Chapter 26: Sugar Plan

  Three days later, May 1st, 183 AD.

  This would be Labor Day in later generations, but this is the lunar calendar, and the solar calendar doesn't necessarily fall on which day. Qin Feng calculated the days, looking at Zhou Shan who was carefully operating beside him. This person indeed had two brushes, and within two days, he found someone to make a tile kiln. Today was exactly the first time refining white sugar. He couldn't help but think: "The Ma family actually drove out such a talented person, they really are arrogant because of their large household."

  Xiao Yu'er carefully watched the fire on the side, she also wanted to see what Mr. said was white sugar, would it really be snowy white?

  Half an hour later.

  "Master!" Zhou Shan exclaimed excitedly as he finished brewing the sugar water.

  Qin Feng hastily took a closer look and indeed it had already started to condense.

  Half a time later, Zhou Shan's whole body was shaking with excitement. He really didn't expect that after filtering through a small tile, he could actually refine better sugar, and it was white in color. He thought to himself, I don't know how the master came up with this method, and the idea of refining, no one had ever proposed such a theory before. Just based on refining this white sugar, Zhou Shan felt that his life was not in vain.

  "There's still some yellowing, Zhou Shan, think about it a bit more and it should be possible to make it whiter." Qin Feng said helplessly as he looked at the small bowl of sugar in front of him, comparing it with those from later generations.

  "Yes, milord." Milord is indeed calm and composed, I'm not capable of that, thought Zhou Shan.

  Xiao Yu'er said with a greedy expression: "Isn't this enough? Such good-looking sugar, so white and tempting, I really want to take a bite."

  This is also called snow white, the color is almost like the color of snow after a bubble has been sprinkled on it... Humph! Qin Feng cursed secretly and thought wildly, then smiled: "Then let's have a bite."

  The moon hastily pinched out a little bit and put it in her mouth, "It's so sweet, it's the sweetest thing I've ever eaten in my life." She couldn't help but start reminiscing.

  "Your Excellency, this...this..." Zhou Shan's finger moved greatly, couldn't help it, the world appeared for the first time such a thing, he also wanted to taste fresh.

  "Everyone eats, everyone eats." Qin Feng saw Zhou Shan eating with relish and couldn't help but take a bit to put in his mouth. As soon as it entered his mouth, it melted away. He said, "There are still some other flavors, it should be sweeter if we refine it further. Zhou Shan, try again this time, and purify it more."

  He had tasted the white sugar of later generations, and in Zhou Shan, the half-products in Yue Er's mouth were already the sweetest things in the world.

  Until afternoon, Qin Feng kept reminding him, and Zhou Shan carefully operated it. Finally, he made a bowl of white sugar that was satisfactory.

  "Master, relying on the production techniques of this sugar, we will definitely be able to control the sugar industry of the Great Han!" Zhou Shan thought that he could become the leader of an industry, his heart was excited.

  "You'd better make preparations as soon as possible, and when it comes to refining, you must find someone trustworthy to do it. As for the brewing process, it doesn't matter. The most important thing is that the technology cannot be leaked, especially this Wadang must be secretly fired. Qin Feng came from a later generation, and the Great Han Dynasty did not have patent law, so secrecy was the most important thing. He didn't ask to keep secrets forever, as long as he could keep them for a period of time, when his own channels were expanded, even if the secret was leaked, no one would be able to shake his position."

  Zhou Shan awkwardly said: "What you said is absolutely right, but... Zhou Shan dares to ask, how much capital will the master put out?"

  "This... 430 yuan... is all the family property, just this little." This time Qin Feng was embarrassed, indeed there was only so much money.

  Zhou Shan thought to himself, "The master only has a few hundred taels, but he didn't even blink when giving me ten taels. He's a hundred times better than those rich people with tens of thousands of taels." After some deliberation, he said, "Master, we need to have enough goods to quickly promote this white sugar. The land of Jiaozhou produces sugarcane, which is most suitable for making sugar due to its high juice content. The price is several times cheaper than grain, often only four or five cents per catty. With 400 taels, we can get at least 100,000 catties, and even if we make a small amount of white sugar, it will be worth tens of thousands of taels. What do you think, Master?"

  Four or five coins per catty, isn't that four or five hundred coins per catty of white sugar? Brown sugar is only one guan per catty, but white sugar has to be three to five guans, which is three to five thousand coins. Exorbitant profit, too exorbitant! At this time, Qin Feng only thought about the exorbitant profit and didn't think about the difficulties involved. Traveling back and forth for thousands of miles was an extremely difficult task in ancient times.

  "It's not suitable to delay, let's prepare and leave tomorrow. Zhou Shan, you bring your mother here and let Yue'er take care of her." Qin Feng said hastily. He was really in a hurry, as the distance to the prefecture was far, and it would take at least a month for a round trip. Next year would be the Yellow Turban Rebellion, he was eager to use his money to recruit soldiers and buy horses, and his success and fame depended on this one opportunity.

  Zhou Shan heard that Qin Feng let Yue Er take care of his mother, and he was so grateful that he burst into tears. His face turned red as he said, "Master, I didn't calculate the cost of the carriage and horses earlier, this..."

  Qin Feng was also stunned upon hearing this. Ah, 100,000 catties of goods, how many trucks would that be? And at this time, there were no eight-wheelers available!

  The two of them were in trouble again, money, money, money, without it, every step was difficult.

  Little Moon, who was also frowning, suddenly had an idea and tried saying: "Sir, we can bring the sugar cane and process it on the spot, then bring back the finished product. This way, we'll only need 10,000 catties. Along the way, we can sell some of it, so we won't need to spend as much money, and it will also be more discreet..."

  "Huh!" Qin Feng's eyes lit up, "Not bad, not bad, what do you think, Zhou Shan?"

  "It's really good, some merchants will also set up industries in the place of origin and transport finished products back for sale. Master... is truly extraordinary!" Zhou Shan didn't know how to address Yue Er, so he casually said.

  Xiao Yu'er's face turned red when she was praised by others. For her, being able to help Mr. was truly a wonderful thing.

  "That's settled then. I'll take care of the manpower, Zhou Shan you go and get enough tiles as soon as possible, we're moving out." Qin Feng said hastily.

  "Master, rest assured that Zhou Shan will definitely go all out to settle this matter for you." After finishing speaking, Zhou Shan went to prepare.

  Zhou Shan was very capable, Qin Feng was extremely delighted to have such a reliable subordinate. He was so happy that he casually pinched Xiao Yue's nose and said with a smile: "This time, thanks to my little moon, otherwise I would have vomited blood." Then, Xiao Yue's face turned bright red, and Qin Feng laughed and went to prepare.

  ……

  The old temple where Qin Feng used to stay is now crowded with beggars.

  A big cow held a piece of straw in its mouth, staring blankly at the rooftop. Since learning the begging technique from Qin Feng, it didn't have to worry about food and drink, but always felt like something was missing inside. Especially these days, after frequently hearing Qin Feng's name, "Qin Big Brother is already a prison officer, he must have forgotten about this little beggar cow!" The big cow sadly threw away the straw and fell onto the haystack.

  Big Cow had Qin Feng's begging skills and connections, and for some time now he has been the leader of the beggars in this area. At this moment, a beggar rushed in shouting: "Big Cow brother, Big Cow brother, Lord Qin...Lord Qin is here!"

  "Master Qin has arrived!" More than a dozen beggars nearby quickly scrambled to their feet, they had also heard about Qin Feng's affairs from Da Niu and learned of his reputation in the streets, with a sense of reverence in their hearts.

  "What! My Big Brother Qin has arrived, my Big Brother Qin has finally arrived, hahaha...... Now I don't have to be a beggar anymore!" Da Niu scrambled up, shaking off the grass clippings from his head.

  "I didn't think the great master was telling the truth!"

  "Look, Governor Qin has really come to see him!"

  "Magistrate Qin is a prison officer, this big cow really wants to make a name for itself!" The crowd of beggars looked on with envy.

  Qin Feng strode into the ruined temple, his footsteps echoing as he returned to this place once again. His mood was vastly different from the melancholy of over a month ago. "Big Bull, your big brother Qin has come to see you."

  He saw the big cow standing among a group of beggars, shining like a moon surrounded by stars. He thought to himself, "This kid is quite capable, and his plan coincides with mine." In ancient times, the power of beggars should not be underestimated. Ha ha, this dynasty doesn't have a Beggar Clan, so I can make some moves myself. When doing things in ancient times, one must have creativity. Making sugar is like that, and so are other things.

  "Brother Qin, I'm going to die from excitement!" Big Cow excitedly rushed up.