Su Xun on the side couldn't help but sigh, shook his head and said: "Hey, it's all trapped by reality. In fact, there is only this arable land around Kunyang City, and the grain output of three hundred kilograms is the limit."
"It is reported that in previous years, the imperial court would provide food aid to Kunyang to alleviate the shortage of food. However, this year's food aid has not arrived for a long time. Many people's homes in the city are almost running out of food. Alas..."
Hearing this, Li Ke couldn't help but clenched his fists tightly.
Obviously he knows why the food aid has not arrived this year.
It must be yourself!
Those people in the imperial court, even if they want to kill themselves, don't they even care about the lives of the people in Kunyang city?
The more he thought about it, the more angry Li Ke became.
But he soon forced himself to calm down, because he knew very well that anger could not solve any problems, and what he had to do now was how to solve the predicament at hand.
Food is the most important thing for the people. If you can't have enough food, then no matter how many ideas and ambitions you have, they will only be castles in the air.
If there is a shortage of food, go buy it; if the food production is insufficient, then think of ways to improve soil fertility, produce fertilizer, or look for high-yielding crops.
In short, when you encounter a problem, you have to find a way to solve it.
"Mr. Su, how much money does Kunyang Mansion have now? I'll send someone to the nearby state capital to buy some emergency food in the near future."
After Li Ke finished speaking, Su Xun seemed a little hesitant. After a moment, he sighed: "Your Highness, to be honest, Kunyang's treasury... has been exhausted. In recent days, the cost of operating the state capital and opening canals has been exhausted." , all using the private money we brought with us when we came from the capital..."
Hearing this, Li Ke was really surprised again. This huge state capital didn't even have any treasury money?
"Then how much private money do we still have? All of it will be used to buy food." Li Ke said in an unusually firm tone.
However, Su Xun shook his head when he heard this: "Back to Your Highness, there is not much private money left that we brought with us. Even if it is used to purchase food, it will probably be a drop in the bucket!"
Hearing this, Li Ke's face turned a little ugly again.
Food cannot be created out of thin air, it can only be purchased, but money is also scarce now.
It seems that we have to find a way to make money, but how to make money and what to use to make money?
Li Ke turned his head and glanced at Su Xun who was wiping sweat because of the hot weather.
Suddenly, as if he thought of something, he came close to Su Xun and took a sniff. Then he asked Su Xun with excitement on his face: "Mr. Su, how many days have you not taken a shower?"
Su Xun was stunned for a moment when asked: "Huh?"
Li Ke: "I want to ask you how many days have you not taken a shower?"
Su Xun was a little confused, so he quickly sniffed himself, and was immediately choked by a strong smell of sour sweat that made him unbearable.
"Your Highness, please atone for your sins. I just took a bath yesterday, but the weather is really hot. The smell of sweat seems to have penetrated into people's bones and cannot be washed away no matter how hard I wash."
Li Ke smiled knowingly when he heard this, and continued: "It's okay, Mr. Su, I just want to ask you, if there is something now, it can not only easily wash away the odor of sweat on your body, but also keep your body dry and fresh. You Are you willing to spend money on it?”
Su Xun thought for a moment, then nodded: "That's natural."
But he turned around and gave a bitter smile, shook his head and said: "But how could such a thing exist? If there really is such a thing, how could His Highness and I not know about it?"
When Li Ke heard this, he just smiled knowingly and said to himself: "I hadn't traveled through time yet at that time, you know nothing."
Then he patted Su Xun on the shoulder and said, "In this case, you go and prepare something for me first, and Mr. Su will be able to see it soon!"
After saying that, Li Ke turned around and walked towards the carriage.
Looking at Li Ke's back, Su Xunren looked suspicious, obviously not believing what the other party said.
He had never heard of such a thing in his entire life. It could wash away the odor of sweat and keep the body dry and fragrant. How could such a thing exist?
The next day soon came.
Early in the morning, Su Xun took more than a dozen civilians and carried more than a dozen burdens to Li Ke's temporary residence.
Seeing Su Xun and the dozen or so burdens, Li Ke suddenly became excited. After checking all the items one by one, he began to instruct the dozen or so civilians to get busy.
Everything seemed to be in order, but Su Xun on the side became more and more confused.
What exactly is this doing? Is it refining lard, boiling quicklime, or boiling flower petals?
After a while, Su Xun, who couldn't help but be curious, finally stopped Li Ke who was busy instructing the peasants, and asked curiously: "Your Highness, you are boiling oil and boiling lime. What are you doing?" ah?"
Looking at Su Xun with a puzzled face, Li Ke couldn't help but smile and said, "Of course I'm going to do what I told you yesterday, something that can wash away the smell of sweat on the body and make the body dry and fresh."
Li Ke paused and continued: "I thought about it all night yesterday, so let's call this soap soap!"
After that, Li Ke turned around and got busy again.
"Soap?"
That's right, what Li Ke wants to do is soap!
He wants to make soap!
Just yesterday when he was thinking about how to make money, Li Ke first thought of making sugar, and then thought of making glass handicrafts.
But now the raw materials for making sugar are scarce, so it is obviously difficult to do so.
The craftsmanship required to make glass is too high, and it is obviously still somewhat difficult given our current capabilities and capital.
But soap is relatively simple. As long as you can get caustic soda and animal fat, you can make soap in minutes. The raw materials are easy to obtain and the process is simple.
More importantly, this thing is a consumable product. Li Ke believes that in this era, as long as someone has used it, they will definitely fall in love with it. After all, in this era, there is nothing comparable to soap. .
Li Ke believed that after those dignitaries had tried the wonders of soap, they would never spend dozens of pennies to buy such a precious piece of soap.
Soon, the first batch of peony-scented soaps experimentally produced by Li Ke were produced.
Looking at the soap with peony pink luster in his hand, the smile on Li Ke's mouth gradually grew.
He picked up a piece of soap and handed it to Su Xun beside him, and said with a smile: "Mr. Su, you must be tired from running around for the past two days. How about taking this soap back and taking a good bath?"
Looking at the pink thing that was only the size of a jade belt hook, Su Xun was obviously still a little suspicious.
But in the end he took the things, nodded slightly, and said to Li Ke: "Thank you, Your Highness, I will take my leave..."
With that said, Su Xun turned around and left.
Looking at Su Xun walking away, a young eunuch beside Li Ke couldn't help but look puzzled and asked Li Ke: "Your Highness, didn't you just say that you had something to discuss with Mr. Su? Why did you let him go?"
Li Ke just smiled slightly, looked at Su Xun's back and said firmly: "Don't worry, he will be back soon."
