The next day, Carpenter Wang sent the mold He Zhiyuan wanted, lime and soda had also been bought, and he asked his mother to find the lard left over from the killing of pigs during the New Year.

In fact, in his previous life, He Zhiyuan had no practice in making soap, he only saw it in a time-traveling novel. It is only known that after the saponification reaction with sodium hydroxide and grease, high-grade sodium oleoate and glycerol are formed, and high-grade sodium oleoate is soap.

Sodium hydroxide had not yet appeared in the Ming Dynasty, and his first thought was to use sodium carbonate and hydrated lime to react to obtain sodium hydroxide, sodium carbonate is soda, which had already appeared in the Ming Dynasty.

He said to his mother and Yueji: "Mother, you weigh eighteen catties of lard, put it in the pot and let Yueji burn the fire and boil the oil." ”

Then he said to his father, "Father, weigh two catties of quicklime and put it in a basin and scoop water to soak it, and let it be raw slaked lime." ”

According to He Zhiyuan's command, Zhiyuan's mother put the lard in the pot, and the moon season lit the fire and began to boil the oil. After a while, the lard slowly melted, and hot air came out of the pot, and the lard slowly increased until the lard no longer increased. He Zhiyuan asked Yueji to stop the fire, used a fence to remove the solid lard fat left over from the pot, and then left the oil in the pot and covered the pot to keep warm.

At the same time, He Zhiyuan asked his father to weigh a pound of soda, put it in a basin and scoop water, and stir it with a wooden stick until the soda was all melted. After that, I asked my father to weigh a pound of slaked lime and slowly put it in a basin with soda.

He Zhiyuan stirred well in the basin with a wooden stick, and after waiting for two moments, the water in the basin gradually became clear, and a layer of white solid precipitated at the bottom of the basin. He Zhiyuan knew that the precipitation was calcium carbonate, and the clear water on it was sodium hydroxide solution.

He Zhiyuan carefully scooped the top layer of sodium hydroxide solution into another small basin. He slowly poured the hot oil into the pan and said to his father, "Dad, you quickly stir in the pot with a wooden stick, the sooner the better." ”

With my father's rapid stirring, the color of the oil in the pot gradually turned yellow, the oil flowers gradually decreased, and the oil in the pot became viscous. After stirring like this for about two moments, there was no oil in the pot at all.

Then He Zhiyuan asked Niang and Yueji to take out the mold made by Carpenter Wang and put it on a wide-mouth basin. There are twenty-four squares in this mold, and each grid has a few gaps.

Then I asked Yueji to find a piece of gauze and put it on the mold, straighten out the twenty-four grids, and then scoop out the viscous liquid in the pot and pour it evenly into the mold.

"Zhiyuan, is this okay?" The mother looked at the viscous paste night body that had not yet solidified in the mold, and was skeptical.

"I'll see tomorrow morning, if it's solidified, it's soap." He Zhiyuan replied.

"If it doesn't work out, you'll be blind to these lards."

"You crow's mouth, just after the New Year, you won't say anything nice!" He Shaoyun reprimanded her for a while. Chen knew that he had said the wrong thing, so he quickly shut up and stopped talking.

The next day, just after dawn, He Zhiyuan was still lying in bed dreaming, and in a daze, he heard his mother shouting in the yard: "Zhiyuan, get up quickly!" ”

He Zhiyuan was suddenly awakened, what is the old lady doing early in the morning? Could it be that there is a thief in the house? He Zhiyuan didn't dare to slack off, and quickly got up from the bed. Hurriedly arrived in the courtyard and asked, "Mother, what's the matter?" Is there a thief? ”

"No, come and see this soap."

"What's wrong with the soap?"

He Zhiyuan followed him to the kitchen, and Zhiyuanniang lifted the cover and said, "This soap has become hard." Isn't that it? ”

"Oops! Mother, this is the matter of this early morning. You're still not letting me sleep!? He Zhiyuan said impatiently.

"I watched it several times in one night. You can sleep on such a big thing? Is it good to serve dim sum? Zhiyuan Niang replied angrily.

He Shaoyun and Yueji also went to the kitchen one after another and saw that the soap had solidified. My father asked, "Can you take it out now?" ”

"yes, let's buckle the mold." As he spoke, He Zhiyuan and his father lifted the mold and buckled it upside down. He Zhiyuan took out a piece of soap and gave it to Yueji and said, "Yueji, you find a piece of clothing and wash it with soap." ”

When Zhiyuan Niang heard that she was going to try soap, she quickly found dirty clothes and soaked them in a basin of water. Then he asked, "Zhiyuan, how do you use this soap?" ”

"You soak your clothes first, put soap on your clothes and wipe them a few times, and wipe them wherever they are dirty. Then rub it with your hands and repeat it a few times to wash it. ”

Yueji did what He Zhiyuan said, and began to wash it in the basin, but after washing it for a while, the basin became foamy, and the water became turbid, and it was obvious that the clothes had become clean.

Zhiyuan Niang looked at the dirty water washed out of the basin in Yueji, and said in surprise: "It's so godly, this soap is much easier to use than the ash at the bottom of the stove, and it is also better than the sour jujube leaves." ”

When it is almost washed, the dirty water is discarded and washed again with clean water, and the clothes are completely washed and look like new clothes.

The two women looked at their cleanly washed clothes in amazement. In the past, I used to wash a piece of clothing, rubbing and rubbing it with a stick, and I couldn't wash it clean after washing it five or six times. Now it's clean with soap, and it doesn't take much effort.

"Young master, you are so powerful, this is much easier than washing clothes before. Never used anything so good. Yueji was so excited that she knew exactly what soap meant to their women.

He Zhiyuan thought badly in his heart, when we can have a round room, let you see how powerful I am. But he could only say: "In the future, our family will use soap to wash clothes, soap can not only wash clothes, but also wash face and bathe." In the future, we can also make soap, and after taking a bath with soap, the body will be fragrant and slippery, not to mention how comfortable it is. ”

"Such a good thing, we have to sell it for a good price." Zhiyuan Niangcai said in a daze.

"Let's do the math, how much material is used, and how much it costs." Or He Shaoyun is more rational.

"The material is less than 150 wen, plus labor costs and firewood money, it is calculated at 160 wen, and the average cost of a piece of soap is almost 7wen." He Zhiyuan had already figured it out and said casually.

"It's only seven dollars, so it can't be sold for a high price. How much soap do you have to make to earn four thousand taels of silver? Zhiyuan Niang said with some disappointment.

"Why can't it be sold at a high price? A piece of pig pancreas costs a tael of silver. If we sell it for 100 yuan, many people will have to rush to buy it. He Zhiyuan said.

"Yes, yes, Zhiyuan is right." He Shaoyun said: "As long as the formula is kept secret, no one knows what the cost is. But where do we go to buy this soap? If you go to the city to set up a shop, you will get a few hundred taels or even a thousand taels of silver. ”

"It's easy to do, we don't have to sell it by ourselves at first. Go to the city and find a grocery store, we can sell it at a lower price, so that they can also make money, and they will definitely be willing to buy our soap. As long as everyone knows, it will definitely sell well. As long as there is a market, we can make money, we can open a bigger workshop, and the grocery stores in nearby states and counties can deliver goods. Maybe they'll have to rush to order. At that time, there will be no money to be earned. He Zhiyuan said to his father.

When Zhiyuan Niang heard that there was money to be made, she was immediately happy. He took her husband's arm and said, "What are you waiting for, hurry up and go to those families to negotiate and buy their empty house." Find someone to repair it, and we'll start work after the Shangyuan Festival. ”

"Mother, it's too early, it's not too late to go after breakfast." He Zhiyuan said.

"Yes, yes, my mother is happy and confused."

He Shaoyun glanced at her and said, "You, you are happy and confused, and if you are not happy, you are confused, and there is no time to understand." ”

"I'm not in a hurry, if I don't hurry. When will you earn enough four thousand taels of silver?! When Chen heard that her husband was going to count her down again, she was about to go crazy.

He Zhiyuan saw that he was about to deviate again, and immediately said: "Don't argue, let's discuss the important candidates for the soap workshop first." ”

"Yes, yes, Zhiyuan, tell me, who do you need?" Zhiyuan Niang immediately stopped being mad.

"First of all, it is the procurement of various types of animal fats. This raw material is used the most, and you have to go to the countryside, especially the butcher's house, to collect grease, and this person needs to be honest and reliable. Secondly, there must be a reliable person in each of the three houses. ”

"Then let Zhiyuan and his brother-in-law come, he is reliable and honest, and he is a relative." The old lady first thought of her younger brother.

"Okay, he's one. He Zhide is honest, but he is quick-tempered, and there is no problem in managing a house. He Lao Liu is also counted as one. In addition, Da Xu Zi's father can't hunt much prey in winter, so let him come too. He Shaoyun said three people in one breath.

"And how many hired men are we going to find?" The old lady asked He Zhiyuan again at this time.

"No more, let's find thirty first."

"Thirty?! That's a lot of work. Let's have more than 100 taels of silver. The old lady said distressedly.

"Mother, you can't calculate this account, there are more people who make more soap, and you earn more."

"That's not good, let's find a few fewer people first, and when the soap is sold, it's not too late to find someone."

"Okay, listen to you. Then find fifteen people first. ”

"There is still salary, we have to settle it before we find someone." The old lady's heart is fine, and she is not sloppy about money.

Dad said: "Now I am a long-term worker, and I am in charge of food and housing for 500 wen a month. But to hire so many people, food and housing are all problems. ”

"Let's not look for people from other villages, just find people from our own village, don't worry about food and housing, one tael of silver a month is a lot." The old lady who slammed the door still felt sorry for the silver and gave a very low wage.

"A tael of silver is too low, isn't it?" Daddy said.

"It's a lot, in the winter, people are idle at home, there is a place to earn money, don't they all rush to do it?"

"Mother, you can't be too deducted in this matter. They are all villagers, have you forgotten that I said that our village will have a good life in less than a year? ”

"That can't be too much. Give more stewards, let them supervise the work, and prevent some cheating and tricksters from only taking money and not working? The old lady was attentive and immediately thought that someone would not contribute to the work.

He Zhiyuan said without thinking: "I still have a way, I don't need us to supervise the work, just let them rush to do it." ”