Zhuge Liang skipped the topic of how to separate the relationship between the family and the landless people, and returned to the question of sugar cane plantations.

Although Zhuge Liang still feels that it is a risk to let the family have sugar technology, but in the current situation, Zhuge Liang also has to admit that it is definitely not possible to let the Shuzhong family willingly invest money and grain in Nanzhong, and not give them enough benefits.

However, it is still not possible to let the family continue to complete the original accumulation, otherwise once the central government's control over the local government is weakened, Yizhou will be turbulent at any time.

Zhang Xi also saw that Zhuge Liang was still not at ease after all, and was worried that the family would be too big, so he had to pull Zhuge Liang to his secret testing ground.

Since Zhang Xi thought of letting Nanzhong grow sugarcane and obtain the benefits of sugarcane, it was impossible not to do research on the sugar industry.

In this year, sugarcane is not the kind of sugarcane that has been specially cultivated in later generations, many of them are wild sugarcane, and the sugar content is not high, but because the way to obtain sugar in this era is limited, it will be sought after by the nobles.

Zhang Xi once tried to squeeze sucrose, but what he got was only some gray-black sugar cubes, which were not very sweet, and even had a slight bitter taste.

This is probably what later generations called "gray sugar".

Zhang Xi plans to teach this kind of sugar-making technique directly to the families who come to Nanzhong to cultivate sugarcane plantations, because even if you don't teach it, people will be able to explore it themselves.

It's nothing more than heating a pot to remove the moisture, and being careful not to burn the syrup when stir-frying.

What Zhang Xi really wants to control is the technology of decolorizing gray sugar, removing impurities, and creating white sugar.

This kind of technology, according to legend, appeared in the early Tang Dynasty, and was mature in the Ming Dynasty, and it was also recorded in the black science and technology encyclopedia "Tiangong Kaiwu".

What "yellow mud drenching method", "carbonization sugar method", "plant ash sugar method", Zhang Xi had heard of the methods in his previous life, and in this small experimental field, they were tested one by one.

But the effect is mediocre.

To tell the truth, it really can't meet the level of industrial sugar in later generations, and the industrial sugar in later generations is really as white as snow, but Zhang Xi used existing tools and technologies to make white sugar, even the whitest batch, with a little yellowish in the white.

Zhang Xi didn't know if there was a problem with the process technology in his memory, or if his experiment was incomplete. But the idea is this idea, and it can be constantly improved and tried by the craftsmen.

Zhuge Liang immediately understood Zhang Xi's intentions after seeing the gray sugar and "white sugar" made by Zhang Xi, and tasting the difference between the sweetness and taste of the two.

You can hand over the general technique of boiling gray sugar to the family, but the appearance is better, the sweetness is better, and we can keep it for ourselves when we look at the more high-end "white sugar" production process.

As long as Liu Bei Group has always mastered the sugar production process, the sales of the family's gray sugar are completely under the control of Liu Bei Group.

If the families are obedient, then Liu Bei Group's white sugar is just a luxury product that takes a higher-end route, and the output will be controlled, and it will not compete with the gray sugar of the family.

But if the families are disobedient, then Liu Bei Group's white sugar can become a weapon to squeeze the gray sugar sales of the families.

In the middle of this, Zhuge Liang carefully inquired about Zhang Xi, figured out the conversion rate from gray sugar to white sugar, and immediately had confidence.

Indeed, from gray sugar to white sugar, a part of the sugar water solution of gray sugar will be lost, but this loss is within an acceptable range, and even the price of white sugar is set at more than twice that of gray sugar, and it will be the family that suffers.

With the killer weapon in hand, Zhuge Liang is not worried that the family will take advantage of this, and even Zhuge Liang already has a plan in his mind, how to use the price advantage of sugar to squeeze the family and grab money from the family at the necessary moment.

Zhuge Liang, who had a bottom in his heart, no longer had any worries about Zhang Xi's idea, and also agreed with Zhang Xi's idea of developing Nanzhong and building Nanzhong into a sugarcane production base.

But Zhang Xi still has other ideas.

Planting sugarcane in Nanzhong is just a means to attract Yizhou families to be willing to invest money and grain in Nanzhong, stabilize Nanzhong, and create income at the same time.

In order to truly stabilize Nanzhong, we cannot rely only on this one way, but also find a suitable breakthrough from the outside to stabilize the grain prices in Nanzhong.

Otherwise, if those families really want to smash the pots and bowls, Nanzhong will be the first to riot because of the lack of food.

Therefore, Zhang Xi set his sights on Shixie in Jiaozhou.

Seriously, in fact, Nanzhong is not the best place to grow sugarcane, the best place is in the southwest of Jiaozhou, but that is the territory of Shixie, and Shixie is regarded as a backyard by Sun Quan.

But Zhang Xi thinks that in Jiaozhou, the Shi family is simply wasting land and manpower.

The Shi family occupied Jiaozhou, but basically only controlled the northeastern region of Jiaozhou, which was a large plain, with high grain production and relatively concentrated population.

As for the southwest of Jiaozhou, there are many mountains, which are not suitable for growing rice, so Shixie does not pay attention to it at all, and he even ignores those mountains after they are occupied by the Yiren.

Zhang Xi looked distressed. That is the territory of the Han Dynasty, and no one can occupy it for those barbarians who do not obey the king, and besides, who says that there is no value in that place, those places are the best sugarcane planting areas.

Therefore, Zhang Xi actually has the heart to occupy Jiaozhou, at least those places in the south of Jiaozhou, and find a way to occupy it and use it to grow sugarcane.

But Zhuge Liang thought for a while and said that he couldn't do this.

One is because Sun and Liu re-signed the covenant.

At the beginning of this year, Zhuge Liang went to Baqiu in person to cooperate with Xu Shu to deal with Zhou Yu and Zhang Zhao in Jiangdong.

This treaty was negotiated by Zhuge Liang on behalf of Liu Bei, and Liu Bei personally agreed to it. Liu Bei Group is different from Jiangdong Group, Liu Bei is a person who wants face, in this case, Zhang Xi's idea of Jiaozhou is not very appropriate, Zhuge Liang also thinks it is not very appropriate.

Another. Keep Shi Xie, so it's convenient to do things.

Although it is not advisable to attack Jiaozhou by force, it is not impossible to use other means to make up your mind.

Zhuge Liang has never been pedantic, when Sun Quan took advantage of the civil strife in Nanzhong to block Liu Bei, can't Liu Bei use the same means to give you back? !

Shi Xie, although he superficially surrendered to Jiangdong Sun Quan, but that was because Shi Xie's strength was not good, if he had enough strength to protect himself, Shi Xie, as a prince, was not so easy to mess with.

You can't attack Shi Xie's territory, this will only make Shi Xie completely fall to Sun Quan, but it can be tempted.

Zhuge Liang instantly came up with an idea - he could exchange the copper and iron ore in Nanzhong for grain and sugar cane in Jiaozhou.

This idea instantly went to Zhang Xi's heart.

Originally, Zhang Xi had the idea of seeking external food in the planning way out that Nanzhong was looking for, and the goal was also Shixie.

There's no way, who let Shixie's Jiaozhou, rice can be harvested three times a year, and that place produces grain.

Now that Zhuge Liang said the exchange, Zhang Xi suddenly became energetic, and the two of them got together and summed it up.

Zhuge Liang's meaning is to use the copper ore and iron ore in Nanzhong to exchange rice and sugarcane with Shixie in Jiaozhou.

This kind of thing, even if Sun Quan knew about it, he would probably turn a blind eye.

On the one hand, Shixie still has a certain degree of autonomy in Jiaozhou, and even Sun Quan can't stop it.

On the other hand, isn't there a shortage of copper and iron ore in Sun Quan?!

These two things, the iron mine is better, and there are still in Jiangdong, but the copper mine, Sun Quan is about to cry because of the lack of copper mines, otherwise he would not have issued any "Daquan Dangqian" after the financial collapse later, that thing is more ruthless than Liu Bei's straight 100 yuan.

But the question is, copper and iron, the princes of the world, who will give him Sun Quan?!

Therefore, if Shi Xie can find a way to get copper ore and iron ore from Liu Bei, Sun Quan may not object, and will mobilize the surplus grain and grass in Jiangdong to let Shi Xie exchange a little more.

As for sugar cane. This was a means for Zhuge Liang to lure Shi Xie to plant sugar cane.

Once the cane sugar opens the market and the price is so expensive, it is impossible for Shixie not to realize that he will definitely grow a large amount of sugarcane in the south of Jiaozhou.

After all, sugarcane does not have high requirements for land, but it has high requirements for light and temperature, and the southwest of Jiaozhou is not suitable for growing rice, but it is suitable for planting sugarcane.

Exchanging grain and grass for copper and iron ore, maybe Shi Xie and Sun Quan will have some concerns, but this sugarcane, except for being able to make gray sugar, is useless, wouldn't it be better to be able to exchange it for copper and iron ore? !

And Shi Xie, as a middleman, may not tell Sun Quan that sugarcane can be exchanged for ore, and he quietly exchange it for a batch to create ordnance coins and expand his power, isn't it?!

In this way, the relationship between Shi Xie and Sun Quan will become more and more unharmonious sooner or later.

With the population and economic size of Jiaozhou, in the current three-legged situation, the ability to stand on its own is not enough, if there is no ambition, it is just that, if there is ambition, then there is a good show.

The southern and central areas in the north of Jiaozhou are all mountain roads, and the miasma is pervasive, so it is not easy to fight here.

The southern part of Jiaozhou is the sea, and unless Shi Xie knew in advance that there was a rather large island opposite and went there to develop it, Shi Xie would definitely not look south.

And the western part of Jiaozhou, in this era, is the real barbarian and savage settlement, Shixie is from a Han family, but he will not coexist with the barbarians.

Then the only thing left for Shixie to do was to develop to the east, turn against Sun Quan, and attack Jiangdong.

At that time, Zhuge Liang can watch the play while watching the success or failure, and look for opportunities to intervene in Jiaozhou at any time.

Let's not talk about Zhuge Liang. He's bad.

(End of chapter)