Chapter 116: The First Bowl of Hot and Sour Rice Noodles

"Young Master, what is this cement?"

These people, how could they understand such things?

Liu Zheng chuckled: "It is a material to reinforce our houses and our city walls!"

Regarding slag cement, Liu Zheng had a relatively good understanding of it in his past life. Aside from traditional silicate cement, slag cement also occupies a very important position. In a narrow sense, slag cement is a finely ground mixture of gypsum, cement clinker, and blast furnace slag.

And in this slag, there are large amounts of cement components. Its main process comes from the liquid slag of the reduction process and the steelmaking process—for example, mixing blast furnace slag and converter slag together—and when necessary, adding lime, clay...

As for the specific process, of course, it still needs to be explored slowly! But Liu Zheng is very confident; the lime workshop and steelmaking workshop of the Shen Gong Workshop have increasingly mature processes. Liu Zheng believes that as long as they try a few more times, this cement can truly be made!

Hearing Liu Zheng speak with such confidence, the others did not doubt him.

Qingyang Shuo laughed: "If there really is such a sturdy material, then Loulan will probably regret its past actions!"

Everyone burst into laughter.

The reason Loulan was willing to sign the desert ownership agreement with Liu Zheng was that they felt that for thousands of years, no one had been able to manage the desert; if they, the Loulan people, couldn't do it, could Liu Zheng? Little did they know, with one hand holding cement, Liu Zheng could build post stations and Post Houses along the road in a short time, and if funds were sufficient, he could even consider paving the road... planting trees would come second.

But at the thought of this, Liu Zheng asked about the state of Yinzhou's accounts during the few months he was away.

As soon as these words were spoken, Liu Dahao's face fell.

"Son, we are out of treasury silver again!"

Bang!

Liu Zheng had just stood up and nearly fell to the ground, his face collapsing: "Broke again?"

Liu Dahao pulled a long face: "My son, you cannot blame your father for this; it is just that this Yintan City burns through silver too fast! It is simply a bottomless pit!"

Liu Zheng looked at Qingyang Shuo, who also nodded.

This left Liu Zheng speechless.

He had set up such a large operation, yet it was still failing to make ends meet? Next, everyone sat down to calculate the accounts, which left Liu Zheng feeling cold to the bone.

Recruitment—this was something Yinzhou had been doing continuously.

Up to now, the number of soldiers who could properly be taken out to fight had reached fifty thousand, with another thirty thousand Militia. Although Yinzhou used a garrison system, what about the Weaponry and Equipment these soldiers needed? Even if he could forge them himself, wasn't iron ore money?

Raising an army burns money; this was currently a major expenditure for Yinzhou.

But so far, Yinzhou's military expenses could temporarily break even with the income from Refined Salt.

And then?

The construction of Yintan City had drained all the profits from brewing, Perfume, and Soap, and it still wasn't enough! Liu Zheng looked at the accounts; the Baiya Army had already paid for five batches of Refined Salt, but only three batches had been delivered here...

Which meant that Yintan City was still in a deficit!

Liu Zheng shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Alright, it seems we have no choice but to tighten our belts for now. The next batch of Refined Salt must be transported to Loulan first, to bring back all the silver from there..."

Upon hearing that there was still nearly ten million taels of silver in Loulan, everyone became excited. Liu Dahao even jumped up: "My son is truly capable; your old man can eat meat again!"

Liu Zheng rolled his eyes. Suddenly, he remembered something and hurriedly called Liang Erfu over.

"What is it, Young Master?"

Liu Zheng took a handful of red things out of his pack. Everyone looked at each other in confusion, asking one after another what this was.

"Chili, the most delicious thing in the world!"

Liu Zheng laughed heartily.

At this time, Chili had not yet been truly introduced to the Longyan Dynasty, but Liu Zheng had seen it in Loulan. For a guy like him who couldn't live without spice in his past life, this thing was simply a savior!

Liu Dahao's eyes lit up as he walked over, grabbed a handful, put it in his mouth, and chewed hard: "Let your old man try it first..."

The others all watched Liu Dahao.

It was too late for Liu Zheng to stop him. He saw Liu Dahao's expression change from excitement to bewilderment, then to horror, then to a flushed red face, with tears streaming down.

"Ah ah ah ah ah ah!"

"Water, water, water, where is the water!"

"Give it to me quickly!"

Liu Zheng was already laughing so hard he couldn't straighten his back.

Just then, a subordinate of Liang Erfu ran in excitedly: "Magistrate Liang, Young Master, the first batch of Sweet Potato in our Yinzhou Trial Field has succeeded!"

"What?"

Liu Zheng and Liang Erfu looked at each other in pleasant surprise.

Everyone arrived at the Trial Field that belonged to Liu Zheng personally. Some farmers were already starting to dig up the Sweet Potato. It was currently the month of May, and looking out, the patches of Sweet Potato seedlings were eye-catching. After the farmers dug up the seedlings, the large Sweet Potato, regardless of size or quality, were quite gratifying.

"What is the yield per mu?"

Liu Zheng asked happily.

An old farmer laughed loudly: "Young Master, it's a full six thousand catties!"

"What?"

The group that had followed Liu Zheng was stunned, one by one.

Six thousand catties per mu? And two seasons a year! What kind of divine crop was this?

Liu Zheng said with satisfaction: "Good, good, good!"

"Young Master, I just tasted a bite; even without cooking it, it's sweet!"

A child shouted.

"Young Master, how do you eat this Sweet Potato?"

Qingyang Shuo's shock toward Liu Zheng was growing more and more.

Liu Zheng smiled: "Eat it however you like; it can be boiled, roasted, steamed, or ground into flour..."

Speaking of grinding into flour, Liu Zheng had a flash of inspiration. Another way to make money had come to his mind! It was just... as he thought about it, he burst into laughter and couldn't stop. Was he really going to enter the catering industry? Of course, what Liu Zheng was thinking about for now was satisfying his own cravings first.

"Quick, quick, quick, pick some of the big Sweet Potato and come with me!"

No sooner said than done.

Liu Zheng called over Liang Erfu, Zheng Yue Ru, and even Hu Xi'er joined the team to select Sweet Potatoes. Liu Zheng gave special instructions to pick Sweet Potatoes that were smooth on the surface, free of insect damage, had no green heads, and were of moderate size.

"What are you trying to do again!"

Hu Xi'er had mud all over her hands, but she didn't mind, watching Liu Zheng with curiosity.

Liu Zheng first washed all these Sweet Potatoes clean and removed both ends. Afterward, he used a millstone from an old farmer's house to crush the Sweet Potatoes, adding water while crushing, then filtered it once with cheesecloth, letting the filtrate settle into a small pool.

When the water in the pool was completely clear, he drained it, removed the top layer of oil powder, then took out the starch from the bottom, hung it into starch lumps, and placed them on a drying field to sun-dry. When the moisture inside the starch lumps had evaporated by half, he cut the lumps into several pieces to continue sun-drying. The drying field was set up in a place sheltered from the wind and facing the sun to prevent dust contamination.

"What on earth is this?"

Hu Xi'er looked puzzled.

Zheng Yue Ru also looked over with curiosity.

Liu Zheng smiled and said, "A delicacy of the human world; don't go drooling when the time comes!"

Hu Xi'er looked unconvinced, scoffed, and said, "Just this white stuff? What kind of delicacy is that!"

But since everyone had nothing to do anyway, they also wanted to see what exactly Liu Zheng was planning to do.

After the sun-drying was complete, Liu Zheng began to make the paste. He mixed starch and alum with cold water, put it into a basin, then placed the basin into a pot to boil, stirring constantly. It was ready once it reached ninety percent maturity.

And the most important step was the noodle-leaking process.

Before leaking the noodles, one could test to see if the starch dough was suitable; if the noodles that leaked out were neither too thick nor too thin and did not break, it was suitable. If the strands came down too fast and broke, it meant the starch paste was too thin and dry starch should be added and kneaded to make the dough's elasticity moderate; if the strands were difficult to leak or the speed was too slow and the thickness uneven, it meant the paste was too dry and some wet starch should be added. It was best to get the paste right in one go before leaking. The temperature of the starch dough was best at around thirty degrees. He prepared two pots, two cold water vats, and a colander.

When leaking the noodles, the paste had to be stirred evenly, adding warm water while mixing, with the water temperature at fifty degrees. When the starch dough came away from his hands, he grabbed a handful; if it hung down naturally without breaking, it was ready to leak. During the leaking process, he had to prepare a pot of boiling water, and only leak the noodles when the water in the pot was boiling. When the strands sank to the bottom of the pot and then floated to the surface, they were ready to be taken out, passed through one cold water vat to cool, arranged into bundles by hand and hung on wooden sticks, then passed through another cold water vat to cool, shaking them constantly until the vermicelli was loose. Then they were placed indoors, and after cooling completely, taken outside to sun-dry the vermicelli.

The final step was sun-drying the vermicelli.

"Wow, so beautiful!"

Hu Xi'er's eyes lit up as she watched, and she wanted to reach out and touch them, but was swatted away by Liu Zheng: "Don't touch!"

Just like that.

Every day, Hu Xi'er would run over to see if the Sweet Potato Vermicelli was finally dried.

Three days later, Liu Zheng touched the vermicelli and smiled: "Call everyone over; today I am treating you all to the first bowl of Hot and Sour Vermicelli in the Longyan Dynasty!"

Soon, Qingyang Shuo arrived, Liu Dahao arrived, Zheng Yue Ru arrived, Jiang Xuan arrived, Qin Zhangfeng arrived... as long as they were in Yintan City, everyone came.

Liu Zheng had long since prepared all the ingredients based on his memory. Chili, he had it; vinegar, of course he had it; there was also cilantro, peanuts brought back from Loulan, as well as local Sichuan peppercorns, star anise...

In a large pot, after it boiled, Liu Zheng held a handful of Sweet Potato Vermicelli and put it into the pot.

Everyone watched in amazement, seeing the Sweet Potato Vermicelli gradually soften in the boiling water without breaking, resembling noodles but crystal clear.

In a short while, over a dozen bowls of Hot and Sour Vermicelli were served.

"You, you go first..."

Liu Dahao, whose sense of taste had been almost destroyed by the chili, no longer dared to be the first to try.

Qingyang Shuo gave a faint smile, picked up a bowl, used his Chopsticks to pick up a strand of vermicelli, and put it into his mouth.

The others looked on nervously.

Qingyang Shuo pursed his lips and tasted it carefully, feeling several flavors mixed together in his mouth, yet distinct and each with its own impact; he couldn't help but have his eyes light up: "The Young Master's words are not false; a delicacy of the human world, it should indeed be like this!"

"What?"

Liu Dahao picked up a bowl.

Everyone laughed and followed suit, eating as well.

Upon the first bite, there was still a spicy flavor, and Hu Xi'er even spat a few times, but the more they ate, the more the few of them felt that the flavor within was infinitely wonderful.

Liu Zheng couldn't help but look confident: "What do you all think? Can this be sold for money?"

"Ah?"

【Author's Note】

I've had a bit of writer's block these past few days. To put it plainly, after returning from Loulan, I feel there are no upcoming conflicts. I'll take a rest, think things through properly, and write a few relaxed chapters first. I hope everyone will be understanding...