My older brother is Gao Huan.

Chapter 87 Barren, Impoverished Land

Gandhara is a transliteration of the Sanskrit word meaning "fragrant land." It has a long history, dating back to the sixteen ancient kingdoms of ancient India, and was once the summer capital of the Kushan Empire established by the Yuezhi people.

Its geographical location is extremely important, guarding the Hindu Kush Pass leading to the South Asian subcontinent. It is a key link in the trade routes between Eurasia and has been an important transit point for trade between East and West since ancient times.

It is also a Buddhist holy site and the region where Buddhist statues first appeared in the world. The Gandhara style profoundly influenced Chinese Buddhist art. Later, when the Buddhist monk Xuanzang traveled west to seek Buddhist scriptures, he also passed through here to enter India.

Liu Taozhi didn't keep him waiting long. Soon she brought two people, dressed in the same Hu clothing as the commoners of Huai Shuo, but their appearance was that of a typical 'Third Brother'.

Liu Taozhi frowned and scolded, probably in Sanskrit.

The two craftsmen obediently knelt down before Gao Yu, and Liu Taozhi took the opportunity to introduce them.

Pointing to the tall, thin Indian man on the left, he said, "My lord, this man is called Fasu, and the other one is called Ganika."

Gao Yu nodded; he roughly understood that the two names were a direct transliteration of Liu Taozhi's name.

"Have you asked them how rock candy is made?"

"I asked them, but they said they could only tell me after they had seen the owner."

"Are they afraid you'll silence them if they tell?"

"This……"

"Fine, then I'll ask them myself. You tell them..."

No living thing can resist sweets.

Especially at this point in time.

Before the Tang Dynasty, the sources of 'sweetness' were limited to only a few.

Maltose, made from grains, is called "yi" in Chinese. There is an idiom called "han yi nong sun" which represents the simple ideal of the ancient people: to have sugar to eat and to have many children and grandchildren.

Or it's wild honey.

The famous Yuan Shu, also known as the "Heroic Ghost of the Road," "Bones in the Tomb," "Emperor Zhong," and "Honey Water Gentleman of the Eastern Han Dynasty," drank "honey water" made from wild honey diluted with water before his death.

Or they are fruits that are naturally sweet, such as dates and sugarcane.

It was only after the Tang Dynasty's Emperor Erfeng sent envoys to India to learn sugar-making methods that they learned how to refine raw sugar, which is called 'rock honey'.

Things might be a bit better in the south, but this kind of 'dessert' is definitely extremely scarce in the Northern Wei market. If Gao Yu could make it... it would be incredibly profitable!

Liu Taozhi communicated with the two people again.

The two Gandharan craftsmen babbled on and on in their native tongue. Liu Taozhi's face immediately changed, turning dark. The two third brothers trembled with fear, looking terrified that they would be killed.

"What did they say?"

Liu Taozhi quickly explained to Gao Yu, "These two said they could tell us the method, but they have observed along the way that the place we are in cannot produce sugarcane, and without sugarcane, we cannot make 'rock honey'."

Gao Yu didn't speak; he knew, of course, that sugarcane couldn't be grown in the north.

Liu Taozhi thought he was angry, so she quickly kowtowed and said, "It was my dereliction of duty. I hope you will forgive me, my lord."

"Get up. Bringing these two back is a great achievement for you. What's wrong with that?"

Gao Yu quickly helped him up.

He knew that besides sugarcane, sugar beets could also be used to make sugar, but sugar beets were introduced from Europe by Arabs, at a time when the Ming Dynasty was on the verge of collapse.

Seeing that Liu Taozhi was still terrified, Gao Yu said, "Take these two away and treat them well. Make them write down the method for making rock honey in detail, keep it safe, and do not let it be leaked."

"Yes."

"By the way, did you bring back any rock honey?"

“There was a carriage that was entirely filled with rock honey.”

Gao Yu nodded in satisfaction.

The caravan made money by profiting from the price difference. Rock honey might be only worth an average price in the Gandhara region, but it would be worth a fortune in the Central Plains. After all, it was a rare product from the Western Regions. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, it was presented as tribute, and only the royal family and princes could taste a small amount as a reward.

After Liu Taozhi and the others left, Gao Yu couldn't help but sigh. "Huai Shuo... is not a fertile land."

He does want to make money.

However, Huai Shuo is a military town in the northern frontier, with barren land and little production capacity, making it unable to be self-sufficient.

Needless to say, sugarcane can not be grown here, and even grain yields would be meager.

"If I ever acquire territory in the future, it would be best if it bordered Nanliang. As long as I can purchase sugarcane, I can process it into sugar and sell it to Jiankang. The people of Nanliang are rich and extravagant, so the sugar will definitely be in short supply. In this way, I will essentially own a nuclear-powered money-printing machine."

But for now.

Gao Yu is going to conduct an experiment.

Selling rock honey to Luoyang would only earn you a meager living, and the distance from the Western Regions to the Central Plains is so vast. Selling rock honey instead of jewelry and spices would be utterly absurd.

So he had to come up with something that wasn't available on the market, something only he could provide.

Cane sugar contains a lot of impurities, which is why it is brownish-red. But once the impurities are removed, it will turn white and become white sugar.

Things are rare.

Although there is not much difference in taste, white sugar is far superior to cane sugar in terms of appearance.

For a prince like Yuan Yong who enjoyed flaunting his wealth, this was a different story.

Only by possessing something that others don't can one demonstrate their noble status, and thus one must earn money from these "suckers."

Before his time travel, Gao Yu would watch all sorts of strange videos while eating, including one where a content creator used techniques recorded in Song Yingxing's "Tiangong Kaiwu" to recreate various items.

The part concerning sugar is the most controversial.

because……

According to the "yellow mud water sugar rinsing method" in "Tiangong Kaiwu", it is impossible to recreate it.

The generally accepted explanation is that Song Yingxing may have indeed seen others use similar methods to make white sugar, but he didn't understand the intricacies, or perhaps the sugar makers were unwilling to explain it to him. Therefore, the method in "Tiangong Kaiwu" was ambiguous and could not produce white sugar.

This content creator (UP) finally understood the error after consulting various historical materials.

From a modern perspective, the process of turning brown sugar into white sugar is essentially a process of decolorization, and the use of yellow mud slurry must be based on the principle of adsorption decolorization.

But can water spray effectively absorb the fumes?

Modern brown sugar decolorization requires the use of powerful adsorbents such as activated carbon and plasma resin, along with a centrifuge to separate color impurities. Could it have been decolorized simply by rinsing with water in ancient times? That just doesn't make sense.

Therefore, it was inevitable that the experiment of decolorizing brown sugar using the ancient method of Tiangong Kaiwu would fail.

Because the method is wrong.

Fortunately, the content creator did a lot of research and finally restored the ancient method. In fact, the ancient method itself was not lost. In some areas of Hainan, this process is still used for the final decolorization in traditional sugar making.

This method is not called the yellow mud water sprinkling method, but the sealing mud method.

When Song Yingxing wrote "Tiangong Kaiwu", he may have mistaken the process of dripping impurities during sugar production as "rinsing", which is why he made this mistake.

Fortunately, Gao Yu had seen this method in his previous life.

Now he's going to try to replicate it by making white sugar.

PS: The first three are the sealing mud method, which is an ancient method still used in some places, and it can indeed decolorize brown sugar. The fourth is the yellow clay water rinsing method from the "Tiangong Kaiwu" (a classic Chinese text on craftsmanship), but modern experiments have verified that it is impossible to decolorize brown sugar using this method.

"...When the plum rains begin in February, the container is sealed with red mud. After about half a month, it is resealed, and all the sugar and oil are drawn into the container. Around the time of the Lesser Heat and Greater Heat, the mud is broken to extract the sugar. The sugar near the top is completely white, while the sugar near the bottom is slightly black. It is then dried in the sun and stored in wooden barrels." - Xinghua Prefecture Gazetteer

The official sugar was taken and further refined, with chicken eggs removed and stirred to allow the residue to float to the top. It was then placed in a porcelain strainer, covered with soil as before, and its color became whiter, hence the name "pure white sugar." (From *Nanchan Zhi*)

Sugarcane seedlings are harvested in May and June; the first year's seedlings are too tender, and the third year's seedlings are too old, only the second year's seedlings are considered the best. The timing of sugarcane harvesting depends on the order of harvest; if harvested too early, there will be insufficient sap and less sugar. Harvesting must begin in December and end in April. The sugarcane troughs are often muddy. After one boiling to remove the residue, the sap is removed, then the sap is removed again, and finally the sap is removed a third time, until the sugar is formed. The sugar is placed in a stone jar and allowed to solidify, then sealed with mud. The mud is changed every half month, and after three changes, the sugar turns white. After being removed from the stone jar and dried in the sun, it is pounded into powder and placed in baskets. It must be stored for half a month; the portion that is not completely white is called "sugar tail." The stone jar is then sealed again; the longer it is sealed, the whiter it becomes; the shorter the sealing, the blacker it becomes. The portion that is never sealed is called "brown sugar." (From *Danshui County Gazetteer*)

(The sugar syrup) is still yellowish-black. It is stored in a bucket and solidifies into black slurry. Then, a clay pot is placed on top of a vat. The pot is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, with a small hole at the bottom. This hole is plugged with straw, and the black slurry from the bucket is poured into it. Once the black slurry has solidified, the straw plug is removed from the hole, and yellow mud water is poured over it. The black residue enters the vat, and the inside of the pot turns into a white frost. The top layer, about five inches thick, is exceptionally white and is called Western sugar; the lower layers are slightly yellowish-brown. (From *Tiangong Kaiwu*)

(End of this chapter)