There were too many benefits of olive oil. It was simply the best product for health. Unfortunately, there was no such good oil in the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, it was imperative to transplant some olive trees to the Tang Dynasty. As long as these olive trees took root in the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty would have enough olive oil in the future. This would have a great effect on improving the lives of the people in the Tang Dynasty, especially the rich, who would benefit the most. Because even if the Tang Dynasty eventually had a huge amount of olive oil, the poor would still be reluctant to eat it. Only the rich would eat olive oil without any scruples to achieve a healthier life.
Not to mention the small countries, in the current situation of the lives of ordinary people in the Tang Dynasty, it was already good to be able to eat vegetable oil. How could they dream of eating such a high-end cooking oil like olive oil?
In the homes of many ordinary people, the oil they ate was mainly animal fat, such as the cooking oil made from pork fat, which was the main cooking ingredient of ordinary people.
This was just the ordinary people. If it was the poorer people, they could not even afford the cooking oil made from pork fat. Therefore, they could only eat some boiled dishes or some pickled dishes.
As for the families who could eat vegetable oil, they were at least middle-class small landlords. Even so, they could not eat it for every meal. Most of the time, they still had to eat refined animal fat. For the fried snacks on the street, animal fat was almost the world. Moreover, there was no such thing as changing the oil. If there was less oil, just add a little. It could be said that it was very economical, but it was very harmful to the body.
Even if it was vegetable oil, it would be harmful after repeated use, not to mention animal fat, which was very harmful. However, for the people in the Tang Dynasty, whose technology was not developed, these dangers were not seen at all. Therefore, they naturally did not care too much.
They had seen people who ate fried snacks repeatedly, but they had never seen people who were poisoned after eating them. Some people even did not get sick after eating them for decades. Therefore, who dared to say that frying oil repeatedly was bad for the body? How could there be evidence? In the Tang Dynasty, there were no advanced chemical instruments. Nonsense was slander.
The reason why they had to be so frugal was because the resources in this era were not sufficient. Natural disasters happened frequently, and it was already good enough to be able to fill their stomachs. How could they be so wasteful? Throwing away the remaining oil after frying the food would incur the wrath of the heavens. It was absolutely not allowed.
Even if Ang Lee launched industrialization, which greatly increased the crop yield and disaster-resistant ability of the Tang Dynasty land, it did not change the concept of saving of the people in the Tang Dynasty.
This kind of habit was engraved in their bones. It was estimated that they would not be able to change it for the rest of their lives. Just like many old people in later generations, when they were poor in their early years, they no longer had to eat soil. However, they still could not change the habit of saving. It was estimated that they would not be able to change it until they died.
Because of the backward oil refining technology, the vegetable oil in the Tang Dynasty was mainly soybean oil and rapeseed oil. Among them, the proportion of rapeseed oil was slightly larger. After all, soybeans had more important uses. No one was willing to use soybeans to extract oil. Moreover, the oil yield was very low, less than one-tenth.
The main use of soybeans was to make tofu and soy milk. In the minds of the farming people, tofu played a very important role. This was because the farming people rarely had the opportunity to eat meat. Grains could not supplement too much protein, which was very disadvantageous to the human body. After soybeans were ground into soy milk, they could provide protein that could be easily absorbed by the body. In other words, soybeans were vegetable protein, which could greatly make up for the needs of the farming people for protein and make them stronger.
Relatively speaking, the role of rapeseed was far less than that of soybeans. Moreover, its oil yield was higher than that of soybeans. Therefore, in the Tang Dynasty, the most important vegetable oil was rapeseed oil, and soybeans were more used to make tofu.
As for corn oil and peanut oil, it was impossible to have them in the Tang Dynasty. After all, these two things were brought back from America by Ang Lee's people after they discovered it. Now, the quantity was still very small, and people did not think it was enough to eat. How could they be willing to extract oil from them? Wouldn't that be a waste of God's gifts?
In this way, even the emperor of the Tang Dynasty could only eat rapeseed oil. He did not have the opportunity to enjoy other kinds of vegetable oil.
As for the historical records, it was another situation. According to the historical records of later generations, animal oil had been used in the ancient Hua Xia. It was not until the Han Dynasty that there were records of vegetable oil. However, the vegetable oil at that time was not used for food, but for making silk cloth. It was not until the Song Dynasty that there were records of vegetable oil consumption.
However, after Ang Lee came to the Tang Dynasty, he found that the nobles of the Tang Dynasty had begun to eat rapeseed oil. Although it was not very common, he did see it. This showed that the historical records were not enough. Rapeseed oil had already appeared in the Tang Dynasty, but there were no records of it in the historical records. Perhaps it was because the prevalence rate was not enough!
Long-term consumption of animal oil was very harmful to the human body and would greatly reduce the lifespan of people. Therefore, for the health of the people of the Tang Dynasty, Ang Lee felt that it was imperative to promote vegetable oil. At least, it should be promoted in the noble circle first. Then, with abundant materials, it should be gradually developed to the commoner families.
Rapeseed oil was the most basic vegetable oil. The reason why it had not been popularized on a large scale was mainly because almost all the land in the Tang Dynasty was used to grow food. There were very few fields for planting rapeseed, so the quantity could not keep up.
What Ang Lee wanted to do was to continuously promote various kinds of vegetable oil. On the basis of rapeseed oil, he would add corn oil, peanut oil, soybean oil, and even high-end olive oil and linseed oil.
Previously, because the agricultural technology of the Tang Dynasty was backward, most of the land had to be used to grow food. Only a very small amount of land could be used to grow other crops. But since Ang Lee invented machines and brought high-yielding crops from America, the food problem of the Tang Dynasty had been greatly alleviated. Therefore, it was completely possible to use more land to grow other crops. For example, more rapeseed, more peanuts, corn, and soybean residues could be used to extract oil, and corn residues, peanut residues, and soybean residues could be used to feed pigs. Moreover, they were much more effective fodder than grass. It was easy to feed pigs into fat pigs, and the pork output would be greatly increased.
In short, after the people could eat their fill, a lot of vacant land could be used to develop cash crops. The lives of the people in the Tang Dynasty would definitely be prosperous.
It would not take too long, only a few decades, for the Tang Empire would completely change. In the future, the people would not be hungry, and the corresponding social security system would be gradually established.
Because of the great benefits of olive oil, Ang Lee decided to bring more back. In addition, he also brought a lot of olive oil and olive tree saplings. These were all to be brought back.
On the way back, Ang Lee decided to use delicious food made with olive oil. He would no longer eat low-grade rapeseed oil. As for animal fat, although it tasted very delicious, long-term consumption would cause a great burden on the body. Therefore, Ang Lee tried to avoid eating it as much as possible.
Li Xiaolu was one step ahead of him in purchasing food on the street. Because Ang Lee gave her a lot of authority, she instantly became the leader of the purchasing team in the kitchen. She would buy whatever she wanted, and the people following her did not dare to say no. Anyway, they had plenty of money, so they did not have to worry about not being able to afford it.
"Assistant Minister Li, look how many good things I bought."
Li Xiaolu walked to Ang Lee, followed by several carriages. They were the carriages hired by the local people who were in charge of leading the horses.
"So many things. What did you buy?"
Ang Lee looked at the huge variety of goods on the carriage and frowned slightly.
"Delicious food, delicious drink, fun things, clothes, necessities, and souvenirs. I bought all of them. The carriage can't fit them all. Otherwise, I can buy more."
Li Xiaolu said with a smile.
"Buy, buy, buy. You only know how to buy. Hahaha!"
Ang Lee laughed and scolded.
It was human nature to like shopping crazily, especially women, because shopping could make people feel excited. The crazier the shopping, the more it could make people feel extremely excited.
Women were born to like shopping crazily. It had not changed since ancient times. Excessive shopping could also be regarded as a psychological disease.
However, as long as there was enough money in the hand, there was nothing to be afraid of. It was absolutely not an empty sentence that one could be willful with money. As long as one had money, it did not matter even if one could not control his desire to spend. Just rest assured and buy boldly. Anyway, there was money.
Therefore, it was good to be a rich person. You could buy whatever you wanted. There was no need to deliberately suppress your inner shopping thoughts because of embarrassment.
This was also why almost everyone was more willing to talk about relationships with rich people. It was because rich people could be very unbridled in their spending and could live more freely. If they followed rich people, they could eat meat for every meal. They didn't have to suffer poverty and didn't have to live a hard life.
Ang Lee was now a super-rich person. Looking at the whole world, it was almost impossible to find anyone richer than Ang Lee. Moreover, Ang Lee had many ways to make money. His wealth would only increase.
"Wine, sardines, ham, hehe! There is a lot of delicious food to eat! Oh, there are so many souvenirs. These clothes are good. They are made of silk from the Tang dynasty. It's a new style. "
Ang Lee looked at the goods and said.
Almost all of these were the specialties of the Rahman Kingdom. If they did not bring more back after coming all the way here, it would be a big loss. This trip would be in vain.
However, the ultimate goal of the railway line of the Tang dynasty that Ang Lee designed was definitely to connect to the Rahman Kingdom. As the terminus of the railway, the Rahman Kingdom would inevitably usher in a round of prosperity in the future.
After buying enough local specialties, Ang Lee and his group planned to leave here and return to Chang 'an City of the Tang dynasty step by step.
Rahman was personally responsible for sending them off. He watched as Ang Lee's fleet left the port of Cordoba and sailed into the distance step by step.
Ang Lee's fleet needed to reach Gibraltar first. After a short rest, they would go to the port of northern Egypt. Along the way, they might need to rest at Benghazi and other ports. However, they would definitely reach northern Egypt within a month. As long as they went from Egypt to the Red Sea by land, Ang Lee could return to his steamship. After that, sailing at sea would be much more comfortable. After all, the ships provided by Osman were not good. No matter how they were modified, they would not be as comfortable as Ang Lee's own steamship.
The journey from Cordoba to Gibraltar was relatively smooth. There were basically no storms along the way. The fleet arrived at Gibraltar very smoothly.
According to the previous agreement with Rahman, Gibraltar now belonged to the Tang dynasty. It was the territory of the Tang empire. The hundreds of soldiers under Rahman's command in the port and nearby areas had all been evacuated. Some people in the port had also left. Some people who were unwilling to leave proposed to join the Tang empire and become the people of the Tang empire.
Since these people sincerely submitted to the Tang dynasty, Ang Lee could not refuse. Otherwise, they would be disappointed. Moreover, the entire port was not big, but it was not small either. The construction and maintenance of the port required a huge amount of labor. The people who stayed could serve as the labor force. It was very beneficial for the construction of the port of the Tang dynasty. Moreover, the officials of the Tang dynasty could also see that these people were indeed very ordinary people. There were no treacherous people.
All the soldiers and boatmen were very tired after the journey. Therefore, after arriving at Gibraltar, they had to rest for a while before continuing. Otherwise, the morale of the soldiers would be greatly affected.
After learning that Gibraltar had been assigned to the Tang dynasty, the officials of the Tang dynasty stationed here began to survey and plan while carrying out all kinds of handover. They had also started to build turrets at several strategic locations to serve as the defense of the port.
Although the strength of the Tang Empire was there and no one dared to provoke them, the most basic defense of the port must be set up. Otherwise, if it was attacked, the soldiers in the port would suffer heavy casualties. After all, Ang Lee could not deploy too many soldiers in Gibraltar, which was so far away from the mainland. At most, he could deploy three to five hundred soldiers.
With such a small number of soldiers, the defensive pressure they would face would definitely be great. Under such circumstances, it was very necessary to build defensive fortifications. In this way, three to five hundred soldiers would be able to unleash the effect of thirty to fifty thousand soldiers.
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