Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 263 Hongwu Brand Mango Juice
On the second floor of the Niangniang Temple, in Guo Kang's office, Theodora was writing something when Guo Kang came in carrying a basket.

He took out a yellow-orange fruit from it and put it on a plate.

"Is this... a mango?" Theodora asked.

"That's right." Guo Kang said, "I asked Master Wang to hire experts to specially select the varieties that are ripe at this time, and transport them from Crete."

"It's really a success." Theodora was a little surprised.

"People in India have been breeding for hundreds of years. When Tang Xuanzang went to learn Buddhist scriptures, this fruit was very famous." Guo Kang said: "Moreover, there are many varieties of this fruit, which are ripe all year round. Our All that needs to be done is to find a suitable variety and plant it locally, so of course it will be fast.”

"Come on, try it." He picked up a knife, cut the skin, cut the flesh into pieces, and put them on a plate.

"Eat first." Theodora pointed to the manuscript paper with a pen, "I'll finish writing this point."

"I've eaten better than this." Guo Kang shook his head and sat back opposite her: "This is all for you."

"Does eating in a dream count as eating?" Theodora teased.

Guo Kang heard the words, sighed, nodded, picked up the fork, and took one of the pieces.

Theodora smiled and ate like him.

"How is it?" Guo Kang looked at her and asked.

"It's delicious, better than those last time," said Theodora.

"As long as you like it. Hey, but this thing is not cheap now." Guo Kang started talking, bent down, and rummaged through the box at his feet: "I plan to process these products and resell them to buy them in Europe. "

"We use sugar from Cyprus and mix it with this fruit to make candied fruit and sweet drinks. My workshop can now blow glass bottles with high transparency. After packing these things, after processing, according to our current The test results can be stored for a long time. This will definitely fetch a good price..."

"Hey, these things are on my mind all day long." Theodora shook her head: "Stop pretending, how can I not understand you? You're just stingy and don't want to eat."

"It's not stingy, it's thrifty." Guo Kang corrected: "Think about it, if I show what I like to eat, what will other people think? I'm afraid someone will follow suit soon."

"At that time, Duke Huan of Qi liked to wear purple clothes, and the whole country scrambled to follow suit, admiring this extravagant clothing. Duke Huan of Qi was very worried and asked Guan Zhong, who suggested that he start from himself. Duke Huan of Qi stopped wearing purple clothes, and soon , the ministers and attendants in the palace stopped following suit. It didn’t take long before people all over the country stopped crazily admiring this kind of thing.”

"Whether we like it or not, we are all people who are watched by the whole country. If we all take the lead in advocating luxury and pleasure, how can we persuade citizens to suffer and fight for us?"

"This thing, now we can produce it ourselves, so it's okay to taste it. But we'd better not show our favor for these expensive goods. The corruption of customs often starts from the top. This is the lesson of the Roman ancestors. We also You have to be vigilant."

"What I gave you, you can taste it yourself. If you still want it, I will bring it to you alone next time, so don't publicize it outside." He warned.

"I see." Theodora said with a smile: "Just say it once, can I still not understand? You still talk about it every day."

"Last time I told you that it's best not to wear such extravagant clothes and run around, but you didn't listen." Guo Kang answered unsatisfactorily from behind the table.

Theodora looked indifferent, and didn't seem to intend to listen to his advice.Guo Kang did not continue to say anything, but took out a corked glass bottle from the box.

"Here." He put it on the table and pushed it towards Theodora: "I have this bottle here, and I planned to give it as a gift. Let me try it too."

Seeing his tangled expression, Theodora smiled: "Who was it originally intended for?"

"It's for those Italian businessmen." Guo Kang said truthfully: "They have the most extensive business network. Show them the publicity effect should be better."

"Oh, it's through that Joanna you just met." Theodora glanced at him: "You just met her before?"

"That's right, I met you this morning." Guo Kang nodded, and then asked strangely, "How did you know?"

"You smell of the perfume she often wears on you." Theodora told him, "But the smell is very weak, it should just be for a while."

"We are in the military camp, and she insists on visiting those Ross people." Guo Kang was a little thankful that he was thinking about other things at the time, and he didn't let Joanna hug them up according to their strange etiquette.

But as he said that, he suddenly felt something was wrong.How can a human nose be so smart?

He hesitated for a while, and decided not to ask directly, but to try it out in other ways if he had the chance.

"Can this thing really last for a long time?" On the other side, Theodora had already begun to observe the liquid in her transparent bottle and asked curiously.

"It can be stored for more than half a month now." Guo Kang replied: "We are still trying to see if it can last longer."

He said, taking out a bottle opener.The oak cork on the glass bottle was plugged in while the liquid in the bottle was boiling, so it was sucked in for a long time.However, before handing it over, Theodora grabbed the cork and pulled it out with a sudden force.

Guo Kang pouted, and threw the bottle opener back into the box.

Theodora looked around and found that there was no cup, and she didn't pay attention to the image, so she took a sip directly from the mouth of the bottle.Then, she pursed her lips and frowned.

"It doesn't have any fruit flavor." She commented: "It's too sweet, it's almost like sugar water."

"It's just sugar water. There's no other way, it's too easy to be corrupted otherwise." Guo Kang was a little helpless, and thought for a while: "If it's not good to be a drink, I don't know if it's okay to be a seasoning..."

"So that's the case." After hearing what he said, Theodora shook her head and said, "Then don't think about the taste for the time being, just find a way to extend its shelf life."

"I just ate this fruit just now, so that's why I feel this way. However, it must be enough to sell this sugar water to people who have never eaten it."

Guo Kang thought about it and felt that it was indeed the case.For Western Europeans, even sugar water itself is a very popular thing, so this should indeed work.

"Then let's continue to study. If it can be preserved for many years like the ideal situation, maybe it can be sold to the Ming Dynasty in the future."

"When people from the Ming Dynasty come, you can ask them if they are interested." Theodora smiled and said, "By the way, have you thought of a name yet?"

"name?"

"Yes, the name of the product." Theodora shook the glass bottle: "An impressive name will be very beneficial for sales."

"What's the name of the drink..." Guo Kang picked up a mango, looked at it, and said casually, "It's called Hongwu brand mango juice?"

"No, this name is too impressive." Theodora almost spit out.

(End of this chapter)