The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

In December of the 26th year of Qin Wangzheng's reign, Anlu County in the south was already very cold, but a workshop several miles away from the county town was still billowing with smoke.

As soon as Heifu, who was wearing a thick fur coat, got in, he felt a wave of heat: everyone inside was working in summer clothes, still sweating, and the air was filled with a sweet smell of sugarcane.

"Zuo Shuchang is here!"

A voice that sounded sweeter than sugarcane sounded, but it was Heifu's distant cousin "Yan".

He was originally a peddler who made maltose for a living in Yunmeng Township, but now, with Heifu's investment, he has transformed himself into the owner of this brown sugar workshop.

At this time, dozens of his men also saw Heifu, and they all dropped their work, and hurriedly knelt on the ground and bowed to Heifu.

"Quickly, don't be polite. It's important to watch the heat!"

Heifu was helpless. He arrived in Jiangling in November. In the middle of the month, he sent Li You south to Changsha. At the end of the month, he sent Ye Teng's family north to Xianyang. Although Heifu, who had been single for a long time, coveted the girl from the Ye family, he couldn't go with them. The order he received from the King of Qin was to arrive before the middle of spring and have time to go back home.

This time when he returned to his hometown, he felt the treatment that some provincial and national leaders who came from small counties in later generations received when they returned to their hometowns. Yong He, the magistrate of Anlu County who worked with Heifu, had been transferred. The new magistrate, county magistrate, and county lieutenant, regardless of their image as state cadres, went out of the city gate to welcome him. The heads of various departments who had a nodding acquaintance also lined up to get close to Heifu...

Heifu finally got rid of them and returned to his new home two years ago with his brother Zhong. What followed was the village officials and nobles who almost broke down the door. Heifu was annoyed and simply closed the door to refuse visitors.

The only people he invited to his home were the families of Dongmen Bao, Li Xian, Xiao Tao, and Ji Ying. Hei Fu apologized to them, saying that he had caused them to be unable to return home, but he would try his best to find a way to give his subordinates the opportunity to return home to visit their relatives, or to let their families go to Nanchang and other places as soon as possible.

Hei Fu also went to each township in person, asking the three elders of the township to help him gather the families of the soldiers who went south, to entertain them, and to tell them one thing.

"The king's order is difficult to disobey, I have to go to Xianyang to wait for the call. But Hei Fu will never abandon the 1,500 sons of Anlu! I bought two large ships in Jiangling, which can carry hundreds of people. They travel back and forth between Xiakou, Xunyang, and Pengze once a month. As long as the soldiers and their families want to visit their relatives, they can travel for free as long as they show their certificates and pass!"

After these words came out, the people of Anlu, who originally had some complaints about Hei Fu, were shocked and moved to tears. Some elderly elders at home often scolded Heifu for kidnapping their own children and never returning, but now they held his hand tightly, very excited.

"Although the county lieutenant has become the left minister, he still remembers the children of this county and regards us as fellow villagers..."

With the understanding of the families of his soldiers, Heifu felt that his money was worth spending!

The reward from the King of Qin, the plunder of the Chu treasury and the Lord of E and the Lord of Fanyang, plus the "fire consumption" of gold mining, Heifu now has a net worth of 100 taels, which is worth more than 1 million yuan when converted into half a tael of money!

But the two large ships alone cost Heifu one-third of his property, and were handed over to two Jiangling boatmen introduced to him by Zhao Tuo as the bows...

Of course, these two ships not only carried people, but also transported seeds, farm tools, cloth, grain and other items in Nanjun and Yuzhang. Not to mention that these are all legitimate goods, even if Heifu wants to smuggle some contraband, Zhao Tuo, who is in charge of the defense and checkpoints of Pengli Lake, is Heifu's sworn brother and will let him go with a wave of his hand.

In addition to the two large ships, Heifu took out one-third of the gold and opened this brown sugar workshop near Anlu County.

It happened to be the beginning of winter, and he harvested the ten hectares of sugarcane he planted. In addition to the wild sugarcane that he found by the edge of Yunmeng Lake and planted for three or four years and was slightly improved, there are also varieties that Heifu found in the old palace of the King of Chu in Jiangling during his tenure in Jiangling. After all, it is the sugarcane squeezed for the King of Chu to drink, which is much sweeter than wild sugarcane.

In this way, the brown sugar workshop has the possibility of operation.

Outside the workshop, more than ten cows or inferior horses pulled the wooden mill to repeatedly circle and squeeze the sugar juice from the sugarcane, which was then carried into the workshop by young and strong men. They were all the sons of soldiers who were hired by Heifu to help during the slack season. They were provided with two meals a day and were paid, which was also considered as Heifu's profit sharing with the soldiers' families.

In the workshop, more than ten stoves were lined up in a row. During the period of boiling sugar, the entire stove was kept on burning and boiling. The fire-making master continuously added firewood to the stove to ensure the stability of the fire during the boiling process.

Several sugar-making masters trained by Heifu's cousin Yan first boiled, filtered and disinfected the freshly squeezed sugarcane juice, removed impurities and dregs in the juice, and then poured them into the pot, stirring them up and down.

Under the boiling fire, the water in the sugarcane juice was evaporated, and the sugar juice slowly condensed and turned amber, floating in the large pot and emitting a sweet smell. Finally, the master extinguished the fire at the bottom of the cauldron, and then scooped the steaming brown sugar juice into the wooden trough and flowed it into the "sugar plate" to settle and cool, forming brown sugar blocks...

Tasting the freshly baked brown sugar, Heifu nodded with satisfaction, and asked about the sugar yield. Yan told him: "Just now, 1,000 kilograms of sugarcane were boiled out of 50 kilograms of brown sugar."

When they first made sugar three years ago, the sugar yield was about 2%, and more than 1,000 kilograms of sugarcane were boiled out of 20 kilograms of brown sugar.

Now, after using the new variety from Jiangling, the sugar yield has reached 5%. Although it is still far from the common 10% to 20% in later generations, it is a great improvement.

At present, a total of more than 2 million kilograms of sugarcane have been harvested, which can produce 10,000 kilograms of brown sugar...

Yan asked Heifu nervously about the price he expected, and Heifu gave him three different prices.

"Anlu can be sold for 100 coins. We are from the same village, so we don't need to make money. Jiangling needs to be sold for 150 coins to cover the cost and freight. If it is sold to Xianyang or Guandong..." Heifu made up his mind and called out a price: "Depending on the distance, 200 to 400 coins! No less! If it is sold to Qi or Yan, it will cost 500 coins!" Yan almost bit his tongue. He secretly calculated the cost of growing sugarcane and boiling sugar, and it was only 50 coins per catty. Heifu was too ruthless. However, in Heifu's view, even in the 18th and 19th centuries, sugar was a luxury rather than a necessity, so American plantations were so profitable. What's wrong with setting a higher price? If it can be made into white sugar in the future, the price will have to double! Moreover, the common malt sugar these days is not cheap either. The main reason is that it comes from grain, the yield is small, and the government does not promote it. The middle-class families can't eat it several times a year. Brown sugar is different. Sugarcane is easy to grow, and it is boiled during the slack season, and there are plenty of people. This is the first year. Every year after that, Heifu plans to expand production so that when people mention Anlu, they will think of brown sugar and their mouths will be filled with sweetness!

Instead of the birthplace of public toilets and the faint smell...

He has made up his mind: "I will leave for Xianyang in the middle of the twelfth lunar month. You must boil at least 2,000 kilograms before that, go north with me, and find a way to sell brown sugar in Xianyang!"

In the Qin State, every workshop, market, and stall, whether rented or bought, must have a clear owner, so that it is convenient to collect taxes and avoid inheritance disputes.

For example, Heifu's subordinate Man told him that there was a vacant land in the official market in Jiangling. Some people once asked him to join in the lease as a coffin shop, but Man refused. Later, because someone secretly bribed and operated, he was reported and a "Rui stealing and selling public land case" was made...

At the same time, government officials were not allowed to do business openly, so Heifu registered this industry under his mother's name.

Although in the view of Confucianism: sons and wives have no private goods, no private livestock, no private utensils, dare not take privately, dare not privately give. But in the Qin State, women undoubtedly have property rights.

For example, according to the "inheritance law" of the Qin State, if Heifu died unfortunately, his property would first be passed on to his sons. Of course, he is still a bachelor now, without a wife, where would the sons come from? So next, it is the turn of "let the father be like the mother". If both parents are dead, it is the turn of the widow, daughter, and grandson, and the brothers are ranked behind.

Moreover... does the Qin Dynasty only allow the widow of Ba to mine, but not the old woman of Anlu to make sugar?

Heifu's mother only cares about the radishes, winter melon, and onions and leeks in the field. When eating, she was shocked to hear that Heifu had registered the property worth hundreds of thousands of dollars under his name. I just feel that I can't sleep well at night, and I also say that Heifu might as well take the money to Xianyang.

"Or leave more for Jing. He is in Jiangnan. I feel sorry for him." The mother felt sorry for her little son and was about to cry again.

Hei Fu hurriedly comforted her, "I went to Xianyang and it did cost a lot. It is far from enough to rely on salary and harvest from the land. So I have to buy some property in Nanjun and Yuzhang. Jing is working there, so he can help me take care of it."

"Are you planning to grow sugarcane and make sugar in Yuzhang?" Zhong reacted.

"Yes."

Heifu said to his elder brother Zhong: "The climate in Yuzhang is hotter than that in Nanjun, and it is also suitable for growing sugarcane. I have 49 hectares of land in Nanchang. I will keep a few hectares to grow grain to pay taxes, and the rest will be all for growing sugarcane. In autumn and winter tomorrow, I will open a brown sugar workshop in Nanchang, which will be sold exclusively to Huainan and Kuaiji. Excluding costs, freight, and wages, the two workshops together will make a net profit of one million yuan a year, which should not be a problem!"

"Over a million yuan!"

Zhong and his mother were a little scared. His mother kept talking about how people couldn't take anything with them when they died, so why did they make so much money? At the same time, she reminded Heifu: "You are now the left minister. There has never been such a high-ranking person in the county. No one dares to marry you, but you are not young anymore. Jingdu has already married Lady Yan. It's time for you to get married, right?"

The mother became more and more angry, and finally pointed at the eleven-year-old Yang and said: "Is it going to be later than Yang?"

The older young man Hei Fu smiled and said, "Mother, you can rest assured about my marriage. Hei Fu has already fallen in love with a lady..."

"Are you serious?"

The whole family was shocked when this was said. His mother was so happy that she almost cried. She always thought that her son had too high standards and looked down on this and that. Zhong Ze and his uncle and sister-in-law looked at each other and felt very relieved. Niece Yue opened her eyes wide, wanting to know who was the lucky woman that Zhong Shu fell in love with.

Only Yang raised his head and said in surprise, "I thought Zhong Shu would stay single forever, and would not get married unless he was a general or a marquis!" Hei Fu's ambition was also told to his family.

"You are the one who has been single!"

Hei Fu stuffed a piece of meat into his mouth. When his family asked him about it, he pretended to be regretful and said, "It's just that she just went to Xianyang with her family, so I can only wait until we get to Xianyang to consider proposing marriage and other matters..."

This speech finally suppressed the family's new round of forced marriage.

With the military career coming to an end, marriage is indeed on the agenda. Although Heifu has managed his lower body rationally in recent years, it is not a good idea to continue being single and rely on his left and right hands.

Rather than marrying a woman who has never met and whose appearance and temperament are unknown like many people in this era, it is better to go for a good cabbage that has grown up and has some good feelings!

These days, it is rare to see a noble woman who can be polite to a black boy from a humble background, and even say "You should be proud of your achievements and not be ashamed of having no family name"...

Moreover, if this can be accomplished, it will also be profitable for Heifu. Although Ye Teng has a terrible reputation in Han, he has been operating in Jiangling for seven years, and it is not an exaggeration to say that "his students and old officials are all over Nanjun". And now, those subordinates promoted by Ye Teng have scattered to Jiujiang, Changsha, Dongting and other counties.

Thinking of this, Hei Fu set a small goal for his trip to Xianyang, which he was about to embark on tomorrow.

"A man should be a 2,000-stone official, and a wife should be Ye Zijin!"