Become a feudal king from today

"Your Highness, the flower petals are coming." In the middle courtyard of the palace, Zhao Xu and Luan'er were standing in front of a distiller. Feng'er came over with her waist twisted, followed by two servants, carrying a basket of flower petals. This was something he had asked Feng'er to collect a long time ago, and now it was finally time to use it. In the past few months, the bulk of the palace's income was wine, in addition to the military income brought by allicin and the income from ice making. However, as the summer passed, the ice-making business gradually stopped. The staff who went south to make ice were also incorporated into the business to cooperate with Dong An to sell wine. As for the armor trade with the Ma family, after deducting the cost, he actually didn't make much money, at most one-third of the total transaction amount, more than 100,000 taels. So, after the Ma family father and son left, he planned Mingming added new goods to the business.

After all, there is now an additional Shanggu County, and there are many places to use silver.

The most important thing is that he wants large sailing warships, build his own navy, and establish his own routes.

In this way, he will no longer be afraid of the land trade route being cut off in the future.

At the same time, he can sell goods to farther places.

Moreover, the transportation cost on the road has always been very high, and the most cost-effective way is still sea transportation, which has been the case since ancient times.

However, such warships are very expensive. According to records, the cost of a 1,500-ton sailing warship in the 17th century was 200,000 to 300,000 taels.

Ten ships would cost millions of taels, which is simply terrifying.

Therefore, he must use commercial goods to continue to harvest the wealth of the upper class of Dasong.

"Pour the petals in." Zhao Xu pointed to the distiller.

This time he is not making wine, but preparing to extract essence.

Looking at all the jasmine petals being poured in, he asked the craftsman to add water in a ratio of one to four, and then heat it.

This is the most basic distillation and extraction method of essence.

Feng'er and Luan'er were stunned. Luan'er asked: "Your Highness, can petals also make wine? "

"Stupid, it's definitely not wine, the petals taste good when steamed." Feng'er smiled, her eyes became a crescent, she was thinking about eating.

"You are all wrong, the king is extracting the essence." Zhao Xu said with a smile.

Then he suddenly smelled Luan'er, and then Feng'er.

The two thought Zhao Xu was playing with them, and they all laughed.

"What are you smelling, Your Highness?" Feng'er's eyes were about to drip tears.

"Smelling the incense you fumigated." Zhao Xu said, "It's gone. ”

Before fragrance appeared, women in ancient boudoirs relied on incense to make themselves fragrant.

But after the appearance of perfume, incense disappeared.

First, the smell of incense is very light and it is easy to dissipate.

Second, incense is cumbersome and not as convenient as perfume.

He now extracts essences to make perfume.

The main ingredients of perfume are alcohol, water, and essence.

Because essence is dissolved in alcohol, and alcohol has the characteristic of volatility.

Therefore, when sprayed on the body, the fragrance will evaporate for six or seven hours and maintain the fragrance for a long time.

"If your highness likes fragrance, I will go and fumigate again." Feng'er turned around and was about to go back, but was held by Zhao Xu.

"I like it, but this one is more preferred by the king." Zhao Xu pointed to the distiller.

Luan'er suddenly realized and said softly: "Is your highness making spices?"

"Almost, but it is more special than spices. You will know in a while. "Zhao Xu said.

The two of them were curious when they heard this, and waited with Zhao Xu.

The three of them chatted while waiting. After about half an hour, the steam in the distiller became less and less.

At this time, Zhao Xu asked the craftsman to take down the jar next to the distiller.

After opening the lid of the jar, Zhao Xu looked at the bottom of the jar, which contained a slightly yellow oily substance.

A strong fragrance drifted out, which made him happy.

"What a strong jasmine fragrance." Luan'er held her heart, she liked it so much.

Feng'er also sniffed gently, with a satisfied look on her face.

Zhao Xu felt comfortable. The essence was successfully made, and there would be no problem with the perfume.

He had a lot of perfume ratios in his mind, low-scented, medium-scented, and strong-scented, all of which were easy to get.

So, he immediately asked the craftsman to get a palm-sized porcelain bottle, filled it with liquor, and took ten drops of essence from the jar and put it in.

"Shake it. "Zhao Xu handed the bottle to Feng'er.

He and Luan'er sat on the stone chair and watched.

Feng'er pouted and said, "Your Highness is partial. He never lets Luan'er do these rough jobs, but uses slaves."

"Who makes you my capable assistant?" Zhao Xu chuckled.

Feng'er was very pleased to hear this. She raised her head proudly, holding the bottleneck with one hand and the bottom of the bottle with the other hand to shake it.

After shaking for a quarter of an hour, Feng'er gradually became a little tired, and her whole body was covered with sweat.

Luan'er has always been a loving and caring person, so she stood up and took the shaking.

"Your Highness, how long will this shake take?" Feng'er sat down next to Zhao Xu and wiped the fine beads of sweat on her forehead.

"It will only take another quarter of an hour. "Zhao Xu said.

The essence must be fully mixed with alcohol to achieve the best fragrance effect.

Another quarter of an hour passed, and Luan'er was also tired. Zhao Xu took the bottle at this time, dipped a little of the perfume in it with a goose feather, and threw it on the two people.

Immediately, the two people were fragrant.

"Oh, it smells so good." Feng'er exclaimed in surprise.

This fragrance is so fragrant, unlike incense that you have to smell it.

Luan'er also nodded gently. Now she has guessed the purpose of King Yan.

"It seems that the business will have another product that the world will fight for." Luan'er said.

"Luan'er is still smart." Zhao Xu said, and then he frowned, "It's just that this is different from wine. Drinking it in the street can make people know its magic, but it needs to be spread among the boudoir to sell well."

Upon hearing this, Feng'er chuckled and said, "Actually, it's quite simple. Your Highness only needs to go to this place with the most women in Yancheng."

Zhao Xu was startled for a moment and said, "Are you talking about Tianxiang Tower?"

Feng'er nodded, "The women there like to compete for beauty, and they care most about which clothes are beautiful and which incense is the best. If they like it, they can quickly move into the boudoir."

Zhao Xu understood that men who could enter and leave Tianxiang Tower were either rich or noble.

He had fun in Tianxiang Tower and had a lovely wife and concubine at home.

They all want to win the favor of men from the local government.

If the fragrance can become popular in Tianxiang Tower, it will inevitably spread to the people. After all, they at home don't want to admit defeat.

"Wonderful, wonderful." Zhao Xu said. He remembered that Xu E said that Tianxiang Tower is everywhere in Dasong.

If Tianxiang Tower can be used, the name of the perfume will spread faster.

After all, this thing is a brand new thing, unlike wine which is a traditional product.

Thinking of this, he stood up and left the palace towards Tianxiang Tower.

On the way, he also thought of a way, that is, in the palace.

Chen Hu said that his mother, Mi Guiren, was now Concubine Mi and her status in the palace was different from before. Maybe she could help.

"It's rare for Your Highness to think of the slave family." In Xu E's boudoir in Tianxiang Tower.

Xu E lazily leaned on the chair, staring straight at Zhao Xu with a pair of pretty eyes. There was joy, resentment, and a little anger in her eyes.