At dusk, Liu Yan called Chen Xun into the house.
Today, Liu Dayu and Wang Yue made trouble together, which reminded Liu Yan that he, the flag officer, did not have absolute authority in the pier, and Liu Yan had to establish his prestige as soon as possible.
So Liu Yan took out a tael of silver and gave it to Chen Xun, asking Chen Xun to go to Wangjiazhuang before dawn tomorrow and buy some pork. As a reward for everyone, he, the commander, would reward everyone. After all, the rations were about to be distributed. Have some fun. This can be regarded as Liu Yan's way to win people's hearts. Now that the local soap has not been made, Liu Yan can only use this method to temporarily tie up everyone in the pier.
Chen Xun naturally agreed happily. He had not eaten meat for many years, so it was the New Year.
Soon it was evening, and Liu Dayu and Wang Yue were drinking together. Liu Yan returned to the house, closed and locked the door, and started working alone in the house.
At the same time, the current situation of Dapan Dun is very bad. Except for Liu Yan and Liu Dayu, almost everyone is eating one meal without finishing. This situation must be changed as soon as possible. Liu Yan needs a Dapan Dun with sufficient manpower and certain financial resources. , this is the beginning and the foundation for Liu Yan's development of strength.
So that night Liu Yan packed up some things in the house and prepared to try making homemade soap. This was the top priority for him to start making a fortune. Before large-scale production, it must be verified.
Although the Internet in later generations is full of various methods of making homemade soap, and Liu Yan does know the production process, Liu Yan has never actually operated it before, so he cannot tolerate any negligence. He does not have the capital to try and make mistakes.
At this time, there were more than ten kilograms of plant ash and twenty kilograms of soybean oil in the house. These were all things Liu Yan had prepared in advance, especially the twenty kilograms of soybean oil. Liu Yan collected some of them from all over the pier, and then went to Wangjiazhuang bought some and finally scraped together enough, which cost almost half of Liu Yan's savings. There are also some iron pots and molds for making soap.
Soon after everything was ready, Liu Yan began to prepare alkali.
I saw Liu Yan taking the ground and sifted plant ash, pouring it into the iron pot, and then pouring in clean water. The water should cover the plant ash by about two or three centimeters.
In fact, metal pots should not be used to boil plant ash. It is best to use plastic or glass products. However, current conditions are limited, and Liu Yan can only use an iron pot instead. The plant ash alkali boiled in an iron pot may contain metal impurities, and the quality of the soap produced in this way will be a little worse, but it should be able to meet the current demand.
Then Liu Yan started to cook over a fire. The firepower should not be too strong. It must be cooked slowly over low heat to allow the plant ash to fully melt, so that alkaline water with sufficient concentration can be formed.
About half an hour later, after Liu Yan's constant stirring, a pot of moderately concentrated alkaline water was successfully cooked.
Liu Yan took the gauze and covered it on another iron pot. After fixing it, he poured the boiled alkaline water on the gauze and began to filter the alkaline water to filter out as many impurities as possible.
At this time, Liu Yan's room was filled with steam. The steam and firewood smoke were intertwined, making Liu Yan unable to open his eyes. Tears kept flowing from his eyes, which was very uncomfortable.
After Liu Yan poured the alkaline water, he put down the iron pot, wiped his face, and prepared to heat the soybean oil.
In fact, the best raw material for making homemade soap is lard, but now Liu Yan's financial resources do not allow the use of "luxury goods" such as lard, so he can only use relatively cheap soybean oil instead.
Liu Yan first weighed the prepared alkaline water, and this time he brewed a total of eight kilograms of alkaline water. So Liu Yan took three kilograms of alkaline water for later use according to the ratio of three to seven. He also weighed out seven kilograms of soybean oil and poured it into an iron pot to start boiling and heating.
As for the remaining five kilograms of alkaline water, Liu Yan poured it all into a clay pot and stored it.
At this time, as the soybean oil began to gradually emit hot smoke, Liu Yan began to pour the prepared three kilograms of alkaline water into the soybean oil, then quickly took out a wooden stick and began to stir continuously.
This is a laborious task. Liu Yan must ensure that the two liquids are fully mixed. Only in this way can the alkaline water and soybean oil undergo a full saponification reaction.
Liu Yan observed the situation in the iron pot and saw that the originally clear soybean oil had quickly turned milky white after adding alkaline water, so he kept stirring in one direction until the alkaline water and soybean oil were mixed. Only when the solution gradually becomes sticky.
This was a very long process. Liu Yan kept stirring like this for about two hours. When the sky was dark, the mixed liquid in the iron pot gradually became sticky and turned into a latex-like state.
At this time, Liu Yan was so tired that he was sweating profusely, his arms were sore and swollen, as if they were about to break, and he couldn't even straighten his waist. He put down the stick and sat down on the ground.
"What a tiring job!"
However, he was exhausted. Liu Yan looked at the large pot of original soap solution and felt very happy in his heart. For the original solution to be in such a state, it was already half of the success.
Liu Yan rested for a while, got up and went to the window. He saw that the Huolu Dun was still quiet, and even the Dunjun on the lookout was no longer on it. He probably went back to sleep at some point.
So Liu Yan seized the time and took the mold that had been prepared in advance. It was actually a small wooden frame made of small wooden boards nailed together, about the size of a palm.
But before pouring it into the mold, Liu Yan also rummaged through the cabinets and found a small bag of rosin. This was a rare item, and generally only rich families and scholarly families would buy it.
Liu Yan bought some soybean oil in Wangjiazhuang. After all, this homemade soap does not have any fragrance when it is made. It even tastes a little bit like raw beans because it uses raw soybean oil.
So Liu Yan planned to add a little rosin, so that the soap would have its own fragrance, which would make it look better and the price would naturally be higher.
Liu Yan put the rosin into the stone mash, carefully mashed it with a stone pestle, then evenly sprinkled it into the original soap solution, and then stirred evenly.
After all preparations were completed, Liu Yan slowly poured the soap solution into the mold. Liu Yan made a total of twenty molds. They were all made by staying up late at night. At this time, there was still a lot of soap solution in the iron pot. After all twenty molds were filled, there was still a lot left.
So Liu Yan found a flat plate and used it as a large mold, pouring all the remaining soap solution into it.
After everything was done, Liu Yan placed all the molds next to the stove, which was the warmest place in the house. These molds need to rest here for about seven or eight days, and then they can be demoulded.
After unmoulding, the soap in the large plate can be cut into the same size.
Of course, these soaps are not finalized after being demolded. They must continue to rest in a cool and ventilated place to allow these soaps to continue to mature. The specific time will take at least a month.
During this time, the color of the soap will continue to deepen, the water inside will continue to evaporate, and the volume of the soap will continue to decrease.
Liu Yan placed all the molds one by one, and then he breathed a sigh of relief. All he had to do next was wait.
Liu Yan had been busy all night and was already tired and sleepy, so he lay on the bed and fell asleep.
He didn't know how long he had slept for, but Liu Yan was suddenly woken up by a burst of noise outside, so he put on his cotton clothes, got up and pushed the door open.
I saw that Chen Xun had already rushed back, and a group of Dunjun soldiers and family members were cheering around Chen Xun. Even Liu Dayu, who had just returned from Wangjiazhuang last night, was standing not far away from Wang Yue, staring at Chen Xun is carrying a burden. At this time, the news that Liu Yan was going to treat everyone to eat meat had spread, and everyone was in high spirits.
Chen Xun was talking to everyone. When he saw Liu Yan coming out, he walked over with a smile and said, "Captain A, I'm back."
"Okay, how much meat did you buy?"
Everyone around was looking forward to it, but Chen Xun was a little angry and said: "The prices in Wangjiazhuang are too ridiculous now. A bucket of rice now costs two taels of silver, and even a duck egg costs thirty cents. The chicken costs one tael of silver!"
With that said, Chen Xun put the bundle on the ground. After opening it, there was only a small piece of pork. Everyone was a little disappointed when they saw it.
"The butcher shop in Wangjiazhuang is very sinister now. A pound of pork costs 300 coins. The one tael of silver given by Chief A can only buy more than three pounds!"
Liu Yan couldn't help frowning when he heard this. More than three kilograms of pork was not enough to share. There were more than 20 people in the big plate.
Next to them, Liu Dayu and Wang Yue were also a little disappointed, and then they started to sarcaste.
Liu Dayu said: "Oh, how do we divide these three kilograms of pork? I'm afraid one person can't even eat a bite of meat."
Wang Yue also echoed: "Yes, there is so much pork, I really don't know how to make enough to eat."
Chen Xun glared at the two of them, while Liu Yan thought for a moment, then looked at all the Dunjun soldiers and their family members, and said: "I still have some black faces in the house. I will ask the Chen family's brothers and sisters to bring them later and mix in some more." Wild vegetables, let’s make pork wontons today.”
Chen Xun smiled and clapped his hands and said, "What a great idea, Chief A. Just use these three kilograms of pork as wonton stuffing. It's enough for us to share."
Liu Dayu and Wang Yue looked at each other and stopped talking. They also wanted to eat meat and were worried that if they said anything more, they would not even be able to eat the pork wontons.
Chen Jiangshi was nearby. After listening to Liu Yan's instructions, he immediately said with a smile: "Okay, it all depends on the orders of the commander."
Then Chen Jiang called to the family members of the Dunjun army around him and said, "Don't be idle any more. Chief A is spending money to buy meat and making black noodles to make wontons. We also have to contribute."
So under Chen Jiang's arrangement, several women gathered wild vegetables, put away dishes, or brought coarse salt from their homes. The entire Dapan Dun was lively, as if celebrating the New Year.
Liu Yan saw Liu Dayu and Wang Yue still standing not far away muttering something, so he said: "Cooking wontons still requires a lot of water. You two should take people to fetch water. If you want to eat meat, you have to work hard."
Although Liu Dayu and Wang Yue were full of reluctance, they could bear it now in order to have a bite of meat, and immediately led two pier soldiers out of the large pier carrying poles and wooden barrels.
