It's already mid-June, and Aunt Fan hasn't come back. If Aunt Fan's hometown is far away, Yang Haiyan might not send someone there, but Aunt Fan's hometown is in the next county town. After all, Aunt Fan lived with them for two years. And Aunt Fan performed very well during her work, so Yang Haiyan still cared about her, so she sent Meng Ping to a neighboring county to check the situation.
Meng Ping, who went to check the situation, didn't come back so soon. Director Chi from the capital had already left, and Wei Ting took the people from the Ministry of Engineering to live in the Beast Mountain Taoist Temple. The Beast Mountain Taoist Temple was originally very dilapidated, but the Taoist temple was not small, and the design inside was carefully thought out. When King Liang built the Taoist temple, he also put a lot of thought into it. After all, this is where he wants to live.
The Beast Mountain Taoist Temple has been repaired, so Wei Ting moved there with the Ministry of Engineering because they were going to study gunpowder.
The entire beast mountain was sealed by Qin Fang, and all the thousand soldiers from the eastern suburbs military camp moved there, not only the thousand soldiers, but also the yamen of the county government. After all, the Eastern Suburbs military camp is relatively large, and only a few hundred soldiers can't surround it.
At the same time, Qin Fang was at the Beast Mountain Taoist Temple almost every day. In the emperor's private letter, he ordered him to monitor the people in the Ministry of Industry, lest they leak the news of gunpowder.
Therefore, although Qin Fang, who is in the Taoist Temple of Beast Mountain every day is not busy, he has to patrol every day.
On the contrary, the Iron Chain Man moved away from the Beast Mountain Taoist Temple and moved to the General's Mansion. The general's mansion is so large, it is convenient to empty out a yard and settle the chain man.
Because Director Chi left, Wei Ting also moved to Beast Mountain Taoist Temple. As for the children at home, Qin Shoucheng goes to the college every day, Qin Siya and Meng Qiu go to Nuhong every day, even if they want to embroider something, they will be in the master's workshop. , so Yang Haiyan was still very empty for a while. She also embroidered things every day to improve her embroidery skills, and then made Qin Fang's underwear and trousers, especially tight-fitting trousers, which Qin Fang never wore. Ancient cloth is not as strong as modern cloth, so it is the easiest to break.
But she had something to do in the past two days. Sweet potatoes and potatoes had already been purchased in large quantities. She called Mammy Lian together, and the two began to ponder about potato flour and sweet potato flour in their yard. Yang Haiyan has never made potato flour or sweet potato flour, but these common senses are still there.
Whether it is potato flour or sweet potato flour, the potatoes and sweet potatoes are cut into pieces, and then the potatoes and sweet potatoes are ground with a stone mill. The starch flowing out from the inside is the potato portion and the sweet potato flour. However, this light powder also needs to be stirred with water, and then wait for the starch to settle.
This morning, Nanny Lian went to observe the potato flour and sweet potato flour they secretly made.
When she saw that a bucket of potato flour and a bucket of sweet potato flour had really settled down, Nanny Lian hurried to find Yang Haiyan: "Xiangjun , Xiangjun...success..."
Yang Haiyan was eating breakfast, and when she heard the words of Mother Lian, she immediately put down the tableware and was quite interested: "Come and have a look."
The master and servant went to the room where the potato flour and sweet potato flour were placed, and saw that the potato starch and sweet potato starch had sunk, and there was water on it. Yang Haiyan said: "Mother Lian, let's pour out the water, then take this outside to dry, wait for it to be half dry, then pour it out, wait for it to be completely dry, and then mash it, that's powder, that's it I don't know how it tastes."
Of course she knew it tasted good, but could she say it?
After hearing this, Mother Lian boasted: "Xiangjun, you are really smart. Xiangjun, how did you come up with the idea that potatoes and sweet potatoes can be made into flour?"
Yang Haiyan said: "I didn't think of it suddenly, I just thought that both barley and corn can be ground into flour, and potatoes and sweet potatoes also taste like flour, so they can also be ground into flour.Let's grind them into flour. After that, I saw the sticky stuff, so | remembered that saltpeter can be reused in making ice. The emperor wrote a letter, rewarding us with two hundred catties of saltpeter, and told the general that saltpeter can be reused. Just boil the water dry., the saltpeter dissolved in water will be boiled out. So I thought, this powder and water are mixed together, and then can the powder and water be separated? So I thought of trying this."
She can't say what she think about this credit. It just so happens that the emperor is grateful for Qin Fang's credit, and also knows that the credit of Qin Fang's mother and grandmother Qin is not equal to Qin Fang's credit, so the emperor asked Manager Chi to send the letter, write It's something that saltpeter can be reused over and over again.
Then, it makes sense for her to attribute the inspiration of potato flour and sweet potato flour to the emperor.
But through this incident, Yang Haiyan once again realized the wisdom of the ancients. Gunpowder and saltpeter are used repeatedly. In just a few days, the ancients immediately thought of it. No wonder the ancients wrote poems at the age of three. It is almost impossible in modern times.
Madam Lian didn't know that saltpeter could reverse the copying of ice. I heard Yang Haiyan say it now, and it was the emperor who said it. I suddenly felt that the master's family was incredible, and the general must be very favored by the emperor, otherwise the emperor would not do this.
The emperor only told Qin Fang about this matter. He really did not plan to tell others. Now that Qiguo's treasury is somewhat lacking, the emperor intends to do business and sell ice, so this matter will not be disclosed to others.
Furthermore, if saltpeter can be made ice publicly, the family and the common people will look for it. Saltpeter is very important to the court, and the emperor does not want the family and the common people to look for saltpeter.
However, if the emperor sells ice, the price will naturally be cheap, and it will be set at a price that ordinary people can afford. Anyway, saltpeter can be used repeatedly, and even the lower price is profitable for the emperor. If a country wants to develop, silver is essential. The emperor is not yet over thirty, so he is naturally ambitious.
The emperor can tell Qin Fang that one of the saltpeter mines was discovered by Qin Fang, and the other was that saltpeter ice making was discovered by Yang Haiyan. He was also worried that Qin made ice with saltpeter and wasted saltpeter, so he told him that the best way to use saltpeter is to use it repeatedly.
Two days later, the potato flour and sweet potato flour were half dry. Yang Haiyan asked Aunt Lian and Aunt Yu to pour out the potato flour and sweet potato flour from the wooden bucket and dry them outside. The weather in June was very hot, and the potato flour and sweet potato flour were all dry within two days of drying. After about seven days, potato flour and sweet potato flour are made.
Seeing the white potato flour and sweet potato flour, Aunt Lian and Aunt Yu were very excited. After all, this was done by Nanny Lian, and Aunt Yu was always guarding the gate of the yard in order to prevent others from entering.
Mammy Lian: "Xiangjun, this is really a fan." With the arrival of Yang Haiyan's canonization, Mammy Lian led everyone to change their minds and changed their name from Mrs. Yang Haiyan to Xiangjun.
However, in the eyes of the uninformed, they would not think that Xiangjun was her title, but would think it was her name.
Yang Haiyan smiled and said, "Isn't it just noodles? You break up these noodles, we will make noodles and eat them today."
Madam Lian said, "Then why don't you ask Mr. Kun Zhang to do it?"
Yang Haiyan said: "No, we do it in the small kitchen in the yard. I tell you what you want, and I will do it."
Madam Lian hurriedly said, "No, no, no, let the old slave do it. The lord of the township has a noble status. How can you tell the lord of the township to cook."
When it comes to her status, Yang Haiyan doesn't think so, but there is a practical advantage to being a third-grade town lord. Her current salary is two hundred and eighty-five taels of silver per month.
This is the salary of a third-grade official in Qiguo. And because she is her own title and not following her husband's orders, she doesn't have to take half of the official's salary, which is really delicious.
Yang Haiyan said: "I only make it once in a while, mainly because the potato flour and sweet potato flour are just right. I want to wait for the general to make it for him to eat when he comes back from get off work, but I haven't done it yet. No, I have to learn it for a while."
Speaking of this, Nanny Lian is really happy, because the relationship between the main family and husband and wife is good. Now that Xiangjun wants to do this for the general, she will naturally not object: "The old slave will prepare what you need."
Yang Haiyan: "It's done, Mammy and Aunt Yu will help me taste it. If it doesn't taste good, you have to tell me the truth."
Madam Lian joked: "Xiangjun is the smartest person I have ever met, and he can definitely do it well."
Yang Haiyan: "You just flatter me hard."
Mother Lian smiled and went out to prepare things.
Yang Haiyan made a fried potato powder and a sweet potato vermicelli. It's not the first time she's done it in reality, so it's pretty stable in the kitchen. After it was done, she herself, Aunt Lian and Aunt Yu all filled a small bowl, because there are two kinds of powder, each kind of small bowl, so adding up to two small bowls, the weight is still enough.
Mother Lian ate the fried potato flour first. When Xiangjun was making it, she felt it was fragrant, and now it tasted really fragrant. And the taste of potato vermicelli is completely different from the taste of noodles.
She ate a mouthful of fried potato flour and a mouthful of sweet potato jelly vermicelli, and couldn't help but say, "Xiangjun, your craftsmanship is really good."
Even Aunt Yu, who always only does things and doesn't talk much, couldn't help but say, "Xiangjun's cooking 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 does not have basic cooking skills, how can she take care of herself? It's just that he can't compare to a good chef, but he's still happy to be praised by Aunt Lian and Aunt Yu.
Yang Haiyan said: "That is to say, there are a lot of ingredients, so the taste is good. When the general comes back in the evening, I will cook it for her, so that the big kitchen does not have to prepare our meals at night."
Sister Lian: "I'II talk about it later."
Because the General's Mansion has many courtyards, the outer courtyard and the inner courtyard are clearly separated, so Qin Siya and Qin Shoucheng did not accompany them to eat anymore. Qin Shoucheng is thirteen years old, and it is not good to always come to his sister-in-law's yard to eat.
Qin Siya is also ten years old, and Yang Haiyan has assigned her a woman who looks after the yard and a little girl who serves her, so on weekdays her little girl will go to the big kitchen to get her meals.
Therefore, Yang Haiyan and Qin Fang ate dinner together. Qin Fang came back as usual, entered the yard, saw Aunt Yu guarding the door, and asked, "What did Yanyan do today?" Instead, I want to know my daughter-in-law and care about my daughter-in-law.
In the past, Aunt Yu's answer was walking, embroidering, etc., but today Aunt Yu is a little mysterious:
"You can't tell the general what Xiangjun did today, the general will find out later." It's about making potato flour and sweet potato flour, Yang Haiyan It was also hidden from Qin Fang and wanted to give him a surprise.
This has aroused Qin Fang's curiosity. You must know that Aunt Yu is a straight-forward person. She usually speaks less than ten sentences, and she only speaks unless necessary.