It was already mid-June, and Aunt Fan had not come yet. If Aunt Fan's hometown was far away, Yang Haiyan might not have sent anyone there, but Aunt Fan's hometown was in the next county. After all, Aunt Fan had lived with them for two years, and she had performed very well during her work, so Yang Haiyan still cared about her, so she sent Meng Ping to the neighboring county to check on the situation.
Meng Ping, who went to check the situation, did not come back so soon. The chief steward Chi from the capital had already left. Wei Ting and the people from the Ministry of Works moved into the Shoushan Taoist Temple. The Shoushan Taoist Temple was already very dilapidated, but it was not small, and the design inside was carefully thought out. When King Liang built the Taoist temple, he also spent a lot of time and effort. After all, this was where he was going to live.
The Beast Mountain Taoist Temple has been renovated, so Wei Ting moved there with people from the Ministry of Industry because they wanted to study fire medicine.
The entire Beast Mountain was sealed by Qin Fang, and all the thousand soldiers in the East Suburbs Military Camp were moved there. Not only the thousand soldiers, but also the suppression of the county government. After all, the East Suburbs Military Camp is relatively large, and it is not enough to surround it with just a few hundred soldiers.
Meanwhile, Qin Fang was at the Shoushan Taoist Temple almost every day. In a private letter from the Emperor, he was ordered to monitor the people in the Ministry of Works to prevent them from leaking the news about the Huo Yao.
Therefore, although Qin Fang is not busy at the Beast Mountain Taoist Temple every day, he still has to patrol every day.
The Iron-Chained Man moved out of the Beast Mountain Taoist Temple and moved to the General's Mansion. The General's Mansion was so big that it was convenient to just clear out a yard and settle the Iron-Chained Man.
Because Manager Chi left, Wei Ting also moved to the Shoushan Taoist Temple. As for the children at home, Qin Shoucheng went to the academy every day, Qin Siya and Meng Qiu went to learn needlework every day. Even if they needed to embroider something, they would do it in the master's teaching workshop, so Yang Haiyan was still very free for a while. She just embroidered something every day to improve her embroidery skills, and then made underwear for Qin Fang, especially close-fitting pants, which Qin Fang wore the least. Ancient cloth was not as strong as modern cloth, so it was the easiest to tear.
But she did have something to do in the past two days. A large amount of sweet potatoes and potatoes had been purchased. She called Aunt Lian to work with her, and the two of them began to think about the relationship between potato flour and sweet potato flour in their yard. Yang Haiyan had never made potato flour or sweet potato flour, but she still had some common sense.
Whether it is potato flour or sweet potato flour, potatoes and sweet potatoes are cut into pieces, then ground with a stone mill, and the starch that flows out is potato starch and sweet potato flour. However, the light flour needs to be mixed with water and then the starch needs to settle.
This morning, Aunt Lian went to observe the potato flour and sweet potato flour they were secretly making. When she saw that a bucket of potato flour and a bucket of sweet potato flour had really settled, Aunt Lian hurried to find Yang Haiyan: "County Master, Country Master... It worked..."
Yang Haiyan was having breakfast. When she heard what Aunt Lian said, she immediately put down her bowl and chopsticks and became quite interested: "Go and take a look."
The master and servant went to the room where potato starch and sweet potato starch were stored, and saw that the potato starch and sweet potato starch had sunk to the bottom, with water on top. Yang Haiyan said, "Madame Lian, let's pour out the water, and then take the flour outside to dry in the sun. When it's half dry, pour it out. When it's completely dry, mash it up, and it will be flour. I just don't know how it tastes." Of course she knew it tasted good, but could she tell
After hearing this, Aunt Lian praised him, "My dear, you are really smart. My dear, how did you figure out that potatoes and sweet potatoes can be made into flour?"
Yang Haiyan said: "It's not that I suddenly thought of it. I just thought that barley and corn can be ground into powder, and potatoes and sweet potatoes also taste like powder, so they should be ground into powder. After we ground it into powder, I saw that it was sticky, so I remembered that saltpeter can be reused in making ice. The emperor wrote to us and rewarded us with 200 kilograms of saltpeter. He also told the general that saltpeter can be reused. As long as the water is boiled dry, the saltpeter dissolved in the water will be boiled out. So I thought, if the powder and water are mixed together, can the powder and water be separated? So I thought of giving it a try."
One cannot say what one thinks about one's own merits. It happened that the emperor was grateful for Qin Fang's merits, and he also knew that conferring imperial edicts on Qin Fang's mother and grandmother was not equal to Qin Fang's merits. So the emperor asked Chief Steward Chi to send a letter mentioning that saltpeter could be reused.
Then it makes sense that she attributed the inspiration for making potato flour and sweet potato flour to the emperor.
However, through this incident, Yang Haiyan once again realized the wisdom of the ancients. Huo Yao and saltpeter were reused repeatedly in just a few days, and the ancients immediately thought of it. No wonder the ancients wrote poems at the age of three. In modern times, it is simply impossible.
Nanny Lian didn't know that saltpeter could be used to reproduce ice. After hearing what Yang Haiyan said, and it was the emperor who said it, she suddenly felt that the master was extraordinary. She thought that the general must be very favored by the emperor, otherwise the emperor would not have told her about this.
The emperor only told Qin Fang about this matter. He really had no intention of telling others. Now the treasury of Qi State was a little short of money. The emperor planned to do business, that is, selling ice, so this matter would not be made public. Moreover, if saltpeter was made public to make ice, the noble families and the common people would look for saltpeter. Saltpeter was very important to the court, and the emperor did not want the noble families and the common people to look for saltpeter.
However, if the emperor sells ice, the price will naturally be cheap, and the price will be set at a price that ordinary people can afford. Anyway, saltpeter can be reused, and even the lowest price is profitable for the emperor. If a country wants to develop, silver is indispensable. The emperor is not yet thirty, so he is naturally ambitious.
The emperor could tell Qin Fang that, firstly, the saltpeter mine was discovered by Qin Fang, and secondly, the method of making ice with saltpeter was discovered by Yang Haiyan. He was also worried that the Qin family would use saltpeter to make ice and then waste saltpeter, so he told them that the best method was to reuse saltpeter.
After another two days, the potato flour and sweet potato flour were half dry. Yang Haiyan asked Aunt Lian and Aunt Yu to pour the potato flour and sweet potato flour out of the wooden barrel and dry them outside. The weather in June was very hot, so the potato flour and sweet potato flour were completely dry in less than two days. It took about seven days in total for the potato flour and sweet potato flour to be ready.
Seeing the white potato flour and sweet potato flour, Aunt Lian and Aunt Yu were very excited. After all, it was made by Aunt Lian herself, and Aunt Yu had been guarding the gate of the yard to prevent others from coming in.
Nanny Lian: "Xiangjun, you are really a fan." With the arrival of the imperial edict of Yang Haiyan's canonization, Nanny Lian led everyone to change their way of addressing her, from calling her Madam Yang Haiyan to Xiangjun. However, in the eyes of those who don't know, they would not think that Xiangjun is her title, but would think it is just her name.
Yang Haiyan smiled and said, "Isn't it just flour? Crush some of the flour and we'll make vermicelli today."
Nanny Lian asked, "Then let's ask Kun Zhang to do it?"
Yang Haiyan said: "No need, we can cook it in the small kitchen in the yard. I'll tell you what you want and I'll make it."
Nanny Lian said quickly, "No, no, no, let me do it. The county lord is of noble status, how can we ask him to cook?"
Speaking of noble status, Yang Haiyan didn't think so, but being a third-rank county lady had a practical advantage. Her current salary was two hundred and eighty-five taels of silver per month, which was the salary of a third-rank official in Qi State. And because it was her own title, not an imperial decree from her husband, she didn't have to take half of the official's salary, which was really good.
Yang Haiyan said: "I only make it once in a while, mainly because potato flour and sweet potato flour are just right. I want to wait for the general to come back from get off work and make it for her myself, but I have never made one before, no, I need to learn it first."
Speaking of this, Nanny Lian was really happy because the master and his wife had a good relationship. Now that the county lord wanted to make a wife for the general, she naturally would not object: "Then this old slave will go and prepare the necessary things."
Yang Haiyan: "It's ready. Mammy and Aunt Yu, please help me taste it. If it doesn't taste good, you must tell me the truth."
Aunt Lian joked, "Xiang Jun is the smartest person I have ever met. He will definitely be able to do it well."
Yang Haiyan: "Just flatter me as much as you can."
Aunt Lian smiled and went out to prepare things.
Yang Haiyan made a fried potato noodle and a sweet potato jelly. This was not her first time making this in real life, so she was quite steady in the kitchen. After they were done, she, Aunt Lian, and Aunt Yu all had a small bowl. Because there were two kinds of noodles, one small bowl for each, so two small bowls in total were enough.
Lian Mama ate the fried potato noodles first. When Xiangjun was making it just now, she thought it was delicious. After a while, she put it in her mouth and found it really delicious. Moreover, the taste of potato noodles is completely different from that of noodles. She ate a bite of fried potato noodles and then a bite of sweet potato jelly noodles, and couldn't help but say, "Xiangjun, your cooking skills are really great."
Even Aunt Yu, who usually only cooks and doesn't talk much, couldn't help but say, "The food cooked by the village master is delicious."
Yang Haiyan still has some confidence in her cooking skills. After all, she has lived alone for more than ten years. If she doesn't have basic cooking skills, how can she take care of herself? It's just that she can't compare with good chefs, but she is still happy to be praised by Aunt Lian and Aunt Yu.
Yang Haiyan said: "That's because there are a lot of ingredients, so it tastes good. When the general comes in the evening, I will let her cook, so that the kitchen doesn't have to prepare our meals at night."
Aunt Lian: "I'll go talk to you later."
Because the general's mansion had many courtyards, and the courtyards were clearly divided, Qin Siya and Qin Shoucheng did not accompany them to eat. Qin Shoucheng was already thirteen years old, and it was not good to always eat in his sister-in-law's courtyard. Qin Siya was also ten years old. Yang Haiyan gave her a maid to look after the courtyard and a little girl to serve her, so on weekdays, the little girl would go to the big kitchen to get her meals.
So Yang Haiyan and Qin Fang had dinner together. Qin Fang came back at the usual time, entered the yard, and saw Aunt Yu guarding the door. He asked, "What did Yanyan do today?" He didn't want to get to the bottom of the matter, but wanted to understand his wife and care about her.
In the past, Aunt Yu's answers were taking a walk, embroidering, etc., but today Aunt Yu was a little mysterious: "You must not tell the general what you did today, the general will know later." Even the details of making potato flour and sweet potato flour were kept secret by Yang Haiyan from Qin Fang, as she wanted to give him a surprise.
This aroused Qin Fang's curiosity. Aunt Yu was a very serious person. She usually said less than ten sentences, and she only said a few words when it was necessary. It was really surprising to see Yanyan say this. Qin Fang wondered what Yanyan had done today to make Aunt Yu say this.
Since Qin Fang was curious, he didn't ask Aunt Yu and went in to look for Yang Haiyan, but he didn't find her in the yard. There were no other servants in Yang Haiyan's yard, only Aunt Lian and Aunt Yu. Aunt Yu was in charge of hygiene, and Aunt Lian was in charge of other things. There weren't many things, so she didn't hire servants. Besides, she didn't like too many people walking around in her private space.
Not finding Yang Haiyan, Qin Fang went to look for Aunt Yu: "Aunt Yu, where is Yanyan?"
Aunt Yu said, "The gentleman is in the small kitchen."
Even if there was a small kitchen in the yard, it was located in a corner to prevent the smell from spreading everywhere. So Qin Fang looked for Yang Haiyan in the right place but didn't find her, nor did he think that she was in the small kitchen.
When Qin Fang heard Aunt Yu say that Yang Haiyan was in the small kitchen, he thought she might be cooking something, after all, his wife would occasionally make snacks. However, Aunt Yu said that his wife would give him a surprise, and Qin Fang immediately understood that it was his wife who cooked for him to surprise him.
It wasn't a big surprise, but Qin Fang was still very happy that she could cook for him personally.
Qin Fang came to the kitchen and saw Yang Haiyan busy inside, with Nanny Lian helping her. Qin Fang walked in lightly. Perhaps Yang Haiyan and Nanny Lian were too engrossed and didn't notice Qin Fang coming in. Nanny Lian turned around to check the fire and saw Qin Fang. She hurriedly said, "Hello, General."
Yang Haiyan turned around, saw Qin Fang and smiled: "Are you here?" The feeling he had before was different from when she called him husband tenderly. Now, even with just four simple words, he could feel the tenderness in it.
Qin Fang couldn't help but smile: "Well, I'm here, what are you doing?"
Yang Haiyan said, "I'll make noodles with two different flavors of flour. I thought you have a big appetite, so you can eat two plates."
Qin Fang said quickly, "I can eat it, you really surprised me." Aunt Yu said that she wanted to give herself a surprise, so she should be happy if she said that. Qin Fang thought to himself that it was very cooperative.
Yang Haiyan smiled again after hearing this: "Then go to the hall and wait. I'll bring it over when you're done."
Qin Fang said, "No, is there anything I can help you with?" They usually spend time together only at night. Because of the situation with the sulfur and saltpeter mines, even if he has a day off every month, he still stays at the Beast Mountain Taoist Temple. He was also happy to be alone for a while.
Yang Haiyan said, "I'll be ready soon. Aunt Lian will help me. I don't need you."
Qin Fang looked at Nanny Lian.
Aunt Lian hurriedly said, "My Lord, my stomach is a little uncomfortable, I want to go to the bathroom."
Qin Fang gave Nanny Lian an appreciative look: "Go ahead, take your time, don't be anxious, I'm here for you."
Nanny Lian didn't wait for Yang Haiyan to speak. She bowed to Qin Fang and left.
Yang Haiyan was really at a loss for words: "What's the point of staying in the kitchen? You've been busy all day, why don't you take a rest? Dinner is coming soon."
Qin Fang: "It doesn't matter where I am, as long as I'm with you."
Yang Haiyan's mouth curled up unconsciously when she heard this: "How can you talk? You should eat more today."
Qin Fang couldn't help but laugh. Seeing her happy, he was also happy.
Aunt Lian didn't go anywhere, she just stayed outside. The male host wanted to be alone with the female host, so she naturally left. When Yang Haiyan's noodles were ready, Aunt Lian went in to help.
Qin Fang and Yang Haiyan were the only ones in the dining hall. They didn't need to be served when they ate, they just ate by themselves. In addition to the fried potato noodles and sweet potato cold noodles, there were also several side dishes. The noodles and vegetables were fragrant, which made people's appetites whetted.
Qin Fang is absolutely focused when he eats, and when you see him eating, you will have a good appetite, because he eats with big mouthfuls, and eats a lot. When they were at the border before, they had a lot of training and they did eat a lot, but now, he still eats a lot, and climbing up and down the mountains every day is also a good exercise.
After taking a few bites, Qin Fang discovered something peculiar: "This noodle is different from the noodles I usually eat."
Yang Haiyan thought, this is the point. "Is this noodle delicious?"
Even though Qin Fang had no particular requirements for food, after two years of eating so many delicious foods, he became a bit picky. But no matter if it was delicious or not, as long as it could fill his stomach, he would eat it. "Delicious, a little chewy, relatively..."
Yang Haiyan followed up his question and said, "It's more cute, right?"
Qin Fang blinked his eyes, not understanding. But even if he didn't understand, it didn't affect his eating speed.
Yang Haiyan explained: "It means a little bit of elasticity."
Qin Fang nodded: "Yes, yes, it's delicious, wifey, what you cook is better than what the chef cooks." And then nothing happened.
Yang Haiyan knew that he didn't understand the ingredients, so she brought it up herself: "What do you think of the flour used to make this noodle? It's not made from the old flour. It's the new flour that Aunt Lian and I researched."
Qin Fang paused. He always only cared about eating and didn't ask about the ingredients of the food. He didn't understand it anyway. However, when he heard his wife say that this was the flour she had just researched, he was stunned. "This is made of new flour?" Then, he thought of Aunt Yu's words. It turned out that this was the surprise Aunt Yu was talking about. "Wife, can you also research flour? Isn't flour directly ground from corn kernels and barley?"
Yang Haiyan said: "In the past, the flour we ate was made from barley and corn kernels, but now the flour you eat is made from potatoes and sweet potatoes."
Potatoes and sweet potatoes can be made into flour? Qin Fang didn't bother to eat: "Potatoes and sweet potatoes can be made into flour? I see you haven't done anything for a few days, so it shouldn't be difficult to make flour from potatoes and sweet potatoes, right?" At this point, Qin Fang remembered something, "Yunxiang County has a lot of land and a small population, so there is too much food to eat. In this case, if there is more land to grow potatoes and sweet potatoes, then the potatoes and sweet potatoes can be made into flour and sold elsewhere. Wouldn't the problem of excess food in Yunxiang County be solved?"
Among the grains, sweet potatoes and potatoes are cheap and are eaten by the common people. Therefore, the people in Yunxiang County will not sell them because the round-trip costs money, and they are heavy, and they don’t know whether they can be sold. Therefore, many people have more and more dried sweet potatoes at home, which is the reason. But now, if potatoes and sweet potatoes can be made into flour, the situation will be different. Flour will be bought by both the common people and the rich, and the price is expensive, more expensive than rice. In addition, flour is lighter than potatoes and sweet potatoes.
Yang Haiyan didn't expect Qin Fang to think of this right away: "It can indeed be solved. I originally thought that since potatoes and sweet potatoes can really be made into flour, then we can purchase potatoes and sweet potatoes ourselves, make flour and sell it. But now I think about it, this is not appropriate. The country is so big, and we are the only ones who can do it. The quantity we can sell is limited, and the places are also limited. If it can be promoted nationwide, it would be even better. So, I thought of a person."
Qin Fangxin understood: "Master Du?"
Yang Haiyan said: "No, if the idea of making flour from potatoes and sweet potatoes spreads across the country, it may not be a good thing for Lord Du. I thought of someone who is more powerful."
Qin Fang was shocked: "You are not talking about the emperor, are you?" Qin Fang felt it was incredible. Wasn't her wife too bold? She actually set her sights on the emperor.
Yang Haiyan knew the script. Putting aside the matter of establishing a crown prince, the current emperor was a good emperor to the country and the people. Moreover, if she mentioned the emperor, she intended to have a patent on potato flour and sweet potato flour like in modern times. In other words, it was forbidden for people from other places to make potato flour and sweet potato flour, whether they were ordinary people, businessmen, or powerful people.
Potato flour and sweet potato flour are easy to make. If others imitate them, how can they make money? So, her idea is to make potato flour in each state, like Renzhou here, and they will be responsible for it, and then they will purchase potatoes and sweet potatoes from the people. In this way, the people can make money, and they can also make money. For example, in Yongzhou, you can choose Yonghe Marquis Mansion. For example, in other states, you can choose a family with excellent character.
However, whether it was the Yonghe Marquisate or the noble families in other states, they all joined in as franchisees. To put it bluntly, they were asked to pay a franchise fee and then allowed to make potato flour and sweet potato flour. But she had no ability to do such an operation, and she couldn't control other people from making potato flour and sweet potato flour, but the emperor could.
The emperor issued an imperial decree to recruit investors, and the franchise fee was paid to the national treasury. Each state was only allowed to have one potato flour merchant and sweet potato merchant. In this way, who would dare to disobey the emperor
Yang Haiyan smiled and said, "Yes, the emperor told us that saltpeter can be used repeatedly, and we should also report something to the emperor."