The weak scholar in the end of ancient times

Chapter 64 Sugar

After hesitating and struggling for a while, the Taoist priest couldn't resist the temptation of the picture album and agreed.

"I need time to try, and the five instruments you listed are not enough!" said Qing Yida with a stern face.

"So let's refine the ones we have first and use the results to exchange for a few more things." Wen Gu replied calmly, "These things are all in the Zhao family's warehouse. No one has rushed to grab them yet, but you never know when a talented person will show up, so you better hurry up."

Taoist Qingyi: "..."

He lowered his head and flipped through the album again.

I know this is the dog scholar's routine.

But, this cake is so delicious!
So many good things are waiting for me!
After making his decision, he picked up his pen and circled the necessary utensils: "Five isn't enough, add two more!"

He would not follow the dog scholar's request and would strive for some benefits for himself.

Wen Gu looked at the things he had circled and nodded. "Okay, I'll get them for you. Hurry up, and I'll give you some extra materials. It's harvest season now, so don't delay!"

Why are you lying there? Get up and work!
I'm not idle at all, and you're so relaxed!
Wen Gu asked Chang Shun to take the circled instruments to Zhao's house. Soon, the alchemy instruments were pulled to Qingyunfang by carriage and placed inside the house.

Taoist Qingyi began to work hard on the fascinating alchemy equipment in the picture album.

Purifying crude salt is a long-standing experience, and with the help of a Taoist child, it is more efficient and less challenging.

But this sugar...

The Taoist priest was not familiar with it, so he practiced it first according to Wen Gu's suggestions and his own experience.

Experimentation, dissatisfaction.

I tried again, but still wasn't satisfied.

Continue to try to improve...

The experimental materials provided by Wen Gu included not only the non-white sugar given by his aunt, but also some multicolored sugar provided by Wen Gu himself, which he asked the Taoist priest to bleach.

The decolorization method recorded in Wen Gu's impression may not include all the details and may even be a little misleading, so he only made some suggestions and left the technical work to professionals.

He has already told Master Qingyi the requirements for the finished product, and what remains are attempts and challenges on the technical level.

Return to Jingxingfang.

Wen Gu assigned tasks to the laborers, including clearing out debris and building dormitories according to his drawings.

Even if a block of 400 people were to be filled, there would still be some space. However, more people could be accommodated in the future.

After a while, when the villagers in the neighborhood have adapted to the pace of life here, they will bring their fellow villagers who remain in the village here.

There is no food left in the village. Even if you don’t freeze to death in the cold winter, you will starve to death.

When more people come to the neighborhood, there are still projects to be done.
After the initial cleanup and replanning of the area, some of the chaotically distributed and now dilapidated courtyard walls were all demolished.

The bricks, stones, etc. dug out are sorted and stacked.

Then, using existing building materials, we began to build collective dormitories.

During this period, teams came from the south to Xinzhou City one after another. The small teams had dozens of people, and the larger teams had hundreds or even thousands of people.

Some of them came by boat to the nearest dock, escorted by the hunting troops.

Those huge boxes, filled with goods, were enough to cause discussion in Xinzhou for a long time.

He Da and others continued to use their advantage as street savvy to go outside to chat, brag, watch the fun, and then send back the latest news about all the big and small happenings in the city.

As long as he can pass this information to Wen Gu, he can get his own salary.

He Da was very satisfied with this. He and his friends had no other skills, but they still had some advantages in this aspect.

Yu Er was busy with the work at the blacksmith shop. He Da had no competitors yet, but he dared not relax. There would definitely be other talented people competing for him in the future, so he had to take this opportunity to consolidate his position.

Wen Gu listened to the news brought back by He Da.

Those traveling north by boat should concentrate on this period, as the river will freeze over any later. Alternatively, they can wait until next spring when the river thaws.

And these big households brought a lot of supplies!
Therefore, the target must be these big players, who have the goods!
He Da was excitedly telling Wen Gu which wealthy family had come to Xinzhou City today and how many carts of goods they had brought.

The Taoist boy from Qingyunfang came over and told Wen Gu: Taoist Qingyi has refined another batch of finished products, please ask the head of the monastery to come and check it out.

Seven days later, the Taoist priest finally achieved satisfactory results?

Faster than Wen Gu expected.

The Taoist priest is indeed very talented!

It seems that we can build more platforms and add more loads.

Wen Gu arranged the work at hand and quickly came to Qingyunfang.

When he arrived, Taoist Qingyi was sitting in a chair in deep thought.

When he saw Wen Gu, the Taoist priest simply said, "These should be what you want."

There were two round plates on the table in front.

One round plate contained white crushed sugar, and the other round plate contained block-shaped sugar that was the color of ice.

In terms of quality, it does not meet the requirements of reviewing the past and is still far from the products of the industrial age, but in terms of the current level, it is already top-notch.

Wen Gu nodded with satisfaction: "Thank you, Taoist Priest!"

Taoist Qingyi paid no attention to the dog-like thanks.

He looked confused and puzzled:
"Where on earth did you go to study?"

He always thought he was well-traveled, knew many wealthy families, knew many luxury items, and had seen frosting, but he had never seen anything of such quality.

If Wen Gu hadn't asked him to refine sugar, he would never have thought that he could refine sugar of such quality!
"Is there really such candy in the place where you study?" said the Taoist priest.

"Yes," Wen Gu affirmed, "There is so much dazzling wisdom in this land. What you have seen before, Taoist Priest, is just a drop in the ocean."

Taoist Qingyi closed his eyes and waved his hand to drive them away.

"Okay, now get out of here with the sugar and frosting!"

Wen Gu was not angry. He asked the Taoist boy to pack the finished product and said to the Taoist priest in a slow voice:

"Master, you've been exhausted lately. Take a rest. Don't worry, I'll go help you with the remaining tools!"

When he reached the door, Wen Gu remembered something and turned back: "Master, would you like to prepare a gift?"

Taoist Qingyi opened his eyes impatiently and replied, "Why should I prepare any gifts? They are not my relatives. Are you asking me to recommend myself?"

Wen Gu pointed at the album of alchemy room equipment in his hand: "I have to express my gratitude for preparing all these equipment, right?"

Taoist Qingyi looked at Wen Gu and said, "Just tell me, what do you want me to do? What do you like in my hand?"

Wen Gu: "I remember, Taoist priest, you said about purifying the filthy land..."

The Taoist priest angrily scolded: "You..."

Before the other party could curse, Wen Gu quickly said, "Alright, it's not some technical secret. Let me tell you about the soap I saw when I was studying abroad. You can improve it and see which processes can be made now..."

After a while of mumbling, Master Qingyi's expression changed constantly. Finally, he sighed, picked up his pen and wrote, saying, "You'd better prepare everything for me this time, otherwise..."

Wen Gu took the prescription written by the Taoist priest, checked it, and replied, "Just wait for my good news!"

Return to your residence in Jingxingfang with the new sugar and soap recipe.

Wen Gu looked at the finished product before him. The "icing sugar" that Master Qingyi was referring to wasn't the kind of sugar concoction. In those days, icing sugar referred to the amber-colored, lumpy crystals of sugar.

"Amber on an ice plate is not as beautiful as frosting sugar" refers to this kind of sugar.

However, the "icing sugar" newly refined by the Taoist priest can already be called rock sugar.

Wen Gu took out the three boxes that had been prepared long ago and packed them separately.

He then picked up the pen and wrote for a while on a few exquisite booklets, folded them, and put them in a box.

He called Tietou and Changshun, and took the three boxes to find his aunt.

My aunt said that whenever I want to come over, I can just go directly to Zhao's house.

So I didn't notify anyone in advance, and only when I arrived did I find out that my aunt had some other things to do, but I didn't have to wait long.

When I saw my aunt again, she looked a little tired. It seemed that too many wealthy people from the south had come to visit recently, and the socializing had taken a toll on her.

but……

Wen Gu put down the three boxes.

Auntie, I'm here to cheer you up!!
He looked apologetic. "I was a little rude the first time I came here. I promised to make up for it. I just got the stuff this time, so I rushed over!"

The three boxes were placed there, very conspicuously. Wen Gu introduced them, "This one is for my aunt, these two are for my cousin's wife and my nephew, uh... my cousin and my uncle. They're still being prepared."

Mrs. Shen perked up and said with a smile: "You are really a..."

Review and open the wooden box.

Mrs. Shen's voice paused. She had been leaning tiredly against the back of the chair, but now she sat up and leaned forward with her eyes wide open.

"This is?!"

Wen Gu handed the wooden box over so that his aunt could see it more clearly.

"This is the white sugar and rock sugar I asked the Taoist priest in the workshop to refine."

She gave a few instructions to the maid beside her.

After a while, the kitchen brought over a small dish of sugar.

Put them together for comparison.

In the box, the sugar is as white as snow. It is so white that the plate next to it looks like it has a thick earthy color.

At this time, my cousin's wife came over with her little nephew.

Madam Shen came back to her senses, full of energy, her complexion even rosier than before, and said to the two people who had just arrived in a slightly excited tone: "Come and see the gifts Wen Gu prepared for you!"

My cousin’s wife, Madam Xiao Shao, comes from a wealthy family in the South and has seen many luxury items.

But when he saw the gift given by Wen Gu, he was also very surprised.

She knew that there had been sugar merchants in the past whose sugar and icing sugar were listed as tribute-grade, but the other party seemed to be in the Du family.

With their current status, the kitchen also has the frosting provided by the other company in the past, but it is not the kind that Wen Gu brought out.

In her opinion, what Wen Gu had given her was pure and clear as ice! It was truly rock sugar!

The portion that Wen Gu gave to his nephew also contained white sugar and rock sugar, but the amount was slightly less.

But there is more to the gifts than meets the eye.

Soon, my aunt and cousin's wife found the booklet that came with the box.

There is also a share for my nephew.

Admittedly, reviewing the past can make more sugars, but...

Nowadays, people of status are extremely cautious about what they eat.

Especially this nephew. Originally, there was more than one child in my cousin's family. After all the twists and turns, only one child was left, and he was the legitimate son.

Of course, the food you eat cannot be random, so when reviewing the old stuff, I didn’t do anything fancy. I just wrote down the tricks I could play on paper.

The portion for my cousin's wife is suitable for adults, and some are more suitable for a solemn and elegant aristocratic banquet.

The one for the kids is even more childlike.

For most people nowadays, sugar is a luxury, but not for my nephew.

Wen Gu wrote down in the booklet the ways that the candies can be made, such as fruit candies, lollipops, and can be made into various shapes.

Children over five years old, with elite education, know many words and the review text is accompanied by pictures, so they should be able to understand it.

Sure enough, the nephew was only slightly surprised when he saw the candy, and then he saluted in a serious manner.

But once he saw the illustrated description in the booklet, his face lit up again. After all, he was only five years old, so he couldn't help showing his emotions. He grinned and said, "Thank you, uncle!"

Madam Xiao also said, "My cousin is so thoughtful!"

Seeing that Mrs. Shen wanted to talk to her cousin alone, Mrs. Xiao took her son and said goodbye.

Only the aunt and nephew were left in the room.

Mrs. Shen looked intently at the booklet in her hand. It described the many ways that one could use sugar. One could make some sugar with medicinal properties according to seasonal changes and body needs.

But Mrs. Shen's attention was on another page of the booklet.

"Did you come up with the recipe for this soap and medicated soap?" she asked.

"No, I saw something like this when I was studying abroad, and I asked Taoist Qingyi in the village. He had made something like this before. The current recipe has been improved by the Taoist, and he is willing to share it with me, but we need to wait for the finished product to confirm its effectiveness."

Wen Gu replied.

He would not try to steal the credit that belonged to the Taoist priest.

In addition, the Taoist priest would also give his improved recipes for white sugar and rock sugar to my aunt.

The Zhao family has their own workshop, and handing the recipe over to their aunt will allow them to obtain the greatest benefits in the fastest and safest way.

Not only do they have to face the wealthy families in the Zhao clan's territory, but also the other five clans.

There is competition among the northern forces, but there are also occasional transactions.

Transactions at that level are not something Wen Gu can access now.

Next, the aunt and nephew discussed the current profits that these recipes could bring.

Family members will never let Wen Gu suffer any loss.

Wen Gu also managed to get some more benefits for the Taoist priest.

This kind of technical talent must be retained!

So, while Taoist Qingyi of Qingyunfang was catching up on his sleep, with sweet dreams and nightmares intertwined, a large number of new instruments arrived.

When Taoist Qingyi woke up, he had forgotten what he had dreamed about and was now staring at these instruments with his eyes fixed on them.

Excited and sad.

There are indeed more and more instruments in the alchemy room, but there is no place to put them.

What about Taoist temples?
Where is my Taoist temple?
Dog scholar, please help me get the Taoist temple here quickly!
(End of this chapter)