Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 1228 Postscript 84·I actually brought back pumpkins and tomatoes

"Sister, don't lie down all the time. Get up and take a walk."

"I'm afraid of falling."

"It's okay, get up and take a walk."

"Haha, I'm tired of lying down for a long time. It's more comfortable to stand. Rokuro, help me quickly, I'm afraid of falling..."

Qingluan stood nearby and watched with a smile, thinking: The princess has so many little thoughts. Why should she hold her up if she is afraid of falling? She just wants Liulang to pay more attention to her.

Alas, Mukuro will probably accompany the princess tonight. Will he come to make out with me tomorrow night?

Qingluan couldn't help but blush as she recalled the various scenes she had peeped at. I don’t know what kind of moves Rokuro will use for the first time with me, or maybe a complete set of solutions.

"Mr. Lang, the time has come." A maid came to remind.

Only then did Zhu Tangxi ask Xie Yan to let go of him: "Liu Lang, go and freshen up. Don't enter the palace. It would be disrespectful."

Xie Yan gave a few more instructions and then went back to the dressing room to dress up.

In the Tang Dynasty, the cloakroom specifically referred to the cloakroom, and in the Song Dynasty, it also generally referred to the cabinets for storing clothes.

Several maids immediately followed and took out a set of clothes that the princess had already chosen for her.

There was a maid standing with clothes in her hands, and a maid was waiting for Xie Yan to undress. He took off his clothes, and immediately there was a maid to help him dress.

Xie Yan only needs to raise his arm at the critical moment.

At first, he was not used to it and felt that there was no need to be surrounded by so many people. But after less than half a month, Xie Yan began to enjoy it. It felt good to stretch out his clothes.

Especially for more complicated outfits, it’s really troublesome to wear them by yourself.

After changing his clothes, Xie Yan sat down in front of the dressing table. A maid helped him comb his hair again, and finally put on a small crown.

Daiyu and Baochai looked on, they needed to learn slowly.

Daiyu is okay, her goal is to become Xie Yan's laboratory assistant and be responsible for the management of the laboratory at home.

Baochai positions herself as Xie Yan's personal maid. She must learn how to dress up and match clothes, and she even wants to learn massage.

After getting dressed up, Xie Yan looked in the mirror. The handsome guy in the mirror was getting more and more handsome.

It is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality. Alas, how will we live our lives without a maid to serve us from now on?

After getting the title of princess, Xie Yan took the car straight to the imperial city.

This time, I was led to the side hall of Wenhua Palace by the palace officials.

The current Wenhua Hall is the Civilization Hall in the Northern Song Dynasty. When the Civilization Hall was in the Tang Dynasty, it was also called Zhenguan Hall.

The layout of the Luoyang Palace in the Northern Song Dynasty has undergone tremendous changes compared to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, including the location of the Civilization Hall.

There were already two people waiting in the side hall, both of whom Xie Yan knew.

One is his pen pal Zhu Shirong, who came specially from Kaifeng this time.

One is Rose Bachelor Shi Huai, who was recently promoted to first vice president of the Chemical Society.

"Junior Xie Yan, I have met Academician Shi and Academician Zhu!" Xie Yan bowed in greeting.

The two of them quickly returned the gift and then sat down to chat.

The content of the conversation was all related to chemistry. They mainly talked about their recent experimental results and what molecular formulas they had determined for each substance.

Not long after, two more people came in one after another.

One is named Zeng Yi and the other is named Lu Churen.

Among them, Lu Churen was summoned from Nanjing. After receiving the telegram, I immediately headed north and only arrived in Luoyang yesterday afternoon.

Except for Shi Huai, who is over fifty years old, and Xie Yan, who is only seventeen years old, the other three are all mature scientists in their forties.

The five people were greeting each other when the old president suddenly brought someone over.

The old president introduced them: "This is General Zeng Jiuyou who completed the circumnavigation of the world. General Zeng, this is the vice president of the Chemical Society..."

Zeng Jiuyou did not dare to neglect and saluted respectfully.

After some pleasantries, everyone took their seats.

The old president said: "General Zeng brought back a kind of rubber from the United States. This material can be of great use after vulcanization, so the Queen Mother ordered to summon five chemists. Open it..."

The three boxes in the side hall were opened one by one by the palace staff, and they were all filled with rubber.

Zeng Jiuyou pointed to one of the boxes and said: "This is the finished product I exchanged from the indigenous people. There are rubber balls, rubber coats, and rubber boots..."

Xie Yan and four other chemists gathered around and each picked up a rubber item to examine it.

Xie Yan held a rubber boot in his hand, with scattered hair faintly visible inside.

He could imagine the process of making boots, in which Native Americans smeared rubber on their feet and then peeled it off after it had completely set, ripping out the hair on the insteps and ankles.

Moreover, it was late autumn in Luoyang at this time, and the rubber boots had become harder and more brittle, and there were signs of cracking with just a slight pinch.

Everyone exchanged the items in their hands to observe, and soon they discovered that something was wrong with the rubber ball.

This thing has the best elasticity and is not easy to crack when pinched.

Shi Huai said: "General Zeng, was this ball made using any special method?"

Zeng Jiuyou said:

"After the local indigenous people cut the rubber juice, they usually boil it in a clay pot, and then wait for it to cool and solidify. Before it completely solidifies, they smear it on their feet to make boots, and they also smear it on their bodies to prevent mosquitoes. of."

"When they cook the rubber juice, they add a kind of grape juice (which is actually a plant in the nettle family with grape-shaped fruits)."

"This kind of rubber ball is different. They determine the human sacrifice by playing with the ball. The winner will be killed and used as a sacrifice to the gods. In order to make the ball durable, they will also add another thing, which is pinching. The white sap coming out of broken sweet potato vines.”

Xie Yan knew nothing about rubber vulcanization, and of course he had no idea what the natives were doing.

Adding the juice of Urticaceae plants actually promotes rubber coagulation through formic acid.

Adding the white juice of sweet potato vine vulcanizes the rubber through mucus protein and increases the antioxidant properties of the rubber. However, its vulcanization effect is limited and it can easily cause rubber to become moldy.

Zhu Shirong guessed: "The American grape juice and sweet potato vine juice may have some chemical reaction with the rubber. The composition of plant juice is complex, and it is difficult for us to find out which substance is responsible."

Zeng Wei pointed to another box and asked, "What kind of rubber is in this?"

Zeng Jiuyou said: "I asked the natives to collect the rubber sap, boil it directly and solidify it. Nothing was added, and it solidified very slowly. When sailing at low latitudes, it was all a soft lump. The weather in Luoyang As they get colder, they become harder and more brittle."

"Is this the only rubber we got?" Xie Yan asked.

Zeng Jiuyou said: "I brought back two hundred rubber saplings, dozens of which died at sea, and the rest were quickly planted in Luzon. I also brought back thousands of rubber seeds and gave them to agriculturists. As for Rubber, that’s all.”

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Xie Yan said: "There are too few experimental materials, and we cannot conduct them separately. Even if we conduct experiments separately, we must allocate their respective experimental contents."

Lu Churen said: "Let's do it together, there is too little rubber and not enough points."

"I can bring some rubber back next year," Zeng Jiuyou said.

Xie Yan and the four chemists began to discuss. In fact, when they heard the word "sulfurization", they already pointed out the direction of the experiment.

They quickly confirmed several experimental methods, such as steaming sulfur and rubber together, cutting up the rubber and mixing it with sulfur to heat, etc.

It's not difficult in the lab.

But if it is to be put into industrial use, there are still more problems that need to be solved.

For example, formic acid (formic acid) has long been discovered by chemists and can be obtained by distilling a large number of ants. But no one, including Xie Yan, would think of using formic acid to promote the coagulation of rubber sap.

It is possible without adding formic acid, but it will require higher temperature and longer time, which will greatly reduce the efficiency of rubber production.

The old president said: "The vulcanization experiment will be done in the imperial city, and I will arrange a few assistants for you. If you need anything, just tell me."

"yes!"

Xie Yan and the four chemists accepted the order, and then wrote down the required equipment through discussion.

It definitely won't work today, nothing is ready.

When everyone left the side hall of Wenhua Hall, Xie Yan ran to catch up with Zeng Jiuyou: "General Zeng, besides rubber, what other plants did you bring back from the United States this time?"

Zeng Jiuyou said: "A kind of melon, some are round and some are long. The small one is like a fist, and the big one is like a head. It is dark green before ripening, and turns yellow after ripening."

"Can you draw it?" Xie Yan said.

Zeng Jiuyou squatted down and roughly drew a shape on the stone slab with his nails.

Xie Yan stared at it for a while, and the more he looked at it, the more it looked like a pumpkin.

Zeng Jiuyou added: "The Mayans also grew corn, but their corn yield was not as high as that of the Ming Dynasty."

Xie Yan asked curiously: "Didn't Ming Dynasty's corn be brought back from the United States?"

Zeng Jiuyou said: “Both corn and sweet potatoes were obtained from overseas islands by Emperor Taizu.”

Xie Yan was silent, quite speechless.

Zeng Jiuyou continued: "There is also a kind of fruit that is green when it is not ripe and turns red when it is ripe. When I went to see King Maya, they served me this kind of fruit. It is sweet and sour, and quite juicy. ”

"This kind of fruit grows on trees?" Xie Yan asked.

Zeng Jiuyou shook his head: "The plant is not tall, and its appearance... well, it looks a bit like an eggplant seedling. It's not very similar, that's what it means anyway."

Xie Yan was happy, I'm afraid this is a tomato.

Scrambled eggs with tomatoes are available!

Xie Yan asked again: "The Mayan messenger's surname is Coco, is it also derived from a certain food?"

Zeng Jiuyou smiled and said: "There is indeed something called cocoa. Usually only nobles can eat it, or it is given to those who have made military exploits. The Mayans also take this thing when they perform sacrifices for divination. But it is very bitter, and it is not How delicious it is, but the natives still regard it as a treasure. "

"Didn't you bring some back?" Xie Yan asked.

Zeng Jiuyou said: "There is no use in bringing something like this back that is unpalatable and unsatisfactory. When King Maya entertained me, he asked me to eat cocoa, which was so bitter that I almost vomited it on the spot."

"In that case, why did you bring back chili pepper and tobacco in the first place?" Xie Yan asked.

Zeng Jiuyou said: "At that time, some people learned to smoke Aboriginal cigarettes. They were choked to tears, but they got used to it after taking a few more puffs. When you are tired and sleepy, tobacco can refresh you. As for chili, it is delicious as a condiment. Especially when sailing across the ocean.”

Xie Yan said: "Can you bring back some cocoa seeds next time?"

Zeng Jiuyou said: "Then we can only wait until the year after next. This year's fleet has already set off."

Xie Yan thought for a while: "Can I go see the Mayan envoy?"

"You have to ask Honglu Temple about this," Zeng Jiuyou said.