Shui Ergui used to be the most ordinary villager in Peach Village.

At the beginning, his family only had three or four acres of paddy fields and a peach orchard.

Every year, he barely supports a family of five people.

However, his life changed from the eleventh year of Zhenguan.

That year, the cement road from Chang'an City to Liangzhou was in full swing, and Mitao Village became the first batch of cement road beneficiaries.

By chance, Wen Ying of the fruit shop came to Peach Village and transported the high-quality peaches here to the West Market for sale, realizing a win-win situation between the villagers of Peach Village, fruit merchants and the people of Chang'an City.

However, after the villagers saw that they could make money by planting peaches, they immediately expanded the planting area.

At first, everyone was relatively cautious, but when Wen Ying and a group of fruit merchants came to Peach Village to buy peaches in the second year, the villagers were completely uneasy.

In particular, the Shuiergui family, who planted more peaches, quickly changed from a poor peasant to a rich peasant, and the family rebuilt a large house, and all the surrounding villagers began to plant peach trees on a large scale.

After several years of growth, the peach production in Peach Village has reached a new peak this year.

However, Shui Ergui didn't feel happy at all.

Increasing production without increasing income, the situation that farmers are most afraid of, has now appeared in front of Peach Village and even the surrounding villagers.

"Second uncle, do you really want to sell peaches at a lower price?"

Shui Ergui watched his second uncle prepare to send a load of newly picked peaches to the side of the official road at the bottom of the mountain, and his face was full of confusion.

"Ergui, this is also a matter of no choice. Look at how many more peach trees have been planted this year than in previous years? Many peach trees that were planted a few years ago are now bearing fruit. Since last year, the price of this peach has obviously declined, and now many people have not picked it on a large scale, and the price is not particularly low. ”

The second uncle's words made Shui Ergui's heart cold.

It's not out of the question.

As the largest grower in Peach Village, Shui Ergui has lived a very comfortable life in the past few years.

Even though the purchase price of peaches has dropped since last year, he still makes a lot of money.

Otherwise, he would not be able to support all three children to go to school in Chang'an City.

Today's Shui Ergui has bought a courtyard in Chang'an City, the eldest son is studying in Guanshishan Academy, and the younger two are also studying in primary school, his mother-in-law lives in Chang'an all the year round, and he himself only returns to Peach Village every once in a while.

He didn't want his good life to suddenly disappear like this.

You must know that just last year, in order to further expand the area of Taoyuan, he also borrowed 500 yuan from the Tang Royal Money Village and bought three slaves to help work in one go.

If this year's peaches can't be sold, then how can it be?

"Second uncle, have you seen the shopkeeper of Nawen come to buy peaches in the past two days?"

Shui Ergui and Wen Ying are also old acquaintances.

It was the two of them who first got into a relationship.

But in the past few days, he didn't see Wen Ying come over in person, and he was still thinking about whether he should find a time to go back to Chang'an and visit Wen Ying.

"Shopkeeper Wen rarely comes out to buy peaches by himself now, and usually the guys in his shop come forward. But I heard the guy say, because peaches are easy to buy in recent years, there are a lot more people planting peach trees around Chang'an City, although these people's peaches are not as good as our peach village, but they can't stand the cheaper people. Therefore, the number of peaches purchased in their shop from our peach village is at most the same as last year, and they will not buy more. ”

As an elder in Peach Village, Shui Ergui's second uncle still knows a lot of information.

"The peaches on this tree are starting to ripen, and although they won't be good if they are picked in a few days, if they continue to be delayed, they will fall because they are too ripe, and they will not be able to sell for a good price. No, I'll have to go to Chang'an City in person and see if I can find a market for our peaches. ”

At this time, Shui Ergui finally felt a trace of worry and fear.

This year's weather has been smooth, and the yield of peaches is already higher than usual.

Coupled with the expansion of planting area, Shui Ergui predicts that this year's peach production in several villages around Peach Village will at least double that of last year.

If no one buys it, it's going to be a big problem.

"Let's go and see if we can find a few more shopkeepers to buy our peaches. It doesn't matter if the price is a few percent lower than last year, it's better than rotting in your hands. ”

The second uncle looked at the problem, and was obviously more pessimistic than Shui Ergui.

Of course, this also has something to do with his experience.

After living for so many years, I haven't encountered anything bad, and if I don't plan to do anything bad when I encounter something, I will often be even more unlucky.

……

In the laboratory of Guanshishan Academy, Li Geng looked curiously at Li Kuan directing the students there.

"Lord Wang, just put the fruits in a glass bottle and heat them, and then cover them with a cork, can you ensure that these fruits do not spoil?"

Li Geng thought that Li Kuan would have something complicated and fresh to come up with, but it turned out to be so ordinary.

He didn't believe that this would solve the problem of fruit spoilage.

"A lot of things, just because people don't think about it, doesn't mean it's complicated. You should have heard of the results of Tong Zhou's microbiology research institute, right? Whether the food spoils or the fruit rots, it should be caused by some microorganisms active in it.

Now we cut the fruit into pieces and heat it, this process can basically kill most of the microorganisms, and then seal it with a cork, and then apply a circle of whale oil to seal it after cooling, basically isolating the fruit in the bottle from the outside world. This kind of canned fruit is definitely a must-have item when going to sea. ”

Canned food is a thing that can be said to be ubiquitous in later generations, and its production itself is not particularly difficult.

Of course, it will be very difficult to achieve the kind of large-scale production that later generations will have.

Li Kuan didn't plan to get it to that level in one step.

Judging from the current situation, that is, the crew going to sea and the army marching to fight are in greater demand for this canned food.

Ordinary people basically can't afford to spend it.

In particular, the bottles currently used are glass bottles, and even if the cost is not high, the price cannot be reduced.

Otherwise, wouldn't glass be a worthless thing?

It seems that next time, someone will be arranged to fire a batch of porcelain to see how the canned food made of porcelain bottles is.

"Everything has already been made, in fact, you only need to leave it for a few days to know if the effect is good. Under normal circumstances, the fruit cut in this way does not have to wait until tomorrow, and it will be rotten directly. ”

Xu Jingzong expressed his views on the sidelines.

"If it can be done, it will be great, and I will never have to worry about not being able to eat fruit when I go to sea in the future. By the way, Lord Wang, can vegetables also be stored in this way? ”

Li Yixie looked at Li Kuan expectantly.

Although eating more fruits and vegetables can solve the problem of sepsis, this solution seems to be incredibly simple.

But Li Yixie has blind trust in Li Kuan, and after the crew repaired in Yazhou, the symptoms improved quickly, so he basically believed that this could really solve the problem of sepsis. Ranwen

"Naturally, you can. However, no matter what the method is, there is always a shelf life. This canned fruit may not spoil in half a year or a year, but if it is left for two or even three years, it may not be able to eat. After all, although we have killed most of the microorganisms, it is not necessarily 100% free of microorganisms. ”

Li Kuan felt that it was better to remind everyone that they should not take it lightly when the time came.

"Lord, I see that the folk make some pickles, if you add salt, things are less likely to spoil, can we ...... How about adding a little salt to the can? ”

Although Xu Jingzong didn't say much today, he could always get to the point.

No wonder Li Kuan feels that he is getting more and more comfortable to use.

"Yan, your reminder is too timely. When making canned vegetables, add more salt, which can make the shelf life of the canned food longer, even if you don't come back after going to sea for two years, you should still be edible.

However, if you canned fruit, it may taste strange if you add salt, so consider adding frosting to it, but the price will become higher. ”

"Does frosting also make canned fruit less spoilable?"

Li Geng didn't understand it very well.

It seemed to him that sweet things are easy to spoil.

"There will only be some fruit juice in this can, which itself contains relatively high sugar. If we continue to add frosting to it, the concentration of sugar will become higher. Ben Wang has a guess that no matter what kind of microorganism it is, its growth environment needs a more suitable environment.

Microorganisms may be able to multiply well in fruit juices with low concentrations, but the opposite may be true when the concentration is high. Of course, this speculation is correct, and the laboratory can do several more sets of comparative experiments to see what the results are. ”

Li Kuan has no way to explain to everyone why it is difficult for microorganisms to adapt to high concentrations of salt or sugar liquids, which involves the content of microbial structures such as cell walls, and now we can only let everyone prove it with experiments.

"What the prince said is right, as long as you do more experiments, you will know if this is the case."

Xu Jingzong, as always, brushed his sense of existence on the side.

"Okay, I'm going to go back and work with the Institute of Microbiology to redesign the experiment and find the best way to make canned food."

Li Geng felt that his voyage to the Americas seemed to have a little more security.

I was entangled in his affairs for half a year, and I was very happy when I saw that it was about to be solved.

"Research it as soon as possible, while researching, you can also contact Wang Fugui in the Yan clan, find a ready-made place in the workshop city, see how to change it, and get a canning workshop out." When the time comes, our 'Gewu Academy' will be able to use it immediately. ”

……

Shui Jun is an ordinary student in Guanshishan Academy.

Although the talent is relatively average, the advantage is that the learning attitude is more correct, and the grades are not bad.

In fact, most of the students in Guanshishan Academy are students like Shui Jun.

After all, genius is not a leaf on a tree, it is everywhere.

Today, after Shui Jun finished eating in the cafeteria, he returned to the dormitory for a lunch break normally, but he found himself at the gate of the dormitory yard.

"Aye, is something going on at home?"

Shui Jun was shocked, except for the time when he sent himself to school, he Aya had never come to the academy to look for him.

This suddenly appeared in front of him, and he couldn't help but be worried.

After all, Shui Jun basically goes back to his home in Chang'an City once or twice a month, and usually has the opportunity to see his Aye.

There is nothing special, there is no need to come to the academy to find yourself at all.

"I didn't ...... It's nothing, it's just that this time I just went back to Chang'an to live for a few days, and I came to see you by the way. ”

Shui Ergui said insincerely.

In the past two days, he has visited many fruit shops in the eastern and western cities, and Wen Ying also visited him.

But the results are not encouraging.

In the first two years, the peaches were so easy to sell that many farmers in the surrounding areas followed suit.

In addition, the planting area of other fruits has been expanding in recent years, although the living standards of the people in Chang'an City are also improving, and the demand for fruits is increasing.

But the increase is completely different, and peaches are no longer a sought-after fruit.

On the contrary, the production of peaches has increased dramatically, and the price has been declining.

The number of peaches that fruit shops in the eastern and western cities plan to purchase today is not expected to be as high as last year.

This can make the water two expensive worried.

In my own peach orchard, so many peaches are coming to be picked one after another.

This fruit is a seasonal product, and if you don't pick it when the time comes, it will rot and there will be nothing.

"Aye, when did you learn to lie? Your expression clearly tells everyone that you have something on your mind. ”

Shui Jun knows his loyal and honest Aya very well, and he can see at a glance that there is definitely something wrong with Aya looking for him.

"Actually...... True...... It's really nothing. I...... I just casually came over and asked. ”

Shui Ergui thought of Wen Ying's advice to him, and hesitated to make trouble for his son.

Shui Ergui has only spent more time in Chang'an City in the past two years, but Wen Ying is different, he is a native of Chang'an.

Wen Ying felt deeply about the many changes in Chang'an City.

The reason why Shui Ergui was advised to go to Guanshishan Academy to find Shui Jun was because Wenying had a full understanding of the energy of Guanshishan Academy.

Not to mention the others, as long as the students in it go through their classmates and senior brothers, they can do things that many people can't do with all the hard work.

Although Wen Ying didn't know how Shui Ergui's son was messing around in Guanshishan Academy, what was there not to do if he had no choice?

"Aya, whatever it is, just ask!"

"That's right, there are a lot of peach trees planted at home, and today the wind and rain are smooth, and it will definitely be a bumper harvest year."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"Listen to me first."

After Shui Ergui started, there was no pressure, and he directly told the situation he was facing at home.

"Aye, do you mean that no one wants these peaches now?"

Shui Jun has never had much contact with the society, and he hasn't figured out the peaches that have always been best-selling for a while, why is no one wanting them?

"yes, so I wonder if you can pay more attention to the academy and inquire more to see if there is a way to sell our peaches."

After Shui Ergui finished speaking, he looked at his son a little embarrassed.