The salted fish couple is fleeing famine

Chapter 293 Corn
"Uncle, I thank you on behalf of the people of Daxia. A few of us are either thinking about exchanging credentials or making gold and silver. I think what you are talking about is more important than what we are thinking about. All strong!”

Hei Wa waved his hand: "This is why I am hungry. Whenever I go somewhere, the first thing I think of is these foods!"

"Uncle, I, Gao Huaiyu, am not convinced by many people, and you are among the first. Master Shangshu, from now on we will listen to uncle's command. No matter what uncle thinks is useful, we will just take it away!"
In fact, it's no wonder that Huang Shangshu and others dislike these overcooked potatoes.

The Incas liked to cut fresh potatoes into pieces and boil them in water in a clay pot until they were pulpy, preferably into a paste.

Some don't even add salt, no oil and no salt. For people who have just eaten this food, it is really not delicious.

Clay pots were their main utensils for cooking paste, and the firing process of pottery was very mature in the Inca Empire.

The residence where the twenty of them live now should be within the palace's sphere of influence.

It's a bit like a post house in Daxia. Two meals a day are provided by the cooks in the post house.

The Incas ate two main meals a day, one in the early morning and another in the evening.

They all eat sitting on the ground.

For ordinary civilians, their diet is mainly vegetarian, and potatoes and other root foods are what they need for two meals.

Game meat such as alpacas, ducks, guinea pigs and deer are very valuable.

It can only be eaten when entertaining distinguished guests.

The group of people from Daxia were obviously considered to be distinguished guests.

The cooks of the posthouse like to marinate the meat for guests with spices and put it into the earthen stove where the stones are piled and heated.

Cover the earthen stove with grass and soil to keep it warm, and use the residual heat to simmer the meat until it is cooked.

Heiwa also doesn’t like potatoes to be eaten only in a mushy form.

He asked his two sons to sign and tell the cook of the inn to throw the washed potatoes in with the skins on when roasting.

They were to be roasted and eaten.

Roasted potatoes are brown in color.

Whether you peel it and eat it directly or dip it in salt, it has its own dense taste and aroma.

Everyone got used to it as they ate it, and they actually thought the potatoes tasted pretty good.

Under the brainwashing of Uncle Zhongqin, everyone looked at the fist-sized potatoes and imagined how many kilograms they could grow per acre when they took them home.

Yuan Wenjie and the others had a heavier burden of translation, and they had to catch the people in the post house having crazy conversations every day.

Soon after, they also saw another staple food of the Inca Empire, corn!

Different from potato paste, their usual method is to add water to the corn kernels, grind them on a stone mill, and grind them into a slightly yellow corn syrup.

Wrap the corn paste in large tree leaves and bake it on a low fire until it is fragrant. Then peel off the leaves and you will have golden corn cakes.

Corn can not only be made into cakes, but can also be cooked into a paste after being ground into powder, which is more delicious than potato paste.

This kind of sweet food was liked by everyone in Daxia Dynasty.

Now that Uncle Zhongqin has opened their minds, they want to take it back to Daxia after eating delicious food.

So the twenty of them stopped wandering around the city and ran to Ailiu (village) every day.

Imperial Ayliu (village) land is divided into three forms:
1. "Inca fields", the harvest belongs to the Inca king;
2. "Field of the Sun", where the harvest belongs to the priests;
3. "Communal fields", the harvest belongs to the village members.

They came at a good time, autumn, the Inca harvest season.

Potatoes are known locally as the "God of Harvest" and are an ingredient considered spiritual.

The Incas loved it more than other root crops such as sweet potato and cassava. The harvested grain and other goods were quickly stored in warehouses.

There were thousands of these warehouses built in neat rows across the empire, all built near population centers, on large estates, and on the roadsides.

Imperial officials used "qubu," a recording device made of rope and knots, to carefully record their inventories.

Warehouses are single-room stone buildings, either round or rectangular, and are built in a very uniform way.

And they also know how to take advantage of the cool mountain breezes to maximize the storage time of perishable goods.

There are also drainage channels, gravel floors and roof ventilation to keep the interior as cool and dry as possible.

Potatoes and corn accounted for the largest proportion of stored foods in the empire's warehouses.

Ordinary goods can be stored for two years, and freeze-dried food can even be stored for four years or more.

Fresh potatoes contain enough water and are difficult to store for a long time, so the Incas made concentrated freeze-dried potatoes.

They took advantage of the temperature difference between day and night and repeatedly trampled the potatoes to release a large amount of moisture and change their texture.

They can be stored in warehouses for years or even decades.

After the freeze-dried potatoes are cooked, they are dense and firm with a rich tooth texture, as well as a grainy fragrance and slight acidity.

Not only did the Inca officials not prevent the Bactrian envoys from visiting the imperial warehouses, they also proudly showed them the richness of the Inca warehouses and the ingenuity of the construction of these warehouses.

In fact, King Atahualba was not so indifferent to the gifts presented by Huang Shangshu and others.

However, the Inca Empire had experienced several rounds of bloodbath by foreign invaders and was very wary of strangers.

They are essentially a people who do not like fighting and love farming.

As for silk, a fabric that is so light and silky, King Atahualba could not wait to make clothes and wear them right away.

Patterned porcelain is used for eating and drinking. It is really practical and beautiful.

This is much lighter than their copperware, and colored pottery cannot match the beauty of this kind of porcelain.

However, what King Atahualpa loved most was the palace embroidered screen with pictures of goshawks and horses.

What a horse! I heard that not only can he pull a cart, but he can also ride very fast!

The llamas they domesticated did not have such strength.

The llama was the only means of transportation in the Inca Empire. It was about the size of a deer, about 1.2 meters tall, and could carry about 100 kilograms of goods.

As their main means of transportation, their meat is edible and their wool is used for textiles.

Moreover, these embroidery techniques cannot be done by the craftsmen of the Inca Empire.

He watched it for so many days, and the more he looked at it, the more he liked it, and both screens were moved into his bedroom.

Even though his most beloved son asked for it several times, he was not willing to give it.

I continued to observe this group of people for half a month, until the boys were finally able to communicate with the Inca people.

King Atahualba once again met with Bo Zhongqin, Huang Shangshu and Gao Zongbing.

With the help of several Erduodao translators, the Inca Empire and the Bactria Kingdom from the East became friendly and diplomatic countries.

Letters of credence bearing the seals of the Emperor and King Atahualpa were exchanged.

(End of this chapter)