Chapter 151
In a magnificent living room, Hansel sat on his seat slightly cautiously, glancing at the door from time to time.
A few days ago, he asked to see Viscount William, who served as the royal quartermaster, but Mr. Viscount kept avoiding him because he was busy with his affairs.
Yesterday, he finally received the long-awaited reply. The Viscount could receive him the next morning at the Viscount's home.
Hansel got up early today, put on a set of clothes he had carefully prepared, and arrived at the Viscount's residence at the appointed time.
He secretly reminded himself: "This meeting is very important. It is related to whether I can open up sales for cans and whether I can get into the sight of the kingdom's senior officials."
Hansel returned to the royal capital this time, in addition to continuing In addition to recruiting talents for Paul and gathering refugees, he also shouldered the important task of selling cans to the kingdom's army.
Paul estimates that there is a high probability that this will happen. After all, canned food itself was invented to solve the problem of military rations. No matter how you think about it, it should be very appetizing to the army, no matter which world it is from.
Although Hansel was a layman in the military, for such a food that was easy to transport in large quantities and could be preserved for a long time, one could easily see its importance to the army at a glance.
He was sitting in the living room of Viscount William's house. After looking at the entrance of the living room countless times, he suddenly heard footsteps in the corridor outside.
"Coming, coming!"
Hansel's heart was beating hard. He tried to calm down, straightened his sitting posture, and waited for the arrival of his master.
Soon, a figure flashed out of the entrance to the living room, and a middle-aged man with a shrewd look in his eyes walked in.
Hansel immediately stood up and greeted the middle-aged man: "It is a great honor to meet you, Lord Viscount William."
"Hansel, please sit down, please sit down."
The viscount immediately asked him to sit down.
"Time flies so fast. I didn't expect the second son of the Abbott family to have grown so big."
Viscount William suddenly sighed, old Abbott was The incident caused a big fuss, making it known to everyone in the capital, and the young man in front of him was the kid who suddenly appeared from the old Abbott.
"Uh...ah...yes."
Hansel agreed casually in embarrassment.
"So, why did you come to me?"
Viscount William went straight to the topic, obviously not intending to stay polite with Hansel for a while.
Hansel felt very unhappy: "I have made it clear in my greetings every time. Is this quartermaster really so busy? He can't even remember why I came to see him. "No?"
But there was no trace of dissatisfaction on his face. Although the other party's title was not very high, he held an important position in supplying the royal army.
Hansel had a decent smile on his face and explained his purpose of coming: "Thank you, Lord Viscount, for taking time out of your busy schedule to meet me. I am here to recommend a newly developed product to you. Military rations.”
In order to arouse Viscount William's interest, he directly called the canned food rations. After all, the other party was the quartermaster.
The Viscount showed doubts: "Military rations? Developed?"
Hansel nodded: "Exactly."
Then he called out: "Tommen !”
The servant Tomman who was standing aside immediately placed the wooden box he had been carrying on the table and opened the box carefully.
Viscount William curiously looked inside the box and saw six glass bottles inside.
"This...is this military ration for eating?"
"Yes, Lord Viscount, in fact, their official name is 'canned food', which is a special kind of food The processing method can preserve food for a long time. You can taste it, try the beef first."
Hansel picked up a can with a beef label and peeled off the mouth of the can. He removed the wax seal and exposed the cork inside. He took out the can opener he carried with him and screwed in the cork. With a strong pull, the cork was pulled out. Then he placed the can in front of the Viscount.
The Viscount looked at the canned beef in front of him with a troubled expression. To be honest, the canned meat didn't look very good, with pieces of white grease floating on top of the turbid broth. Not to mention arousing people's appetite, it actually made people feel a little unappetizing.
After a while, he called a servant and said: "Go to the kitchen and get two forks."
The servant quickly returned to the living room and placed the two forks on the table .
Viscount William gave Hansel a look. Hansel understood, picked up a fork and put it into the can, took out a piece of beef and put it into his mouth to chew.
Seeing that the other party ate without hesitation, the Viscount picked up another fork, also reached into the jar and forked out a piece of beef and put it into his mouth.
The Viscount muttered while chewing: "Well... the texture is not bad, it is indeed beef."
The taste is a bit strange, but it is acceptable, and it can be confirmed that it does not taste like rotten meat.
Hansel swallowed the beef and continued to introduce: "Master Viscount, the canned beef you and I tasted was more than a month after it was produced."
"More than a month?"
Viscount William was surprised that it could be preserved for so long.
He forked another piece of beef and held it up to his eyes for a closer look.
From the taste and appearance, the beef seems to have been cooked, but the cooked meat should rot and deteriorate in a day or two. Even if it is placed in the ice room, it can only be delayed a little. God, how did you make this little glass jar?
Seeing the quartermaster's surprise, Hansel showed a bit of pride.
"Sir Viscount, according to the inventor of canned food, they can be stored for at least half a year. Even in the hot summer, as long as the so-called 'shelf life' is exceeded, the meat inside will not rot or deteriorate."
“Half a year?”
Viscount William showed an expression of disbelief. As a quartermaster, he knew that making meat into dried meat could be preserved for a long time, but the taste... tasted like chewing gum, and it was not as delicious as the canned meat in front of him anyway.
“Not only beef, but other meats can also be canned. This is pork, and this is mutton.”
Hansel introduced the other five portions The can is taken out of the box.
“And it’s not just meat, but also canned vegetables and fruits. These three bottles are pears, apples and spinach respectively.”
The colorful canned fruits and vegetables look much better. , attracted the viscount's attention.
Hansel opened the cans one by one with a can opener and asked Viscount William to take a bite of each.
"Hmm...these two portions of canned fruit taste good."
The Viscount fell in love with the canned fruit and ate several mouthfuls of it.
Hansel snickered inwardly, of course it tastes good.
The cans used for promotion and tasting are all specially made. The canned meats are added with spices, and the canned fruits are added with sugar. Both of these condiments are extremely expensive in the Northwest Bay.
Mr. Viscount took the napkin handed by the servant and wiped his mouth.
“If they can be stored for more than half a year, these so-called ‘cans’ are really good things.”
“Of course they are good things, Lord Viscount, I think they will definitely be popular with the soldiers. Welcome. As a quartermaster, you must understand the pain of soldiers not being able to eat meat and vegetables."
It doesn't matter whether the soldiers are welcome or not, and they have their own "means" to get meat and vegetables. .
The most important thing is that it saves our quartermaster a lot of trouble.
Viscount William thought so in his heart, and repeatedly agreed with Hansel's words: "Of course, Baron Abbott, this is indeed excellent military ration."
He suddenly remembered that Hansel was a baron. .
(End of this chapter)