Under the strange looks of Fang Sansan and others, Han Zhen carefully carried the pot back to the backyard and placed it in the small warehouse.
Don't dare to put this thing away casually. Although it doesn't weigh much, it is worth thousands of gold.
There was white sugar in the Northern Song Dynasty, but it was very rare.
Part of it comes from tributes from Dashi and other countries, and part of it is made by sugar merchants.
When the sucrose is boiled and cooled, a very thin layer of frost will form, and the craftsman needs to use a special bamboo strip to carefully scrape it off.
It often takes hundreds or even thousands of kilograms of sucrose to be boiled to collect just one tael of white sugar.
This kind of white sugar almost never appears on the market. Even if wealthy businessmen want to spend a lot of money to buy it, there is no way.
It is truly priceless.
Since it was not available on the market, Han Zhen had no way to refer to the price. However, considering that things were rare and expensive, he thought that selling 20 pieces per tael would be very reasonable.
These two jars of granulated sugar, after excluding losses, can produce about 8 kilograms of white sugar, which is more than 2,560 strings.
The cost is only 15 yuan, and the profit is hundreds of times higher.
What is profiteering?
This is the real huge profit.
Of course, when sales volume increases, sugar prices will inevitably fall.
Therefore, Han Zhen plans to strictly control output, which will also have the effect of hunger marketing.
This type of top-notch luxury goods is not suitable as a pillar industry and can only be done as a sideshow.
Refined salt is different. Although the profit is not as high as that of white sugar, it is a long-term business and can drive a series of industries.
After leaving the small warehouse and locking the door, Han Zhen planned to start making refined salt.
When they returned to the second courtyard, they saw Fang Sansan and others holding bowls and sipping sips, their eyes full of enjoyment.
Han Zhen asked curiously: "What are you drinking?"
"syrup."
Fang Sansan pouted and replied.
She was still aggrieved as to why Han Zhen would rather pour the sugar into the mud jar than give it to herself.
It turned out that when the sugar was cooked just now, there was still a little stickiness in the pot. Chef Shen couldn't bear to waste it, so she added water and rinsed it.
The shabu-shabu syrup didn't have much sweetness at all, but to Fang Sansan and the others, it was like nectar.
Han Zhen ordered: "Go to the village to find some children and tell them that I want to collect shells. A pound of shells costs five cents."
shell?
Fang Sansan felt that Alang was acting strangely today. One moment he was pouring sugar into the mud jar, and the next he was collecting shells.
Shells are of little use. If you grab a handful by the river, they are not worth five cents a pound.
As if he was afraid that Han Zhen would be angry, Fang Sansan didn't dare to say anything and went out with the sugar water.
There were many children in the village, and the adults had all gone up the mountain to look for the fugitives, leaving them to play by themselves.
At this time, when the children in the village heard that it was five cents per pound to collect shells, they all went crazy and ran to the river with their baskets.
While the children in the village were catching shells, Han Zhen left the house with a hoe.
After finding a small soil slope, he wielded his hoe and quickly dug out a one-meter-square soil pit.
After digging a ventilation hole at the bottom of the pit, an extremely simple small earth kiln was completed.
At this moment, Ma Sangou and others on patrol spotted him, and couldn't help but stepped forward and asked, "What is Brother Han doing?"
"Fire the kiln."
Han Zhen responded casually, and then ordered: "By the way, help me find more firewood."
"good."
Masangou and the others nodded and turned around to find firewood.
Soon, the five people found a tall pile of firewood.
"Brother Han, we are on patrol."
"Just go."
Han Zhen waved his hands and buried himself in laying small stones on the bottom of the earthen kiln.
After a while, children came carrying shells.
Fang Sansan also came with her. After all this time, she still hadn't finished her bowl of shabu-shabu sugar water.
"Come to me and get the money."
Fang Sansan was holding the bowl, looking like a child king at the moment.
There was no scale here, and she didn't plan to weigh it by the pound. She just counted it by the basket, and gave five cents for a full basket.
Even so, Fang Sansan still felt that his Alang had suffered a loss.
The children didn't care. Shells were useless. They were everywhere by the river. They were very happy to exchange them for a few pennies.
After receiving the money, they gathered around laughing and watching the fun.
Purifying refined salt requires the use of quicklime, but Han Zhen only has a rough understanding of the steps and has not actually performed it in his previous life, so today is in the experimental stage.
Therefore, he simply dug an earthen kiln. After the experiment was completed and he was sure that mass production could be successful, it would not be too late to build an earthen kiln for firing limestone.
As for why shells are used, it is because they are quick to cook and can be cooked in more than half an hour.
If it were replaced with limestone, it would probably take at least seven or eight days to burn.
After placing the firewood neatly on one layer and the shells on the other, Han Zhen took out the fire breakers.
After lighting it, the earthen kiln burst into flames.
"Let's go!"
Han Zhen patted the dust on his hands and asked Fang Sansan to go back.
After taking a sip of sugar water, Fang Sansan finally asked the question in his mind: "Why is Alang doing this?"
"make money!"
Han Zhen said in a mysterious tone.
Can this make money?
Fang Sansan felt that his brain was a bit insufficient.
When she got closer to the house, she realized that Alang must be tricking her.
…
…
3pm.
Han Zhen and Fang Sansan came to the kiln again carrying pottery pots.
After such a long time, the earth kiln has completely cooled down.
Peeling away the thick ashes, Han Zhen picked out complete shells.
There were five or six baskets of shells, but in the end only less than one jar was selected. The rest were burned to dregs and mixed with plant ashes, making them useless.
Back at the house, Han Zhen filled the clay pot with water and asked Aunt Shen to pour coarse salt into the pot and add water to boil.
As water is added to the clay pot, it quickly reacts with quicklime and emits bursts of white smoke.
Stir quickly with a wooden stick, and a jar of lime milk is ready.
Seeing this surprising scene, Fang Sansan suddenly thought of something and lowered his voice: "Isn't Alang refining elixirs?"
If it weren't for the Taoist method, how could bubbles and white smoke appear when adding some water to the shell?
The same goes for the sugar in the morning.
Well, that must be the case.
The more Fang Sansan thought about it, the more it made sense.
Alchemy?
Han Zhen glanced at her in surprise and couldn't help but joked: "That's right."
At this time, Chef Shen's voice came from the kitchen: "Alang, the salt water is boiling."
"good!"
Han Zhen nodded and walked into the kitchen carrying three wooden buckets.
Since it was an experiment, he prepared three buckets of salt water and wanted to test the optimal ratio of lime milk and salt water.
Carrying three buckets of salt water back to the yard, Han Zhen picked up the clay pot and started adding lime milk to the salt water one by one.
While adding, stir with a wooden stick.
The ratios of brine to lime milk in the three wooden barrels are 1:1, 2:1 and 3:1 respectively.
The reason why coarse salt tastes bitter is because it contains impurities such as magnesium ions and calcium ions.
Milk of lime reacts with magnesium and precipitates it.
Soon, the milk of lime reacted with the salt water and sediment began to form.
After waiting for half an hour, he filtered out the sediment in the salt water and placed the three barrels in the yard to let them sit.
According to the steps, carbon dioxide should be introduced into the salt water at this time.
However, due to current limited conditions, Han Zhen can only use the original method, which is to leave the salt water quietly for several hours to allow the carbon dioxide in the air to react with it.
You can't just take a reed stick and keep blowing air into the salt water, right?
Lifting the three barrels of water under the eaves, Han Zhen ordered: "Fang Sansan, I have a job for you. Keep an eye on the three barrels carefully and don't let anyone touch them."
"Don't worry, Alang, I won't let anyone touch me."
Fang Sansan nodded seriously.
