"As far as I know, there is a sugar merchant in the county town whose business is very extensive. The head of the household can sell white sugar to him and make him the sole agent for white sugar, so that the price of white sugar can be set higher."
In addition, there are some pastry wholesalers in the county town. The wholesale price of granulated sugar is very cheap. Using the wholesale granulated sugar as raw material to produce white sugar will save a lot of costs.
"Heaven is helping me!" Zhao Xian was overjoyed. Qin Shiyu was his strategist; with her advice, his business would be much smoother.
“Miss Qin, I’d like to go to the county town. Would you like to accompany me to find that sugar merchant and discuss the sugar distribution business? What do you think?”
"Master, I..." Qin Shiyu did not expect that her master would take her to the county town to discuss business. However, she had already been disfigured. If she went out with her master like this, wouldn't she be disgracing him?
Seeing Qin Shiyu hesitate and gently touch the scar on her face, Zhao Xian immediately understood her thoughts.
"Miss Qin, don't worry. I know a miracle doctor who has a medicine that can remove scars from the skin. The scars on your face are only on the surface of your skin. With this medicine, the scars will disappear in two or three days."
"I'll go find this miracle doctor later and buy some medicine for you to use first. Once the scars on your faces have faded, we'll go to the county town."
The Qin sisters never dreamed that their patriarch knew a miracle doctor and could even obtain a miraculous medicine to remove the scars on their faces, which meant they could regain their former youthful beauty.
Overjoyed, the two wept and immediately knelt down.
"Thank you, Master, for bestowing upon us the divine medicine."
"What are you doing? Get up. Now that you're here, you're all family. Don't be so polite."
Qin Shiyu and Qin Yingying then stood up, their tears turning into smiles. Meeting such a family head was their greatest blessing.
The sugar water in the pot continued to boil. Zhao Xian handed over the task of boiling the syrup to others, and he could only stand by and give guidance. He wanted his family to master the technique of making white sugar as soon as possible.
More than an hour later, the pot of white sugar was ready. Zhao Xian weighed all the white sugar, and it weighed a full eight jin (4 catties).
Ten pounds of granulated sugar can produce more than eight pounds of white sugar, with minimal waste. The production process is relatively simple and not tiring.
Zhao Xian knew that he used modern tools and raw materials to make white sugar. Activated charcoal, for example, didn't exist in that era. Even if others knew the production method, they wouldn't be able to produce white sugar.
"It's getting late. We have nothing to do tonight, so let's all get some rest after dinner. Tomorrow morning we'll make kimchi, and in the afternoon we'll continue making sugar."
"Now I'm going to visit the miracle doctor, and I'll be back before dinner."
After Zhao Xian finished speaking, he walked out of the house. He wasn't going to visit any miracle doctor; he was going out for some fresh air and then buy some scar-removing medicine from the system.
The air in the fields was fresh, the scenery was beautiful, and the afterglow of the setting sun bathed the earth in gold. It was all so beautiful.
Zhao Xian searched in the system and found many scar removal medications on the system interface. He bought two bottles of fast-acting scar medication, but the bottles were not from this era, so he definitely couldn't take them back.
He took two free sheets of oil paper from the system, took the medicine out of the bottle, wrapped it up, put it in his pocket, and then threw the bottle into the river.
Although it was nearing dusk, there were still many farmers working in the fields. It hadn't rained for several days, and the rice paddies, which had only been irrigated a few days earlier, were starting to run dry again.
A carriage was approaching from a distance. The road wasn't wide, so Zhao Xian stood by the roadside, waiting for the carriage to pass before continuing on his way.
Unexpectedly, the carriage stopped beside him. The driver bowed slightly and said:
"Young master, is this Narcissus Village?"
“The village ahead is Narcissus Village,” Zhao Xian replied.
"Finally arrived at Narcissus Village. I came out to get some fresh air. I'm exhausted after a long day."
The car door opened, and a large head popped out.
"Sir, slow down."
When the driver saw that the people in the carriage wanted to get off, he quickly got off to help them.
The man got out of the carriage; he was dressed in official robes and appeared to be in his thirties. Following him was an elderly man in his fifties, dressed in a long gown.
Zhao Xian was taken aback by the two men's attire. They were clearly the county magistrate and his advisor. How did these two men come to Shuixian Village without any attendants or yamen runners? What was going on?
Zhao Xian wanted to leave, but it was too late; the county magistrate was sizing him up.
"Greetings, Your Excellency, and Your Excellency, the Clerk." Zhao Xian bowed respectfully.
"Young man, do you know me?" The magistrate asked, somewhat curiously.
"I don't recognize you, but your official robes clearly identify you." Zhao Xian was speechless; wasn't it obvious?
"It seems you are a scholar. Are you from Narcissus Village?" the magistrate continued to ask.
"Zhao Xian, a commoner, is a scholar from Shuixian Village."
"So you are Zhao Xian. I was passing through Shuixian Village on my way back from the prefect's place. I planned to see the village head first, and then he would take me to see you. I didn't expect to run into Scholar Zhao before I even entered the village. Hahaha."
"I wonder what business the magistrate has with me?" Zhao Xian was a little surprised. A dignified magistrate had come to see a poor scholar like him. He had never had any dealings with this magistrate before.
Seeing Zhao Xian's surprise, the magistrate couldn't help but laugh and patted Zhao Xian on the shoulder.
"Scholar Zhao, there's no need to be surprised. My name is Cao Song, and I am the magistrate of Zhengyang County. These past few days, Prefect Yu Qian has just taken office, and five magistrates from Qing'an Prefecture have gone to report on their work."
Besides this county, the other four counties are complaining that the weather this year is abnormal. In the past month, there has only been one rain, and drought has already occurred. Many places have started praying for rain, but God has not sent a single drop, which has already affected this year's rice harvest.
This situation is a natural disaster, and even the prefect has no good solution.
When the Prefect saw that I had not mentioned the drought, he asked about the situation in Zhengyang County. I told him that there was a capable man in Zhengyang County who had invented a waterwheel that could be used to irrigate farmland.
This waterwheel was first promoted among villages, and soon spread to towns. Wherever the waterwheel was promoted, there was no drought.
The prefect was very pleased to hear this and immediately ordered our county to promote the use of waterwheels for irrigation throughout Qing'an Prefecture. He also rewarded the skilled craftsmen who made the waterwheels and urged our county to submit a memorial to the emperor as soon as possible.
After returning from Qing'an Prefecture, I did not go back to the county office, but went straight to Shuixian Village. Along the way, we saw waterwheels being used extensively, which played a significant role in alleviating the drought.
"I never expected to meet Scholar Zhao as soon as I arrived at Narcissus Village. Isn't that too much of a coincidence?"
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