Traveling back to the Northern Song Dynasty: Picking up a princess as my wife

Soybeans, also known as "shu" in ancient times, originated in China and have been cultivated on the land for over 5000 years, ranking among the "Five Grains." Soybeans and their products hold an important place in traditional Chinese food culture. Tofu, often called "Chinese cheese," is a prime example.

However, after Li Zhen traveled through time, he discovered that soybeans were not used for oil extraction at that time, and the oil consumed by the people was mostly rapeseed oil and lard. This gave Li Zhen a business opportunity.

Because soybeans are very common, their price is also very low. At this time, most farmers plant soybeans in places that do not take up much space in the fields and do not pay much attention to this plant.

The oil refining methods of that era were very primitive. First, the rapeseed was roasted, then the ground rapeseed was wrapped in straw, and finally placed in a stone press. A large hammer and wooden stick were used to slowly extract the oil from the rapeseed. (This was featured on the documentary series "A Bite of China".)

Li Zhen ordered his men to add soybeans to the mixture and press oil using the same method. They quickly produced the first barrel of soybean oil of the era, and the news spread rapidly throughout the entire mountain stronghold.

"Have you heard? The chieftain can actually extract oil from soybeans, and that oil tastes even better than rapeseed oil."

"Soybeans can be pressed for oil? Our village chief is truly a genius!"

After the villagers learned that soybeans could be pressed for oil, they immediately began to collect them. Soybeans, which were not considered a good thing before, suddenly became a valuable commodity.

It should be noted that oil was a very important resource in that era. In addition to cooking food, it could also be used for lighting lamps. Ordinary families could not afford to use much oil in a year.

In fact, the incense and fire we often talk about in the temples we visit are actually incense and oil. However, most of the oil is brought into the temple by worshippers and given to the monks to be used as lamps for offering to Buddha.

Li Zhen knew that in the future there would be mechanical oil presses, which would eliminate the hassle of modern methods. You could simply pour the oil in, press a button, and the soybean oil would flow out like water. However, Li Zhen didn't want to return to the modern world yet. Firstly, he hadn't accumulated that much gold during this time, and secondly, he always had to injure himself before time-traveling, and the wound on his hand had only just healed a few days prior. He decided to wait a few more days.

Li Zhen even made use of the soybean residue left over from pressing oil. In the past, this soybean residue was used as feed for pigs and sheep. People wanted to eat it as food, but the taste was really hard to swallow, so they gave up.

Li Zhen had the remaining soybean dregs gathered together and then ordered them to be carried to a large millstone. He poured all the dregs onto the millstone and began to grind them in circles, adding salt and some soybean oil along the way. This piqued the curiosity of many onlookers, who couldn't understand what their leader was up to.

Seeing everyone's blank expressions, Li Zhen smiled and said, "Today I'm going to make you a delicious bean product, bean dregs pancakes."

Soybeans are a wonderful resource; they can be used to extract oil and make countless delicacies, such as soy milk, tofu, tofu skin, and fried dough sticks. This demonstrates the wisdom of the ancient people, who were able to transform various edible grains into a multitude of culinary delights. In the Chinese culinary tradition, plants serve two main functions: food and medicine. Even poisonous plants possess unique medicinal value.

Li Zhen then put the crushed soybean pulp into a pot and simmered it over low heat until both sides were golden brown before using a wooden spatula to transfer it to a plate.

Curious onlookers, ignoring the steaming heat of the soybean pulp cake, grabbed a piece and tried it. With one bite, the fragrant soybean pulp cake was incredibly delicious; the addition of a touch of salt lessened the beany taste.

"It's so delicious! I never knew there was such a way to eat soybean pulp."

Li Zhen had already taught them how to make it. After giving them some guidance, he let them make it on their own. So that evening, several canteens in Lijiazhai added another delicious dish: fried soybean dregs pancakes.

Lijiazhai also gained an additional source of income: selling soybean oil.

Li Zhen had Yue Peng contact Manager Sun of the grain store, through whom they purchased a large quantity of soybeans. Their soybean oil was also sold to various places along Damingfu Road through Manager Sun.

Compared to the blandness of rapeseed oil, soybean oil has a unique aroma, especially when frying food, the color of food fried with soybean oil is particularly golden.

The next day, the people in charge of pressing the oil began their work. They first put the soybeans in an iron pot and stir-fried them until they were dry. Then they crushed them with a millstone and tied them up with straw.

Several strong men, specially hired, took off their shirts and began to violently pound the straw-bound soybean cakes with special stone hammers. Below was an oil trough secured with wooden boards, from which golden soybean oil continuously flowed, leaving the onlookers wide-eyed with astonishment.

"It's releasing oil! This soybean has such a high oil yield!"

Soon the wooden barrels filled with oil were full, and the fragrant aroma of soybean oil wafted far and wide.

Yue Peng ordered his men to load barrels of soybean oil onto the truck, and then, under the watchful eyes of everyone, he started the light truck. With the roar of the engine, it began to drive along the mountain road toward Tangyin City.

Now all the soldiers in Lijiazhai are learning how to drive cars and tractors. At first, they were very afraid of these iron machines, but after Li Zhen pulled them around a few times, some of the smart ones began to figure out how to drive them.

At this moment, Li Zhen was holding Zhao Yingluo's hand, watching the cornfields around the mountain village swaying back and forth in the mountain wind. Due to Li Zhen's continuous hard work during this period, Zhao Yingluo's lower abdomen had begun to swell slightly.

Zhao Yingluo leaned happily on Li Zhen's shoulder: "Husband, thank you for everything you have given me. If it weren't for you, I would have died at the hands of the Jurchens."

Li Zhen gently patted Zhao Yingluo's back: "Silly girl, this is fate that God gave us. He brought me here, let me meet you, and then saved you. It's a pity that I'm too weak, otherwise I could have saved even your father."

Don't mistake Li Zhen's words for comforting Zhao Yingluo; he's been racking his brains for a while now, figuring out how to rescue Emperor Huizong. Putting everything else aside, his calligraphy and painting skills alone are enough to justify the risk. Li Zhen will keep Emperor Huizong by his side, spending his days painting and writing after meals. He can then return to the modern world with these works, selling any piece for an astronomical price. This isn't just his father-in-law; he's a veritable money-printing machine!

Just as Li Zhen was pondering his father-in-law, Yue Peng and his group, who had just left the mountain stronghold, returned in a light truck, and it seemed that the truck's glass had been smashed.

Upon seeing this, Li Zhen thought to himself, "This is bad; something's happened."

When Yue Peng stopped the car, his head covered in blood, he ignored his wounds and got out to speak to Li Zhen.

"Chief, it's bad! Those refugees have attacked. We encountered a large mob on our way to Tangyin County. They used weapons to block us, but luckily the road there was wide enough, so I turned back."

Li Zhen helped Yue Peng up and said with concern, "Let's go inside and bandage the wounds first. We'll talk about the refugees later."