On the morning of the 5th of November, Yang Sichen had just finished practicing Taiji Fist when Xia Zhong came to report that Magistrate Li's eldest son had arrived and wanted to meet Yang Sichen.
Yang Sichen hurried to the Blue Sea Hall. As soon as he entered the main room, he saw Old Master Yang talking to Eldest Young Master Li.
Eldest Young Master Li turned to the side and only received half a bow. He helped Yang Sichen up and said humbly,""Sichen, I don't deserve to be called uncle!”
Old Master Yang hurriedly tried to smooth things over,"Your father and I are of the same generation, so it's only right for Little Chen to call you uncle."”
Yang Sichen took the opportunity to stand beside Old Master Yang and secretly sized up Eldest Young Master Li.
This Young Master Li looked 70% similar to Magistrate Li, but his face was not as serious as his father's. Instead, he had a smiling expression. His small eyes were smiling. He wore a light blue long robe, a piece of jade tied to his belt, a Confucian scholar's hat on his head, and a folding fan in his hand. No matter how he looked at it, he didn't look like a person in his thirties. Instead, he looked more like a playboy in his twenties.
Yang Sichen couldn't help but think of some rumors in the market. They said that this Young Master Li was a wonderful person with excellent knowledge. He passed the scholar examination at the age of eighteen and passed the imperial examination in his twenties. However, he had no interest in official career and was able to mix with the rest of the world like a fish in water. He didn't know kung fu, but he liked to study the martial arts and had some friends in Jianghu. He was very insightful, but he rarely expressed his views. Now that he was in his thirties, he still dressed up as a romantic youth. When others asked, he replied, In the past, Lao Caizi was seventy years old and still dressed in colorful clothes to entertain his parents. I am only a young man now. What's wrong with doing this?
Since his father became the magistrate of Song Jiang, Young Master Li became his father's teacher. He ran around and planned for his father. To fight a tiger is to fight a brother, to fight a father and son.
Old Master Yang said to Young Master Li,""Nephew, I heard that your father has been worrying recently. Nephew, do you know what's the matter?"
Eldest Young Master Li sighed and said,""It's almost the end of the year. Every year, all the places are busy preparing annual tributes for the emperor. It's been so many years since the emperor ascended the throne, and the annual tributes sent by Songjiang Prefecture have changed one batch after another. This year, my father wanted to give me something special, but he really couldn't think of anything. My father has been racking his brains over this matter."
Yang Sichen whispered," His Majesty has lived in the north for a long time, so he doesn't know much about Jiangnan. It would be great if he could offer some seasonal fruits as tribute."”
Eldest Young Master Li sighed." It's not that my father hasn't thought about it. It's just that Songjiang Prefecture is thousands of miles away from the capital. It takes more than ten days and nights to travel through five provinces. It's not good for the fruits to rot along the way.”
Yang Sichen nodded. Uncle was right. It's all my fault for not thinking things through."
"Speaking of food that doesn't rot easily, Frosted Candy is very good.”
Yang Sichen knew why Eldest Young Master Li was here, so he continued,""I still have more than ten catties of special frost candy in my workshop. I haven't been willing to sell it. Uncle, look at this…"
Young Master Li's eyes flashed after hearing this, but he said calmly,""It's just that the packaging of the Frost Candy is too crude. It's too abrupt to directly treat it as a tribute. It's a little unpresentable.”
Yang Sichen secretly cursed Young Master Li for being cunning, but he still put on a smile and said,""Recently, I asked the craftsman to make a batch of jars. I hope uncle can help me appreciate them. I wonder if uncle can do me the honor?”
Eldest Young Master Li was naturally very happy, so he nodded with a smile.
Yang Sichen quickly asked Xia Zhong to bring the small porcelain jar that he had burned a few days ago and showed it to Eldest Young Master Li.
This pair of small porcelain altars was about one foot tall and one foot wide. On one altar, there was a small bridge and flowing water, and on the other altar, there was smoke and waves. It looked exquisite and elegant. There was a small glass lid on the altar. When the lid was removed, the altar was surrounded by a golden rim. The bottom of the altar was inlaid with a circle of white jade. It looked elegant and luxurious, but it did not lose its foundation. It was indeed a rare treasure.
Eldest Young Master Li looked at the jar and took it in his hand to carefully appreciate it. From time to time, he would praise it.
Seeing this, Yang Sichen knew that Eldest Young Master Li already had a plan in mind, so he no longer mentioned the tribute and just accompanied Eldest Young Master Li and Old Master Yang to talk.
After a quarter of an hour, Young Master Li left the Yang Residence with a satisfied look on his face.
Yang Sichen sent someone to bring a message to Steward Zhao of Xuji Brown Sugar Workshop. He said that if anyone from the Song Jiang Prefect's Mansion came to pick up the frost sugar, he would give them the batch of the best quality that he had made. He would give them as much as they wanted and would not charge them.
…………
On the tenth day of the eleventh month, the annual tribute of Songjiang Prefecture was escorted by the Brocade Guard.
The batch of frosting candy that Magistrate Li and the others had taken away was the Sulfurized Frosting Candy that Yang Sichen had made himself. The quality of the frosting candy was much better than the frosting candy sold by Xu Ji's brown sugar workshop on the market. It had basically reached the quality standard of white sugar in the future.
Sulfuric acid clarification technology was a typical method of purifying and discoloring sugar cane juice and syrup in the white sugar production industry. Because this method had fewer equipment, simpler process, and convenient management, this clarification technology was widely used in the sugar industry. Its technology had long been publicized, and it was not a problem for Yang Sichen to produce some white sugar on a small scale. However, because the main process of the sulfurous acid clarification process relied on the absorption of impurities in the cane juice by the use of calcium phosphorus and calcium sulfurous acid, and the sulfur rinsing effect of the syrup was based on the principle of reduction reaction, the white sugar produced by the sulfurous acid method in later generations was often poor in quality. After a long time, it would turn yellow.
There was also a method of treating cane juice with lime and carbon dioxide. This method was called the carbonation method. The sugar produced by the carbonation method was called carbonized sugar, also known as carbon (acid) sugar. In the later generations, the carbonation method was used to produce sugar, which could remove more impurities than the sulfurous acid method. The finished sugar produced was of higher purity and very good color. It almost did not contain sulfur and could be stored for a long time without changing color. However, the carbonation process was more complicated than the sulfurous acid process. It required more machinery and equipment, and consumed more lime and carbon dioxide. Therefore, the production cost was much higher than the sulfurous acid process. Besides, Yang Sichen couldn't make so many machines in this era, so he gave up.
The quality of Yang Sichen's sulfuric sugar was indeed inferior by the standards of later generations. However, in this era, it could be used as tribute sugar to the emperor.
Thinking of this, Yang Sichen sighed," Just as Taizong of the Red Dynasty had said, science and technology were indeed the number one productive force.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。