1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 329 Canned Food
Looking at the several cans of original cans on the table, Qi Tian hesitated for a long time, but did not dare to open them.He looked back at Pan Qifeng and nodded in affirmation when he saw him.

The owner of the food canning factory who was accompanying him watched Qi Tian pick up a dagger on the table and pry open the cork at the opening of the clay pot with an expression of expectation in his eyes.

Cans made of several earthenware pots are filled with fruits, pork and fish respectively.Two months ago, before Qi Tian left Jianye City to inspect overseas territories, under his orders, he established a primitive canning workshop.Began to keep experimenting with how to make canned products for long-term preservation of food and fruit. The packaging materials are mainly selected from clay pots or glass that is still somewhat rough.

Yu Guangliang, the head of the canning factory, only listened to a few words from Qi Tian. After cleaning the fruit, pork, and fish, he put them in the can, heated the ingredients with a vessel over water, boiled the ingredients, and then tightly plugged them with a cork. Open the opening, and fill the gap between the cork and the glass jar with string and beeswax.After waiting for cooling, it can be stored and eaten for a long time.

Qi Tian also made a request that the canned food must have a shelf life of more than [-] days, and the canned meat must also be delicious and rich in taste.Not only should it be beneficial to the nutritional supplement of sailors on sea ships and army soldiers, but also to make them eat satisfactorily and comfortably.

For this reason, Yu Guangliang and seven or eight workers transferred from the cafeteria started the earliest "research and development work" of canned food in this era.

Canned fruit is much simpler than canned meat.Put the fruit cut into several pieces into the earthen pot, put some sugar in it, steam it directly, and seal it. Apart from the shelf life, there are no taste requirements.

However, for various canned meats, it is necessary to constantly adjust various flavors, use different spices, and then find different people to try them, and finally determine several flavors.

Now, more than two months have passed, and in front of Qi Tian is the canned food sample that the food canning factory is going to submit to the civil government.Several of the cans were produced for two months, and everyone tasted them, and they all agreed that the food was not corrupt and tasted delicious.

But Qi Tian just dug out a small spoonful and fed it into his mouth.The canning and sealing techniques of this period are still very primitive after all. If the two-month-old cans are spoiled and eaten too much, it will be your own stomach that will suffer.

I tasted five or six canned samples in a row, and I felt pretty good, but there were too many spices, and when I tasted it in my mouth, it was full of nutmeg and clove flavors, and there was a little more salt.

"Back to the chief manager, the humble job is considered as follows." Yu Guangliang said: "Currently, some of the art in the food canning factory cannot meet the large-scale production, mainly the opening and sealing links, all of which are manually operated. Calculated, the daily The output is only about [-] cans, which may be difficult to meet the large consumption of naval ships and marines. Therefore, the taste of these canned meat is adjusted to be stronger, so that multiple people can enjoy one can, or cook soup for seasoning. "

Well, makes sense.In fact, according to the standard mode of mass production of cans, tinplate or glass should be used as packaging materials.Tinplate is an iron sheet coated with a layer of tin on the surface. It is not easy to rust, but also has good sealing performance and the reduction effect of tin, which is more conducive to the storage of packaged food.However, the Montenegro smelter has been researching for more than half a year, and has not yet produced tinplate that can be used for cans.

In this era, the Bohemia region of Europe (in today’s Czech Republic and Slovakia) was rich in metals since ancient times, with advanced technology, and knew how to use water power for machine manufacturing. Used in container manufacturing.

Bohemia should now be under the control of the Habsburg dynasty, and Spain happens to be its ally.Before falling out with the Dutch, it may be possible to use the commercial tentacles of the East India Company to dig a few artisans from Europe who know the tinplate manufacturing process to accelerate the development of Hanzhou's smelting industry.

But now, without any reference, Qi Tian can only rely on a simple reminder to coat the iron sheet with tin to avoid the problem that the iron sheet is easy to rust due to the food it contains.The specific method of tinning and the content of tin can only be explored and tested by many craftsmen in the Heishan smelting field.

"Have you done statistics, how much of a batch of perfectly sealed pottery cans will cause the food or fruit inside to spoil due to air leakage?" Qi Tian asked.

"This..." Yu Guangliang said blushingly: "There is no statistics for humble officials. It's just a rough calculation. About [-]% of the first batch of cans will be spoiled due to poor sealing."

"Can't the glass workshop provide you with suitable packaging bottles?" Qi Tian said: "After all, the food has spoiled, so you can get a glimpse of it in advance from the glass bottle."

"The glass workshop is researching and testing more transparent glass, and is further improving the production process of the mirror." Yu Guangliang said embarrassedly: "In addition, the Medical Administration Office also asked them to grind some convex lenses, saying that they will be used for mirrors. Look at the pathology inside the human body. Therefore, they can't provide me with more glass jars for the food filling plant."

"Making mirrors?" Qi Tian couldn't help wondering: "They mastered the reaction of silver mirrors?"

Pan Qifeng, Yu Guangliang and other people naturally don't understand what silver mirror reaction is, but it can be seen that the chief executive seems to pay more attention to the production of this can.

"If you don't have enough glass jars to hold them, you must first do a good job in the production and sealing of ceramic jars." Qi Tian said: "You can issue a reward in all parts of Hanzhou to realize the reliability of the sealing of clay jars." , The Civilian Government and the Fortifications Office will give certain rewards. In addition, in addition to pork, fish and fruits, you also have to play your own initiative to make vegetables and other foods into cans.”

When sailing at sea, they basically ate simple food such as dry food, dried bacon, and drinks on the way, which caused the sailors to be generally malnourished.If we can provide them with more varieties of canned food, it must be possible to improve their living environment a little.Moreover, during the long-distance immigration process in Hanzhou, supplementing some nutritious canned food and other foods can also reduce the death rate of some immigrants to some extent.

"Director Pan, the scale of this food filling plant must be expanded. In the near future, we must choose a suitable place to build a large-scale canning plant that can accommodate at least three to 400 people for filling operations. The cleanliness and construction standards must be consistent with those of the building Yecheng Hospital is equivalent. After everything here is on the right track, several canneries can be built in several inland counties and towns according to local conditions. We will strive to achieve large-scale production within this year for ships and immigrants at sea use."

"Chief Manager, is the factory built by the government or private?" Pan Qifeng asked.

"Incorporate it into the government first, and gradually separate it and sell it to the private sector after the market and products mature." Qi Tian said.

It is estimated that with the current living standards and income levels of the people in Hanzhou, this niche product cannot be consumed temporarily, and its main purchasing power must come from government procurement.In order to cultivate the scale of the industry and the main body of market consumption, it can only be designated as government-run at present.
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"What is this?" Luo Yuru looked curiously at Qi Tian placing several pottery cans in front of her, and couldn't help asking curiously.

"The oranges have been stored for more than a month." Qi Tian said with a smile, and took a dagger to pry open a can, revealing the pulp and sugar water inside.

Luo Yuru smiled crookedly, reached out to take the canned fruit and spoon, and ate it bit by bit.

"How does it taste?" Qi Tian asked with a smile.

"It's a bit sweet." Luo Yuru mumbled, "However, I like it."

It seems that women are born with an incomparable love for sweets, and there is no exception in ancient and modern times.

"How is the compilation of the Hanzhou Dictionary?" Qi Tian asked.

"You should ask my grandfather this question." Luo Yuru raised her head and said softly.

"Your grandfather has been having a bad temper recently." Qi Tian said cautiously: "The day before yesterday, the chief officials of various ministries of the civil government held a meeting, and they seldom spoke, and their expressions were even more like strangers, as if someone owed him A lot of money. It can't be that you have been naughty recently and made your grandfather angry."

"Speak nonsense!" Luo Yuru rolled her eyes at Qi Tian, ​​sighed, then put down the spoon, and stopped eating canned fruit, "It's because of... about my aunt."

"Oh, let's hear it." Qi Tian was very interested.Because he knew that Wang Zheng married his aunt Shang's niece at the age of fifteen in the 13th year of Wanli (1585).However, although his wife, Shang Shi, had many sons, they all suffered from pox and disease, and only two daughters survived.Later, under the situation of "wives and daughters are earnest, brothers and nephews are crying, and father's orders are strict", Wang Zheng's mind was loosened, so he married the fifteen-year-old in the third year of Tianqi (1623) without publicity. Shen's family as a concubine, hoping to have children to continue the incense.

Is it because of the disputes between the old wives and concubines in the family that Mr. Wang is restless in his house?
Seeing Qi Tian's expression of peeking into someone's privacy, Luo Yuru was a little annoyed, and glared at him.

"Take care of your Hanzhou affairs, don't come and inquire about other people's privacy!" Luo Yuru turned her face away as she said.

"Why is it other people's privacy?" Qi Tian restrained his smile and said, "You will be my wife in the future. It's a little strange to say this. Besides, you and grandpa think it's difficult. Maybe, I might be able to solve one or two."

Luo Yuru couldn't help but blushed when she heard this, and looked at Qi Tian.After more than two months of sea breeze blowing, tossing around several places, and traveling thousands of miles, his face was also a little tanned, but his whole person appeared more determined and sharp, with a mature temperament that did not match his age.

"My aunt's child was ill before coming to Hanzhou." Luo Yuru said softly: "Now, she is only about [-], and then, I want to have something to look forward to, and to have someone to rely on in the future."

"Oh!" Qi Tian understood that even Wang Zheng's granddaughter was so old, and as a concubine, Shen Shi was in her prime, so she would naturally think about her future life and dependence, so she came up with the idea of ​​having a child of her own.Logically speaking, as a man, Wang Zheng should be satisfied with this problem.

However, in March of the fourth year of Tianqi, Wang Zheng's stepmother passed away.In the spring of five years, Wang Zhengyuan, who had returned from Dingyou, started teaching in the area from the Portuguese priest Jin Nige to Sanyuan in Beijing. He stayed for nearly half a year and baptized his family.Since marrying a concubine has always been regarded as a felony by the Catholic Church in Daming, Wang Zheng felt that he had committed a serious crime, so he asked priests such as the Jin family to absolve him of the crime, but they were all refused. Difficult also!Wang Zheng repented bitterly and decided to marry a concubine to atone for his crime, but his wife Shang tried her best to keep her.

In December of the ninth year of Chongzhen (1636), Wang Zheng, who was 66 years old, made up his mind to solve his marital problems thoroughly. He publicly published the article "Praying for the Release of Crimes", admitting that he had seriously violated the "Ten Commandments". ", and said that he occasionally read "Miguel Zhang Zi Lingying Miracle" and "Kao Duo's Daily Copy" about his claiming that he did not want to marry a concubine, and felt even more ashamed and remorseful, so he vowed from now on to treat Shen's Just like a guest and a friend, and break the color to seek forgiveness.Put Shen's ""different place" instead of abandoning it.

"What's so difficult about this?" Qi Tian thought for a while and said, "I'll settle this matter."

"How are you going to do it?" Luo Yuru asked in surprise.

"Naturally, the person who tied the bell needs to be untied. I have a solution." Qi Tian said, "However, it will be a bit embarrassing for your grandfather to add a little uncle to you in the future!"

(End of this chapter)