North and South groceries

As soon as the power of this stinky soap was revealed, Ma Silang and the others couldn't sit still, and even said that they would go to Luo's yard to see those stinky soaps in Luo Yong's house.

"Sanlang, what is this and what is the price?" Nama Silang asked.

"This thing is called stinky soap, and the price is five cents." Luo Yong replied.

"Stinky soap?" Several people present were surprised. The name is slightly derogatory. Although there was a stinky tofu before, that stinky tofu smelled stinky. Such a name.

"That's right, stinky soap." In Luo Yong's memory, this thing was called stinky soap, and he didn't bother to call it another name, so he just called it that.

"It's a pity that there are not many in stock." The price of five yuan a bar of soap is more acceptable to both the Ma family and the foreign merchants. This thing is very practical, whether it is used for bathing or doing laundry. It can also be used at home.

"Can Sanlang make some more in the near future?" the foreign merchant asked.

The Ma family is a local merchant in Lishi County, and they can afford to wait. No matter when Luo Yong makes soap in the future, they will be indispensable anyway.Foreign merchants like them can't afford to delay, they can't wait here for a batch of soap for several months, because the family has other livelihoods.

"To tell you the truth, I used to collect waste oil and miscellaneous oil to make this stinky soap, so the price can be as low as five cents a piece. If you are in a hurry, you can also collect some good oil to make it. Only the price may be higher." Luo Yong said.

"It doesn't matter if the price is slightly higher." The other party said immediately.This Luo Sanlang is a real person, he doesn't price things randomly, even if he uses good oil to make this soap, how can the price be so high?Can it be as high as ten or twenty?

"That's it, I'll start collecting oil in the past few days." Luo Yong agreed.

Originally, under the circumstances that this kind of material was scarce and many people could not afford lard at all, Luo Yong also rejected the use of good lard to make soap.

It's just that he is really short of money at this time, and there are still batches of Du seedlings that have not arrived. When these Du seedlings are planted this year, he still doesn't know how much foreign debt he will owe this year.

As soon as he decided to make soap, Luo Yong raised the price of pork in recent days on the wall outside his yard.

Then I greeted the young people in the village who often go out to sell tofu, and told them that if they go to Xiaohe Village, remember to tell the people there about this. The daily price is right, so let's kill it.

Since it is necessary to use good oil to make soap, Luo Yong does not intend to make stinky soap anymore. In addition to the traditional hot method of lard soap, there is also a cold method that emerged later.

The soap made by the cold process method, when it is first made, the saponification reaction is not complete, and the pH is not easy to control. For the sake of safety, it usually needs to be left for a long time after it is fully matured before it can be used.

Like the stinky soaps from Luo’s family, within a few days after they were made, Luo Yong dared to cut them off and try them out. Changing to cold-process soaps would definitely not work. One month is at least, and three months is conservative. Half a year is not too long.

Hot soap is saponified during the production process, and cold soap is placed there to saponify slowly after the production is completed. This is the essential difference between the two.

In Luo Yong's opinion, the biggest advantage of cold-process soap is that it looks good. Unlike stinky soap, which looks like a sugar cake, cold-process lard soap is a more beautiful cream color, and it is said that it is also unique in skin care. Effect.

The reason why Luo Yong decided to make cold-process soap now is mainly because of his beauty.

In order to make this cold-process soap, Luo Yong asked Heng Yu to help him make a mixing bucket, and then went to Xueji Cloth Shop to buy dyes of various colors.

The live pigs slaughtered on the same day are boiled with fat and suet to make lard, so that the lard is very fresh and has no peculiar smell.

Then wait for it to cool down to a certain level, then add caustic soda water that has been adjusted according to the proportion, put it in the mixing bucket, and several people take turns to stir it. Using this wooden bucket is relatively labor-saving.

In order to speed up the reaction, they often put the wooden barrel on the kang to heat it up.I heard that in the process of making handmade cold-processed soap, the temperature is generally not heated, mainly to not destroy the nutritional elements in the natural vegetable oil, but Luo’s family uses refined lard, and it seems that there is nothing to destroy.

When the lard in the bucket gradually becomes viscous, which is the legendary T, put some dye in it and stir evenly, and then you can mold it.

These molds were ordered by Luo Yong at Yin Shi Wheels. He heard that the Yin family had a young man who was good at carving. There are nine grooves, which can make nine bars of soap.

These molds are engraved with bluegrass, plum blossom, peony and other patterns, which are the patterns they have made in their daily life.Luo Yong also customized some patterns with text. In terms of text, he wrote some fashionable verses and classic verses from the Book of Songs, but they haven't arrived yet.

This big vat of lard produced more than 27 pieces of soap. After filling the molds, Luo Yong poured the remaining soap liquid into several rectangular wooden troughs.

After the mold is released, he can use a knife to cut the soap into small pieces for sale, and he can also carve some simple patterns on it.Or you can sell it as a whole, and give it to the person who bought the soap to take it back and carve it. Naturally, you can do whatever you want. At this time, literati are versatile, and many of them can carve by hand.

Before making this batch of soap, Luo Yong did a lot of calculation work and had previous experience in making stinky soap. Except that the mixing time was longer than expected, everything else went relatively smoothly.

In the next few days, Luo Yong made the second batch and the third batch one after another... The soap made earlier was successfully released from the mold, and new soap liquid was poured into the mold soon afterwards.A batch of previously customized molds arrived soon, and the soaps made later have more styles.

Soon, there were many pink, light green, light blue, and beige soaps on the shelves of Luo's grocery store.

It is said to be soap, but in fact it does not have any fragrance. The extraction of fragrance is too troublesome, and there are no ready-made perfumes and essential oils in the world. Come back, put these soaps in the jar for a while, I don't know if it will have some effect.

Recently, many people came to the Luo's grocery store to look at the freshness. Sure enough, the dyed soap is more attractive than the smelly soap. Some people said that when Gai Ming'er married his daughter, he had to follow Luo Sanlang. Buy some soap here for her dowry.

Those who can say this can be regarded as quite generous people. In these days, most people use plant ash for bathing.

It is said that in the upper class, something called bath beans is also used for bathing.

Luo Yong asked someone that the main raw material of this bath bean is bean flour, which has an average decontamination ability. People often add many skin care and beauty ingredients to the bath bean, as well as many spices. If you use it every day, it is also very fragrant. Clean.

People with poor economic conditions, if they pay attention to a little bit, there is acacia, which cannot be used directly for bathing, but the dried acacia must be soaked in water and boiled, usually at least one day and one night to get a relatively good Thick soup.

Like here in Xipo Village, bathing with plant ash is quite common. Luo spent more than a year basically washing like this. First, he took plant ash and swiped it on his body, making himself into a clay figurine, and then took clean water. It's over in a rush.

For a girl with flowers like Erniang, Luo Yong asked her to wash it with bean noodles. She was willing to boil some soap locust water when she had time, and use plant ash to save trouble when she didn't have time.

Sometimes there is rice washing water at home, and the second mother also uses rice washing water to wash her hair and face. This is already considered a luxury level. Corn is a fine grain, and most people don't eat it every day.

As for Luo Yong himself, he basically uses plant ash to wash his hair and bathe. He washes frequently, and even if Erniang wants to boil soapy water for him, she won't be able to make it in time.

Plant ash is also a good thing in this era. It can be used for bathing, washing clothes, and fertilizing the fields. Most people don't waste it carelessly.

I heard from some merchants in Lishi County that in some places in the south, there is a kind of soap tree growing. The soap horn growing on the tree is big and fat, which is better than their local soap horn in the east of the river. Only heard the name, never seen the real thing.

In such a big environment, the soap that Luo used was born out of nowhere. Needless to say, it is convenient to clean, but the appearance alone is several blocks away from the original cleaning products.

On this day, Luo Yong thought that the matter of the sachet could not be delayed any longer, so he handed over the work of collecting and processing the meat that day to Er Niang and the others, and drove the donkey cart into the city by himself.

The price of this sachet is not low, and the quantity he wants is a bit large, so it's not easy to entrust others to make it, so I'd better go and have a look and choose some suitable ones.

As the weather gets warmer day by day, Lishi County is also bustling day by day. When Luo Yong entered the city, there were cars coming in and out at the gate of the city, and it was already quite bustling.

After entering the city, I saw a few more stalls collecting bamboo chains on the side of the road. I heard people say that the price of bamboo chains has risen to more than [-] yuan in the past few days.

They don't have a special incense store in Lishi County. If they want to buy sachets, most of them go to the two firms of Ma's and Wang's. Among them, Ma's mainly deals in the market in Chang'an City. The stocking is more sufficient than that of Wang's. After all, the spice market in Chang'an City is still more developed than that in the Jiangnan area.

It is said to be sufficient, but in fact there are only a few of them. Most of them are prepared sachets. There are too few people here who can make fragrances. This stuff is a high-end consumer product. It is not bad that they can buy it in a small place in Lishi County. .

"Sanlang wants to mix incense?" Ma Silang heard that Luo Yong was here, so he came out to receive him in person.

"Where would I be?" Luo Yong said with a smile, "I just plan to buy some spices to make soap. I don't know what kind of scents girls like?"

"I heard that this kind of sachet is popular in Chang'an City recently." Ma Silang handed Luo Yong a sachet.

Luo Yong took it and smelled it, then shook his head and said, "This smell is too weak, is there something more intense and fragrant?"

"There is another kind, which is usually used by older women." Ma Silang said and handed him another one.

Luo Yong took it and smelled it, but he was still not satisfied. The fragrance of these sachets is relatively natural and delicate, which is good for wearing. If you want to use it for making soap, it is a bit too weak.

Encountering such a problem, Luo Yong suddenly missed the artificial flavors of the 21st century very much. They are so convenient and cheap. If I had known today, I should have packed dozens or hundreds of kilograms in the space. .

In this era, there are some natural spices with strong fragrance, but the price must be very expensive, many of them are imported from abroad, and they are basically produced in China, and they don't have any in Lishi County, so they have to buy them from Chang'an City.

Luo Yong just made some soaps. Naturally, it is impossible to waste this money. If it is not fragrant enough, it will not be fragrant enough. In the end, he considered the two factors of fragrance and price, selected a more satisfactory fragrance type, and bought it. I bought some sachets.

Returning to the street with a sachet in hand, looking at the loess streets and low houses in front of him, he felt desolate more than once in this era.

There is nothing here, no fragrance, no coloring, no chemical additives... Tsk, he still misses those things now, he really is living more and more back.