Chapter 45 Tu Tangliao (2)

But it seems that the color of this sugar is very dark, deeper than the usual brown sugar, almost the so-called "brown sugar".

The things flowing down from the clay tank are black in color. Wen Tong knew that this is "molasses" - during the refining process, as the sugar continues to crystallize, the dark mother liquor is left behind. This mother liquor still contains a lot of sugar, but it cannot be separated by economic means. It was not until the 1970s that the sugar in it could be recycled and utilized. Earlier, as a kind of material, molasses could only take the path of comprehensive utilization. The most promising function is to make wine - the raw material of rum is molasses.

Workers said that what was leaked was called "slurry sugar". They could continue to boil it into a kind of black sugar, which could also be used to make food, but it could not be exported.

Wen Tong shook his head, it would be better if he didn't make this kind of brown sugar, but the economic value was too low, so it was not as good as making wine. He asked:

"Is there anyone who makes white sugar or rock sugar here?"

Several workers only shook their heads after hearing this. Liao Dahua translated that no one in Xuwen, Haikang and other places made sugar rock sugar. All sugar houses made such red sugar, and some made sugar bricks. The method is to boil the sugar juice until it is paste according to the cooking method of making red sugar, then take it out and pour it into a large iron basin, stir it frequently with a wooden stick, and pour it into a square sugar frame after crystallization, and cut it into pieces with a knife to make brick sugar. The brick sugar is wrapped in a large bamboo basket with dried cane leaves, with 50 pieces per basket.

Wen Tong remembers that the real method of making sugar appeared in the late Ming Dynasty. It used the method of pouring yellow mud and water. This method is not technically difficult, so why is no one using it locally?

Wen Tong calculated the entire sugar making process and calculated that the daily red sugar produced in this sugar liao was about 100 kilograms. The scale was so small. From the whole process just now, although the leading fire burner was very familiar with the entire process, he was obviously inexperienced when operating it. No matter how much firepower is, how long the sugar is taken out, or how much lime is added, they all seemed very hesitant. The quality of the sugar produced was obviously not high. Moreover, because the stove was poorly constructed, the firepower was difficult to adjust, and the sugar liquid was burned several pots. After adding lime, the precipitation was poured out before filtering, and there were also a lot of sugar lost. There were still many improvements here.

While thinking, someone brought several nearby sugarcane farmers. Wen Tong asked about their situation one by one. The planting area of ​​these sugarcane farmers was very small, only a dozen acres, and only 30 to 40 acres. According to them, each acre can produce about three stones of sugar. After they planted sugarcane, they sent it here to process sugar. This sugarcane used the method of sharing the feed for processing: sugarcane is divided into 40% and sugarcane farmers is divided into 60% and in some places, they paid for processing, and the products are all included in the sugarcane farmers. The cost of both sides is similar.

According to sugar farmers, whether it is produced by sugar lagoon or commissioned by sugar farmers, most of the sugar can be transported to Hai'an Street in Haikang and purchased by sugar shops. Most of these sugar shops were opened by Chaozhou and Cantonese people, specializing in the export of soil sugar. Bags of sugar are shipped from Hai'an Port.

"How much does it cost to grow sugarcane like this?" Wen Tong was curious.

"One acre can earn six or seven thousand cents," said a sugarcane farmer in the middle. "Although the donation tax is heavier, the profit is pretty good, but the interest rate is high. If you pay back the principal and interest, you can't lose a lot of money."

"Interest?" Wen Tong felt strange. Can you still borrow money if you plant sugarcane?

"This is why the men don't know the difficulties for us farmers." The cane farmers smiled bitterly. "Although the promising prospect of growing sugarcane is quite expensive, it consumes too much water and fertilizer. Just buying fertilizer is a big expense. When it doesn't rain, you have to hire people to traffic. When collecting sugarcane, you have to hire small workers. The expense of a mu of land costs at least four or five thousand cents. If the countrymen have no cash, they have to go to someone to borrow money."

The interest rate for the loan is 15 to 20%, which seems not high, but after the sugar is processed, it must be shared equally with the creditor. In this way, the income will be reduced by half out of thin air. Wen Tong and Chang Shide both think that the usury is really bad enough.

"I understand." Wen Tong nodded and said, "I am a new takeover here, and I still want to give you some benefits. During this time, all those who come to me to make candy will be charged 30% of you."

"Thank you for your kindness!" Several sugarcane farmers were so grateful that they almost had to kneel down and kowtow. This was equivalent to collecting 10% out of thin air, and each household could afford a lot of money.

After sending everyone away, Wen Tong returned to the hall, Liao Dahua and others followed suit.

"Shopkeeper Liao, you are the shopkeeper of the semicolon here, and you have been delayed for several days. Hikvision's semicolon--" Wen Tong was unwilling to go.

"It's okay, it's okay," Liao Dahua said quickly, "Isn't this Haikang semicolon just for Master Guo? The things he cared for, the young man naturally had to do his best." Although he thought he was the shopkeeper of the Qiwei semicolon, he was actually not a bodyguard who practiced martial arts. He was originally a bankrupt businessman. The Qiwei's semicolon in Leizhou was not a bodyguard, but a cooperation with Master Guo to do business. It was just right for someone like him to preside over it.

"He's old man." Wen Tong thought that Guo Yi was really awesome now. He said now: "There is no one here now, so he has to ask for help. He has to find a foreman and a candy-cooking chef. These are all top priorities. If we are not familiar with the place here, we will be more troubled."

Although I have seen many disadvantages in the process just now, technical transformation is not something that can be done in a day or two. Not only do I need equipment, but also basic facilities to be transformed. I don’t have the time to do this at the moment. The pressing season is about to begin. For the time being, Xiao Gui and Cao Sui continue to use the old method to produce sugar as soon as possible. It is serious.

"It's easy to say, it's easy to say." Liao Dahua nodded repeatedly, "It's all on Xiao. It will definitely be done within three days."

"Don't worry too much about the wages. Now is the time to use people. By the way, if you can recruit long-term workers or someone who sells their bodies, you can just collect the reliable people who choose Lao Cheng."

"Yes." He took a step forward and lowered his voice a little. "If there are suitable girls, would you buy a few of them to take care of the daily life of Manager Wen and Shi Ye Chang? Now Guangzhou has only sent two rough women, who are rough and big-handed, and I am afraid that they will not be able to serve them well."

"Okay." Chang Shide quickly said, "Don't be too young, and you can't be too thin."

Wen Tong looked at him in embarrassment. This guy was a little too anxious. It was not that he didn't have this idea. The Executive Committee also granted them the power to recruit indigenous people locally, but now he just settled down and was in a hurry to find a woman, so the image was not good when he passed it back.

"I think this matter is slow," said Wen Tong. "We just came to Leizhou and have to go to various places to see it. I'm afraid we'll run for a few weeks. I'm going to buy a maid on the road and it's more convenient for the pair of children to follow." The pair of children standing next to him blushed when they heard this, and bowed their heads without saying a word.

Liao Dahua was stunned, glanced at him for a moment, and suddenly showed a look of "sudden enlightenment" on his face:

"Yes, yes, little abrupt."

The two of them didn't understand what he had "suddenly realized", but now they had to do too much and did not go into it in depth. It was too late at this time, and Liao Dahua and others dismissed. The bodyguards he brought were all living in the village to guard the village. Liao Dahua dared not take it lightly - Xuwen was the most chaotic place in the entire Leizhou Prefecture, and various bandits and strong men were rampant. The Gancane Village and Tangliao, which had a lot of property, were the targets of their robbery. Zhou Shizhai took Li Biao to live outside the house of the two, and took care of them at any time.

In the evening, two servants sent from Guangzhou came to pay their respects. Although these two servants were not big-sleeved and round-waisted women, they looked thin and shriveled, but they were very powerful. They first sent a new deep and large bathtub, and then brought a wooden bucket of hot water and many soap beans. The two of them ran around for two days, and were dusty. It was necessary to take a bath like this. Wen Tong immediately took off his legs and soaked in the hot water for a while before climbing out. He sat on a bamboo stool and applied his body with soap beans. Although the soap beans were a bit unpainted, the place they applied was slippery and greasy, and it also had a fragrant smell, which was much better than the soap distributed in the General Office of the Lingao.

"Old Chang, help me apply soap." Wen Tong said to Chang Shide, who was soaking in hot water, closed his eyes and resting.

"You are called Wenxiu, brother. Isn't this one? You just do this. Let me enjoy it again." Chang Shide soaked in hot water with an expression of ecstasy.

Wen Tong thought it was right, and he could rub his back or something. Then he straightened his throat and shouted. Wen Xiu came in from the next door in response. He had changed into a short shirt and trousers and jacket, barefoot.

"The master's body is really strong." Wen Xiu said while rubbing his back hard.

"Hmph, just his thin appearance, he is still strong?" Chang Shide made a rustling sound of water, "Look at my chest muscles - the ghost-headed knife is not in vain."

Wenxiu didn't dare to speak anymore. Wen Tong said, "Who can you learn Mandarin from?"

"I learned it from Butler Sun."

Wen Tong and Chang Shide had already known before leaving that the butler Sun was Sun Chang, the main indigenous staff at Guangzhou Station.

"Xiao Guo has raised a lot of people."

Wen Xiu hesitated for a moment, not daring to confirm that the "Xiao Guo" mentioned by the master was the Lord Guo whom they regarded as gods. He hesitated for a moment before answering:

"Yes, there are not less than a few dozen people." Wen Xiu rubbed very attentively and was well-rounded. "Everyone learned Mandarin from Mr. Sun. Master Guo said that this was all prepared for the men who were coming in the future-"

Chang Shide laughed a few times: "Xiao Guo is really good at doing things. As soon as we arrived in Leizhou, the servants were all in one place. Otherwise, there wouldn't be even a person who could speak." He yawned, "Today is so boring, reminding me of watching folk performances. By the way, what are the plans to improve sugar making?"

"There are some improvements, but there will be no time to make major changes for a while. Let's deal with it first." Wen Tong signaled. Wen Xiu scooped out clean water from the bucket next to him to rinse it. The warm water washed his body, which was very comfortable. "Go to the field tomorrow to take a look, and then you will go to other farms and sugar shops to check the situation."

"Come on, rub my back too!" Chang Shide crawled out. His body was much stronger than Wen Tong. Although he was a fat man, he exercised more often. After a few days, he did a lot of physical work, including muscles on his chest, abdomen and thighs. Wen Xiu looked at his body in awe and envy, and said with a charming smile:

"The master really has a good physique." He rubbed his back.

"I think there are too many sugar basins, so I'd just merge and cancel it, and come to a general factory with intensive production to transport all sugarcane for unified processing. It's easy to increase the scale, and it's easy to use sugarcane bagasse."

"I think too, but farmers like to process nearby. Who would like to travel through mountains and rivers to sell sugarcane? It's so troublesome. The road here is not easy to walk." Wen Tong said, "Look at the dispersion of these sugarcane farmers. If they are scattered very open, the sugar industry in Leizhou will be a coffee table."

The problem he thought was actually much more complicated. Today, he had already known a general idea of ​​Leizhou's sugar industry, and what should be done below remains to be examined. As for the improvement, it is far from just a problem of processing equipment and production technology. In the sugar lair, he had checked the sugar cane used to squeeze juice, which was actually bamboo cane. This is a sugar cane native to China. Although it is a special sugar-pressing variety, its sugar content is not as good as "Kunlun cane" - although the latter is actually fruit cane. Even in Leizhou, where sugar cane is unique, the sugar content of bamboo cane is only 9%, which is far lower than the general standard of 14% of modern sugar-making varieties. From this point of view, there is great potential for improvement in sugar cane itself. The agricultural department has preserved seedlings of some good sugar cane varieties, so you can try to plant them here. As for field management, there should be more improvements.

"Yes - alas, oh, it's so comfortable. Is your massage skills good?" Chang Shide felt very comfortable being served and couldn't help but moan.

"The young people have learned the full set of skills to serve people." Wen Tong massaged his back hard as he pleased.

"Or elsewhere are roughly processed and brown sugar is transported here to summarize and process it into white sugar?"

"I think so too, but I have to look at the situation in various places in detail."

After the two took a shower, the servants came to dump the dirty water and clean up the house, and took the clothes they had changed to wash. After a while, they put on dinner again. They also served wine. Xuwen's local "Xuwen Liquid", a kind of local wine made of jackfruit. Liao Dahua and Zhou Shizhai Zuo accompanied them on the table. Both of them drank a symbolic glass. Wen Tong didn't drink much, and finally all the wine was basically given to Chang Shide. Although he was not drunk, he was a little drunk. Wen Tong couldn't help but asked Wen Xiu to help the guy back. He originally wanted to talk to him about things at night, but now it seems that he can only sleep when it's dark.
Chapter completed!