The Three Kingdoms: I asked you to save Guan Yu, not to destroy Sun Quan.

Chapter 574 Yellow Mud Water Lamination Sugar Making Method

What the hell?

Guan Xing jumped out of bed in shock, nearly losing his composure as he yelled, "Brother, don't scare me!"

Mi Wei was taken aback and said, "Shouldn't this be a good thing? Why are you acting like a frightened cat who's come back to life?"

Guan Xing said irritably, "It's good before the argument, but is it still good after the argument? Xiao Hu has already gone back to her parents' home. If she finds out she's pregnant, she'll probably kill me!"

Arguing is a minor matter; Guan Xing could easily coax her back by taking a few days off and saying a few kind words to the Sun family. But now that she's pregnant, the difficulty has increased exponentially because Sun Luyu is now holding the emperor hostage and commanding the princes. Plus, there's his father-in-law, who has always been prejudiced against him. Even if he doesn't die, he'll be in serious trouble.

Thinking of being manipulated by his wife and bullied by his father-in-law, Guan Xing couldn't help but shudder and quickly asked, "Brother Wei, what does cutting bamboo have to do with pregnancy? Is there any superstition behind it? Don't scare me!"

Mi Wei pondered, "Well, once you're pregnant, you become a mother. Maternal instincts can trigger nesting behavior. Some women only develop this behavior when they're close to giving birth, while others develop it as soon as they get pregnant. It varies from person to person. You didn't notice your wife exhibiting nesting behavior while pregnant. I don't know if she's lucky or you're unlucky."

“Back then, your sister-in-law was eight months pregnant when she got the whole family to cut bamboo strips and weave bamboo cages. I’ve been there, I’m not lying to you.”

“It’s over…” Guan Xing plopped down on the bed, staring at the ceiling with a look of utter despair.

If Guan Yu found out about this, even if he didn't want to go to the Sun family and be subservient, Guan Yu would still have to whip him.

Liu Shan, always eager for a good show, pulled half a sugarcane from Jiang Wei's arms and, while chewing, advised, "In my opinion, you should take some generous gifts to the Sun family as soon as possible to invite your wife back. The longer you delay, the angrier your wife will be, and the angrier she is, the harder it will be for you to invite her back. It's a vicious cycle."

After saying that, he snapped off a piece of sugarcane, took a few bites, and spat it onto the ground.

Guan Xing was even more desperate upon hearing this, and cried out to the sky, "I still owe my sister-in-law a debt, I'm so poor I'm about to sell my blood, where am I going to get a generous gift that can impress the Sun family?"

Although Guan Xing's business was booming, he didn't actually have much money. To put it bluntly, he possessed power rather than wealth. In terms of the ability to mobilize resources, he was much stronger than the richest man, but in terms of cash flow, he couldn't even compare to a hair on the richest man's head.

Thinking of this, Guan Xing suddenly jumped up, looked at the group with ill intent, and said with a smile, "Brothers, who among you has money to lend me first?"

Mi Wei spread his hands and said, "Don't look at me. All the money in my family has been given to His Majesty for military expenses. My whole family is wearing patched clothes now. If you don't believe me, ask His Highness."

Although the Mi family was the richest family in Xuzhou, that was twenty years ago. After meeting Liu Bei, they gave most of their assets to Liu Bei to start his business. After Mi Fang betrayed Guan Yu, they even gave away the last bit of wealth they had. Now, the Mi family is like the Guan family, with a high political status, but their wealth has basically been wiped out.

Helpless, Guan Xing looked at Liu Shan again. Liu Shan did not reply, but instead turned to Guan Xing while munching on sugarcane, showing him his robe, which had two patches on it.

Even the crown prince wore patched clothes, which shows how frugal the Shu Han rulers and ministers were, and how harsh Liu Bei was on himself in order to fight the war.

Guan Xing had given up hope and was pondering where to scavenge some more when he saw the sugarcane in Liu Shan's hand. Overjoyed, he took the sugarcane, examined it for a moment, and hurriedly asked, "Your Highness, where did this come from? Do you have any more?"

Liu Shan said, "The peddler brought them from Jiaozhou. I bought some because they looked delicious. What's wrong?"

Guan Xing said excitedly, "If I think about it carefully, winter month seems to be the season when sugarcane ripens. Your Highness, you are truly my savior! Boyue, quickly go and buy all the sugarcane you can find in the market. Let's go and prepare other things to make sugar. I want to give my wife a surprise."

After saying that, he ran out of the tent, but halfway there he suddenly turned back, found a scarf in the box, wrapped it around his face, and then left.

His face was covered in scratches from his wife. If outsiders saw them, wouldn't they all know that his wife had beaten him up?

First he got beaten up by his sister, then by his wife. How embarrassing would that sound if word got out? Doesn't Marquis Shence have any dignity?

After taking precautions, the group split up and Guan Xing ordered people to find several large pots, several stone mills, and other essential tools for sugar making. He also found a craftsman to make minor adjustments to the stone mills and cut out a few small grooves.

At the same time, Jiang Wei led his men to search every corner of the city, collecting all the sugarcane and filling two whole carts.

The two met and looked at the mountain of sugarcane on the truck. Liu Chan asked curiously, "You even know about sugar making. How are you planning to make it?"

Guan Xing laughed and said, "Your Highness, just watch. Boyue will wash the sugarcane, cut it into half-foot-long sections, and throw it into the stone mill to extract the juice."

The history of sugar can be traced back to the Zhou Dynasty, but at that time only maltose was available, and limited productivity led to the slow development of sugar-making technology. It was not until the Han Dynasty that a small step forward was made, and people learned to make sugar from sugarcane. The method of making sugar from sugarcane was recorded in detail in the "Monthly Ordinances for the Four Classes of People" written by Cui Shi in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Unfortunately, due to technological limitations, the resulting sugar was called rock sugar, which is basically just syrup with a slightly bitter taste that is hard to describe.

This situation continued until the Tang Dynasty, when Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, sent people to India to learn sugar-making techniques. After improvements, they were able to produce "granulated sugar," which is similar to later sugar, achieving a technological breakthrough in sugar production.

It's worth mentioning that the person Li Shimin sent to India to learn sugar-making techniques was named Wang Xuance. Once in India, Wang Xuance turned around and destroyed the country.

Getting back to the main point, the Han Dynasty currently has no white sugar, which is what Guan Xing is going to make.

First, wash and cut the sugarcane into sections and put it into a stone mill to extract the juice. Then, pour the juice into a pot and boil it over high heat. During the process, add a small amount of wood ash water to neutralize the weak acidity of the sugarcane.

After boiling, let it stand for a while to allow impurities to settle. Then filter it simply with gauze and pour the clarified sugarcane juice into an iron pot. Continue to boil it over firewood to evaporate the water. During the process, you need to stir constantly and skim off the foam. As the juice gradually darkens in color and becomes more concentrated, you can stop boiling when it becomes a sugar paste.

Then, place the sugar paste into a mold and let it cool and set completely to form brown sugar bricks.

Finally, find a clay pot, which is a cone-shaped tool that is wider at the top and narrower at the bottom, with a small hole at the bottom. Block the bottom with straw, put the brown sugar brick into the clay pot and press it down, then cover the surface with a layer of yellow mud. Then slowly and evenly pour clean water on top. As the water gradually seeps in, impurities are absorbed and filtered out by the yellow mud particles. After repeating this process several times, take it out. At the top of the clay pot are the white sugar crystals that have become lighter in color and have higher purity, while the lower part of the clay pot is slightly darker in color and has a lower purity, which is brown sugar. It can be further processed or eaten directly.

This is the most common ancient method of sugar production using yellow mud and water.

Under the watchful eyes of Liu Shan, Mi Wei, and others, Guan Xing worked tirelessly for two whole days and finally produced the first batch of white sugar. However, the color was somewhat dull, far from the snow-white granulated sugar of later generations.

But there's nothing we can do about it. The candy of later generations is all made with advanced technology and ruthless techniques. Guan Xing doesn't have that ability. It's already good enough that he can make the candy we have now.

Liu Shan's mouth watered at the sight of the white sugar. He grabbed a pinch and was about to put it in his mouth to try it when he suddenly remembered something and turned to ask, "Anguo, this stuff isn't poisonous anymore, is it?"

Guan Xing took a bite first, then took out a bamboo tube to collect all the sugar and said, "You can try it later. I'm taking this sugar to appease my wife. Goodbye."

Liu Shan: "..."

It's fine to appease your wife, but you can't take it all! You're not leaving us anything at all!