Meng Zhao planned to first make the most basic bamboo salt toothpaste. He ground the salt and chicken gizzard into powder, then added chopped bamboo leaves, poured it into a sawn bamboo tube, sealed the opening of the bamboo tube with yellow mud, trying to leave no gaps, and then put it in the furnace to fire.
The temperature in the furnace gradually rises until the bamboo tube is completely charred. The bamboo salt inside slowly solidifies and turns grayish-white. The charred bamboo salt is then taken out and ground into powder.
"When you two are grinding the spices, remember to wear these masks. It's for hygiene and for your own safety, so you don't inhale the fumes." Because making spice packets involves a lot of grinding, we have a lot of masks at home.
Next, grind the bamboo charcoal and dried mint into powder, mix it with bamboo salt and eggshell powder, add filtered wood ash alkaline water, and stir continuously until well mixed.
And just like that, the most basic bamboo salt toothpaste was made.
After dinner, Meng Zhao excitedly called everyone over to try out the newly made toothpaste and see how effective it was.
At first, they were hesitant to eat the dark-colored thing, but out of trust in Meng Zhao, they all tried it one by one.
When the toothpaste first enters the mouth, it tastes a bit salty at first, but after it dissolves in water and you brush your teeth, you can smell a fresh bamboo leaf fragrance.
After brushing her teeth, Gu put her hand in front of her mouth, breathed softly, and then looked at Meng Zhao in surprise, "This tastes like mint?"
Meng Zhao nodded. "This toothpaste contains dried mint, so after brushing your teeth, whether you're talking or breathing, there will be a hint of mint flavor."
"Sister-in-law, my mouth feels so cold!" Shen Qingyu said in her soft voice as she brushed her teeth.
Meng Zhao pinched her cheek. "Does that feel comfortable?"
Shen Qingyu nodded quickly, "It feels so cool and comfortable."
Shen Qingze chimed in, "Tooth powder is bitter and astringent, the toothpaste my sister-in-law makes is much more comfortable to use."
Although tooth powder doesn't taste good, it does contain many Chinese medicinal herbs that promote healthy teeth and protect teeth. Bamboo salt toothpaste, on the other hand, can only provide the most basic cleaning and breath freshening effects.
If you want to make money from the rich, this basic bamboo salt toothpaste is definitely not enough.
So Meng Zhao purchased some medicinal herbs from various places, including Panax notoginseng, Scutellaria baicalensis, Zanthoxylum nitidum, Gentiana scabra, etc., and after grinding them, he began to make them.
To improve the taste and enhance the effect, Meng Zhao also added honeycomb powder.
Fortunately, by this time some farmers had already started living near the beehives and making money by harvesting honey, so Meng Zhao was able to buy beehives from them.
Otherwise, she wouldn't dare to go beekeeping on her own.
Looking at the toothpaste products being made, Meng Zhao still felt it wasn't enough, so he took some time to visit a jewelry store in the county.
The jewelry store clerk, with his sharp eyes, spotted Meng Zhao entering and quickly went to greet her, "Madam, what would you like? Let me introduce you to something."
Meng Zhao nodded slightly. "I'd like to see the pearls in your shop."
The shop assistant glanced at Meng Zhao's clothes; the material was of superior quality and the workmanship was exquisite. He dared not be negligent and led Meng Zhao to the pearl counter.
"Madam, take a look at this pearl hairpin. It was meticulously crafted by the best craftsmen in our shop. The largest pearl on it is lustrous and white, and it complements your complexion perfectly when worn."
Meng Zhao's gaze swept over the pearl jewelry on the counter one by one. After a moment, she asked, "Do you have any unset loose pearls here?"
"Yes, yes, young lady, what size do you want? We have all kinds of sizes in our shop."
"I don't have any requirements for size, luster, or shape, as long as it's a pearl."
Upon hearing this, the shop assistant was in a dilemma. "Madam, you're putting me in a difficult position. We only sell the best things in our shop, especially pearls, which are all carefully selected. The kind you're talking about is just scrap here. How could we possibly sell it?"
"That's perfect. Then please pass on a message, young man: what I want are those scrap materials."
Although Meng Zhao's request was unusual, the shopkeeper saw that she was determined and didn't seem to be joking. After hesitating for a moment, he decided to pass on a message and invite the shopkeeper over to discuss the matter.
Pearls are expensive, and even the waste materials that cannot be made into jewelry are handled by specialists.
Upon seeing Meng Zhao, the shopkeeper politely inquired about her intended use for the pearls.
Meng Zhao did not say it directly, but only that it was used in medicine.
Fortunately, pearls at this time did have medicinal value, so the shopkeeper didn't have too many doubts after hearing this.
He had someone pick out some pearl scraps from the storeroom, and after some haggling, Meng Zhao spent a total of five taels of silver to buy a small bag.
After taking it home, I quickly ground up a few pieces and made a pearl whitening toothpaste.
At the same time, Meng Zhao also began to pay attention to the shops on Xishui Street. Unfortunately, the shops on Xishui Street were too stable. Not to mention selling, even renting them out was rare.
Fortunately, she's not in a hurry. All the things she's made so far are still in the testing phase and can't be sold to the public.
During this period, everyone in the Meng and Shen families, as well as the shop assistants, brushed their teeth after each meal.
Meng Zhao meticulously recorded everyone's experience using the product and the changes in their teeth, striving to select the best product.
Lately, Meng Zhao has been extremely busy, with people constantly coming to his door, all about the franchise of the braised pork shop.
The braised pork shop opened by Manager Zhou and his nephew has been operating for two months and business has been good, which has attracted the attention of some people.
There are quite a few people who want to open a braised pork offal shop franchise.
She does indeed intend to expand as soon as possible, and she will meet with anyone who inquires to discuss the matter.
However, after several conversations, Meng Zhao felt like her head was about to explode.
Many people only see that others have made money by opening shops, but they don't think about the reasons behind it at all. Many of them are locals from Qingshi County, who say they want to open shops on a certain street.
Meng Zhao was quite familiar with Qingshi County at this time, and she knew its location as soon as he told her. The closest one was on the street next to her shop.
Meng Zhao felt utterly helpless and almost couldn't help but ask, "With such close proximity, opening two identical shops is clearly a way to steal business!" But the words stuck in his throat.
Fortunately, these were all impulsive people; as soon as they heard about the 50 taels franchise fee, they gave up on their own.
Therefore, although Meng Zhao met with many people, none of them successfully joined the company.
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