Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 187 Testing Spices

Two baskets were filled with several iron medicine mills and copper pestle and mortars; these items were used to crush medicinal materials into powder and were essential for her spice-making.

However, Great Chu had regulations on these items; unless your family ran a pharmacy, it would be quite difficult to acquire these items. Doctor Wu knew this, so he brought them over to her family.

Doctor Wu waved his hand and chuckled, "It’s not much, your family surely still lacks some, but the old man can help you procure them."

Gu Jinli hurriedly replied, "Thank you, Grandpa Wu." With this assurance from Doctor Wu, the workshop no longer had to worry about acquiring iron medicine mills.

"Don’t mention it, it’s already the third quarter of the Si hour, the auspicious time has come, let’s go in and unveil the plaque," said Doctor Wu, a man of decisive action. He briskly entered the Gu Family Workshop and after greeting the County Captain Jiang and others who came towards him, he began the ancestral invocation and the unveiling ceremony.

"Good Brother An, Xiao Yu, San Lang, you stand behind," Third Grandma directed them to a spot.

"Alright," the three of Gu Jinli moved behind the adults and stood with children from several families.

He Shiliu and others, having coincidentally stayed, participated in the unveiling. They were thrilled to learn that the elderly man in a black brocade robe was County Captain Jiang.

Third Grandpa entrusted County Captain Jiang with the task of offering wine to heaven and earth.

County Captain Jiang did not decline. Taking up the job, he picked up a wine cup placed on the altar, said a few words to heaven and earth, meaning to announce to heaven and earth as well as the ancestors of Qin, Gu, Luo, and Tian families that the workshop was opened, seeking their blessing.

After that, he sprinkled each of the nine cups of wine on the ground one by one.

Once the wine was sprinkled, everyone together bowed three times to the altar.

After the bows, County Captain Jiang led everyone to the workshop gate, grasped the rope tied with red cloth, and loudly announced, "Gu Family Workshop is now officially open!"

As his words fell, he pulled the rope, and the red cloth covering the plaque fell down, revealing the vigorously written characters "Gu Family Workshop."

This workshop was a joint venture opened by the Qin, Gu, Luo, and Tian families. Given that the Gu surname was the most common and the courtyard was bought by Gu Jinli’s house, it was named Gu Family Workshop, a name agreed upon by the Qin, Luo, and Tian families.

"Brother Gu, congratulations on the opening of your family’s workshop, may your business prosper and customers flood in," Village Chief He congratulated Third Grandpa.

Third Grandpa smiled and clasped his hands, "Thank you for your auspicious words, Village Chief."

He Shiliu also offered several congratulatory words. After congratulating, He Shiliu and his group took their leave, still incredibly excited that they had unveiled the plaque together with Lord County Captain.

After they left, County Captain Jiang said to Gu Jinli, "Little girl, go and check on your spices; we are all quite curious."

After speaking, he looked towards Elder Lei Wu, the implication clear: hurry, the big client is here, show him the good stuff, it won’t do you wrong.

Gu Jinli was quick on the uptake, saying to Elder Lei Wu, "Grandpa Wu, let’s go have a look at the spice production."

Saying this, she called over Mrs. He Yang and others, gave each of them two taels of medicinal materials, and had them start making seasoning spices.

Mrs. He Yang and others had signed the contract on the twelfth of March; these past four days, they had been learning daily at Gu Jinli’s house on how to prepare spices. Now familiar with the process, the moment Gu Jinli spoke, they took the medicinal materials and tools, and immediately began preparing them.

Thud, thud, thud!

For a while, the sound of pounding medicinal materials filled the room.

Some medicinal materials were quite hard and needed to be smashed with an iron hammer, which she had custom-ordered from the ironworks previously, now coming in handy.

After smashing a few times, she smashed the harder medicinal materials sufficiently, then placed them in the stone mortar for further pounding.

Stone mortars come in large and small sizes, hard herbs are placed in large stone mortars, and people step on the wooden rods of the mortars, smashing the herbs into powder. After that, they are transferred to a smaller stone mortar for slow grinding.

Once the grinding is complete, the powder is sifted through a fine sieve. After sifting, the powders are ground a few more times and sifted again to ensure they are finely ground.

After Mrs. He Yang and the others finished grinding the herbs, Gu Jinli pointed to the eight types of herbs placed in eight wooden bowls and said, "After blending these herbs according to a certain proportion and roasting them, the spice blends will be ready."

She took out three packets of spice blends and handed them to Elder Lei Wu: "Grandpa Wu, please try these. This is the spice I made. The one labeled with ’Five’ is the Five Blessings Spices, made from five types of herbs, the Six Blessings Spices from six types, and the Eight Blessings Spices from eight types."

Elder Lei Wu took the three packets of spices from her, placed them on the table, opened each one by one, and together with Ah Ji, dipped a bit of the spices to taste.

Upon entering the mouth, the spices burst with a fresh fragrance unlike any they had tasted before.

Among the three types of spice blends, the Eight Blessings Spices tasted the best.

Elder Lei Wu looked at Ah Ji and asked, "How is it? Any conflicts?"

Upon hearing this, Gu Jinli knew that Ah Ji was knowledgeable in pharmacology.

Ah Ji replied, "No conflicts, no harm to the body, and long-term consumption can even eliminate cold dampness within the body."

He paused, then added, "It’s very suitable for people over there. They will like it."

Hearing this, Gu Jinli’s eyes brightened, seeing a potential business opportunity. However, Elder Lei Wu did not immediately give in but said, "We brought some cattle, sheep, and rabbits today, and the flavor of roasted beef and mutton is excellent. Since it’s almost noon, let’s eat first and talk later."

Cattle, sheep, and rabbits?

Gu Jinli thought for a moment and realized that they intended to test the spices on the spot.

"Alright, today let’s enjoy the roasted beef and mutton." County Captain Jiang laughed heartily and said to Third Grandpa, "Brother Gu, how about we come and disturb your house for a meal?"

Since the workshop is a place for work, it’s not suitable to roast meat here.

"Sure, let’s go to my house," Third Grandpa agreed, and also called for the village chief, Elder Wu, and Doctor Du and their families.

Village Chief He was eager to dine with County Captain Jiang, to let his son and grandsons be seen. He did not decline and followed along with the Gu, Luo, Tian, and several other families in a grand manner towards Gu Jinli’s house.

As for Old Guo and He Dazhuang, they stayed behind in the workshop to continue their tasks, grinding beans and spices respectively.

He Sanlai and Mo Chunyue, who had signed indentures, were responsible for guarding the workshop.

The workshop yard was not far from Gu Jinli’s house, and soon they arrived at Gu Jinli’s house.

County Captain Jiang unceremoniously entered the yard of Gu Jinli’s house, immediately shouting to the two men driving the mule cart, "Kunzi, Ah Chuan, move all the cattle, sheep, and rabbits from the mule cart inside!"

"Alright," Kunzi and Ah Chuan jumped down the mule cart and moved the cattle, sheep, and rabbits out.

The cattle were already slaughtered, with half a cow available; there were two live sheep; and twenty or so rabbits, all housed in a large wooden cage.

Besides the cattle, sheep, and rabbits, Kunzi also moved a basin-sized piece of meat, sun-dried and reddish-grey.

Qin San Lang took a glance and recognized it as horse meat, enhancing his speculation about the identity of Elder Lei Wu and Ah Ji.

In Great Chu, slaughtering horses is strictly prohibited as they are military assets. Only outside Great Chu, in places where horses are plentiful, would people kill horses for horse meat.