Steel Dynasty - Chapter 51

[Chapter 51 Soap]

workshop area officially started construction in the cold winter. Xiao Ming also succeeded in getting more than 900 mouths to eat. With the recruits entering the camp again, there are now 3,000 mouths to eat. .

Such continuous consumption of money made Xiao Ming suddenly feel a lot of pressure, and besides business, he currently had no way to get rich quickly.

Therefore, whether it is to prepare his own business or to make money by using the Wang family and Qin family, the money cannot be afforded.

After arranging the slave matter, Xiao Ming went to Wang’s house and talked about the issue of trade with barbarians.

“Your Highness, our Wang family dare not bear such a big crime.” Before Xiao Ming could finish speaking, Wang Chengchou knelt down with a “gudong” sound. Wang Shijie was also sweating on his forehead, and his whole body seemed to be shaking.

They got the news that both the emperor and the queen sent money to King Qi, and the news from Chang’an also proved from the side that the emperor and the prince’s family seemed to want to rely on King Qi.

This prince who no one asks has different meanings from a prince who is looked after. In the past, they dared to bully Xiao Ming’s ignorance.

But now the power behind Xiao Ming forces them to carefully weigh the pros and cons. If Xiao Ming accuses the Wang family of having liaison with foreign enemies because of this matter, the entire Wang family will probably be executed.

Even if the Wang family is powerful and is not afraid of King Qi, and the Qingzhou army is not afraid, there is still the emperor and the prince. When the army moves, it will only be a matter of time before the Wang family is wiped out.

Xiao Ming was a little helpless. This was the first time he saw fear in Wang Chengchou’s eyes. It seemed that Xiao Wenxuan and the Queen had given the money in time, allowing him to pretend to be powerful.

He said: “Outside the king, brother Wang, get up, get up. I am not here to punish anyone. You two must also know that many cattle and sheep of the Huyantuo tribe have been frozen to death on the grassland this year. Nowadays, barbarian scouts are frequently outside Cangzhou City.” The two of them probably understood the idea of investigating the situation of the defenders.

Wang Chengchou wiped the sweat on his forehead and said with a smile: “Your Highness, I have heard about this. Many cattle and sheep did freeze to death. The barbarians on the grassland.” The daily diet is basically goat milk, beef and mutton meat. The cattle and sheep are frozen to death and without their young. After the spring, there will be no cattle and sheep to graze, and then the barbarians will be hungry.”

“Lu Xiaowei .

This is also said, so there is only one simplest way to solve this problem and avoid the barbarian siege of Cangzhou.” Xiao Ming said.

“Your Highness, please speak.” Wang Chengchou said.

Xiao Ming didn’t say it directly, because he didn’t want to bear such a crime. He made some insinuations, preparing to give Wang Chengchou a trap. He said: “The cattle and sheep are dead, so the businessman naturally doesn’t want them, but the meat oil of the cattle and sheep can be used.” What will happen to the barbarians if Wang Yuanwai exchanges grain for meat and oil to make soap? The barbarians only want beef and mutton, and meat and oil are not valuable to them. If these cheap meat and oil are transported back, they can be refined. What will happen to Wang Yuanwai when making large quantities of soap? “

Wang Shijie and Wang Chengchou looked at each other with strange expressions.

“Okay, that’s all I’ve said. I still hope that Cangzhou is fine.” After saying this, Xiao Ming left the Wang family compound.

Wang Shijie immediately stood up and sent Xiao Ming away, then turned back and said to Wang Chengchou: “Dad, His Highness is right. If we exchange grain for meat and oil at this time, it will definitely be a huge profit, and His Highness seems to encourage us to do it.” “

Wang Chengchou was still kneeling on the ground, then slowly stood up and sat down on the chair, “This King of Qi is really unpredictable. He doesn’t want to bear the charge of liaison with foreign enemies, and he also wants to resolve the crisis in Cangzhou. , But our Wang family cannot take this risk. “

What should we do?” Wang Shijie asked.

“Hey, it’s not impossible. Why does our Wang family need to take action in this matter? All you need to do is spread the word to the merchants in Cangzhou and say that our Wang family purchases meat and oil, and then spread the idea of exchanging grain for meat and oil from Huyantuo. , Are you afraid that no one will go? At that time, it would be better for us to just spend more money than to bear this crime. I don’t want to be like the Qin family, with a handle in the hands of King Qi,” Wang Chengchou said, twirling his beard. .

Wang Shijie gave a thumbs up, “Dad, you are still smarter.”

…

Seven days later, the Wang family transported the first batch of meat oil to Qingzhou, and the last ingredients for soap production were also available.

Although various sources proved that the Wang family was not fooled, Xiao Ming was excited about the large amount of meat and oil this time. For this reason, he specially asked the Equipment Department to build five huge iron pots and chose the location for refining soap. to the workshop area.

This is where soap will be produced in the future.

“Your Highness, this smells like oil. How do you use this soap?” Luluo came with Xiao Ming this time, insisting on seeing the soap production process.

Since the concept of soap was proposed, news of this soap has slowly spread throughout the palace and Qingzhou City.

Of course, women are the most concerned about this kind of toiletries.

There were five large stoves in front of Xiao Ming. Coals were burning on the stoves, and a large two-meter-wide iron pot was placed on top. The meat oil inside was steaming.

Because it was winter, these meat oils had not yet gone rancid. The first step was to boil out the oil from the fat and grease. After all, the barbarians would not directly refine the oil for him.

After the oil in the fat and fat comes out, the meat residue, skin and other things will be fished out. Now we have reached this step.

“Hey, the essence I asked you to prepare was not for nothing.” Xiao Ming said at this time.

Luluo was stunned for a moment before she understood, and said shyly: “I thought His Highness was using it to make perfume.”

This time, Xiao Ming did not avoid Wang Shijie, but asked him to come over in person. At this time, he saw Xiao Ming and Luluo flirting. , couldn’t help but envy, “Your Highness, you are so lucky.”

Luluo’s face turned red, while Xiao Ming glared at Wang Shijie. The boy never strayed from his profession, and he said: “I asked you to come here this time to supervise the use of meat oil. , I have always been fair and just in doing business, and I will not take advantage of your Wang family. “

The meat oil this time is provided by the Wang family, so it is inappropriate not to let anyone come from the Wang family, but Xiao Ming is not afraid that his soap skills will be imitated. Alkali is the key to soap making.

But this time Xiao Ming came directly with caustic soda, and Wang Shijie didn’t know what it was used for.

The uncooled meat oil was orange-yellow and transparent, the same color as modern soybean oil. When the first pot of pure meat oil came out, Xiao Ming asked someone to pour caustic soda into it.

At this time, a chemical reaction suddenly occurred in the oil pan. After a while, the meat oil became thicker, like tofu curd. Then he asked people to pour the essence into it and stir it.

When the soap in the oil pan was thick enough, he asked ten strong slaves to hold the iron pan and pour the soap into the prepared large square mold.

After cooling down, the soap liquid turned into a large solidified square, milky white in color, very clean, and exuding a faint aroma. At this time, the slave in charge of cutting used a long knife to cut the soap according to the drawn square. Twine and cut the soap into small standard squares.

(End of chapter)