Chapter 1695 - Food Factory
Yun Suji studied the figures showing lagging delivery progress and couldn't help but sigh.
Insufficient soybean deliveries affected not just soy sauce production but also tofu, fermented soya beans, and yellow soybean paste—all flagship products of the food factory. Though broad beans could substitute in some applications, it wasn't the same.
On the rails in the factory yard, workers pushed flatbed carts toward the cleaning workshop. The carts bore rattan baskets heaped with white radishes. On another track, dried shredded radish transported from the drying workshop was being sent for packaging.
Yun Suji was watching intently when his secretary knocked and reported: "Chief Xi Yazhou is here."
"Ask him to wait downstairs for a moment. I'll come down immediately."
Accompanying the new Army Chief of General Staff and Commander-in-Chief of the South China Army was Chen Sigen. This fitness coach and nutritionist had retired from his position as Special Reconnaissance Detachment Squad Leader. He now served in the Ministry of People's Livelihood and Labor, specifically responsible for national fitness and nutrition work.
Their visit to the food factory concerned logistical food support for the upcoming Mainland Campaign.
Since the Senate created the army, it had now entered its sixth year. Army logistical supply had undergone several iterations. However, the daily basic supply standard remained based on what Chen Sigen had formulated when the Security Regiment was first established. The specific standard: 850 grams of rice, 350 grams of vegetables, 50 grams of soy products, 50 grams of meat or aquatic products, 20 grams of oil/fat, and 10 grams of salt. This standard was not high, but it basically met soldiers' needs for daily training and routine duties. When encountering collective labor assignments, field training, or expeditions, the supply standard was adjusted according to circumstances.
As Chen Sigen had pointed out many times, the Fubo Army's supply standard could only be said to satisfy calorie and vitamin needs. Protein and fat supplies were seriously insufficient, keeping soldiers' physical fitness levels low—muscles require large amounts of protein to build. Training alone could not truly solve this problem.
The keynote set for the Mainland Campaign was reliance on "local procurement" for staple food. But non-staple food supply still had to come from the Senate's food industry. Though the rich Pearl River Delta wouldn't lack chickens, ducks, freshwater fish, and pigs, the health department maintained a cautious attitude toward local procurement of animal foods.
The Joint Logistics Headquarters had sent several official letters to the food factory, requiring them to develop military food that was "easy to carry," "easy to eat," "not easily spoiled," and "rich in protein and fat." Looking at these letters, Yun Suji could only smile bitterly to himself.
The only thing truly meeting these requirements was canned food—and they had killed glass jar cans themselves. What remained? Salted meat and dried meat. Setting aside whether these things were "healthy" enough, they couldn't meet the "easy to eat" criterion on their own. Such foods were typically either rock-hard or heavily salted; they were difficult to swallow without secondary cooking.
Xi Yazhou and Chen Sigen had both served overseas for extended periods, developing the muscular, dark-skinned look of seasoned soldiers. Seeing Yun Suji, Xi Yazhou extended his hand with a broad grin: "Factory Director Yun—long time no see! The dry sausage you gave Joint Logistics for trial was excellent! Delicious even eaten straight."
Yun Suji shook hands. "Unfortunately, the raw materials for dry sausage are too scarce to produce more." He had wanted to say "even scrap meat isn't enough," but swallowed those words.
"We came this time to see if we can find more substitutes," Chen Sigen said. "Soldiers' protein and fat intake is insufficient. I estimate that during the Mainland Campaign, soldiers' daily caloric needs won't be lower than 5,000 kilocalories. Rice alone won't do."
"We've already given this considerable thought." Despite spending half a month in the countryside—and still having Heaven and Earth Society work besides—Yun Suji had never set aside new product development for the food factory. Over recent years, whenever supply conditions permitted, he had trial-produced small amounts of various foods. Even if mass production wasn't possible, he wanted to test feasibility. Accumulating over time, quite a few products could now enter production. Some were manufactured in small batches to supply the Senate's special supply shops and Violet-run businesses in Guangzhou.
"Come—let's go to the workshops. I'll explain as we walk. Tell me which products seem suitable. As long as raw materials can be supplied, production lines can be adjusted."
"Excellent." Xi Yazhou's eyes lit up.
Yun Suji led them into the production area and entered the first workshop.
"This is the Poultry Egg Pickling Workshop." He gestured around. "Watch your step."
The most eye-catching features were large pools lined with porcelain tiles, one after another. Wooden frames suspended over the pools carried rows of large bamboo baskets submerged in the water.
This was the first time either Xi Yazhou or Chen Sigen had visited a food factory workshop. Despite the unpleasant smell and the wet floors, they were fascinated.
"These pools mainly produce salted eggs. The eggs are in the baskets. The production process is simple, and as long as the shell isn't broken, they can be preserved for considerable periods." Yun Suji continued: "Poultry eggs are one of our more abundant protein sources now. High salt content can also replenish salt in soldiers' bodies."
Xi Yazhou was curious: "I thought pickling salted eggs required yellow mud slurry?"
"Yellow mud works too. But salt water pickling is simpler. Just test the PPM concentration of salt in the pool daily—if it's low, add salt directly. With mud slurry, you need extensive stirring after adding salt. Besides, salt water has better fluidity; you simply submerge the eggs directly, no need for manual mud coating."
"What's in those big cloth bags?" Xi Yazhou pointed at several cloth bags floating half-submerged on the pool surface.
"Red chili. It makes salted egg yolks sandy and oily." Yun Suji said. "I've also thought about transportation. We'd use egg trays for packaging—just like the common kind in supermarkets, twelve to a group, made of molded paper pulp. Matched with relatively thick paper boxes. Packed into standard shipping crates, they can withstand long-distance transport..."
Chen Sigen shook his head. "Salted eggs won't work. The preservation period is too short. Even fighting in spring when temperatures aren't high, raw eggs only keep about a month. Moreover, your salt water pickled ones probably won't last a month once separated from the brine."
Xi Yazhou shook his head as well. He knew the transfer efficiency of Joint Logistics. Shipping from Lingao to Hong Kong, transshipping to Guangzhou, then distributing to the front lines—this process wouldn't technically exceed thirty days, but these salted eggs would become "fresh perishables." Warehouses at all levels couldn't store them; they'd have to be distributed the moment they arrived. Obviously unrealistic.
"If salted eggs must be issued, the yellow mud pickling method is relatively more feasible. But they'd still need to be transported in sealed baskets. If packaged individually, they won't survive once the mud dries." Chen Sigen studied the baskets of eggs in the brine. "To issue eggs to the army, egg powder is still the best option."
Xi Yazhou asked: "Can egg powder be produced?"
"There's no difficulty in the technology, but production quality is very unstable." Yun Suji had considered this long ago. "We can't do spray drying—only hot steam mixed drying."
They entered the second workshop. Because cooked food was produced here, Yun Suji had a naturalized worker bring three white cotton lab coats, hats, masks, and oilcloth high-tube water boots.
"The clothes have all been cleaned and disinfected," he explained. "Mainly, don't touch any equipment."
The moment the workshop door opened, the rumbling of machinery filled the air. Xi Yazhou noticed power overhead shafts running along the ceiling—this was mechanized production.
"This is the Meat Product Workshop." Yun Suji's voice was somewhat muffled by his mask.
"Dry sausages are made here?"
"Yes, but only sausages are produced here. Making them into dry sausages requires additional air-drying and smoking stages."
Steam filled the workshop. Xi Yazhou didn't smell fragrance; instead, there was an indescribable odor.
"What's being mixed is sausage filling." Yun Suji pointed to a device resembling a concrete mixer in both appearance and shape, driven by a belt from the overhead shaft, rumbling as it mixed. "Raw materials are processed into different specifications in the crushing workshop: minced meat and meat cubes. Then they're mixed here. Starch must be added as filler, of course. Then salt, spices, various flavoring agents—and finally, a small amount of sodium nitrite."
"Sodium nitrite?" Xi Yazhou started. "That's toxic."
"Correct—it does have toxicity, so dosage must be carefully controlled. But it's an important additive in processed meat products. Besides color development, it has a flavoring effect. This stuff plays a big role in why you find sausages delicious. Of course, the more important use is as a preservative."
A worker tossed a full bucket of green plant fragments into the mixer.
"That's basil. This batch is Italian-style herb sausages." Yun Suji said. "Different flavored sausages can be produced according to the spices and flavorings added."
While talking, the worker engaged the gear lever, stopped the machine, and opened the discharge port.
Chen Sigen regarded the filling being released with a slightly uncomfortable expression: "To be honest, I really don't want to know what meat this is made of..."
"Sausage—colloquially called 'creamy offal tube.'" Yun Suji cracked a joke. "After Germans slaughter a pig, nothing is left over—all chopped up and made into sausages."
"The ones sold in Nanhai shops," Xi Yazhou asked hurriedly, "those are good meat, right?" His stomach felt a bit unsettled.
"Naturally. Starch is still added, and a portion of chicken or duck meat as filler. But rest assured—whatever meat is used, it's quality meat. Especially the fat cubes—those are genuine hard fat."
"What about this?" Chen Sigen asked, indicating the filling before them.
(End of Chapter)