When the servant came in to report the outcome of the case, Mak Hui was tasting the newly made 粔籹 (jù nǚ) in his workshop.

It is a kind of dessert, with caramel and wheat flour in harmony, kneaded into thin strips, grouped into bunches, twisted into rings, fried in oil in the kettle, crispy and sweet, the same as honey bait, is the snack that the nobles in Guanzhong like very much.

Mai Hui, the elder of Zuo Shu, who was over forty years old, took a bite of the basket, wiped off the fine crumbs from his mouth, and said with satisfaction:

"The things that are blended will be sweet, sour, bitter, bitter, and salty. Saltiness is needed by everyone, and people in Qidi, Donghai, and Hedong are especially fond of heavy salt. Sour, bitter and pungent, the world may not like it, Jiangnan is hot, rice and soup fish, like sour; There are many ginger, pepper, dogwood, and pungent in Bashu. The bitter taste is loved by few people. ”

"But from babies to old age, no one doesn't like sweet tastes! This is especially true in Guanzhong! ”

Sweetness can always evoke a pleasant feeling, and the tradition of Guanzhong people who love sweetness has a long history. A thousand years ago, when the Zhou people migrated to Zhou Yuan, they issued such a praise: "Zhou Yuan is a prion, and the violet is like a glutton." "That is to say, how fertile and beautiful the land of Zhou Yuan is, and bitter herbs like violet also grow as sweet as sugar......

The reason is that wheat comes from the West, and Guanzhong is the earliest and most place in the world to grow wheat, so I learned to make caramel from malt early.

At present, Zuo Shu Changmai's family is the largest supplier of starch sugar in the whole Guan, and he has 74 hectares of land distributed along the Zhengguo Canal, almost all of which are planted with wheat. Wheat that needs more water than millet and millet is lush under ditch irrigation, and countless golden wheat crops can be harvested every summer.

Steamed wheat rice is hard to chew and difficult to digest until you eat it, so the nobles barely eat a little bit of it, mainly out of the tradition of "tasting new wheat". Ordinary people are also generally eaten as emergency food when the green and yellow are not in stock, and in Guanzhong dialect, "wheat rice and vegetable food" and "wheat rice bean soup" are used to describe the hardships of life.

However, Zuo Shu Changmai does not feed on wheat, but has a unique vision, and uses a large amount of wheat grown by his own family to make caramel sugar!

The production of caramelis is more complicated, first of all, it is necessary to let the wheat grains soaked in water germinate, and then mix, ferment, and filter the mashed malt and steamed glutinous rice, and after many processes, the sugar solution can be made, and then repeatedly stirred, boiled, and crushed, and the caramelization is formed.

With a hint of sweetness, it has become the only dessert that people in the world can eat except for precious honey......

"The rich eat honey, and the Chinese eat food." This is a fixed tradition for thousands of years, so Mai's and Shi's, who specialize in collecting honey in Zhongnan Mountain, monopolized the dessert market in Xianyang South City, and the more than ten vendors, without their supply, couldn't get along for a day.

Honey and sugar are only small trades, and the profits are not as good as wine, meat, salt, and iron, as well as cloth and lacquered pottery, but hundreds of thousands of dollars are also recorded every year.

However, this balance was broken by the group of merchants from Nanjun......

From the beginning of the appearance of brown sugar in Xianyang City, Mai Hui felt its strangeness, pieces of brown sugar like horseshoe, extremely hard, different from the softness of starch sugar, and the entrance is as sweet as honey, which has been given the title of "stone honey" by the city people.

What's even more frightening is that those Nanjun merchants took out two thousand catties of brown sugar to sell in one go, and the price is lower than that of caramel, and everyone likes things that are good and cheap, and the rich families in Xianyang are flocking to it.

In addition to being stunned, Mai Hui also sent his subordinate merchants to inquire about the production method of this brown sugar, but the Nanjun merchants were secretive, even if Mai Hui asked people to come forward and buy it with tens of thousands of dollars, they all strictly guarded this secret.

Seeing that there were few people buying candy in the store under his control, Mai Hui lost patience, and he decided to teach these reckless Nanjun merchants a lesson, and together with Shi's, he asked the merchants to report the brown sugar store.

Xianyang has a large population and many cases, in order to facilitate management, Xianyang Ling has set up a prison officer in the three areas of Zhangtai, Beigong and Nanshi, and several Lingshi under his command are specially responsible for trying trivial cases.

Although Sima Xin, the prison officer of Nanshi, has always been careful and refuses to accept bribes directly, he is a flexible person, and he has opened the door for Mai and other nobles. The commanders under him have all taken honey, sugar, and rice baskets as gifts.

So in Mai Hui's mind, he found a loophole in the rented shop, and asked a doctor to testify, saying that brown sugar consumption is harmful to the body, even if he can't get that Nanjun businessman in prison, at least he can't do business!

If you can't get it, then destroy it! Mai intends to blast competitors out of Nanshi and ruin Brown Sugar's reputation to maintain its monopoly.

"Let them know who has the final say in the honey industry!"

Sima Xin is simply, this case will be tried today, Mai Hui also has an official position, although it is just an idle errand, but because of his identity, it is not good to appear in the court, those Nanjun businessmen, just leave it to his subordinates to deal with.

However, the lawsuit that I thought was in my hands ended in a fiasco!

Just as Mai Hui was about to feast, the servant cried and mourned, and reported: "Lord, that Sima Xin doesn't know what's wrong, he saw us smiling and kind on weekdays, but today he has a straight face, first refusing the benefits that he secretly handed over, and then talking in public about the way of being a servant and the strictness of the law, and then he personally urged Ling Shi to list the evidence and refute the testimony one by one. ”

"In the end, the businessmen of Nanan County were acquitted and could continue to sell sugar in Nanshi, and the more than ten businessmen who reported and testified were all convicted of false accusation and detained as prisoners!"

After listening to the servant's words, Mai Hui's eyes widened, the other party was unscathed, and his own army was completely annihilated? What's going on!

He was extremely angry, and scolded after a few shots: "What does Sima Xin mean? Bullying me, this Zuo Chang, is just a title passed down from his father and ancestors, and he has no real power? ”

Mai Hui was angry, and immediately got up, planning to find his in-laws Shi, although the two families did not have high-ranking positions, but they had a lot of contacts, and they were ruthless and operated, so it was not impossible for Sima Xin to lose his official position.

But just when the Mai family and the Shi family were about to make things bigger, they were stopped by an uninvited guest......

When the visitor told the two of them in a subtle tone who was behind those Nanjun businessmen who sold brown sugar, Mai Hui and his in-laws Shi couldn't help but gasp!

"I couldn't collect honey, but I stabbed the hornet's nest!"

……

The three-day celebration of the establishment of the empire has not yet ended, and all parts of Xianyang City are still immersed in feasts, and the small courtyard where Heifu lives is also staggered.

Yan Yan's face was flushed, and he toasted to Heifu: "Although I was taken away by the government and the store was confiscated, I am not worried at all, because my brother knows that Zuo Shu will definitely be able to protect me!" ”

Heifu smiled but did not answer, saying that his brother did not need to be polite, and he turned to Ba Zhong and saluted:

"The art of war, knowing oneself and knowing that the other side will win all battles, thanks to Brother Ba's news, otherwise I wouldn't know, behind those businessmen, there is also the support of the Mai family and the Shi family, and this matter cannot be solved so quickly."

Ba Zhong was polite in his mouth, but he was very sorry in his heart.

He thought that this was an opportunity for Heifu to owe him a favor, so he proposed to him: "It is really hateful that the Mai family and the Shi family disregard the law of the country and disturb the market. But as a gentleman, it is not convenient to intervene in this matter, Xianyang is not a southern county, Zhonglang Huling has just arrived, many places, I am not familiar with it, it is better to let me do this matter, I will be able to return Yan's innocence. ”

Heifu politely rejected his kindness, wrote a letter casually, and asked his subordinate Dong Fei to deliver it to Sima Xin, the prison officer of Nanshi City, on his behalf, and the matter was solved and solved......

"I'm not the only one who wants to show favor to Heifu."

Ba Zhong is very helpless, after all, Heifu is now a close minister of the emperor, and he has a bright future in the future, who doesn't want to please?

It's a pity that Heifu would rather ask Dong Fei and Sima Xin for help than owe Ba Zhong favors.

Heifu has his own plans in his heart: "The Yidao Rebellion three years ago was an official business, but today, it is a private matter. I am now the emperor Lang Wei, and if I stand tall, I am also prone to falling. Although Qin Shi Huang favored the widow Qing, I must also pay attention to the distance when I interact with these rich people......"

Personal relationships may exist, but when it comes to interests, you have to be cautious.

Besides, what can be done with a letter, why slaughter a knife when killing a chicken?

Yan was overwhelmed by the strength of the wine, and soon became drunk, and Heifu asked the servants to drag him to the guest room to settle down, and he and Ba Zhong were the only ones left at the table to continue chatting without saying a word.

Just as Ba Zhong was hesitating to say the proposal in his heart, Sang Mu came with a letter of worship in his hand, saying that three people were visiting outside.

"Three?"

Heifu thought it was Dong Peng, Sima Xin, and Li Liang, but when he looked at the post, he found that the names of Mai Hui and Shi Gong were written on it, as well as an inconspicuous "Shiren Yan".

"Okay."

He smiled: "These two people finally found out who is behind Yan." ”

Mulberry said that the three of them were humble in their words and brought gifts, probably to confess their mistakes.

Although it is not advisable to settle the dispute, but Heifu is not a pawn who can be manipulated now, he has come to this point with his real military exploits, as the emperor's side of the Zhonglang household order, and Li Si secretly supported the henchmen, and even the Nei Shi Teng, who is in charge of Xianyang and Guanzhong, is his old boss.

There are only two left chiefs and five doctors who have no real power, he doesn't care about it!

So he didn't plan to reconcile with those two families just like that, so he said, "Just say I'm drunk and can't see guests!" ”

Ba Zhong on the side glanced at the third name on the worship post, his face changed slightly, out of the kindness of his friend, he dissuaded Heifu and said: "Zhonglang Hu Ling, although the Mai family and the Shi family are insignificant, but the third person outside is not good not to sell him a face!" ”

"Oh?" Only then did Heifu re-examine the post, and the third person claimed to be "Shiren Yan".

"Who is this?"

"Shiren Yan is his humble name."

Ba Zhong said with a smile: "His full name is Wu Shi Yan, and he is the younger brother of Wu Shi Yan!" ”

"Wu Shi Lu!?"

Famous people, Heifu smiled dumbly, and said secretly: "What's the matter today? The mine boss's son is still at the table, but there is another brother of the livestock boss! ”