vrcanaries Chapter 1489: Alcohol is done and sugar is made
Chapter 1489: Alcohol is done and sugar is made
"Therefore, I will only buy two taels of silver per catty."
Two taels of silver per catty, Tang Yun was overjoyed after hearing this.
Such a miraculous item, Mr. Chu is only selling it for two taels of silver per pound. You have to understand, the total cost of all the equipment they have is no small sum.
If it only costs two taels of silver per catty, it would not be a burden for the State of Song at all.
"Mr. Chu, you are so righteous!"
Chu Chen smiled after hearing this. Indeed, two taels of silver per pound was far too cheap compared to the knives in their hands.
But you can't buy what you want with money, can you?
Following that, Chu Chen explained to Tang Yun the storage, transportation, and flammable and explosive properties of alcohol.
Only after agreeing on an order for 10,000 jin (5,000 kg) did they send Tang Yun back.
To show his sincerity, Tang Yun left his entire squad of soldiers with Chu Chen, with the aim of ensuring his safety.
If such a person were to be discovered by foreign spies, he would certainly become a target for assassination.
Therefore, after leaving the soldiers behind, Tang Yun went to the City Lord's Mansion and instructed them to ensure Chu Chen's safety in Hancheng.
If Chu Chen's appearance with strong liquor had shocked Lu Jixing, then Tang Yun's arrival and request made him realize something immediately.
Chu Chen is someone he absolutely must curry favor with.
Just because Tang Yun called him "His Majesty's brother," he rushed to Chu Chen's courtyard with his daughter immediately after seeing Tang Yun off.
Just as Chu Chen was thinking about assembling the two stone mills for pressing sugarcane, someone knocked on the courtyard gate again.
Since the people Tang Yun sent were only there to protect the courtyard and Chu Chen's safety, they didn't care about the visitors at all.
Moreover, since it was the city lord who arrived, no one announced his arrival.
When Chu Chen opened the door, he immediately saw Lu Jixing and Lu Yiping, followed by several servants carrying some gifts.
"Young Master Chu, it's been a long time."
Before Chu Chen could speak, Lu Jixing cupped his hands and said in a very polite manner, leaving Chu Chen completely bewildered. He looked at Lu Yiping for help.
"Young Master Chu, my father said you have made contributions to the development of the wine industry in Hancheng, so he came here specifically to give you a reward."
Even if Chu Chen were incredibly stupid, he wouldn't believe that statement.
But since they've come all this way, there's no reason not to be polite.
He immediately returned the greeting, saying, "Lord City Lord, your presence is an honor to my humble abode. Please come in quickly."
Chu Chen welcomed the two in and immediately served them tea and snacks himself.
“Lord of the City, I was just thinking about making some money. I didn’t make any contribution as Miss Yiping said.”
“Ah, Young Master Chu is too modest. As everyone knows, the wine of our Song Kingdom is no match for that of the Xiongnu. The strong wine you have produced this time is far superior to the Xiongnu’s fine brew.”
"So this is something that brings honor to my Song Kingdom, and it brings even more honor to my Han City."
Chu Chen smiled after hearing this, thinking to himself, "Say what you want. It's just a few drinks. As long as it doesn't interfere with my making money, it doesn't matter."
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Chu Chen listened to Lu Jixing's words, which occasionally mentioned His Majesty, and gradually understood his purpose in coming.
It must be that Tang Yun told him about his so-called sibling relationship with Dong Shilan, and this guy came to burn incense.
Chu Chen had no reason to refuse Lu Jixing's overtures.
So, he accepted Lu Jixing's gifts, gave him about ten bottles of wine in return, and then saw them off.
After they left, Chu Chen continued to study the juicer, which had two stone mills connected by a high-density wooden stick.
He took out the crank and other tools he had arranged to have made over the past few days, and assembled them in less than an hour.
Then, the sugarcane is skewered directly into the middle of the stone mill, and the handle is cranked. Under the crushing force of the stone mill, a lot of the sugarcane's moisture evaporates, and water spurts outwards with a hissing sound.
Although the quantity was small, after two hours of work, he managed to produce a pot of sugarcane juice.
After filtering the freshly collected sugarcane juice through fine gauze, it was boiled over high heat.
As the water evaporated, the sugar syrup gradually darkened in color. At this point, Chu Chen added lime and continued to boil it.
The addition of lime promotes the crystallization of the sugar solution, and after cooling, snow-white sugar is obtained.
Looking at the pure white sugar in his hand, Chu Chen immediately compared it with the maltose of this world.
The difference between the two becomes apparent when compared.
The yellowish-brown maltose doesn't look nearly as appealing as the white sugar I make myself.
In fact, Chu Chen understood that the reason why the sugar he made was so different from the maltose in this world was that the maltose had not undergone the crystallization process.
Maltose can actually crystallize, and it can become whiter the more it is stretched.
However, this is the money I earned, so how could I possibly tell anyone?
The sugar was ready. As for sales, he planned to leave it to Niu Zi. Although Niu Zi was a bit unreliable in other ways, he was sure he could make the most of such a good product.
After putting the sugar away, Chu Chen looked at the juicing equipment and shook his head in dissatisfaction.
After squatting in the courtyard for a while to think, Chu Chen immediately walked out onto the main street of Hancheng.
He stopped in front of a blacksmith's shop.
"Young master, what would you like to purchase?"
When Chu Chen arrived, the blacksmith shopkeeper immediately greeted him warmly.
Chu Chen followed the shopkeeper into the shop, and after asking some questions, he shook his head and walked out of the blacksmith shop.
The original idea was to make a juicer out of iron, but the iron smelting technology of this era was rather outdated. Using iron from this era to make gears would be a no-go, as the losses would be enormous.
So, another idea came to mind.
However, he was extremely worried at the moment, for no other reason than that he had no manpower.
Fat Tiger and Niu Zi were currently working frantically inside the distillery.
They simply couldn't spare the time to carry out their numerous plans.
So he thought he might as well have Niu Zi stop first and accompany him back to Liexi Village.
Liexi Village lacks everything except people.
Those middle-aged men, teenagers, and those old aunties and young wives who have nothing better to do than gossip about family matters at the village entrance—can't they all be used to get things done?
Of course, I could buy people from a brokerage firm, but eventually I would have to go to the capital or to a wider world.
Why not take this opportunity to bring all the people from Liexi Village to Seoul?
After all, life in Liexi Village was too hard.
Thinking of this, Chu Chen turned around and went to the winery: "Niu Zi, come out for a moment."
"What's wrong, Brother Chen? I'm very busy here. I still need to go rent a courtyard in a while."