Chapter 42: The Unrefined Ambitions of Old Ten, the Face-Covering Master...
"Tenth Brother, what are you doing?" Yin Tang asked curiously as he saw Yin E turn and run towards the flower bushes.
He glanced at the beautiful flowers hanging precariously on the branches, then stood on tiptoe and picked two. He turned around and handed one to Yintang, keeping the other in his own hand: "I picked the flowers."
He brought the unidentified pale pink flower in his hand to his nose and gently sniffed it. He smelled a faint floral fragrance that was sweet but not overpowering, elegant but not gaudy.
He didn't know much about flowers and couldn't identify the variety of the flower he had picked. But he found the fragrance quite pleasant; he thought the Imperial Concubine would probably love it if added to face cream or hand cream.
Mass production and sales after the formula is developed are things to consider later. Right now, Yin'e just wants to make a small batch for the Imperial Concubine.
The final product must not only have efficacy, such as skin care and moisturizing functions, but also appearance. It must be more delicate and smooth than fermented rice, and have a light fragrance.
Such face creams and hand creams would please the Imperial Concubine, suit her tastes, and be worth her giving up the fermented soybeans.
Yin'e created face cream and hand cream for the Imperial Concubine to replace the jarred roe, intending to eliminate the jarred roe, which lacked moisturizing properties, through its functionality and appearance. His intention was not to force the Imperial Concubine to abandon the jarred roe out of respect for him and instead use his own failed attempts at creating products that were inferior to the jarred roe.
Moreover, the face cream and hand cream that Yin'e makes are not medicines, but skin care products.
He hoped that the final product would combat dryness and moisturize the skin. As for treating frostbite, he felt that it was unnecessary to add this function to the face cream and hand cream made for the imperial concubine.
Even if the Imperial Concubine came to the Imperial Garden for a walk every day and spent a considerable amount of time outdoors, at most her exposed facial skin would only become chapped from the dry north wind; it was impossible for her to suffer from frostbite.
Moreover, why not use snake oil to treat frostbite? That's the most effective and fastest-acting remedy for frostbite.
Yin'e carefully examined the flowers, and finally picked the one that was in full bloom, the most beautiful and vibrant, and the least likely to wither and decay.
He ran back again, and handed the carefully chosen flower to the Consort: "Mother, here's a flower for you!"
As the imperial concubine stepped out of the cobblestone path, her brows furrowed and fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. Her beautiful eyes were filled with exhaustion and weakness, and her face was pale from the pain in her feet, making her look quite frail.
But when she saw the flowers Yin'e handed her, a gentle and joyful smile still bloomed on her sweat-covered face. She took the flowers, gently and lovingly patted Yin'e's head, and softly said, "Mother likes them very much."
Following behind Yin'e, Yin Tang witnessed the whole process. No one knows how he understood it, but after a moment of stunned silence, he actually ran back to the flower bushes and picked a flower, just like Yin'e, to give to the Imperial Concubine: "Imperial Concubine, here's a flower for you."
Seeing the flowers that Yinzhen held up high and handed over, the Consort Gui, who was gently wiping the sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief, was slightly taken aback before reaching out to accept the flowers.
After hesitating for a moment, meeting Yinzhen's expectant gaze, the Consort tentatively reached out and gently patted Yinzhen's head: "Thank you for the flowers, I like them very much."
Yin'e pouted and grumbled in dissatisfaction.
Grabbing Yinzhen's sleeve, Yin'e shouted, "Ninth Brother, let's have a competition to see who can pick more flowers!"
Yinzhen's attention was immediately drawn to it. He nodded excitedly and ran over to Yin'e, giving him a bright smile: "Okay, let's have a competition."
Immediately afterwards, when the Imperial Concubine was taking a walk in the Imperial Garden, Yin'e and Yin'tang each carried a small flower basket and followed behind her.
They walked and picked flowers as they went, leaving only bare branches and no longer tender leaves in the flowerbeds they passed. The flowers that the palace servants of the Imperial Garden had carefully tended to keep blooming in winter were all gone, and the already scarce vibrant colors in the Imperial Garden became even more withered.
Because Yin'e and Yin'tang had wreaked havoc on the flowers and plants in the Imperial Garden, when they finished their walk and were about to leave, the Consort gave the palace servants in the Imperial Garden an extra reward.
The reward money each palace servant received wasn't much; it was just hard-earned money. Because they were responsible for cleaning up the mess left by Yin'e and Yin'tang in the Imperial Garden—of course, even if the Consort didn't care about the reward, they would still have to do these tasks.
The Imperial Concubine was indeed wealthy and not short of money, but she was not so generous as to be foolish and rich. The amount of money she gave as a reward was not excessive.
Moreover, it wasn't just the Imperial Concubine who would come to the Imperial Garden.
If the Imperial Concubine gave a reward, the other concubines couldn't refrain from doing so; if the Imperial Concubine gave too much reward, those concubines of lower rank and without favor might not dare to come to the Imperial Garden anymore.
Back at Yongshou Palace, Yin'e rolled up his sleeves, ready to get down to business... well, it was Lanzhi and Luyi who were going to get down to business, and he was only in charge of giving orders, and most likely he would be giving orders haphazardly.
Yin'e knew what the raw materials were for making face cream and hand cream, but he was not sure about the specific formula ratios. He needed to conduct comparative experiments to figure out the most suitable formula.
As for the process of making the ointment... well, there's absolutely no skill involved. You just need to heat all the ingredients in a double boiler, stir until melted, and then pour it into a mold to cool while it's still hot. It's a completely foolproof operation.
Later facial creams and hand creams, setting aside all the messy additives, actually only require water and oil, plus some emulsifiers, to make the simplest ointment.
Furthermore, if you want the ointment to have more functions, you need to add corresponding materials.
For example, add glycerin and propylene glycol for moisturizing; add vitamin E for anti-aging; add vitamin C and rose for whitening... Well, roses weren't available in the Qing Dynasty at that time.
Leaving aside additional additives, let's just talk about the most basic elements: water, oils, and emulsifiers. Water goes without saying, and oils are also very simple to obtain—both vegetable and animal oils are easy to come by—don't doubt it, the easiest to obtain is lard.
Emulsifiers are a bit more complicated in comparison. Synthetic emulsifiers are out of the question; the Qing Dynasty didn't have the resources for them. There are quite a few natural emulsifiers to choose from, such as lecithin, lanolin, and beeswax.
Beeswax can be used directly, but lecithin and lanolin need to be extracted.
Many plants contain lecithin, but soybeans have the highest content, and it is best to extract lecithin from soybeans; lanolin is the secreted oil that adheres to wool. The wool must first be cleaned with alkali, and then lanolin is extracted from sewage using ethanol.
Yin'e only intends to make a small batch for the Imperial Concubine, so he has chosen beeswax, which is the most convenient material. However, if he plans to produce a large quantity of the ointment for sale later, considering the cost, Yin'e will choose lanolin, a natural emulsifier.
Because lanolin has the best cost performance. First, wool is much cheaper than soybeans; second, lanolin is only a by-product of washing wool. On the wool washing production line, it is an end product and not the most profitable business of washing wool - the most profitable business is the wool itself after it is cleaned.
At that time, the Qing Dynasty was unable to completely remove the secreted oils from wool, so most of the wool was discarded as waste: without removing the oils, the wool could not be spun into fibers to make wool yarn, and naturally, wool sweaters could not be made.
The only way the Mongols used wool was by pressing it into felt. However, felt had a strong odor and wasn't very soft, so it had no other use besides making carpets.
Moreover, the felt couldn't be sold, and no matter how much the Mongols made, they could only use it themselves—the Han people were not like the herdsmen, and they couldn't stand the muttony smell of unwashed wool.
While looking through the materials for making ointments, such as beeswax, tea seed oil, and almond oil that Luyi had brought over, Yin'e was happily planning his future wool-making scheme.
Mongolian wool is unwanted, so he could easily buy large quantities at a low price, clean it with alkali to make wool yarn, and then weave wool sweaters and wool pants. Meanwhile, the wastewater from washing the wool wouldn't be wasted; he could use ethanol to extract lanolin, a natural emulsifier, to make ointments.
Yin'e had even figured out where to sell the finished products. Thick, soft wool sweaters and moisturizing creams would definitely have a better market in colder, drier climates. Putting aside other places, they would surely sell like hotcakes in Mongolia!
Well, buying wool from Mongolia and then selling the wool sweaters and fat back to Mongolia is a different kind of taking from the people and using it for the people.
As for the benefits Yin'e gained from this transaction... Haha, the weather is so nice today, the sun is so bright and the sunshine is so warm.
However, speaking of wool, if Yin'e were to marry a noble Mongolian woman as his wife, the wool business would be even more convenient. And it's not just wool; Mongolian mutton, beef, milk powder, and cheese are also untapped markets.
Yin'e had no intention of having the Consort do the wool business. Firstly, it was inconvenient for the Consort to contact the Mongols while she was in the inner palace. Secondly, the Consort was still burdened with the matter of the new smallpox inoculation method, and Yin'e did not want to add any more trouble for her.
He planned to start his own wool business. Once he was older and had capable people around him, and Yinzhen had grown into a thriving leek, Yin'e would partner with Yinzhen in business, making a fortune together. Then, he could buy whatever he wanted to offer as a tribute to the Imperial Concubine.
Yin'e could not seek power or high position, but seeking wealth was no problem at all.
According to the prevailing social ideology of today, commerce is considered the lowest of professions. If Yin'e were to dedicate himself to business after growing up, regardless of Kangxi's reaction—whether he would oppose or approve—the Crown Prince would certainly be overjoyed.
The three raw materials—water, oil, and emulsifier—are ready, as are the containers for water-heating.
Under Yin'e's direction, Luyi began making ointment. At first, it was just an experiment, using only the three simplest ingredients without adding anything extra.
The first attempt was a complete failure. The water-to-oil ratio was wrong; too much water made the paste too thin. Compared to a creamy face lotion or hand cream, this failed attempt looked more like a lotion.
The second attempt was only partially successful. The ratio of water to oil was correct, but the stirring was not even enough during the water bath heating. As a result, the final product after cooling did not look very good, and was even inferior to the honey-like fermented fruit.
The third attempt was finally successful. The water-oil ratio was just right, and after thorough stirring, the water and oil were completely emulsified. The resulting cream was warm and soft, and when spread, it was delicate and smooth. In terms of texture, it was not much different from face creams and hand creams of later generations.
The successful production of the rouge indicates that the method provided by Yin'e was correct. The next step is to add flower petals when mixing water and oil to give the rouge fragrance and color.
After a few more days of fussing, on the last day of the first nine-day period after the winter solstice, the Imperial Concubine began using a light pink face cream and hand cream with a faint floral fragrance.
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The author's note: Emulsifiers are compounds that enable a mixture of two or more immiscible components to form a stable emulsion.
Note: The chemistry-related information in this article was all researched and may not be accurate. I'm not a chemical engineering major; my high school chemistry knowledge is limited to balancing chemical equations...
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