Chapter 148：

In a magnificent living room, Hansel sat on the seat a little cautiously, and glanced at the door from time to time.

A few days ago, he asked to see Viscount William, who was the quartermaster of the royal family, but Mr. Viscount kept avoiding him by saying that he was busy with business.

Yesterday, he finally got the long-awaited reply. His Excellency the Viscount could meet him the next morning at the Viscount's home.

Hansel got up early today, put on a set of clothes he carefully prepared, and came to the Viscount's mansion at the appointed time.

He secretly reminded himself: "This meeting is very important. It is related to whether we can open a market for the canned food, and whether I can get into the eyes of the high-level people in the kingdom."

Hansel returned to the capital this time, in addition to continuing to recruit talents for Paul and gather refugees, he also took on the important task of selling canned food to the royal team.

Paul reckoned that this would be possible in all likelihood. After all, canned food was invented to solve the problem of military rations, so no matter how you think about it, it should be very appetizing to the army, no matter which world it is from.

Although Hansel is a layman in military affairs, he can see the importance of such a kind of food that is easy to transport in large quantities and can be stored for a long time to the army at a glance.

He was sitting in the living room of Viscount William's house, and after looking at the entrance of the living room countless times, he suddenly heard footsteps in the corridor outside.

"I'm coming!"

Hansel's heart was beating suddenly, he tried his best to restrain his mind, straightened his sitting posture, and waited for the arrival of his master.

Soon, a figure flashed at the entrance of the living room, and a middle-aged man with shrewd eyes walked in.

Hansel immediately stood up and greeted the middle-aged man, "It's an honor to meet you, Viscount William."

"Hansel, please sit down, please sit down."

Lord Viscount immediately asked him to sit down.

"Time flies so fast. I didn't expect the second son of the Abbott family to grow up to be so big."

Viscount William suddenly expressed emotion, the incident of old Abbott made a big noise back then, and everyone in the capital knew about it, and the young man in front of him was the child who appeared suddenly from old Abbott.

"Uh... ah... yes."

Hansel agreed casually in embarrassment.

"Then why did you come to see me?"

Viscount William went straight to the point, apparently not intending to be courteous with Hansel for a while.

Hansel was very upset in his heart: "I always make it clear in the greeting card, is this quartermaster really so busy? Can't even remember what I came to him for?"

But there was no expression of dissatisfaction on his face. Although the opponent's title was not very high, he held important positions in the supply of the royal army.

With a decent smile on Hansel's face, he explained his purpose of coming: "Thank you, Lord Viscount, for taking time out of his busy schedule to meet me. I'm here to recommend a newly developed military ration to you."

In order to arouse the interest of Viscount William, he directly referred to the canned food as military rations, after all, the other party was a quartermaster.

The Viscount showed doubts: "Army rations? Developed?"

Hansel nodded: "Exactly."

Then he called out, "Tomen!"

Tommen, the servant standing by, immediately placed the wooden box he had been carrying on the table, and opened it carefully.

Viscount William looked into the box curiously, and saw six glass bottles inside.

"This is... this is the military rations for eating?"

"Yes, Lord Viscount, in fact, their official name is 'canning', which is a special food processing method that can preserve food for a long time. You can try the taste, let's try the beef first."

Hansel picked up a can with a beef label on it. He peeled off the wax seal on the mouth of the can to reveal the cork inside. He took out the can opener he carried with him and screwed in the cork hard. Pulling it out, the cork It was pulled out, and the can was placed in front of the Viscount.

Lord Viscount looked at the canned beef in front of him with a puzzled expression.

To be honest, the appearance of canned meat is not very good. Pieces of white fat float on top of the turbid broth. Not to mention arousing people's appetite, it makes 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 canning jar, forked out a piece of beef and put it in his mouth to chew.

Seeing that the other party ate without hesitation, the Viscount picked up another fork, reached into the pot and forked a piece of beef into his mouth.

The viscount muttered while chewing: "Hmm... this taste is not bad, it is indeed beef."

The taste is a bit weird, but it's acceptable, and I can confirm that it's not the smell of rotting meat.

Hansel swallowed the beef, and continued to introduce: "Master Viscount, the canned beef you and I tasted has been produced for more than a month."

"More than a month?"

Viscount William was amazed that he could keep it for such a long time.

He forked another piece of beef and held it up to his eyes for a closer look.

Judging from the taste and appearance, the beef seems to have been boiled, but the boiled meat should rot and deteriorate after a day or two. Even if it is placed in the ice room, it can only be delayed for a few days. How do glass jars do it?

Seeing the astonishment of the quartermaster, Hansel showed some complacency.

"Master Viscount, according to the inventor of the can, 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."

"Half a year?"

Viscount William showed an unbelievable expression. As a quartermaster, he knew that meat can be preserved for a long time if it is made into jerky.

"Not only beef, but other meats can also be canned. This is pork, and this is mutton."

While introducing, Hansel took the other five cans out of the box.

"And not just meat, but also canned vegetables and fruit, these three bottles are pears, apples and spinach."

The colorful canned fruits and vegetables looked much better, which attracted the viscount's attention.

Hansel opened the cans one by one with a can opener and asked Viscount William to taste each one.

"Well...these two canned fruits are delicious."

The Viscount fell in love with the canned fruit and ate several mouthfuls.

Hansel chuckled inwardly, of course the taste is good.

The cans used for marketing and tasting are all specially made, the canned meat is spiced, and the canned fruit is added sugar Both of these condiments are expensive in the Northwest Bay.

Mr. Viscount wiped his mouth with the napkin handed over by the servant.

"If they can be preserved 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 be welcomed by the soldiers. As a quartermaster, you must understand the pain of soldiers not being able to eat meat and vegetables."

It didn't matter whether the soldiers liked it or not, and they had their own "means" to get meat and vegetables.

The most important thing is to save a lot of trouble for our quartermaster.

Viscount William thought so in his heart, and he repeatedly agreed with Hansel's words: "Of course, Baron Abbott, this is indeed an excellent military ration."

He suddenly remembered that Hansel was a baron.