Chapter 55: Sugar Beet and White Sugar

” Sugar beet root?” Su Lun was slightly stunned, then he quickly asked, “Where did you find it? Is there any more?”

” It was over there on the dirt slope, and there are quite a few more there.” Bard pointed to a nearby dirt slope and said.

The two of them went to the dirt slope, where a large patch of lush green plants grew, looking somewhat like the radishes from his hometown in his previous life.

” Lord, this is the sugar beet root. My mother discovered it back when we were in the Giant Bear Tribe.” Bard dug up a sugar beet root and handed it to Su Lun.

Su Lun took the sugar beet root and shook off the soil from it. The sugar beet root looked like a short, plump radish, with a pointed tip and reddish skin. After washing it with water, Su Lun cut off a small piece and tasted it. A sweet flavor instantly filled his mouth.

” So sweet,” Su Lun said in surprise. This sugar beet root was very sweet, much sweeter than the sugarcane he had eaten in his previous life.

When he had tasted the sugar beet soup earlier, he wasn’t sure, but after tasting it himself, he finally confirmed that these sugar beet roots were the same sugar beets from his previous life. This type of sugar beet was widely grown in the north. Besides being used as a vegetable, its biggest use was for making sugar.

In ancient times, sugar was a complete luxury, much more expensive than salt. There weren’t many ways to get sugar back then, aside from some fruits and honey. There were no railways, no cars, no highways, and no high-speed trains. Fruits weren’t easy to preserve, so eating fruit wasn’t easy either.

Back in Caren City in the south, besides some local fruits, the market only had dried fruits from the Desert Kingdom, like dates and raisins. Of course, there was also white sugar and honey, but the amount of white sugar was very small, and the price was very high. This white sugar was transported from the south, and the quantity each year was pitifully small.

The sugar-making process in this era was still very primitive. In the south, they used sugarcane to make sugar, and the sugar produced was reddish-brown. As for white sugar, the amount was even smaller.

Su Lun had discovered sugar beets here. As long as they were planted on a large scale, his territory would produce a large amount of white sugar every year. Although compared to salt, white sugar wasn’t a necessity—it was even a luxury—for nobles, white sugar was a common item.

Actually, the difference between white sugar and brown sugar wasn’t big; their sugar content was about the same. But brown sugar didn’t taste as good as white sugar; it had a slightly bitter taste. So the price difference between brown sugar and white sugar was huge, and nobles could only use white sugar to entertain guests.

If someone used brown sugar to entertain guests and word got out, they would be laughed at throughout the noble circles.

It was said that the white sugar made by the city-state alliance in the south was produced with the help of Wizards, and most white sugar produced elsewhere was made the same way. But Su Lun knew a method to make white sugar from brown sugar. The difference in color between brown sugar and white sugar was due to impurities. As long as the impurities were removed from brown sugar, it would become white sugar.

In this era, humans didn’t have good methods to remove impurities, but Su Lun knew a simple and effective way to filter out the impurities from brown sugar.

” Go call everyone and collect all the sugar beet roots here,” Su Lun put down the sugar beet root in his hand and ordered directly.

Soon, all the sugar beet roots in this area were collected. These sugar beets had been growing here for a long time, and many had already produced seeds. Su Lun also collected all these sugar beet seeds. He planned to plant sugar beets on a large scale in his territory.

After three hours, all the sugar beets on the hillside were finally gathered. The whole hillside was full of holes. They harvested four to five hundred jin of sugar beets and a bag of sugar beet seeds. After collecting the sugar beets, Su Lun didn’t continue exploring but directly led everyone back to the town.

As soon as they returned to the town, Su Lun called over several craftsmen and prepared to make various sugar-making tools. The sugar-making process wasn’t very difficult. Under Su Lun’s guidance, the craftsmen quickly made a sugar press machine. Actually, the sugar press machine was just an improved oil press machine.

After washing the sugar beet roots and cutting them into small pieces, they were put into the machine for juicing. As the machine operated, soon a stream of red juice flowed out. This juice contained a lot of sugar. The usual way to make sugar was to filter out the visible impurities and then heat the sugar water to obtain sugar.

Su Lun had two Barbarian Warriors turn the machine, and sugar water kept seeping out. Soon, a bucket was filled. Su Lun dipped his finger into the sugar water and put it in his mouth. It was very sweet.

What they made this way was only brown sugar. If Su Lun wanted to make white sugar, he had to use another filtering method.

He planned to use activated carbon filtration. In his previous life, he knew that activated carbon was a widely used filtering material, and it worked very well. Although Su Lun knew that activated carbon filtered well, he didn’t know how to make activated carbon.

Even if he had learned it in school before, after so many years, he had mostly forgotten. He only remembered that activated carbon was made by carbonizing wood. Although he didn’t know how to make activated carbon, he did know how to make charcoal. Currently, the territory used charcoal every day for steelmaking.

Although charcoal didn’t filter as well as activated carbon, it could still be used for filtering. If needed, they could just filter it a few more times. He had someone go to the kiln to bring a cart of charcoal, and then he had the workers crush the charcoal into small particles and wash these particles with clean water.

While directing the Barbarians to press the sugar water, he also directed others to make the charcoal particles.

After washing the charcoal, they dried it, and Su Lun got a pile of small black particles. Next, he poured these black charcoal particles directly into the red sugar water and stirred it.

The moment of miracle had arrived. The originally reddish-brown sugar water gradually became lighter in color as they stirred, and soon it turned clear.

The few Barbarians nearby stared dumbly at Su Lun’s actions. They couldn’t understand why, after adding those black things to the brown sugar water, the sugar water became transparent.

Seeing the sugar water turn transparent, Su Lun couldn’t help but grin foolishly. It seemed his method had worked.

” Hurry up and work, no stealing!” Two Barbarians took advantage of Su Lun’s silly grin to sneak their hands into the bucket, scoop up a spoonful of sugar water, and quickly drink it. Su Lun picked up a spoon and hit each of them on the head twice.

The two Barbarians gave silly laughs and then went back to work.