Ch43.1 - How Sweet (Part One)

The Lord had strict requirements this time. It wasn’t easy for the cook to find ingredients to create a primitive-tasting roasted suckling pig. Even last year, the cook expended a lot of effort to find good pork. A suckling pig also was not very big—while an adult pig was around thirty to forty kilograms, the suckling pig was merely as big as two palms.

The suckling pig was hung up for a long time, so its surface  was a layer of rotten meat. The cook scraped it clean and boiled it in water to get rid of the stench. Herbs were put in the pig’s belly and an apple in its mouth, then it was baked dark on the shelf.

As for precious spices such as pepper, the cook didn’t bother wasting it.

The suckling pig was brought up on a wooden plate. The smell almost smoked the steward who was used to eating delicious food. Cui QiChao said meaningfully, “Start eating.” 

Gavin’s face turned blue. There was no problem with the roasted pork, only that it seemed like it might have been stored for a little too long. There was almost no spice used, just a few handfuls of vanilla were in the pig’s stomach. The stench could not be covered up, so not everyone was able to bury their heads in the sand.

He reluctantly forked up the apple and ate two mouthfuls. Then he looked at the stewards. After Cui QiChao ate, they happily picked up meat slices and ate them. The food they ate looked extremely delicious.

Because the taste of roasted suckling pig is too strong, Gavin couldn’t smell the normal food there. He thought it may taste similar to his food. Perhaps, his food only smelled bad but tasted good?

Gavin held his breath and cut a roast suckling pig into his mouth. Sure enough, it was still so smelly!

Moreover, it had been pickled, but there was almost no taste of salt. Gavin didn’t know if it had been washed off. Without the use of strong spices, this was the original taste of the stinky pork.

He can be sure that his dishes are different from those of the other parties. However, since his teeth were caved in, he could only swallow them. Who told him to put forward his opinions foolishly just now?

Although he couldn’t smell the scent of other people’s dishes, and the more Gavin looked at their food, the more he felt that the pork in his mouth was disgusting.

Although the steward looked as if they were having good appetites, they were actually unhappy. The roasted pig smelled so bad that they couldn’t smell the aroma of their food. They have to get close to their meat to immerse themselves in the smell of normal food——yes, from being thrifty to being in luxury, now the stewards couldn’t stand the original taste of the meat. 

Cui QiChao helped the shy Lance cut a boiled carrot and ladled some soup for him. Lance must not have eaten meat for a long time, and he didn’t want Lance to accidentally make himself sick by eating so much meat at once.

In the eyes of others, Cui QiChao looked like he was bullying children and only giving him carrots and soup, but Lance was very grateful for everything because he had been hungry for such a long time. He picked up the bowl and drank it. The cooked radish tasted soft and powdery, having a very different taste compared to what he tasted before.

Lance looked at his father while eating. He didn’t know why his father looked miserable. Wasn’t he used to eating stinky meat?

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Xjnlc vlvc’a fja wemt yfobgf tf reggfcvfgfv. Lf mbeivc’a wbnf tlr obgx. 

“Jberlc, tjnf rbwf wbgf.” Jel HlJtjb jvnlrfv, “Ktlr lr j gjgf gbjrafv remxilcu qlu.” Qtlif la kjrc’a xcbkc ktfgf atf mbbx obecv atlr qlu, la ibbxfv wemt wbgf afggloslcu atjc ktja tf jaf bc atf olgra vjs tf mjwf tfgf.

Gavin: “…No, no, I’m full.”

Cui QiChao asked as if nothing had happened: “Cousin, I’m not sure how the harvest in your territory is?”

Gavin hardened his scalp and said, “It’s really not very good…” 

In fact, it’s basically the same as no harvest. The serfs are almost starved to death. Otherwise, how could he wander around? It wasn’t known whether his territory had been occupied by other nobles. According to the situation last year, probably no one has a surplus in grains.

After Cui QiChao asked about the situation, Gavin told him that his fief was about 500 mu, which was very small among the knights. The armor he donned was something he saved up and bought when there was a good harvest. It is estimated that the cultivated land of Gavin’s fief was now full of shrubs and weeds.

Cui QiChao asked again, “After all, we are cousins. Since cousin is facing such difficulties…”

Gavin thought that he had finally come. He hurriedly said, “You know the many difficulties I face. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t lend you some money.” 

His words were very implicit. Even if Cui QiChao wanted to blackmail him, that is, to make him atone with money, he was too poor and could not afford anything, and no other relatives would lend him money.

Cui QiChao: “I mean, if you want, you could join your land with Northumberland’s.”

Gavin: “……”

This meant to become Cui QiChao’s vassal and follow Cui QiChao from then on. He had thought too much and was worried that he had to cry out, complaining about his poverty and bargaining with Cui QiChao. 

Given how many territories Gavin has darted around, it was certain he didn’t want to succumb to others. However, as soon as Cui QiChao said this, the others stared at him covetously. If he didn’t agree, would he die here?

The wolves surrounded him. Gavin hesitated for a long time before he could only nod. He quickly said that he didn’t have command over a large number of people. It was as if he wanted to tell Cui QiChao that he really couldn’t get much of an advantage by taking over his land.

“It doesn’t matter. You can live in Northumberland first and let your fief’s cultivated land recuperate. During this period, you might as well learn how to make your fields become more productive. We didn’t suffer from a lack of harvest last year.” Cui QiChao smiled.

The Lords themselves will study how to make the fields more productive and other technical matters, but how they would achieve results was another matter. 

Gavin didn’t feel wrong after hearing this. He even felt that Cui QiChao was shining with holy light. He didn’t even think Cui QiChao was too much to feed him smelly meat. He stammered: “I, I really don’t know how to thank you, cousin. I’m so sorry. I’m so embarrassed…”

Gavin’s fief was so far away from Northumberland that it wouldn’t be lucrative for him to trade with Cui QiChao. Ordinary nobles would usually only trade with and sell their lands to their neighboring aristocracy. Anyone else offering this would have just given Gavin an empty title, that is, he wouldn’t own any fief, but he could keep the tributes knights would have. But now, listening to what Cui QiChao meant, Cui QiChao wanted him to keep his land, and continue farming in it. Just judging from the fact that Northumberland can afford meat and bread, they know that Northumberland had a good harvest.

Gavin was so ashamed that he couldn’t go on speaking. Cui QiChao understandingly patted his hands on Gavin’s back, “Tomorrow, you’ll begin studying.”

Lance was also moved and he looked at his father hopefully, hoping that he would learn great skills and stop robbing all around. 

The LJJ commentary barrage was going crazy:

[Congratulations to Lord Cui for obtaining a natural village!]

[Congratulations to Lord Cui for having 500 mu of fields in full!!]

[How sad. The 500 mu of fields is far away, and it is so desolate of humans. I feel that it is an abandoned land] 

[Shut up! It’s lucky for him to be able to open up new lands and expand his land, okay!]

[? Is this also considered as opening up new lands and expanding his land? Okay, forget it]

[Nobody cares about that dumbass Gavin. Feels that he’s about to be KO’d. Wasn’t your Cui very strict about this?]

[My Cui is someone who is beautiful and kind-hearted! He treats the Shota so well. The Shota is different from his father. Let him stay and cultivate him well. He will be a good farmer in the future] 

[I’m a little afraid. It’s been so long but he only obtained 500 mu of land. He couldn’t possibly just have this little amount of land until the end of the show, right?]

[Beautiful and kind-hearted?? It seems as if we are not referring to the same black-hearted divine farmer]

.

Gavin and his son lived in Northumberland. The next morning, Gavin was awakened by the steward. He asked vaguely, “By the way, I forgot to ask last night. Where are my squires?” 

“They all ran away.” The steward looked expressionless.

Gavin: “……”

Gavin was furious: “What, these guys! Did they think I was finished?”

Originally, Gavin didn’t have many farmers under his command. Now, even the squires ran away. Are there any knights that were poorer than him? 

“Your Excellency, come with me to learn the skill to have high-yield. I’ll show you the high-yield secret of Northumberland.” The steward led Gavin away.

Gavin followed the steward and came to the manure pit. He was stunned, “What’s this?”

“This is mixed manure. If you add them to the ground, you can have a high yield.” The steward showed him the scene of the serfs fertilizing the fields.

Gavin: “…Blergh, Okay, I’m done looking at it. Let’s go.” 

“Wait, Your Excellency Gavin, you haven’t practiced how to make it yet.” The steward said seriously, “Mixing manure is a skill. It’s all about the strength of moving it to the left and to the right. If you don’t learn it yourself, how can you go back and teach it to the people in the territory?”

If Gavin’s retinue was still there, they would have been the ones who would learn the skill, but the steward said that they ran away. Gavin was dazed for a long time before he asked tentatively, “Aren’t the people from Northumberland accompanying me back?”

“You’re joking with me. How many people do we have to send with you, since we have so many skills? Besides, the Baron is willing to teach you. He has always cherished family ties. These skills are only passed on to you, and others can’t learn them even if they want to learn them.” The steward’s words made Gavin speechless.

Yes, others can’t learn this high-yield technology if they want to learn it. It’s too bad that he’s a broke knight now. There was no one available for him to command, except his son. Suddenly, Gavin felt a sad belief sprung up within him when he recognized that he must learn the skills in Northumberland. 

Gavin had to pinch his nose to mix manure. This task was too tiring. Gavin felt dizzy as he mixed. The steward said that it was not standard, which almost made him suspect that the steward was screwing with him. However, the serfs did scoop up the fertilizer again.

Later, Gavin also saw that the people of Northumberland were sprinkling a kind of yellow water on the land and said it was insecticide. He was immediately excited and said, “I know. I have seen it on the cultivated land in the parish.”

Gavin and Cui QiChao are maternal cousins, but archbishop and Cui QiChao are paternal cousins, so Gavin and archbishop are not related by blood.

However, Gavin, who wandered all over the country, knew that the archbishop saved a lot of arable land in the diocese last year because of his secret insecticide recipe, which also made the nobles more eager to delay paying the tithes. 

His maternal cousin truly deserved to be the archbishop’s relative, he had even gotten this rare recipe.

The steward looked at Gavin and turned his eyes on the medicinal water. He said with a straight face, “This medicinal water is poisonous. Even these insects are poisoned to death. If people and animals don’t pay attention to the method to use it, they will also be poisoned.”

Gavin suddenly shuddered, “Cough, cough… Hehe…”

“Then let’s continue our study.” The steward glanced at Gavin. The Lord told him not to give Gavin a chance to rest. When the farm work was finished, there was military training. Don’t let him think that the nobility wouldn’t have to go through labour reform. 

Although the steward didn’t know why the Lord didn’t directly pretend that he didn’t know Gavin and turn him into a slave, that was the fate of the prisoners of war. The 500 mu land could be captured easily, even if Gavin thought that piece of land was too far away.

Ch43.2 - How Sweet (Part Two)

Cui QiChao created a few clay pots. He planted some shade-tolerant vegetables as though they were potted plants. This would give the somber castle some life. Lance kept a close eye on Cui QiChao as he grew vegetables.

“Lord, is it alright to plant vegetables in a pot?” Lance only saw people growing vegetables on a cultivated land, and what the Lord showed him was more like landscaping.

“All you’d need is the right plant, the right soil, and the perfect environment.” Cui QiChao casually introduced Lance to vegetable gardening methods. Lance appeared to be quite intrigued. After all, there was far too little amusement and general knowledge in the current era. He added, “You can call me uncle.”

Gavin was now Cui QiChao’s vassal. Therefore, Lance called him Lord. 

Cui QiChao had a glint in his eyes that expressed his affirmation. Lance respectfully shouted, “Uncle.”

Cui QiChao presented his vegetable cultivating abilities in front of Lance, including plant pesticide, cutting, and other techniques.

Lance never thought that to cultivate a piece of land, so many magical skills would be required, including herbalism. He went to school for two years and was in a parish school, but the school only taught him how to sing and chant scriptures.

Cui QiChao led Lance to plant some potted plants. He saw the steward coming back with Gavin. Gavin was sweating all over. He looked as if he had been trampled by a horse, full of deep resentment. As soon as he came back, he complained, “Cousin, your farm work is too heavy. As I was learning, I sweated all over my body, and my joints seem to be hurting again. Can I rest tomorrow?”

“But if you miss the opportunity to learn some skills this time, you won’t be able to learn again. They have different things to do every month. Why are your joints feeling painful?” Cui QiChao didn’t want to give him a holiday. It had been only one day. He was way worse than those thieves.

“It’s not that I don’t want to, but this is my chronic problem. Lance also has it, you see.” Gavin also showed Cui QiChao what he was experiencing.

When Cui QiChao learned that Lance had it as well, he asked Lance to roll up his sleeve and discovered that his joints were inflamed. These two people were suffering from the same ailment. Many people were affected by this issue as a result of the current era’s bad thermal conditions. Lance, despite his youth, had endured through the pain without ever voicing about it.

“Steward, go and get the medicinal water.” Cui QiChao gave an order. 

The steward brought two bowls of yellow medicinal water. Cui QiChao said to them, “Drink.”

Gavin, “!! Isn’t this an insecticide? ”

“You recognize it?” Cui QiChao looked at him, “Yes, that’s the same kind of medicinal water.”

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Xjnlc jirb ifjgcfv ogbw atf rafkjgv atja lo tewjcr bg jclwjir vgjcx atlr wlrajxfcis, atfs kbeiv yf qblrbcfv. Lf lwwfvljafis rjlv, “Jberlc, P’ii raevs. P’ii ub raevs. Ofjgclcu wjxfr wf nfgs tjqqs. Zs pblcar vbc’a tega!” 

He didn’t expect his cousin, who appeared gentle and kind, would threaten people sarcastically if he was unhappy.

Jel HlJtjb, “Ktlr mjc gfilfnf sbeg qjlc.”

Tfr, tf kjrc’a kgbcu. Ycf kbeivc’a offi qjlc ktfc bcf vlfv. Xjnlc rtbbx tlr tfjv olgwis jcv kjcafv ab kjnf tlr olrar. “P offi nfgs qbkfgoei cbk. P’w ublcu ab gfnlfk ktja P pera ifjgcfv. Obgv, P’ii rafq vbkc!”

Now, his cousin did not dare to complain, and he even winked at Lance, suggesting that Lance should also follow suit. 

Lance looked down and pretended not to see it.

“Lance, do you dare to drink it?” Cui QiChao asked.

Lance slowly took the medicine and drank it. After wiping his mouth, he said, “Chamomile grew on the ground. This is the devil’s Daisy, which infringes on the wheat. But pharmacists use it to relieve pain. Uncle just said that a certain dose of insecticidal rattan can kill insects, and a higher dose can kill humans and animals. If it is an appropriate dose, it may be able to drive away the pain caused by the devil in my body.”

Lance had made an error in his explanation due to the restrictions of the era, but he generally grasped the meaning of his words. Cui QiChao smiled and nodded. Yes, despite the fact that it was toxic, it could be diluted as a decoction and paste. Celastraceae’s blue flower vine could help with rheumatic joint ache. 

Sure enough, Lance didn’t drink the medicine long before he pressed his joints and said, “It really doesn’t hurt…”

It felt so strange. He never knew that the pain that had been following him for as long as he could remember could be relieved. The Lord was growing vegetables, as if he was using it to landscape. Yet, he could also use plants to kill insects and treat joint pain. Lance couldn’t tell whether he was more like a pharmacist, gardener or vegetable farmer.

Lance followed Cui QiChao and ran into XiaoBai, DaBai and DaJu. At first, Lance was a little afraid when he saw XiaoBai.

Cui QiChao demonstrated to him, commanding DaJu to sit down and lie down, and said, “You don’t need to be surprised. We can train dogs the same way we train cats.” 

Lance asked blankly, “How does one train dogs?”

Cui QiChao suddenly remembered that the dog training method should also be a well-kept secret by dog breeders in this era, “Use rewards.” He showed Lance how to teach DaJu new tricks. As long as DaJu was close to meeting his expectations for certain tricks, it would be rewarded with food. DaJu completed the tricks under his guidance and knew what to do to get food. Then, he trained it in combination with commands. As long as Cui QiChao uttered the command, it would accomplish it.

Cats were less obedient than dogs, but Northumberland’s three cats were different. There was no need to mention XiaoBai. DaBai and DaJu had been hanging out with XiaoBai for a very long time, and they were brought up by Cui QiChao. They were also very, very eager for food. This trust and desire made it easy to train them.

Lance tried to train them, interested. Finally, he looked at XiaoBai and said, “Can you train this black cat, too?” 

“Why not?” Cui QiChao said to XiaoBai, “XiaoBai, stand up.”

In the end, XiaoBai wasn’t able to escape from performing. XiaoBai stood up lazily.

Lance’s eyes widened, looked at XiaoBai for a long time, and tried to say to him, “Sit down.”

However, XiaoBai ignored it. 

Lance was not discouraged, but said, “It’s worthy of being a black cat. It’s hard to conquer.”

But it gave Lance an impression that even if it was the devil’s pet, the black cat was just a little more difficult to train than other cats. It was not so scary. In front of Cui QiChao, the cat couldn’t help but be obedient.

But…

Lance asked suspiciously, “Why name the black cat XiaoBai?” 

Cui QiChao thought for a moment and said, “This is to deceive the devil. We all call it XiaoBai, and the devil thinks it is white.”

XiaoBai: “……”

What a stupid excuse!

But Lance believed him, “It makes sense!” 

.

When he was busy, time seemed to move slowly. Gavin had no idea there were so many things to complete in the field. He still had to learn them one at a time. Every day, he goes back to sleep and lives the life of a farmer. When everything was finished, he was invited to join in military training.

Lance accepted himself as a servant without Cui QiChao’s request, never made any demands, and asked to follow the Lord. His father had been a servant before becoming a formal knight, thus he was no stranger to doing this after observing his father’s actions.

Without anyone realizing, the beets had been planted for more than two months, and it was time to harvest. 

Cui QiChao ordered everyone to focus on harvesting beets. They must harvest all of them within a week. Cui QiChao meticulously calculated this harvesting period as well. If it was either too early or too late, the sugar content would either be insufficient or decreased.

Everyone had to go over and harvest beets because beets had to be cut as they were harvested. To prevent degradation, the tubers’ root hairs and root tails must be clipped and piled before storage.

Next, some people had to be specially allocated to deal with beet sugar making. The sugar miller was covered above the ordinary miller, and Cui QiChao personally supervised the process.

Initially, the farmers who came to produce sugar had no idea what they were doing. Cui QiChao delegated tasks to them. They began by washing the tubers, shredding them, pressing out the sugar juice, filtering them, and placing them in the pot for burning—the beet residue after squeezing the juice could also be used to feed pigs. This was welfare provided by Cui QiChao to the farmers who came to the mill. He asked them to remember it. 

Then, the most important step was to add a little lime to the beet juice that was extracted. The amount of lime should be very precise. If one was not careful, the sugar would be wasted and it couldn’t be consumed at all. This step was akin to the precision needed to marinate tofu.

When cooking, Cui QiChao asked people to scoop out the tenderest part of the syrup and put it aside.

The remaining liquid in the pot would continue to turn in order to eliminate the water. When the liquid was densely packed with sugar, the sugar water turned into a paste. It would be a success if additional sugar water was added to fry it and fried the paste into gravel. What appeared in front of everyone was reddish brown sugar that had been processed using archaic ways.

If someone wanted white granulated sugar, they would have to refine it further, but it was not very necessary now. At this time, there was no technology to make white sugar, and brown sugar was expensive enough. 

In the process of making sugar water, a sweet fragrance emitted out. Even so, nobody dared to confirm that it was sugar. Who dared to believe that they were making sugar from vegetable roots? Just now, the Lord said that the vegetable roots would be used to feed pigs after squeezing the residue.

It was as if the agricultural official was living in his fantasies. After the sugar was formed into a familiar shape, he could no longer doubt it, he asked, “Lord, is this… is it… sugar?”

The appearance was the same, the smell was the same, but it was different from the source he knew. Wasn’t brown sugar made from plants called sugarcane, and could only be brought back by overseas businessmen?

Beet was not a vegetable. How could they fry brown sugar from it? The way the agricultural officer viewed the world was subverted. 

The serfs also stared at the Lord with wide eyes. Sugar could only be enjoyed by aristocrats. They had heard, smelled, and seen it at most. They couldn’t believe that what they had just made was the legendary expensive brown sugar.

Cui QiChao had already touched the pot of syrup that had been scraped out. It was cold and semi-solid, turning into a pale brown color. He could pull a string of it and a piece out by twisting it with a clean wooden stick.

After pulling it, the color became lighter, similar to maltose, except that it was produced with beet.

Cui QiChao pulled it off twice and held it in front of the agricultural official, “Try it.” 

The agricultural official remained stunned, and he even forgot to receive the stick from the Lord. Instead, he put his tongue out and licked it off the Lord’s hand. His taste senses picked up on the sweet flavor right away. The sweetness permeated his viscera and six organs. He couldn’t help but exclaim, “How sweet…” as he tasted this pricey flavor.

How sweet? There was a puffing sound sounding out from the sugar mill. So it was sugar, really sugar!

And that was why the Lord asked them to build a house to store these vegetables, right? Heavens, the Lord behaved so casually, causing them to unknowingly produce sugar when they were in the dark. Damn. What were the details just now? Should their attitude be more sacred?

The agriculture official felt as though he was ready to pass out. In his ear, the Lord’s voice sounded hazily. He appeared to be suggesting that he wanted the sugar pot to be distributed to the children of the village. However, he had no time to think, because he thought that there was still a small mountain of beetroot in the warehouse…