Since buying a servant, Cao Xi has been doing nothing. Xing'er has been following her all day long, and she doesn't know what Qin Zhao and Xing'er said.
Cao Xi asked Banli to buy some sweet potatoes. She planned to make a whole potato feast for Qin Zhao to try tonight.
Taking advantage of the time in the morning, Cao Xi directed her mother-in-law to boil the cut sweet potatoes and take them out, and continue to heat the remaining sweet potato water.
Xing'er stayed with Cao Xi and fanned her.
"Madam, it's too hot and it's not good for your health. Why don't you go rest and I'll watch."
Cao Xi asked with a smile, "You know how? I'm making candy. I'll give it to you first when I'm ready."
Xing'er blushed a little when Cao Xi said it, and stopped trying to dissuade her. She had to put all her thoughts on Cao Xi, for fear that she would make a mistake.
One of the women whispered to the other woman: "Madam, this is not boiling sugar. Isn't this a waste of food?"
She had never seen sweet potatoes boiled into sugar.
"Do whatever I ask you to do."
Mrs. Wang dislikes Mrs. Zhang more and more. She is too talkative, and you have no choice but to interfere in the master's affairs, and her words are of no importance.
Cao Xi saw them muttering quietly and didn't pay attention. After all, her behavior seemed a bit ridiculous to them.
"Don't cut off the fire, keep the water boiling." Cao Xi didn't care what his servants thought.
Although Mrs. Zhang was talkative, she worked very hard. As time went by, the sweet potato water gradually thickened.
Cao Xi: "Okay, we can cease fire. Take out the candy while it's hot."
The two women's eyes were wide-eyed. They never thought that sweet potatoes could be boiled into candy.
At first they thought the lady was fooling around, but they were short-sighted and put the sweet potato candy in a cool place.
"You can eat it after it cools down." Cao Xi looked at the sweet potato candies in the corner with a sense of accomplishment.
Cao Xi asked Po Wang to mash the remaining sweet potatoes into puree and mix them with flour to bake sweet potato cakes.
He made a few simple dishes, put them in the pot to warm, and waited for Qin Zhao to come back to eat together.
Xing'er helped Cao Xi into the house before she dared to take a long breath.
"Ma'am, do you want some water?"
Cao Xi leaned on the bed rail and said, "Let's have a drink."
But when she saw clear water in the cup, Cao Xi wondered, "Is there no tea at home?"
Xing'er explained, "Master said that drinking tea while pregnant is not good for the fetus, so from today on, Madam can't drink tea."
"Ah, you can't even drink the tea." Cao Xi was dumbfounded.
"Of course you can't drink it. I asked the doctor."
Qin Zhao walked in wearing a maroon official robe. The figure is tall and straight, and the instrument is majestic. Although there is a smile in his eyes, the overall majesty is hard to ignore.
"You're back"
Just as Cao Xi was about to get up, Qin Zhao walked up to her, helped Cao Xi up and put his arms around her waist.
"Let's have dinner"
Cao Xi gave instructions to Xing'er, then turned to Qin Zhao and said: "I made sweet potato cakes for you today, and I also made sweet potato candies for you and keep them in the kitchen."
Qin Zhao pretended to scold him, "You did it yourself."
"No, I'll just sit by and watch. I just need to move my mouth. There's no need for me to do anything."
Cao Xi looked at Qin Zhao flatteringly, with words written all over his eyes: "I am obedient, please praise me."
Qin Zhao helplessly pinched Cao Xi's ears and said, "Be careful."
Cao Xi told Banli and Xing'er to go down and rest after setting the food.
"Try the sweet potato pancakes I made."
Cao Xi picked up a piece of sweet potato cake and fed it to Qin Zhao's mouth.
The corners of Qin Zhao's mouth curled up slightly, he lowered his head and took a bite of the cake, "Well, it's sweet, soft and delicious."
Cao Xi: "Hey, it tastes delicious. I can also make many sweet potato recipes."
Qin Zhao raised his eyebrows and looked at her, "So that?"
Cao Xi: "Isn't Luzhou City rich in sweet potatoes? We can collect sweet potatoes from the common people and make sweet potato chips, sweet potato starch, sweet potato vermicelli, sweet potato candy, etc."
"Well, that's a good idea. You can try everything, especially sweet potato candies."
Cao Xi made it for Qin Zhao when he was a child. It was delicious and sweet. He would never forget the taste.
Cao Xi: "Hey, let's sell sweet potato candies, sweet potato vermicelli and other ingredients to various places. If Luzhou City has money, it can repair the city walls and raise troops. Only when the people are rich can they live a good life."
As soon as Cao Xi said something, Qin Zhao fell into deep thought. After a long time, he suddenly stood up, picked up the sweet potato cake and walked out.
"You eat by yourself first. I'll go to the government office and take away a bowl of candy. That's a great idea. I'll go talk to Zhang Meng."
Cao Xi was confused, "Isn't Zhang Meng a general? Does he still care about the economy?" He couldn't understand.
When Qin Zhao first arrived, the only person he could trust was Zhang Meng. Of course he had to go to Zhang Meng to feel at ease about such a major matter related to people's livelihood.
After Cao Xi finished eating, he went to Qin Zhao's study and carefully recorded the various ways of making sweet potatoes, including dishes, dried sweet potatoes, sweet potato starch, sweet potato vermicelli, and sweet potato candies, striving to develop in an all-round way and increase his income.
“Try it and see”
Qin Zhao pushed a bowl of sweet potato candies in front of Zhang Meng.
Before Zhang Meng finished his meal, he was pulled over by Qin Zhao. He looked at the bowl of red and sticky stuff in front of him. He didn't want to eat it, but he couldn't resist Qin Zhao's expectant eyes.
So I bit the bullet, dipped a small amount into my chopsticks and put it in my mouth.
"Sweet"
Zhang Meng's eyes widened instantly and he looked at Qin Zhao with disbelief. He didn't expect that the ugly thing turned out to be candy.
When he wanted to take a second bite, Qin Zhao took the bowl back without hesitation.
“Just try it once and you’re done”
Zhang Meng was confused, "Is this how you treat someone to a meal?"
Qin Zhao rolled his eyes and said, "Who said I would treat you to a meal? My wife made this specially for me. I will give it to you to taste."
Zhang Meng:......Speechless
Qin Zhao: "The output of sugar in the current dynasty is very low. If we vigorously promote it, we will definitely make the people rich and you will have money to raise an army."
Zhang Meng was a little moved by what he said.
"Is this sugar made from sweet potatoes?" He had been in Luzhou City for so many years and had never heard of anyone making sugar from sweet potatoes.
"Yeah" Qin Zhao looked at him calmly, waiting for his answer.
Zhang Meng slapped the table with his palm, almost knocking the sugar bowl off. Qin Zhao hurriedly held on to the sugar bowl. This was the candy his wife made for him, so he couldn't scatter it.
"That's it. I'll take out my wife book and let you buy it. I'll boil it into sugar and let my grandfather sell it."
Qin Zhao wanted to see what potential you had, and how your grandfather still had to sell books.
.............
Luzhou City was fortified, re-planned, and the guards rearranged. There were soldiers watching from the observation deck throughout the day, and there were also soldiers lurking outside the city to prevent barbarians from sneaking into the city.
In this way, Luzhou City is indeed much more stable.
Qin Zhao took Zhang Meng's wife's book and all his family's belongings and began to purchase a large amount of common people's sweet potatoes. The common people's sweet potatoes had a market and their lives were relieved.
The sugar factory was set up in the backyard of the Soldiers and Horses Division, and was guarded by soldiers. Not even a fly could get in.
In the backyard of Bingmasi, there are fifteen large pots with water boiling in them. Some people are responsible for filling the fire, while others are responsible for stirring the pot. There is no chaos in the order of the busy work.
Cao Xi was invited by Qin Zhao to the Army and Horse Department to provide guidance for them. Her belly gradually grew bigger and she would feel tired after standing for a long time.
Cao Xi led Wang Po to conduct on-site command for two days before being forced by Qin Zhao and escorted back to the state capital to rest, while Wang Po stayed behind to provide technical guidance.
After finally being able to go out for a walk, Cao Xi naturally didn't want to go back, and even begged for a long time to no avail.
She was so angry that she pointed at Qin Zhao and shouted, "You are destroying the donkey to kill the donkey, crossing the river and destroying the bridge, and killing the cook after eating. You..." You said nothing for a long time.
Qin Zhao chuckled, "I thought you could continue to throw away idioms."
Cao Xi saw that Qin Zhao refused to accept the offer and sent him back desperately, so he could only accept his fate and go back to rest.
Before leaving, he put down his harsh words and promised Qin Zhao to sleep in the study at night.
