A few days later, Hou Shikai and several members of the Su family went to Shuobei with a large amount of banknotes.
This time, the Su family took out a total of 1.4 million taels of silver.
Among them, 1.2 million taels of silver were used to purchase the method of making sugar in partnership with Hou Shikai, and the other 200,000 taels of silver were loaned by Su to Hou Shikai.
The Su family was very dissatisfied with the extra 200,000 taels of silver.
But Hou Shikai refused to give in.
In Hou Shikai's words, he spent a lot of money to establish a good relationship with Pang Lushan.
His relationship with Pang Lushan alone is worth two hundred thousand taels of silver.
In the end, with the mediation of Yang Huizhou, the Su family agreed to pay an additional 200,000 taels of silver.
Although the Su family is very wealthy, they don't have much cash.
In order to collect the 1.4 million taels of silver, the Su family borrowed 300,000 taels of silver from elsewhere.
...
...
After passing Beilu Pass, the group headed straight for Mayi, but they did not enter the city. Instead, they settled down in a dilapidated courtyard about ten miles away from Mayi.
They waited in the courtyard for a whole day before Pang Lushan came stealthily.
"What are you doing? Why are there so many people here? Are you afraid that you won't be discovered?"
As soon as Pang Lushan saw Hou Shikai and six or seven people from the Su family, he immediately got angry and turned around to leave.
"Brother Lu Shan, stay!"
Hou Shikai quickly stepped forward to hold Pang Lushan, and said with an apologetic smile: "These are my guards. I am carrying two million taels of silver this time, so I dare not be careless. I hope Brother Lushan will forgive me."
Having said that, Hou Shikai quickly winked at Su Huaimin and the others, signaling them not to reveal their identities.
A few people understood, but said nothing.
Um?
Two million taels of silver?
Pang Lushan suddenly stopped and asked in surprise, "Did you really get two million taels of silver?"
"Of course!"
Hou Shikai laughed, "Brother Lu Shan has already asked for it, so I must find a way to collect enough money! Brother Lu Shan, I have brought you all the brown sugar, do you think you can teach me on the spot?"
As he said this, Hou Shikai winked at Su Huaimin again.
Su Huaimin understood and immediately took out a package containing seven or eight pieces of brown sugar.
Pang Lushan glanced at the brown sugar and said calmly, "Brown sugar alone won't do."
"I understand, I understand!"
Hou Shikai laughed, walked to the window, and carefully looked out. Then he took out a small wooden box hidden in a very hidden corner, "Brother Lu Shan, the banknotes are all here, please count them!"
Pang Lushan's eyes lit up and he immediately began to count the banknotes.
While he was counting the banknotes, Hou Shikai kept an eye on the outside for him.
The two men looked like thieves, which made Su Huaimin and others believe it without a doubt.
Pang Lushan took a lot of effort to count the silver bills.
"Okay, you're awesome!"
The anger on Pang Lushan's face disappeared instantly, but he said seriously: "Remember, after you learn this method of making white sugar, you must not sell white sugar in Fuzhou and Shuobei, and it's best not to sell it even in the vicinity of Fuzhou!"
"You know exactly who Yun Zheng is!"
"If Yun Zheng knew that I sold this method to you, I wouldn't be able to survive, and neither would you!"
"We are all in this together, we are all trying to make money, don't take your life lightly!"
Pang Lushan spoke very seriously and Hou Shikai nodded repeatedly.
"Brother Lu Shan, rest assured. I am only seeking wealth. I will definitely keep in mind your instructions."
Hou Shikai made a solemn promise.
Pang Lushan nodded and said, "You guys take a rest for a night. I'll go back and prepare the ingredients for making sugar. I'll come back to teach you how to make sugar tomorrow at noon! Also, you guys should prepare some other things separately so as not to arouse other people's suspicion!"
After giving them a few simple instructions, Pang Lushan left in a hurry.
At noon the next day, Pang Lushan appeared in the broken yard on time, carrying a package.
"Is everything ready?"
Pang Lushan asked as soon as he came in.
“Everything is ready!”
Hou Shikai pointed to the small iron pot and other items next to him.
Pang Lushan walked over to check, and immediately ordered Hou Shikai: "Take someone to stay and help, and the rest of you go outside to guard. If anyone comes, alert us immediately!"
"this……"
Hou Shikai hesitated for a moment, then said to Su Huaimin, "You stay here, and the rest of you go outside to guard!"
The other people in the Su family were somewhat reluctant.
They also wanted to stay and see how Pang Lushan made white sugar from brown sugar.
But seeing Hou Shikai winking at them frantically, they still agreed.
That’s all!
Anyway, the Su family has left someone inside, so there is no need to worry that Hou Shikai will keep the secret method for himself!
Thinking of this, they walked out reluctantly.
After everyone went out, Pang Lushan immediately called them to help.
Those who build the stove build the stove, and those who wash the pots wash the pots.
After everything was ready, Pang Lushan took a piece of brown sugar weighing about half a pound and whispered, "I can't leave alone for too long, so I'll give you a demonstration. Just know the method!"
"well!"
Hou Shikai and Su Huaimin nodded quickly.
After they agreed, Pang Lushan handed the brown sugar in his hand to Su Huaimin and asked him to crush it.
After crushing it, Pang Lu found a small piece of white cloth and wrapped the brown sugar.
“Why wrap it?”
Hou Shikai asked in confusion.
"You'll know in a minute!"
Pang Lushan smiled mysteriously, took out two water bags from his body and handed them to the two men.
Under the two people's puzzled gazes, Pang Lushan pointed to his nose and whispered, "Smell it!"
The two of them reacted and quickly smelled it.
"Is this... rice vinegar?"
Hou Shikai was the first to react.
Rice vinegar?
Su Huaimin was stunned and quickly took the rice vinegar in the water bag to smell it.
While he was smelling the rice vinegar, Pang Lushan quickly replaced the cloth bag containing brown sugar.
Out of caution, Su Huaimin also tried taking a small sip.
“It’s really rice vinegar!”
Su Huaimin was surprised, "What's in this wine bag?"
"This is rice water."
Pang Lushan chuckled, "This is the secret of making white sugar! However, there are some rules for how to add it!"
As he spoke, Pang Lushan threw the cloth bag containing sugar into the water, poured in a dozen drops of rice vinegar, and added some rice washing water. As he added, he said seriously: "You can add more at the beginning, and add more after it boils!"
After saying that, Pang Lushan asked Su Huaimin to light the firewood.
Soon, the water in the pot boiled. Pang Lushan opened the wooden lid, added a little rice vinegar and rice washing water into it, and continued to light the fire and boil.
When he opened the lid of the pot again, about half of the water in the pot had boiled away, and the brown sugar should have completely melted, but there was no color at all in the pot of syrup.
This result made Su Huaimin and Hou Shikai open their eyes wide.
“When I added it the third time, just a little bit was enough!”
Pang Lushan added a little white vinegar again, picked up two small wooden sticks to fish out the cloth bag from the pot, and opened it in front of the two of them.
There is no brown sugar left in the cloth bag, only some impurities.
"Now you know why I wrapped it up?"
Pang Lushan looked at Hou Shikai with a smile, and continued, "We have a small amount, so we can do it this way. If you have a large amount, you have to use silk to filter the sugar water in the pot twice more, and then add rice vinegar twice more according to my method just now. This way, the sugar will be whiter..."
Pang Lushan patiently "taught" them the method of making sugar, and the two listened very carefully, nodding from time to time...
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