Chapter 140: Knowing a Woman by Scent

"Your Highness, the flower petals are coming."

In the middle courtyard of the palace, Zhao Xu and Luan'er were standing in front of a distiller.

Feng'er twisted her waist and came over. Two servants followed her, carrying a basket of flower petals.

This was something he had asked Feng'er to collect a long time ago, and now it was finally time to use it.

In the past few months, the bulk of the palace's income was wine. In addition, there was military income from allicin and income from ice making.

However, as summer passed, the ice-making business gradually stopped.

The staff who went south to make ice were also incorporated into the business to cooperate with Dong An to sell wine.

As for the armor trade with the Ma family, after deducting the cost, he actually didn't make much money. At most, one-third of the total transaction amount, more than 100,000 taels.

So, after the Ma family father and son left, he planned to The name of the merchant was added to the business.

After all, there was an additional Shanggu County, and there were many places to spend silver.

The most important thing was that he wanted large sailing warships, built his own navy, and established his own routes.

In this way, he would no longer be afraid of the land trade route being cut off in the future.

At the same time, the goods could be sold to farther places.

Moreover, the transportation cost on the road has always been very high, and the most cost-effective way is still sea transportation, which has been the case since ancient times.

However, such warships are very expensive. According to records, the cost of a 1,500-ton sailing warship in the 17th century was 200,000 to 300,000 taels.

Ten ships would cost several million taels, which is simply terrifying.

Therefore, he must use commercial goods to continue to reap the wealth of the upper class of Dasong.

"Pour the petals in. "Zhao Xu pointed at the distiller.

This time he was not making wine, but preparing to extract essence.

Looking at the jasmine petals being poured in, he asked the craftsman to add water in a ratio of one to four, and then heated it.

This is the most basic distillation and extraction method for essence.

Feng'er and Luan'er were stunned. Luan'er asked: "Your Highness, can flower petals also make wine?"

"Stupid, it's definitely not wine. The flower petals taste good when steamed." Feng'er smiled, her eyes became a crescent, she was thinking about eating.

"You are all wrong, I am extracting essence." Zhao Xu smiled.

Then he suddenly smelled Luan'er, and then Feng'er.

The two thought Zhao Xu was playing with them, and they all laughed.

"What are you smelling, Your Highness?" Feng'er's eyes were about to drip with tears.

"Smelling the incense you smoked." Zhao Xu said, "It's gone. ”

Before fragrance appeared, women in ancient boudoirs relied on incense to make themselves fragrant.

But after the appearance of perfume, incense disappeared.

First, the smell of incense is very light and it is easy to dissipate.

Second, incense is cumbersome and not as convenient as perfume.

He now extracts essences to make perfume.

The main ingredients of perfume are alcohol, water, and essence.

Because essence is dissolved in alcohol, and alcohol has the characteristic of volatility.

Therefore, when sprayed on the body, the fragrance will evaporate for six or seven hours and maintain the fragrance for a long time.

"If your highness likes fragrance, I will go and fumigate again." Feng'er turned around and was about to go back, but was held by Zhao Xu.

"I like it, but this one is more preferred by the king." Zhao Xu pointed to the distiller.

Luan'er suddenly realized and said softly: "Is your highness making spices?"

"Almost, but it is more special than spices. You will know in a while. "Zhao Xu said.

The two of them were curious when they heard this, and waited with Zhao Xu.

The three of them chatted while waiting. After about half an hour, the steam in the distiller became less and less.

At this time, Zhao Xu asked the craftsman to take down the jar next to the distiller.

After opening the lid of the jar, Zhao Xu looked at the bottom of the jar, which contained a slightly yellow oily substance.

A strong fragrance drifted out, which made him happy.

"What a strong jasmine fragrance." Luan'er held her heart, she liked it so much.

Feng'er also sniffed gently, with a satisfied look on her face.

Zhao Xu felt comfortable. The essence was successfully made, and there would be no problem with the perfume.

He had a lot of perfume ratios in his mind, low-scented, medium-scented, and strong-scented, all of which were easy to get.

So, he immediately asked the craftsman to get a palm-sized porcelain bottle, filled it with liquor, and took ten drops of essence from the jar and put it in.

"Shake it. "Zhao Xu handed the bottle to Feng'er.

He and Luan'er sat on the stone chair and watched.

Feng'er pouted and said, "Your Highness is partial. He never lets Luan'er do these rough jobs, but uses slaves."

"Who makes you my capable assistant?" Zhao Xu chuckled.

Feng'er was very pleased to hear this. She raised her head proudly, holding the bottleneck with one hand and the bottom of the bottle with the other hand to shake it.

After shaking for a quarter of an hour, Feng'er gradually became a little tired, and her whole body was covered with sweat.

Luan'er has always been a loving and caring person, so she stood up and took the shaking.

"Your Highness, how long will this shake take?" Feng'er sat down next to Zhao Xu and wiped the fine beads of sweat on her forehead.

"It will only take another quarter of an hour. "Zhao Xu said.

The essence must be fully mixed with alcohol to achieve the best fragrance effect.

Another quarter of an hour passed, and Luan'er was also tired. Zhao Xu took the bottle at this time, dipped a little of the perfume in it with a goose feather, and threw it on the two people.

Immediately, the two people were fragrant.

"Oh, it smells so good." Feng'er exclaimed in surprise.

This fragrance is so fragrant, unlike incense that you have to smell it.

Luan'er also nodded gently. Now she has guessed the purpose of King Yan.

"It seems that the business will have another product that the world will fight for." Luan'er said.

"Luan'er is smart." Zhao Xu said, then he frowned, "But this is different from wine. Drinking it in the street will make people know its magic, but it must be spread in the boudoirs to be popular."

Feng'er chuckled when she heard it, "In fact, this is simple. Your Highness just needs to go to the place with the most women in Yancheng."

Zhao Xu was stunned for a moment and said, "Are you talking about Tianxiang Tower?"

Feng'er nodded, "The women there like to compete with each other, and they care most about which clothes are beautiful and which incense is the best. If they like it, they can quickly flow into the boudoirs."

Zhao Xu understood that the men who can go in and out of Tianxiang Tower are either rich or noble.

They have fun in Tianxiang Tower, and they have beautiful wives and concubines at home.

They all want to please the men from the locals.

If the fragrance can become popular in Tianxiang Tower, it will definitely spread to the people. After all, they don't want to admit defeat at home.

"Wonderful, very wonderful." Zhao Xu said, he remembered Xu E said that Tianxiang Tower is all over Dasong.

If we can use Tianxiang Tower, the name of perfume will be spread faster.

After all, this thing is a brand new thing, unlike wine which is a traditional commodity.

Thinking of this, he stood up and left the palace and went to Tianxiang Tower.

On the way, he thought of another way, that is, the palace.

Chen Hu said that his mother, Concubine Mi, has now become Concubine Mi, and her status in the palace is different from before, maybe she can help.

"It's rare that His Highness would think of me." In Xu E's boudoir in Tianxiang Tower.

Xu E lazily leaned on the chair, staring at Zhao Xu with a pair of pretty eyes, with joy, resentment, and a little anger in her eyes.