Traveling through time as a peasant girl to turn things around

That day, Li Dong arrived, driving a horse-drawn carriage to the mansion. Li Dong asked someone to unload the carriage. Chai Zhen came over and said, "Dong! What is this?" Li Dong smiled and said, "Hello, Grandpa. Guoguo asked me to make this. She said it's for oil or sugar making."

Chai Zhen found a yard and carried the equipment inside. Li Dong set up the machine, found soybeans, and poured them in. Li Dong cranked the handle, and the soybeans slowly turned into powder. After repeated cranking, oil began to flow out! Chai Zhen had someone bring a clay pot and connect it. The oil was clear and translucent, and the aroma was fragrant. Xiaodong: "It's just that you have to do it manually, so the oil comes out slowly." Chai Zhen: "This is already very good." It looked the same color as the oil Guoguo had brought. "This is soybean oil!" Xiaodong: "Yes, isn't that the kind of oil we've been eating for years! Fragrant and not greasy! Better than lard, but it gets greasy if you eat too much." Chai Zhen went out to get peanuts. Xiaodong thought about it and said, "Grandpa, do you want to fry the peanuts?" Chai Zhen: "Let's try." Chai Zhen had someone take them to the kitchen. Soon, peanuts were brought in, seemingly half-cooked. Xiaodong finished squeezing this batch of soybeans, cleaned it, and poured in the peanuts. He replaced the oil pot with a new one and reconnected it to the leak. Soon, the oil began to flow out, fragrant and delicious. Li Dong: "When fried, it's fragrant." Chai Zhen had also tasted peanut oil; the leavened pancakes made with it were delicious. The color was a deep red. Li Dong: "It worked!" Chai Zhen: "Great, great! We can squeeze the oil ourselves." He watched as a clay pot of oil was fried. Chai Zhen had it brought to the kitchen to test. "Yes." The guard took it to the kitchen.

Li Dong: "Grandpa, I'm coming back. I'll make some more improvements! Make the oil come out faster! Then we can produce it in large quantities!" Chai Zhen: "Okay, okay, let's try eating the oil tonight. When it's ready, I'll report to the emperor and give you a reward. You're a dexterous person!" "Grandpa, I'm coming back!" Chai Zhen: "Okay." Li Dong also took away a small jar of oil and took it home for his family to eat.

For dinner, they cooked dishes using soybean and peanut oil. Chai Zhen ate them and said, "It's delicious! I finally made my own oil." Old Lady Li was delighted, saying, "So this is how the oil we've been eating for so many years is made." Chai Ping'an suggested, "Let's open a small workshop to make oil. We grow a lot of soybeans, so we have the raw material." Chai Zhen said, "Okay. I'll go to the palace tomorrow to see what the emperor thinks. Our own production is limited, and this needs to be promoted nationwide!" Fu Zhaoxia said, "Yes! Li Dong has made a great contribution this time!" Old Lady Li said, "Well, this kid is smart and skillful! Soybean oil is delicious, and peanut oil is even better!"

The next day, at daybreak, Chai Zhen boarded a carriage and headed for the palace, accompanied by several guards.

Arriving at the palace gate, Chai Zhen produced his badge and allowed the guards and carriage to pass, heading all the way to the Imperial Study. The Emperor had just finished his morning court session and had not yet eaten breakfast. Seeing Chai Zhen approach, he asked the eunuch to invite him in.

Chai Zhen saw the emperor and said with a smile, "Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Your Majesty!" The emperor said: "Tell me, old man. What are you so happy about?" Chai Zhen clasped his fists and saluted, saying, "Li Dong made an oil press, and it produced oil yesterday. I have tried it! It is delicious! The people can eat vegetable oil in the future." Chai Zhen whispered, "Your Majesty, it is the same soybean oil and peanut oil that Guoguo gave you." The emperor was surprised and asked again, "Did you squeeze out the oil yourself?" Chai Zhen: "Yes, yes. I brought some for Your Majesty to try first!" Chai Zhen asked the guards to bring it in. Chai Zhen said, "Not much fried, try it first. One can of each." The emperor saw the oil can on the table, which was clear and translucent, and smelled fragrant! Said, "It's nice to look at! It smells delicious!" Chai Zhen: "Li Dong continues to make the oil press. Then we will make sesame oil! I heard from Guoguo that there is also rapeseed oil and corn can also produce oil." The emperor: "Good! This is a blessing for the people of my Great Yan! I will reward Li Dong in a few days, and said, it must be Guoguo's contribution!" Affirmative words. Chai Zhen nodded. Guoguo drew the drawings, and Li Dong was indeed smart and skillful!

The Emperor thought, how great it would be if the Ministry of War could make an oil press out of iron. Let's take our time. The Emperor: "I'll have the Ministry of Revenue build a factory, increase production, and sell it to the people at a fair price!" Chai Zhen: "Yes, that's what I thought. After all, our own processing capabilities are limited." The Emperor: "Old Master, I agree to open an oil press workshop for your family." Chai Zhen: "Okay, thank you first, Your Majesty. This is how we made an oil press. With more machines, the oil mill can expand!" The Emperor: "Yes, you haven't had breakfast yet. Little Mazi will serve you breakfast in the Imperial Study." "Yes, Your Majesty, I'll go and arrange for the meal to be served." The Chief Eunuch was happy to see the Emperor happy. They say that serving the emperor is like serving a tiger! But he was calm in his heart. Good things happened more often. The Emperor had a good temper, so he would be scolded less! He was happy to serve the meal. Chai Zhen had dinner with the Emperor in the Imperial Study, which was a rare thing! Soon, the news spread outside. Little Mazi gave the young eunuch a good beating.

Chai Zhen returned home, excitedly saying, "We can open an oil press." He summoned the night housekeeper. Chai Zhen said, "Let's find a place to open an oil press!" The night housekeeper replied, "Okay, that's easy. I'll get it done right away." In just one day, the workshop was established. It was also in the capital, just a little further away. A horse carriage would take an hour to get there. Chai Zhen had the oil press taken away, along with several carts of soybeans and peanuts.

The family's ceramics factory also had a new source of income: processing small ceramic jars for oil. Butler Ye asked Jiaxing to arrange for the firing of the jars. The two of them discussed and decided to assign the oil press to the second steward, Ye Ankang. Soybean residue was edible; the chef tried to make a dish out of it, and it was quite delicious. Peanut residue wasn't so good, so Chai Zhen slammed the table and said, "Use it as fertilizer in the fields! Yes, horses, cows, and pigs can eat it, too." Chai Zhen had Xiao Shunzi planted large quantities of sesame, soybeans, and peanuts on the hilltop.

After hearing this, Chai Ping'an also started planting sesame seeds in his mansion. He also planted melon seeds on the edge of his field. Chai Zhen wanted to buy some land, but was afraid of burdening his son. After thinking it over, he decided to buy the land and let others cultivate it. He told the housekeeper Ye, who said: "Okay."

Butler Ye went to the Ministry of Revenue and personally told the Minister of Revenue, "Mr. Chai wants to buy some land! Let's see if there's a large piece of land. If not, it's okay, we can find it slowly." The Minister of Revenue said, "Yes, the land is outside the capital. It was just acquired last year. How much do you want?" Butler Ye thought, "It must be at least a thousand acres!" The Minister said, "I'll go and take a look. Please wait."

The Minister of Revenue quickly returned with several land deeds, handed them to Butler Ye, and said, "Take a look. Which one do you want?" Butler Ye saw a plot of 500 acres, and another of over 1,000 acres. Butler Ye thought for a moment and produced two deeds. They totaled 1,500 acres, located in two different places. They weren't too far away, so it was a good idea. Butler Ye said, "Take both, each containing 1,500 acres." The Minister said, "Wait a moment. I'll go and transfer the ownership. Whose name should be written?" Butler Ye said, "I don't know yet." The Minister said, "I'll transfer the ownership. You can write your own name when you get home." Butler Ye said, "Okay, thank you very much, sir!"

The minister returned with the deed quickly and gave it to Butler Ye. The butler bowed and left. Yan Jiye muttered to himself, "Great! Great!" Later, when Yan Jiye returned to court, he heard that vegetable oil had been extracted. The people were in for a treat!

Later, the housekeeper Ye fried the first batch of oil and sent it to many high-ranking officials. "Try it first!" Yan Jiye was also the first to try the oil, especially the large oil cakes, which were delicious.

Butler Ye returned to the Chai Mansion, gave the land deed to Chai Zhen, and said, "Just write your own name." Chai Zhen: "Okay, thank you for your trouble!" Butler: "Master, don't say that. It's my responsibility to do it." Butler Ye bowed and left.

Chai Zhen looked at the deed, thinking it was all for Fengxing's face. The housekeeper is efficient! His family is also capable, and Chai Zhen was happy. Then he gave the deed to Jiaxing and asked him to take over the land. He said, "One thousand acres of land will be written in the name of the fourth brother, and five hundred acres of land will be written in your name." Jiaxing: "Okay." Chai Zhen: "Jiaxing, don't think it's too little. I will buy you more land later." Jiaxing: "It's okay, grandpa. The fourth brother doesn't make as much money as me, I don't mind." Chai Zhen smiled, "Well, grandpa knows that you are all good children, brothers are united and motivated. Our family will not be divided! Go and do your own thing. If you have any difficulties, just tell me!" Jiaxing: "Okay."

Jiaxing was happy. He thought it was no problem. His family was well-known in the capital, and as long as he didn't do anything bad, everything would be fine. He just wanted to earn money through hard work.

Chai Zhen watched Jiaxing walk away, still looking into the distance. Chai Zhen also knew that this grandson only knew how to make money. He had so much money in his hands that he couldn't count it! The fourth son only knew how to fight. The third son worked with the prince. Jia He was the village chief in his hometown! It's better not to be an official! The Chai family is fine now! Live a low-key life!