Yuan Xi sat in the carriage and looked through the window at the crowded streets of Yecheng, a lively and bustling scene. He wondered whether the scene in the city would be the same when he came back next time.
To be fair, he accomplished a lot after returning to Yecheng, and the results far exceeded his expectations.
Lu Bu, Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and even the Yuan family, he has received a lot of benefits from all forces, all relying on his grasp of the psychology of the princes in history.
But from now on, this kind of thing will be much less common. In front of Yuan Xi, there will be a brand new road, which can only be explored carefully.
In any case, with his own efforts, he advanced the time to attack Yi Jing by three years, which gave Yuan Xi a sense of accomplishment.
But it is not without regrets.
The marriage to Zhen Mi.
This matter has been full of twists and turns, and it has not been settled yet. Although Liu family Yuan Shang was involved, Yuan Xi had to admit that he did not put all his efforts into this matter.
Because with his current strength, even if he marries Zhen Mi, it will be difficult to arrange her properly.
According to the Han system, even if he married Zhen Mi, he could not be taken to Youzhou, but had to stay in Yecheng for three years.
Even if he could find a way to take Zhen Mi to Beixin City, he would be under the dual threat of the Black Mountain Army and the Gongsun Zan Army. In the worst case scenario, he would have no power to protect Zhen Mi.
After thinking about it, Yuan Xi decided to wait until he captured Yijing and eliminated Gongsun Zan before coming back to settle the matter.
The biggest problem facing him now is how to farm under two hostile forces for more than half a year. After all, the other party must understand that Yuan Shao is preparing to attack Yi Jing and will never sit still and wait for death.
When the carriage arrived at the back door of Zhen's Mansion, the servant there had already opened the door and was waiting. When Yuan Xi's carriage entered, he immediately closed the door.
As soon as Yuan Xi got off the car, a pretty maid came up and led Yuan Xi to the small building.
As soon as I entered the small building, I saw Zhen Mi guarding the stove. There was a small copper pot on top, with hot oil bubbling slightly. There were dough balls and a few bowls on the chopping board next to her.
Zhen Mi frowned, but she didn't know what she was thinking.
Seeing Yuan Xi come in, Zhen Mi quickly stood up, squeezed out a smile and said, "I have met the young master."
Yuan Xi saw that what Zhen Mi was wearing today was a very fitting deep red dress with a curved train and narrow sleeves. The cuffs were inlaid with gold rims and gorgeous cloud patterns.
The neckline of the cross-collar is a bit low, revealing the inner collar of the pure white lining underneath. Each layer is lower than the other. There are three layers in total, which are called three-layer bottoms. They are usually worn on important occasions.
Yuan Xi saw Zhen Mi frowning and said, "What's wrong?"
Zhen Mi glared at Yuan Xi bitterly: "You know why you ask."
She was a little disappointed, "Young Master will be leaving Yecheng soon. I remembered the candy cake that Young Master made when we first met that day, so I wanted to try it to enjoy it."
"But I didn't expect that because the cane sugar purchased by the Zhen family from Jiangdong is not very good, the sugar cakes they make always taste bitter, which is really not good for the young master to eat."
Yuan Xi saw a piece of sugar cake in the bowl next to him, so he took it and took a bite. It was indeed a bit bitter.
He looked at the other bowl, which contained some dark black sucrose powder.
At that time, sugar was made by squeezing the juice from sugarcane, pouring it into a vat, and boiling it over fire to make a yellow-black syrup. After cooling, it became brown sugar.
He remembered that Yuan Xing's candies were whiter, and maybe someone donated them to the Yuan family. They were naturally better, but he didn't know what method was used.
The Zhen family bought it from commercial channels. The sugar industry was just emerging at that time, and the quality of cane sugar varied, so this was inevitable.
Seeing that Yuan Xi was eating with gusto, Zhen Mi felt even more embarrassed and whispered, "Young master, it's better not to eat."
Yuan Xi smiled and said: "No, it's delicious."
"You're doing great, it's just the sugar that's wrong."
Zhen Mi said distressedly: "I tried to filter it through several layers of linen cloth, but the sugar became more bitter and darker."
“I remembered that charcoal can absorb flavor and thought it might also absorb color, but that didn’t work that well either.”
Yuan Xi thought it was a pity. Zhen Mi was thinking in the right direction, but what worked was activated carbon, which could not be made in this era.
Suddenly I remembered that it was not until the Song Dynasty that the yellow mud water-drench sugar method was applied on a large scale and white sugar appeared on the market. Before that, brown sugar and maltose were the mainstream.
He smiled and said: "There is a very troublesome method, I don't know if it will work."
He briefly explained the method, and Zhen Mi said in surprise: "Isn't it even dirtier if you are drenched in yellow muddy water?"
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Would you like to try it?"
Zhen Mi became curious and said, "This method is really incredible. I really want to see it."
She told the maid next to her to let the servants prepare. Not long after, servants came over with crocks, wooden buckets and several buckets of yellow mud water.
Yuan Xi saw that a small hole had been dug in the bottom of the wooden bucket and filled with straw, so he filled the wooden bucket with black sucrose and burned the straw at the bottom.
He placed the wooden bucket on top of the earthen jar, and then poured ladles of yellow muddy water over the brown sugar.
Seeing this, Zhen Mi asked the maids and slaves to stay away, while she rolled up her sleeves and came to help. The two of them were so silent that they scooped up muddy water and poured it down, and then repeated this.
After half an hour, Yuan Xi felt that he could no longer hold on and felt that he must have failed.
But when he looked up, he saw beads of sweat on Zhen Mi's forehead, but she was still clenching her teeth and holding on to her waist. He couldn't help but be moved in his heart and continued to lift the wooden ladle.
I don't know how long it took, but it started to get dark. The two of them were surprised to find that a very thin layer of slightly white frosting had condensed on the wall of the wooden bucket!
Although the amount is small, it shows that this method is feasible!
After another half an hour, neither of them could lift their tired hands, and the frosting became thicker again, and even began to form tiny crystals.
Yuan Xi stopped and smiled at Zhen Mi: "Try it."
Zhen Mi stretched out her finger, tapped the icing sugar, put it in her mouth and tasted it, she immediately beamed, "It's very sweet, really sweet."
She laughed happily, her eyes turning into crescent moons again, "Who would have known before that sugar that looks as white as frost and snow can be made from seemingly dirty yellow mud water?"
Yuan Xi also took a little bit and put it in his mouth. Sure enough, it had a very obvious sweetness. Although it was far inferior to later generations, it already tasted much better than the previous brown sugar.
He sighed: "It's like coming out of the mud but not being stained."
"Seemingly dirty yellow muddy water can make sweeter white sugar, which shows that a very bad thing can also turn into a good thing."
Zhen Mi understood that Yuan Xi was trying to tease her, and her eyes lit up, "Young Master always has something interesting and thought-provoking to say."
Yuan Xi breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "Fortunately, I didn't lose face in front of you. If you hadn't stopped, I almost gave up."
"How can you hold on?"
Zhen Mi said softly: "Because I believe that the young master will not lie to me."
She paused, "I have to believe that every word you say is true."
"Because I'm very scared. Even if the young master lies to me with only one sentence, which sentence is it?"
Her tone suddenly became sad, "Young Master will come back, right?"
Yuan Xi felt heavy in his heart: "Believe me, it will happen."
Zhen Mi lowered her head and pinched the corners of her clothes with her bare hands.
"Master, please don't lie to me."
Yuan Xi was a little at a loss and remembered what Zhen Mi said last time.
After a while, Zhen Mi raised her head and said with a forced smile: "I lost my composure."
The two of them stood in front of the window of the small building, looking at the dotted lights in Yecheng, and their mood gradually calmed down.
Yuan Xi began to explain one by one what happened after leaving.
How to quickly contact the secret agents in the house when something is wrong.
If something unexpected happens to the spies in the mansion, how to contact the dead men in the city.
How to make white sugar from yellow mud water, and how to make brown sugar from lime.
When the Zhen family and the Mi family were transporting important goods, the two parties exchanged secret codes.
People in Yecheng who may be harmful to the Zhen family, as well as nobles who can help.
Zhen Mi wrote down each item carefully and kept all these things in her heart.
After Yuan Xi finished speaking, she also told several emergency escape routes of the Zhen family, as well as the location of the current trade route strongholds established along the coast.
Yuan Xi also memorized it carefully. If these routes are well used, it will be extremely beneficial to soldiers in future raids and can give the enemy a fatal blow by surprise!
The two of them seemed to have endless things to say, until the silver hooks hung high in the sky and the stars were dotted, they engraved each other's words deeply in their hearts.
The two looked at each other for a long time. Zhen Mi took a few steps back and said to Yuan Xi, "Does my clothes look good today?"
Yuan Xi nodded: "A girl looks good in anything she wears, especially today."
Zhen Mi moved her lips, "Although the young master speaks nicely, I hope that the young master can change his title next time."
Yuan Xi thought if he could come back.
But if he really said that, I'm afraid Zhen Mi wouldn't see a smile on her face this year.
Yuan Xi and Zhen Mi said goodbye and left, and the door of Zhen Mansion closed gently behind them.
The carriage turned a corner and entered the street. Yuan Xi stopped the carriage, opened the curtains and looked at the small building for a while before preparing to leave.
At this time, the window of Zhen Mi's small building was violently pushed open.
Zhen Mi stood in front of the window, her face stained with tears, waving desperately to the carriage, her long sleeves rustling in the wind in the night sky, like a bright battle flag.
"Young Master, you must come back!"
Yuan Xi jumped off the carriage, waved to Zhen Mi and shouted: "I will be back!"
"must!"
The voices of the two people echoed above Yecheng.
Yuan Xi jumped on the carriage and left without looking back.
When he returned to Yecheng again, it was time to take Zhen Mi away, and no one could stop him.
But before that, he will not let anyone who wants to cause trouble go.
A sealed letter was sent from Yuan Xi's mansion to several villages at the junction of Youji and Hebei. The dead soldiers inside began to pack their bags and rushed to Yecheng. After that, they entered Yecheng and settled down under various identities. It happened half a month later.
Before this, Yuan Xi led everyone to rush to Beixin City.
Among these people, there are generals like Tai Shici who want to make great achievements, reluctant counselors like Guo Jia, soldiers who yearn for the fields, craftsmen who are eager for their descendants to enter the officialdom, and people who are planning how to revitalize their families. gentry officials.
They formed a long team and followed Yuan Xi to the north, taking the first step to stir up the world in the late Han Dynasty.
(End of chapter)
