Chapter 33 Ancient Thorn Water
“I want to try my hand at the spice business!”
Liu Zheng didn't waste any words and directly expressed his thoughts.
"spices?"
Zheng Yueru didn't know whether to laugh or cry when she heard this: "But Brother Liu, where do I get the spices from in Yinzhou?"
She thought this was a bit funny.
Yes, who doesn't know that spices make money? Who doesn't know that spices have high profits? People say that one ounce of spices is worth one ounce of gold, and this is no joke. In this era, the main spices still rely on overseas imports. Since ancient times, China has of course had its own incense and spices, but that was a privilege only available to the royal family and nobles.
The earliest spices in ancient China were locally produced, including more than ten kinds of fragrant herbs such as Gracilaria, Pizhi, Shenjiao, Jungui, Magnolia, Jieche, Duheng, and Xinyi. However, after burning, the fragrance of these spices dissipated quickly and was difficult to last.
Later, agarwood and sandalwood produced in Southeast Asia overcame this deficiency, and the import of spices along the Silk Road also made the spice market of Chinese civilization more prosperous than ever before.
The most popular spices on the market are frankincense, ambergris, agarwood, sandalwood, agarwood, etc. Among them, ambergris is the most precious, reaching the level of one ounce of spices being worth one ounce of gold.
As for the prostitutes in Fengming Tower, the spices they use are also the cheapest...
It is not easy to find spices made from pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, etc. that can be used in Yinzhou.
And it just so happens that the spice business is indeed what the Zheng family is good at. And the spice business even accounts for a quarter of the Zheng family's business share! It is precisely because the level of civilization of the Longyan Dynasty is actually similar to that of the Song Dynasty. During the Song Dynasty, people's admiration for spices reached a peak.
Zheng Yueru is also obsessed with spices.
"Brother Liu, I know that spices are very profitable, but..."
She smiled bitterly and shook her head.
In Yinzhou, there are very few crops and the land is barren. How can it produce such things that can only be produced in the south?
“It’s not about planting, it’s about doing!”
Liu Zheng chuckled.
"Do?"
Zheng Yueru was stunned and asked suspiciously, "You mean, buy the raw materials and then mix them together?"
This won’t work!
The combinations of spices in the world already have mature formulas. Could it be that Mr. Liu is a guy who likes to do little experiments?
Liu Zheng shook his head, knowing that perfume was something that was difficult for people of this era to understand. He continued with a smile, "Miss Zheng, if I can develop a perfume that lasts a long time, even for a whole day, and has a different scent at different times, what do you think about this cooperation, we should not adopt the previous cooperation method, but a profit-sharing system, and I want 70% of the profits, how about that?"
"What?"
Zheng Yueru stood up in shock.
A fragrance that lasts for a day? Isn't that just wishful thinking? In ancient times, it was quite difficult for incense to stay on the body for an hour or two. You've been here for a whole day?
"That's impossible!"
Zheng Yueru said decisively.
Liu Zheng smiled: "Can you wait until I develop it? Now I'm talking about the profit sharing system. What I want is a promise of profit sharing, 70%!"
He stared at Zheng Yueru and said, "Listen carefully, I want 70% of the total profit! 30% for your Zheng family, including all your costs!"
Liu Zheng explained.
He was so poor! He had to find every possible way to generate income, so the previous supply method could no longer meet his needs...
He wants a share!
"Share?"
Zheng Yueru had never heard of this method before, and Liu Zheng took a long time to explain it before she understood what was going on.
At this time, her face turned black.
This method may not be impossible...
but……
Seventy percent?
Zheng Yueru cursed Liu Zheng's shamelessness and greed in her heart, but she was still immersed in the shock brought to her by what Liu Zheng had just described.
Gritting her teeth, she made a prompt decision: "If there really is such a spice, 70% is 70%!"
"Okay! It's a deal!"
Liu Zheng was overjoyed.
70% of the profit, this is a very scary dividend. After all, in this era, the biggest cost is still logistics and transportation, which the Zheng family needs to be responsible for in the later stage.
Liu Zheng is making money even when he is lying down!
"Ms. Zheng, words are not enough, we have to sign a contract! "
Liu Zheng suggested.
Zheng Yueru was stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly and said, "Brother Liu, you haven't developed the spices yet..."
is it necessary?
Liu Zheng insisted: "The contract must be signed!"
Zheng Yueru is also a shrewd businessman. She laughed and said, "But Brother Liu, once the contract is signed, what if you can't produce the spices? Would that count as a breach of contract?"
Liu Zheng laughed loudly: "Seven days, I only need seven days! If you can't take out the spices, Fengming Tower will give you all! But if I take it out, 70% of the profit cannot be less!"
"good!"
Seeing that Liu Zheng was so persistent, Zheng Yueru also asked someone to bring paper and pen.
"This spice is high-end Guci water, comparable to ambergris?"
"Ancient thorn water?"
Zheng Yueru didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
In fact, there was perfume in Chinese history. It was called rose water, also known as ancient thorn water. It was a perfume distilled from rose flowers and was introduced into China from overseas during the Five Dynasties period. This ancient thorn water can be eaten or applied to the body. Later, people used this technology to create various scents of ancient thorn water. This is the ancient Chinese perfume.
but……
Because there was no alcohol in ancient times, this kind of Guci water also did not last long enough, and most of the time it was not as good as incense. Therefore, only true royal aristocrats would choose this kind of Guci water.
Seeing Liu Zheng's unselfish description of her in the contract, Zheng Yueru was overjoyed. Wasn't this a gift of Fengming Tower to her?
After signing the contract, Liu Zheng happily put away one copy and reminded her, "Miss Zheng, you can prepare it in advance!"
"Of course it's publicity and sales!"
Liu Zheng smiled mysteriously: "My ancient thorn water must be supplied to the royal family first, and then to the nobles! You can let the Zheng family caravan spread the word along the way that a top-grade spice is about to be born, to attract enough attention and create enough hype. Miss Zheng, do you understand?"
The concept of advertising did not exist at that time, so Liu Zheng could only explain it in simple terms.
Zheng Yueru then realized that Liu Zheng wanted to use the connections of the Zheng family backed by the queen and the advantages of the Zheng family's caravans spread all over the country. She immediately shook her head and smiled: "Brother Liu, don't worry about the sales. As long as you can produce it..."
She didn't say anything offensive, just for the royal family?
Just kidding!
The real spices like ambergris are pretty good. Every year, the Longyang Dynasty receives tributes, which include many high-end spices from overseas. She felt that Liu Zheng was a little too confident.
"Well, I have said this much, Miss Zheng, please make your own decision."
Liu Zheng didn't waste any more words and turned and left.
Zheng Yueru looked at him with a wry smile, not taking Liu Zheng's words seriously. In fact, if she really took it seriously, she would definitely not agree to Liu Zheng's 70% profit!
Therefore, she did not know at this moment that in a few days, she would regret it so much that her intestines would turn green.
He rode his horse to his own Divine Workshop. Now the Divine Workshop has changed completely. It is no longer the small iron smelting workshop before. The Divine Workshop is backed by a mountain. At this time, Liu Zheng has ordered people to develop the Divine Workshop towards the mountain, that is, to dig caves, build tunnels, and open workshops.
This mountain was originally called Jitou Mountain. Liu Zheng almost burst into tears when he heard it, and ordered people to change its name to Fengming Mountain.
Fengming Mountain is continuous and although not as long as Taihang Mountain and Shu Mountain, it is already a rare deep mountain in Liangzhou.
Liu Zheng’s idea is very simple, the entire Fengming Mountain will become his own production center!
Therefore, most of the hundreds of thousands of taels of silver seized from the Chen family this time were invested in the construction of Fengming Mountain.
"Young Master!"
As soon as Liu Zheng arrived, Wei Tiezhu ran out. Now he is a counselor of the Ministry of Industry, wearing an official uniform and with several counselors mainly responsible for this divine workshop and coordinating the industrial development of the entire Yinzhou.
"Are you ready for what I want?"
Liu Zheng dismounted and asked.
Wei Tiezhu said: "Sir, as you ordered, a large amount of bitter water roses have been transported!"
Liu Zheng smiled with satisfaction.
Although Liangzhou is poor and rough with few crops, it has a special product due to its unique climate and environment that cannot be ignored! That is the Kushui rose. This rose produced in Kushui Town is very famous in later generations. Its characteristics are that it has many flowers and a lot of juice, and its fragrance is pure. In later generations, because of this rose, Kushui Town was called "the first rose town in China", and that was no joke.
Bitter water rose is mainly used to make food and extract essential rose oil. The essential oil extracted from this rose is even more valuable than the same amount of gold!
As Liu Zheng recalls, the bitter water rose in his previous life originated from a scholar who was taking an imperial examination in the Qing Dynasty. He brought back a few roses on his way back and planted them in the yard. Unexpectedly, due to the unique climate and environment in Liangzhou, the roses grew vigorously, had many flowers and rich juice, and had a strong fragrance. They were deeply loved by people, and so large-scale planting began.
Unexpectedly, in this world, the Ku Shui rose has already been in Liangzhou, and people planted it for ornamental purposes. This surprised him very much. At this time, it was the season when roses were in full bloom, so he immediately sent Wei Tiezhu to lead people to purchase this kind of rose. Unexpectedly, this purchase brought back more than a dozen truckloads!
"so much?"
Liu Zheng was stunned.
Wei Tiezhu chuckled and said, "Sir, the rose season is almost over, and they can't wait to sell them! But Tiezhu doesn't understand, why do you want so many roses?"
Liu Zheng smiled mysteriously: "You should know that you are the Young Master!"
Wei Tiezhu scratched his head, thought so too, and quickly followed Liu Zheng.
According to Liu Zheng's instructions, the workshop responsible for producing perfumes had already been prepared, and there was also a distiller specially supplied to the perfume workshop. At this time, Liu Zheng had already upgraded his equipment and no longer needed cow intestines as distillation tubes, as he had already replaced them with ceramic tubes.
With a distiller, high alcohol content is no longer a problem.
Then, perfume is not far away.
Liu Zheng suddenly felt ambitious.
Instruct the craftsmen to bring in cartloads of roses to make perfume. The best time is naturally to pick roses in their best flowering period. When is the best time?
Liu Zheng feels that roses that are about to wither are the best!
This season is the best time for roses!
"Sir, what are you going to do?"
"This is both flowers and wine. Could it be that the young master wants to make flower wine again?"
“Maybe!”
None of the craftsmen in the Divine Workshop could understand it.
Liu Zheng first ordered the roses to be dried in the shade, and then put into a distiller to distill rose essential oil, while the high-proof alcohol was prepared by the winery.
And at this time.
The news that the young master of the Liu family had traveled thousands of miles to bring several carts of roses once again became a hot topic in Yinzhou.
Many people are wondering, what is this young master of the Liu family tinkering with?
For a moment, everyone was itching to find out, but no one dared to go to the workshop to explore.
After all, next to the Divine Workshop is the newly built barracks of the County Marquis’ Mansion!
"He's really doing it?"
When Zheng Yueru returned home and heard the news, she was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
At this point, she still didn't take it seriously.
