Chapter 1286 The final stage
Chapter 1286 The final stage
In mid-August, Shao Xun received a memorial from "Cai Xiaolangjun" from Xihe.
According to him, the yield of one acre of rye in Zuoguo Garden was very average, not much different from that in Yanzhi Mountain and Yuyang Kingdom.
Shao Xun put it away after reading it, and then looked at the semi-solid paste presented to him by the Shaofu.
"This substance is extracted from fat and has similar effects to soapberry, so it is named 'soap'." Shao Xun said after washing his hands.
In fact, when it comes to the step of soda ash, the discovery of soap is inevitable.
When Sun Xi was trying to disprove the theory before, he had already poured water dissolved with soda ash into lard and observed this phenomenon. He was only formally proposing it now.
The reason why it took so much time was that he tried butter, mutton fat and even sesame oil, and the same phenomenon occurred all the same.
Later, he drew inferences from his experience, considering that some country folk also used lime water to remove fat, and thought that there was alkali in lime water, so he tried to do the same thing. But for some reason, after a long time, a little stone-like substance settled at the bottom of the jar, which was very hard and had a good decontamination ability, but it was very poor.
Shao Xun admired his spirit of exploration.
At this time, the craftsmen removed the fat and used urine, wood ash, medicinal herbs, and lime water, but the results varied. Sun Xi's move has already touched the threshold of a large class of chemical reactions (saponification reactions) from a single reaction. If it can be systematically summarized, it will be of great significance.
Unfortunately, Shao Xun was not well-educated. He was even wondering why the soap was soft. It shouldn't be like that!
Are there many kinds of soap? I don't understand.
"We have the soap, but what we lack now is oil." Shao Xun asked someone to put the things away, and while walking towards Fangzhou Pavilion, he silently thought about the source of the oil.
If you want ordinary people to be able to afford it, the price has to come down, otherwise people might as well apply some wood ash when washing their hair.
It sounds a bit like a hell joke, but there were many people who did this in ancient times. Especially if you don't wash your hair for a long time, your hair will be like the wool collected from sheep, with heavy oil, and saponification will occur directly on your head...
Animal fat must be put aside. Only the upper class can afford to use it to make soap, unless - whaling!
But you can't imagine using whale oil to make soap, but it's really great for making candles.
In the industrial age, it is even more of a top-notch lubricant. He remembered that in history, Europeans hunted whales on a large scale, and most of them did not take the meat, but only the skin and fat. Even if time was urgent, they could not take the skin, and only cut off the fat.
Vegetable oil is a more realistic choice than animal fat.
It would be best if it was a plant that could tolerate barrenness, adapt to gravel and mountainous environments, and have a high oil content. In short, it would be best if it did not compete with grain crops for land.
If such an ideal oil crop really exists, then wasteland that was originally unsuitable for growing crops can be utilized, which is equivalent to extra wealth out of thin air.
As Shao Xun was thinking, he came to a yard.
"Your Majesty, the prince is here." Seeing him coming, the palace servants brought a baby and said softly.
Shao Xun took it gently, looked at the child's wrinkled face, and smiled with relief.
Shi gave birth to a son for him.
This is the first of a new batch of noble ladies from the Sima family. Next, they will line up to give birth to babies, and no one will be able to escape.
Moreover, after the Zhenming era was changed, the ministers submitted a petition requesting the selection of men and women from all over the country to enrich the harem.
Shao Xun did not agree, and finally only selected a few women from the gentry, nobles, and grassland chiefs to enter the palace to fill the vacancies in the female official positions.
All the officials praised him and thought he was a virtuous man, but only Shao Xun knew that he was getting sicker and sicker...
"Confer the title of beauty on Shi, and grant a piece of cheese, a bowl of wine, and two cakes to all the laborers in Bianliang, criminals in the Shaofu, and criminal women in the Ye Ting." Shao Xun ordered.
Soon someone took the order and went away to carry out the task.
After returning his son to the wet nurse, Shao Xun felt it was inconvenient to go in and see Shi, so he left quickly.
******
In the evening, the harvesters in the fields finally got a chance to catch their breath.
The sight of the setting sun has never been as beautiful as it is at this moment. The laborers of the Shaofu put away the last batch of tools and prepared to return to the campsite - the so-called campsite is actually a piece of harvested farmland with tents temporarily set up for people to live in and work.
For these harvesting armies, only the night belongs to them!
As soon as you open your eyes and the day breaks, you must get up and go to work no matter what the situation. If you delay for a moment, the ferocious gardener will rush over and hit you on the head with a whip.
Gardeners are young men who work as gardeners. They used to be soldiers stationed in the fields and have certain military qualities and weapons in their hands. They are not something these weak criminals can resist.
After Sima Chong returned to the campsite, he almost collapsed and didn't even want to eat.
There are several blisters on the base of my right hand, which were left when I used to hold the sickle to cut millet and wheat.
The back aches greatly, also from working so hard to harvest crops.
There seemed to be thorns in the clothes, making my body extremely itchy.
The exposed skin was burned by the sun and it was burning painfully.
This is really inhumane!
When the autumn harvest season comes, no matter if you are digging rivers, feeding horses, making bricks, or cutting wood, you all have to rush to harvest the crops, with few exceptions.
Sima Chong was learning to make brushes, so he had a lot of free time. When the autumn harvest order came, he immediately rushed to the farmland under the name of the Shaofu and began to harvest the grain. Now it is the third day.
He didn't want to do it anymore, and he wanted to cry even more. Who will save me?
A convoy came out from the woods in the distance. They were delivering dinner, causing a commotion in the camp.
The gardeners shouted loudly, and the sinners quieted down.
As the convoy approached, it slowly stopped.
A moment later, a man jumped off the oxcart, holding a gong. He struck it to attract everyone's attention, then shouted with full energy, "Lady Shi gave birth to the twenty-second prince. The emperor is very pleased and has ordered the granting of wine and food..."
Talk as you walk.
He had a loud voice, and he would shout several times at each place before moving on to the next one. "Beauty Stone..." Sima Chong was stunned for a long time as if struck by lightning.
Who is the "Stone Beauty"? Could it be...
Sima Chong didn't dare to think any further. Shao must have another concubine with the surname Shi in his harem. Yes, it must be someone from Bohai Shi or Leling Shi. My mother is already forty years old this year. Why did Shao, who has so many young women, choose to touch her? It doesn't make sense.
At this moment, on the dirt road on the other side of the river, an ordinary decorated carriage was moving slowly northward.
He was surrounded by hundreds of warriors and personal guards, which was quite eye-catching.
The road is difficult and bumpy.
Zhuge Wenbiao was caught off guard and almost fell down, but fortunately he was held in Shao Xun's arms.
She struggled slightly, but failed to break free, so she gave up.
"Yu Yuangui came to report in a hurry from 500 miles away that it snowed heavily in Shu a few days ago. I was quite surprised." Shao Xun said, "Although it is still very hot in Bianliang, the weather may change at any time. I will make you another fur coat this year, and you can wear two coats alternately."
"No need." Zhuge Wenbiao said.
The carriage stopped.
Shao Xun opened the curtains and looked quietly at the other side of the river. This entire campsite was part of his big PLAY.
"Last year, when I gave you a sand fox fur coat, you said it was unnecessary. Didn't you accept it later?" Shao Xun said casually.
Zhuge Wenbiao seemed a little embarrassed and said without thinking: "Do you think you understand my thoughts?"
Shao Xun withdrew his gaze and wanted to laugh.
Zhuge Wenbiao's words were not the tone a female official should use to address the emperor, but he didn't mind.
"Last month, I sent banana and hemp shirts to the two palace ladies Cheng and Guo, and you showed up too, didn't you?" Shao Xun said again.
Zhuge Wenbiao was silent for a moment and said, "I just happened to pass by."
"The weather is still a little hot. I'll send you two hemp shirts later. Even if you can't wear them this year, you can still wear them next year." Shao Xun said.
Zhuge Wenbiao shook his head and said, "Just send it to someone else."
……
Tong Qianjin walked away seven or eight steps with a twitching mouth, and only stopped at the riverside and looked around.
Shan Yinan is already pregnant, and Zhuge Wenbiao is not far from getting pregnant and giving birth.
Zhuge Hui is also spineless.
Although Lao Tong stood on the emperor's side no matter what, it did not prevent him from despising Zhuge Hui. You are the Zhongshujian. If you really strongly request to bring your daughter home, will the emperor reject your request? According to Lao Tong's understanding, the emperor would be unhappy, but he might give this request and let Zhuge Wenbiao leave the palace and reunite with his family.
But Zhuge Hui didn't have the courage, or maybe he was blinded by greed, so he didn't do anything. Not only did he not do anything, he didn't even marry off his second daughter, Zhuge Wenbao, because the emperor had asked her name last time and seemed very interested in her.
But on second thought, he understood.
It is not easy to surrender, and it is even more difficult to surrender someone with some ideas, which is a pity for the daughters of the Zhuge family.
There were faint sobbing sounds coming from inside the carriage, as well as the man's voice of comfort, and even some kind of assurance...
Tong Qianjin smiled faintly.
After following the emperor for so many years, he has learned a lot of tricks.
But he won't use them because he lacks the foundation for using these tricks: great prestige and power.
When his power is so great that women will be half-hearted and will even deceive themselves. He has seen with his own eyes one noble lady from the Han Dynasty after another surrender to him.
Chang Long took more than a hundred soldiers to the other side of the river and carefully inspected every reed marsh and bush in the sunset.
There are wild geese flying across the sky and another winter is approaching.
Tong Qianjin strolled along, casting his gaze towards the wilderness in the distance.
The government soldiers, civilians, and wealthy families were also harvesting the autumn harvest.
The autumn harvest is good. Every grain of food stored in the warehouse seems to be slowly repairing the world that has been torn apart by years of war.
The wealthy families who had completed the autumn harvest first even began to move south.
This was the family that sent their children to the south of the Yangtze River in the first half of the year and acquired the manor after some effort. In the autumn, they took away the last of their wealth and moved south with their entire family.
The sound of horse hooves could be heard not far away.
Tong Qianjin withdrew his thoughts and saw the messenger taking a draft decree and putting it into a box, then he mounted his horse and headed for Bianliang.
Tong Qianjin knew that this was an edict issued by the emperor on the way, drafted by the secretary Wang Xizhi: After the autumn harvest, all counties in the seven states of Yu, Yan, Si, Ji, Qing, Xu and You that have not yet measured the farmland should be checked together.
The inventory of land owned by the wealthy families in the northern land has entered its final stage.
After the inventory of land after the Yongjia period, the next thing to do was to check the land before the Yongjia period. This gave them a buffer, allowing them to have some leeway to lay a solid foundation and gain a firm foothold in the south of the Yangtze River. It was also a tacit understanding and compromise between the monarch and his subjects.
From now on, the nobles in the north will fly to the south like the wild geese.
(End of this chapter)