Liu Tan looked at the saponified product and fell into deep thought. Although he was used to making by-products of everything he did, this was the first time he had a by-product that had absolutely nothing to do with the original thing he was going to make.
But no matter what, to be honest, this thing is much more useful than candles.
Candles can only satisfy Liu Tan's temporary desire to play, but soap can significantly improve cleanliness and hygiene.
Liu Tan had no choice but to put the issue of the lanterns aside and get the soap first.
By the way, the products were sent to Huo Guang and others to try.
Huo Guang was really surprised for a long time when he tried it for the first time. Apart from other things, the cleaning ability of the soap is absolutely first-class.
People in their class tend to pursue cleanliness and tidiness more, but their conditions are limited after all, and the things they use cannot be as effective as soap in cleaning.
Liu Tan watched Huo Guang wash his hands repeatedly and couldn't help but stop him and said, "Okay, okay, it's clean now. I'll have someone send you a few pieces later."
Huo Guang asked with some confusion, "Hasn't Your Highness been making lanterns these past two days?"
He even came over to take a look. Not to mention that the lanterns were indeed beautiful, but as for what Liu Tan said about the Lantern Festival being attractive, he actually didn't think it was very good. In fact, the population mobility in Beijing was not very large, and people from other places would generally not choose the Northern Border Country even if they traveled.
This land is not only sparsely populated, but has also long been a focal point of contention between the Han and Xiongnu. Just like the destruction of Shuofang City, no one can guarantee they'll be able to return safely after arriving here. So why come here? Seeking death?
In fact, it was very dangerous for Liu Che to choose to come here, and it was unknown how the court agreed to it.
After hearing Huo Guang's question, Liu Tan's smile froze on his face. Finally, he sighed and said, "Who said it wasn't true? I haven't made what I really wanted..."
Huo Guang: Okay, you don’t have to say anymore, I understand.
Liu Tan said that he was very accustomed to this situation.
Liu Tan asked, "Let's not talk about this. Do you think this thing will sell well?"
Huo Guang thought for a moment and said, "Someone will buy it, it just depends on the price."
Liu Tan hesitated for a moment: "The price won't be too cheap in the short term."
Huo Guang said, "Then it would be better to send him to Chang'an."
Liu Tan looked at Huo Guang in surprise. He really didn't expect that there would be something that could make money now. Huo Guang's first thought was to send it to Chang'an.
It has to be said that Chang'an is the money bag, which may have been a consensus between him and Huo Guang.
After all, Chang'an has many people and many rich people.
But rich people are not fools. If you want to make money from them, your products must be good enough.
Liu Tan said, "Then I'll get more out first. I happen to owe Princess Dangli a favor. Now her people are still managing the storage yard, but the honeycomb coal can't be sold. This is equivalent to making her lose money all the time. This is not good."
Huo Guang said, "Princess Dangli is not short of the money, and Your Highness has his own difficulties. The Princess will understand."
Liu Tan disagreed. "I understand it's their business. You can't just ignore it because the princess is sympathetic, right? You have to give something in return. I hadn't figured out what else to do before, but now is the perfect time."
Huo Guang did not discuss these matters with Liu Tan again. Anyway, Liu Tan could do whatever he wanted.
Liu Tan immediately asked people to start purchasing animal fats for making soap.
Of course, the emperor, empress, and crown prince would not be forgotten for such good things, and even Princess Yangxin and Princess Dangli would have a share.
However, the soap produced at the beginning did not smell very pleasant. After all, it was made of animal fat, so it would have some smell.
It is not suitable to give these people things with scent, so Liu Tan can only find a way to add some fragrance to the soap.
If you want to add fragrance, the options now are basically natural floral scents. Liu Tan chose the simplest method: cut the petals into pieces and mix them with alcohol, and then filter out the residue.
What is left is actually a mixture of flower juice and alcohol.
This method is the simplest, and he has the ingredients. The only drawback is probably that the fragrance is not that strong.
Liu Tan didn't care. He just wanted to cover up the smell of animal oil in the soap.
In addition to changing the taste, he also had some molds made specifically for him. Of course, the gifts had to be made beautiful.
So Liu Che, who was far away in Chang'an, received the strangest gift in history - several bars of soap.
Oh, Liu Tan changed its name to soap.
At first, Liu Che didn't care about the gifts Liu Tan gave him. After all, the things his son gave him were always good.
Liu Ju read the letter quickly. When he finished reading, he looked up and saw his father still reading the letter word by word. For a moment, he couldn't help but feel a little strange. Most of what Liu Tan wrote in this letter was about trade.
Jiang Chong had said everything he needed to say before he came here, and he also shifted Chang'an's attention back to Shuofang.
I have to say that Jiang Chong may not be so good in other aspects, but his acting is absolutely first-class.
Liu Tan just told him that if anyone wanted to attack the Northern Border Kingdom or Shuofang City, he should play the victim. Then, no one knew what Jiang Chong was thinking along the way, but he automatically switched to playing the victim mode when he entered Chang'an.
He no longer covers up the scar on his face. Well, it’s not that he doesn’t cover it up, but he acts like he’s inferior because of the scar, but in fact, his face often draws people’s attention.
At the beginning, Jiang Chong was prepared to be attacked, but after being received by Liu Che, Jiang Chong found that he was the one who cared the most, while others actually felt a little sympathetic.
It is true that the Han Dynasty court was obsessed with looks from top to bottom, but the problem was that Jiang Chong was originally good-looking, otherwise Emperor Wu of Han would not have taken a fancy to him. Now that a good man has become like this because of the Huns, it only makes people more angry and pity him.
Even Liu Che sighed a few words. After Jiang Chong figured it out, he started to let himself go. Anyway, recently Chang'an City has been filled with remarks like how difficult the northern border countries are and how Shuofang City has not yet recovered.
This made Liu Che and Liu Ju worry that Liu Tan was suffering there again.
But... he looked down at the letter. Liu Tan never talked about the hardships he had suffered in his letters. Instead, he would tell them about the delicious food and fun things he had.
For example, the soap we gave you this time and the lanterns we are making.
After reading it carefully, Liu Che placed the letter on the desk and asked, "Where is the soap?"
He was so anxious to read Liu Tan's letter that he didn't even pay attention to the soap.
Round pieces of soap were brought up, each carved with beautiful flowers, which was pleasing to the eye just by looking at it.
Liu Ju moved closer to Liu Che and could smell a faint fragrance from a distance. He was a little surprised and said, "It's still fragrant!"
Liu Che picked up a piece at random and smelled it. He didn't dislike the smell. Then he tried it according to what Liu Tan said in the letter. He didn't feel anything. After washing, he did feel better than before, but only a little.
After Liu Ju tried it, he simply said, "It's quite convenient."
At this point, the Supreme father and son did not take this matter too seriously. After all, no one in their class dared to make them unclean.
In the Han Dynasty, ordinary people generally used wood ash, while the nobles generally used crushed pig pancreas mixed with soy powder and spices, which also had good cleaning ability.
Compared to what Liu Tan had produced before, they didn't think there was anything wrong with it.
But this thing is really attractive to ordinary people below the middle class.
Liu Che and Liu Ju didn't take it seriously, while Chen Ajiao and the two princesses just thought it was novel.
After Liu Tan put the items on display in the vacant shop in Chang'an and sold one or two pieces, they were almost sold out immediately.
After Liu Che learned about this, he pondered for a while and said, "Send an order to exempt the Northern Border Kingdom from taxes for one year."
Liu Ju looked up in surprise: "Father?"
Liu Che rubbed his brow and said, "I used to think Tan'er was short of money, but now it seems that the northern kingdom is impoverished. How could he possibly remain unscathed? I'm afraid all that money has gone into the national treasury."
Therefore, it is not enough to just give money to Liu Tan. The Northern Border Country must not be so poor.
Liu Ju was stunned for a moment. He had never thought of this before.
Liu Ju's expression suddenly became very serious. "I forgot. I guess my brother is raising pigs to find a way out for the Northern Kingdom."
Liu Che was stunned for a moment: "Raising pigs?"
Liu is said to have said, "Yes, A-di said soap is made from animal fats, and pig fat is the highest, so he wants to raise pigs."
Even Liu Che couldn't connect the two things for a while.
According to his son, the soap was meant to remove stains from the body and hands, and it was also effective in removing grease. But it turns out the grease remover is actually made of oil? What kind of magical power is this?
But no matter whether it was magic from the immortals or not, Liu Che felt so distressed when he thought that his son had to associate with lard in order to make money.
If he wasn't forced to do so, how could a noble prince touch such a dirty thing?
At this time, both Liu Che and Liu Ju insisted that the soap was made by Liu Tan himself. This has always been the common understanding. After all, Liu Tan liked to do everything by himself.
To this day, Liu Ju still remembers that other princes would frantically travel around to connect with each other when they had the chance to enter the capital, but his brother would just stay at home and play in the mud.
Thinking of this, Liu Ju suddenly said, "In fact, even if my brother has money, it may not be of any use. The Northern Kingdom is short of food and clothing, and even if I have money, I can't buy them. In my opinion, it would be better to send my brother some food that can be easily preserved."
Liu Che sighed: "Go and prepare."
He couldn't think too much, because if he thought too much, he would want to transfer Liu Tan back to Chang'an. Even if he couldn't return to Chang'an, he would want to give him a new fiefdom.
But rationally, Liu Che felt that it was best to put Liu Tan there. Apart from anything else, at least Liu Tan defended Shuofang and Hetao, and the Hetao area was too important to the Han Dynasty.
Not to mention the geographical location, there is a grassland with abundant grass and water in Hetao, which is most suitable for raising horses. If it falls into the hands of the Huns, it will be like adding wings to a tiger.
Until he was sure whether others could defend Hetao, Liu Che had to leave him there even if it hurt him.
Liu Tan didn't know what kind of imagination the Supreme Father and Son had about a piece of soap. Anyway, he only knew that Jiang Chong brought a lot of food when he came back. After hearing that it was Liu Che and Liu Ju who ordered it to be sent to him, Liu Tan was a little confused.
However, he soon put the matter behind him because Jiang Chong brought back some very good news: the Northern Border Country would be exempted from taxes for one year.
Liu Tan turned to look at Huo Guang, and sure enough, he saw a relaxed expression on the other's face.
Huo Guang heaved a sigh of relief and said, "That's great! The harvest was already poor this year, and even if we collected taxes, we probably wouldn't be able to collect much."
Liu Tan was stunned after hearing this: "What? Poor harvest? How could there be a poor harvest?"
Huo Guang was helpless: "There's even less rain this year than in previous years. Isn't that going to mean a poor harvest?"
Liu Tan stared: What's going on? Guarding the Yellow River depends on fate?
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