When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist-Chapter 708 - 666: Purple Egg, Sweet Beans, and Blue Pulp Coffee
"The pendulum measurement has encountered an issue?" Horn frowned, staring at the line of survey monks before him, "Are you sure it's not due to the angle or the ball being too large, causing the simple pendulum to become a compound pendulum?"
By mid-February of 1447, the Northern Black Snake Bay County began to gradually warm up, but this was not the reason for the monks to sweat.
When the Northern County Council was established, with the votes of the Ruo'an Faction and the Shadow Council, they unanimously agreed to join the Holy Axis, surrendering tariffs and diplomatic rights and accepting military presence.
To ensure smooth federalization, Ruo'an specially set up an office for Horn in the temple of Long Embankment City.
In the past days, the chieftains of the Wizard Clan, leaders of medium and large Secret Factions, newly appointed officers, and the elders from the Black Snake Bay Village Community have visited here.
Once Horn leaves in the future, this will become the Holy Axis Office, used for tariff distribution, judicial arbitration, and conveying Horn's directives.
After the Holy Axis Office settled into the Northern County Council, it started to promote the metric system—units such as meter, cubic meter, ton, etc.
This was one of the plans scheduled for 1447, initially limited to Thousand River Valley, but since Northern County had leaned towards Horn's side, it naturally had to be included.
However, as soon as these metric units were implemented in Black Snake Bay, issues began to emerge.
From the artisans and monks responsible for surveying, Horn unexpectedly heard that the pendulum measurement method showed significant discrepancies in the Black Snake Bay region.
Minor ones were only a difference of three to five centimeters, while major ones were a difference of seven to eight centimeters.
"We've repeated the process multiple times, conducting extensive tests, and all results were consistent." The measuring monk handed a small pouch to Horn's side, "However, based on natural theology guidelines, we've conducted extensive exploration around to find commonality, and thus we discovered this."
Reaching out to open the small pouch, Horn pinched a piece of sticky reddish-brown waxy soil from the bag, resembling weathered modeling clay.
"What is this?"
"Locals call it hollow soil." The monk stood straight but dared not look at Horn, only staring above his head, "According to your proposed three laws of mechanics, gravitational acceleration should be constant, so we believe it's this soil affecting the pendulum measurement."
Looking down at the reddish-brown clay in his hand, Horn weighed it with his hand and found it was much lighter than ordinary clay.
Was it this thing causing the gravitational anomalies?
Pendulum measurement is based on gravitational acceleration; if other conditions remain unchanged, a shortening pendulum length indicates a decrease in gravitational acceleration.
After so much time for confirmation, Horn can be fairly certain that this world generally adheres to Newton's principles at a macroscopic level.
Yet now there is a gravitational anomaly shortening the pendulum length by seven to eight centimeters, which is quite bizarre.
However, can anything be more bizarre than metals barely conducting electricity? Or than water vapor disappearing into thin air?
Despite initial confusion, Horn calmed down, contemplating for a moment, "How about this; dig up more of this soil, send some to the Dragon Language Alchemy University for experimentation, and the rest to the Ruo'an Faction to see if they have any data."
"Yes, Your Grace." A row of monks simultaneously tapped their chests and waved in salute, then marched out of the office in the temple like machines.
After they left, Horn tossed the clay back into the pouch but didn't continue handling official duties. Instead, he walked to the window, looking down at several small vegetable gardens planted in the courtyard.
Lush vines clung to their supports, fresh shoots poking their heads out of the moist soil, swaying in the blazing sun.
Horn had to admit, Black Snake Bay is indeed a magical land.
Not only does it have miraculous crops like sweet branch, which produces white sugar, but also a multitude of other extraordinary crops.
Horn specially established an agricultural testing team under the office to promote the research and commercialization of these crops.
One example is the vegetable known as purple egg frequently found in Long Embankment City's vegetable market street, a unique crop absent in Thousand River Valley.
It resembles a purple-skinned round eggplant but can grow as large as a pumpkin.
When cut open, it emits a mild iron aroma, only developing a sweet and sour taste similar to tomatoes when eaten.
Like tuber roots, purple egg contains quite a bit of neurotoxin, with just one bite capable of being fatal, though fortunately, the toxin is concentrated in the outer skin, making it safe as long as it's peeled before eating.
Aside from taste considerations, Horn's top priority was its growth speed.
Producing a sweet and sour-flavored condiment vegetable in just three to four months, each plant has a low yield but grows into large individual units, providing a substantial amount of food in a short time and being easy to preserve.
Even in the hot climate of Black Snake Bay, it can be stored for quite a while, let alone in Thousand River Valley.
For the farmers, dedicating half an acre to planting this vegetable is a rare addition to their daily bland diet.
Another important agricultural crop is sweet bean.
Horn's gaze moved to the other side of the garden where a tall stake stood upright, from its top hung a pomegranate-like sphere with a diameter between 5-10 centimeters.
The first time he held sweet bean, he mistakenly thought it was a fruit until locals peeled the outer skin to reveal the green round bean inside.
Although it resembles mung beans, its taste is akin to gritty corn made from old corn that people eat while reminiscing about hardship.
Not only is it hard but also quite throat-scratching, requiring a hefty amount of chewing before swallowing. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂
This sweet bean is the staple food for Black Snake Bay People; it's not the best tasting but its yield is high, reaching around 200 to 300 pounds per acre, although not as high as tuber roots.
However, according to locals, if one only eats sweet bean, eventually hallucinations will arise, and no matter how much one eats, it never satisfies; one feels hungry right after eating.
This is why, despite having such a high-yielding food, Black Snake Bay People still import large amounts of grain.
But for Horn, this food effectively fills the gap in Pingyuan County of Thousand River Valley, where oats and other relief grains can't be grown.
With these two crops, Horn can achieve mutual economic complement through exporting industrial goods and importing economic crops, significantly improving both sides' living standards, an absolute win-win.
Although both crops have some issues, they can entirely be handed over to Catherine and a group of agricultural Miracle Priests for improvement.
With wizards capable of plant manipulation spells, Horn has gathered quite a few during his time in Black Snake Bay, not just relying on Catherine alone.
Among the previously mentioned crops, the only problem-free one is pearl rice.
Horn initially thought pearl rice was corn, but the Black Snake Bay People informed him it's a berry-like round fruit growing on trees.
Once roasted and the skin screened off, they become white pearl-like grains of rice, which, when ground into powder and soaked in hot water, turns the water a mild blue with a distinctive aroma that is quite refreshing.
This blue bean flavor is somewhat bitter, but Black Snake Bay People always enjoy adding various seasonings like cinnamon, clove, lizard tongue, fennel, cardamom, aloe juice to it, creating a thick liquid to make it palatable.
So in Black Snake Bay, blue bean brewed from pearl rice is considered a strong flavored niche drink.
But things are different when Horn took it in.
With his experience in coffee and tea, Horn simply added milk and white sugar to alter its taste immediately.
During his stay in Black Snake Bay, he practically replaced black tea with blue bean and personally renamed it "Blueberry Coffee."
Although it's uncertain why he added two strange syllables after blue bean, it didn't hinder the small scale spread of this beverage within the Salvation Army.
Horn promoted this "blueberry coffee" not just for sentimental reasons but primarily to curb the heavy drinking culture of Thousand River Valley.
Not that he was against drinking; rather, people of Thousand River Valley drink excessively, almost treating alcohol as their primary form of entertainment drinks.
Therefore, during his time in Black Snake Bay, besides organizing Northern County Council affairs, Horn spent the majority of his time tinkering with these vegetables.
But peaceful moments are inevitably limited; returning to his desk, Horn must pick up the latest recruitment roster for the Northern County Council's new army.
