In fact, Li Yan's various behaviors in front of Qin Yue had already put her at risk of exposing herself, but she was not able to take that into consideration.
Food security is related to the security of the North. Li Yan also saw from the refugee incident that the court had long been corrupt. Only by developing the North can their family avoid having to flee everywhere in the future. This is why she repeatedly chooses to cooperate with Qin Yue.
Qin Yue was very excited after hearing Li Yan's suggestion. Just because the yield per mu was nearly doubled, he wanted to give it a try.
Qin Yue nodded in agreement and said, "Next year I will transfer some farmers who are good at growing rice from the south."
Seeing that Qin Yue was willing to believe her words, Li Yan felt relieved. She sincerely hoped that the people in the north would no longer go hungry.
After discussing the food issue, Li Yan remembered that she came to see Qin Yue today for another matter.
"Sir, could you possibly have found saltpeter?"
The weather was getting hotter day by day. If she wanted to make a popular drink, ice was essential. However, the raw material was hard to come by, so Li Yan simply didn't bother to go find it directly from Qin Yue.
The topic changed too quickly. Qin Yue was confused for a moment. They were just talking about growing rice, so why were they talking about saltpeter now?
Fortunately, he reacted quickly, so he nodded and asked again, "What do you want this saltpeter for?"
Li Yan did not hide the fact and told Qin Yue that she could make ice cubes.
"I have a method for making ice that I once stumbled upon in a book. I'll tell you how to make it, but I have one condition: you must provide me with ice for free every year from now on!"
The reason why Li Yan offered such an attractive condition was that the summer in the north was short, so it would be better to tell Qin Yue about the ice-making method and let him go to the south to make money.
Secondly, she had no intention of making money from this ice-making method. If she hadn't wanted to make summer ice drinks, Li Yan wouldn't even have thought of using saltpeter to make ice.
This can be considered as a small benefit that Li Yan gives to her partner after the two have been working together for so long.
Qin Yue immediately stood up from his seat upon hearing this, and looked at Li Yan with eyes full of stars.
The scorching heat is unbearable. The dignitaries in the capital and the wealthy merchants in the south of the Yangtze River need a lot of ice to cool down every summer. If he can get the method of making ice, he will definitely make a lot of money.
He was just worried about not having enough money to buy food, and now this girl brought him such a way to make money. How could he not be excited?
He couldn't wait to order outside the door: "Go to the mansion and get some saltpeter!"
Then she looked at Li Yan with bright eyes and asked her if she needed to prepare anything else.
Li Yan thought for a moment and said, "Let's prepare two more basins, one larger and the other smaller."
"Is that all?" Qin Yue asked in disbelief.
"Oh, we'll need water to make ice cubes later. I think we have plenty of that here, right?"
Qin Yue waved his hand and asked the shopkeeper who had been standing aside to prepare.
The shopkeeper rushed out of the tea room in a hurry. Although he looked calm at this moment, his heart was already in turmoil. If he could really make ice, wouldn't the money he was short of be found?
Soon the shopkeeper brought all the basins in the shop and placed them in front of Li Yan in different sizes for her to choose from.
The shopkeeper said flatteringly, "Miss, I don't know what size this basin is suitable for. Please choose one. If you don't like it, I will go and buy it for you!"
Seeing the shopkeeper's serious expression, Li Yan smiled helplessly and then took the small copper basin: "These two will do!"
The shopkeeper saw that Li Yan had chosen two, and he finally felt relieved. He then took the other basins out.
About a cup of tea later, Yingyi brought in a package of something. The thing was wrapped in oil paper and it must be saltpeter!
"Can we start now?"
Li Yan nodded. She poured some water into the large basin, placed the small basin in the large basin, and then poured a little water into the small basin.
He opened the oil paper bag, took some saltpeter and poured it into the large basin. For a moment, several people stared at the changes in the basin. The tense atmosphere made the owner of the grain shop dare not breathe.
It seemed like a long time had passed, yet it seemed like only a moment had passed, and the water in the small basin visibly solidified into a piece of ice flower.
"It's done, it's done," the shopkeeper exclaimed in amazement. Before this, the shopkeeper actually didn't quite believe that this girl could make ice, but everything before him seemed so real.
Li Yan shook her head in dissatisfaction: "Try again! Shopkeeper, please help me record the amount of water and saltpeter!"
This time, Li Yan poured the same amount of water into the large basin, but added more saltpeter, and the shopkeeper next to her recorded the amount of saltpeter used.
Under the three people's unblinking gaze, a basin of water slowly turned into smoothie.
"Try again!" Li Yan said.
Since the expected result was not achieved at the first try, Li Yan continued to change the ratio of water and saltpeter. After several tests, ice cubes were finally produced successfully.
The water in the small basin froze into ice under the watchful eyes of the three people. As the water in the large basin slowly cooled and froze, the saltpeter dissolved in the water would crystallize again.
"It can actually be made into ice cubes!" Qin Yue said in shock.
Li Yan nodded but didn't say much. In fact, she was not very sure in her heart.
She just knew that saltpeter would absorb a lot of heat when dissolving in water, causing the water temperature to drop rapidly. As long as the ratio of water and saltpeter could be controlled well, she would be able to use ice freely in the summer.
Looking at the excited people, Li Yan pointed at the ice in the small basin and said to Qin Yue, "The ice in the small basin is edible, while the ice in the large basin can only be used to cool down and is not edible. Let me make it clear first, I only want the ice in the small basin."
As for the reason, Li Yan didn't need to explain too much. People present could also see something. It was because the water in the big basin was in direct contact with saltpeter.
Qin Yue keenly noticed why Li Yan needed ice: "Are you going to use ice to make food?"
Li Yan did not deny it, but smiled and told Qin Yue to come and take care of the business when the time comes.
Qin Yue readily agreed and said that he would send the ice to her at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow.
After sending Li Yan away, Qin Yue immediately sent a message to the manager far to the south, instructing them to start purchasing ice storage immediately and make preparations first!
In this way, when he sends the ice-making staff over, they can start making ice cubes immediately.
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