Tianjiazhuang all rushed to the door of the village chief's house. After Qin Yu came out, he saw that the villagers were surprised and disbelieving one by one, with a smile on his face, saying "Qin certain has seen everyone in the countryside." After finishing speaking, he bowed slightly.

  Many people are not surprised, Qin Yu's behavior wins over the good feelings of Tianjiazhuang villagers, and everyone shouts, "We've seen Master Qin."

  Qin Yu nodded and continued, "I suppose the villagers all know that Qin has come to buy pigs. Indeed, it is true, but Qin also wants to discuss with the villagers about raising pigs specifically for Qin in the future, of course, not for free."

  "The piglets' food was provided by Qin, who would give a certain amount of money every month according to the number of pigs. For each pig, Qin would give the villagers thirty cents as labor costs every month."

  "Huh." The villagers of Tianjiazhuang looked at each other, and after a moment, suddenly burst into a commotion. Qin Yu's words had given them quite a shock.

  A pig takes half a year to grow from birth, although pigs eat wild vegetables and are easy to raise, but there aren't that many wild vegetables for the pigs to eat, so most of the time, this pig needs to be fed some bran or even grain. When it grows up and is sold, it's barely worth 100 cents.

  Qin Yu's offer was equivalent to letting the villagers of Tianjiazhuang earn an extra 80 cents, without worrying about not being able to sell it. How could the villagers of Tianjiazhuang not be shocked?

  "Is what Lord Qin said really true?" someone in the village shouted out.

  "Of course, Qin can make a contract with you all, in black and white, so no one can cheat anyone else. I wonder what you fellow villagers think?" Qin Yu said with a smile.

  The villagers looked at me and I looked at them, after a moment, they opened their mouths and shouted, "We agree!"

  It's easy to make money and there's no need to worry about the pigs not selling, how could the villagers of Tianjiazhuang possibly refuse?

  The contract was written by Qin Yu, and each household in the village signed it one by one. Finally, Qin Yu asked each family to report the number of pigs they had, and on the spot, he bought all the pigs, spending a total of only 32 guan and 120 wen.

  Qin Yu bought them at market price, one hundred coins per head, regardless of size. Qin Yu paid according to the price of a large pig, which once again won over the villagers' favor.

  Muramasa saw the situation, and his previous worries also faded away. From time to time, he stroked his beard and smiled. When the villagers' lives improved, taxes were easier to collect, and as the village head, he was stable too.

  The knife for castration is specially made, a kitchen knife won't do, it's not only big but also hard to operate. Before the operation, disinfection is required, and after the operation, disinfection treatment must be done, alcohol comes in handy at this moment.

  When Qin Yu was distilling the wine, Cheng Huailiang and Cheng Huaimo smelled the aroma of the wine and wanted to come over to drink some. Unfortunately, Shi Tou was blocking the entrance, so no one could enter the kitchen, and they could only drool while watching.

  Tianjiazhuang had a blacksmith, and the castration knife was quickly forged. Qin Yu explained to the three butchers of Tianjiazhuang how to make the cut, where to cut, and then the three butchers nervously began to castrate the pigs.

  Every craft is achieved through continuous failure. The butcher killed a dozen pigs before mastering the castration technique.

  This process made many people sweat, fearing that Qin Yu would not want those dead pigs or ask them to accompany him. Fortunately, Qin Yu was very calm and not displeased at all, and even sent the dead pigs to Tianjiazhuang. In fact, it didn't matter if Qin Yu came or not, as the pork from these dozen or so dead pigs was still spoiled anyway.

  Boars and sows are all castrated, after castration the pigs are gentle in temperament, easy to manage, and have good meat quality. This is what Qin Yu told the villagers. Qin Yu also instructed the villagers that from now on, all pigs must be castrated, especially when they are still young.

  Of course, not all pigs can be castrated, leaving breeding pigs and some mother pigs for the next generation, otherwise it's killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.

  Since the butchers had mastered this technique, Qin Yu promised on the spot that he would give two cents for every pig castrated. However, the butchers were unwilling to accept his offer, as it was a skill they had learned from Qin Yu himself.

  Qin Yu saw the butchers insisting, smiled and explained the use of alcohol. From then on, pigs had to be disinfected with alcohol before castration, otherwise 5 or 6 out of 10 would die. The money had to be collected, and finally the butchers accepted Qin Yu's money.

  Wine naturally comes from Qingfengju, and Qin Yu isn't giving it to them for free. They need to spend money to buy it, a fair deal, no cheating of the young or old. Of course, this Qin Yu wouldn't dare say that out loud, or else he would be ridiculed.

  Qin Yu watched for a while, seeing the butchers' techniques becoming more and more skilled, then left the liquor as a free gift. After that, he took two head of suckling pigs away from Tianjiazhuang under the villagers' strange and admiring gaze.