The sugar mill had dozens of identical rooms, billowing with thick smoke.
There were also numerous funnels, pots, pans, and cane presses.
These had been custom-made by craftsmen months in advance by Liang Xiao, solely for the purpose of sugar production.
Now, with Liang Xiao's exceptionally high status in the Da Gan Dynasty and his increased resources, he could hire more personnel and strengthen security to prevent the leakage of his technology.
Some technologies were not difficult; the true challenge lay in their research. Once discovered, they posed no difficulty whatsoever.
Batches of ripe sugarcane were cleaned and piled together, then fed into the cane presses to extract juice, which was collected in vats. It was then boiled over fire into a dark yellow syrup, poured into another vat to solidify into brown sugar.
Luo Qingxue and the others watched with wide eyes, full of anticipation.
Liang Xiao merely smiled with satisfaction.
It seemed to be going smoothly!
Sugarcane had only been widely promoted and cultivated in the Da Gan Dynasty and Da Liang Kingdom in recent years. This presented him with an opportunity to earn his first fortune, a chance to gain a first-mover advantage before other merchants in both kingdoms could develop their own sugar-making processes!
Under the curious gaze of the crowd, the workers, following steps they had practiced countless times, poured muddy water over the brown sugar in the funnels. The dark dregs flowed into the vats below, leaving a layer of white frost in the funnels.
Seeing this white frost, everyone became even more curious!
The workers used tools to scrape the finest layer of white frost into bowls and presented it to Liang Xiao for inspection.
Liang Xiao pinched a bit, tasted it, and then asked the workers to prepare another bowl for the others.
Luo Qingxue, Hong Jie, and Zhang Yang all took a taste after Liang Xiao, and their expressions changed.
"Sweeter than maltose?"
Liang Xiao replied without hesitation, "Naturally. This is white sugar, though to be precise, it should be called sugar frost! For now, let's call it white sugar. We can make improvements later, such as producing brown sugar first, and then making white sugar from it."
Maltose is a type of malt sugar, and its sweetness is about one-third that of sucrose.
The crowd rejoiced!
Numerous sugarcane shipments were already being sent to the capital from surrounding areas, allowing for large-scale sugar production!
Liang Xiao sighed, "However, sugar is still considerably more expensive than salt. The cost is there, unlike salt, which only requires seawater. Currently, the sugarcane yield is not high enough. But it is excellent for the common people to have a taste of it from time to time. Once the supply of white sugar is sufficient across the land, we can even prepare dishes with added sugar, and sugar-coated haws on sticks... The sugarcane residue can also be used as fuel."
Zhang Yang exclaimed, "You even devised such a process!"
He and the Minister of Works, Huang Xing, had been tasked by Liang Xiao with improving the designs for the wind-adjusting mechanisms.
Who would have thought that just a few days later, while Liang Xiao was still in the midst of his wedding celebrations, he would approach them with new blueprints, stating that the optimization issues had been largely resolved? After inspection and model testing, Zhang Yang and Huang Xing found the results to be promising. Several ships were already being constructed by carpenters for testing!
"It must have been another dream journey to the divine realm, with a deity bestowing it upon you!" Hong Jie quipped.
"You know me best, Hong Jie!" Liang Xiao said, patting Hong Jie's shoulder with relief.
"Hmph, exchanging glances like that~" Luo Qingxue muttered from the side, until she met Liang Xiao's suggestive gaze, her face flushing red as she immediately fell silent.
The sugar mill had finally succeeded in producing acceptable quality white sugar. The workers were rewarded by Liang Xiao, and as the first to taste it, they were both surprised and delighted.
However, the sugar mill had numerous supervisors. Without Liang Xiao's direct distribution of sugar, the workers, eager to keep their high-paying jobs, naturally dared not steal any. They also strictly adhered to the hygiene guidelines left by Liang Xiao, ensuring the sugar-making process was as clean as possible.
It was not until evening that Liang Xiao returned to the Liang Mansion with over a dozen barrels, distributing them to the household members for tasting, bringing about much joy and merriment.
"Mi'er, Xiao Yu, you should eat a little less, be careful of cavities!" Liang Xiao sternly reminded them in the courtyard.
"Brother Xiao, what are cavities?" Zhen Mi asked curiously.
Liang Xiao smiled, "It means eating too much sugar and not brushing or rinsing your teeth properly. Your teeth will turn black, and they'll have holes, it's terrifying!"
Jian Qinwan and the others, who were eating sugar, quickly put down their bowls in fright.
"Oh dear, little demon, how are you eating more fiercely than Mi'er and the others..."
Zhuo Xun, seeing Liang Xiao approach her, quickly clutched her sugar bowl and hid behind Luo Qingxue, "I want to eat, it's so sweet~"
However, after less than half a bowl, Zhuo Xun became tired of it.
Only then did Liang Xiao teach everyone how to consume it, such as dissolving it in water, or mixing it into flour...
As Liang Xiao instructed, everyone who had eaten sugar went to rinse their mouths.
In another courtyard, the Three Sages of Da Gan were also tasting the white sugar, looking puzzled, "What good thing is this? Did my son-in-law make it?"
Gongsun Jing, for a rare moment, let out a hearty laugh.
As her disciple and son-in-law, Liang Xiao planned to have the Dingguo Marquis Mansion manage some of the sugar mills in the Jiangnan region, provided the craftsmanship remained strictly confidential.
From the founding marshal, Duke Dingguo Gongsun Wuji, the Dingguo Marquis family had been notoriously greedy for money for generations.
Gongsun Jing was a bit of an exception, but having grown up with her father, Gongsun Ye, she was influenced by his upbringing and was never averse to matters of making money.
Liu Fan, Yue Qingtian, Nie Yuan, Lü Changhe, and others, after tasting Liang Xiao's white sugar, were both surprised and delighted. They took the dozens of barrels of white sugar gifted by Liang Xiao and returned to Yanzhou to report.
In the West Palace Villa, Xiao Qing obediently accepted a piece of sugar that Liang Xiao fed her, her heart full of joy.
"Why is it so sweet?"
Liang Xiao smiled, "This is a good thing. Sugar, like salt, is an important strategic material. The army can also stock up on it in large quantities during marches."
Due to the scientific level at the time, Liang Xiao found it difficult to explain the concept of "calories."
White sugar's calorie content is more than three times that of rice of the same weight.
Xiao Qing's eyes sparkled, and she happily snuggled into his embrace, acting spoiled.
Her Brother Xiao always came up with clever strategies and marvelous crafts to benefit the military and civilians of the Da Gan Dynasty!
Liang Xiao's sugar mill did not immediately sell white sugar; instead, they calculated the costs.
Ultimately, the white sugar produced by the capital's sugar mill was tentatively priced at eighty wen per jin, with prices in other regions adjusted accordingly.
After all, this was not the highest quality white sugar, but this price was enough to generate substantial profits.
In the sugarcane-producing regions, with the absence of shipping costs, the sugar produced could be priced even lower.
Potatoes, corn, and sweet potatoes, after half a year of continuous transplanting and expansion, had been planted across Liang Xiao's fields in Yanzhou and Jiangnan.
In the future, a portion of the farmland could be allocated for growing sugarcane. As sugarcane prices decrease, so will the cost of sugar production!
The sugar mill was working tirelessly, and it was not until the next day that sufficient white sugar was available for public sale.
Since the sugar mill belonged to Liang Xiao, the first to rush to purchase it were representatives sent by the officials and nobles of the capital. Some wealthy individuals even came in person to buy and try it, praising it highly.
"Duanmu Family's maltose doesn't taste this good; it's sweet enough!"
The first batch of sugar from the sugar mill was almost entirely bought up by officials and nobles. Only a small portion was purchased by ordinary citizens with some spare money, who bought a few liang to taste.
Within just two days, the "Bai Tang" produced by the "Anguo Sugar Mill," named by Liang Xiao, became the craze of the entire capital!
The Duanmu family, closely associated with the Dugu and Ouyang families, was known as the wealthiest family in the land and managed maltose workshops across the country.
The business of the Duanmu family's sugar mill in the capital was impacted, and within two days, their business was significantly less than before.
The Duanmu family finally began to panic and simultaneously sent people in two groups: one to visit the Dugu family, and the other to visit the Liang Mansion.