Princess Ninth, who had just regained her composure, became nervous again.
Tie Shixin, who had been standing aside without speaking, changed his expression.
Princess Ninth took the telescope from Guan Xiaorou and looked at Zhenyuan 2.
Zhenyuan No. 2 was far away just now. Even with the help of a telescope, Princess Ninth could see very clearly. She only saw the deck of Zhenyuan No. 2 filled with things.
Now that Zhenyuan No. 2 was not far away, Princess Ninth saw through the telescope that the things piled on the deck were indeed different from the kelp sent back by Jin Feng last time.
The kelp sent back last time was wet and blue-black, but the things piled on the deck of Zhenyuan No. 2 were dry and as wrinkled as rags.
The Ninth Princess had great expectations for kelp, and even asked Tie Shixin to lead the Privy Council to work overtime to calculate the amount of kelp and food to support different places based on the population of each place and the number of reported victims.
If something goes wrong with the kelp, it will disrupt the Ninth Princess's overall plan.
The Ninth Princess couldn't sit still anymore and immediately asked Zhuer to arrange for someone to wait on the pier at the pier.
As soon as Zhenyuan No. 2 stopped, the captain of Zhenyuan No. 2 was brought over by the guards of the Ninth Princess.
"See Your Majesty!"
The captain bowed and saluted: "Long live my emperor!"
"What's on your boat?" Princess Ninth asked directly.
The ears of Tie Shixin and several other ministers also perked up.
"Your Majesty, it's kelp!" the captain replied.
"Why is it different from the kelp sent back last time?" Princess Ninth asked again: "The kelp sent back last time was soft and green, but why is the kelp you pulled like rags?"
"Replying to Your Majesty, Weichen doesn't know what the kelp sent back last time was like, but according to His Majesty's description, it should be fresh wet kelp. What Weichen brought on board was dried kelp," the captain explained.
"Dried kelp?" The Ninth Princess was stunned.
"Yes," the captain said, "the wet kelp fished out of the sea is easy to rot and extremely slimy, so it is not suitable for long-distance transportation. So the Imperial Master asked Director Zuo to build a drying yard in the East China Sea to dry the kelp.
After the kelp is dried and then transported back, the weight of the kelp can be reduced several times, taking up less space, and we can pull more.
When you need to eat it, just soak it like dried fungus."
"I see!"
There are a lot of fungus and fungi in the mountains and forests of Sichuan and Sichuan. After picking them, the mountain people can't eat them all for a while, so they dry them and preserve them.
It's just that Princess Ninth is very unfamiliar with kelp and didn't know that kelp can be dried. Now after listening to the captain's explanation, the stone in her heart finally fell to the ground.
Guan Xiaorou asked curiously: "How does the dried kelp taste?"
"Madam, the taste is not much different from fresh kelp?" the captain replied: "Director Zuo asked someone to specially select some high-quality products, as well as some special seafood products from the East China Sea, and asked Wei Chen to bring them to Madam!"
After saying that, the captain waved to the back, and several boatmen came over carrying a wooden box and a large wooden barrel.
The wooden box contained kelp and some other dry goods from the East China Sea, and the bucket contained some live fish raised in seawater.
Pearl didn't let the boatmen get close, and motioned them to put the wooden box and bucket aside.
"Feifei is so serious, she brought us things back from such a long distance."
Guan Xiaorou said this, but she didn't stop walking. She curiously walked to the bucket and looked at the sea fish inside.
The Ninth Princess had eaten a lot of seafood from the East China Sea as tribute in the palace, and was not too interested in it. Instead, she asked the captain to send someone to the ship to fetch a bundle of dried kelp and let Pearl soak it in water.
The captain noticed that Pearl had been soaked in cold water. He thought for a moment and reminded him: "Your Majesty, the Imperial Master said that it takes a long time to soak dried kelp in cold water. It will be faster if you soak it in warm water and add some white vinegar."
Afraid that the Ninth Princess would be angry, he specifically said that this was Jin Feng's reminder.
There is a substance called algin on the surface of dried kelp, which will form a layer of glue on the surface of the kelp to prevent moisture from entering, making it difficult to soak in cold water.
White vinegar can destroy this gelatinous substance, and if you soak it in warm water, it will be much faster.
When the Ninth Princess heard this, she winked at Zhuer.
Pearl understood and asked for hot water and white vinegar to soak the kelp again.
This method worked really well, and it didn’t take long for the kelp to be soaked.
Although the foaming of kelp is not as exaggerated as that of fungus, and one handful can soak half a basin, but it is still much larger than before.
Moreover, soaked kelp does not look much different from fresh kelp.
The Ninth Princess was still a little worried, so she asked someone to bring the stove and cooked some cold salad on the spot.
The kelp that Jin Feng sent back last time had been eaten. Guan Xiaorou was a little greedy when she saw the cold kelp.
But there were many people here, and she was too embarrassed to speak, so she could only watch the maid try the food eagerly.
This maid's usual job was to taste food for the Ninth Princess, so she also ate kelp.
After carefully tasting the taste of the kelp, he nodded towards the Ninth Princess, confirming that there was nothing wrong with the taste of the kelp.
Only then did the Ninth Princess feel completely at ease.
Although her current territory is only Sichuan and Shu, in the Ninth Princess's heart, Jiangnan and the Central Plains are also the territory of Dakang.
So the Ninth Princess has been worrying about the situation in Jiangnan and the Central Plains.
Turning around to watch the workers on the dock unloading kelp enthusiastically, Princess Ninth suddenly felt relieved and asked, "Are the people from the Jinchuan Chamber of Commerce here?"
Even though Jin Feng knows that kelp is very safe, for Dakang now, kelp is a new thing after all. According to the plan, after the kelp is shipped back, it will not be sold on a large scale, but Jinchuan will be used as a pilot first.
It depends on people's acceptance.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, Yuan Caiwei is here. Do you want to call her over?"
Pearl pointed to a girl standing on the pier at the dock, directing the boatmen to unload the cargo.
Yuan Caiwei was one of the first batch of female shopkeepers trained by Tang Xiaobei and Jin Feng. She was originally the person in charge of the Jiangnan Region. Later, when the feudal lord rebelled, Yuan Caiwei withdrew and stayed at the Xihewan headquarters, becoming the head of the Chamber of Commerce.
Second in command.
She came here in person and explained the importance she attaches to kelp.
Tang Xiaobei was often away from Xihewan, so Yuan Caiwei usually reported to the Ninth Princess about matters related to the Chamber of Commerce. The two were also old acquaintances, and the Ninth Princess also knew Yuan Caiwei's ability.
He waved his hands and said: "She is busy now, so I won't ask her to come over. Let's go back."
It was already evening at this time, and it was definitely too late to return to the village. Princess Ninth, Guan Xiaorou and others moved into the escort station.
After the Ninth Princess left, the dock was still very busy.