bookrandom Chapter 55 Cement
Chapter 55 Cement
The soap is selling like hotcakes!
The entrance to Tianzao Pavilion is always bustling with activity, like a marketplace.
A bar of soap, priced at 100 taels each, is only available in quantities of 500 per day, yet it is still in short supply.
Qin Xuan and Zhao Luoying sat in a restaurant opposite Tianzao Pavilion, watching the grand spectacle with smiles.
"Your Highness, why not increase the daily supply instead of setting a special limit?"
Zhao Luoying took a sip of tea and asked curiously.
Qin Xuan laughed and said, "Things are valued for their scarcity. I want to create a sense of urgency and scarcity in the soap so that it can maintain a high price and keep everyone eager to buy it."
"If one day this soap were readily available, it wouldn't be able to fetch such a high price."
Soap was only used to make money off the powerful and wealthy, and at the same time, it was used to pave the way for the popularization of ordinary soap.
The real money-maker is actually soap.
Although the profit is only five coins per piece, the sheer number of people involved is enormous!
If everyone in the world were to develop the habit of using soap, the profitability of this fast-moving consumer good would truly be frightening.
"If everyone can use it and everyone uses it, there will be fewer epidemics and more health in the world."
After Zhao Luoying roughly understood Qin Xuan's thoughts, she thought of the benefits of soap.
She had heard Qin Xuan say that many people get sick because they don't pay attention to personal hygiene.
As for the word "hygiene," Qin Xuan had specifically explained it to Zhao Luoying, and Zhao Luoying found it quite fitting.
Time flies, and the Spring Festival is here in the blink of an eye.
However, the Spring Festival in Beining City was noticeably less lively and more tense.
The land reclamation project in the north of the city has been put on track. After building temporary wooden houses, the 200,000 displaced people began to cultivate the land according to Qin Xuan's plan, preparing for the upcoming spring planting.
As for the house, since the temporary wooden cabin has already survived the cold winter, the weather will only get warmer and warmer, so there's no need to rush.
However, what no one knew was that Qin Xuan postponed the construction of the house because he was preparing a special material—cement.
In addition to the mortise and tenon structure that everyone is familiar with, the ancients actually had many other ways of building houses, such as glutinous rice paste, white lime, clay, and blue bricks. The production of cement is not complicated, but the key is in the proportion of the mixture, which requires repeated experimentation.
On the eleventh day of the first lunar month, the Imperial Palace was opened to the Emperor's Study.
The Emperor of Daqi looked at the three items on the dragon table with a complicated expression, his face dark and gloomy.
"These mere three small items made Qin Xuan incredibly wealthy?"
These three small items are, of course, coal briquettes, refined salt, and soap.
Daqi had been monitoring Beining's every move, so it was impossible for them not to know about Qin Xuan's business plans.
The Minister of War, who was in charge of investigating the matter, trembled slightly and nodded, saying, "Your Majesty, these three items have now spread to other countries, and even within our Great Qi, they have appeared one after another."
"Does the Bureau of Supervision have anyone who can replicate it?"
The Emperor of Daqi asked, his gaze turning to the Director of the Imperial Construction Bureau.
The supervisor immediately knelt down and said in a panic, "Your Majesty, the Bureau of Manufacturing is currently studying these three items day and night, and we believe that we will make progress in time."
The supervisor had already said this half a month ago.
However, the Emperor of Daqi also knew that such a thing would be extremely difficult to imitate without a secret recipe.
But he didn't want to see Qin Xuan rise to power by relying on these things, and he couldn't tolerate that the income of a mere city was comparable to that of his entire Qi Kingdom.
If the common people knew this, wouldn't it prove that Qin Xuan's coercion of the emperor was the right thing to do?
“Go ahead and issue an imperial edict to search for extraordinary talents and individuals throughout the land. Qin Xuan also has only one head and two eyes. I refuse to believe that our great Qi Dynasty, with its many talented and extraordinary individuals, is inferior to Qin Xuan alone.”
The Emperor of Daqi suppressed his anger and led the way.
The supervisor dared not be negligent and nodded repeatedly, while also feeling relieved, having finally managed to fool them.
Afterwards, the ministers took their leave, and the Emperor of Daqi solemnly summoned Chen Xuan, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard: "Send men to infiltrate Beining City and obtain the secret recipes for making these three items."
"Your humble servant obeys the decree."
Chen Xuan accepted the order in a low voice and quickly left the imperial study.
Meanwhile, in the council hall of the Prince's Mansion in Beining City, the three major chambers of commerce had sent letters, which, as Qin Xuan had expected, stated that the soap had indeed achieved unprecedented success in foreign countries.
"Your Highness, Mogu proposes to set up a soap workshop near the Kingdom of Goli to reduce transportation costs."
After Zhuge Xuan recounted what was on his mind, he gave a reminder.
Qin Xuan shook his head: "This matter is a bit too hasty, I cannot agree to it."
The method of making soap is relatively simple. Once a workshop is set up outside, it is difficult to guarantee that the secret recipe will not be leaked.
Zhuge Xuan nodded in agreement and said, "Both Hu Xu and Huai Yun, the two leaders, have suggested in their hearts that we could add a few more scents to the soap, since a single rose scent is no longer enough for those royal nobles."
"I have already instructed the workshop to make adjustments, and two new soaps with chrysanthemum and osmanthus scents will be available on the market soon."
As Qin Xuan spoke, he was secretly pleased with Hu Xu and Huai Yun's suggestion.
These two leaders are clearly more quick-witted and better at assessing situations.
Beining City is still nominally part of the territory of Daqi, but it is governed by Qin Xuan as the King of Chu, which is the so-called fiefdom of a vassal king.
Therefore, to a large extent, Beining City is not yet able to negotiate with other countries as a nation. If it were to rashly set up workshops there, it would likely attract endless covetousness.
"By the way, Mr. Qiu's disciple, Cui Yu, will arrive in Beining City in the next couple of days. Please remember to make arrangements for his reception."
Qin Xuan gave a reminder and was about to continue speaking when someone outside suddenly reported that Kaohsiung had arrived.
Qin Xuan immediately had Gao Xiong brought in and asked, "Old Gao, is there any progress on the cement project?"
Kaohsiung was covered in dust, looking as if he had been dug out of a garbage dump.
He said excitedly, "Your Highness, I have successfully developed the cement you requested. However, I would like to ask Your Highness to personally test its strength."
"If that's true, then let's go now."
Qin Xuan was overjoyed and led Zhuge Xuan into the workshop.
At this moment, a pile of grayish-black powder was deliberately placed in a huge wooden barrel in the workshop, next to two wooden modules that were one meter square.
"It's already been poured and formed?" Qin Xuan asked in surprise.
These square modules are concrete blocks that have already been poured, but the materials in each concrete block are different.
"Your Highness, this first piece was made according to your instructions, using newly made cement mixed with river sand."
"The second one has a certain proportion of crushed stone added, which you call homemade concrete."
"Both of these cement blocks have solidified. Please inspect their strength, Your Highness."
Gu Xiong looked on with anticipation.
Zhuge Xuan was completely dumbfounded. This grayish-black thing, which looked like a hard lump of mud, was the cement that his prince had been waiting for.