In the warm room of Kunning Palace.
Queen Zhou lay on her side beside Chongzhen, her perfect curves coming into view.
She rested her head on her right hand and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, I failed to manage the harem properly. Not only did a murder occur, but the method of making fine salt was also leaked."
"Your Majesty, please punish me."
Chongzhen looked at the beauty under the lamp and smiled: "I am reluctant to punish you, but... the punishment you deserve must be meted out."
Queen Zhou's face turned red and then pale: "Your Majesty, didn't you just punish me? Why are you still..."
"That's an old account, this is a new account!"
As the lights flickered, snowflakes began to fall outside the window again.
After an unknown amount of time, the lights in the warm room stopped flickering.
After Chongzhen calmed down, he said slowly: "I have transferred the fine salt business to the Earl of Jiading. From tomorrow on, the palace will no longer produce fine salt. The remaining fine salt should not be sold. I will reward it to the ministers in the court."
"Your servant... obeys your order." Although Queen Zhou understood, she still felt a little disappointed.
This is her first "career" after all.
Looking at the disappointed Queen Zhou, Chongzhen laughed: "Don't worry, Zitong, I still have new business for you."
Empress Zhou immediately perked up when she heard this. She took the initiative to step forward and ask, "I wonder what Your Majesty intends for me to do?"
Chongzhen smiled and said, "Soap and weaving cloth."
The next morning, Chongzhen did not go to court, but came to the place where fine salt was made in the harem.
He asked people to prepare the materials for making soap.
The materials are all available in the palace.
In addition to fat, there are also lime water, soda ash, salt flour, spices, flower petal powder, bamboo tube molds and a large pot.
There is no need to say much about lime water, it was used a lot when making fine salt before.
Soda ash, also known as halide alkali, is a naturally occurring alkali whose main component is sodium carbonate.
Since the Tang Dynasty, people have discovered that using caustic soda to wash clothes is particularly effective in removing stains, so it has begun to be used widely.
In the Song Dynasty, because clothes washed with soap had a strange smell, people began to add spices to the soap.
The Compendium of Materia Medica also records the use of alkali for washing clothes, face and hair.
It is also recorded that the origin is in Jining, Shandong.
After preparing these things, Chongzhen ordered people to start the experiment.
The process is dull and boring.
First, use the fat to boil the oil, which is the most costly step, no doubt about it.
In fact, any animal fat will do, as long as it can be boiled into oil.
The material used by NC during World War II was human...
Chongzhen certainly did not have such inhumane ideas.
He chose the lowest-cost meat in the Ming Dynasty: pork.
Before the Song Dynasty, people preferred to eat mutton and disliked pork, which resulted in the price of pork being very low.
Su Dongpo's "Song of Stewed Meat" records: The pork in Huangzhou is good, but its price is as cheap as dirt. The rich are unwilling to eat it, and the poor do not know how to cook it.
In the Ming Dynasty after the Song Dynasty, due to the promotion of castration technology, pork no longer had a fishy smell and it became available on the tables of princes and nobles.
Pigs reproduce quickly, so the cost is much cheaper than other meats.
Under the command of Chongzhen, the eunuchs first added soda ash powder to lime water, and then filtered out the sediment to obtain sodium bicarbonate solution.
The next step is to boil lard.
"Pour the filtered water in little by little. When there is no oil film in the pot, you don't need to pour it anymore."
"After the water boils, turn the heat down to low and stir constantly..." Chongzhen gave instructions as he watched.
The two eunuchs stirred the pot with sticks, and soon their clothes were soaked.
It continued for nearly half an hour.
When he saw the mixture in the pot turning into a thick paste, Chongzhen knew the time had come.
He hurriedly ordered: "Add salt, spices and flower petal powder, mix well and pour into the mold."
When Chongzhen saw the paste in the mold, he knew the soap was ready.
However, these soaps cannot be used for the time being and need to solidify and dry in the shade.
This period of time is about one month.
Looking at the eight eunuchs standing in the yard, Chongzhen gave instructions to Wang Chengen and then got up and left with the queen.
Wang Chengen stood in the yard, his tone cold: "You sons of bitches, I'll be honest with you, today His Majesty wants you to make the latest item for the palace: soap."
The eunuchs looked at each other, wondering what this thing was used for.
Wang Chengen continued, "You have seen the method of making soap. The materials are simple, but the process is complicated. His Majesty trusts you, so he allowed you to participate in the production of soap."
"You all know the rules of the palace, right?"
"In reply to Eunuch Wang, we all know what he said." The eunuchs answered in unison.
The first thing they did after entering the palace was to learn the rules.
Only those who know the rules can survive.
Wang Chengen nodded with satisfaction: "Okay, I'm glad to know. His Majesty has instructed that everyone present today will be rewarded, and it will be a big reward; however... anyone who dares to leak the secret will have their entire clan exterminated."
"We dare not." The eight eunuchs knelt down in unison.
"Get up, everyone, and follow us to get the reward!"
After hearing the word "reward", the eunuchs immediately jumped up with joy and rushed to Wang Chengen to show their courtesy.
"Eunuch Wang, this is a small gift from me."
"Father-in-law, here are some specialties from my hometown. I hope you will accept them."
Looking at the eight pairs of hands reaching out, Wang Chengen turned his attention to the last person: "We haven't been out of Beijing for many years, and I really want to try the local specialties."
As he took the small package from the other person, he asked, "Where are you from? What local specialties do you have?"
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