As soon as Xia Jing's carriage arrived at the entrance of the sugar factory in the north of the city, she heard boiling at the entrance of the factory.
Hongmei opened the curtain and took a look outside, and said with a smile: "Princess, all the workers in the factory have come out to greet you."
Xia Jing helped Hongmei's men get out of the carriage, and a group of people headed by Ding Daqiang came forward to greet her at the entrance of the sugar factory.
"Everyone is here quite early. Let's go. If you have anything to say, we can talk about it after we go in." There were many passers-by passing by the factory gate, and Xia Jing didn't want people to watch.
Ding Daqiang smiled and responded: "The princess is right, please."
Brothers Feng Jin and Feng Mu looked at Xia Jing who was walking at the front, and nervously and excitedly followed the team towards the factory.
This time they had the opportunity to work in the sugar factory through recruitment. Manager Ding also took care of them because of the face of their brother Feng Tu.
From now on, they would receive a fixed monthly salary from working in the sugar factory, which made them even more nervous. They were even more nervous after meeting the princess.
In fact, it is a sugar factory, and there is no high technology in the factory. At this time, the ancients used ancient methods to make sugar.
There are more than a dozen large iron pots lined up in the factory, and at the other end of the factory are stone rollers used to press sugar cane.
Workers in various processes are already in place, waiting for Xia Jing's order to start work.
The sugar master hired by Ding Daqiang was an authentic Lingnan native. He was short, thin and in his forties. But from his sad face, Xia Jing could see the bitterness and hardship of the middle-aged and elderly people.
Full of helplessness.
Even so, when he saw Xia Jing looking at him, he tried his best to smile and said, "Young Tang Zhong has met the princess!"
"Mr. Tang, no courtesy, from now on you will be the backbone of our factory, and you can also be regarded as one of our own, there is no need to be so external." After Xia Jing finished speaking, she glanced at the red plum next to her.
Hongmei understood immediately and stepped forward to help Tang Zhong up.
"Thank you, Princess." Tang Zhong stood up straighter. It was an honor for a craftsman like him to be respected by the Princess.
Xia Jing smiled and nodded. She glanced around the simple factory building. Seeing that everyone was looking at her, she clapped her hands and said louder: "Today is the auspicious day for our sugar factory to officially start work. In order to please
Omen, everyone in the factory will have a red seal!"
When everyone heard this, they were naturally surprised and clapped excitedly.
How could they not be excited when they came to work in a sugar factory and received a red envelope before they even started working?
Affected by their emotions, Xia Jing shouted excitedly: "Red plum!"
Hongmei came out of the queue with a bag of red envelopes in her hand. She was the first to give a big red envelope to Ding Daqiang and Tang Zhong.
The two of them were so happy that they uttered auspicious words as if they were free of charge.
It is said that red seals are really red seals. According to Hongmei, it means simply sewing some purses with red silk cloth. However, Xia Jing felt that using red silk was slow and wasteful, so she ordered someone to dye some red silk bags.
Paper.
Then wrap the silver beans in red paper. The silver beans are one cent each. The red envelopes of the two leading figures contained twenty-eight silver beans.
The other two deputies received a red envelope containing eighteen silver beans, and each of the other ordinary workers received a red envelope containing eight silver beans.
For ordinary workers, receiving eight pieces of silver as soon as they start work is a surprise!
Everyone is gearing up, waiting for the princess to give the order and then work hard. After receiving such a rich red envelope, they have to work hard to be worthy of the princess's generous reward.
Xia Jing looked at the excited workers, took the small wooden hammer handed over by Ye Fei, and struck several times rhythmically on the small gong held by Ye Fei.
She announced: "Xiaji Sugar Factory will start construction today at an auspicious time and on an auspicious day! Everyone, get moving!"
"Okay! Let's start work!"
The workers replied loudly, then turned around and started working on their own hands.
Seeing that the factory was busy, Xia Jing handed the small wooden hammer to Ye Fei and started to check their process.
In fact, there are only five steps in making sugar by the local method. First, the sugar cane is pressed with a stone roller to squeeze out the cane juice.
In the second step, pour it into a large pot and cook. Of course, the cane juice must be filtered before adding it to the pot to filter out the residue mixed in the cane juice.
During the heating process of cane juice, foam will continue to appear. These foams must be skimmed off in time, so that the sugar produced will be clean and beautiful.
The third step is to add an appropriate amount of lime to the cooked sucrose. The purpose is of course to neutralize the acidity in the sucrose until the sugar smells sweet, has no sour taste or lime smell, and the color of the sugar is light yellow.
This step is a great test of the skill of the sugar maker. If too much lime is added, the sucrose will be brown or caramel-colored, with a darker color. If too little lime is added, the sucrose will be lighter and look like
Not pretty enough.
The fourth step further tests the sugar master's professional skills. If you follow the production method recorded in Xia Jing's notebook, when the sucrose is heated to 110 degrees, in order to prevent the sucrose from bubbling and overflowing, a few spoons of peanut oil must be added.
During this process, the sugar juice in the pot must be stirred continuously to prevent it from caramelizing. The pot can be heated when it reaches more than 120 degrees. If it exceeds 130 degrees, the sucrose will caramelize.
In this era without thermometers, the sugar-making master relied entirely on past experience to perform this step, so it was a great test of the master's professional skills.
The last step, of course, is to turn it into sugar.
Xia Jing looked at Tang Zhong standing beside him, instructing his deputies or apprentices, instructing them when to do what. Fortunately, his deputies were all quick-footed people.
Whenever Tang Zhong suggested a step, they could complete it skillfully.
Xia Jing saw that the sugarpaste in the pot had cooled down a bit, so some workers started kneading it.
"Isn't this temperature still very hot?"
Tang Zhong said with a smile: "It's okay. It's mainly kneading with a shovel. Occasionally, your hands will touch the sugar paste, although it will be hot but not burnt. This is the last step. If it is made into powdered sugar, it will be fine now. If you want to make it into tablets,
For sugar, you still need to pour the sugar on the bamboo mat and push it, let it cool and solidify, and then cut it into cubes.”
Xia Jing nodded, "Well, I need both powdered sugar and flaked sugar. Make some of them so that the vendors who come to purchase will have more choices."
In this era, sugar is a luxury product. Ordinary people rarely buy sugar. Unless they have no choice, they will buy sugar to replenish their health. However, it is a common stock in the homes of middle-class families and wealthy people.
Because the quantity is small, sugar can be sold easily at any time.
Tang Zhong pointed to the finished sugar and asked, "Would you like to try it, Princess?"
Xia Jing laughed loudly after hearing this and told Hongmei: "Go and make a pot of sugar water and let everyone taste the first batch of powdered sugar produced by your sugar factory to see if it is as sweet as you think!"
Hongmei smiled and accepted the order, "Yes, I'll go right now. I'll make sure to put some more sugar in there to make it sweet for everyone."
"Ha ha."
Everyone smiled knowingly, and the candy made by their own hands will be sweet to the heart if you try it.
According to the progress of the sugar factory, the sugar cane transported back by the team from Annan is enough for the sugar factory to last until the actual sugar cane harvest season.
Hongmei soaked the sugar water and Xia Jing took a sip. It tasted good.
Ding Daqiang drank a glass and was very satisfied with the sugar cooked today, "Princess, work hard today, and tomorrow I can put the finished products of powdered sugar and sugar tablets into the salt shop, so that guests from all over the world can see me.
Xia Ji’s new product.”
Xia Jing nodded with a smile, glanced at the workers who were busy again, and said to Ding Daqiang: "In the future, whenever entering the factory, the workers must wear clean work clothes. If they are not wearing work clothes, they are not allowed to enter the factory. Also,
No outsiders are allowed to enter, including the workers’ families.”
Sugar is a food that must be eaten. When it comes to hygiene, we must not be careless. As a manager, we must strictly implement this regulation.
Ding Daqiang responded: "Don't worry, Princess, I will let everyone remember this."
The sun outside was getting stronger and stronger, and it was already noon. Xia Jing did not stay at the sugar factory. After explaining the matter, she took the maids and guards to the palace in a carriage.
Walking on the hot street at noon, you can hardly see a few people walking on the street. Everyone is hiding in their houses to rest in the hot noon.
Ye Fei saw that the shadow of the shop had turned to the west, rode his horse to the carriage, and asked through the window: "Princess, it's almost noon, do we need to go to the restaurant to have something to eat first?"
There were ice basins placed in the carriage. After spending a lot of time in the sugar factory, only a little bit of ice was left in a few basins that had not yet melted. The rest of the ice had all turned into water.
At this moment, the temperature inside the carriage was rising. Xia Jing listened to Ye Fei's words while waving her fan, and refused: "Everyone, hold on for a little longer. We'd better go home and eat. It's too hot outside."
Moreover, she wanted to rush back to the palace before the ice basin in the carriage melted. If she stayed outside until all the ice basin in the carriage melted, the carriage would definitely look like a steamer when walking in the sun.
It’s stuffy and hot!
After hearing what she said, Ye Fei wiped his sweat and said, "Okay, my subordinates will arrange for everyone to speed up and return to the palace as soon as possible."
They were not the only ones walking through the streets. There was also a horse-drawn carriage traveling at an unabated speed on another street.
When crossing the intersection, the two groups of people almost collided.
After avoiding it, the two groups panicked for a moment and then dispersed.
After all, they were arguing under the sun. Neither party wanted to experience this kind of pain, so they could only accept their bad luck and separate.
Hongmei sat in the carriage with Xia Jing. After shaking for a while, she asked Ye Fei outside the window, "Who were the people in that team just now? It looked like there were dogs behind them."
Ye Fei looked back at the convoy that had gone away, "The carriage followed a steward. He looked familiar to me. He seemed to be the steward of Mr. Niu's family."
"Master Niu? Which Master Niu?" Hongmei glanced at Xia Jing and knew that she was serious, so she continued to ask.
Ye Fei: "That's Mr. Niu Debaoniu, the commander-in-chief of Jieyang Guard Station. I just noticed that the carriage is decorated with pink silk flowers."
Having said this, he did not forget to joke: "Don't be a bull, sir. Whose family are you going to adopt as a child?"
"Na Xiao?" Hongmei looked at Xia Jing, "It can't be what happened last time. Is there a follow-up?"
Xia Jing knew that she was talking about the unpleasantness that happened at the last banquet, and that Mou Guangzhen wanted to plot against King Qian.
"Don't tell me, it might be a follow-up to that incident." The more Xia Jing thought about it, the more she felt that it was the Niu family who sent someone to the Mou family to pick up the bride.
It is precisely because it is a concubine that I choose afternoon, because after noon it is afternoon.
If it hadn't been for the hot weather, Xia Jing would have really wanted to go to Mou's house to see the excitement, because she had never seen how a concubine should be etiquette.
By the time the team reached Wangfu Street, the sun in the sky had already hidden behind the clouds.
Ye Fei looked up at the dark clouds drifting over the sky, and the driver speeded up.
After returning to the palace, Xia Jing just returned to her courtyard covered in hot sweat. The sky outside became even gloomier, accompanied by thunder.
"Oh, the rain has finally come down. It has been so hot and muggy these days. It will cool down for a few days after it rains."
Bai Mei came forward and said, "Princess, I'm going to prepare water right now. You can take a shower and cool off."
But before I finished taking a shower, heavy raindrops began to fall outside. After a while, the density increased, and the whole world seemed to be shrouded in rain. The sky seemed to be in the evening, and no one could be seen clearly without lighting a lamp in the house.
Xia Jing asked the maid to help her wipe her hair, looked at the rain outside the window, and asked: "Do you think this downpour will affect the autumn harvest? The crops in the fields are mature and will be harvested soon. They will fall down."
The heavy rain makes me really worried that the crops in the fields will fall down."
The two maids looked at each other and saw deep worry in each other's eyes, "When the rain stops, send the steward to the farm and we will find out. I think everything will be fine. Princess, don't worry.
There are stewards in charge of the farm, and they will take care of the arrangements."
The heavy rain lasted for half an hour before slowly stopping. Fortunately, it didn't last long. Apart from serious water accumulation on the road, it should have little impact.
"Princess, Miss Yuzhu is here." Bai Mei led Li Yuzhu in from the outside.
Xia Jing was slightly surprised. She looked at Yuzhu who walked in with a normal face, and then asked in confusion: "Why is Zhu'er free to come to grandma's place today?"
Li Yuzhu stepped forward and saluted Xia Jing, "Zhu'er has met my grandmother. Is everything okay with you?"
Xia Jing chuckled: "It's all good. How can my family have so many manners? Come and sit down."
After hearing her words, Li Yuzhu showed a slight smile on her face, walked briskly to the lower seat and sat down.
"It's been a lot cooler now that it's raining. Pearl thought she was bored anyway, so she came over to disturb her grandmother."
"What kind of intrusion is this? Zhu'er is willing to come over and talk to me. I'm glad it's too late." Xia Jing tapped her lightly in the air.
Li Yuzhu covered her mouth and smiled, "As long as grandma doesn't dislike Zhu'er."
"A girl who is about to get married is still so naughty." Xia Jing smiled and patted her shoulder.
Speaking of getting married, Li Yuzhu asked without any coyness: "The government has arranged a marriage for me. The man is the youngest son of the Jingzhou governor. Does my grandmother know anything about this person?"
After hearing what he said, Xia Jing honestly admired her boldness. How could a woman in this era dare to ask her elders about her husband's situation? Most girls just follow the family's instructions.
Otherwise, how did the parents' orders come about?
"Yuan Rujiang's youngest son, a few days ago, I might have never heard of him. If you want to know about him, you have to wait for a while until the caravan returns from Jingzhou."
Since the little girl wanted to know what kind of person her future husband was, Xia Jing was not embarrassed and agreed that she would have to wait until the caravan returned if she wanted to know the specific situation.
Anyway, she had given the order a few days ago, and it would be a matter of course to inform her when there is news.
Thanks for the recommendation and support of Ainianyu, a! Ziye, mingliu2056, 45. Looking up, you were once simple, sensitive, and your heart was as still as water, Deep Blue-eb, Night Star 3399, Colorful Sunshine.ad~
Thank you Xiaoguer, Ainianyu, and book friend 160526143038001 for your monthly ticket support~