Chapter 62: The Gift of the God of Cooking

"In addition, I also need a plot of land to grow soybeans. With these items, I can make soy sauce."

Having said this, the God of Cookery pulled out a blueprint and handed it to Su Ze, saying:

"I can work part-time here during my leisure hours; as long as the Master of Peach Blossom Spring has the materials ready, production can begin."

The blueprint given to Su Ze by the God of Cookery was for a purple-tier building!

【God of Cookery's Soy Sauce Workshop】 (Purple)

"Firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea."

Price: 20 points of Literary Vein Qi.

Function: A workshop capable of producing soy sauce.

【Rapid Sauce Brewing】：The God of Cookery has mastered a secret recipe for quickly making flavorful soy sauce, which requires much less time than ordinary soy sauce brewing—taking only ten days to produce delicious soy sauce.

Ordinary soy sauce usually requires a long process of fermentation and sun-drying. Su Ze vividly remembered that hypnotic advertising slogan from later generations: "sun-dried for a full one hundred and eighty days."

Crops matured faster in Peach Blossom Spring than in the outside world, but surely fermentation could not be accelerated, could it?

No matter how one thought about it, modern industrially produced soy sauce couldn't possibly be sun-dried for a full one hundred and eighty days; such production efficiency would simply be too low.

Presumably, the secret recipe of the God of Cookery also made use of some "technology and heavy magic."

However, it did not matter; what food industry didn't use technology nowadays, as long as it met dietary standards?

If soy sauce could be produced in just ten days, Su Ze would gain another stable source of income. Having walked the streets over the past few days, Su Ze had gained an intuitive understanding of prices in the Song Dynasty, and soy sauce was very expensive.

Indeed, soy sauce already existed in this era.

The Chinese had been making soy-based seasonings for an extremely long time, but prior to the Song Dynasty, sauces were relatively scarce and considered a delicacy enjoyed only by the upper classes.

Such sauce was called *hai* (醢) and was used for sacrificing to ancestors and entertaining distinguished guests.

This was because, before the Song Dynasty, salt remained a relatively scarce resource, and salt was the most crucial ingredient for making various sauces.

By the Song Dynasty, with a developed commodity economy and increased salt production, sauces gradually found their way into ordinary households.

Even so, the price of soy sauce remained high.

Owning a building capable of producing soy sauce meant a steady output of the condiment.

More importantly, the God of Cookery's technique could also be applied to the real world, which would drastically increase soy-sauce production.

One must know that soy sauce was not only popular in Bianjing; at the border trade markets along the Song-Liao frontier, soy sauce was a bestselling export commodity, as the nomads of the grasslands had an even greater demand for seasonings.

As for why not sell salt directly?

Dealing in illicit salt was an illegal act, and the Department of Finance and Taxation cracked down heavily on private salt trading. Su Ze had no desire to take risks with such matters.

True to its reputation as a purple-tier building!

Su Ze put away the blueprint with satisfaction, unfurled the long scroll, and began construction.

The Ore-Vein Child was already available, so he only needed to build a 【Salt Well】 to bring back some salt along the way.

Spending 10 points of Literary Vein Qi to build the 【Salt Well】, followed by another 20 points to build the 【God of Cookery's Soy Sauce Workshop】, plus the 5 points spent on recruiting the Ore-Vein Child, left Su Ze with only 15 points remaining out of the 50 points of Literary Vein Qi he had accumulated.

He then ordered an Agriculture-Vein Child to switch to growing soybeans, thus fulfilling the God of Cookery's request, who then contentedly returned to his 【Neighborhood Little Shop】.

He had to step up the pace in gathering Literary Vein Qi.

The tabloid needed to be launched as soon as possible, and it had to make a sensational debut in Bianjing to attract submissions from literati.

Su Ze felt a slight headache coming on. With so many things to do, he truly felt stretched thin.

Peach Blossom Spring could solve the problems of tabloid layout and printing, but whether it was publishing and sales or handling submissions, reliable personnel were needed—specifically, scholars with a high level of cultural literacy.

After some thought, Su Ze quickly settled on a candidate!

Zeng Gong!

Zeng Gong had failed the imperial examinations this time, but having just become a student of Ouyang Xiu, he was staying behind in Bianjing to study and prepare for future exams.

With such a large family, Zeng Gong must be under immense financial pressure living in Bianjing. As long as he offered a suitable salary, Zeng Gong would surely be willing to serve as the editor-in-chief of this tabloid.

With his talent as one of the Eight Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties and his identity as a disciple of Ouyang Xiu, he was undoubtedly qualified for the job.

He would pay a visit in the coming days to invite Zeng Gong to serve as the editor-in-chief of the tabloid and get the editorial department up and running.

Su Ze picked up pen and paper and wrote down "Gather Literary Vein Qi." This was the base currency of Peach Blossom Spring, the capital upon which Su Ze depended for survival, and his contingency plan in this turbulent world; he had to accelerate its collection.

"Make money" was also written down by Su Ze. To gather enough Literary Vein Qi, both reputation and wealth were indispensable.

Next, Su Ze wrote down "Shop and Residence Administration."

This was his first official posting since receiving his appointment, and it was crucial for his future bureaucratic career.

The Song Dynasty maintained extremely strict performance appraisals for officials, conducted annually, with the results directly tied to the speed of promotion.

Fine administrative achievements could leave behind a reputation for "mastery in administrative governance" while also accelerating one's rise.

Furthermore, the Song Dynasty placed great emphasis on the executive capabilities of functional officials. Prominent ministers of the Northern Sung, whether Fan Zhongyan or Wang Anshi, scored very high marks in local governance; figures like Han Qi and Fu Bi, who currently held high prestige in the court, had also achieved stellar results in local administration.

Su Ze already had a comprehensive plan for revitalizing the Shop and Residence Administration, but this plan likewise required a pool of seed capital.

Which brought him back to "making money."

Naturally, this sum of money could not be met by the meager output of Peach Blossom Spring alone. Peach Blossom Spring's current output was only enough for Su Ze to improve his living standards; reviving the messy mess of the Shop and Residence Administration required a massive sum of tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of guan.

Of course, this money did not need to be produced all at once. Su Ze was prepared to conduct a pilot project within a certain scope according to his own ideas first; once results were achieved, securing further funds would become much easier.

If he could produce results and build a reputation, the goal of "gathering Literary Vein Qi" would become much easier to accomplish.

The key was to achieve tangible results in the Shop and Residence Administration.

Su Ze cleared his thoughts. As for the seed capital, he had already found his risk investor.

Wasn't his future father-in-law a royal merchant?

Forcing him to cough up money to invest in his future son-in-law's career was only natural, wasn't it?

Meanwhile, at the residence of Zhang Daocheng, Zhang Daocheng was saying to his precious daughter, Zhang Chulan:

"Nonsense! You're already engaged, yet you still want to have a secret rendezvous with Su Ze? If word gets out, what reputation will our Zhang family have left?"

Zhang Chulan was already quite adept at handling her old man. She acted coquettishly and said:

"Father, why don't you take your daughter there openly and aboveboard? Then it won't be a secret rendezvous!"

Zhang Daocheng was so angry he wanted to retort, when suddenly he let out a massive sneeze.

Just as he finished wiping his nose, he saw his precious daughter put on a pitiful expression once more. With falling tears, she said:

"Ever since Aze was taken away by the Imperial City Bureau last time, daughter hasn't seen him since. Can father bear to watch your daughter pine away day and night with worry?"

Seeing his daughter shed tears, Zhang Daocheng could only raise his hands in surrender and say:

"Fine! Fine! Tomorrow, disguise yourself as a page boy and come with me to the Zhang Family Estate!"