The more Li Hui thought about it, the more excited he became. He stopped taking a shower and stood up after taking a shower. While getting dressed, he told Ah Zhu about it.
Azhu was stunned for a while when Li Hui said, "What kind of soap, facial cleanser, etc., a wealthy family must buy something like this." The young master was happy when he said it, but she was confused when she heard it. When Li Hui finished speaking, he was frothing at the mouth.
After a while, Azhu finally spoke leisurely.
"Sir, can we make these things you mentioned? Can we make them?"
Li Hui stared in astonishment and immediately shut up. Yes, he couldn't make soap himself. He said it was so exciting, but he had never made soap. Isn't this all in vain?
Li Hui racked his brains to recall in his memory bank, and finally, the word 'saponification reaction' vaguely appeared in his mind. Then the memory gate began to open, and he remembered that there had been such a classroom experiment in the junior high school chemistry class.
As a man with a background in science and engineering, Li Hui no longer applies the knowledge he learned in his mind, but once the things deep in his memory are unsealed, they will still have an impression.
Li Hui remembered that the so-called 'saponification reaction' experiment was conducted by heating oil and alkaline water. The specific process seemed to be a very simple one and not complicated.
Li Hui decided to give it a try. In any case, practice is the most effective means of testing.
Just do it, Li Hui immediately asked Ah Zhu to get a jar of sesame oil, and took some dishes, pottery pots and other things to go to the garden behind. In Ah Zhu's confused eyes, Li Hui started to toss.
He first lit a bundle of hay on the ground, and after it was fully burned, it burned into a pile of black ashes. Then he carefully carried the ashes into a jar and added water to dissolve it. This was the process of making alkali. Li Hui was not sure if there was caustic soda these days.
This thing is sold, so I used alkaline water made by dissolving plant ash in water instead.
The dark water was still dark after being filtered through linen, but the large impurities in it were filtered out. After that, the clay pot was placed on the small wood stove and started to be heated. When the water vapor evaporated, Li Hui
Start slowly pouring in the sesame oil and start stirring with a wooden stick.
Ah Zhu was really confused. What kind of soup was the young master making? There were bubbles in the dark clay pot, and plant ash water and sesame oil were rolling inside. The young master said he was making some kind of 'soap'.
It's obviously just grass ash soup. It would be terrible if the young master asks me to take a sip later. I don't want to drink this thing.
In Azhu's wild thoughts, Li Hui's soap-making business was in full swing. Li Hui knew that this method of making soap was highly likely to fail. It was not that there was anything wrong with the principle, but that the ratio of raw materials had already completely
I don’t remember. When I did the experiment, I measured the ratio of alkali and oil. Now this method is almost impossible to succeed.
However, Li Hui understood that if it failed, the amount of alkali must be insufficient. After all, it was just a solution of a bundle of plant ash. So when refueling, he only added a little bit to ensure that the amount of alkali was sufficient. Moreover, the saponification process is actually very slow.
Need to have enough patience.
A small fire was burning under the earthen pot, and the water in the earthen pot was rolling. The wooden stick in Li Hui's hand was stirring. I don't know how long it took, but Li Hui finally extinguished the fire, and sat down sweating profusely to breathe.
.
Ah Zhu looked at the dark soup in the earthen pot and asked, "Is it done?"
Li Hui shook his head and said, "I don't know. Let's take a look after it cools down."
The process of waiting for cooling was equally long. Finally, when the earthen jar was no longer hot to the touch, Li Hui carried it into the room like a treasure. First, he looked at the light carefully, and then asked Ah Zhu to get a spoon and put it along the
The surface and edges of the soup in the earthen pot were scraped around. A black and sticky stuff was scraped out.
"This is...the soap you are talking about? Who is selling this thing to? It looks disgusting." Azhu finally couldn't help complaining.
Li Hui ignored her and looked at her under the light with a spoon. After looking for a long time, he couldn't figure out what was going on. He was actually not sure what it was, maybe it was a layer of dirt floating on the water.
Unknown.
Everything needs to be tested with facts.
"Azhu, pour some oil on your hands." Li Hui ordered.
Azhu had no choice but to follow the instructions, picked up the oil can and poured a little into his hand.
"Then what?"
"Rub it." Li Hui said.
"Oh, my hands are so oily that it's hard to wash them off." Ah Zhu said softly.
"Hurry up, if it's easy to wash, what else are we busy with?" Li Hui urged.
Azhu had no choice but to rub her little hands, and her hands were immediately covered with sesame oil. Li Hui asked her to wash her hands in the copper basin, and Azhu washed her hands a few times. Not only was the oil not washed away, but it was all over her hands.
Oil pollution, suddenly pouted.
Li Hui put the spoonful of something in Ah Zhu's hand. Ah Zhu was startled, as if he was holding a piece of shit and didn't dare to move.
"Rub it, then wash it off." Li Hui was in a hurry, and his tone of voice changed.
Ah Zhu started to rub her hands, and then her white palms suddenly turned into pitch black. Although Ah Zhu is not a delicate girl, but her hands became like this, she almost cried. If this thing can't be washed off, then
But there is no way I can live. From now on, I will have to carry a pair of black hands with me every day, so how can I meet people?
"Wash it again and take a look." Li Hui said seriously.
Ah Zhu stretched out her hand to wash her hands in the basin. The water in the basin quickly turned pitch black, and Ah Zhu's black hands turned into white hands, and she laughed happily.
Li Hui reached out and grabbed Ah Zhu's hand, turning it over and over under the lamp. Ah Zhu said shyly, "What's there to see?"
Li Hui gasped and said in a deep voice: "It's done, it's done."
Ah Zhu was stunned and was about to ask when she suddenly realized that the oil on her hands had been removed and there was no trace of greasiness at all. She was surprised and happy.
"Sir, it's true. After the oil has been washed away, this thing can actually clean the oil stains. It's incredible."
Li Hui laughed, feeling really happy.
…
The next day, Li Hui was ill for ten days and started his soap-making business.
Although last night's experiment achieved results, it can be said that a spoonful of soap containing a lot of impurities was produced. But it is obvious that that kind of thing cannot be sold at all. If you want to make money from this, you must create real soap.
.And carry out a lot of optimization on this basis. For example, adding spices, adding Chinese medicinal materials, etc., in order to improve the comfort and high-end feeling of use, and earn higher IQ tax.
But the problem now is that making real soap still faces many problems.
The first problem is the raw materials. Oil is simple, and the saponification reaction does not matter. Vegetable oils and animal fats are all acceptable, so there is no need to worry. However, obtaining alkali is quite troublesome.
Li Hui spent a day wandering around the market in Jiankang City, looking for various pharmacies and grocery stores, but could not find caustic soda. This made Li Hui very troubled. If he could not get a large amount of caustic soda, his soap-making business might be in trouble. I'm going to have a miscarriage.
The method of dissolving and filtering by burning plant ash is naturally possible, but it is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and it is impossible to make large quantities of soap. Therefore, relevant substitutes must be found. If it is not possible, this method can only be used.
The next day, Li Hui changed his mind and began to visit many Taoist temples in the capital. Taoism was popular in the Jin Dynasty, and the Five Dou Rice Religion was a household name. The children of aristocratic families basically believed in the Five Dou Rice Religion. Anyone whose name is followed by "zhi" Most of them are believers of the Five Pecks of Rice Sect. Celebrities in the Jin Dynasty, such as Wang Xizhi, are all loyal believers of the Five Pecks of Rice Sect.
Because of this, the status of Taoism in the Jin Dynasty was very high. This may be because it conforms to the trend of the times. Talking about metaphysics is Taoism's specialty, and the nobles and celebrities of the Jin Dynasty perfectly fit this point. Another On the practical level, the popularity of Five Stone Powder is also a feedback from Taoist alchemists.
Taoist temples all over the capital are gathering places for alchemists. These people are equipped with five-stone powder to refine elixirs of immortality and elixirs for ascending to the Tao. Not only are they not laughed at, but they also receive a lot of funding from aristocratic families.
The reason why Li Hui chose to go to these places to find what he needed was because these alchemists who made alchemy and alchemy used various strange minerals to fuse and smelt them to obtain new products with various properties, thus giving birth to Various elixirs, medicinal stones, etc.
Li Hui wanted to try his luck to see if someone could get caustic soda or related substances, find a way to prepare it, or find some raw ore. In Li Hui's view, although this group of people was messing around, they were also a group of ancient folk. Chemists. Maybe they will come up with something new. There is no telling.
However, after visiting various Taoist temples and alchemy sites in the capital, Li Hui found nothing. He did not find what he was looking for at all. Moreover, these Taoist priests were very bad-tempered. After learning that Li Hui was not from a wealthy family, They were simply indifferent and extremely arrogant. They even thought that Li Hui was here to spy on their secret alchemy recipe and did not give Li Hui a good look at all. If Li Hui had not used his identity as a sixth-grade official to show his face, they would not have even considered it. I would like to receive Li Hui.
After running from early morning to dusk, visiting more than 20 Taoist temples and alchemist alchemy places in the capital, Li Hui was almost desperate. Finally, a Taoist priest from Huilongguan did not know whether it was to get rid of Li Hui, or he really wanted to help. After learning that Li Hui After hearing Hui's intention, the Taoist priest spoke up.
"The wild Taoist priests there may have what the young master is looking for, but we don't have it. You might as well go to the north of the city and look for the wild Taoist priests at the foot of Mount Fuzhou. You may be able to get what the young master needs."
When he said this, the corner of the Taoist priest's mouth was curled up and his eyes were sly. This gave Li Hui an unknown premonition. It felt like this guy was mocking and sarcastic, whether he was targeting himself or the wild Taoist priest...