Duke of Zhenguan

I bought a bucket of stone lacquer for three strings of cash, along with a thousand catties of coal.

Lin Chuan then bought two bolts of coarse linen and two tanned sheepskins to make clothes and shoes.

Li had exchanged all the cloth she had woven for grain. The family of three wore straw sandals and their hands and feet were covered in frostbite. Lin Chuan paid off his debts with the money from selling wine and still had a lot left, but Li still couldn't bear to buy more. Lin Chuan couldn't persuade her otherwise, so he had no choice but to act first and ask for her permission later.

The shopkeeper sent two people to help deliver the lacquer and coal by cart.

When Lin Chuan returned carrying the burlap and sheepskin, the deliveryman had just left.

Now that Li Shi trusted her son completely, she took the linen and sheepskin, not questioning Lin Chuan about why he bought lacquer and coal, but instead asking him with suspicion:

"Brother, what are you buying lacquer and coal for?"

"Mother, I have a use for this lacquer, and I bought this coal to burn!" Lin Chuan replied.

Upon hearing that her son wanted to burn charcoal, Li's face turned pale with fright, and she said in a deep voice:

"Brother, this coal can be used to start a fire for cooking when it's hot, but you can't burn it in the dead of winter, it'll poison people!"

Before Lin Chuan could speak, she added with a look of lingering fear:

"Do you still remember Wang Lao Er's eldest son at the alley entrance? The year before last, it was cold and they couldn't afford firewood, so they burned charcoal in the house. The next morning, the whole family was poisoned to death!"

Two years ago, the Tian family was also poisoned to death by burning charcoal.

People disappear without a trace, without any symptoms!

"Brother, if you feel cold sleeping at night, I'll go buy some more firewood so you can light a fire in your room tonight, okay? You can't burn coal!"

"Mother, you won't get poisoned if you open the doors and windows when burning charcoal. I'll go find Uncle Jiu to make a stove with a chimney, so even if the doors and windows are closed, we won't be afraid. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing!" Lin Chuan explained.

"Are you really alright?" Mrs. Li was still skeptical.

"Really, the reason people get poisoned from burning charcoal is because the doors and windows are closed too tightly, making it airtight. As long as the doors and windows are open, it's fine. Look, you don't get poisoned when you burn charcoal when it's hot!" Lin Chuan nodded with a smile.

Li nodded, but still worried, and said softly:

"We still need to be careful. Let's burn firewood instead..."

"You can get poisoned by burning firewood too, so you still need to make sure to open the windows for ventilation!" Lin Chuan could only give Li a simple explanation of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Li was still confused after hearing this, and looked at Lin Chuan suspiciously:

"Big Brother, you're like a completely different person after your serious illness. Not only have you become more sensible, but you've also suddenly learned so many things..."

Lin Chuan's heart pounded, but he dared not show the slightest abnormality on his face, and said with a dry smile:

"Mother, what are you saying? What part of my body did I change? I went to the King of Hell's palace, how can I not know what's going on?"

As for these things I know, I heard them from the old Taoist priest at the dojo when I was a child. I don't remember much, but this illness suddenly brought them all back to me!

Limited by her knowledge and perspective, Li never imagined that her son would have a different soul. What she cared about was that her son suddenly understood many things that she did not understand.

Once Lin Chuan explained, she felt relieved and said with a smile:

"Thank goodness, it seems you've turned misfortune into blessing! Dinner's ready, let's eat!"

After breakfast, Li and Erya sat by the fire sewing clothes.

Lin Chuan then went to the West Market again, bought an iron pot, and took it to Uncle Wang Tiechui, who had previously helped him make an iron jar, to have a container made that resembled a kettle. It was an improved version of the iron jar used for distilling wine, which was better at sealing.

With the cooling pipes installed, it becomes a simple fractionation device.

After finishing these tasks, I started tidying up the small side room on the left side of the yard that was used to store miscellaneous items.

Unlike distilling liquor, refining oil has a strong odor and cannot be done in the kitchen; a new stove must be built.

It took Lin Chuan two days to get everything ready before he could begin his oil refining business.

Because of the sealing issue, when the stone paint in the iron pot was heated, a pungent smell began to permeate the side room.

After a while, under Lin Chuan's anxious gaze, drops of pale yellow liquid dripped into the ceramic jar through the small opening of the cooling pipe.

He dipped a wooden stick in the pale yellow liquid and brought it close to the stove. The moment it touched the flame, a bright flame suddenly rose up.

"It's done!"

A smile appeared on Lin Chuan's face.

Next, we need to prepare the ingredients. There are sugar vendors in the West Market, and the most common one is maltose, which is similar to sugar.

There is also honey and sugar.

Brown sugar is made from sugarcane. Some of it came from the Silk Road, while some was transported from the Lingnan region to Chang'an.

Compared to modern brown sugar, the granulated sugar sold in the West Market is much less sweet and pure, but it can still be used after being purified and impurities removed.

However, minerals like red phosphorus and sulfur are hard to find.

"Brother, what is this? It smells delicious, is it edible?"

Er Ya, who had been sent by the Li family to gather intelligence, smelled the strange-smelling liquid in the pottery jar and asked curiously.

"Er Ya, you can't eat this, it's highly poisonous!" Lin Chuan said sternly.

When he was a child, he thought the exhaust fumes from truck exhaust pipes smelled good. He never imagined that children more than a thousand years ago would think that way.

Er Ya was so frightened that she took two steps back and asked in surprise and doubt:

"Brother, what are you doing doing this?"

"This stuff is fine as long as you don't eat it. You can use it to light lamps; it's better than tung oil!" Lin Chuan said.

"Oh! Brother, you go ahead and do your own thing!"

Having clarified what her mother had instructed, Er Ya hurriedly went back to report.

The tools were too rudimentary, and the fractionation process was very slow. By evening, most of the lacquer in the iron pot had disappeared, and the earthenware jar, which could hold five catties of water, was barely filled.

"Brother, dinner's ready!"

Er Ya's cheerful voice came from outside the door.

Lin Chuan extinguished the fire, then found some oil paper to seal the pottery jar, and hid it under his broken bed before going to the main room to eat.

Dinner consisted of millet porridge and a dish of soybean paste.

Compared to being cold and hungry at the beginning, eating around the firewood pile now is undoubtedly much better.

Lin Chuan ate with relish from his large, rough porcelain bowl, and Li Shi and Er Ya smiled as well.

After eating half a bowl, Li put it down and asked Lin Chuan softly:

"Dalang, why are you boiling lacquer? Just to light a lamp?"

"Mother, don't use it to light the lamp yet, I have other uses for it! I put it under my bed, you and Er Ya keep an eye on it, and make sure no one steals it," Lin Chuan said.

"good!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang..."

No sooner had Li finished speaking than a series of knocks sounded at the door.

Upon hearing the commotion, they knew the newcomers meant trouble, and a look of panic involuntarily appeared on Li Shi and Er Ya's faces.

Lin Chuan's expression also turned somewhat grim, and he said softly to Madam Li:

"Mother, you and Er Ya stay inside and don't come out. I'm going out to check!"

The courtyard gate was still banging on it. Li asked worriedly:

"Big Brother, why don't you go to Er Ya and climb out from behind to fetch your Ninth Uncle and the others..."

Lin Chuan shook his head:

"Don't bother them yet, I'll go check it out!"

As Lin Chuan opened the broken gate to the courtyard, he saw Zhou Si's smiling face.

Behind Thursday, there were five or six burly men standing around.