It was a life-changing change.

Originally belonged to the small palace maid under the head of the garden bureau of the Shang Sleep Bureau, she was in charge of the errand of sending fruits to the palaces, but she learned a lot of things privately, and she also used it at this time, and was in charge of the spice shop in Zhancheng.

When Cao Ruomu and Cao Ruoying's two daughters arrived, they were only responsible for announcing the results of this official workshop last year, the reward standards, and the top three stewards of the spice workshop, and the rest were distributed by the chief steward.

Entering the workshop, Cao Ruomu and Cao Ruoying, the two favored concubines from Lin'an Mansion and belonging to the top aristocratic family, were instantly dumbfounded.

If it is described as Grandma Liu's entry into the Daguan Garden, it is not an exaggeration.

The chief steward of the spice shop is only a woman in her early twenties, and at this time, she is leading the eight-grade official and enjoying the dividends of the official land in the Red River Delta, which is the time to be in high spirits. I can't help but say that there are a few more copies.

"Our lord has long foreseen the business here, before the city was not managed by us, the first batch of craftsmen had already arranged, and the process or something had already been planned, and I was originally brought out of the palace, I really thought I was going to die, but who thought it gave us a big future."

"This side is to the left, covering an area of thirty acres, and the spices made are for eating. To the right there are fifty acres, and the spices are made for painting, and a mile further through a courtyard, where is the canteen, and then there is the most valuable place in the spices, where several masters are there, where essential oils are produced. ”

What are the spices to eat.

Many of them are very expensive in Lin'an, and even the aristocratic families only have a small amount of things, which are piled up here.

Perilla, which has only become popular in Lin'an City in recent years, especially the rare spices used to fry snails and boil mutton, are worth a little money even if they are a leaf in Lin'an, and the kitchen of the Cao family will drop a piece on the ground, and it will inevitably be picked up and wiped with a clean cloth.

And here, as if it were forage for a horse, a cart was pulled in.

And then it was piled up on the ground like hay.

The chief steward of the spice shop said: "There are also planted in Lin'an, but the treasures in the palace are not good." The seeds are planted in early March, early April, and planted in the garden in early May, and buds are seen in early August, and the seeds are mature at the end of September. There are special people to take care of it, and the job is not low, but there are many here. ”

"And this, Shell. The price of procurement in the palace is also extremely expensive, and it is definitely not much worse than pepper. Here in the deep mountains and old forests, there are countless wild ones. ”

Cao Ruomu asked, "Will these be shipped to Lin'an in the future?" ”

The head manager of the spice workshop shook his head: "I don't know, I don't care about this, I just ensure the quality and handle the spices well, and then bottle what needs to be bottled, and bag what needs to be bagged, and it's not my business to ship it there." ”

Cao Ruomu originally thought that these were transported to Lin'an, and I was afraid that they would be worth a lot of good money.

Spices, originally produced in South Asia and Southeast Asia, used to be controlled by merchants, or in the form of tribute trade from small countries here, a small amount of trade with the imperial court.

Cao Ruoying asked, "How many kinds of spices are there here?" ”

The chief steward of the spice shop could reply without thinking: "There are thirty-seven kinds of ones that can be used, and some are under study, all of them are forty-seven, and as you go deeper into the forest, there must be others." It is divided into seven categories by taste, and there are seven kinds of pungent, hemp, fragrant, sweet, clear, bitter and medicine. According to the use, it is divided into three kinds, giving fragrance and flavor, removing different fragrances, and coloring. ”

It's really insightful, even if they come from a noble family in Lin'an, the two sisters of the Cao family have never heard of dozens of spices to eat.

Then went straight to the essential oil workshop, through the middle area, there was a large tree in the middle, and the two daughters of the Cao family deliberately looked at it twice.

When I arrived at the essential oil workshop, I really couldn't even understand it.

Here's a finer breakdown.

First of all, it is medicinal, what belongs to digestion, skin, breathing, and so on. Then there is the division of fragrance types, the division of essential oil raw materials, and so on.

There are also flowers, leaves, roots, etc., which are a very complex system.

Lined up, it can't be pure white glass, some green glass bottles, hundreds of them.

There are those who are specifically responsible for research.

Pour a little with a pure white fine porcelain plate, there is no instrument, purely rely on the master's own ability.

The chief manager of the spice workshop asked someone to take a few small bottles, and after signing, he held the vials in front of the Cao family sisters: "This is clove essential oil, in addition to incense, it can repel insects, treat toothache, and make rough skin thinner." There are still many uses, and the city of Cochin is still researching, so we just need to know how to extract and how to produce here. ”

"And this one, exclusive to this side. Rosemary essential oil is refreshing and refreshing, and the fragrance is also very peculiar. Speaking of these essential oils, even the ladies in the palace may not have heard of or used them before. ”

I really haven't seen it.

After all, this chief steward also came out of the Great Song Palace.

Cao Ruoying asked curiously: "What is dipterocarp, can you let our sisters see it with their own eyes." ”

The head of the spice shop covered his mouth and smiled: "The two ladies saw it just now. It is the big tree in the courtyard, and this place was chosen as the spice shop because of that big tree. ”

The tree is ten feet high and seven thick.

Song Shi's circumference is four feet eight inches, and the length of an ordinary person's hug is a circumference.

Came to the tree again: "Originally, we didn't know whether the dipterocarp came from this tree, or some documents and classics copied from the merchants, as well as the documents and classics in the Dayue Palace, only to know that this is the dipterocarp tree, this tree has been seen according to our understanding of wood, I am afraid that it is at least three hundred years old." ”

"Originally, we all thought that we should go further south to find dipterocarp. Since the Tang Dynasty, there are classics that record that dipterocarp comes from Boli, according to the Tang Dynasty classics should be Guangzhou Mansion to the south in 20 days, and the brother of the water master has calculated, I am afraid that it is still very far from here, at least two thousand miles away. ”

"Take fresh and tender branches and leaves, and you can extract dipterocarp tablets."

"But according to the research, we have found that there are five different kinds of similar trees, although they can all make dipterocarp tablets, but the taste and yield are different, and there are gentlemen who specialize in studying trees are already researching. However, I know that this tree is excellent for making farm tools to build houses, it is hard and durable, and it is not afraid of moisture. The weather here is so humid that many of the furniture that was originally brought out of Lin'an has broken down. ”

The chief steward of the spice shop knew that these two were Han Jiang's concubines.

I also know what these two people are coming from.

So in addition to the limited confidentiality, I can tell whatever I ask, and I will talk about it in great detail.

Cao Ruomu began to be envious in her heart, because she had heard that Han Jiang was going to take the wood of the dipterocarp tree to Qian Xinyao to build a new house in the Xishan Courtyard.

This wood is so luxurious.

This is the most primitive idea in Cao Ruomu's heart, but unfortunately she doesn't know that there are too many such trees here.