Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1228 Epilogue : I brought back pumpkins and tomatoes

"Sister, don't just lie there all the time, get up and take a walk."

"I'm afraid of falling."

"It's okay, get up and walk around."

"Haha, I'm tired of lying down. It's more comfortable to stand. Liu Lang, please hold me up. I'm afraid of falling..."

Qingluan stood nearby and watched with a smile, thinking: The princess is so thoughtful, she wants to be supported because she is afraid of falling, she just wants Liu Lang to pay more attention to her.

Alas, Liu Lang will most likely accompany the princess tonight. Will he come and be intimate with me tomorrow night?

Qingluan couldn't help blushing as she recalled the various scenes she had secretly watched. She didn't know what moves Liu Lang would use the first time with her, or maybe a set of moves.

"My dear, the time has come." A maid came to remind him.

Zhu Tangxi then let Xie Yan let go of her: "Liu Lang, go wash up, don't be impolite to enter the palace."

Xie Yan gave a few more instructions and then went back to his room to dress.

In the Tang Dynasty, "yi xiang" specifically referred to the cloakroom. In the Song Dynasty, it also generally referred to a set of cabinets for storing clothes.

Several maids immediately followed and took out a set of clothes that the princess had helped to choose.

A maid stood with clothes in her hands, and another maid helped Xie Yan undress. As soon as he took off his clothes, another maid helped him put them on.

Xie Yan only needs to raise his arm at the critical moment.

At first he was a little uncomfortable, thinking that there was no need for so many people to surround him. But after less than half a month, Xie Yan began to enjoy it, and it felt really good to have clothes provided for him.

Especially for complicated outfits, it is really troublesome to put them on by yourself.

After changing his clothes, Xie Yan sat down in front of the dressing table. A maid helped him to comb his hair again, and finally put on a small crown.

Daiyu and Baochai were watching from the side, and they needed to learn slowly.

Daiyu is fine. Her goal is to become Xie Yan's laboratory assistant and be responsible for the management of the laboratory at home.

Baochai positioned herself as Xie Yan's personal maid. She had to learn how to dress up, how to match clothes, and she even wanted to learn massage.

After getting dressed, Xie Yan looked at himself in the mirror. The handsome guy in the mirror was becoming more and more handsome.

It is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality. Oh, how will I live without maids to serve me in the future?
After leaving the princess's house, Xie Yan took a carriage straight to the imperial city.

This time, he was led by palace servants to the side hall of Wenhua Palace.

The Wenhua Hall in front of us is the Wenming Hall in the Northern Song Dynasty. During the Tang Dynasty, the Wenming Hall was also called the Zhenguan Hall.

The layout of the Luoyang Imperial Palace in the Northern Song Dynasty had undergone tremendous changes compared to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, including the change of the location of the Civilization Hall.

There were already two people waiting in the side hall, both of whom Xie Yan knew.

One of them is his pen pal Zhu Shirong, who came all the way from Kaifeng specifically for this visit.

One is Rose Bachelor Shi Huai, who was promoted to the first vice president of the Chemical Society a while ago.

"I am Xie Yan, a junior. Nice to meet you, Mr. Shi and Mr. Zhu!" Xie Yan bowed to greet them.

The two of them quickly returned the greeting and then sat down to chat.

The content of the conversation was all related to chemistry, mainly talking about their recent experimental results and the molecular formula of each substance they had determined.

Not long after, two more people came in.

One was called Zeng Xing and the other was called Lu Churen.

Among them, Lu Churen was summoned from Nanjing. He immediately headed north after receiving the telegram and arrived in Luoyang yesterday afternoon.

Except for Shi Huai who is over fifty years old and Xie Yan who is only seventeen years old, the other three are all middle-aged scientists in their forties.

The five people were greeting each other when the old president suddenly came with his men.

The old president introduced them: "This is General Zeng Jiuyou, who completed the circumnavigation of the world. General Zeng, this is the vice president of the Chemical Society..."

Zeng Jiuyou did not dare to be negligent and saluted respectfully.

After some pleasantries, everyone took their seats.

The old president said: "General Zeng brought back a kind of rubber from America. This thing is very useful after vulcanization, so the Queen Mother ordered to summon five chemists. Open it..."

The three boxes in the side hall were opened one by one by the palace servants, and they were all filled with rubber.

Zeng Jiuyou pointed to one of the boxes and said, "This is the finished product I exchanged from the natives. There are rubber balls, rubber clothes, rubber boots..."

Xie Yan and four other chemists gathered around and each picked up a rubber object to examine it carefully.

Xie Yan was holding a pair of rubber boots, with bits of hair faintly visible inside.

He could imagine the process of making the boots, where the Native Americans rubbed the rubber on their feet, waited for it to completely solidify, and then peeled it off, pulling out the hair from the instep and ankle.

Moreover, it was already late autumn in Luoyang, and the rubber boots had become harder and more brittle, showing signs of cracking with a slight pinch.

Everyone exchanged the objects in their hands and observed them, and soon they found that there was something wrong with the rubber ball.

This thing has the best elasticity and is not easy to crack when pinched.

Shi Huai said, "General Zeng, was this ball made using any special method?"

Zeng Jiuyou said:
"After cutting the rubber juice, the local indigenous people usually put it into a pottery pot and boil it, and then wait for it to cool and solidify. Before it is completely solidified, they apply it on their feet to make boots, and some apply it on their bodies to repel mosquitoes." "When boiling the rubber juice, they will add a kind of grape juice (actually a plant of the Urticaceae family with grape-like fruits)."

"This rubber ball is different. They play with it to determine the human sacrifice. The winner will be killed and sacrificed to the gods. To make the ball durable, they also add another thing, which is the white juice that comes out of the sweet potato vines."

Xie Yan knew nothing about rubber vulcanization, and of course had no idea what the natives were doing.

Adding the juice of urticaceae plants actually promotes the coagulation of rubber through formic acid.

The addition of white juice from sweet potato vines vulcanizes the rubber through mucus protein and increases the rubber's antioxidant properties. However, its vulcanization effect is limited and it can easily cause the rubber to mold.

Zhu Shirong guessed: "The American grape juice and sweet potato vine juice may have had some chemical reaction with the rubber. The composition of plant juice is complex, and it is difficult for us to find which substance is responsible."

Zeng Xing pointed to another box and asked, "What kind of rubber is in this?"

Zeng Jiuyou said: "I asked the natives to collect rubber juice and then boiled it to solidify. Nothing was added, so it solidified very slowly. When sailing at low latitudes, it was all soft and fluffy. When it got to Luoyang and the weather turned cold, it became harder and more brittle."

"Is this all the rubber we got?" Xie Yan asked.

Zeng Jiuyou said: "I brought back 200 rubber tree seedlings. Dozens died at sea, and the rest were quickly planted in Luzon. I also brought back thousands of rubber seeds and handed them over to agronomists. As for rubber, these are all I have."

Xie Yan said: "There are too few experimental materials. We can't do them separately. Even if we do the experiments separately, we have to allocate the experimental contents to each of them."

Lu Churen said, "Let's do it together. There is too little rubber to share."

"We can bring back some rubber next year," said Zeng Jiuyou.

Xie Yan and four chemists began a discussion. In fact, the word "sulfurization" had already pointed out the direction of the experiment.

They quickly identified several experimental methods, such as steaming sulfur and rubber together, chopping the rubber into pieces and mixing it with sulfur and heating it.

It's not difficult in the lab.

But if it is to be put into industrial use, there are still more problems to be solved.

Formic acid, for example, had long been discovered by chemists and could be obtained by distilling large quantities of ants. But no one, including Xie Yan, would have thought of using formic acid to promote the coagulation of rubber slurry.

It is also possible not to add formic acid, but that would require higher temperatures and longer times, greatly reducing the efficiency of rubber production.

The old president said: "The vulcanization experiment will be carried out in the imperial city. I will arrange a few assistants for you. If you need anything, just tell me."

"Yes!"

Xie Yan and the four chemists accepted the order and then wrote down the necessary equipment through discussion.

Definitely not today, nothing is ready.

When everyone left the side hall of Wenhua Palace, Xie Yan ran to catch up with Zeng Jiuyou and said, "General Zeng, besides rubber, what other plants did you bring back from America this time?"

Zeng Jiuyou said: "There is a kind of melon, some are round, some are long. The small ones are as big as a fist, and the big ones are as big as a head. Before they are ripe, they are dark green, and after they are ripe, they turn yellow."

"Can you draw it?" Xie Yan said.

Zeng Jiuyou squatted down and roughly drew a shape on the stone slab with his fingernails.

Xie Yan stared at it for a while, and the more he looked, the more it looked like a pumpkin.

Zeng Jiuyou added: "The Mayans also planted corn, but their corn was not as productive as that of the Ming Dynasty."

Xie Yan asked curiously, "Didn't the Ming Dynasty bring corn back from America?"

Zeng Jiuyou said: "Corn and sweet potatoes were both taken from overseas islands by Emperor Taizu."

Xie Yan was silent, quite speechless.

Zeng Jiuyou continued, "There is another kind of fruit. It is green when it is not ripe, and turns red when it is ripe. When I went to see the Mayan king, they used this fruit to treat me. It is sweet and sour, and quite juicy."

"This fruit grows on trees?" Xie Yan asked.

Zeng Jiuyou shook his head: "The plant is not very tall, and its appearance... well, it looks a bit like an eggplant seedling. Not really, but that's the idea anyway."

Xie Yan was delighted, thinking that this must be a tomato.

Scrambled eggs with tomatoes is here!

Xie Yan asked again: "The Mayan messenger's last name is Coco. Is it also derived from some kind of food?"

Zeng Jiuyou smiled and said, "There is indeed something called cocoa. Usually only nobles can eat it, or it is given to those who have made military achievements. The Mayans also take it when they perform sacrifices and divination. But it is very bitter and not very delicious, but the natives still regard it as a treasure."

"Didn't you bring some back?" Xie Yan asked.

Zeng Jiuyou said: "It's useless to bring back something that tastes bad and can't fill my stomach. When the Mayan king entertained me, he gave me cocoa to eat, which was so bitter that I almost vomited on the spot."

"If that's the case, why did you bring back peppers and tobacco?" Xie Yan asked.

Zeng Jiuyou said: "At that time, some people learned to smoke cigarettes like the natives. They were said to be choked to tears, but they got used to it after taking a few more puffs. When you are tired and sleepy, tobacco can refresh you. As for chili, it is delicious as a condiment, especially when sailing on the ocean."

Xie Yan said: "Can you bring back some cocoa seeds next time?"

Zeng Jiuyou said: "Then we can only wait until the year after next. This year's fleet has already set out."

Xie Yan thought for a moment and asked, "Can I go meet the Mayan messenger?"

"You have to ask the Honglu Temple." Zeng Jiuyou said.

(End of this chapter)