Late Ming Dynasty: Conquering the world starting from riding and cutting

[Recite the URL silently three times. Do you remember it? If you don’t remember, I’ll ask again in the next chapter. It’s best to share it on Facebook for me]

The weather in Taiwan is moody and changes at a moment’s notice. It’s sunny and sunny in the morning, but it’s cloudy and rainy in the afternoon.

Just as gloomy as the weather at this time was the steward of the Zhulin Village sugar pressing workshop, who kept mumbling: "With such heavy rain, can the general and Lord Zhuge still come to inspect?"

Not only him, but also the surrounding workers, who stood blankly at the door, watching with great expectancy, waiting for the general to come and inspect, so that they could show off.

But looking at the heavy rain that is getting worse, everyone is more and more disappointed. Looking at this situation, the adults may not be able to come today!

Qin Hao and his party, who were on the road, were also in pain and helplessness. They were walking in the rain. There was no weather forecast these days. They all relied on their own eyesight. If they could see it, they would take a raincoat and go out: If they couldn't see it, they would just wait. Let it rain on the road.

Fortunately, Li Chun's green brick road was of some use. The horses' hooves did not get stuck in the mud along the way, and they were carried on the road with mud and water. Thinking back to the time when he first came here, there were no blue bricks. Qin Hao had to change his clothes after riding a horse, and he would fall off the horse from time to time. Fortunately, he had quick eyes and quick hands and a strong body, so he didn't leave any hidden injuries.

"Sir, we're just ahead!" Zhuge Xuan held on to the reins in the heavy rain and pointed forward.

His equestrian skills were average, but he suffered a lot in such heavy rainy weather.

The strong wind blew the rainwater in all directions, shrouding the surroundings like a layer of mist. Qin Hao looked in the direction of his finger and could only vaguely see a few shadows.

He didn't care so much, he threw up the reins and rushed away, as long as he had a place to shelter from the rain.

When the stewards and workers in the sugar pressing workshop saw several military horses galloping towards them, they all knew that adults were coming. Their hearts felt warm. They took off their shirts one by one and rushed into the rain, holding the horse ropes. Guide Qin Hao and others into the next room.

Seeing several people dismounting, the steward quickly handed over some clean white cotton cloths for their use.

Qin Hao thanked him and took one. Seeing that there were no women around, he took off his shirt and wiped it carefully.

"It's raining a lot today. It seems that I ate your sugar and left a lot of saliva." Qin Hao joked with the workers around him while wiping.

"That won't work, that won't work."

The steward quickly answered, "How can anyone dare to eat the master's food and not do something good? If you want me to see this thief, he is naive and ignorant. When our candy is ready, we will paste it in his mouth and see if he can still do it." It won’t rain.”

Hearing this, the people around also burst into laughter. We, the sugar squeezer, really have a clever mouth.

All joking aside, after laughing, Qin Hao also started to get serious and ordered everyone to prepare. Today he was here to inspect, and of course he wanted to see how well they were extracting sugar.

"promise!"

Under the leadership of the steward, the workers ran to the workshop next door and started to get busy.

Standing inside the house, Qin Hao also had time to take stock of the surrounding scenery.

This workshop is a gathering place of rivers near Zhulin Village. Since there are several streams running down from the mountain with fast currents, it is a good place for building water mills and waterwheels, so Zhuge Xuan asked Li Chun to build it again. Several workshops were built here to save time and effort.

Several flour mills and sugar mills were installed upstream, and a paper mill was installed downstream.

At this time, a waterwheel on the riverside was rotating squeakingly under the action of the water flow, transmitting power to the thatched hut on the riverside through a long wooden shaft and a series of components.

Indoors, three huge iron pressing rollers are constantly rotating, which are used to squeeze sugar cane juice.

Three iron pressing rollers weighing hundreds of kilograms are lined up in a line. The wild sugar cane is sent under the pressing roller by the workers. It passes through the three cast iron rollers in turn. When the pressing roller wrapped in tinplate is removed, the sugar cane emits bursts of sound. There was a sound and juice began to flow out.

In Qin Hao's view, the juice flowing out is nothing more than a huge flow of wealth.

After being squeezed by three pressing rollers, the sugar juice slowly flows to the juice collection bucket along the pre-reserved groove, and soon the bucket is half full. The workers took out new sugar cane and started crushing it, removing useless sugar cane debris.

"Wait!"

There was a diligent worker who was holding a broom and was about to sweep up the bagasse and other waste after extraction and put it into the stream, but Qin Hao shouted to stop him.

How could this good thing be so messed up!

"In the future, all bagasse after sugar extraction will be collected. This stuff can be used for fermentation and wine making. After wine making, it can also be used to fertilize fields or be used as feed for cattle and horses. Don't waste it." Qin Hao was there to help the workers. Explaining the utilization value of sugarcane bagasse.

This was not a lie. In his previous life, he visited a sugarcane factory when traveling. The director was very enthusiastic. Seeing so many tourists coming, he took out a lot of sugarcane wine for them to taste. Qin Hao felt good after taking a few sips. It was sweet with a hint of wine, and left a fragrance on my lips and teeth. I even took a kilogram with me when I left.

This knowledge of sugar cane was also memorized while chatting with the factory owner at that time, and it has now been put to use.

The sugar-pressing manager immediately understood and asked the workers to collect the residue and try to use it later.

In this moment of morning light, the squeezed sugar juice has been filtered three times, and the entire thatched house is filled with a rich sweet smell. Amidst the waves of intoxicating sweet smell, Zhuge Xuan picked up the bagasse , the residue has been broken into pieces, and the skin and flesh are separated. Hold it in your hand and squeeze it gently, no juice will drip from your wet fingers.

I thought to myself: This iron pulley is just as easy to use as Li Chun said. In the past, the sugar cane that needed to be rolled and processed several times was completed in one go in front of these three iron squeeze pulleys. , exceptionally smooth and silky.

The sweet smell became stronger and stronger. Even the buffaloes acting as auxiliary power outside the hut couldn't help but flap their huge nostrils, greedily absorbing the refreshing sweetness. The cowherds on the side, who cherished their companions, stretched out their hands. He handed over a few cane tails and let these strong guys chew them beautifully.

The sugar juice boiling in the pot on the side became thicker and thicker. The sugar cook used a long iron ladle to scoop up a spoonful and looked at it. Under the fire, the sugar became light yellow and soft. The sweetness becomes more intense.

"Okay, let's start making sweets!"

Under the instructions of the sugar cook, the fire that was used to cook the sugar turned into a slow fire. Then, the master put two fingers into the cold water, then into the hot cauldron, and then quickly into the cold water - "Tsk" There was a sound, and the syrup stuck to the fingers hardened when it was cold. When you hold it, it makes a crisp sound.

Three or five workers quickly scooped the syrup into the sugar trough. The master in charge of making sugar stirred the bottom of the pot back and forth with a shovel, and the sugar juice gradually shrank and condensed, gathering into a pile; emanating from the pile of sugar;

Repeat this several times. Then use a wooden stick to grind it back and forth, and the "cauliflower yellow" brown sugar is processed.

[At the beginning of the chapter, I asked you to read it silently three times. Do you remember? Share on Facebook and there may be surprises]