Glycerin, whose scientific name is glycerol, is an extremely important chemical raw material with a wide range of uses covering most chemical fields.
Including food processing, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics manufacturing, industrial machinery lubrication, organic synthesis, etc.
It also has another important use, that is, it is used to make nitroglycerin... This thing is too powerful, and Wei Chen dare not touch it for the time being.
Glycerol has a wide range of applications, and the most practical and profitable way Wei Chen can think of is to use it as a food additive, or to be precise, a fruit wine additive.
Since the founding of the Zhou Dynasty, in order to make up for the shortage of national supplies, the old rules of the previous dynasty were followed, and various wineries were brought under official management, either directly for the government or contracted out for public bidding.
Not only wine, but salt and iron are also owned by the government, and even tea, alum, and spices must be handled by the government.
If someone wants to steal food from the government, the worst case may be to stab him, or the worst case may be to lose his head.
In the government-operated liquor system, the most strictly controlled aspect is the main raw material for brewing: distiller’s yeast.
Except for the official restaurants registered with the government, which can make their own wine, all other foot shops must go to the main restaurant or the government-run wine shop to purchase the liquor before selling it.
However, this created a loophole.
The brewing of grain wine does require distiller’s yeast, but fruit wine does not. Even if distiller’s yeast is not used, wine can still be brewed through natural fermentation.
In fact, the Zhou Dynasty did not prohibit the private use of fruit wine to make wine, and there were many private fruit wine workshops in various places.
However, the fruit wine brewed by this method has a very low alcohol content, is bitter and astringent, and is difficult to drink.
Bitterness has even become the label of Dazhou Fruit Wine nowadays.
Because of this, the price of fruit wine is extremely low, and only drinkers who are too poor to afford rice wine will buy it to satisfy their cravings.
However, Wei Chen knew that the reason why fruit wine is bitter is because there is a substance called tannin in the fruit, which cannot be decomposed after fermentation and remains in the wine.
This tannin is the culprit that causes the bitterness of fruit wine.
The easiest way to remove tannins is to use glycerin.
An important use of glycerin is as a sweetener. Only less than one percent of glycerol is added to decompose the gannin in the fruit wine, effectively remove the bitterness, and greatly improve the quality and taste of the fruit wine. Wei Chen believes that after adding glycerin, the bright-looking, sweet and sour fruit wine will become the most popular wine in Dazhou.
……
In the past two days, Wei Chen has been busy at home with glycerin, and occasionally he would read and write when he had free time. Zhang Ming and Wei Ruyi saw it in their eyes and were anxious in their hearts.
In their opinion, Wei Chen, as a scholar, studies hard, inherits his father's legacy, and does well in scientific examinations, which is the right thing to do. He spends all day in the kitchen cat-catting, making his whole body smell of lard, and there is no trace of it.
What does a scholar look like?
They wanted to give Wei Chen a few words of advice, but they didn't know how to say it. After all, Wei Chen was not their biological son, but a benefactor. In addition to loving and caring for Wei Chen, they also had more respect for Wei Chen in their hearts.
Two days passed like this, and the day came when Wei Chen was about to leave to return to Yixue. As they were seeing each other off, Wei Ruyi finally couldn't help it anymore when she looked at the glycerin in Wei Chen's hand, gritted her teeth and said:
"Brother Chen, since you have entered the free school, you should take your academic achievements as a priority. In the future, you will be named on the gold list and shine on the lintel. We, the husband and wife, can also be considered as having an account of Brother Mingzhao's spirit in heaven.
But now you... But now, you are focused on those weird and obscene skills. You have been at home for several days without even opening a book. How can this be possible!"
Zhang Ming also advised: "Yes, brother Chen, studying is the right way. Don't imitate me. If you don't know a single Chinese character, you will have to work hard for others until you die."
When Wei Chen saw Wei Ruyi and Zhang Ming's sincere words, he was stunned at first, and then he could only smile bitterly.
I try my best to make money, on the one hand, so that I can stop worrying about money in the future and focus on the imperial examinations, and on the other hand, it is so that the three people of the Zhang family can live more comfortably without having to worry about life.
Unexpectedly, all their hard work, in the eyes of Wei Ruyi and Zhang Ming, turned out to be a waste of time...
However, if he puts himself in their shoes, Wei Chen can understand Wei Ruyi and Zhang Ming.
For Wei Chen, taking the imperial examination or making inventions to make money are just ways to make life better, and there is no conflict between the two.
But Wei Ruyi and Zhang Ming were born and raised in the Zhou Dynasty, and the concept of "everything is low-grade, but only good study" is deeply ingrained in their bones. It is normal for them not to understand what Wei Chen did.
Wei Chen saw the earnest look in Wei Ruyi and Zhang Ming's eyes, and could only sigh helplessly in his heart, put on a smile and said:
"Aunt Wei, uncle, you don't know. This glycerin is a gift from me to Uncle Sheng. He helped me enter a free school. I feel like I can't repay such a great favor, so I can only make this little gadget.
Give it to him."
Sheng Wei was very kind to the Zhang family, and Zhang Ming was very grateful to him. When he heard that this was a gift to Sheng Wei, Zhang Ming suddenly realized: "It turns out that it is what Mr. Sheng wants, so it doesn't matter. Chen
Brother, why didn't you tell me earlier? Your Aunt Wei and I were worried for a long time!"
Wei Ruyi was not as easy to coax as Zhang Ming. She did not immediately believe Wei Chen's explanation. Instead, she doubted the belief and said: "Master Sheng's family has a great business. What do you want from me? What do you want me to do?"
Wei Chen shook the glycerin in the jar and said haha: "Sending goose feathers from a thousand miles away is more important than gift. Although this little glycerin is small, it took me two days to get it out. My thoughts are always there, I guess.
Mr. Sheng will definitely like it when he sees it."
Seeing that Wei Ruyi wanted to ask again, Wei Chen quickly interrupted: "Aunt Wei, uncle, I only asked my husband for three days' leave before I came out. If I don't report back to the school before sunset, my husband will punish me. It's not early.
Okay, I’ll take my leave first!”
After that, Wei Chen didn't wait for Wei Ruyi and Zhang Ming to react, picked up the jar of glycerin, said goodbye, and left without looking back.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
Wei Ruyi raised her head and glanced at the sun that had just risen in the east, and asked Zhang Ming with a puzzled look on her face: "It's only a dozen miles away, is it so urgent?"
Zhang Ming scratched his head and laughed a few times: "Brother Chen naturally has his own reasons for doing things, so let's not ask any more questions. I'm just asking you, if you can ask someone to handle the paperwork for exemption from corvee, can it be done?
Come down?"
Wei Ruyi was speechless after hearing this.
The first thing Wei Chen did after returning home was to show Zhang Ming and Wei Ruyi the document issued by the county government. After Wei Chen read out the contents of the document, both of them were pleasantly surprised.
The reason why Zhang Ming fled to Xiyin Village was because his father had offended the local Li Zheng. Li Zheng was so resentful that he sent Zhang Ming's father a job all the way to the capital to deliver money. When he went there, he escorted less than one tael of money.
, but it cost fifty taels when delivered.
In the end, the Zhang family's property was wiped out, and both Zhang Ming's parents were forced to death by creditors who pressed for debt, leaving Zhang Ming alone to flee home.
Now, although Zhang Ming has settled down in Xiyin Village and married Wei Ruyi, since Wei Mingzhao's death, they have no one to rely on in Xiyin Village. If they meet the vicious Li Zheng from before,
Maybe the tragedy of the previous generation will happen again.
If that happens one day, can Zhang Xu still have the good fortune of his father and meet a kind-hearted man like Wei Mingzhao to protect him?
Zhang Ming and Wei Ruyi dare not think about it.
For more than ten years, this kind of precarious panic has always haunted the couple, making it difficult for them to sleep or eat well.
Therefore, when Wei Chen told them that Zhang Ming could be exempted from miscellaneous corvee labor for three years, the couple cried with joy. They were happy for a whole night, and they even slept with the document in their arms.
At this time, hearing Zhang Ming mention this and recalling the scene a few days ago, Wei Ruyi couldn't help but smile a little more on her face.
She looked at Wei Chen who was getting further and further away in the fields in the distance. She was speechless for a long time, and suddenly let out a long sigh.
"You're right, Brother Chen is becoming an adult, and it's time for us to let go slowly."