coobybook Chapter 361 New Workshop
Chapter 361 New Workshop
The oil pressing workshop run by Uncle Ning's family uses sesame and soybeans as raw materials.
Gu Wenxuan's newly opened workshop plans to use two crops, peanuts and sunflowers, as raw materials for oil extraction.
As for oil pressing tools, wooden presses are commonly used in this world.
This press has a simple structure, mainly consisting of a wooden barrel and a lever. Through the action of the lever, a large amount of oil can be squeezed out with less effort, and it is very convenient to operate.
Bai Jingzhou chose the gear-driven oil press that was popularized during the Ming and Qing dynasties in their world.
The structure of this type of oil press is more complicated, but through multi-stage transmission, the force and speed of oil pressing can be greatly increased, and the efficiency of oil pressing is higher.
On this basis, with the help of water power or animal power, oil extraction will become faster and more labor-saving.
If sweet potatoes and potatoes are used to make vermicelli, the first thing to solve is the problem of crushing the fruits.
Bai Jingzhou thought of two ways, one was to crush it with a stone mill, and the other was to crush it with a simple foot-operated crusher.
The so-called simple foot-operated crusher refers to a crusher that uses foot-operated method to provide power to the hammer head inside the crusher, so that the hammer head continuously strikes the washed and cut sweet potatoes and potato tubers.
After testing these two methods, Gu Wenxuan and Bai Jingzhou rejected the second one because compared with the simple crusher, the stone mill is not only more efficient, but also can make full use of water power and animal power.
The two men found Jia the stonemason in Jiajia Village, who charged low fees but had excellent craftsmanship, and asked him to help make six stone mills with slightly higher outer edges and four evenly distributed grooves on them to allow the slurry to flow out, which could be driven by both water and animal power.
After all the preparations were done, Gu Wenxuan, accompanied by Bai Jingzhou, went out to the farm to select workers.
Like other workshops and shops of the Gu and Bai families, Gu Wenxuan did not plan to hire only villagers from Baijia Village and Jiajia Village for these two workshops.
She planned to recruit some people from the surrounding villages and also selected a group of people from the village.
The two of them took Yang Wandong and Chun Ni'er and left the village in a carriage.
In addition to choosing people, Gu Wenxuan also wanted to pick fresh fruits herself, wash them and eat them.
She and Bai Jingzhou sat in the carriage hand in hand, occasionally chatting, feeling very happy, when suddenly she heard a cry of surprise in her ears, "Grandpa!"
Bai Jingzhou heard the noise and asked the driver, "What happened?"
The driver replied: "There was an old man who was walking and suddenly fell down."
The driver saw from afar the grandparents and grandchildren supporting each other and walking with difficulty on the roadside.
At first he didn't take it seriously and planned to speed up once he overtook them. However, before their carriage reached the other party's position, the white-haired old man staggered and fell down.
The young man who was supporting him reached out to pull him and shouted "Grandpa" in panic, and then Bai Jingzhou was startled.
Hearing the driver say that someone had fallen, Bai Jingzhou thought for a moment and said, "Stop the car. I'll go down and take a look."
The driver said "yes" and slowly stopped the carriage.
Bai Jingzhou picked up the medicine box and jumped out of the car swiftly. Gu Wenxuan also wanted to follow.
Bai Jingzhou looked back at Gu Wenxuan who had stood up and said, "You are not feeling well right now, so you'd better not go over there."
Gu Wenxuan nodded, "I'll just watch from a distance."
They came from a time of natural disasters where children were extremely rare, so they valued children, who symbolized the future and hope, much more than the average person. Not to mention that the baby in Gu Wenxuan's belly was their own child.
Bai Jingzhou and Yang Wandong walked over together and took a quick look at the grandparents and grandchildren.
The old man who fell to the ground looked to be in his sixties, with a thin body, gray hair, dark skin, and a face full of wrinkles showing the traces of time. The young man not only had an empty sleeve on his left side, but also had a long scar on his face.
The scar ran from his left forehead across the bridge of his nose and extended to his right cheek. It was obviously caused by a knife. Fortunately, the cut was not deep, otherwise it would not be just a scar.
Bai Jingzhou unnoticeably retracted his gaze and said to the young man, "I'm a doctor. Do you need my help to check your grandfather's health?"
The young man nodded his head rapidly, "Yes, I need it! Thank you! Thank you!"
Bai Jingzhou then reached out to check the old man's pulse.
Fortunately, the old man just fainted and was not seriously injured.
Bai Jingzhou took back his hand and asked the young man, "Has this old man not eaten for a long time?"
The young man's face originally showed only anxiety and uneasiness, but the moment he heard these words, there was suddenly a hint of deep hatred and bitterness on his face.
He nodded, "Yes, my grandfather hasn't eaten anything in about two days."
Hearing this, Bai Jingzhou said to Yang Wandong, "Go get some food."
Yang Wandong nodded and went to get the things, while Bai Jingzhou reached out and rubbed several acupoints on the old man.
After the old man woke up, Bai Jingzhou asked his grandson to feed him a white flour bun.
The young man thanked him repeatedly, then took out a piece of silver and wanted to give it to Bai Jingzhou.
Bai Jingzhou waved his hand, "No need for money, we just happened to meet and lend a hand. Where are you going? If it's on your way, I can give you a ride."
The young man's eyes were red. After seeing the ugly faces of his relatives, the kindness and help from Bai Jingzhou, a stranger, suddenly became extremely precious.
He took a deep breath and said, "I plan to take my grandfather to the county town to see a doctor, and by the way, see if there is any work I can do. To be honest, although I am a wounded soldier who was discharged from the army with silver, that silver is far from enough for my grandfather and I to spend."
Bai Jingzhou frowned, "Are you from a village nearby?"
The young man nodded and said, "Yes, I am from Matai Village."
Bai Jingzhou was puzzled. "Why don't you rent a few acres of land in the village and cultivate it yourself? Excuse me, with your physical condition, it will be difficult to find a suitable job in the county town."
I can't find a suitable job, but I have to pay rent every month. In the county town, I have to spend money to buy firewood and vegetables. It's not like in the village, where I can open a piece of land to grow my own vegetables, and I can also go to the surrounding hills to collect firewood. I can even make do with three thatched houses at the lowest cost.
Once the expenses go up, won't the lives of the two generations of grandparents and grandchildren become even more difficult?
Upon hearing this, the young man wiped his face vigorously and said, "There are only two families in our village who have extra land to rent out, and they have already found tenants long ago. It is impossible for them to rent it out to us two halfway through."
The old man he was supporting sighed, "Besides, we have no place to stay in the village."