In the small courtyard of the East Palace, one old and two young people ate and sweated profusely.

After all, Li Gang is old and his energy is a little lacking.

I only drank a bowl of porridge shallowly, and after eating a bowl of mutton meatballs, I went to the guest room of the East Palace to rest under the service of the palace people.

The old man still had to teach Li Chengqian to deal with the twists and turns in the afternoon, so it was very important to rest well.

At noon, Li Gang's nap became a rare leisure time for Li Chengqian.

"It would be nice to have a little chilled grape wine." Zhang Zheng said with a skewer of barbecue in one hand.

In summer, skewers with beer are just a summer full of rituals, but unfortunately Zhang Zheng can only distill liquor, not beer.

"The weather is so hot this year, the ice in the ice cellar of the East Palace has already melted, and even my father has to calculate the amount." Li Chengqian heard Zhang Zheng say this, and sighed regretfully and said.

In Datang, wealthy families will dig an ice cellar to store ice in winter and use it in summer.

This year, the weather is so hot that most people's homes have almost melted the ice.

"Who said you have to have an ice cellar to eat ice?" Zhang Zheng put the skewers on the plate, slapped his head, and suddenly remembered that he was a traverser.

For a time-traveler who carries a large reserve of knowledge in the 21st century, isn't ice making such a trivial thing as a piece of cake at his fingertips?

It seems that after living in Datang for a long time, even his brain has deteriorated.

"Brother Zheng'er, do you have a way?" Li Chengqian asked.

"Yes." Zhang Zheng replied loudly.

"Is there saltpeter in the East Palace?"

"Huh? Saltpeter, there is it in the storeroom. Li Chengqian was stunned, didn't he mean to make ice, why do you want saltpeter?

"Okay, that's it." Zhang Zheng made an OK gesture.

Then Zhang Zheng opened his mouth and called the cook, asked him to bring some saltpeter, and then moved the heavy rain urn filled with water in the East Palace to the courtyard.

"You can make ice out of these things?" Li Chengqian curiously touched and looked at it again, and couldn't understand what these things had to do with ice at all.

Zhang Zheng was too lazy to explain to this turtle who had never seen the world, and lazily said to Li Chengqian and the assistant chef of the East Palace: "Next, let you open your eyes."

First, he instructed the cook to fill the rain urn with water, and then put all the saltpeter brought from the storehouse into the water.

After a while, the rain urn began to bubble and boil, white smoke came out, and a cool air emanated from the rain urn.

He also instructed the cook to bring half a basin of boiling water from a copper basin and put it on the rain urn.

After half a pillar of incense, the water in the copper basin condenses into a thin layer of ice slag.

It's not much, but it's enough to chill the grapes.

Li Chengqian and the East Palace assistant witnessed the whole process of Zhang Zheng's ice making.

"God, you really made ice." Li Chengqian's eyes widened in surprise, and he twisted a little ice with his fingers and put it in his mouth, revealing a look of enjoyment.

The cooks knelt on the ground as soon as their knees went soft, and muttered in their mouths: "Immortal law, this is immortal law." ”

Being able to turn water into ice on a hot day is not what the fairy law is.

"Don't be immortal, hurry up and get grapes to brew," Zhang Zheng said impatiently.

The assistant cook woke up like a dream and ran away.

……

After a while, the assistant cook brought a pot of grape brew, first poured a glass for His Royal Highness the Prince, and then handed Zhang Zheng a glass with a more respectful attitude than his father.

Treat the immortals who know the immortal law, of course, you have to be respectful.

Adding some crushed ice, Li Chengqian and Zhang Zheng raised their glasses and took a sip. At the same time, he let out a pleasant sigh and sighed: "Cool." ”

"Brother Sheng'er, what is the principle, with saltpeter, why does the water freeze." Li Chengqian's face was full of curiosity.

"Well, it's hard to explain it to you right now, I'll tell you later.

Now I have something more important to discuss with you. Zhang Zheng thought about it for a while and found that the principle was too complicated to explain, so he decided not to explain it.

Then I turned my head and thought of a good way to make money.

Don't look at the current Zhang Zheng knighthood, but he is shy in his pocket.

Although there are 100 households of real food eup, with this year's weather conditions.

I'm afraid that not only will I not be able to collect the rent of a grain of grain, but Zhang Zheng will have to find a way to feed them.

Originally, he wanted to blackmail Li Yuanchang and Gao Zhenxing, but unfortunately he was interrupted by Li Er, the money did not arrive, and he was whipped up.

The so-called poverty is changing, looking at the ice in the copper basin, Zhang Zheng's heart is hot, ice is a good thing this season.

Make a fortune by it.

"What's the matter?" Li Chengqian asked.

"Would you be interested in partnering with me for a good deal?"

"What kind of deal?" As soon as Li Chengqian heard about the sale, he immediately became interested. There are thousands of people to feed up and down the East Palace, plus the three guards of the crown prince, and the income of the East Palace is too small.

It all depends on the little monthly money issued by the prince every month, so Li Chengqian's life is also tight.

"Selling ice, in this hot weather, I don't think anyone can say no to a pot of cold grapes." Zhang Zheng pointed to the ice in the copper basin and said.

Li Chengqian looked at the ice in the basin, and his eyes lit up.

There is no ice in the East Palace, not to mention other people's homes, if there is ice for sale in the market now, it will definitely make the citizens of Chang'an, who are suffering from the hot weather, break their heads.

"Okay, what's the charter?" Li Chengqian agreed without thinking about it.

"I'll make the secret recipe for making ice, you pay for it, find a shop in the East Market, and only sell ice, and the income will be fifty-fifty." Zhang Zheng said.

"Okay." Li Chengqian agreed very happily, and it was a money-picking business, so he had no reason not to agree.

"As for the candidate, I think your East Palace is a good cook, and I'll teach him to make some snacks like popsicles and fruit later." Zhang Zheng glanced at the clever assistant chef of the East Palace.

When the cooks heard Zhang Zheng say this, they knelt down in front of the two of them. He kowtowed excitedly and stammered: "His Royal Highness the Prince, the fourth young man, the villain, the villain, the villain will never live up to the trust you two have placed in me." ”

"Have you memorized how to make ice?" Zhang Zheng asked.

"I remember it clearly, the villain hasn't forgotten a single step." The cooks kowtowed.

"The secret ingredient ......"

"The villain will definitely keep the secret recipe, and will never reveal the secret recipe, otherwise the villain will come to see him." Before Zhang Zheng finished speaking, the kitchen hurriedly swore a curse.

"Cheng Qian, what do you think?" Zhang Zheng glanced at Li Chengqian and asked.

"Then let's use him, it's better to use raw than cooked." Li Chengqian saw that there was nothing to discuss, so he agreed.

……

Immediately after that, the two of them drank chilled grapes and discussed some details.

"It's a matter of no sooner rather than later."

"Yes, that's it."

……

Two hours later, in the East Market, a store without any signboard opened in a low-key manner, and there were no shelves in the store.

Only a large flag was erected at the entrance of the store, with black letters on a blue background, and a big "ice" character written on it.

……

After the two finished discussing the partnership, the guards who happened to go to the study also came to report that the folds that needed to be approved by the prince today had been sent to the upper study.

The two glanced at each other, and Li Chengqian instructed the cooks: "Make a few pots of ice and send them to the study." ”

"Yes."