Chapter 1 Qi Zhentao's Question

"What can this stuff be used for?" Qi Zhentao asked Ye Tao curiously. Despite being a busy man, Qi Zhentao didn't seem to be wasting any time. On the contrary, he found it interesting to sort through the strange things brought back from Nanyang with Ye Tao and the others. Qi Zhentao asked when Ye Tao suggested that Seven Seas Trading Company expand the scale of rubber tree planting in the areas it now controlled in Nanyang.

"For the time being, it can be used to enhance the sealing of everything, and as a buffer material to reduce vibration, and so on. The main problem is that the technology for processing rubber isn't mature yet. But with rubber, with a little modification to that thing that shoots fierce oil, I think it shouldn't be a problem to increase the range by another fifty to a hundred paces," Ye Tao said confidently. This was naturally not a problem; it was simply the most appealing of the countless ways he could think of to use rubber to Qi Zhentao.

Indeed, even if this was the only use, Qi Zhentao felt it was worthwhile. Although according to Ye Tao, fierce oil was still some distance away from the sea warfare artifact "Greek Fire" that Assad and his people had mentioned, it was already quite effective. So much so that no pirates dared to provoke merchant ships flying the Seven Seas Trading Company flag, and no pirate or privateer fleets dared to touch the Samir family's fleet.

Participating in the sorting of those tropical crops was an eye-opener for Ye Tao, and he also discovered many things that he found useful. For example, the coca leaves he discovered the day before made him want to make some cola to drink. He didn't expect many people in this era to share the same hobby. After all, many people in his original era didn't adapt to the taste of cola and never liked it. But as long as he liked it, that was enough. But he couldn't remember how soft drinks were bottled. Carbonated drinks sounded simple—carbon dioxide plus water equals carbonic acid—but preservation, storage, and transportation were all problems, and in this time and space, they had no commercial value for a long time.

Ye Tao had no choice but to give up the idea of cola. After all, investing considerable funds, manpower, and resources to develop a technological system for him alone, well, perhaps he could add Tan Weixin, for the sake of two people's faint sense of nostalgia, would be beyond extravagance. Fortunately, Ye Tao soon found solace in a barrel of sealed goods: cocoa.

This was easy to handle. Ye Tao quickly made a large can of hot cocoa for everyone, which immediately elicited a chorus of cheers. In particular, a large group of children, including the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Old Master Qi who had come along for fun, immediately fell in love with this sweet and refreshing drink. With cocoa, was chocolate far behind? However, the amount of cocoa brought in this time was not much after all. According to the principle that everyone gets a share, everyone tasted a little hot cocoa, and then Ye Tao and Old Master Qi divided the rest for their respective family members. But Old Master Qi had already decided on the second thing that needed to be planted.

"What's this smell?" After finally finishing sorting through who knows how many things piled up in a warehouse, Ye Tao and Old Master Qi walked into another warehouse. In a corner of the warehouse, Old Master Qi's men were communicating with a low-level steward of the Samir family with gestures, while cooking something in a small stove. The rich aroma wafting through the air reminded Ye Tao of something.

"Old Master, Young Master Ye, this is something our own sailors brought back. It was on those ships that followed the Samir family's fleet all the way to Dubai last time. This fruit is very small, and the locals use it to make an ointment-like thing. It's hard to eat, but it's very refreshing," a middle-aged man came up to report.

"Refreshing?" Ye Tao perked up and asked, "Where are these beans from?"

"... A place called Kaffa in Ethiopia, it seems. This thing can only refresh the mind a little bit. The crew brought it back and wanted to make it a little more delicious, but the locals don't know anything, they're wasting things too much," the middle-aged man explained strangely.

Of course, they were wasting things too much. Ye Tao quickly went up to take a closer look at the beans that had already undergone simple primary roasting, dried out to prevent spoilage. Sure enough, they were coffee beans. And on a small table next to him were several local coffee products wrapped in oiled paper. Only when he asked did he find out that the hard-to-eat ointment was made by grinding coffee beans and mixing them with animal fat, without any other seasoning... Rich in fat, original flavor coffee beans, indeed a good product for sailors to refresh themselves and replenish their energy. No wonder some people could put such a hard-to-eat thing in their mouths. Another way to eat it was to put the coffee beans in water and boil them. As they boiled, the taste of the coffee beans ran into the water. That was roughly the principle. But Ye Tao respectfully declined this "coffee soup."

"I want these things," Ye Tao shouted, "You all, help me transport these things back to Chunnuan Residence. By the way, Zhou Rui, bring my toolbox..."

Ye Tao was so excited that he quickly took a large group of people back to Chunnuan Residence and started working in Chunnuan Residence's well-equipped kitchen.

Ethiopian original coffee beans, according to some, that was the birthplace of coffee. And Ye Tao had once used a French press and Ethiopian coffee beans to make people who had almost no love for coffee fall in love with black coffee. Ye Tao knew that in this seemingly different time and space, the shape of the continent had changed, the overall climate had changed, the geology and landforms had changed, and even the coffee beans from the Kaffa region of Ethiopia probably tasted different. After all, Ye Tao was not a senior coffee taster, and he couldn't tell which roasting and processing method was most suitable for a coffee bean just by tasting it. He had no choice but to order four portions to be processed with light, medium, heavy, and cinnamon roasting methods respectively. Before long, the enticing aroma of coffee filled Chunnuan Residence.

As Ye Tao's residence, Chunnuan Residence naturally had a small studio, and in the short time it took to roast the coffee beans, Ye Tao had already used various simple tools and utensils in the studio to assemble a very rough drip coffee maker. As for grinding coffee beans, he could easily solve this problem with who knows how many methods.

When Ye Tao excitedly returned to Chunnuan Residence with a large group of people, Tan Weixin, Dai Qiuyan, and Sophie were still chatting in Chunnuan Residence's extremely comfortable quiet room. When Chunnuan Residence inevitably became a little noisy, they couldn't resist their curiosity and returned to Chunnuan Residence's bright and spacious living room with its large and soft fabric sofa. When they heard that Ye Tao was making something called "coffee," Tan Weixin smiled slightly.

These days were full of surprises. The hot cocoa was still lingering in her mouth, and coffee had already arrived. Tan Weixin calmly instructed Si Si and Qiao Er to prepare milk and sugar, and even had them prepare a little nutmeg powder and honey. Then, Tan Weixin asked Sophie if she knew where Ye Tao had hidden those treasured cups.

Cups? There really were some. Ye Tao had made a batch of cups that were not in line with the tea-drinking habits of this era. The cups had large handles so that users wouldn't have to worry about getting burned. However, these ceramic products that Ye Tao called mugs were destined to be popular only within a very small range. For example, within Ye's Workshop, which didn't pay much attention to etiquette, and within the Blood Kirin Army, which paid so much attention to it that they didn't want to pay any more. You had to know that holding a hot teacup without changing your expression was one of the etiquettes. Once you were at the tea table, holding a hot teacup easily exposed problems with insufficient training and lack of proper etiquette.

But mugs were still popular in a small circle. After all, they were really easy to use, and after all, everyone liked hot tea, but no one wanted to maintain the so-called etiquette at all times. And the surface of the mug was a good place for decorative design. The Blood Kirin Army's mugs, the Ye's Workshop's mugs, and the mugs used in the Yi Zhan Building were all exactly the same size and shape, but completely different colors and decorations.

When Tan Weixin asked about this small problem, Sophie immediately remembered that in Ye Tao's carriage, in the miscellaneous box placed together with the toolbox, there was a thick flannel bag containing four cups. Four cups that Ye Tao had never used before.

That style of cup was pure white, and the cup was decorated with a dark green and black pattern. In the middle was a black siren, and outside was a green ring pattern, leaving the shape of two five-pointed stars and two rows of fonts above and below. The thick fonts should be two words. Sophie was a Frank, and she couldn't figure out how Ye Tao knew the language of the Anglo-Saxons, who were further west than the Franks and further away from Dongping. However, those two words were completely incomprehensible to Sophie. She only vaguely remembered the spelling: "stArBuCksCoffee."

This was an almost perfect afternoon: coffee, mugs, milk, honey, brown sugar, nutmeg, hand-whipped milk foam... Apart from things like vanilla syrup, Ye Tao had almost brought Chunnuan Residence's living room back to the twenty-first century. Cheesecake had long been one of the Ye family's commonly prepared snacks and had always been loved by everyone. With the rich taste of coffee, the taste of cheesecake seemed to become sweeter.

Ye Tao and Tan Weixin naturally enjoyed such an afternoon very much. Holding a mug full of coffee, burying themselves in the sofa, moving their bodies to avoid the direct sunlight, letting the soft and delicate milk foam stay on their upper lips, until the loved one next to them reminded them, they would smile and wipe it off. This was almost Starbucks, a place that anyone with a bit of petty-bourgeois sentiment in their mind couldn't avoid. On this afternoon, Chunnuan Residence's minimalist-style living room looked like a group of people who had just finished a Hanfu show were resting and relaxing.

The low-level steward of the Samir family was unexpectedly pulled here and was extremely surprised to see that the Easterners, who were becoming less and less mysterious in their eyes, had turned the extremely hard-to-eat refreshing ointment that they regarded as a disaster into a fragrant, rich, and mellow liquid in just a few hours, something that everyone could completely accept. It was simply like magic.

"Xin'er, let's open a Starbucks chain?" After everyone had left, Ye Tao whispered in Tan Weixin's ear.

"... Don't be too ridiculous," Tan Weixin's mouth twitched and said, "Ethiopian-produced coffee beans, even if they are processed locally and then transported here, what is the cost? Even if Old Master Qi agrees to plant coffee beans in Nanyang, it will take two or three years to form a scale. Moreover, it is not cheap to transport them here. Don't you think that instead of turning Starbucks into a luxury for the nobles, it would be better for us to enjoy it ourselves? ... Besides, how are you going to explain the translation of Starbucks?"

Ye Tao said helplessly, "Okay, I think the previous reason is more convincing to me. Only a small number of people enjoy it, this thing really can't be done. ... The explanation for the translation you mentioned, in my opinion, is not a problem. Starbucks is originally a translation, since it is a siren pattern, why not change the translation? For example, 'Xing Bo Ke' ... The pattern and text match."

"... You... sigh, okay. Let's save this idea. Let's see if there are any conditions in the future. However, you should first let the Samir family or Old Master Qi guarantee us the supply of cocoa and coffee." Tan Weixin curled her lips. In fact, creating a Starbucks chain herself was also very tempting to her. Moreover, the Internal Treasury now even had quite deep experience in operating chain stores. Although chain stores such as "Fengyu Fried Buns" and "Wei Qian Ramen" were not everywhere, they had quite solid and stable turnover wherever they opened. However, Starbucks was a bit too ridiculous.

"Old Master is determined to open his own plantation, and even the Samir family has been dragged into it. There is absolutely no problem with the supply of these things. Moreover, the Samir family now really regards Seven Seas Trading Company, Old Master Qi, and me as friends, and their attitude towards doing business has changed in recent years," Ye Tao said indifferently.

After all, the Samir family and Old Master Qi were different. Although the Samir family had been operating in Nanyang for many years, they had always reached purchase agreements with the local natives for spices and other things. Although their spending on purchases was extremely limited, the annual harvest was not much due to the local natives' too extensive planting. After all, the Samir family had risen in the Middle Eastern desert, and their understanding of planting was just that. Moreover, in recent years, as they resold Dongping's products and made considerable profits, the issue of spice production became even more neglected. But Old Master Qi was different. Seven Seas Trading Company had just established a small base in Nanyang, and after having several islands and ports for transshipment, someone in Seven Seas Trading Company proposed to open a plantation locally to plant spices and other cash crops. Old Master Qi immediately found a large number of experienced farmers who had experience in land reclamation, and took a batch of displaced refugees to go there in a big way. And the number of cloves produced by Seven Seas Trading Company's two small plantations last year really stunned a large group of senior executives of the Samir family. In the eyes of those managers of Seven Seas Trading Company, this was as it should be. The original natives at most just scattered the seeds and then completely ignored them, the behavior of relying on the sky for food was too lacking in training in their eyes.

The clove trade had always been controlled by the Sultan family, which was not very compatible with the Samir family. Although it did not reach the point of monopoly, the Samir family's goods, which only accounted for a little more than 10% of the total market, could not make any waves. But Old Master Qi gave all the cloves to the Samir family at a very affordable price, allowing the Samir family to launch a vigorous dumping campaign against the Sultan family from the beginning of this year, causing the Sultan family to complain incessantly. Dumping with strong military force as a backing, the construction of landmark buildings represented by clock towers and lighthouses, greatly enhanced the Samir family's influence and prestige in the Middle East. The endless stream of clock products and nautical supplies continued to widen the gap between them and other competitors, especially since they could even launch a full-scale attack on an industry in a country. What a powerful weapon this was...

Under the impetus of Old Master Qi, the Samir family also began to try to establish various plantations in Nanyang. The Samir family even reached a comprehensive cooperation agreement with Seven Seas Trading Company. Everyone was trying to optimize the crop ratio of the plantation so that the things produced in a limited space could bring the greatest benefits to everyone. And the reason why Old Master Qi brought a large number of things back to Dongping this time and summoned a large number of people to identify their use value was because of this cooperation agreement.

The cooperation between the Samir family and Seven Seas Trading Company was all-round. The act of generously giving away craftsmen and selling craftsmen this time was proof of this. If they did not really regard Qi Zhentao and Ye Tao as friends, they would never have passed on Wootz steel, Damascus steel, and the complete set of processes to the East. In the eyes of the Samir family, this was just a late technological exchange. The craftsmen they sent not only learned the complete set of building technology for tower-style buildings, but also many unique technologies of Ye's Workshop, such as the Blood Kirin Army's cavalry armor, infantry heavy armor production technology, crossbow artillery technology, and the preliminary fierce oil and fire star bomb technology. When Ye Tao agreed to sell the formula of fierce oil to the Samir family at a fairly "low" price this time, the representatives of the Samir family, including Assad, cheered. They knew that this was not Greek Fire yet, but this thing that was very close to Greek Fire was already enough. And from this moment on, the Samir family had begun to treat Qi Zhentao, Ye Tao, and others as true brothers. And coffee and cocoa were just small problems that could not be smaller.

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Finally got the coffee out ^_^