Training the Heavens

Chapter 316 Lotus
"MSG? What is this?" Ma Xiangbo was confused.

"A seasoning whose main ingredient is sodium glutamate. It was first isolated from wheat gluten by German physicist Reiter in 1846, but the correct use for it was unknown! When I was in France, out of curiosity, I tried it after confirming it was harmless to the human body. I discovered that this seasoning greatly enhances the flavor of food."

MSG is also the result of Zhang Xingjiu's careful consideration. If you take out something else, it may make developed countries in Europe and the United States run faster due to national strength, causing greater losses to China.

Therefore, he did not dare to produce achievements that could be industrialized on a large scale too early. Even the wireless telegraph was developed on time and only a short time before Marconi and Braun.

MSG does not have this problem. It is just a seasoning. It does not have much impact whether it was born a few years earlier or later. Food preservatives can also enhance the logistics level of the military in developed countries. How much impact can MSG, which only provides umami, have?
Moreover, it was the Japanese who first commercialized this thing. In 1908, Kikunae Ikeda of Japan isolated glutamic acid from kelp and discovered that the sodium salt of glutamic acid has an umami taste.

In 1909, Japan began to produce and sell "Ajinomoto" with monosodium glutamate as the main ingredient. It soon entered China and made huge profits from China every year. Now Zhang Xingjiu took it out in advance to steal the Japanese business.

"After returning to China, I brought some chemical laboratory equipment and led some talented students to try to develop technology for large-scale production of MSG. Some time ago, we finally made a breakthrough. We mainly use gluten or soybean meal as raw materials and use acid hydrolysis to produce MSG."

More than ten years later, Wu Yunchu also adopted this method to produce MSG in Shanghai. This method continued until the 1960s, when it was replaced by new technologies such as fermentation, protein hydrolysis, and synthesis by petroleum cracking propylene. Most of the MSG produced today is produced by fermentation.

Wu Yunchu is now a twelve-year-old child. He originally studied foreign languages ​​at the Shanghai Guangfangyan Academy. Due to his poor family background, he faced the risk of dropping out of school. Zhang Xingjiu provided him with financial support so that he could continue his studies and encouraged him to apply for Aurora University. When he enters the Department of Chemistry of Aurora University in the future, Zhang Xingjiu will find a new project for him and return the honor that originally belonged to him to him.

"This technology has been verified in the laboratory and is basically ready for industrialization. However, some important equipment still needs to be imported from Europe and the United States, especially acid and alkali resistant equipment, which we cannot produce ourselves at present."

"So now we need money to buy equipment, land, recruit workers, and purchase raw materials for production. But as long as we can produce this product, it will definitely sell well. We can recoup the cost and make a profit in a short time. We can even export it to Japan, Southeast Asia and other places to make money."

Judging from the later experiences of Dongyangren and Wu Yunchu in making money in Shanghai, there is no need to worry about the commercial prospects of MSG. Even when Zhang Xingjiu first traveled through time, the annual output of MSG was still as high as more than 2 million tons, and this business could be done for decades.

"You have this money yourself, and you are using it to benefit the school now!" Ma Xiangbo sighed. He felt more and more that he had chosen the right son-in-law. If it weren't for him, Aurora College might not exist now.

After get off work, Ma Xiangbo called Ma Jianzhong, Zhu Zhiyao, Zhu Yunzuo and other family members to go to Zhang Xingjiu's house to taste MSG. The chef in the family had already learned how to use MSG. The dishes he brought out were simple and ordinary, which they often ate, but they were extremely delicious and tasted much better than before.

Zhu Zhiyao couldn't help but feel a little surprised. "Zhou Ping, did you change the chef at home? This cooking skill is extraordinary. The knife skills and heat control are fine, but the delicious flavor is not something that an ordinary chef can create."

"It seems to have a bit of Shandong cuisine in it. Speaking of freshness, Shandong chefs are still the most prominent right now." Ma Jianzhong, who had served as Li Hefei's aide, had seen and tasted the food before. After a few bites, he recognized a familiar flavor in the dishes. "Lu cuisine chefs often add a special seasoning when cooking. This seasoning is their secret recipe, never easily shared with others. Only the son who inherited the family business has the opportunity to learn it. I had to go through a lot of trouble to find this secret recipe. After careful analysis, I found that the main ingredient is not much different from MSG." Zhang Xingjiu took out a small bottle of sample and showed them.

This secret recipe is nothing special. It is just grinding sea cucumber into powder. Zhang Xingjiu did not say it directly because he did not want to ruin their jobs.

He asked the chef to cook a large bowl of mediocre cabbage and tofu soup using the old method. Everyone tasted it and thought it was bland. He poured in an appropriate amount of MSG in front of them, stirred it slightly, and tasted it again. The taste was immediately different.

"Delicious! This soup is so delicious! Even if you go to the Eight Great Buildings in Beijing, there are not many chefs who can make a bowl of cabbage and tofu soup so delicious." Veteran gourmet Ma Jianzhong gave it a high evaluation.

"Uncle, do you think anyone would be willing to buy this MSG if it were put on the market?" Zhang Xingjiu asked.

"Haha, not only can you buy it, as long as one restaurant starts using it, other restaurants will have no choice but to use it. Zhouping, you have found a good business!" Ma Jianzhong gave his affirmation without hesitation.

A few days later, Ma Xiangbo called together Zhang Jian, Yan Fu, Xiong Xiling and other school directors, and talked about the matter of increasing revenue for Aurora University. He also invited them to Zhang Xingjiu's house to taste a banquet with added MSG.

Everyone praised it highly and expressed their willingness to contribute money to set up the factory. These school directors were all well-known figures, and with their investment, there was no need to worry too much about being robbed.

Everyone quickly discussed the distribution of shares. Aurora College was the largest shareholder, Zhang Jian, who had run many industries, was the second largest shareholder, and several other school directors who were willing to participate also invested money and land and got their own shares.

As the inventor of MSG technology, Zhang Xingjiu also received some shares. This was mainly to set an example and inspire future generations. If other scholars saw that he had become rich, they would definitely be more motivated to do research.

After several rounds of discussion, the basic charter of the MSG factory was finalized. Now, the only question left was, "What should our MSG be called?"

Zhang Xingjiu blurted out, "Why not call it the Lotus MSG Factory? The lotus is pure and flawless, and our products are also pure and harmless. This name is very suitable."

(End of this chapter)