I built a manor in the Middle Ages

Chapter 170: Jiuyutang Maltose

Different facilities have different construction methods.

For example, the main function of irrigation ditches is to irrigate and moisten the land, so when diverting water, there is no need to specifically consider whether it will make the fields muddy. Anyway, the purpose is to keep the cultivated fields moist.

But fish ponds are different. If mud and sand are brought into the fish pond, they will accumulate over time.

While everyone else in the manor was busy farming, the idle master and servant were busy digging and laying pipes in the sparkling water.

"Phew, Master, it's been ages since I last worked. It reminds me of the time when we built the house together."

Ryan's face was covered with a few mud marks at some point, and when he recalled the situation, he felt as if he was in a dream.

"The foundation of a house is much deeper than a fish pond."

The shallow pit of the fish pond is about one and a half feet deep, and the deep one is about four feet.

But with iron tools, this is not a difficult task.

"What's wrong? Are you tired?"

"Not really. After all, I run with weights every day. I just suddenly remembered something else."

"Master, are you really going to the county to see Brother Pierre later?"

Pierre sent letters more than once to ask Luc to go to the county, but the letters were full of nonsense and did not mention why he should go.

Ryan had no good feelings towards the bishop who seemed kind but was actually greedy.

"Master, he's not Brother Hugo. He might be asking you to go there just to get something out of you again!"

Luc casually shoveled up a piece of grass near the fish pond. To stabilize the fish pond, it is not as simple as digging a hole to divert water. Some reeds must be planted around it to serve as spawning grounds for fish fry. In addition, there must be some wild alfalfa, which is everywhere and can be used as basic feed. Of course, if you want to feed the fish fatter, you can also feed some fermented rye bran.

Hearing Ryan's words, Luc remained noncommittal. After a pause, he said quietly, "I'm not afraid of being squeezed out of money by him. On the contrary, I hope so."

"master?"

Looking at Ryan, who was puzzled, Luc gestured for him to look at the serfs in the distance. "I'm sure you've heard that since winter, a group of bandits has been committing crimes in the barony. I'm certainly not going to suppress them. After all, they haven't harassed the valley. Maybe they don't even know there are villages here. But relatively speaking, there are fewer travelers and disaster victims coming and going. So, if we want to expand the population, where should we go?"

"Master, you mean, you want to buy it from Brother Pierre?" Ryan widened his eyes.

"Of course not. No matter how depraved Pierre is, he wouldn't dare engage in the human trafficking business. However, if I could get to know some slave traders through him, it would be a good idea."

"It would be great if Hoffman knew a slave trader, but unfortunately he's just a small caravan leader and doesn't know anyone who's truly powerful."

"Besides."

Luc turned his head and looked at the river bank. At the beginning, the river bank was simply consolidated by the dredging workers. Although it was a temporary measure, it was very effective. However, next he could try to plant some willow trees on the river bank to consolidate the river embankment, starting with the fish pond.

"Besides, I have to give a reasonable explanation for my income to Berry."

"Pierre might be able to find an excuse for us"

The morning passed quickly. After lunch, they called Hans over again. Working together, the three of them dug a suitable fish pond by evening. They laid out some branches in the deep pond for insulation and placed some willow branches in the shallower pond as another spawning area. After a few days of tidying up the area around the pond, they set out to catch the fry.

But when fishing, a new problem arose: the fish were too small!
"Master, are we digging too early?" Ryan blinked. Judging from the situation, the best time to hunt these fry is around autumn.
". We've already dug it up, so let's make do with it for now. We'll lay down as much as we can and keep it for now. Just treat it as a trial and error!"

Luc gritted his teeth. There was no other way. It was inevitable that some mistakes would be made during the construction process. Anyway, with the family's current financial situation, he could afford to waste some time.

The two most common fish in the Agate River are crucian carp and sea bass.

Luc called a few experienced fishermen to fish out some of each type, and after filling the river with water, he threw them in. Reeds and alfalfa hadn't been planted yet, so they had to be fed artificially. Having never raised fish before, Luc didn't know how much to put in each day, but he knew one thing:
Fish are shameless when it comes to eating. They will eat as much as you feed them, regardless of whether they are hungry or not. If you feed them too much, they will easily die of starvation.

So in the next few days, Ryan and Hans were in charge of the fields. With the experience of the previous two years, everyone already had experience in how to cultivate the land, how to fertilize, how to sow seeds, and how to intercrop. Luc only needed to go over occasionally to check for any omissions.

Du Si was right. In the early days when everything was under construction, it was right for him to do everything. However, if he did everything himself after the manor took shape, he would only tire himself to death. He had to train his subordinates, and he only needed to grasp the overall direction.

So the more leisurely Luc sat down to raise fish. Of course, the old people still had to fish.

He deliberately chose to feed small amounts of fish. After feeding them for a few days, he saw that no fish starved to death. Luke was in a good mood. It seemed that he had a good grasp of the situation. Just when he was about to add more feed, something unexpected happened.

"Damn it, how did these bass eat the crucian carp?!"

"Sir, sea bass seems to be a carnivorous fish."

An old fisherman looked at the pond where half the fish were missing, hesitated for a moment, and then couldn't help but speak to the angry Luc.
Lu Ke became even angrier when he heard this, and cursed with a sidelong glance: "Then why didn't you remind me!"

The old man withdrew his head in dismay.

……

After catching some more fish fry and ordering the old man to be in charge of raising the fish, Luc returned to the Knight's Castle and planned to start another business.

No matter how smart a person is, there will always be omissions, such as the fish fry just now. But compared with the scene in front of him, Luc felt that his omissions were too much.

"Before Oliver came, I was chasing sweet things everywhere. Damn it. Isn't there sugar right in front of me?"

After all the crops were harvested, according to Luc's character, he would eat a little of each. Now in front of Luc was some barley. He originally wanted to study the beer flavor of hops, but because he would use barley, he took it out. However, he suddenly found that he had forgotten something in the barley.

--maltose!

Whether it is white bread or brown bread, adding some maltose with very low sweetness concentration can always enhance the taste.

Luke patted his head and thought, now that he had thought of it, he might as well do it.

Maltose To make maltose, you first need to germinate the barley.

After soaking some wheat grains to remove the sprouts, Luc asked the cook to dry them.

The cook is plump and it's obvious that she often steals food in the kitchen, but she has good skills and understanding, and can make dishes that suit Luc's taste.

After it was dried honestly, it was crushed into coarse powder under Luc's command, and then soaked in hot water with malt powder and placed in a wooden barrel to keep warm. After some time, it will slowly saccharify.

As for hops, they are even easier to handle.

Hops actually need to be sown in spring, and like grapes, they need to be planted on a trellis for them to grow and climb, and they take longer to grow.

But Luc planted it in the autumn, firstly because he wanted to quickly see whether the hops were useful, and secondly to cultivate a batch of seeds for use in the spring.

Why is Humulus lupulus easy to handle?

After the malt sugar is brewed, the wort is filtered out with flax, and then the hops are crushed and added to the wort. Then some yeast is added, sealed and fermented for about a week, and then fermented again.

There is a process of making cider, which is not complicated for Luc. He inspected the farming situation in the middle. In the end, Luc still did not buy the iron tools for the curved plow and extra mules and donkeys because Cooper Castle was gone.

So we had to put in more effort. Fortunately, everyone worked tirelessly from dawn to dusk and did not delay sowing. Seeing that there were no major problems, after most of the seeds were buried in the soil, the Humulus lupulus finally fermented.

(End of this chapter)