Xiong Huai wanted to introduce steamed buns and other foods made of flour, but there was no physical object for a while, so he could only introduce: "This thing is obtained by scooping rice, and it is extremely difficult to make, so the widow wanted to ask the two of them if there were any other tools that could make wheat rice into powdered flour." ”

Zhao Ju and Ji Yan shook their heads at the same time, indicating that there was no such tool yet.

Xiong Huai suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

It would be great if there was no such thing as a stone mill in this day and age.

Xiong Huai suddenly became serious, and said to Li Qiu: "Disperse all the entourage in the hall, everyone is fifty steps away from this hall, and no one is allowed to approach, and those who trespass will not be killed." ”

Li Qiu was taken aback, and immediately bowed down and said, "Only." ”

Qu Yuan and the three of them were also shocked when they heard this, King Chu was going to talk about a big thing.

Especially Zhao Ju, not long ago when he encountered this kind of thing, it was when the King of Chu changed the strategy of the Chu State, and this time the matter was also not small.

After all the attendants left, there were only four people left in the temple.

Xiong Huai took out two pieces of jade from his waist, then stacked them together, then turned the jade on them with his hands, and asked Zhao Juji: "Two Xianqing, if two well-polished stones are rotated like this, can you grind wheat into powder?" ”

The production of stone mills does not have much technical content, less is just a spark of thought.

As soon as the king of Chu demonstrated with beautiful jade, he often dealt with craftsmen, and often practiced it himself, and he instantly figured out the operating principle of the stone mill.

Before Zhao Ju could answer, he nodded and said, "King, this matter is feasible, and it is not complicated to make such a stone, it is easy to make it." ”

Zhao Ju then agreed: "Your Majesty, what the Doctor said is very true, this matter is easy. ”

Seeing that he had already figured it out, Xiong Huai was overjoyed and said: "Okay, if the widow entrusts this matter to the two virtuous ministers, can it be made into a stone mill that can grind wheat into flour in three days." ”

Zhao Ju already replied: "The minister will definitely be able to complete the king's entrustment." ”

"Okay." Xiong Huai praised and said, "The three virtuous people should know that wheat can not only be cultivated in winter, but also the yield must be higher than that of corn. ”

"And the reason why wheat is rejected by the people is that it is difficult to eat. If wheat is ground into flour, then the drawbacks of wheat that are difficult to use will be completely avoided, and in this way, my Chu country will also have one more staple food. ”

Xiong Huai has no doubt about the edible effect of wheat or flour, after all, this is the common choice of history and the masses for thousands of years.

Seeing that the three of them understood and realized the change in the status of wheat in grain, Xiong Huai continued: "Therefore, the widow intends to keep the matter of stone milling strictly secret, and set up a separate camp in a remote mountainous area, so that the craftsmen who make the stone mill can make mills in the camp, and send wheat and rice directly to the camp to grind flour. ”

"The king is wise." The three of them said in unison.

If the minister is not lost, he will lose his body, and if the king is not secret, he will lose his country.

All three agreed to the matter of secrecy.

Zhao Ju's eyes glanced at the bowl of flour that had been scooped out, and he was suddenly startled, and hesitated: "King, if flour can change the status of wheat and rice in grain, then how many people know about this bowl of flour?" ”

When Qu Yuan heard this, he immediately said: "King, please block the palace gate and strictly prohibit anyone from leaving the palace." ”

Xiong Huai shook his head and smiled: "It's okay to do this, not only will the widow not keep the flour secret, but he will also take the initiative to declare this matter in the future." ”

Food is no better than others, and if only one or two people can use it, it is the delicacies of the mountains and the sea, and it is not beneficial to the country at all.

If ordinary people can use it normally, then there is no way to keep it secret.

So Xiong Huai had no intention of keeping it secret at all.

Between the doubts of the three of them, Xiong Huai smiled: "Of course, the news leaked out is not a stone grinding surface, but a stone mortar to make rice. ”

"In the next few years, flour will appear on the tables of nobles as a luxury that can only be enjoyed by nobles."

Zhao Ju asked, "What does the king mean?" ”

Xiong Huai said: "It is difficult to make rice, it takes a lot of manpower and time, as long as a noble person only eats a little flour per meal, then it will take a farmer to repeatedly cook rice for half a day or even a day." ”

"No matter how big or small the country is, the number of nobles is not a few, and it is an extremely tiring thing to make rice, and then the countries will consume a lot of manpower."

For this, Xiong Huai has just been verified from Cai He.

It was only twenty catties of flour, and the official who managed the diet of the king of Chu actually said that there was a shortage of manpower.

If a large-scale noodle banquet is held, all the flour needed is made in the form of rice, and how many people are needed to prepare it, Xiong Huai thinks that this is a very luxurious thing.

Xiong Huai laughed at himself: "The five colors are blinding, the five tones are deafening, the five flavors are refreshing, galloping and hunting, making people crazy, rare goods, making people do trouble." ”

"In the past, Qi Huan Gong once said: The widow has a disease, the widow is lustful, and often makes the lord rotten in wine and meat rotten. The widow thinks so, and the color eating is also, and the Buddha can forbid it. ”

"If the food made of flour is exquisite, it will inevitably enter the menus of the nobles of all countries, and the nobles of all countries will inevitably follow suit, even if the matter of rice is difficult, it must not stop the nobles of all countries."

For all kinds of pasta, although Xiong Huai can't make it himself, it's still okay to come up with ideas.

In the Warring States period, where there were very few cooking methods, using flour to attract the attention of nobles from all over the world, Xiong Huai still had confidence.

Qu Yuan said: "What the king means is to consume the strength of various countries through flour. ”

Xiong Huai nodded.

He hesitated and said: "King, the effect of the stone grinding is unknown for the time being, and it is simple to make, I am afraid that it will not be able to hide from the countries for long." ”

Xiong Huai doesn't care about the worries that have been teeth, the most difficult thing in the world to pierce is undoubtedly the thin layer of paper, and the most difficult thing in the world to produce is probably the spark of innovation.

Xiong Huai is not worried about other countries, and can invent a stone mill from scratch in a short period of time.

Of course, if there is really such a genius, it will not have a big impact on the Chu State.

Xiong Huai smiled: "It's okay, once my Chu State decides to promote wheat on a large scale, the matter of stone milling can't be hidden from other countries at all." ”

"But as long as the stone mill is made public, people are sent to various countries to purchase wheat through various means, and a large amount of wheat can be stockpiled in advance."

"Nowadays, countries do not pay enough attention to wheat and rice, if we stage a big drama in Chu State, trigger the pursuit of flour by nobles and feudal princes, and then raise the price of wheat and rice, and call on the people of Chu State to plant winter wheat, we can reduce the vigilance of other countries at the same time, but also buy a large amount of wheat from various countries, it will be great."

Zhao Ju asked, "What does the king mean?" ”

Xiong Huai smiled, turned his head to Qu Yuan and said, "Xianqing, I don't know if you are willing to contribute to the Chu State, but are you willing to temporarily bear the infamy for several years?" ”

Qu Yuan heard the words and said: "It's only been infamous for several years, why worry about it, and the minister is willing to die for the king." ”

Xiong Huai praised: "Okay, then I will be wronged by Xianqing." ”

That night, a small piece of gossip quickly spread in Yingdu.

It is said that Dr. Sanlu presented a bowl of flour to the king of Chu today, and the food he made tasted extremely exquisite, and the king of Chu was immediately overjoyed, and sighed that the flour was the first in the world. For this reason, the king of Chu ordered at that time to let all the attendants in the Chu palace and even the palace guards go to the rice.

It is said that on this night, the king of Chu ate the rations of ten strong men for a day.

It is said that flour is made from a stone mortar...