RPAGF #698 - Double roller sugar press
#698 - Double roller sugar press
It was at least an hour before the evening banquet, but the square in front of the Celestial Maiden Palace was already packed with various carriages and riding horses.
Unlike the soothing music of traditional imperial banquets, Black Serpent Bay had more of a rural feast vibe.
The drums, bagpipes, and vibrato-laden sitars even seemed a bit jarring, with a specially cleared dance floor surrounded by colorful flowers and a verdant pond.
Young male and female witches, having changed into newly bought Thousand River Valley slim-fit coats and off-the-shoulder dresses, held hands amidst laughter, dancing a tap dance around the accompanying musicians.
Unlike the imperial nobles, the Black Serpent Bay witches did not like to apply excessive white powder to their faces to conceal their wheatish complexions; they preferred to accentuate it with bright red rouge and lipstick.
Stone tables and stools were placed under the fences and grape trellises beside the garden, where middle-aged witches of higher status were seated.
Amidst the curling smoke of burning incense, they rubbed their toes with their thick fingers, and then used the same hand to tear off the skin of dried lizard.
Crispy dried lizard meat, paired with cloudy fruit wine, plus a few vulgar jokes and church jokes from Thousand River Valley, made this banquet almost perfect.
The only drawback was probably the prohibition of carrying poisonous frogs; otherwise, throwing a poisonous frog into the wine would be the most enjoyable way to drink.
Poisonous frogs themselves are not addictive and do not even cause hallucinations; their numbing effect merely alleviates the nerve pain that is common among witches.
Many witches who have climbed up from humble beginnings are mentally dependent on this stuff; they're fine when they don't think about it, but when they do, they have to have a couple of hits.
Meanwhile, in a room on the second floor of the inner palace of the Celestial Maiden Palace, Hohen, dressed in black military attire, was still rubbing his temples, pacing back and forth.
What kind of damn custom is this in Black Serpent Bay? In the Empire, the female relatives of the host family or the highest-ranking woman are directly assigned to such roles, and it's always arranged in advance. Why make someone choose on the spot?
And choosing the most beautiful one at that? Doesn't that imply that in the eyes of the host, Hohen, no other woman is as beautiful as the banquet queen?
Most importantly, according to imperial custom, the banquets previously hosted by Hohen were always handled by his only female relative, Lana, in a similar role.
If tradition were followed, Lana should still be the one to be this so-called 'banquet queen'.
But the problem is, this is Black Serpent Bay, and Lourdes and a group of Secret Party bigwigs are watching.
Did the Roan Party support Hohen's actions so much simply because Hohen exuded an aura that made them submit?
The essence of it is that, in Lourdes' eyes, Hohen and the Roan Party are one family.
As a result, after the Roan Party helped so much, and still in Black Serpent Bay, their own territory, Hohen ultimately chooses Lana. No wonder Lourdes' expression would be unpleasant.
Conversely, choosing Melia is the same logic.
After thinking it over, Hohen still made up his mind.
If it doesn't work, he'll choose Novia; she's just a child and won't cause misunderstandings. It's just that neither side will be satisfied this way, but if neither is satisfied, then so be it. At least it's fair to both sides.
In any case, he can't delay the main business. If it really doesn't work out, he'll just have to improvise.
He's already fought Prince Condé; what's there to be afraid of?
Pressing down his trembling hand, he grabbed the fruit wine on the table and drank it all in one gulp. Hohen stepped down the stairs and came to the small garden on the side of the inner palace.
Under the white walls covered with lush vines, the high-ranking witches and Secret Party leaders from the three counties of the South, Central, and North were gathered.
They wore traditional black linen wizard robes, each carrying rare treasures and exotic plants and animals, exchanging news and probing each other's intentions in whispers.
Originally the "nobles" of Black Serpent Bay, they now had to take off their robes and wait here anxiously.
In this anti-purge war that has lasted for half a year, the power of Black Serpent Bay has been reshuffled unknowingly.
The Northern County, under the control of the Roan Party, formed the Northern County Council, demonstrating for the first time the extremely high right to speak obtained when all the Secret Parties in a county unite.
The Southern County currently relies entirely on Hohen's protection and basically follows his lead.
The Central County Council is also undergoing vigorous reforms and organization, and under the pressure from the North and South, the efficiency and progress have been pushed to the doorsteps of these traditional Secret Parties.
If you ask who currently has the most power in Black Serpent Bay, no one would doubt that it is the Holy Grandson Hohen.
Looking at the witches with flattering smiles, Hohen, who had just walked out of the house, revealed a smile at the corner of his mouth.
He didn't invite these people randomly.
Most of them have one identity, that is, criminal Secret Parties with lighter crimes and less intense opposition, that is, the moderate faction among the old guard.
In politics, it's best to turn enemies into friends as much as possible, and those who can't be turned into friends should be completely and cleanly eliminated.
Although Hohen is preparing to eliminate these criminal Secret Parties, he is not prepared to give them no chance at all.
"I know that for you, the abolition of tax checkpoints is an unacceptable thing, and I have to tell you that even with tariffs, they will be used to build river dams and roads."
Hohen said mercilessly to the many old guards, "You'd better think about new ways out."
These old guards looked at each other, their lips moving, but they didn't know what to say.
Finally, a witch who was friendly with the Roan Party stood up and said, "Your Highness Hohen, this transformation isn't something that can be done overnight. How about we slow down the pace of checkpoint removal and give us a little buffer time?"
They have never operated plantations, and it takes two or three years from the establishment of a sweet branch plantation to harvest, which is not that fast.
The same is true for spices; most spices require careful care, and slaves who know how to take care of spice crops, such as those snake people, can sell for a not low price.
From sitting back and collecting money to hard labor, the lifestyle change is also a huge test for many Secret Parties.
"The implementation of tariffs is urgent, and I'm sorry I can't agree."
Before they could cause an uproar, Hohen preemptively shouted, "However, I'm not some bishop (Black Serpent Bay word equivalent to devil), I won't let you transform empty-handed."
Under the curious gazes of the wizards, Hohen came to a corner of the yard, where there was a huge object covered with black cloth.
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"I know that for you, it is difficult to build plantations or establish workshops to obtain orders, so I have specially found you a starting job."
Speaking, Hohen personally lifted the black cloth covering the huge object, revealing the half-person-high machine below.
"What is this?"
Looking at the machine that looked like a stone mill, some knowledgeable old wizards were a little dazed.
"It's very simple; your previous methods of squeezing sugar were too primitive. This is a more advanced version."
Hohen snapped his fingers, "Facts speak louder than words, come on, show it and you'll know."
At Hohen's snap, two servants from the Celestial Maiden Palace each picked up a sweet tree branch and stood in front of this new sugar cane press and the original wooden lever sugar cane press.
The first servant took out a guillotine and began to cut the sweet tree branches, while the second servant directly inserted the sweet tree branches between the two stone mills.
With two whip sounds, amidst the neighing of two nags, one of the stone mills began to rotate, and the gears drove the other gear to rotate in the same way, and the sweet tree branches were slowly squeezed forward by the two stone mills.
In the focused gaze of the crowd, the turbid sugar water dripped into the tray at the bottom of the stone mill, and then slowly flowed out of the slurry outlet along the groove.
Several Black Serpent Bay bees instantly surrounded it, dancing and flying up and down around the slurry outlet.
But this is not over yet, the flattened sweet tree branches are folded in half and inserted into the double-roller sugar cane press again, and another stream of turbid sugar water flows out of the slurry outlet.
The sugar cane press has already squeezed twice, while the wooden lever sugar cane press on the other side has just started squeezing the first section of sweet tree branches.
The so-called wooden lever sugar cane press is actually putting the sweet tree branches between two wooden boards and clamping them hard.
The sweet tree branches are pressed in the groove of the lower wooden board, and the upper wooden board is pressed down, and the light white turbid sugar water drips from the gaps into the wooden basin below.
Looking at the wooden lever sugar cane press on the left and the double-roller sugar cane press on the right, not to mention the efficiency, just from the sugar yield, the double-roller sugar cane press is far better than the wooden lever sugar cane press.
These wizards are all smart people and immediately understand.
They rely on the river for their livelihood and have rich experience in building dams and using water power. If used here, they can just use water power to drive this sugar cane press.
"I have an annual import demand of no less than 10,000 tons of brown sugar. Although there are many plantations, the efficiency is too poor and too much is wasted."
Hohen cleared his throat, "Under the Joint Spice Company, you can use this double-roller sugar cane press to establish sugar squeezing workshops and obtain profits through squeezing and boiling sugar.
In the next three years, I will try my best to ensure that each sugar squeezing workshop gets enough orders, but after three years, you will have to rely on your own abilities to dig for orders."