"Sir Tong, is the rubber here?" Ren Baqian had just heard that more than a dozen ox carts filled with wooden barrels had arrived at the Ministry of Works and rushed over just in time to see Tong Zhengye and the ox carts filled with wooden barrels in the courtyard.
"Sir Ren, you came at the right time." Tong Zhengye laughed. "Take a look and see if this is what you want. I have something good to show you in a while. "
Ren Baqian rubbed his palms, stepped forward, and opened the lid of a wooden barrel. It was filled with milky white rubber. Unlike the rubber that had been dried the last time, the rubber juice that was extracted this time was directly sealed in a wooden barrel before being transported to Lan City.
"This is it!" Ren Baqian smelled it and laughed. After waiting for so long, it was finally here.
With this rubber, he could start making a lot of things.
"Send a cart of this rubber to Black Bamboo Academy and the rest to the beast park." Ren Baqian made the arrangements before asking Tong Zhengye, "Is the soap ready?"
"I made a batch according to what you said. Since you are here, let's go take a look," Tong Zhengye said with a smile.
Soap was said to be expensive even in the Yun Nation, let alone in Dayao. Very few people could afford it.
However, he didn't expect it to be so easy to make. As long as one knew the production method, they could casually find a few people to make usable soap.
Furthermore, according to Ren Baqian's instructions, they added crushed flower petals to the soap so that it could be produced in several colors and had the fragrance of flower petals. It looked much better than the soap sold by the people of the Yun Nation.
This made Tong Zhengye quite proud.
Although the soap was made according to Ren Baqian's instructions, it was also a credit to the Ministry of Works.
One had to know that there were too few things in Dayao. Every time there was something that Dayao didn't have, he would feel excited.
Ren Baqian followed Tong Zhengye out of the city and came to a newly built courtyard in the suburbs. The walls and the houses in the courtyard were all made of red bricks.
Someone saw the two of them coming with their guards and immediately welcomed them inside.
In a relatively large warehouse, Ren Baqian saw the freshly made soap. According to Ren Baqian, it was made from scented soap.
This type of pancreas was made by grinding the pancreas of jumping sheep into powder, adding plant ash, animal fat, and mixing them into a thick paste. Then, it was mixed with flower powder and pressed into a block. Finally, it was placed on a rack to dry in the shade before being cut into pieces.
When Ren Baqian arrived at the warehouse, he saw a large piece of pancreas placed to one side. There was a water trough at the bottom of the shelf to guide the dripping liquid into a bucket.
This liquid was a by-product of making soap — glycerin. It was even more valuable than the soap itself.
Glycerin can be made into nitroglycerin, diatomic-manganese explosives, gelatinous explosives, and even smokeless gunpowder.
Of course, he wasn't prepared to use such explosives, which were highly explosive, in a war. There were no secrets in the world that could be kept forever. The birth of explosives and gunpowder was a huge threat to the aboriginals, who had a small population but were individually powerful.
If explosives and gunpowder were developed, the advantage of the aboriginals would be greatly reduced, and the disadvantage of having a small population would be obvious.
Therefore, Ren Baqian was prepared to keep this thing firmly in his hands.
If explosives and gunpowder weren't a hurdle that couldn't be avoided in the development of science and technology, Ren Baqian wouldn't 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 a total of three types of fragrances, and one of them was the empress's favorite. The production was a little rough, but it was considered good for a start.
Ren Baqian asked someone to fetch a basin of water and washed his hands with the soap to check the effect. After confirming that there were no problems, he turned around and asked, "Sir Tong, how much are you going to sell this soap?" "Sir Tong, how much are you going to sell this soap?"
Therefore, this thing has been manufactured, but the empress still has to decide how to sell it. " Ren Baqian nodded slightly and threw the few pieces of soap to the guards behind him.
Ren Baqian nodded slightly and threw the few pieces of soap to the guards behind him.
"Sir Tong, I will get someone to deal with this glycerin later," Ren Baqian said. The production of soap would inevitably produce a large amount of glycerin. Besides using a small amount as a solvent, the rest had to be disposed of elsewhere.
He wasn't prepared to hand over such a thing to others.
"Is this thing still useful?" Tong Zhengye had wanted to ask about this for a long time.
"It's a little useful, but it's better not to use it." Ren Baqian waved his hand.
Subsequently, the two of them went to the other warehouses to take a look. These warehouses were used to dry and grind pancreas, grind flowers, and heat fat to make soap. There was also a large open space that was specially used to burn plant ash.
Although the place wasn't small, there weren't many people, only a few dozen.
"You can print some patterns on the soap. Get a carpenter to make a few molds and print the patterns when pressing it. This will make it look more exquisite. Furthermore, the factory can be expanded. There are too few people now, and the production volume is too low.
This thing is a consumable, and even if the factory is expanded ten times, it can still be sold.
If it doesn't work, we can find a way to sell it to Great Xia. "
"Sir Ren, do you have a trade route to Great Xia?" Tong Zhengye asked.
"I'm in contact." Ren Baqian had already contacted Su Qing through Qing Lian. Later, he could also open up another route and send a caravan of the Jing Tribe to Great Xia.
However, within a year or two, there would definitely be internal strife in Great Xia. At that time, it was hard to say what the situation would be like.
During times of chaos, non-essential goods like soap, glass, and silver mirrors would have limited sales.
However, after conquering the Yun Nation, it would be a good dumping ground.
After visiting the soap factory, Ren Baqian returned to the palace and handed the few pieces of soap to the empress. "Your Majesty, these are made by the Ministry of Works."
"Soap?" The empress picked up a piece of soap and examined it. It was straight and angular, and there were traces of cutting on it.
"Not bad. I've tried it, and it's similar to what I expected. It's slightly better than the soap from the Yun Nation."
"That's good!" The empress smiled. The days when all the goods were brought in by foreign caravans were gradually fading away.
After that, Ren Baqian talked to the empress about the production and sales of the soap.
"What do you think?" The first thing the empress thought of was to ask Ren Baqian.
"Set up a department of commerce that will be responsible for managing the factories and establishing sales channels. At the end of the year, a certain proportion will be handed over to the imperial court, and the remaining portion will be used to expand the factories," Ren Baqian said casually.
"Apart from you, I can't think of anyone else who can do it," the empress said.
"I don't have the time, but I have an idea. Your Majesty, choose a department chief first and let the two shopkeepers from the caravan, Tang Feng and Gu Ziheng, be your assistants.
Tang Feng and Gu Ziheng were both veterans in the caravan and had a certain understanding of this area. As assistants, they were capable enough.
Now that there was only one soap factory, they could use it as practice. After they were familiar with it, the rest could be started.
In the past, some of the things that the various departments needed were allocated internally.
In the future, as long as the goods had characteristics, they could be classified under the department of commerce. The Ministry of Revenue would allocate funds to the various departments, and the various departments would then purchase from the department of commerce. After deducting the cost, the money would be handed over to the Ministry of Revenue in proportion.
This way, everything would be on track, "Ren Baqian said.
"This is the business model on Earth, right? However, by doing so, the department of commerce would have too much power in the future. "The empress held her chin and pondered.
Although the department of commerce didn't have much in its hands now, the empress knew that according to what Ren Baqian said, it would definitely become one of the most powerful departments in Dayao after it developed.
At that time, it would be a separate department from the six departments of Dayao.
"Therefore, Your Majesty, you have to choose the candidate for the department chief carefully. Ability and loyalty are indispensable," Ren Baqian said.
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