"Master Tong, has the rubber arrived?" Ren Baqian rushed over just after hearing that a dozen bullock carts full of wooden barrels had arrived at the Ministry of Industry, just in time to see Tong Zhenye and the bullocks full of wooden barrels in the yard. car.
"Master Ren came just in time." Tong Zhenye smiled and said, "See if it's what you want? There will be something good for you to see later."
Ren Baqian rubbed his palms and stepped forward to open the lid of a wooden barrel, which was filled with milky white glue, which was different from the rubber that had been dried last time. Trek to Lancheng.
"That's it!" Ren Baqian laughed after smelling it, and finally got it after waiting for so long.
With these rubbers, a lot of stuff started to work.
"Send one carload of these rubbers to Zizhu Academy, and send the rest to the zoo." Ren Baqian made arrangements first, and then asked Tong Zhenye: "Is the soap ready?"
"According to what you said, make a batch. Just in time, you are here, and I will go take a look with the old man." Tong Zhenye said with a smile on his face.
It is said that the price of soap is not low in Izumo, let alone Dayao, and only a very few people can afford it.
Unexpectedly, this kind of thing is so simple to make. As long as you know how to make it, you can find a few people to make a usable pancreas.
And according to what Ren Baqian said, crushed flower petals were added in, so that these soaps can produce several colors, and it also has the fragrance of flower petals, which looks much better than the soap sold by the Izumo people .
This made Tong Zhenye quite proud.
Although this kind of soap was made according to Ren Baqian's words, it was also the merit of the Ministry of Industry.
You must know that Dayao has too few things, and every time there is one more thing that he didn't have before, he will feel excited.
Ren Baqian followed Tong Zhenye out of the city to a newly built yard on the outskirts of the city. The walls of the yard and the houses in the yard are all made of red bricks.
Someone saw the two coming here with guards, and immediately welcomed them inside.
In a larger warehouse, Ren Baqian saw the freshly made soap, which according to Ren Baqian's words was soap.
This kind of pancreas is ground with jumping sheep pancreas, then mixed with plant ash, animal fat and mixed into a thick shape, then added with flower powder, pressed into blocks, and then placed on a shelf for drying in the shade and then cut into pieces .
When Ren Baqian came to the warehouse, he saw a large piece of soap on the side, and there was a sink under the shelf to guide the dripping liquid into the bucket.
This liquid is a by-product of soap making—glycerin, which is more valued than the soap itself.
Glycerin can be made into nitroglycerin, as well as diatomite and jelly explosives, and even smokeless gunpowder.
Of course, Ren Baqian was not prepared to use this kind of explosives which were extremely easy to explode in war. There is no secret in the world that can be kept forever. The birth of explosives and gunpowder poses a great threat to the sparsely populated but powerful ancient people.
If explosives and gunpowder were developed, then the advantages of the ancient race would be greatly reduced, and the disadvantage of sparse population would be extremely obvious.
So Ren Baqian was going to firmly control this thing in his own hands.
If it wasn't for the fact that explosives and gunpowder are a hurdle that cannot be bypassed by technological development, Ren Baqian would not want to manufacture them.
Ren Baqian walked around the warehouse and picked up a few pieces of soap that had already been cut. There were three scents in total, and one of them was the Empress' favorite. It was a bit crudely made, but it was not bad for just getting started.
Ren Baqian first asked someone to fetch a basin of water, washed his hands with soap to see the effect, and turned to ask after confirming that there was no problem. "Master Tong, how do you plan to sell this soap?"
"I don't know..." Tong Zhenye shook his head: "Before Jingyan, there was no precedent for the imperial court to sell things. So this thing has been made, but how to sell it is up to His Majesty to decide."
Ren Baqian nodded slightly, and threw the pieces of soap to the guards behind him.
"Master Tong, I'll let someone deal with these glycerin later." Ren Baqian said. The production of soap will inevitably produce a large amount of glycerin. Except for a small amount of glycerin used as a solvent, the rest must be disposed of.
He is not going to hand over this kind of thing to others.
"Is this thing still useful?" Tong Zhenye wanted to ask this question for a long time.
"It's useful, but it's better not to use it." Ren Baqian waved his hand.
Then the two went to look at several other warehouses. These were used to dry and grind pancreas, grind flowers, and heat fat to make soap. There was also a large open space dedicated to burning Grass gray.
Although it looks like the place is not small, there are not many people, only a few dozen people.
"Some patterns can be printed on the soap, and a carpenter can be found to make a few molds, and the patterns can be printed on when pressing, so that it looks more refined. And the factory can also be expanded. Now the number of people is too small, and the quantity of production is too large. not enough.
This thing is a consumable, even if the factory is enlarged ten times, it can still be sold.
If it doesn't work, you can find a way to sell it to Daxia. "
"Master Ren has a business route to sell to Daxia?" Tong Zhenye asked.
"Contacting." Ren Baqian has already contacted Su Qing through Qinglian, and he can open up another road later, sending a caravan composed of the Jing clan to Daxia.
But within a year or two in Daxia, there will inevitably be civil strife, and it's hard to say what the situation will be at that time.
In troubled times, sales of non-essential items such as soap, glass, and silver mirrors are limited.
But when Yun Country is captured, it will be a good place to sell products.
After Ren Baqian finished transferring to the soap factory, he returned to the palace and handed the pieces of soap to the Empress: "Your Majesty, this is made by the Ministry of Industry."
"Soap?" The empress picked up a piece of soap and checked it in her hand. It was straight and angled, and there were marks left by cutting on it.
"Yes, I tried it, and it's about the same as expected, and it's better than Izumo's soap."
"That's good!" The empress smiled. The days when all commodities were brought by foreign caravans began to fade away.
Afterwards, Ren Baqian talked to the Empress about the manufacture and sale of soap.
"What do you think?" Regarding such a question, the empress first thought of asking Ren Baqian.
"Establish a commercial department to be responsible for managing the factory and establishing sales channels, and then hand it over to the imperial court in a certain proportion at the end of the year, and the other part will be used to expand the factory." Ren Baqian said casually.
"Then besides you, I can't think of anyone who can do it." The empress said.
"I don't have the time, but I do have an idea. Your Majesty first selects a Secretary, and then let Tang Feng and Gu Ziheng, the two shopkeepers of the previous caravan, be his deputy.
Tang Feng and Gu Ziheng are both old people in the caravan, and they have a certain understanding of this aspect. As deputy, they are capable enough.
Now there is only one soap factory, so I will use this to practice for them. After they are familiar with it, the others can start.
In the past, some ministries needed to use things that were allocated internally.
In the future, as long as it has the characteristics of a commodity, it can be classified under the Department of Commerce. The Ministry of Accounts will allocate funds to each department, and each department will purchase from the Department of Commerce.
In this way, everything will be on the right track. "Ren Baqian said.
"This is the business model of the earth, right? But if you do this, the business department will have too much power in the future." The empress thought for a while, resting her chin.
Although there is nothing in the Department of Commerce's hands right now, the Empress knows that if it follows what Ren Baqian said, the Department of Commerce will definitely become one of the most powerful departments in Dayao after it develops.
At that time, it was the only one besides Dayao’s six departments, the Ministry of Commerce.
"Hence, His Majesty must carefully select the candidate for Secretary of Commerce. Ability and loyalty are indispensable." Ren Baqian said.
"This Secretary, you should take charge first, set up the stall, and I will let someone take over after everything is on the right track." The Empress looked at Ren Baqian and said.