Chapter 530 [Second Update] 530
Although he was not sure, in order to avoid any mistakes, Liu Tan still asked people to pick all the fruits nearby.
Those fruits need to be shelled, and if there are a lot of them, it will naturally take a long time. However, the ones they found were only a small bag in quantity. Liu Tan estimated that it would be enough for Liu Che to eat for two or three days at most, if it was really rice.
After returning, he asked someone to steam the processed fruits. Of course, he didn't steam them for too long, and he didn't taste them rashly. Instead, he gave some to the chickens to eat first. After observing and finding that there was no problem, he asked a native to taste it. After finding that there was no problem, he let his own people try it.
Finally, when they found that everyone was fine, Liu Tan was sure that it was indeed rice.
He saved some of the rice and planned to use it as seeds. Although he didn't know if it could be grown, he at least wanted to try. Or if he passed by Lingnan on his way back, he could get some. He just didn't know if the varieties there were the same as here.
Because the amount of rice collected was limited, Liu Tan was very "stingy" and only made a portion of pineapple rice for Liu Che. As for other people, they also had pineapple rice, but that pineapple rice was made with yellow rice.
When you're out and about, meals are simple.
While the ship was still drifting on the sea, even Liu Che's food intake was reduced a lot, for he was afraid that they would run out of supplies before finding land.
Moreover, even at sea, it is not easy to catch seafood. They do not have long enough fishing lines. If they want to fish, they have to put a small boat out, but the small boat is not safe enough at sea, so unless they have to, they will not put the boat out to fish.
So even if Liu Tan only made two dishes this time, it was still considered good in Liu Che's eyes.
Even when Liu Che smelled the fragrance of coconut chicken and pineapple rice, he couldn't help but sigh: "It's only when Tan'er comes that we can eat something decent."
Liu Tan looked at Bu Fan's horrified expression and couldn't help but laugh. "In my opinion, the previous dishes were all quite good. You just want me to make new dishes, right?"
Liu Che pretended to be serious and said, "Since you knew it, why did you make two?"
Liu Tan raised his head and said, "What should I do if I eat so much food late at night?"
The emperor and his son were joking around, while the rest of the people were busy eating. There was a rumor in Chang'an that His Royal Highness the King of the Northern Territory was the one who held the recipes of the immortal world. Although no one knew why even an immortal had to eat, wasn't it said that immortals didn't need to eat after practicing fasting?
But no matter what, it is generally recognized that the dishes produced by the King of the North are absolutely first-class. It's a pity that too few people can eat them. Every time you have to follow His Majesty the Emperor to have the honor of tasting them.
But the emperor never brought a fixed number of people with him each time. They said they were unlucky, and it was really bad luck. Over the years, no one had followed the emperor to drift to another island.
But if you are lucky, at least you can taste the new dishes of His Majesty the King of the North.
Others didn't care about the emperor and his son getting along like this, but Liu Fuling was really feeling very uncomfortable at this moment.
He originally thought that he could endure it, but now he found that he couldn't. He no longer expected Liu Che to only see him. Anyway, even when he was the most favored, Liu Che had one eye for Crown Prince Liu Ju.
But the problem is... now he is completely ignored.
If his sitting position had not changed, he would have suspected that he had been abandoned.
But at this time, not changing his position became a torment. He always felt that others seemed to be laughing at him. However, when he glanced around, he found that no one was paying attention to him, and he became angry again - the emperor could ignore him, Liu Tan could ignore him, and now even these people were going to ignore him?
You know, there are his people here!
Liu Che had no idea that his son was having a happy time in his mind. He took a bite of the coconut chicken. The refreshing coconut milk combined with other ingredients made the dish very delicious.
Compared to the sweet and delicious coconut chicken, pineapple rice is very special, with the sour and sweet taste of pineapple and the unique smoked flavor of cured meat.
Liu Che took a bite and asked, "Did you find rice?"
Liu Tan was a little surprised: "Father, do you know about rice?"
Liu Che looked at him with dissatisfaction: "How come I don't know about rice? I'll know once I taste it."
Liu Tan has always thought that this thing should be a precious thing that ordinary people have never heard of, but for Liu Che, although it is precious, it is not completely untouchable.
But... that's not right. With Liu Che's financial resources, it would be no problem for him to build a rice field to grow rice. Why had he never seen it before?
Just when Liu Tan was wondering, he suddenly heard Liu Che say, "I didn't think this thing tasted good before, but I didn't expect Tan'er to have a way."
Liu Tan suddenly realized that it was because he didn't like eating rice?
However, it is not surprising. People of each era have their own taste preferences. After being used to eating yellow rice, they may not find rice particularly delicious.
Especially since the rice at that time had not been improved and its taste was not as good as that of later generations, it was normal that Liu Che did not like to eat it. What's more, most of the rice nowadays should be double-season rice. After all, it seems that no one has ever heard of growing rice in the Central Plains. Although double-season rice grows fast, its taste is indeed not very good.
The land in the Northern Border Country should be suitable for growing rice. If it can be grown, it should taste good.
Liu Tan thought about this and laughed, "There's so much food that can be made from this, but it's a pity there's so little of it. The rest might not be enough to make anything else."
When Liu Che heard there was something delicious, he immediately said, "Then send someone to find it."
Liu Tan: ...
Who doesn’t want to go back now?
Perhaps because his helpless look was too obvious, Liu Che decisively changed his words and said, "Let's go back."
It is not convenient here after all. His son has started to simplify the food he makes for him. In order to eat more delicious food, it is better to go back quickly.
Of course, before going back, he would dig as much gold as he could and bring it back first - Liu Che originally thought that the ship could not carry so much, but when he saw the ship his son made, he decisively decided to bring back some gold.
Liu Tan, who had pointed out the gold mine, still stubbornly built his sugarcane workshop.
But this time he learned his lesson and directly asked Wei Kang to choose a place to build it.
After the construction was completed, the first thing he had to do was to maintain hygiene, and then to test how to produce sugar.
The simplest and most stupid way is to boil it until all the water is boiled away, leaving only sucrose and other ingredients, and then find a way to separate out the other ingredients.
The peeling step can be omitted. As long as the sugar blocks can be produced, everything can be processed after returning home.
And here... there are many trees. Liu Che had people cut down a lot of trees for firewood before. Liu Tan took a look and found that Liu Che really stood out wherever he went.
There is no need to burn firewood for heating in this place. The biggest use of firewood is for cooking. However, the amount of dry firewood they have now can probably keep them in this broken place for another two months.
So Liu Tan entered the mode of selling his grandfather's land without feeling sorry for it, and started to use the firewood to boil sugar. The boiled sugar was all red and looked like rock honey.
Liu Tan had never made sugar before, so he didn't know what the output rate was like now, but if he looked at it himself, it was a bit low.
But compared to the current price of sugar, it is still much cheaper.
After all, they relied entirely on imports for rock honey before, and not directly, as they were a bit far from India. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in later generations now belongs to the Western Qiang, not yet the territory of the Han Dynasty. In other words, they basically either bought rock honey from the Western Qiang or from other countries. This was equivalent to adding an extra middleman, and since they were the only source of goods, wouldn't the price have to be exorbitant?
In comparison, even if the sugar yield of sugarcane is not high, it is still cheaper than this!
Liu Tan calculated and felt that what he wanted was basically in the south, but it was not yet part of the Han Dynasty's territory.
So how could he explain to Liu Che that he had conquered the south but had not yet instigated the emperor to expand the territory?
Of course, the most important thing is that his fiefdom is too far away from the south. Even if he takes it down, he won't get any benefits. It seems too suspicious to instigate it like this.
Because of this, when Liu Tan left, he felt reluctant to leave the island.
Liu Che was standing on the deck in high spirits. His previous ship had been destroyed beyond recognition. Of course, even in its complete form, it was no match for the new ship built by Liu Tan.
Feeling the stability and speed of the new ship, Liu Che even felt that with such a ship he could go out to sea for a stroll at any time.
Liu Tan didn't know what Liu Che was thinking. If he knew, he would probably jump up.
He simply looked at his father and asked, "Is it really okay to leave so many people here?"
Liu Che raised his eyebrows: "Are you worried that someone will declare himself king?"
Liu Tan shook his head: "No, I'm just worried that they will be assimilated by the local indigenous people."
Liu Che: ...
Aren't you worrying about it too far in the future? The main thing is that they will send people over immediately after they return. After all, there is such a large gold mine there. Liu Tan is willing to give it up, but Liu Che is reluctant to do so.
Liu Che watched the small island gradually move away. After a while, he found that the natives had gathered at the temporary port they had built, waving at them, as if they were reluctant to leave.
Liu Che was very surprised: "What are they doing?"
Liu Tan leaned on the fence and said, "Maybe he can't bear to leave us?"
Liu Che was terrified when he saw Liu Tan's action, fearing that his son would accidentally fall into the sea. He couldn't help but reach out and grab Liu Tan's collar again to pull him back and said, "Stand still for me. What are you doing?"
Liu Tan had no choice but to stand up straight and said, "I heard from Wei Buyi that these natives seem to want to come with us."
Liu Che was completely confused: "What did you do to them?"
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