Infrastructure masters in the red building

Shortly after the southeast navy wiped out the northern pirates, the third prince finally moved to the East Palace.

Entering the East Palace meant that the third prince was only one ceremony away from being the crown prince.Based on this, the ruling and opposition parties all believed that the third prince was the candidate for the crown prince in the emperor's mind, and there would be no other changes.

The third prince's heart that had been suspended for a long time was finally relieved.

The third prince was not very happy - he didn't like changes.Moving to the East Palace was not a small change for him.

The third prince, Zhou Deyu, had a problem with choosing seats since he was a child. Even if he changed a room or a bed, it would take him a long time to get used to it. He would huddle pitifully on the bed and keep his eyes open until midnight, until he was overwhelmed by fatigue. The fear brought about by the change made him fall asleep drowsily.

Moving to the East Palace this time, it is even more so, all affairs are different from those in the Palace.But thanks to his busy affairs in supervising the country, he barely had enough time to sleep on his pillow every day, so he managed to get through the first few days.

But if you think about it carefully, there are changes everywhere in the details of life today.

There were faint footsteps around him, and the Third Prince raised his head, only to see that the sky was getting dark, and the little eunuch of the East Palace brought in candlesticks for lighting.In front of him was a cupronickel chandelier, on which were five snow-white and crystal-clear smokeless candles, which had not yet been lit.

The little eunuch put the cupronickel candlestick on the narrow wall at the entrance, and then took out something from his sleeve.The third prince heard a soft "wipe", and knew that the little eunuch was lighting a candle with a match.

The whole capital should be using matches - the third prince thought.

Although this object is small, it spreads very quickly.After all, it is so convenient, you can start a fire with just a light rub, which is not the same as those who used fire knives, flint, stone, and sickle in the past.The price is cheap, ten cents a box, so it can be used for a long time if you save it.

The little eunuch lit the candles one by one and quickly put away the matches.The third prince only glanced at it, and saw that the matchbox was plain, and it should be specially for the Eastern Palace.

I heard that the matches bought by the people outside have colorful pictures on the match box, which is said to be a complete set.This picture has become one of the reasons that attract people to buy it. Many children pester adults all day long, begging to take off the picture and keep it for collection.

Even not only children, many adults are also collecting this thing, never tired of it.There are people in Dongmen Night Market who specialize in exchanging these, and some even buy them at a high price.

The little eunuch picked up the candlestick, put it in front of the third prince's desk, and placed it on the desk.The case of the third prince was so bright that it even made him feel that the light was a bit dazzling.

"Pick out two, from now on only three will be enough." The third prince ordered.

"Yes!" The little eunuch hurriedly picked up a pair of small silver scissors and cut off two candle wicks.The light was suddenly soft, and the Third Prince felt his heart gradually calm down.

A while ago, the East Palace bought it, saying that it bought a newly made paraffin smokeless candle in the north, and the price was only half of the original candle used in the palace, which was unbelievably cheap.When I used it, I found that it was bright and good, and there was no smoke.I really don't know where this paraffin is picked, it's so cheap.Some people say that this white paraffin is extracted from fierce fire oil, but no one believes it.

But the third prince didn't even like this kind of "positive" change that looked pretty good.

He always vaguely felt that these changes would lead to changes in the world—with convenient matches, everyone would no longer use fire knives and flints. Wouldn’t fire knives and flints become discarded and useless things?

With cheap and bright candles, everyone will no longer need oil lamps. Wouldn’t those small traders who specialize in zero-valuing lamp oil lose their livelihood?

Recently, I heard that even the east palace has changed the stove in the back kitchen - with briquettes that are easy to ignite and clean up, no one will chop firewood for fire in the future, and woodcutters will no longer need it. How do workers find a way out?

Batches of commodities from the north were transported into the Central Plains, and the people in the Central Plains happily used them, and then gradually lost their original livelihood?

It's all Rongguo Mansion, it's all Rongguo Mansion! ——The third prince put down his pen and sighed.

The reconstruction of stoves using briquettes started in Rongguo Mansion, and then it was spread from generation to generation, and everyone said it was easy to use.Every household is changing their stoves, which seems to be a trend in Beijing.

In the end, even the East Palace couldn't resist, and if they didn't change the use of briquettes, it seemed that the East Palace had become old-fashioned?

Why did these changes happen so quickly that he was caught off guard?

The third prince picked up his pen again, continued to act as director, and tried his best to put aside the matter of Rongguo Mansion: Even if Rongguo Mansion made him unhappy again, he would not touch a single hair of Rongguo Mansion.

A while ago, the prince was assassinated, he exhausted all his efforts, but he couldn't find out why.Therefore, he got a bad reputation. Some people in Beijing said that the prince's assassination was related to him.

Now because of this rumor, he has to take good care of the remaining brothers, and the brothers' family members are the same.

The Rongguo Mansion has benefited from this. No matter what the mansion does in Beijing now, the third prince is not easy to do anything.Once he moved, someone might say that he treated his siblings harshly.

Forget it, Rongguo Mansion, don't move if you don't move, and don't be afraid that they will turn the sky upside down.

The third prince looked at the documents in front of him, and he felt a little proud again: he and the courtiers negotiated and ordered all shipping ports, whether it was seaports or inland rivers, to start collecting landing taxes.

The landing tax is the same as the original road tax. As long as you land/transit, you will be charged [-]%.

The road tax that His Royal Highness had finally cut back in the past was in his hands, changed and re-launched, and immediately became a "New Deal" under his rule.

As for which types of goods should be taxed, the power is all in the hands of the third prince.Now what he wants to check is which commodities can be exempted from this "landing tax".

The third prince also had a list in his hand, which was full of people related to his mother's clan pleading with him to come to the Times: tea, silk, porcelain...everything is a lucrative industry.

According to this list, the third prince ticked off each item, thinking to himself: In fact, it doesn't matter whether people change or not, everything is for profit.Like him back then, he tried his best to prevent the prince from reducing the road tax, and now he advocates increasing the landing tax-but it is a profit, and it will come from whatever is beneficial.

In addition, the power still has to be held in one's own hands.

Before he moved into the East Palace, and after he moved into the East Palace, there was such a stark contrast between the warmth of human feelings and the coldness of the world, which he had never experienced in his entire life.

But now he doesn't plan to settle with these people one by one, he still plans to obediently, obediently, and plan well for these people.After all, he kept these accounts one by one, and when he ascended the throne, it was time for these people to pay his debts.

When the third prince promulgated the new policy, no one in the court said anything.After all, shipping is becoming more and more frequent now, and the port handles more and more goods every year.There was no landing tax before, which was a loophole.The New Deal is all about filling the loopholes.

But once the list of "exemptions" came out, there was an uproar in public opinion in the ruling and opposition parties.

"Zhou Deyu, I've never seen you compete with the people for profit like this." The crown prince Fu Xia Xingshen has always spoken bluntly, "The luxuries and luxuries are not taxed on shore, but the needles and threads are taxed? In this way, the people of the capital Wouldn't it be another layer of exploitation?"

The third prince's expression was indifferent.He is now the master of the East Palace, and his staff has also changed a lot, and even recruited many old people from the prince back then.In such a situation, there is no need for him to speak. Naturally, someone can refute:

"Master Taifu is talking about the paraffin, matches, and briquettes that go south, right? Taifu knows that these items are half cheaper than the original equivalent goods in Beijing, and the profits can support it. Presumably the Northland produced these things low cost."

"Besides, if the tax is increased by [-]%, the price of goods entering Beijing will naturally increase by [-]%. Even so, it is still cheaper than candles and firewood in the past. How can it be called exploiting the people? This is clearly the common gain of the people and the country. Li. My lord's words are wrong."

The staff of the East Palace are eloquent and have first-rate debates.

The third prince was also secretly proud of it.

Unexpectedly, news came out from the Li Palace outside the capital the next day, saying that His Majesty the Emperor had opened his mouth to enlighten Taifu Xia, telling Taifu not to be too sad, saying that the third prince "he is just a fool, don't be as knowledgeable as him".

The "stupid" third prince was so frightened that he quickly changed the list of "exemptions". All goods are treated equally, and the landing tax is uniformly changed to [-]%.Now it is finally fair, and the dispute between the government and the opposition has suddenly become smaller.

No one else knew that the third prince secretly left behind.

When the third prince returned to the East Palace, he stood in front of the palace, staring at the gloomy and lifeless palace, feeling very uncomfortable.

The prince died in Dongping Palace, not here.Therefore, there is nothing unlucky about this mansion, besides, it is the East Palace.When the emperor is not in the capital, the entire capital is the most honorable place.

But the third prince still felt depressed, probably because as soon as he arrived here, he naturally remembered those emotions that he used to bow down in front of the prince but harbored resentment.

"But I have a clear conscience," the third prince said, looking at the palace in front of him, "It was you who made a mistake first, which caused the disaster of death."

The third prince interrogated King Dongping and found out that it was the prince who asked the actor to go to Dongping Palace for a tryst. This kind of thing happened more than once before.

That's why the Prince's whereabouts were found out, and he was shot dead in one fell swoop while he was on the order.

"Although I'm not talented, I can't clear up your grievances for you, but it's not my fault." The third prince almost said this out loud, in front of all the eunuchs and court ladies.

With great difficulty, he held back, looked at the low-browed and pleasing servant beside him, and said, "Go and inform Madam... Just say I'll be there at night."

But in the evening, the third prince reviewed the memorial and was able to approve it above all, completely forgetting his earlier promise.

Unexpectedly, at midnight, a mournful cry sounded in the main hall of the East Palace.The third prince shook his hand, and a ball of ink suddenly appeared in his pen.

He tossed his pen angrily, and was about to ask what happened, when his wife rushed in with her hair disheveled, with a pale face, tremblingly said: "There are ghosts, Third Highness, there are ghosts..."

It turned out that the third imperial concubine had been notified by her husband, and waited until the daylily was cold in the inner hall, then she put on her clothes and went out, intending to go to the third prince's study, and ask face to face, whether she will come or not.

Unexpectedly, when she passed the main hall of the East Palace, she suddenly saw a figure in white standing faintly in the center of the main hall.

The third prince received the letter, brought a few people with him, held torches and candles, and rushed into the main hall of the Eastern Palace together—where else is there anyone else?

The main hall is spacious, and it is cold and windy at night.The third prince only felt a chill down his back.

He suddenly remembered: Although the prince did not die in this palace, the princess did.When the princess was guarding the spirit of the prince, she retreated from everyone and died by swallowing gold.

This poor woman didn't get a happy marriage in her life, but she had to lose her life because of it.

The third prince suddenly felt the hairs on his back stand up one by one.The ghost that my wife saw in the palace, could it be the Crown Princess?

Unexpectedly, at this time, the two maidservants pointed to the outside of the hall and said in unison: "There!"

The third prince, his wife, together with all the eunuchs and maidservants, witnessed a snow-white figure passing through the courtyard outside the East Palace in an extremely fast manner, and instantly flew up to the cornice of the opposite palace, stopped there, and then jumped into the air , disappeared immediately.

There is only a bright moon in the night sky.

The third imperial concubine was so shocked that she passed out on the spot, and immediately started to have a fever after waking up.Donggong hurriedly invited the imperial physician.

As soon as the imperial physician invited him, news of the ghosts in the East Palace spread immediately.Moreover, it was not only the East Palace that was haunted by ghosts, but everyone outside said that it was the prince who came back and asked his brother for his life.

As for who this brother is, the first prince and Jia Fang are both in the south, the fourth prince has been living in Taixue day and night recently, and the East Palace only has the third prince who has just moved in not long ago, and there will be no one else except the third prince for this life-threatening object.

Hearing these rumors, the third prince was almost so angry that he wanted to grit his silver teeth to pieces.On the surface, he had to pretend that he didn't care about the matter, and continued to play the image of his emotionally stable Prince Jian Guo.

But in the dead of night, the Third Prince was still terrified.After all, there were so many eyes in the vision that night, everyone could see clearly, it wasn't him dreaming.

"Second sister-in-law, is second sister-in-law really you?" The third prince said silently.

"The death of you and the second brother... really has nothing to do with the little brother!"

"Please don't come to look for my little brother again, I can't help you either!"

Taoyuan Village.Jia Fang took the eldest prince to Shengli New Village.

"The boiler you saw last time has already been installed. I promised you back then, let's take a look together."

"Second village or first village?" The eldest prince already knew some ways.

"Second Village." Jia Fang replied.

"If you don't make their sweet potato flour properly, what are you doing with this boiler?" The First Prince muttered, but his face was full of curiosity, obviously he wanted to know what surprise the Second Victory Village could bring him this time.

"Now Ercun's sweet potato products are mainly sweet potato flour, various vermicelli and vermicelli—" Jia Fang introduced to the First Prince.

Both sweet potato vermicelli and vermicelli are eaten in Taoyuanzhai, mainly hot and sour vermicelli and vermicelli in various pots.In addition, this kind of product is very popular in the north - the Xiaoyuan Industrial Zone makes more stews and soups, and vermicelli vermicelli are added to the stews and soups to absorb the soup, which is more delicious than the meat in the dishes.

"The other thing is dried sweet potatoes." Jia Fang took out a small paper bag from his arms, which contained a small bag of orange-red sweet potato sticks, with a fine layer of sweet potato starch sprinkled on the surface to prevent sticking.

The eldest prince took one and put it in his mouth, chewed it carefully, nodded and said: "It's sweet and tough, it's good as a snack for children."

Jia Fang smiled and said, "It may last a day or two if you give the soldiers dry food."

The eldest prince nodded and said: "Yes, this thing doesn't need to be cooked, and it will make you very hungry after eating it... But just relying on this alone will cause heartburn, so it can only be used as an emergency."

Jia Fang thought for a moment: That's right.

"What's the matter? I've been around sweet potatoes all day long. It's sweet potatoes picked from the ground and there's nowhere to put them, or something?" The eldest prince finally became suspicious.

Jia Fang smiled and nodded: "There is really no place to put it."

"Didn't you dig a cellar and build a barn?" The eldest prince didn't quite believe it.

"Because the sweet potatoes in the second village have produced a good result of [-] catties per mu this year," Jia Fang said.

The eldest prince was shocked this time: "Four thousand catties? I remember they planted hundreds of acres. Isn't this—sweet potatoes are going to be spread out?"

Ercun's sweet potatoes have been planted since last year.Over the past year, the villagers of the second village have gained a lot of experience in how to grow seedlings, how to transplant, and how to harvest.Coupled with the warm climate in the south, this sweet potato can be grown almost all year round.

Jia Fang found the records in the books: As for sweet potatoes, as long as they are bred properly, any variety can produce two to three thousand catties per mu—but that was in his time and space.

However, whether they are officers, soldiers or transformation targets, Ercun is very curious about this fresh crop, and the large and large sweet potato fruits produced last season have also greatly boosted their confidence.This season, the second village continued to work hard, growing an average yield of [-] jin per mu, which shocked the entire Taoyuan Village.

What crops can produce four thousand catties per mu?

But as soon as the yield per mu of sweet potatoes increased, a problem arose—sweet potatoes were not resistant to storage.The climate in Taoyuanzhai is warm and humid, and the sweet potatoes will rot immediately.

That's why Jia Fang was in a hurry to process the produced sweet potatoes into various products, such as vermicelli vermicelli and dried sweet potatoes. In addition to these, the "boiler" that was transported from Xiaoyuan to Taoyuanzhai last time was needed.

This "boiler" is not exactly a "boiler", but a fermenter.The processing method for sweet potatoes is to make it into starch first, then hydrolyze the starch into sugar and then ferment it. After fermentation, it is purified to produce a rather magical substance-sodium glutamate. It has another well-known Name: MSG.

However, the first prince had no sense of substituting for Jia Fang's introduction of these terms and procedures, showing a confused look, and asked: "MSG?"

Jia Fang nodded: "Yes, the essence of umami."

He ordered someone to invite the chef who was in charge of the spoon in the cafeteria, and after only a few instructions, the chef in charge nodded and went. When he was young, he brought over two bowls of "small pot rice noodles" that were exactly the same.

The eldest prince showed regret: "Don't you eat hot and sour noodles?"

Jia Fang didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "You have to try something fresh, right?"

Unexpectedly, the villagers in Taoyuanzhai finally developed rice noodles made of rice milk, but the eldest prince still misses his hot and sour noodles.

But the appearance of the "small pot rice noodles" in front of us is really attractive - the rice noodles are cooked directly in a small copper pot together with the broth.The fat and thin minced meat is put into the pot along the edge of the pot when the rice noodles are being cooked, boiled together with the broth and rice noodles, then add salt, red oil and spicy peppers, and sprinkle a handful of green pea tips. It is pleasing to the eye.

Satisfied, the eldest prince pulled out his chopsticks and asked, "Are these two copies mine?"

Jia Fang nodded: "Try which one is more delicious."

The eldest prince was rude at the moment, and regardless of the heat, Xilihulu took a big mouthful of rice noodles, followed by a wave of the spoon, and immediately it was a spoonful of soup.I saw him bow left and right, and the powder soup was served.Not long after, the two small copper pots were eaten clean.

The eldest prince, who had wiped everything clean, turned his chopsticks upside down and nodded to one of them, saying: "This bowl is fresher."

Jia Fang smiled and looked for the label pinned to the ears of the copper pot. He took it apart and saw that the pot pointed by the eldest prince had two words "monosodium glutamate" written on the label.

"As expected, the taste is even more delicious." The first prince who tried it himself expressed his admiration.But when he saw the "monosodium glutamate" that Jia Fang showed him, it was just so inconspicuous, a small handful of white crystals, no different from salt, the eldest prince was surprised again——

"Is this... really sweet potato?"

"Yes, only this amount of monosodium glutamate is produced from hundreds of catties of sweet potatoes." Jia Fang pointed to the small jars containing monosodium glutamate.

"Wouldn't it be that the labor cost is incredible." The first prince visited the production of sweet potato flour last time, and was very impressed with the sweet potato crushing machine driven by animal power.

Obviously, the processing of this monosodium glutamate is much more complicated than that of sweet potato flour. Besides, it takes a lot of labor to process hundreds of catties of sweet potatoes into such a little "essence" of umami.

Who knew that Jia Fang said with a smile: "No, there are not many workers here. Follow me."

The first prince was full and just about to get up to eat something, so he followed Jia to walk around the Shengli Second Village.They saw a group of people gathering in front of a factory building in the village. There was also a long chimney above the factory building, which was a bit like the "big guy", and it was spraying white steam.

Jia Fang led the eldest prince to squeeze into the crowd, only to see that there was still a sweet potato crushing machine inside.A teenage "reform subject" is carefully flicking washed sweet potato tubers into the feeding port.

There is a mechanical roar from the feeding port, and it can be vaguely seen that there are revolving teeth inside, twisting large pieces of sweet potatoes into pieces.

But last time when the eldest prince came, he dragged the wheel, and the two mules that crushed the sweet potatoes disappeared, replaced by a machine that was completely pitch black, with its mouth open, and the flames burning in the hearth could be seen.It is this machine that drives the twisting teeth to completely grind the sweet potatoes.

"Bronze Ring Three Six, come, let Your Highness see how you operate this machine." Jia Fang said loudly.

In front of the machine, a young man covered in pitch black and his face covered in black ash turned his head, saw Jia Fang and the First Prince at a glance, and shouted cheerfully: "Alright—"

He immediately picked up the shovel, shoveled up the coal and sent it into the furnace.The flame in the hearth instantly became brighter again.

Immediately, everyone heard a heavy sigh from the huge machine, and then the joystick moved, driving the gears to rotate, reaching the twisting teeth, and naturally crushing the sweet potatoes fed into the feeding port.

"There are no rivers in this area, so there is no way to use water resources." Jia Fang spread his hands, "But in order to save manpower, so that everyone can have Kung Fu Cuju, and have the opportunity to go to the Yihong Activity Center to sing and watch plays, so I approved a A single-cylinder steam engine was given to Ercun, specially used to crush sweet potatoes."

First Prince: Okay... You are indeed generous enough.

The author has something to say: Today's update is sent, see you tomorrow.

Just a few words about MSG.Monosodium glutamate, monosodium glutamate, freshness enhancer.

The use of monosodium glutamate was once very popular, and every family used it. If it is not used, it seems that something is missing.But later, for some reason, the word-of-mouth of monosodium glutamate reversed. People began to think that this artificial flavor enhancer was harmful to the body. Fewer and fewer families used monosodium glutamate, and some began to use chicken essence (in fact, some chicken essence is monosodium glutamate added to chicken soup flavoring, The ingredients are similar to the original monosodium glutamate), and some restaurants have begun to advertise "do not use monosodium glutamate at all".

However, studies in recent years have shown that the claim that MSG is harmful to the body is unfounded.Vegetables with MSG may be slightly higher in sodium, so you will feel thirsty after eating, but MSG is not harmful.

In addition, the preparation method of monosodium glutamate is indeed as described in the article, it is purified by adding starch to yeast and fermenting.The monosodium glutamate can make Jia Fang a small profit, plus a small hole for someone.