My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 210 Shennong blossoms everywhere

Liu Bei had long been accustomed to the pace of life where "Brother Zhuge could come up with some brilliant ideas while eating or drinking."

So it was not surprising at all that Zhuge Jin thought of improving the "qu jie" (dispersion yeast) after taking a few sips of noodle soup and tasting a piece of sour bread.

Anyway, there is nothing important happening these days, so just let Brother Zhuge do whatever he wants.

Liu Bei also casually said that Zhuge Jin, the kitchen servant in the mansion, could be ordered around at will. Zhuge Jin came to Xia Pi temporarily and did not have a mansion or a kitchen here.

The next morning, the messenger sent by Cao Cao to take back the families of Hou Cheng, Song Xian and others was sent back by Sun Qian. The wives and concubines of Hou Cheng and others, and the servants and slaves of Gao Shun and others were also taken away.

Since most of the relatives were women and they walked slowly, it would probably take three or four days to reach Pengcheng.

How Cao Cao and the surrendered generals would react would have to wait for Sun Qian to report back after completing his mission. At that time, the Zhuge brothers could further counter the imaginary enemy's reaction.

Zhuge Jin had been free these days, so he just happened to do some "biology experiments".

After seeing Sun Qian off, Zhuge Liang, out of eagerness to learn, also came to where his elder brother was staying and asked in detail about the principles of "Qu Jue Improvement".

Zhuge Jin didn't need to lay the groundwork and directly told Zhuge Liang the principle: "Aliang, do you still remember the idea of seed selection and breeding mentioned in the secret scroll I gave you two years ago? At that time, you tried it on leeks and bean sprouts, but the time was too short and there was not much effect later."

This is the advantage of talking to smart people. There is a theoretical foundation and you don’t have to start from scratch.

When Zhuge Liang was studying the secret scrolls in Jingzhou, he had learned basic knowledge of biological breeding. He also used leeks and bean sprouts as controls and found that bean sprouts could be selected and iterated for excellent traits, but leeks were difficult to select because leeks were harvested one after another and the frequency of replanting was much lower.

The specific experiment was of course more complicated. Zhuge Liang also followed the idea of eliminating interference items taught by his elder brother and set up many control groups. There is no need to elaborate on the details.

In short, Zhuge Liang had reached the same consensus as Zhuge Jin in his mind: the innate superior traits of biological species can be screened through intergenerational reproduction, but the acquired traits seem unable to be inherited.

To put it bluntly, before Zhuge Liang left his hometown, he had already avoided the two pitfalls of "use it or lose it" and "acquired inheritance" that later modern naturalists had encountered through his own experiments.

At this moment, after listening to his elder brother's enlightenment, Zhuge Liang quickly understood the main point, and then he couldn't help but say in surprise: "I understand what elder brother said... But elder brother actually used the example of plant breeding to compare the improvement of Qu Jue. Doesn't that mean that Qu Jue is also a kind of 'living thing'? At least it is a damp breeding thing similar to... mushrooms?"

This cognitive inference alone was enough to shock Zhuge Liang.

After all, there was no concept of microorganisms or bacterial strains in this era. Although people in the pre-Qin period discovered the existence of koji, they mostly regarded it as a "chemical substance" and did not really regard it as a living thing.

Zhuge Jin was slightly stunned when he heard this rhetorical question. He did not expect that his second brother's doubt point was here. He could have directly given the answer, but then he thought, Zhuge Liang had already deduced the logic to this point, why not let him discover the truth on his own.

So when the words came to his lips, Zhuge Jin suddenly changed his words: "I don't know whether Qu Jue is a kind of 'living thing', but this matter is easy to experiment, why don't you verify it yourself?

For example, we collect various types of dough after acidification and make them into Hu pancakes and Tang pancakes, and keep a small piece as a sample. Then we let people taste the taste of the pancakes made from various types of dough.

Select the most fluffy and lightest sour dough, and use the small piece saved at the beginning to knead into new clean, non-fluffy and non-sour dough. After leaving it for a while, if the new dough is as fluffy and non-sour as the old dough, it means that the koji is likely a "living thing", at least it can pass on its characteristics to the younger generations that reproduce later, just like living things. "

Before Zhuge Liang finished listening, his eyes lit up instantly and he had already thought of the experimental design method.

"I'll tell the chef to prepare more new noodles, and collect all kinds of old sour noodles, leaving a corner of each dough as a reference sample!"

Zhuge Liang did what he said. At noon that day, he had people prepare dozens of different kinds of dough that had naturally become sour and bloated due to the hot weather. He then made soup cakes and baked Hu cakes for all the servants and maids in the mansion.

The way poor people ate wheat in this era was generally to cook it directly and make it into wheat rice, and they didn't even remove the bran, because they didn't want to give up the nutrition of the bran. At most, they would use a stone mortar to crush it before cooking to make it easier to chew.

Being able to grind off the bran and eat the broken wheat grains to make bread was already a lifestyle for the rich and powerful. So the servants and maids were very grateful and didn't think the sour smell of the bread was a big deal.

It only took Zhuge Liang a day or two to find the natural sourdough that was the least sour, most fluffy, and had the lightest odor. Then he used this old dough to "breed" the first few generations of new dough.

Zhuge Liang was the first to try it himself, and he immediately discovered that the new noodles made with the non-sour old noodles were indeed not sour either!

He also set up a control group. The new dough made from the sour old dough was still just as sour!

This shows that the sourness of old dough can be "inherited"!

Zhuge Liang suddenly found that he seemed to have opened the door to a new world.

Originally, he had learned the "breeding knowledge" in the secret scrolls that his elder brother mentioned, but the problem was that the experimental subjects he used would take at least several months to reproduce a generation.

Even for the bean sprouts that germinate and bear fruit the fastest, it still takes seventy to eighty days. Half a year is only enough for two generations of experiments. Moreover, the experiments have to be conducted out of season, and the bean sprouts must be carefully cared for and kept warm and hydrated.

Zhuge Liang did not have species like fruit flies that reproduce quickly and can produce a generation in a few days or a week or two to conduct biological experiments for him.

Until this moment, he discovered "Qu Jue".

The division and reproduction of fungi is much faster than that of animals and plants. Microorganisms can divide into many generations in an hour, growing exponentially.

Now Zhuge Liang can actually do three to five rounds of test cycles a day. A few hours after the dough has risen, the experimental results will come out, and the next round of selection and fermentation can be carried out.

You can also cut a large dough into many small pieces, and then use different culture conditions and environments to promote the differential growth of different bacterial strains, or accidentally inhibit and kill some weak bacterial strains, and select the bacterial community you most want to keep. It’s so cool.

Zhuge Liang soon stopped being satisfied with the small goal of "making the most delicious Ji Han noodles". He decided to take advantage of his free time to build a whole system of biological breeding! Summarize the common characteristics of biological inheritance! And there must be experimental evidence to support it!

The secret scroll on biological breeding that his elder brother gave him two years ago was still a castle in the air! It lacked empirical support! He had to help his elder brother find solid evidence!

As long as we can summarize the general guiding ideas, we can help farmers all over the world to select better crop varieties and screen genetic attributes for generations to come.

This is the great event that benefits EMI! And it all started with the invention of fermented steamed bread!

……

For more than half a month thereafter, because there was little government work to do and many things had to wait for news, Zhuge Liang became obsessed with microbial breeding experiments and related writing work.

Out of interest, Zhuge Jin also found time to do some other small jobs related to technological advancement and farming. They were all small optimizations to solve practical problems, but the results were not as fast as his second brother's.

Zhuge Jin also occasionally took time to observe his second brother's research, and soon discovered that his second brother's research was a bit incomplete - Zhuge Liang only focused on isolating the best yeast strains enriched in old dough, but did not pay attention to screening high-quality lactic acid bacteria or other probiotics enriched in old dough.

In fact, lactic acid bacteria, acetic acid bacteria, or brewer's yeast and saccharifying bacteria that are beneficial to brewing are all worth isolating. Zhuge Jin couldn't bear to see his brother only focus on one result and give up other useful things that he had accidentally found. He had to ask Liu Bei for some more resources and open several parallel experimental groups.

Screen out the old dough with "strong lactic acid smell after fermentation", the old dough with "strong wine lees smell", the old dough with "strong acetic acid smell"...

In the future, we may be able to make stable quality yogurt and beer (original beer fermented only with wort, without hops).

While I was busy with all these things, time passed quickly and it was already the end of July.

In contrast, Liu Bei, Guan Yu and others have been on vacation and relaxing recently. They left Xia Pi three years ago and are now revisiting the old place. There are too many memories to recall, too many emotions and sadness to sort out.

So he went out of town to hunt every day, and visited various counties and old friends to see how many of the old folks and officials he had known when he left Xuzhou three years ago were still alive.

It was already the 28th of July. Liu Bei and Guan Yu had been hunting for another day. When they came back they drank heavily and sighed with emotion, as if they had encountered some unexpected changes since they went out that day.

After Guan Yu returned to the mansion, Du came out to greet him without saying a word. Guan Yu quickly helped Du back to the house and said, "I don't know when I will be back these days, so you don't have to wait for me."

Du was taken into Guan Yu's family as a concubine ten days ago. She had completed her 27-month marriage period and was a widow, so there was no grand ceremony. Guan Yu simply set up a banquet and informed his close friends, and the marriage was done. None of the six rituals for marrying a wife were used.

Seeing Guan Yu so drunk, Mrs. Du couldn't help but complain a little, and then brought some sour and spicy soup noodles from the kitchen.

When Guan Yu saw the soup noodles, he sobered up a little. This was the first time that Mrs. Du cooked by herself after she came to the house, and Guan Yu was very much looking forward to it.

He had already prepared himself mentally: no matter how bad it tasted, he had to pretend it tasted good...

As a result, Guan Yu found it delicious as soon as he took it in.

To be precise, the usual sour and rancid taste of the originally soft and tender noodles was completely gone.

He was suspicious and picked up a seemingly golden and plump Hu pancake next to him. He felt it was very light in his hand, and it was completely different from the weight of an ordinary Hu pancake of the same size.

Is it empty inside? Guan Yu took a bite and found that it was not completely empty, but had many layers and looked very loose.

"Madam's cooking skills are truly unique! How can there be such a fluffy and non-sour Hu Bing in the world? Isn't it true that the softer the Hu Bing is, the more sour it will taste, and you can't have both?!" Guan Yu was immediately astonished.

He didn't expect that he was so lucky. Not only did he get the beauty, but the beauty also had this ability!

Mrs. Du was embarrassed, and smiled lightly, "What skills do I have? I learned this from the kitchen I borrowed from Zhuge Changshi yesterday, and I also got some 'old dough'. I also got some from the kitchens of the civil and military families in Xia Pi City."

When Guan Yu heard that Zhuge Liang had borrowed this technique from his kitchen, he immediately thought it made sense.

"So it's Kong Ming's masterpiece... That's not surprising, it's natural for them to make anything. But it's really delicious." Guan Yu admired sincerely.

……

That night, scenes like this happened repeatedly in various places in Xia Pi City.

When Liu Bei came back from hunting, he was equally surprised to eat the fluffy baked bread that had no sour or rancid taste at all. Even though he was already a general of chariots and cavalry, he had never seen such noodles before.

An even more exaggerated scene occurred in Xia Pi City, in a mansion used to temporarily detain prisoners.

Chen Gong and Zhang Liao, who had been captured for more than a month, were now placed here and were heavily guarded outside.

Chen Gong's will to oppose Cao Cao was definitely not a problem, but he was a serious criminal in Cao Cao's eyes. Before Liu Bei and Cao Cao fell out, it was better not to reveal Chen Gong's existence. Liu Bei only provided him with good food and drink for the time being, and did not try to persuade him to surrender and appoint him, so that he could continue to "fake his death".

As for Zhang Liao, Liu Bei certainly wanted to persuade him to surrender, but it would take time to soften him. More importantly, he had to confirm how Lu Bu and Gao Shun were doing in Xu Du.

If it could be confirmed that Lu Bu and Gao Shun were being badly suspected by Cao Cao and were in a difficult situation, Liu Bei could put his mind at ease and formally persuade Zhang Liao to surrender. In that way, he would not have to worry about Zhang Liao having the intention of surrendering to his former master in the future.

As a result, that night, because Zhuge Liang's recent experiment with old dough had been too large and the output was too much, even the captives had to eat leavened bread without sour taste as their staple food.

The chef also tried different ways of wrapping the steamed buns with various fillings, which was considered an innovative attempt.

As a result, after Chen Gong ate the food, he burst into tears that night and wrote a farewell poem.

Zhang Liao was not well-educated, but he was much more generous. He fell asleep right after eating. The next day, he woke up and saw the servants delivering the delicious steamed bread. He ate it all up and then shouted:
"When will you send us off? Don't dawdle like that! Let Liu Bei give us a quick death!"

The servant who delivered the meal was completely confused, and it took him a while to realize that Zhang Liao and Chen Gong had regarded last night's steamed meat-stuffed pancakes as their last meal before execution.

The servant felt proud when he thought about eating steamed buns, and said to Zhang Liao proudly, "You know Lü Bu is from a poor place, so he has never seen the world! How can a few steamed buns be mistaken for a last meal? We all eat this, every meal!"

These words broke Zhang Liao's defense: When did Liu Bei become so arrogant? When they were driven out of Xuzhou three years ago, weren't they so miserable that they had no food to eat? How come they became so unfamiliar after going to the south for a while?

Zhang Liao and Chen Gong were still confused, when suddenly a few warriors came outside and interrupted their suspicions.

Zhang Liao had good eyesight. When he looked up and saw Zhao Yun, he immediately sneered in his heart: I'm afraid that what he said just now was not a lie to me! After all, it's the last meal before execution, otherwise why would Zhao Yun come today? Isn't it because he is afraid that I will escape on the way to the execution ground!

Thinking of this, Zhang Liao suddenly felt relieved and looked at Zhao Yun frankly.

Although this guy had deceived him and pretended to be Xiahou Yuan to lure the enemy, Zhang Liao had repeatedly replayed the fight in his mind over the past few days. He had to admit that even if he had not deceived him, even if his martial arts were still at their peak, he still could not win in a fair fight.

"Brother Zhao actually asked me to go on my way. You are really giving face to me." Zhang Liao said with a sneer.

Zhao Yun had a puzzled expression on his face. "The lord called you today because the messenger who sent Hou Cheng and Song Xian's family has returned, and brought back the latest news about Lü Bu and Gao Shun's arrival in Xudu. Don't you want to know how your former lord and colleagues are doing in Xudu?"

Zhang Liao felt a chill in his heart when he heard this. He suddenly thought of a possibility and sighed, "It must be Wenhou and Zhongda, who are in Xudu... It's hard to explain. If they can be trusted by Cao Cao, Liu Bei will definitely not let me know. Can Gongtai go with us?"

Zhao Yun glanced at Chen Gong next to him and rejected the idea directly: "Mr. Chen is still a 'dead man' now, so don't show up. Even if he can survive in the future, it will be 'faking his death and escaping, hiding for a long time, and then coming back', which has nothing to do with us."

Zhang Liao was not surprised by this result. He patted his clothes and followed Zhao Yun.

(End of this chapter)