Royal Gold Medal County Magistrate

The carriage slowly entered the city. To avoid being recognized, Fang Zheng Yi didn't dare to get out.

After all, he had two beautiful women with him.

He was already feeling guilty, and if any rumors spread in the county and reached Xiao Tao and the others,

would he even be able to survive?

The carriage moved along, stopping briefly at places that piqued their interest.

The three of them got out and wandered around.

Their reactions were quite different.

Lai Gou'er bought anything that looked new and interesting, seemingly planning to send it back to Xin Zhu.

Chu Qinghan, on the other hand, paid particularly close attention to the various novel goods and uniquely decorated shops.

As for Chu Youyi, she was in high spirits after entering the city, shaking off her gloomy mood and starting to look around everywhere.

Fang Zheng Yi wasn't in a hurry either, sitting in the carriage and pondering silently.

It wasn't until the sun had begun to set that the three of them reluctantly ended their exploration.

Then they continued their journey by carriage.

The main purpose of this trip wasn't to bring Lai Gou'er and the others out for leisure, but for another reason.

He couldn't help with the fleet's voyage or the army's training, but he could contribute to the supply aspect.

Since it was the first long-distance sea exploration, naturally the preparations should be as comprehensive as possible.

And food was the top priority at sea!

To this end, Fang Zheng Yi had already notified people a month ago to start preparing and developing military rations for sea travel.

After a month of correspondence, the research and development had been completed and mass production had begun.

This trip was specifically to see how the military ration production was going.

The carriage slowly and leisurely moved along until it slowly stopped near the woodworking workshop.

The area around the woodworking workshop was empty with no extra buildings. Not far away was the Peach Garden River, with many waterwheels set up along the riverbank, along with some strange equipment.

Many cargo carriages were parked next to the waterwheels, and many people were bending over and busy working.

Lai Gou'er asked curiously, "Brother, what are we here to see? There's nothing here."

Fang Zheng Yi pointed, "Do you see those waterwheels in the distance? The good stuff is there. Let's get out and take a look."

The four of them got out of the carriage and walked towards the waterwheels. Only when they got closer could they see the strange device clearly.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

A series of loud noises kept coming. Next to the waterwheel, a giant hammer was connected, driven by the waterwheel, repeatedly striking the ground!

The position where the hammerhead struck had a heavy iron groove tray placed. Next to it, workers were continuously filling a large amount of powder into the iron groove during the interval when the hammerhead was raised.

The powdery substance was constantly filled in, constantly compacted, and gradually became a hard block.

After it was completely compacted, the workers quickly pulled out the iron groove, cut out the solid block inside.

Then they carefully wrapped it in oil paper and placed it on a carriage to wait for transportation.

Someone saw Fang Zheng Yi's arrival and immediately stopped the movements in their hands, greeting him with a happy face.

Fang Zheng Yi waved his hand and asked, "How is the production progress?"

"Everything is going smoothly, sir. It shouldn't take half a month to get enough of the amount you need."

Fang Zheng Yi said, "Well, not bad. Speed up production. We can sell the extra on the market. Let the people in our county taste it."

The worker smiled, a very bright smile, "Thank you, sir. Many of us like to eat it. I'll tell them to speed up production."

Seems like a kind of pastry I've never seen before?

Chu Youyi vaguely heard the conversation between the two and couldn't help but lick her lips.

"Sir Fang, what exactly is this?"

Three pairs of curious eyes all looked at Fang Zheng Yi.

Fang Zheng Yi reached out and took an oil paper package from the carriage next to him.

Opening it, inside were neatly stacked pieces of poker card-sized pastries.

He picked up a piece first, then handed the oil paper package to Lai Gou'er, "This is called compressed biscuits, the latest food developed in our county."

"Eating this piece and drinking some water can barely last a meal. It's difficult to resupply at sea, so it's best to hoard more food."

As he spoke, Fang Zheng Yi took a bite of the compressed biscuit.

He held it in his mouth and tasted it carefully for a while.

This thing was something he had specifically written a letter to the county to guide the craftsmen to temporarily develop a crude hydraulic forging hammer using waterwheels, using hydraulic compression.

Although he didn't know what kind of machine modern compressed biscuits were made with, the hardness of the compressed biscuits hammered out now was not much different from that of later generations, and even a little harder.

It's just that there is no technology or additives, and the taste is not very good.

Of course, this taste is not good, only to Fang Zheng Yi, because he was disgusted by compressed biscuits when he was in school in his previous life.

In order to add some nutrition to the crew, dried and specially made vegetable crumbs were also added, and the taste was a bit渣.

Lai Gou'er took a bite and said in surprise, "Delicious! Really delicious!"

Chu Qinghan and Chu Youyi also had bright expressions in their eyes.

Chu Qinghan took a small bite and savored it, thinking, "This pastry tastes very good and is very sweet. It should have a lot of sugar in it."

Fang Zheng Yi nodded, "Yes, compressed biscuits are mainly made of flour, salt, sugar, and oil. Meat floss, vegetable powder, and nut powder are added. The powder you saw has already been baked once and mixed into a semi-finished product."

So extravagant...

Chu Qinghan sighed in her heart and said, "If you are preparing compressed biscuits for going to sea, sir, then it will definitely be preserved for a long time."

"Plus, it's hammered extremely small, which should save a lot of storage space. This is really a top-notch business. But the materials are a bit expensive... I'm afraid the common people can't accept it, and it's a bit too sweet and hard, so wealthy people won't eat it often either."

Fang Zheng Yi was a little surprised and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

No wonder Chu Qinghan could support the Chu family by herself. She even thinks about these things when eating a biscuit. Life is really tiring.

"Brother, is there any water? Compressed biscuits are a bit choking."

"Yes, it's delicious, but it's too dry."

Two mumbling voices came. Fang Zheng Yi turned his head and was shocked!

Half a pack of biscuits had been divided by Chu Youyi and Lai Gou'er.

The cheeks of the two people were bulging from eating, and they were clamoring for water.

"Spit it out! Spit it out! Just eat a bite, do you want to starve to death? Didn't you just finish eating?" Fang Zheng Yi said loudly.

The delicacies had already entered their mouths, how could they be willing to spit them out again? The two of them simultaneously moved their throats and swallowed it down.

Chu Youyi blushed, with biscuit crumbs still on the corners of her mouth, and quietly turned her head away.

Lai Gou'er smiled honestly, "Brother, I'm full, just a habit of filling the gaps..."

Seeing that some book friends haven't heard of filling the gaps, quickly add a picture.

Chu Youyi ate it, after all, Xiongxiong hasn't developed yet, so eating more is fine.

Damn it! You're tall and thick, you just finished a meal at noon, and you're using compressed biscuits to fill the gaps?

Fang Zheng Yi collapsed his face and said, "Okay, only this time today. You may have to eat this stuff every day on the ship in the future, and you'll get sick of it sooner or later. Starting today, you're not allowed to eat it."

"Yes, Brother!" Lai Gou'er licked his lips with his tongue and quickly put away the oil paper package.

......