It doesn’t have the crispness in my memory, let alone the sweetness.
Today's sugar cane is very hard, and the taste is not as good as that of later generations, and the sweetness is somewhat inferior.
Feng Yong chewed it, spat out the dregs, and shook his head, "Not even close."
When I was a kid, there were two types of sugar cane grown in the village. One type had a harder pole and didn't taste good when chewed, but it had high sugar content.
One type of pole is relatively brittle and soft, and although the sugar content is slightly lower, villagers like to eat it, so this type of sugar cane is the most grown.
But no matter which one, it is sweeter than the current one.
Think about it, the sugar cane of later generations are all fine varieties carefully selected after being cultivated from generation to generation, and they are definitely better than this primitive sugar cane.
Originally, there was no difference in the purchase price of sugar cane between these two types of sugarcane.
Later, with the wave of state-owned enterprise reform, sugar mills also began to differentiate between sugarcane varieties.
The kind with a hard pole has a higher sugar yield rate and good quality, so the purchase price is higher, so most people in the village grow that kind. Although the kind with a soft pole is delicious, it is not
There are fewer and fewer people.
Just this made Feng Yong and his friends curse for a long time.
Unexpectedly, two years later, there was another rural reform, and the county where Feng Yong was located was directly excluded from the scope of the cane sugar industry, and inexplicably turned into a jasmine tea planting base.
In other words, sugar cane will no longer be harvested...
There are even unscrupulous businessmen who take advantage of the asymmetry of information and take advantage of the opportunity to trick farmers and make them spend their hard-earned money to plant tea trees. This is really unscrupulous.
From the time the sugarcane begins to smell sweet, to harvesting, and then to planting the seeds the following year, it is a rare snack for half a year! Does this mean it will be gone?
What the hell!
Not only Feng Yong and his friends were deceived, but also the people in the village were deceived.
In the past, sugar mills purchased sugarcane and then squeezed out the sugar. Each household would be given a certain amount of sugar compensation based on how much they purchased.
It’s okay now. We won’t harvest sugar cane anymore. Where can we eat sugar in the future?
Buy? Are you kidding me? Where did the family have the spare money to buy sugar at that time?
But for a long time, I have been planting sugar cane every year, and I have become accustomed to eating sweets. Suddenly, the sweetness disappears. How will I live in the future?
People in the village were talking a lot and many were angry, but what could be done? I heard that the sugar mills were gone, how could you still force others to harvest sugar cane?
How about saying that the working people are the creators of history?
At this time, the old people in the village stood up and said that when there was no such sugar factory, the village had survived the same way.
If they don't accept it, we'll have to endure it ourselves.
That’s right, it’s boiling sugar using the traditional method passed down from our ancestors.
Families in the village who want to make sugar all set aside a small piece of land to plant sugar cane. Once harvested, they are weighed together and then gathered together to make sugar. The final sugar is divided according to each family's portion of sugar cane.
The sugar cooked by the local method is not white sugar, but brown sugar cubes like bricks.
This kind of brown sugar has been with Feng Yong in his memory for several years. Finally, as living conditions improved, people in the village had money to buy white sugar, and gradually no one planted sugar cane to make sugar themselves.
But that kind of square brown sugar, in Feng Yong's opinion, is much more delicious than white sugar.
This is not a lie. Brown sugar boiled by local methods will become a pure green food in ten or twenty years without any additives. No matter how much you eat it, you will not get tired of it. However, if you eat too much white sugar, you will always feel that your taste buds are tired.
It smells like industrial additives.
It turns out that stone honey is sucrose!
Feng Yong took another bite of sugar cane and sighed. Nowadays, this kind of sucrose tastes worse than white sugar. It is probably due to poor sugar boiling technology and too many impurities in it.
"Brother, are you okay?"
Zhao Guang walked over cautiously, stared at Feng Yong, and asked.
"What can happen to me?" Feng Yong glanced at Zhao Guang inexplicably and raised the sugar cane in his hand, "Do you want to eat it?"
Although the taste and taste are not as good as those of later generations, in this era, sugar cane was considered an extremely rare sweet.
"How can I eat this bamboo?"
Zhao Guang laughed dryly. If it weren't for his misunderstanding about his brother's hysteria yesterday, he would have taken action to restrain his brother by this time.
Eat bamboo? Which normal person would eat bamboo raw? Although my brother seems to have very good teeth, he can actually chew bamboo into pieces.
Zhao Guang looked at Guan Ji for help at the same time, a little panicked, with questioning eyes. Is there something wrong with the thing called Shimi that my sister brought here? I eat more than my brother!
"I don't know, you bumpkin, this is bamboo? Look clearly, this is sugar cane."
Feng Yong glanced disdainfully at the poor child who had never eaten sugar cane.
"Look carefully, the bamboo is hollow and the sugarcane is solid. Chew it and it will be full of juice, which is very sweet."
"This sugar cane is indeed meant to be chewed," Guan Ji understood Zhao Guang's eyes and explained immediately, "How did brother know about it? Could it be that he has seen it before?"
Watching my brother skillfully tearing off the sugarcane skin with his mouth and taking a bite of the sugarcane meat inside, I guess he has eaten less of it before.
"Of course I have," Feng Yong spit out another mouthful of dregs. He noticed the strange looks in Zhao Guang and Guan Ji's eyes, and suddenly understood, was it because he felt a little out of manner when he saw himself chewing sugar cane?
Even though he was thick-skinned, he couldn't help but feel a little feverish. "I'm so out of control. I haven't eaten this for a long time. I couldn't help it when I saw it."
As Feng Yong spoke, he put down the sugar cane with some embarrassment.
Guan Ji smiled understandingly and quietly moved a sugar cane on the table to an angle. One end of the sugar cane also had signs of being chewed.
At this time, after hearing what Feng Yong and Guan Ji said, Zhao Guang was surprised and picked up a sugar cane, which was exactly the one Guan Ji moved over, and said, "Can you still chew something like this bamboo?"
"That's natural. If Erlang doesn't believe it, you can try it."
Feng Yong encouraged.
Zhao Guang was eager to try it immediately.
"I can't give you this one!" Guan Ji was anxious, so she pressed her hand over and handed another one over, "Eat this one."
That is to say, Zhao Guang had never seen this thing before, so he didn't notice the traces of bites on it, and didn't care about it at the moment. He just looked at Feng Yong, and brought it to his mouth several times, but he couldn't take it off.
"Is this...or should we try again later?"
Zhao Guang laughed dryly and finally put down the sugar cane. His long-term etiquette education made it difficult for him to pass the psychological barrier of chewing sugar cane in public.
"My little brother thinks that stone honey is more delicious."
If you don’t dare to eat it, you just don’t dare to eat it. You’ve never even eaten sugar cane. How did you know that stone honey is more delicious?
Feng Yong curled his lips and said: "It's far worse. This stone honey is far worse than the cane sugar I've eaten before."
"sucrose?"
Guan Ji and Zhao Guang both looked over. Zhao Guang didn't understand for a moment, but Guan Ji understood it all at once.
"The sucrose my brother mentioned is also made from sugar cane?"
"Yes." Feng Yong nodded, "The craftsmanship of making stone honey is not up to standard, the color is just ugly, and the taste is also unpleasant, far worse than cane sugar."
"This sugar cane is only grown in Jiaozhou area. I never thought that my brother has not only seen it, but also seen something more delicious than stone honey?"
Guan Ji felt that it was extremely rare to make stone honey from sugar cane. After all, it was a tribute. But she didn't expect that there was such a thing as sucrose.
"Sanniang likes desserts?"
Zhao Guang was too naive and didn't see Guan Ji's little moves, but Feng Yong did. He even saw the bite marks that Guan Ji tried his best to hide. His heart moved and he asked.
Guan Ji's face turned slightly red, but she nodded generously and admitted: "My little sister has liked to eat sweet food since she was a child."
Feng Yong gave a "tsk" sound, thinking that this hobby would really be nothing in future generations, as there would be desserts all over the streets.
But in this era, it’s really difficult to measure your favorability from this aspect.
"What a pity." Feng Yong sighed, "This sugar cane can actually be grown not only in Jiaozhou. Although it cannot be grown in Hanzhong, it can still be grown in Shuzhong. The further south you go..."
When I said this, a sudden flash of inspiration came to my mind.
Further south is Nanzhong.
It’s not cost-effective to grow food in Nanzhong, but growing sugar cane...
To today's big men, Nanzhong is nothing but a piece of shit. Just leave him alone. He is too happy and he might even threaten the Jincheng Plain, his beloved land.
Leave it alone, it's really a waste of manpower and material resources, a barren land, what's the use of it?
"Brother is just joking. There is no time to grow food in the huge fields in Sichuan. Who dares to use them to grow sugar cane?"
When there was no one on Guanji Road, I secretly nibbled sugar cane. Although it was delicious, when I heard that Feng Yong actually wanted to use the land in the middle of Shu to grow sugar cane, I just thought that his brother was fanciful. This idea was too ridiculous.
"Of course it won't work in Shuzhong, but in Nanzhong, you can give it a try."
When Feng Yong came up with this idea, he really felt that he couldn't bear it anymore, "Sanniang doesn't know something. You can't grow sugar cane in the north. On the contrary, the further south you go, the better."
The ancients didn't understand market economy and cash crops, but they could talk about benefits.
"Nanzhong needs to be pacified as soon as possible, but what happens after it is pacified? How to pacify it is a big problem. I think it would be good to plant sugar cane."
Guan Ji only felt that the more she listened, the more confused she became, "I heard that Nanzhong has less flat land and more mountains. If we use it to plant sugar cane and there is no food to eat, wouldn't that force Nanzhong to rebel again? Besides, what's the use of planting sugar cane?
?You can’t just eat sugar cane without eating grain?”
"Sugar cane is of great use." Feng Yong chuckled, "Exchange sugar cane for food. Besides, it rains a lot in Nanzhong, so you can grow sugar cane even on the hillside."
"Swap with whom?"
"Of course it is me."
Feng Yong pointed at himself and thought that the sugar cane seemed to be really well managed. If he exchanged grain for sugar cane and then used the sugar cane to squeeze sucrose, how many times more expensive would the sucrose be than that grain?
If you have a head start, you really have a head start!
"Regardless of whether the Prime Minister agrees with my brother's nonsense, even if it is to stabilize the overall situation of Nanzhong, I agree. But how much grain can my brother have in exchange for sugar cane? What's the use of harvesting it?"
Guan Ji looked at Feng Yong with concerned eyes, and she really felt that something was not normal about him.
"Sugar cane is very useful." Feng Yong repeated what he just said, "At least the sucrose can be made so that Sanniang can eat enough." But as this person spoke, his mouth started to slip again.
After hearing it, this brother could only say a few serious sentences but failed to express them properly. Guan Ji was secretly annoyed and kicked Feng Yong from below.
This time, a lot of force was used, causing Feng Yong to grin in pain.
"Ahem, I remembered that there are still things in the house that I haven't packed away for this trip, so I'll go and pack them first."
Zhao Guang secretly admired his brother for being so bold. At the same time, he also lamented that this tiger girl sister who refused to accept anyone seemed to be finally surrendered. The sister showed no signs of being angry at his brother's behavior and behavior.
I have a rare portrait of my daughter.
At that moment, I felt that it was not suitable for me to stay here any longer, so I made an excuse to leave.
After leaving the house, I felt proud that I really had a good eye.
"Brother, why are you talking nonsense in front of Erlang?"
When Guan Ji saw Zhao Guang leaving and no one else around, her face turned red again. She immediately stood up and said, "If nothing happens, my little sister will go back to the house first."
"Why are you talking nonsense? What I said is serious business." Feng Yong said seriously, "This can be regarded as a major matter for the family and the country. Sanniang, please sit down first and listen to me."
Guan Ji's eyes showed suspicion. It seemed that Feng Yong's credit was temporarily over-consumed by her.
Hearing Feng Yong's words, he shook his head, "What brother said, since it is a major matter for the family and the country, you should discuss it with Erlang and the others, or even write a letter to the prime minister. At this time, I introduced it to my little sister.
It’s inappropriate for a female streamer to say this.”
He said with another sly smile, "My little sister has been walking day and night these days. She is a little tired and wants to go back and rest first."
Feng Yong saw Guan Ji's rare little daughter's smile twice in a row, and felt that she suddenly changed into a different person. She really had bright eyes and good eyesight, and was extremely lovely.
Seeing that Guan Ji was about to go out after picking up her parcel, she picked up a sugar cane on the table and said, "Won't Sanniang take this sugar cane away? Or will you let me eat it later?"
Guan Ji turned around and saw that what Feng Yong was holding was exactly the one she had secretly nibbled on the road. Then she looked at the half-smiling look of the man in front of her, her face suddenly turned red, and she grabbed it like lightning.
Come here, grab the door and leave.
Feng Yong picked up the unfinished sugar cane and took another bite. At the same time, he sighed inwardly. I was not joking just now. I exchanged sugar cane for food. If this was done properly, I would not seriously do it.
Why don't you understand me? Life is really as lonely as snow.
Is the big man short of food now?
It can only be said that it is temporarily lacking.
But Zhuge Lao Yao just completed the construction of Dujiangyan and already had the capital for the southern expedition.
In the original history, Hanzhong has always been a deserted land. That's it. Zhuge Lao Yao only relied on the Jincheng area and scraped here and there for several years to save the capital for the Northern Expedition. There is no reason to help develop it by himself.
Hanzhong, a treasure land of the Han family, is running out of food, right?
Therefore, after two or three years, Hanzhong really produces grain, and Nanzhong is also pacified by then. It is not impossible to get some grain to exchange for sugar cane!
The Northern Expedition cost money and food. Once we have food, if we can get more money, Zhuge Lao will definitely not disagree.
As for the sugar cane that has been replaced, how to produce sucrose? Isn’t that something that can be done with your eyes closed?
Shimi is just an egg! This thing is astringent and scummy, but it can still be used as a tribute?
Moreover, it is still liquid, and even transportation is inconvenient. It is a product destined to be eliminated.
When the time comes, I will bring out a brick-like piece of brown sugar. If anyone is not convinced, I will smash it until he is convinced.
Banzhuangtang asked you if you are afraid?
Even in later generations, sucrose was considered a commodity.
All bulk commodities are just money-making gadgets.
Well, you have to think about this carefully. No, you have to write it down in a small notebook first so as not to forget it later.
