Thirty miles south of the Asian part of Constantinople there was a bay suitable for docking ships. ◢ With *Dream * Small ◢.1a There is a small river on the slope of the mountain that flows into the bay. Someone built a manor house by the creek. Manors in Eastern Rome would fly coat of arms and flags that proved their family identity. This manor is hung with the banner of the Great Song Dynasty.

The steamship was docked in the bay, and the people on board used cranes and pulleys to unload the cargo on board to the bay docks. The laborers here brought their goods into the estate. A small part of the estate is made up of their own crops, and many more are various factories. The bitter salt from Egypt is refined to remove the table salt, and the remaining salt and sodium carbonate mixture are mixed with lime water, heated, concentrated in the liquid, and filtered out of the calcium carbonate in the solution. A mixture of sodium hydroxide and table salt was obtained at sufficient concentration.

In the press room, there are olives purchased from various port areas. The first olive oils, which are pressed directly from the olives, are so clear and transparent that they are shipped to Constantinople and sold. The remaining pulp is soaked in hot water and other means to maximize the oil contained in the pulp. What comes out is a green olive oil mixed with crumbs of the pulp.

This olive oil is then filtered to give it a strong olive aroma. This olive oil is mixed with high-temperature palm oil transported from the south by the Da Song fleet and a small amount of sesame oil bought from the Middle East, and some flavors made from Da Song are added, as well as a concentrated sodium hydroxide mixed liquid, and the soap is made by a professional master after stirring and heating.

A five-by-five pattern is carved on both sides of the soap mold, and the traces of the border are the Latin words for 'Syrian laurel soap' and 'Clepius'. The soap cubes cut according to the size of a pattern weigh about a pound. The whole bar of soap that leaves the factory is twenty-five pounds. The portion size is quite light.

The finished soap has a green color and a distinct olive aroma. It is said that the ancient soap of Syria contains laurel oil, and the Great Song Dynasty replaced it with imitation essence. It was delivered to the markets of Constantinople or to the markets of several famous Italian commercial cities.

Of course, a large part of the soap also had to be sent to the current Yuan Kingdom. Hao Ren, the ruler of the Yuan Kingdom, would exchange grain and coal for soap, which was used as fuel to drive steamships, and the grain was sold to Eastern Rome and Italy, and the money earned was used to buy olive oil, bitter salt and other raw materials. Of course, it also has to be used to pay for various expenses.

As soon as the raw materials from Egypt arrived at the estate, the workshop continued to get busy. A few days later, the latest batch was delivered to Constantinople. After several years of governance, Constantinople has not had an outbreak of plague for more than a year. The market has also become much cleaner and tidy.

Hearing that the 'Clepius' soap, which had been out of stock, was back in stock, the inhabitants of Constantinople rushed to buy it. Clepius is the god of medicine in Greek mythology, and now that Crucidis has eliminated Greek polytheism, ordinary people in Europe still think that 'Clepius' is the name of this soap maker.

Soap is not cheap, most people buy only one piece, and many only buy half a piece. That's why almost every household buys it, because by simply washing your hands with soap twice a day, you can get less sick.

As the director of the Department of Eastern Europe, Yang Congrong took his wife to meet the Eastern Roman Emperor with him, and brought a box of refined soap. Compared to civilian soap, refined soap filters out impurities cleanly, and real laurel oil is used. The gift that the Eastern Roman Emperor cared about was the twelve pearls with a diameter of nine millimeters from the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty.

Satisfied, the Eastern Roman Emperor asked, "Your Excellency Yang, I hope to be able to buy another two thousand pieces of armor." ”

"I'll report this to the Emperor." Yang replied calmly. In the last two years, the Eastern Roman Emperor has been invincible in the battle against the rebel forces at home, and when the Eastern Roman Janissaries in full steel armor appeared on the battlefield, the battle was basically decided.

"Then I will wait for your good news. Besides, my Chancellor of the Exchequer can't wait to talk to you, so let you give it to him. The Emperor spoke in a relaxed tone.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer of Eastern Rome was an old Greek man, and it is said that he was still some kind of count. Yang Congrong is more concerned about the secretary of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who is a happy man with a so-called 'Jewish nose' on his face. It looks very cold.

The Eastern Roman Emperor met Yang Congrong in the garden of his house, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer walked on the grass with a wine glass and a secretary to talk to Yang Congrong.

"Your Excellency Yang, the tax you pay in our factories in China is too small." The Chancellor of the Exchequer got straight to the point.

"Is it because we pay less taxes to the Eastern Roman Empire, or do some people think we're affecting their business?" Yang calmly and straightforwardly cut to the core of the problem. This speech did not make Yang Congrong feel that there was anything inappropriate, Da Song felt that the big food merchants monopolized the shipping in the South China Sea, and even did not give the big food merchants a chance to negotiate, and the Zhao official family directly led the troops to cut down the investment of the big food merchants, Pu Shougeng's whole family. The fact that the Chancellor of the Exchequer of Eastern Rome was able to speak openly and honestly shows that he is very sincere.

Seeing that Yang calmly and calmly was so cooperative, the secretary of the Chancellor of the Exchequer spoke, "The fleet of the Song State is not only doing business in Eastern Rome, but also in Italy, Egypt and Crimea. We are not against the business dealings of the Great Song Dynasty, but most of the silver coins used by your voice are our Eastern Roman silver coins, and in the past two years, Eastern Roman silver coins have appeared more and more in Italy. ”

Yang listened calmly and quietly, and he knew that the Chancellor of the Exchequer was right. The merchants of the Great Song Dynasty earned real money and silver, and shipwowed back and forth Eastern Roman silver coins. The Eastern Roman complaints were not groundless.

"So what do you mean?"

"We will not pay you any more silver. And your taxes must be paid in silver. The Chancellor's Secretary replied decisively.

Even though Yang Congrong felt that he could fully understand the mood and reasons of the Roman side, after listening to the words of the secretary of the Eastern Roman Chancellor, Yang Congrong still felt a strong killing intent in his heart. If this continues, it will be tantamount to making Da Song pay a huge price. As the director of the Department of Eastern Europe, doesn't Yang Congrong have to bear such a responsibility? Shouldn't the people who affect Yang Congrong's official career deserve to die?

However, Yang Congrong is a person who has experienced life and death, and the killing intent was quickly suppressed by him. Pretending to be contemplative, but actually calming the mood. In the end, Yang calmly said: "It's better to be like this." I will send a letter to the Emperor of my country, and I will ask His Majesty the Emperor of our country to make a judgment on the specific matter of this matter. ”