Female-to-male: I live on farming

Chapter 104 Sugarcane Sugar

What surprised Qin Ke was that the crops grown in many villages in Xihai were actually sugarcane. Xihai has plenty of sunshine and a large temperature difference between winter and summer, which is just right for growing sugarcane.

However, the sugarcane they planted and harvested was purchased by the Zuo family. They boiled the juice of the sugarcane into syrup, which was usually added to dishes as a seasoning. The sugar that Qin Ke used when cooking before was this kind of syrup.

He vaguely remembered that in his history, the method of making sugar from sugarcane was introduced from outside, and there was no sugar-making method in the Great Yan Dynasty today.

Isn't this like sending a pillow when you feel sleepy? When he was on his way to Cangwu City, he regretted not having sugar. Now it's just the right time to develop the sugar industry.

Sugarcane has a long growth cycle. It usually matures in October and lasts until March or April of the following year. It tastes best in winter. Now is the time when sugarcane is just being planted.

Seeing that Qin Ke was very interested in sugarcane, Lihua hurried to the villagers' homes to see if they had any stored sugarcane.

Sugarcane can be kept for one to two months at room temperature. The pear blossoms were almost everywhere in the village, so I bought some from a household.

The family originally intended to keep some for their young children. After all, the Zuo family had kept the price very low when they purchased the sugarcane, and they couldn't sell it for too high a price anyway, so they just kept some.

Now that they heard that a nobleman was willing to pay one tael of silver to buy the sugarcane in their hands, they were of course happy to do so. You know, one tael of silver was enough for their family to eat for several months.

After Qin Ke bought the sugarcane, he had no intention of continuing shopping and got on the carriage to go home.

While sitting in the carriage, Qin Ke opened the system mall, found the method of making sugar from sugarcane, and clicked to redeem.

When they returned to the mansion, Lu Youqing was still discussing official business with others in the front hall. Qin Ke did not disturb her and directly instructed Li Nanqiao and others to help peel the sugarcane and squeeze the juice.

The sugar-making method requires boiling the juice to evaporate most of the water, and then going through multiple refining, sedimentation and filtration to produce white sugar with pure white color and pure taste.

However, in the era of pure manual labor, the process of making sugar from sugarcane was cumbersome, and the amount of white sugar produced was small, which meant that white sugar was initially a luxury that only the nobility could enjoy.

But Qin Ke thought that within a few years, as more people planted sugarcane and the scale of sugar factories expanded, the price of sugar would surely be brought down.

Li Nanqiao has become accustomed to Qin Ke's sudden ideas. She would do whatever Qin Ke told her to do. In the end, whatever her husband made would definitely be something extremely wonderful.

Lihua was very curious, but when she saw that Li Nanqiao and Lei Zhong were just doing things silently, she didn't dare to speak.

After Lu Youqing finished his work, he came to the backyard and saw that the inner courtyard, which had been quiet and empty, was now bustling with activity. Qin Ke and a few others were busy working.

"What is this doing?"

As soon as Qin Ke saw Lu Youqing, he ran over and explained, "I saw that sugarcane was grown in many places in Xihai, so I thought of trying to make some sugar."

Lu Youqing lowered his head slightly, looking at the sugarcane peels and debris all over the ground, then slowly moved his eyes to the gray stains that were accidentally stained on Qin Ke's cheek, took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and gently wiped it for him.

"Why are you grinning like an idiot?" Looking at Qin Ke's smile, Lu Youqing's eyes flickered.

His smile was a little too bright.

"It's nothing, I just want to laugh."

Obviously it's nothing, but I'm just very happy. I feel that this ordinary life together is very happy. I can do what I like and the person I love is right in front of me. This is more important than anything else.

Lu Youqing's eyebrows curved, and he said, "Then you go ahead and do your work. I have to go write a memorial for His Highness. We'll have dinner together later."

Qin Ke nodded hurriedly.

The bundle of sugarcane Qin Ke bought only made a jar of white sugar. Seeing that the experiment was successful, Qin Ke couldn't wait to take it to Lu Youqing to take credit.

Lu Youqing looked at the small bowl that Qin Ke brought over. The sugar in the bowl was pure in color and crystal clear, like snow. She was surprised and asked, "Is this made from sugar cane?"

"Yes, try it and see how it tastes."

Lu Youqing took a small sip and his eyes lit up. He said, "This candy is as white as snow, as shaped as snow, and has a pure taste. It's not bitter or astringent, but very sweet."

Many of the sugars you can buy normally have a slight bitter taste, but this sugar is pure sweet.

"West Sea is closest to the south, with plenty of sunshine, and is the most suitable place to grow sugarcane. Madam, what do you think about encouraging the people of West Sea to grow sugarcane, and then letting the government take the lead in building a sugar factory?"

"The government office takes the lead?" Lu Youqing glanced over.

"Yes, I wrote a business plan for Your Highness before I came to Xihai," Qin Ke briefly explained the contents of the plan to Lu Youqing and continued, "It just so happens that this white sugar will be used as the first factory pilot."

After Lu Youqing pondered for a moment, he nodded and said, "Yes, we can work with local merchants to build a sugar factory. We will supervise the construction now, and the factory will be completed by the time the sugarcane is ripe."

"In that case, let me help you draw the design first." Qin Ke said as he sat next to Lu Youqing.

He made white sugar only to verify the method, so many processes were simple and crude. However, if he wanted to produce it in large quantities, he would need the help of tools, and it would be best to streamline the process, which would save time and improve efficiency, and also keep the production process confidential as much as possible.

After finishing the design drawings, Qin Ke thought about it and realized that he also had to write a memorial to Her Royal Highness the Princess. Well, it would be best if he could take this opportunity to stay in the West Sea for a few more days.

He remembered that in his previous life he had watched Emperor Yongzheng review memorials. What he admired most at that time was Emperor Yongzheng's patience. There were so many memorials with eloquent words, but they were full of nonsense and had no substantive content, but he was still able to review them one by one.

Qin Ke's memorial was much more concise and to the point, without any unnecessary nonsense. He only said that the climate in the West Sea was suitable for growing sugarcane, and that the government could take the lead in building a sugar factory and develop this place into a place of origin for sugar.

"In that case, let Deputy Commandant Cao send someone to deliver these memorials tomorrow." Lu Youqing put the two memorials together.

Qin Ke took a curious look at Lu Youqing's memorial and suddenly laughed, "Madam, you are so cunning. You are not confessing your crime at all. You are clearly retreating to advance."

That's right, Lu Youqing's memorial was mainly to apologize for her violation of the rules in dealing with the Bai family, but she certainly knew that His Highness would never punish her for it.

But even though she knew it, she still had to plead guilty. She couldn't let His Highness think that she was getting proud because of her favor.

Qin Ke thought for a moment, and told Li Nanqiao to find an exquisite white porcelain jar that was only the size of his palm. He put some pure white sugar like snowflakes into it and said, "Okay, present this jar of white sugar together tomorrow. When His Highness sees this, he will be happy."