On the second floor of the Empress Temple, in Guo Kang's office, Theodora was writing something when she saw Guo Kang walking in carrying a basket.
He took out a yellow-orange fruit and put it on the plate.
"Is this...mango?" Theodora asked.
"Yes." Guo Kang said: "I asked Master Wang to hire experts to specially select the varieties that are mature at this time and transport them from Crete."
"It was really successful." Theodora was slightly surprised.
"Indians have been breeding it for hundreds of years. This fruit was very famous when Xuanzang of the Tang Dynasty went to seek Buddhist scriptures." Guo Kang said: "Moreover, there are many varieties of this fruit, and they are ripe all year round. We All you need to do is find a suitable variety and grow it locally, so of course it’s quick.”
"Come on, have a taste." He picked up the knife, cut the skin, cut the pulp into pieces, and put them on a plate.
"You can eat first." Theodora pointed at the manuscript paper with her pen: "I'll finish writing this point."
"I've eaten better than this." Guo Kang shook his head and sat back across from her: "This is all for you."
"Does eating it in a dream count as eating it?" Theodora teased.
Hearing this, Guo Kang sighed, nodded, picked up the fork, and took away one of the pieces.
Theodora smiled and started eating like him.
"How is it?" Guo Kang looked at her and asked.
"It's quite delicious, better than those fruits last time." Theodora said.
"As long as you like it. Hey, but this thing is not cheap now." Guo Kang rambled, bent down, and rummaged through the box at his feet: "I plan to process these products and then sell them to Europe. "
"We use nearby sugar from Cyprus, mix it with this fruit, and make preserves and sweet drinks. My workshop can now blow glass bottles with high transparency. After packing these things, process them, and press them according to our current The test results can be kept for a long time. This can definitely be sold at a good price..."
"Hey, these things have been on my mind all day long." Theodora shook her head: "Stop pretending, how can I understand you? You are just stingy and unwilling to eat."
"This is not stingy, this is frugal." Guo Kang corrected: "Think about it, if I show what I like to eat, what will other people think? I'm afraid someone will follow suit soon."
"Back then, Duke Huan of Qi liked to wear purple clothes, and the whole country rushed to imitate this kind of luxurious clothing. Duke Huan of Qi was very worried and asked Guan Zhong. Guan Zhong suggested that he start from himself. So Duke Huan of Qi stopped wearing purple clothes, and soon, , the ministers and attendants in the palace stopped following suit. It didn’t take long for people across the country to stop crazily admiring this kind of thing.”
"Whether we want it or not, we are the ones being watched by the whole country. If we all take the lead in advocating pleasure and luxury, how can we convince the citizens to endure hardship and fight for us?"
"Now we can produce this ourselves, so it's okay to taste it. But we'd better not show our favor for these expensive goods. The corruption of morals often starts from above. This is the lesson of our Roman ancestors. We also You have to be vigilant.”
"Just try what I give you. If you still want it, I will bring it to you alone next time, so don't publicize it outside." He warned.
"I know." Theodora said with a smile: "Just say it once, can I still not understand it? You still talk about it every day."
"I told you last time that it's best not to run around in such extravagant clothes, but you didn't listen." Guo Kang's unsatisfactory answer came from behind the table.
Theodora looked indifferent and seemed not to listen to his advice. Guo Kang did not continue to say anything, but took out a corked glass bottle from the box.
"Here." He put it on the table and pushed it towards Theodora: "This is the only bottle I have here. I originally planned to give it as a gift. I'll give it to you to try too."
Looking at his somewhat troubled expression, Theodora smiled: "Who was it originally intended for?"
"It's for those Italian businessmen." Guo Kang said truthfully: "They have the widest business network. Show them to them and the publicity effect should be better."
"Oh, it's through the Joanna you just met." Theodora glanced at him: "You just met her before, right?"
"Yes, we met this morning." Guo Kang nodded and asked strangely: "How did you know?"
"You smell like the perfume she often sprays on you." Theodora told him: "But the smell is very weak. It should just be that we have been together for a while."
"We were in the military camp, and she insisted on visiting the Russians." Guo Kang was a little lucky. He was thinking about other things at the time and didn't let Joanna carry her up according to their strange etiquette.
But as I said that, something suddenly felt wrong. Can a human nose be so smart?
He hesitated and decided not to ask directly, but to test it in other ways when he had the chance.
"Can this thing really be stored for a long time?" On the other side, Theodora had begun to observe the liquid in her transparent bottle and asked curiously.
"It can be stored for more than half a month now." Guo Kang replied: "We are still trying to see if it can last longer."
He said, pulling out a corkscrew. The oak cork on the glass bottle was plugged directly in while the liquid in the bottle was boiling, so it was sucked in for a long time. However, before he handed it over, Theodora grabbed the cork and pulled it out with a strong force.
Guo Kang curled his lips and threw the bottle opener back into the box.
Theodora looked around and found that there was no cup, and she didn't pay attention to the image, so she took a sip directly to the mouth of the bottle. Then, she pursed her lips and frowned.
"It doesn't even taste like fruit anymore." She commented: "It's too sweet, almost like sugar water."
"It's just sugar water. There's no way, it's too easy to spoil otherwise." Guo Kang felt helpless and thought for a moment: "If it doesn't work as a drink, I don't know if it can work as a seasoning..."
"So that's it." After hearing what he said, Theodora shook her head and said, "Then don't worry about the taste for the time being, just find a way to extend its shelf life."
"I just ate this fruit, so that's why I feel like this. However, it must be enough to sell this sugar water to people who have never eaten it."
Guo Kang thought about it and felt that it was indeed the case. For Western Europeans, even sugar water itself is very popular, so this should definitely work.
"Then let's continue researching. If it can be kept as expected and kept for many years, maybe it can be sold to the Ming Dynasty in the future."
"When people come from tomorrow, you can ask them if they are interested." Theodora smiled and said, "By the way, have you thought of a name?"
"name?"
"Yes, the name of the product." Theodora shook the glass bottle: "An impressive name will be very good for sales."
"What can you call the drink..." Guo Kang picked up a mango, looked at it, and said casually: "Call it Hongwu brand mango juice?"
"No, this name is too impressive." Theodora almost spat out.
(End of chapter)
