After not taking a bath for many days, Zhu Youjian decided to take a bath before going to bed. He turned to the little eunuch standing outside the study and said, "Come here, bring the bathtub and soap. I want to wash myself."
Seeing that the emperor was about to take a bath, Wang Chengen hurriedly went up to offer the treasure and said: "Your Majesty, I recently got a few pieces of something called soap, which I use to wash my clothes and body. It is very clean. I have tried it several times and the effect is very good. Your Majesty, I Do you want to try it?"
"Oh? Let's try it!"
Wang Chengen took out a brand new piece of soap from his arms and handed it to Zhu Youjian.
"How does this work?"
"It's the same as soap ointment. Apply it to your body with water and rub it for a few times until it foams up. That's it."
Zhu Youjian looked at the brown rectangle in his hand and nodded.
It didn't take long for the little eunuch outside the door to move the bathtub and screen and set up a bathhouse in the Qianqing Palace. Zhu Youjian didn't like others to serve him when taking a bath, so he jumped into the bathtub by himself and started washing with the soap. body.
Wang Chengen stood behind the screen nervously, waiting for the emperor's trial evaluation. After a while, Wang Chengen heard the emperor's exclamation from behind the screen: "There are so many bubbles, this soap is better than soap!"
The emperor really liked this soap. Wang Chengen was delighted and quickly replied: "When I use it, I also wash out a lot of foam. It is indeed better than soap."
Not long after, Wang Chengen heard the emperor's exclamation again: "It's clean, it's all washed away!"
Hearing the emperor's voice, Wang Chengen knew that his treasure offering was successful, and he couldn't help but smile happily behind the screen.
After a while, much faster than the usual bathing time, Zhu Youjian had dried himself and walked out in his middle coat.
"Wang Chengen, your soap is good. Not only is it clean, but it also saves time in bathing. Where did you get it?"
Wang Chengen smiled flatteringly and said: "The eunuch who went out to buy it bought it from a spice shop. It is said that the benefits of this soap have spread in the city, and everyone is rushing to buy it. Tens of thousands of yuan a month is not enough for the people in the city. "
Zhu Youjian nodded and asked: "Where is this soap produced?"
Wang Chengen replied: "I don't know the place of origin, but I heard that the soap in the capital is shipped from Tianjin."
Zhu Youjian pondered: "This is a good thing."
Wang Chengen heard this and asked: "Your Majesty, this soap is not easy to buy. A batch of soap will be sold out quickly. How about asking Tianjin to donate a batch for royal use?"
Zhu Youjian stood in front of the screen, pondered for a moment, shook his head and said: "The people's power is a pity. Things used by the court should be purchased at market prices and must not be forced. Since it is difficult to buy on weekdays, I sent someone to contact the owner of the spice shop. Let’s purchase a batch specifically from him.”
Wang Chengen quickly replied: "I obey the order."
Within a few days, the purchasing eunuchs sent by Emperor Chongzhen found Cui Wending and wanted to make special purchases with him. Cui Wending did not dare to neglect and sold two thousand yuan to the royal family.
Soon, the news of the royal purchase of soap spread to all places. How about something that the emperor used? More people came to buy soap.
After handing over the goods from Cui Wending, the relatives who helped Li Zhi worked for a full month, and Li Zhi paid them twenty taels of monthly money.
For those bachelors, Li Zhi took care of the food and helped make new clothes. They had enough to eat and the whole family was not hungry, so they were not in urgent need of money. But for those relatives with families, the money in these two months was all they needed. Very useful!
Li Zhi's uncle Zheng Yuan was overjoyed to receive the monthly money. After "getting off work", he bought two kilograms of bacon at the market before going home.
It was getting late when he got home. As soon as he walked in, he saw his wife lighting a tung oil lamp and spinning yarn in the house. Zheng Yuan's family was poor and he got married late. His wife Qu was four years younger than Zheng Yuan, but she was already twenty-eight years old now.
Zheng Yuan's family is very poor. They even rent their house, and they are very frugal in food and clothing. The long-term poverty life has made Qu a little malnourished, and he looks older. He looks like he is in his thirties.
Zheng Yuan carried the bacon, walked quietly behind his wife, and patted her shoulder gently.
Ms. Qu was concentrating on spinning and didn't notice Zheng Yuan walking in. She was suddenly tapped on the shoulder and was startled. She shrank and turned around, only to see Zheng Yuan.
"You look like you're dead! What are you pretending to be? You're going to scare me to death!"
Zheng Yuan smiled, raised the bacon in his hand, and said, "What do you think this is?"
Under the dim light, Mrs. Qu took a closer look and saw clearly what was in Zheng Yuan's hand, and said happily: "It's meat! Where did you get the bacon?"
"I bought it!"
Mrs. Qu didn’t know how long it had been since she had eaten meat. She swallowed a mouthful of saliva, stopped talking nonsense to Zheng Yuan, took Zheng Yuan’s bacon and ran to the kitchen. Eager to eat meat, Ms. Qu nodded her head and started the fire.
I turned on the stove, cut a piece of bacon, put the bacon into the pot and steamed it.
Zheng Yuan knew that his life was hard, so he rubbed his hands and stood aside, watching Qu cook the meat.
After a quarter of an hour, the bacon was steamed. Mr. Qu didn't care that the meat was hot, he tore off a piece and stuffed it into his mouth. The aroma of the meat spread from his tongue. Mr. Qu chewed vigorously and closed his mouth with satisfaction.
Eye.
Zheng Yuan's family is so poor. After paying the rent, the money they earn every month is only enough to buy some dough and live with bran noodles. Where can they get meat? Even during the Chinese New Year this year, Zheng Yuan didn't dare to cut a pound of meat. Qu's family
Lack of protein for a long time made me very weak. When I saw bacon, I ate it in a hurry.
The Zheng family is living such a hard life, what can be done? Qu hates it, and can only hate herself for marrying a useless husband. They have been poor for ten years, and they don't even dare to have children for fear of starving to death if they can't afford them.
!
Zheng Yuan said last time that he would be paid two or two months to help his nephew's house, but Qu didn't believe it either.
After being poor for so many years, can Zheng Yuan become successful all of a sudden? Li Zhi is also a poor relative. It is said that he still owes money and cannot afford to pay it back. How can he suddenly become the master and give Zheng Yuan so much monthly money?
Most likely, the child thought of something and pulled his uncle crazy together.
These two or two months of talk are probably just to coax me!
Now that there was bacon, Mrs. Qu secretly thought that she would eat a few bites first! She was very weak. After eating a few pieces of meat, she felt full of enjoyment and felt comfortable all over. She was not in a hurry to ask Zheng Yuan
Where did the money come from?
I don’t know how long it had been since I had eaten meat. As I ate, my heart became sour, and two tears fell from Mrs. Qu’s face.
Seeing his daughter-in-law crying, Zheng Yuan quickly stepped forward to help her wipe away her tears and said hurriedly: "If my daughter-in-law doesn't cry, if she doesn't cry, will she never have such a hard life again?"
Mrs. Qu wiped away her tears, chewed the piece of meat carefully and refused to swallow it, and said vaguely: "Why can't you just live a hard life? Did you pick up some money on the road?"
Zheng Yuan took out two slings of copper coins from his arms and spread them in his hands: "Look, the monthly payment from my nephew!"
One tael of silver is worth one tael of copper coins, so Li Zhi gave Zheng Yuan two taels of copper coins.
The stove fire flickered, making the two copper coins shine brightly.
