Lady of the Lord From the East

There was no rain in the whole spring, which really affected this year's harvest, especially although it rained several times in May, it was a bit late, and the duration was very short, although it had a negative impact on the fields. Some mitigating effects, but the loss is still there. Especially for wheat, the rain in spring is very important. Without sufficient water, the wheat cannot perform normal photosynthesis, the plants grow low, and the wheat ears and grains are also damaged. Not full enough.

The experienced old farmers are shaking their heads and sighing. According to the situation in previous years, this year's harvest is likely to be much lower.

Fortunately, the difference from the past is that although they did not see a drop of rain all spring, they could only rely on artificial watering to save them, but the existence of the canals reduced their labor a lot. Although many canals have dried up in the later period, at least In the beginning, it was the canals that provided sufficient water for the fields, allowing crops to grow well even without the moisture of the spring rain.

So some people think that the harvest will be lower, but because the situation is still good, at least compared to other regions, the situation here is much better.

Moreover, many people are optimistic that although this year's harvest will be lower, it should be higher than in previous years before the use of fertilizers, so there are losses, but at least in previous years, as long as there was drought and floods, the fields would be damaged. There will be no situation where people will starve to death if production is reduced.

In particular, the Count has also reduced their tax this year, so that the loss can be reduced even more, so there is no need to worry.

This is the view of most people. There is food at home and no worries in their hearts. Therefore, even if there is little rain, there are still relatively few people who are really worried about it all day long. They just need to work hard to take good care of the fields and minimize losses. .

Therefore, although there was a spring drought this year, it was rare that not many people were affected, and the residents were still doing what they were supposed to do, and the atmosphere was good.

Time has gone by for a while, June will come soon, the drought has basically eased, and the weather has returned to the same as in previous summers, but the grains in the wheat fields are not as full as before, but at least they are not empty shells, just doesn't look that good.

In June, the overseas businessman who signed a contract with Wei Wei finally came back with what she wanted.

There is a whole boatload of cocoa beans, as well as a few hundred kilograms of coffee beans.

It's not that the businessman is unwilling to bring more goods back, it's just that the businessman has only one boat, and when he went looking for it, it was the time when the cocoa beans were ripe, so he was able to bring back a boatload of cocoa beans, but coffee beans. It is different. The greatest use of coffee beans has not yet been discovered. Even Africans in this period used coffee as a medicinal material for no other reason. Unsweetened coffee is more bitter than soup medicine, but it has a refreshing effect. , For most people, it is not just medicine, and naturally it is not known to the world.

The overseas businessman also knew about this plant by chance, and brought it to Wei Wei with the mentality of giving it a try.

Therefore, the coffee beans in this period have not been artificially planted, and when he went there, it was not the ripe season for coffee beans. To be able to bring back such a bag, he still spent a lot of time inquiring about the news, launched a money offensive, and offered sacrifices from several tribes. Inventory in hand.

"...The tribes there are really barbaric, and there are even cannibals. I was almost caught and eaten." The merchant at sea exaggerated his experience, his tone was quite happy, but his expression was With excitement.

Wei Wei could see that maybe he was really in some trouble, but it was definitely not as exaggerated as he said.

There may be cannibals in Africa, but it should be seen in the interior of Africa, and the Mediterranean coast of Africa should belong to various countries. The prosperity of those countries is not much worse than that of Europe today. The merchants in the Mediterranean basically brought back and forth along the coast, and it was impossible to encounter any cannibal tribes.

He said this just to brag and add value to his merchandise.

In the end, Wei Wei gave him some extra rewards in addition to the price originally set, and at the same time placed a new order with him again.

Felix likes all kinds of food made from cocoa very much. He feels that as long as the publicity is in place, it will definitely sell well. Moreover, the cocoa beans should be turned into delicious hot cocoa and chocolate. The processing method in the middle is also very complicated, as long as it is kept secret. In place, there is no need to be afraid of being discovered by others, so he placed the order very generously. What he told the merchant was that he would buy as much as he had.

This made the businessman very happy. When he left, he was still thinking that he would hire a few more ships this time to transport more cocoa beans.

Fortunately, he made an appointment with those people before to help him save a batch of cocoa beans.

It was also a good time for the merchants to go, just in time for the local people to pick cocoa beans, so he followed Wei Wei's request and asked the local people to put the freshly picked cocoa beans together with the pulp into a barrel to ferment for a period of time before drying. Do.

His strange request was resisted by the local people at first, because during this period everyone planted cocoa trees, not for its seeds, but for the cocoa fruit, the layer of pulp wrapped around the seeds, the white pulp It tastes like mangosteen, sweet and sour, very juicy, and it is a well-known local fruit.

As for the seed cocoa beans inside, the locals also use them, but they just take them out and dry them and grind them into powder to brew or boil them. And foam, because there is no flavored sugar, this pure cocoa is also bitter and astringent, and the locals use it as a medicine.

No one is like the merchants, who ferment the pulp together with the fruit, which in their opinion is a very waste of food.

But the businessman had already bought these things, and although the local people he hired were not happy, they could only do it for the sake of money, so the first batch of fermented cocoa beans appeared soon.

The local people hired by the merchants found that the fermented cocoa beans had a special flavor. They secretly took some and ground them into powder to drink. The taste was still as bitter as before, but it seemed to be a little different. There is a special aroma and that unpleasant smell when brewing is gone.

So after the merchant left with that boat of cocoa beans, the locals also began to use the fermentation method he left behind when dealing with the cocoa beans, and stored a lot of cocoa beans in this way. Because the merchant left a message, he Will come here next time to collect cocoa beans.

The local price of cocoa fruit is not high, and the price given by the merchants is always higher than the price they sell the cocoa fruit. The way to ferment it together, store it up, and save it for the next time the merchant comes and sell it to him.

It is also the merchant who runs here all the year round. Everyone is very familiar with him and knows that he is an honest and trustworthy person. Otherwise, they would not dare to spoil their own fruit just because of a single sentence.

And after a few months, the businessman came again. This time, he received a warmer welcome, because this year's cocoa fruits are not easy to sell. There are local people who grow cocoa trees, and they are reluctant to sell cocoa fruits at low prices. After discussing with each other, gritted their teeth and broke the cocoa fruit, took out the pulp and fermented the seeds together, if the merchants did not come, their losses this year would be huge.

Fortunately, the merchant came and brought several boats, and made an agreement with the locals that he would come here every year to collect cocoa beans. Many people make a living by planting cocoa trees.

Of course, these are all later stories, let's not mention them for the time being.

After Wei Wei received the cocoa beans from that boat, not long after that, a series of products called "Chocolate" suddenly appeared in the town's milk tea shop. The brown-colored food that looked like a lump of mud was obviously inconspicuous. , but the taste is very memorable. Whether it is made into a cake or a drink, or eaten directly, it has received a great response.

The only thing that is not very popular is that the food and drinks with chocolate are much more expensive than ordinary cake milk tea. It is a delicacy that ordinary residents are reluctant to eat once a week, and they can only consume it once a month at most. , otherwise household spending will overrun.

But this expense is not in the hesitant range of those aristocrats and middle-class people with decent jobs, who have tasted the new chocolate cake and drank hot cocoa brewed with chocolate and milk, and immediately became loyal customers of chocolate. When I have time, I will buy one and take it home to taste it slowly.

And the merchants have also found new business opportunities. They feel that if they can sell chocolate elsewhere, they will make a lot of money. Unfortunately, the Count does not seem to plan to expand this business. Except for his own beverage store, he can’t buy it anywhere else. to chocolate.

And not long after that, the merchants also heard that Earl Williams opened a milk tea shop in the capital, Princia and Aldridge, and the shop also provided chocolate series, and it was well received. Now, they are even more I don't want to get a foot in.

When chocolate began to be popularized, Wei Wei was soaking in the mushroom room to check the growth of mushrooms.

Last autumn, she set up two mushroom houses in the castle, and planted oyster mushrooms and white mushrooms artificially, and it was a great success. Later, the mushrooms growing in it made everyone realize that they thought they could only get it on special occasions. The mushrooms picked can be artificially cultivated.

The mushrooms produced in the two mushroom houses eventually became the dishes of everyone up and down the castle. Every few days, they could eat a delicious mushroom dish until winter came. Because the indoor temperature could not be maintained, the mushroom house stopped. produce.

Afterwards, Felix waved his hand and approved a piece of land to build a whole row of mushroom houses. After arranging them according to previous experience, he gathered new materials, re-made the culture material, and spread them in these mushroom houses.

After the beginning of spring, the new mushroom house is also planted with mother mushrooms, and the mature spores grow and develop in the culture material. After 40 days of growth, mushrooms start to grow in batches again.

After growing several batches of mushrooms, the output in the mushroom house began to decrease. Now Wei Wei is checking to see if the nutrients in the culture material are not enough and need to be increased. It is better to replace the culture material directly and plant new mushrooms. .