Start Being a Vassal King Today - Chapter 138

[Chapter 138]

“Your Highness, the petals are here.”

Zhao Xu and Luan’er were standing in front of a still in the middle courtyard of the palace.

At this time Feng’er came over twisting her waist, followed by two servants, carrying a basket of petals.

This is something he had asked Feng’er to collect a long time ago, and now he is finally going to use it.

In the past few months, the majority of Wangfu’s income has been wine, in addition to the income from military supplies brought by allicin, and the income from ice production.

However, as the summer passed, the ice-making business has gradually stopped.

The people who went south to make ice were also merged into the firm to cooperate with Dong An in selling wine.

As for the armor trade with the Ma family, excluding the cost, in fact, he can’t make much money, at most one-third of the total transaction amount, just over a hundred thousand taels.

Therefore, after the Ma family and his son left, he planned to add new goods to the firm.

After all, now that there is one more Shanggu County, there are many places to spend money.

Most importantly, he wants large sailing warships, builds his own navy, and establishes his own shipping routes.

In this way, he will no longer fear that the commercial route on land will be cut off.

At the same time, the goods can also be sold to farther places.

Moreover, the cost of transportation on the road has always been high, and the most cost-effective way is sea transportation, which has been the case in ancient and modern times.

However, the cost of such a warship is very high. According to records, the cost of a sailing warship with a displacement of 1,500 tons in the seventeenth century was 200,000 to 300,000 taels.

Ten ships cost several million taels, which is simply terrifying.

Therefore, he must continue to harvest the wealth of the upper class dignitaries with commercial goods.

“Pour the petals in.” Zhao Xu pointed to the still.

This time he is not making wine, but preparing to extract essence.

Seeing that all the jasmine petals were poured in, he asked the craftsman to add water in a ratio of one to four, and then heated it.

This is the most basic distillation extraction method of essence.

Both Feng’er and Luan’er were dumbfounded, and Luan’er asked, “Your Highness, can wine be made from flower petals?

” The crescent moon, she was thinking about eating.

“You are all wrong, this king is extracting the essence.” Zhao Xu laughed.

Then he suddenly smelled on Luan’er, and then on Feng’er.

The two thought that Zhao Xu was playing with them, so they laughed.

“What are you smelling, Your Highness?” Feng’er’s eyes were about to drip water.

“Smell your incense.” Zhao Xu said, “It’s gone.”

Before the scent appeared, the women in the ancient boudoir relied on incense to make themselves fragrant.

But since the appearance of perfume, incense has disappeared.

Firstly, the smell of incense is very light and dissipates easily.

Second, incense is cumbersome, not as convenient as perfume.

He now extracts the essence to make perfume.

The ingredients of perfume are mainly alcohol, water and essence.

Because the essence dissolves in alcohol, alcohol has volatile properties.

Therefore, when you spray it on your body, the fragrance will evaporate for six to seven hours and keep the fragrance for a long time.

“If Your Highness likes the fragrance, I will go and smell it again.” Feng’er turned around and was about to go back, but was stopped by Zhao Xu.

“I like it, but I like this one better.” Zhao Xu pointed to the still.

Suddenly, Luan’er said softly, “Could it be that your highness is making spices?”

“It’s almost the same, but it’s more special than spices. You’ll know after a while.” Zhao Xu said.

Hearing this, the two showed curious expressions and waited together with Zhao Xu.

The three of them chatted and waited. After about half an hour, the steam in the still became less and less.

At this time, Zhao Xu asked the craftsman to take down the jar next to the still.

Lifting the lid of the jar, Zhao Xu looked at the bottom of the jar, there was a yellowish oily substance inside.

A strong fragrance wafted out, making him happy.

“It’s such a strong fragrance of jasmine.” Luan’er held her hands in the shape of a heart, she liked it so much.

Feng’er also sniffed lightly, with a satisfied expression on her face.

Zhao Xu felt refreshed for a while, the essence was successfully produced, and the perfume was no problem.

There are so many perfume combinations in his mind, low-scented, medium-scented, and strong-scented, all at his fingertips.

So, he immediately asked the craftsman to fetch a palm-sized porcelain bottle, filled it with spirits, and put ten drops of essence from the jar into it.

“Shake it.” Zhao Xu handed the bottle to Feng’er.

He and Luan’er sat on the stone chair and watched.

Feng’er pouted and said: “Your Highness is eccentric, Luan’er has never been allowed to do these rough jobs, but a servant.”

“Who made you the king’s right-hand man?” Zhao Xu chuckled.

After hearing this, Feng’er was very pleased, raised her head triumphantly, held the neck of the bottle with one hand, and shook the bottom of the bottle with the other hand.

After shaking for a quarter of an hour, Feng’er gradually became a little tired, dripping with sweat.

Luan’er has always been a caring person, so she stood up to catch the shaking.

“Your Highness, how long will this take?” Feng’er sat down beside Zhao Xu, wiping the thin beads of sweat from her forehead.

“Just another quarter of an hour.” Zhao Xu said.

The essence should be fully mixed with alcohol, and the effect of fragrance can be the best.

Another quarter of an hour passed, Luan’er was also tired, Zhao Xu took the bottle at this time, dipped some of the perfume inside with a goose feather, and shook the two of them.

Immediately, the two of them smelled fragrant.

“Ah, it smells so good.” Feng’er exclaimed in surprise.

This kind of fragrance hits the nostrils, unlike incense, you have to smell it.

Luan’er also nodded slightly, now she has guessed the purpose of King Yan.

“It seems that the firm will have one more item that the world will scramble for.” Luan’er said.

“Luan’er is still smart.” Zhao Xu said, and then he frowned, “It’s just that this is different from wine. Drinking it in the street can make people know its magic, but it has to be spread in the boudoir to sell well.”

Feng’er said with a light smile “Actually, it’s quite simple. Your Highness just needs to go to the place with the most women in Yancheng.”

Zhao Xu was taken aback for a moment, and said, “You mean Tianxiang Tower?”

Feng’er nodded, “There Women like to compete for beauty, and they are most concerned about which clothes are beautiful and which incense is the best, if they like it, they will soon be able to enter the boudoir.”

Zhao Xu understood that the men who can enter and exit Tianxiang Tower are either rich or expensive.

Having fun in Tianxiang Building, there are beautiful wives and concubines at home.

They all want the favor of men from the local hands.

If the fragrance can become popular in Tianxiang Tower, it must be spread to the people, after all, they don’t want to admit defeat at home.

“Wonderful, wonderful.” Zhao Xu said, he remembered that Xu E said that Tianxiang Tower is full of great songs.

If Tianxiang Building can be used, the name of the perfume will spread faster.

After all, this thing is a brand new thing, unlike wine, which is a traditional product.

Thinking of this, he got up and left the palace to go to Tianxiang Tower.

On the way, he also thought of a way, that is in the palace.

Chen Hu said that his mother Mi Guiren has now become a concubine Mi, and her status in the palace is different from before, maybe she can also help.

“It’s rare for Your Highness to think of my slave family.” In Xu’e’s boudoir in Tianxiang Tower.

Xu E lazily leaned on the chair, staring straight at Zhao Xu with a pair of pretty eyes, with joy, resentment, and anger in her eyes.

(end of this chapter)