Volume One: A Farmer at Dawn Chapter 30: Drawing Ice from Saltpeter

Upon learning that Su Laibao had offered the secret sugar-making recipe to Chen Liangbin, Li Yiyuan immediately rushed to the provincial capital to find his cousin and explained the stakes. Leveraging his cousin’s connections, he managed to reach the governor and promised that, should he obtain the recipe, he would offer forty percent of the monthly profits. The governor was tempted. He shamelessly wrote a letter and sent Li Yiyuan’s cousin to Xuan Yi County.

Li Yiyuan devised countless schemes, convinced he had Chen, the magistrate, cornered. But Chen Liangbin acted swiftly; by the time people from the provincial capital arrived, his memorial and the secret recipe were already in the emperor’s hands.

After some time, an imperial edict arrived at the county office, which Chen Liangbin personally delivered to Su Laibao. He told him that refined sugar was now a royal industry. The emperor was delighted and wrote an imperial decree, granting the Su family’s sons ten years of special privileges in the imperial examinations.

Feigning regret, Chen Liangbin said he might soon be transferred, otherwise he would ensure Su Biao received preferential treatment during the county exam. Su Laibao thanked him profusely, his heart bursting with joy.

With this imperial decree, no one could hope to sever the Su family’s path to the examinations. However, ten years later, Su Biao would only be nineteen. For a youth of nineteen, passing the scholar’s exam would be remarkable, so speed was essential—he had to, at the very least, pass the first-level exam.

Su Laibao set his sights on Wen Lancang, arranging for Su Biao to become his pupil as well. Wen Lancang taught at the Su family’s private school. If he made Wen Lancang a personal tutor, it would break tradition and risk upsetting his kin.

Carefully planning, Su Laibao devised a way that would neither offend his relatives nor breach decorum. He rehired an accomplished scholar for the private school, dismissing Wen Lancang, who only held the basic qualification. Afterwards, Su Biao and Chu Liu left the school to live and study at Wen Lancang’s home. He sent Madam Huang and Han Zai—one to cook, one to care for their daily needs.

Su Laibao gave a generous payment and instructed Wen Lancang to help Su Biao attain his first-level exam certificate as quickly as possible.

Accelerating their studies meant Chu Liu and Su Biao lost their holidays. Even under the blazing summer sun, they had to study diligently: the Four Books in the morning, the Five Classics in the afternoon, poetry exercises every three days, essay practice every five days, and only one day of rest every ten days.

Chu Liu felt as if he had returned to his last year of high school, that time soaked in sweat.

One day, Su Laibao brought several sets of practice papers and stayed for lunch.

The weather was sweltering, and Su Laibao was drenched in sweat. Han Zai kept fanning him, but Su Laibao still complained, “It’s unbearable. A cup of chilled tea would be heavenly right now.”

Chu Liu suddenly interjected, “Uncle Su, has ice appeared in the market?”

“Of course not! Otherwise I wouldn’t be suffering like this.”

Chu Liu smiled inwardly. “Uncle Su, ice is a business opportunity. If you could sell ice in the county, you’d make a fortune.”

“That would indeed be a huge opportunity, but in this scorching summer, people are roasted alive. Where could one find ice? Aside from the palace, there can’t be more than a handful of places in Da Yan with ice…”

Before Su Laibao finished, Chu Liu said, “Uncle Su, you don’t need to store ice. You can make it yourself.”

“What?”

Everyone was stunned, their eyes fixed on Chu Liu.

Ice was a rarity even in the palace, managed by the Ice Office, collected in the depths of winter, and stored in deep cellars for the royal family’s summer use. To them, making ice seemed an outlandish fantasy, so they were naturally skeptical.

“Scholar, you know how to make ice?” Su Laibao asked in surprise.

“It’s quite simple!” Chu Liu smiled. “As long as you provide me with a certain item, I can produce ice.”

Su Laibao chose to believe him. Someone who could turn brown sugar into white sugar surely wouldn’t falter at making ice.

Chu Liu whispered something in Su Laibao’s ear, leaving him astonished. “Just that? Nothing else?”

Chu Liu nodded.

“I’ll go find it right away!” Su Laibao didn’t even finish his meal, hurriedly rushing out.

“Scholar, what did you tell my father?” Su Biao asked.

Knowing it would lead to endless questions, Chu Liu brushed him off. “Ask your father!”

Su Biao shot Chu Liu a look and went back to his studies.

Chu Liu memorized things faster, so Su Biao had to work hard to keep up; otherwise, their tutor would use him as a cautionary example.

The next day, Su Laibao brought back saltpeter.

Chu Liu had prepared two basins, one large, one small. He first poured the right amount of water into both, then placed the small basin inside the large one. Seeing the small basin sink, he poured out some water from it until it floated.

Next, he added saltpeter to the large basin and set the small basin inside it again. After a while, the water in the small basin gradually froze. Su Biao cried out, “Look, ice is forming!”

“It really is ice!” the others exclaimed in delight.

“Wonderful! From now on, we’ll have ice every day and never fear the heat again.”

Su Biao cheered, but Su Laibao frowned at the ice in the small basin.

“Scholar, saltpeter is rare. Ice made like this is worth its weight in gold—who could afford it?”

A merchant’s first thought is always profit.

“Uncle Su, saltpeter can be reused. Let me show you… Madam Huang, light the fire.”

Chu Liu had Han Zai carry the large basin to the stove. The water soon evaporated, and when only a little was left, Chu Liu had Han Zai take the basin off and used residual heat to dry it.

Su Laibao was puzzled. “So this is saltpeter? Why does it look different?”

Knowing he couldn’t explain with crystal structures, Chu Liu simply said, “When saltpeter goes into water and comes out again, it changes its appearance…”

Regardless of whether they believed him, he quickly cautioned, “Uncle Su, when you recover saltpeter using this method, never wait for the water to dry completely—otherwise, it’ll catch fire, maybe even explode.”

“You must be extremely careful: don’t expose it to sunlight for long, or keep it in high temperatures, and never let it touch flammable materials…”

Saltpeter is potassium nitrate, the main ingredient in black powder. A careless mistake could cause fire or explosion.

It would be folly to risk craftsmen’s lives for a piece of ice. Safety education must come first.