I feel so good after dressing up as a peasant girl

Ning Cuizhi didn't understand what was going on. She stared at Bai Jingzhou and asked, "How did you come up with the idea of ​​castrating a pig? No, who told you about this?"

Bai Jingzhou made up a story, "I didn't hear it from anyone, I read it in a book."

There are already records about pig castration in the oracle bone inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty.

Around the turn of the Qin and Han dynasties, the technique of castration of cattle and horses also flourished.

From a timeline perspective, the skill of pig castration was most popular before the rise of castration of cattle and horses.

However, in this era, if there is any craftsman with some skills, basically no one will selflessly pass on their knowledge. They will only pass it down from father to son, and from master to apprentice. Then in the process of transmission, the father and the master will deliberately keep some skills back. In this way, it is very unlikely that these "skills" are lost.

He told Bai Chong and Ning Cuizhi, "After being castrated, pigs will become lazy and move less, so they will gain weight faster. In addition, the meat quality of castrated pigs will be better than that of non-castrated pigs. In addition, castrated pigs will become gentler in temperament and will no longer be as aggressive as before, so it will be relatively easier for pig farmers to feed them on a daily basis."

His mother was skeptical. "Is there really so many benefits to castrating pigs? Then why doesn't anyone castrate pigs here?"

Bai Jingzhou smiled, "I guess it's because this skill is only in the hands of a few people."

He reminded Bai Chong and Ning Cuizhi, "Didn't the Zhao family give us half a pig as a thank you gift? My master said it was a castrated pig."

The biggest advantage of creating a teacher out of nothing is that everything that you cannot explain the origin of can be attributed to the mysterious so-called master.

As expected, after Bai Jingzhou said this, Bai Chong and Ning Cuizhi immediately and spontaneously filled in the details for him.

Bai Chong asked Bai Jingzhou, "You don't want to slaughter pigs for others while practicing medicine, do you?"

Being a pig butcher is a lowly job. Bai Chong doesn't want his son to give up being a doctor and become a pig butcher instead.

"No." Bai Jingzhou gave his father a reassurance. "My main task now is to study medicine and practice martial arts. Even if I want to do something else in the future, I will only choose the path of imperial examination and officialdom that will allow our family to be called a 'farming and reading family'."

Among the four classes of people, scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, even if he could not become an official, Bai Jingzhou wanted to pass the imperial examinations and obtain a title such as a scholar or a juren. Only in this way could he have a certain say and influence in Qingshan County.

He briefly explained his thoughts. Although Bai Chong and Ning Cuizhi were not optimistic about him changing his career to study and take imperial examinations at his age, neither of them said anything to spoil his mood.

They are so happy that their children are willing to make progress, but they will never say things like "You can't do it, stop dreaming, this is impossible".

"As for studying, you just need to know what you are doing." Bai Chong neither encouraged nor discouraged him. He changed the subject and continued to ask Bai Jingzhou about the matter of pig castration. "But do you want to teach the skill of pig castration to others?"

Bai Jingzhou nodded, "I plan to ask my second cousin if he wants to castrate a pig for someone else."

After a pause, he continued, "If he wants to learn the skills of a gelder, I can teach him as well. But in a place like ours, I'm afraid few people would ask him to help with castration of cattle and horses."

Ma Ordinary people simply cannot afford to support someone like him. Those who can afford it will go directly to the county town to find those experienced craftsmen, but will not go all the way to Baijia Village to find his cousin, a novice.

Donkeys are still a rare species nowadays because they are not as strong as cows, but their prices are not cheaper than cows, so they are not within the consideration of ordinary people like them.

Only the cow, an animal that is most suitable for plowing the fields, is the dream animal of ordinary people.

But cows are so valuable that ordinary people either don't castrate them or buy cows that have already been castrated by gelders. There is also no possibility of asking Bai Jingzhou's second cousin to do the job.

On the contrary, pigs are an important source of income for farmers throughout the year. As long as three or two families in the village have tasted the benefits of pig castration, everyone will follow suit. In this way, his second cousin will not have to worry about having no business.

As for why it was his second cousin.

His eldest cousin learned carpentry from his uncle and has now become a master, able to make various wooden products independently.

His third cousin is the only son of his second uncle. He also learned how to make tofu from his parents since he was a child. In the future, he will definitely take over his parents' business.

Only his second cousin had no talent for carpentry, and he couldn't stand the hardship of having to find time to do carpentry work while farming.

His father and elder brother, who worked as hard as an ox, left him with psychological trauma when he was very young, so much so that he would rather be scolded by his father than learn carpentry.

Bai Jingzhou felt that slaughtering pigs was not a very tiring job and, since it was unique, it must be a lucrative skill and his second cousin would definitely be very interested in it.

He said to his parents, "As long as the pigs from our family, my eldest uncle's family, and my grandparents' family grow faster and have better meat quality than other families' pigs, everyone will definitely take the initiative to find my second cousin to help them castrate their own pigs."

Bai Chong nodded, "That's right. But you have to confirm with your master in advance, don't make him angry because of this."

Of course, the nephew is important, but Bai Chong is not so foolish as to ruin his son's future for his nephew.

Bai Jingzhou smiled, "Don't worry, I have already informed my master in advance."

Although Bai Chong always emphasized that he had to ask his master in advance before teaching anything to his family, Bai Jingzhou didn't mind Bai Chong's nagging at all.

No matter how many times Bai Chong was willing to repeat this reminder for his own good, Bai Jingzhou would always listen with a smile and patience.

Bai Chong heaved a sigh of relief when he heard this. He said, "Then let's go to your uncle's house now."

"Wait." Ning Cuizhi stopped the father and son. "According to what Jingzhou said, the skill of pig slaughtering is not difficult to learn, and it is easy and profitable. But you can't just think about the benefits and not the disadvantages."

Bai Chong was confused. "What's the harm? Where's the harm?"

Ning Cuizhi looked very disappointed, "We have to deal with pigs! Isn't that filthy?"

Bai Chong couldn't understand. "Then according to what you said, farming, raising pigs, raising chickens, ducks and geese, which one is not dirty? An old farmer is still complaining about this and that. Do you think you are the master sitting in the hall?"

Ning Cuizhi rolled her eyes at him, "Do you think I'm a jerk? I'm just afraid that your sister-in-law will be mean to us Jingzhou."

Bai Chong sneered, "She has already made herself into an ancestral temple, why do you still care about her thoughts?"

Bai Jingzhou also said: "As long as my uncle and my second cousin have no objection, I will teach my second cousin how to slaughter a pig."

Just like his father said, it doesn’t matter at all what his aunt thinks.