Chapter 76 Prince Yu’s Great Love
Chapter 76 Prince Yu’s Great Love
Inside the small courtyard at the back of Prince Yu’s Mansion.
Although the production lines of white sugar and rock sugar have been moved to the Shunyi Industrial Park, this small courtyard has not been abandoned.
Zhu Zaigui sometimes couldn't help but personally try out some of the "essential skills for time travelers" that he had come into contact with before traveling through time.
For example, Zhu Zaigui is now experimenting with soap making.
"Your Majesty, have you taken a look?"
Chef Meng Chong is now like a tireless human blender, constantly stirring the mixture of wood ash and oil in the pot.
Zhu Zaigui came over to take a look, but he was not sure whether it would work. After all, he had only watched the soap-making process on videos a few times.
Zhu Zaigui had never actually done the actual operation himself, but he still remembered a very crucial point, which is that the stirring time must be long.
So, after Zhu Zaigui made this pot of mixture of wood ash and lard, he had Meng Chong stirring it over a low fire.
It has been almost an hour since the stirring started. Zhu Zaigui looked at the wood ash and lard in the pot which had completely turned into a brown and black paste, and nodded.
"That should be enough. Scoop out the paste and pour it onto this piece of gauze. Let the oil drain into the basin below."
When Meng Chong heard Zhu Zaigui's instructions, he quickly turned off the fire, and then took the trouble to pour the porridge in the pot that he had been stirring for nearly an hour into a bamboo sieve covered with gauze.
When the glycerin in the paste had almost drained out, Zhu Zaigui instructed Meng Chong again, "Put the drained oil in a mold aside and compact it, then find a place to cool and dry. Also find a clean bottle to store the drained oil, don't waste it."
Meng Chong hurriedly followed Zhu Zaigui's instructions.
After everything was done, Meng Chong couldn't help but ask, "What on earth are you going to do with all this wood ashes, Your Majesty?"
Zhu Zaigui said: "Wait an hour or two and you will know."
Meng Chong sighed and stood carefully beside Zhu Zaigui, wanting to take a shower to wash off the smelly sweat on his body, but Zhu Zaigui didn't tell him to leave, so he didn't dare to leave the courtyard at all.
After all, this small courtyard has now become a forbidden area of Prince Yu's Mansion. No one can enter here at will unless Zhu Zaigui has given special permission.
Now that Zhu Zaigui hadn't left, how could Meng Chong dare to leave without permission? So he could only continue to endure the uncomfortable feeling of his sticky body and continue to carefully stay by Zhu Zaigui's side and wait.
After more than an hour, Zhu Zaigui stopped practicing "Xiantian Gong" and came to the mold where the wood ash soap was placed to check the condition of the soap in the mold.
After pinching it and finding that it had solidified into a block and had a certain hardness, Zhu Zaigui nodded with satisfaction.
Zhu Zaigui said, "Go get a basin of clean water."
Meng Chong hurriedly went to fetch another basin of clean water. Zhu Zaigui wiped his hands on the remaining lard beside him. After his hands were covered with greasy stains, Zhu Zaigui picked up a piece of wood ash soap and wiped his hands in the basin of clean water, and then began to wash his hands.
After rubbing for a few times, Zhu Zaihui clearly felt the slippery feeling on his hands. Looking at the soap putty with small bubbles rubbed out on his hands, a smile on Zhu Zaihui's face instantly brightened.
This is what soap feels like!
Zhu Zaigui used clean water to wash off the soap putty on his hands, then looked at the water droplets on his hands. Zhu Zaigui turned around and asked Meng Chong, "Come and see if there are any lard stains on my hands?"
Meng Chong leaned over and looked at Zhu Zaigui's outstretched hands, his eyes suddenly widened!
"How did the prince do this? How is it so powerful? It's even better than the effect of soap beans!"
Zhu Zaigui smiled and said, "This is called soap. You won't understand even if I tell you. I'll give you this soap. Go wash it and feel the effect."
Zhu Zaiguo gave Meng Chong the soap he had just used and asked him to try it out. Meng Chong took the soap carefully and excitedly. He couldn't believe that something as dirty as wood ash and something as greasy as lard could magically create such a cleansing artifact.
But Zhu Zaigui’s test just now actually happened in front of his eyes, so he had to believe that it was real.
Zhu Zaigui said: "After you wash, go to my courtyard. I have something to tell you."
Meng Chong quickly replied: "I obey your command."
"go quickly."
Zhu Zaigui waved his hand in a good mood, asking Meng Chong to go take a bath quickly, and then he left the courtyard and went to the courtyard where he lived.
After Meng washed off the smelly sweat on his body, he quickly changed into a set of dry clothes and came to Zhu Zaigui's yard with an even more excited expression.
"Your Highness, this is truly amazing! I just rubbed the soap on my body, then rinsed it with water, and the dirt on my body was washed off. It's incredible!"
Meng Chong excitedly spoke of his personal experiences.
Zhu Zaigui smiled and said, "Then how much silver do you think this thing is worth?"
When Meng Chong heard Zhu Zaigui's words, his eyes lit up instantly.
Meng Chong said excitedly: "At least two taels of silver!"
When Zhu Zaigui heard Meng Chong mention two taels of silver, he sighed and shook his head, saying, "Too greedy. One hundred coins will be enough."
When Meng Chong heard Zhu Zaigui say one hundred coins, he was stunned. White sugar used to be sold at sky-high prices, so why was soap sold at such a low price? This made Meng Chong a little confused.
Meng Chong said, "Your Highness, isn't one hundred wen too little? After all, you said before that we want a high-end brand, and a price of one hundred wen doesn't seem to fit our positioning."
Zhu Zaigui waved his hand and said, "One hundred coins is just the price of this ordinary soap. And soap is different from sugar. Soap is a necessity that is beneficial to everyone. Regular use of soap to bathe and wash hands can also reduce some bacteria and diseases, which is good for both people and ourselves, so this king cannot let it become a product that the public cannot afford."
When Zhu Zaigui mentioned the word bacterial disease, although Meng Chong did not understand what bacteria were, he still understood the word disease.
So when Meng Chong heard Zhu Zaigui say that this product could reduce the incidence of diseases among ordinary people, tears welled up in her eyes. "Your Majesty is truly the reincarnation of a bodhisattva. With such selfless love, I really don't know how I can thank you for your grace on behalf of the people."
Zhu Zaigui pressed his hands and said, "I am not that noble. I just think that if others are less sick, I will be safer. If people around me get sick because of not paying attention to hygiene, I will not be immune. So, I sold the soap at a low price this time for my own benefit. It is not selfless love."
Although Zhu Zaigui said so, Meng Chong still felt that his prince's intention was an act of selfless love. Otherwise, how could such a divine object benefit the public?
Zhu Zaigui continued, "For ordinary soaps like this, we will make them cheaper this time. But the high-end ones should still be high-end! There are so many dignitaries in the capital. If they use the same products as ordinary people, they will definitely not feel any sense of superiority."
"So we also need to make some high-end soaps based on ordinary soaps. During the production process, we can add some expensive spices to make it smell fragrant and pleasant, and there will be a lingering fragrance after bathing."
"We can also carve some gorgeous and beautiful patterns on the mold, make the packaging more luxurious and exquisite, and change the name to some unique and elegant names."
"In this way, people who buy high-end soaps will naturally have a different sense of superior enjoyment than those who buy ordinary soaps. And this is the enjoyment we bring to these high-end customers."
After hearing what Zhu Zaigui said, Meng Chong's eyes lit up again, "Your Majesty is brilliant! I admire you!"
Zhu Zaigui laughed, "How about selling this high-end soap for five or ten taels of silver per piece?"
Meng Chong nodded excitedly and said, "Okay, okay, very good, Your Majesty. Great idea, Your Majesty!"
(End of this chapter)