Under the strange looks of Fang Sansan and the others, Han Zhen carefully carried the clay pot back to the backyard and placed it in the small warehouse.

I don't dare to put this thing casually, although it doesn't have much weight, but it's worth a thousand gold.

There was white sugar in the Northern Song Dynasty, but it was very rare.

Some of them came from the tributes of countries such as Dashi, and some of them were made by sugar merchants.

When the cane sugar is boiled and cooled, it will condense into a very thin layer of frost, and the craftsman needs to use special bamboo strips to carefully scrape it off.

Hundreds or thousands of catties of sucrose are often boiled to collect one or two white sugars.

This kind of white sugar will hardly appear on the market, even if the wealthy businessmen want to spend a lot of money to buy it, there is no way.

It belongs to the real priceless market.

Since there is no one on the market, Han Zhen has no way to refer to the price, but considering that things are scarce and expensive, he pondered that it should be very reasonable to sell them for 20 yuan and one tael when the time comes.

These two jars of sand sugar, after removing the loss, can produce about 8 catties of sugar, that is, more than 2,560 pounds.

The cost is only 15 times, and the profit is as high as hundreds of times.

What is Windfall Profit?

That's the real profiteering.

Of course, when the number of sales increases, the price of white sugar will inevitably fall.

Therefore, Han Zhen plans to strictly control the output, and by the way, it can also play a role in hunger marketing.

This kind of top-level luxury goods are not suitable as a pillar industry, and can only be carried and done.

Refined salt is different, although the profit is not as high as sugar, but it is a long-term trade, and can drive a series of industries.

After leaving the small warehouse and locking the door, Han Zhen planned to start making refined salt.

When I returned to the second courtyard, I saw Fang Sansan and several people holding bowls, drinking in small sips, their eyes full of enjoyment.

Han Zhen was curious: "What do you drink?" ”

"Sugar water."

Fang Sansan replied with a pout.

She was still grieving why Han Zhen would rather pour the sugar into the mud altar than eat it for herself.

It turned out that when the sugar was boiled just now, there was still a little sticky in the pot, and Chef Shen couldn't bear to waste it, so she added water and rinsed it.

Shabu-shabu sugar water doesn't have much sweetness at all, but to the other party, it is like a jade liquid.

Han Zhen instructed: "Go to the village to find some children, and say that I want to collect shells, and one pound of shells is five cents." ”

Seashell?

Fang Sansan felt that Ah Lang was weird today, and poured the sand sugar into the mud jar for a while, and then he had to collect the shells again.

Shells are useless, grab a handful by the river, where is it worth five cents a catty.

As if he was afraid that Han Zhen would be angry, Fang Sansan didn't dare to say much, and went out with sugar water.

There were many children in the village, and the adults all went up the mountain to find the escapees, leaving them to play on their own.

At this time, when the children in the village heard that they were collecting shells for five cents a catty, they all ran to the river like crazy, carrying baskets.

Taking advantage of the efforts of the children in the village to catch shells, Han Zhen carried a hoe out of the house.

Finding a small dirt slope, he wielded his hoe and quickly dug a one-meter-square dirt pit.

After digging a vent at the bottom of the pit, a very rudimentary little earthen kiln was completed.

At this moment, Ma Sangou and the others on patrol found him, and couldn't help but come forward and ask, "Second Brother Han, what is this doing?" ”

"Kiln."

Han Zhen responded casually, and then ordered: "By the way, help me find more firewood." ”

"Okay."

Ma Sangou nodded, turned around and went to find firewood.

Soon, the five of them found a stack of firewood.

"Second Brother Han, we're on patrol."

"Go ahead."

Han Zhen waved his hand and buried his head in laying small stones on the bottom of the earthen kiln.

After a while, a child arrived with a shell.

Fang Sansan also came with her, and after such a long time, her bowl of shabu-shabu sugar water hadn't been drunk yet.

"Come here and get the money."

Fang Sansan was holding the bowl, like a child king at the moment.

There are no scales here, and she doesn't plan to scale a pound of pounds, just count it according to the basket, and give five cents when the basket is full.

Even so, Fang Sansan still felt that his Ah Lang had lost.

The children don't care, the shells are useless at all, the river is everywhere, and it's very happy to be able to exchange a few pennies.

After receiving the money, he gathered around to watch the excitement.

Quicklime is needed to purify refined salt, but Han Zhen only has a general understanding of the steps, and has not actually operated it in his previous life, so today belongs to the experimental stage.

Therefore, he simply dug an earthen kiln, and when the experiment was over and it was confirmed that it could be successfully mass-produced, it was not too late to build an earthen kiln for firing limestone.

As for why shells are used, it is because shells are burned quickly, and they can be burned in more than half an hour.

If it is replaced with limestone, I am afraid that it will be burned for at least seven or eight days.

According to the neat stacking of a layer of firewood and a layer of shells, Han Zhen took out the fire fold.

After it was lit, the kiln burst into flames.

"Let's go!"

Han Zhen patted the dust on his hands and beckoned Fang Sansan to go back.

Taking a sip of sugar water, Fang Sansan finally asked the doubts in his heart: "What is Ah Lang doing this for?" ”

"Make money!"

Han Zhen said in a mysterious tone.

Is this going to make money?

Fang Sansan felt that his brain was a little insufficient.

When she was close to the house, she realized that it must be Ah Lang who was playing tricks on herself.

……

……

Three o'clock in the afternoon.

Han Zhen and Fang Sansan came to the clay kiln again with a clay pot.

After such a long time, the earthen kiln has been completely cooled.

Peeling off the thick layer of furnace ash, Han Zhen picked out the whole shell from it.

There were five or six baskets of shells, and in the end less than one jar was selected, and the rest were burned to slag, mixed with plant ash, and could not be used at all.

Back at the house, Han Zhen filled the clay pot with water, and at the same time instructed Aunt Shen to pour coarse salt into the pot and add water to boil.

As the water is added to the clay pot, it quickly reacts with quicklime, emitting bursts of white smoke.

Stir quickly with a wooden stick for a while, and a jar of lime milk is ready.

Seeing this surprised scene, Fang Sansan suddenly thought of something, and lowered his voice and said, "Ah Lang Mo is not alchemy?" ”

If it weren't for the Taoist method, how could it be that adding some water to the shells would cause bubbles and white smoke to emerge?

I want to come to the sugar in the morning, and the same is true.

Well, it must be.

The more Fang Sansan thought about it, the more it made sense.

Alchemy?

Han Zhen glanced at her in surprise, and couldn't help but quip, "That's right." ”

At this time, Chef Shen's voice came from the kitchen: "Ah Lang, the salt water is boiling." ”

"Good!"

Han Zhen nodded and walked into the kitchen with three wooden barrels.

Since it was an experiment, he prepared three barrels of brine to test the optimal ratio of lime milk to brine.

Carrying three buckets of brine back to the courtyard, Han Zhen picked up the clay pot and began to add lime milk to the brine one by one.

Stir with a wooden stick while adding.

The ratio of brine to lime milk in the three barrels is 1:1, 2:1 and 3:1 respectively.

The bitter taste of kosher salt is due to the impurities it contains such as magnesium ions and calcium ions.

Lime milk reacts with magnesium and precipitates.

Soon, the milk of lime reacts with the brine and precipitates begin to appear.

After waiting for half an hour, he filtered out the sediment in the salt water and placed the three wooden barrels in the courtyard to rest.

Following the steps, carbon dioxide should be introduced into the brine at this time.

However, due to the limited conditions now, Han Zhen can only use the original method, which is to leave the salt water quietly for a few hours and let the carbon dioxide in the air react with it.

You can't just take a reed pole and keep blowing air into the salt water, right?

Lifting the three buckets of water under the eaves, Han Zhen instructed: "Fang Sansan, give you an errand, keep an eye on the three wooden barrels carefully, and don't let anyone touch them." ”

"Ah Lang, don't worry, I won't let anyone touch it."

Fang Sansan nodded with a serious expression.