Short video spoiler history: The beginning of modern warfare

Chapter 164 Canning and Preservation

Tang Dynasty, Chang'an City.

The emperor appointed a prime minister. On the one hand, the prime minister was to remedy the mistakes and flaws left by the emperor's arbitrary decision-making and improve the emperor's decision-making; on the other hand, it was to make up for the defects of the emperor's eldest son inheritance system: the eldest son was not necessarily virtuous, but the prime minister was established on the basis of virtue - the position of prime minister was passed down by the virtuous, not the son.
However, the power of the prime minister often threatens the power of the monarch.

Li Shimin was somewhat tempted when he heard about the "cabinet system", if for no other reason than that everyone was afraid of seeing someone like Cao Cao or Sima Yi emerge in the court.

The cabinet system can avoid dictatorship to the greatest extent and prevent the cabinet from controlling the six ministries and nine ministers, which is indeed very good.

The efficiency seems to be much worse.

Moreover, factional disputes are prone to occur, because the cabinet itself lacks sufficient legitimacy and authority, and is restricted by eunuchs internally and by court officials externally. If one wants to achieve something, one really needs to curry favor with many parties, which will lead to the disaster of factionalism.

[A question for everyone: Do you know how many days until the opening of the Paris Olympics? ]

[You can't answer that, haha. Let's talk about something exciting today. There is another follow-up to the issue of Paris Olympic Village not installing air conditioners. After launching the rental and sales business of 2500 air conditioners, Paris has come up with another weird thing of charging 200 euros for installation fee.]

[Some knowledgeable athletes wanted to hire a trainer themselves but were rejected by the Paris Olympic Committee on the grounds that "outsiders are not eligible to enter the Olympic Village". They are determined to make this money.]

[There are also cardboard beds that are exactly the same as those in Dongjiao, mattresses made from recycled fishing nets, 60% of the athlete meals are vegetarian, etc. This endless stream of money-saving tricks is really admirable. "Low-carbon and environmental protection" is really flexible in the hands of the French.]

[We all know the situation in Europe, such as the financial crisis, the European debt crisis, the Great and Small Crisis, energy shortages, and the outflow of manufacturing. It is one crisis after another. After more than ten years of turmoil, even the best family assets cannot be stopped.]

[So when there is no money, there are more problems. It is not that Paris did not prepare for a rainy day. Because there was a lack of money from the beginning, only three new venues were built, and the others were rebuilt on the original buildings and sites.]

[It is said that a lot of money can be saved, but romantic France can always give people surprises. For example, half of the venue was found to be over budget and the plan had to be changed temporarily. After the project started, it was found that the venue was not big enough and the money was wasted. Due to such blunders, the infrastructure cost reached 40 billion euros. I would believe it if you said it was collective corruption.]

[What’s even worse is that because of the terrorism issue, the security budget has to be increased. The existing police force is not enough, and the Ministry of the Interior has come up with the idea of ​​crowdfunding for the hat uncle.]

[They also proposed to hold the opening ceremony on the Seine River. At that time, more than 1 athletes will take more than 100 small boats and travel only 6 kilometers along the Seine River. There will also be 32 spectators watching on site.]

[With this kind of situation and this scale, you can easily imagine how high the security costs are in terms of manpower and material resources.]

[In fact, our netizens have given sincere suggestions on the opening ceremony, and should arrange the traditional French skill strike in the program. After all, the opening ceremony performance is to show the country's history and culture. As an old revolutionary base, performing a strike is to commemorate the awakening of freedom a hundred years ago.]

[However, no matter how much we play with memes and complain about them, we still hope that this Olympics can be successfully held. In particular, we hope that athletes from all over the world can devote themselves to the competition in a safe environment and perform at their best.]

[Finally, the Olympic Village will have air conditioning. But can the power system afford it? Will there be power outages every day?]

Tang Dynasty, Chang'an City.

The common people are accustomed to the architectural styles of later generations. The European-style buildings on the sky curtain have a tall iron tower with five intersecting colored rings hanging on it. People standing under the tower look extremely small.

The bridge is majestic and magnificent, and the bronze statues on both sides of the bridge, such as flying horses with wings spread out, are lifelike.

There are also spires with unknown characters, exotic buildings, large clocks hanging on the front, and some buildings with round caps and pointed spires. Everything is so interesting.
The people there look very different from us in appearance and skin color.

"This is Europe!" Many people marveled at this prosperous city. They took a boat ride along the Seine River and saw blue sky, white clouds, sunny days and shady green trees. The tranquility of the city could be felt even from outside the picture.

"There are so many statues in this city." Someone else sighed and said that sculptures seemed to be very common in this city, but much less common in later generations.

"And its statues are related to horses, people in poor clothing, and wings." Everyone guessed that it was probably related to its history and culture.

From the pictures, we can see that the Olympic events include running? Hurdles? Swimming? Diving from a height? And all kinds of things they have never seen before, such as hitting a ball with a wooden paddle? Lifting two round heavy rings?

Jinling City.

"What a grand occasion!" Shopkeeper Wan and others were full of praise. So many people gathered together to hold this Olympic event, with so many different events to watch that it was hard to keep up. I'm afraid that only when people have enough to eat would they have the energy to think about so many entertainment activities.

"If nothing else, the rehearsal for the opening ceremony alone is impressive." Looking at the scene on the sky curtain that seemed to be a rehearsal, everyone couldn't help but sigh.

The beautifully crafted colorful boats of various styles and colors sped along the Seine. The riverside was crowded with tourists, all wearing uniform clothes, holding small flags with uniform blue, white and red vertical stripes, and with similar stickers on their faces.

"We are so damn bored." Some people were jealous, but they had to admit that if there was a similar event in Jinling City one day, everyone would be eager to participate in it.

"There are really a lot of people." Looking at the crowds of people at famous landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower, the Seine River, and the Alexandre III Bridge, everyone felt a little envious. After all, everyone knows that the presence of foreign tourists means an influx of consumption, and the corresponding stalls and shops in the city can make money.

Tourists = money, nothing wrong with that.

"After 16 years, the value of the Beijing Olympics is still rising"

"There is really little news about the Paris Olympics. I don't know where the torch has been passed to, and I haven't seen any news about rehearsals. [Covering face]"

"I just saw someone drinking water from the Seine. I was so shocked. Don't they know that the Seine is known as the Little Ganges?"

"It's really hard to describe the streets of Paris. On the sidewalk of the main road near Cambronne, I thought it was a fallen leaf, but when I got closer, I saw that it was definitely a human leaf. At least a stray dog ​​wouldn't poop like that."

"We are just netizens, there is no need to describe it so clearly. [dry retching]"

"What was the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics like?" Seeing Tianmu's confident statement, everyone was very curious.

[In 2017, a 106-year-old cake was found in Antarctica. The appearance and quality of the cake were intact, and it seemed to be no different from an ordinary cake that had been stored for a few days.]

[Then we can't help but ask, did cakes contain preservatives 100 years ago? Actually not. ]

[In fact, humans have been fighting against food decay for a long time. The current mainstream preservation technology is based on previous ideas. Although there was no concept of microorganisms in ancient times, some methods of preserving food have been explored through long-term practical activities.]

[The first is dehydration, which removes the water from the food. Whether it is sun-dried or air-dried, it can greatly extend the shelf life of the food. For example, the shelf life of freshly harvested rice and sun-dried rice is completely different.]

[This is because when food has low moisture content, the rate of microbial reproduction and chemical reactions slows down a lot, because moisture is not only a necessary condition for microbial growth, but also the basis of "substance transfer" in chemical reactions.]

[Controlling the moisture content of food can reduce the rate at which food spoils by several orders of magnitude.]

[Generally speaking, rice, flour, etc. can be kept in a low-temperature, dry, light-proof and ventilated environment after drying out moisture, and their shelf life can be greatly extended.] [If it is rice, wheat, etc., they can be turned over and dried regularly, which can also effectively prevent mold and aging. For large granaries and other places, the main thing is to improve the granary environment, insulate and keep cold, control moisture, clean and remove impurities, control the quality of grain entering the warehouse, and cool and dissipate moisture, etc.]

[Similar to this principle, various canned fruits (yellow peaches, oranges, jackfruits, lychees) use high osmotic pressure such as high salt and high sugar to reversely absorb water from the food. The principle is the hydraulic pressure difference caused by the inconsistent solution concentration inside and outside the cell wall, which we learned in junior high school biology.]

[For example, the shelf life of salted fish is definitely longer than that of bacon. This is because there is a layer of salt on the surface of salted fish, which can effectively prevent the salted fish from getting damp and inhibit the reproduction of microorganisms.]

[There is also a salt-like crystal (potassium nitrate KNO3, also called saltpeter), which can enhance the antiseptic ability of salt. Potassium nitrate will produce nitrite under the metabolism of salt-tolerant bacteria: it can inhibit fat oxidation and also has the effect of inhibiting pathogenic bacteria such as botulism. ]

[Nitrite is also a very effective meat preservative, but using too much can easily cause cancer. There are also some other preservatives that I won’t list here. In addition, smoking can also effectively inhibit the reproduction of microorganisms.]

In front of Fengtian Hall.

Everyone looked at the cake that was said to be from more than 100 years ago. From the packaging, it looked very tattered and old. When they opened the packaging, they found the cake wrapped in wax paper. The wax paper was already spotted with oil from the cake.

From the torn corner, you can see that the so-called cake is a bit similar to the steamed snacks on the market, and a lot of red beans can be vaguely seen on it.

The people in the Ministry of Revenue looked at each other, and they all knew the real application scenario of these anti-corrosion technologies: granary!
"Insulation, moisture control, cleaning and removal of impurities, controlling the quality of grain entering the warehouse, cooling and dissipating moisture." These are some directions mentioned. For example, controlling the quality of grain entering the warehouse probably also includes the degree of dehydration, or preventing moldy grain from entering the warehouse.

"Basically it is a low temperature, dry, light-proof environment, which means that the granaries in the southern region will face much greater challenges." The group also extracted the key points from it. All the points point to the south, especially the areas south of Huguang, Jiangxi and Fujian.

Fortunately, no granaries were built in these areas.

In fact, since ancient times, there have been very few places to build granaries, because they all had to be selected around conditions such as the heartland of the Central Plains, the capital, and the banks of the canal. After the granaries were built in a dispersed manner, there were even fewer locations to choose from.

The preservation strategies mentioned by Tianmu are similar to the previous ones. The additional point is that it systematically and specifically analyzes the conditions required in the process of food decay and puts forward the concept of preservation.

As for canned fruits, it is a new idea of ​​preservation and may have some applications among the people.

Products like canned lychees may have a market in places in the north where they are not available.

But this would make it expensive because salt at that time was not as cheap as it is in later generations.

"Nitrite?" This was the first time everyone heard this word. It turned out to be the reactant of saltpeter. However, when they heard that nitrite could cause cancer, everyone couldn't help but shudder. The last description of cancer cells really scared everyone.

"There is also the Pasteur gooseneck bottle experiment, where high temperature disinfection can also prevent rotting and deterioration."

"Yes, it seems that different foods need different treatments."

[The second is the outer packaging. In the Pasteur gooseneck flask experiment, after high-temperature sterilization, the gooseneck flask can prevent the entry of microorganisms, and the shelf life of the broth inside is greatly increased. This experiment also provides the fundamental basis for modern processed food preservation and food packaging: high-temperature sterilization and aseptic environment]

[Among them, the most famous high-temperature sterilization method is the pasteurization of milk, which kills the microorganisms in food through a high-temperature environment. For a sterile environment, we mainly use vacuum technology or replace the air with inert gases such as helium.]

[For example, the bagged rice in the supermarket is vacuum-packed and can basically be stored for 1 to 1 years. The potato chip packaging bags are filled with inert gas, etc.]

【The third is the storage environment. 】

[The ultra-low temperature environment of Antarctica is of course the most ideal environment, just like the cake discovered in 2017, which was preserved for more than 100 years and is still edible, which is simply amazing. ]

[In addition, the storage principles are: low temperature, low oxygen, low humidity, and avoid light - they can reduce the growth of microorganisms and the speed of physical and chemical reactions. ]

[For example, low-oxygen conditioning technology in grain storage can extend the shelf life of grain; nitrogen is filled into the mouth of beer bottles to preserve freshness, etc.]

[An ideal environment is the last key factor for a long shelf life. By taking advantage of the factors we have discussed and making full use of these conditions, the shelf life of real food will definitely be no problem]

"Vacuum-packed rice still needs to be used in conjunction with plastic bags." Liu Ji and others understood this. Its importance can be seen from its wide application in later generations. Many vacuum packaging cannot be done without it. Perhaps there are other materials that can replace it, but its cost advantage is completely unshakable.

Oil is known as the blood of industry, and it seems to be worthy of its reputation.

Nowadays, several things can be separated from petroleum, such as plastic, asphalt, diesel, kerosene, etc. This has made many people very excited, and the idea of ​​going to Southeast Asia, passing Malacca, and to the desert has become stronger and stronger.

The main thing is that this piece of land under our feet lacks everything.
"Vacuum extraction technology. Isn't the fan a technology for blowing air? Can it be used to extract air in reverse?"

"Huh?? How come it's the other way around?"

"Behind the fan?"

"."

"Pasteur is a great scientist, but if it were me, would the broth last overnight? Would the rice soaked in it last for 4 years?"

"Just reading the description makes me think that the main reason why the cake was able to be kept for more than 100 years is because it was placed in Antarctica..."

"The cake belongs to the British Scott and his team. In 1911-1912, they competed with the Norwegian Amundsen's team to reach the South Pole first. As a result, they fell behind for many reasons. When they arrived at the South Pole, they found the Norwegian flag flying high - it turned out that the Norwegians had arrived a month earlier. They were very disappointed and prepared to go back, but they left too late and the road was blocked by heavy snow. Several people huddled in the tent to eat the last food and burn the last fuel. Several old friends hugged each other and froze to death."

"There is a guy in a foreign country who specializes in eating old military rations. The first thing I saw him eat was canned beef from the Civil War period, probably during the Tongzhi period (1862-1875)! If you are interested, you can take a look, it will definitely open your eyes [covering face]"

Hexing Tea and Snack Shop.

"Wow, canned beef can be preserved for more than one hundred and fifty years?" Shopkeeper Wan and others were amazed. Isn't this too exaggerated?

"This can of beef is older than my grandmother."

Everyone was amused and started laughing.

Joking aside, some people seemed to be thinking about it. High temperature disinfection and maintaining high osmotic pressure in a high-salt environment are not difficult.

But the effect is very good, not surprisingly. With the new preservation technology that can extend the shelf life of food, the food processing field in the middle, various canned fruits, canned meats, etc. may be a good new business.

(End of this chapter)