Traveling across the heavens starting from the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 26: You can’t open your business without ten thousand bells
"Master, do you want these maids to demonstrate it again?"

"So that Lang Jun can see their condition."

Gained the right to manage the 120 maids in the house.

Li Ruoqiu wanted to let Li Huaian take a look at the results of her teachings during this period and see how the female clerks in the shops and the maids in the house who she had trained according to Li Huaian's requirements were doing.

"Okay, let's take a walk."

Li Huaian nodded.

get consent.

Li Ruoqiu signaled Taohua, the maid next to her, to start instructing the two maids to move.

During the display of these 12 maids, no accidents occurred.

There has never been a situation where someone deliberately acted pretentious and pretentious in front of Li Huaian in order to win sympathy.

It can be seen that during this period of time, Li Ruoqiu's teachings have achieved great results. He has enough means to manage these female prostitutes bought from the Hualou Madam and manage this group of female prostitutes obediently.

Even among the female prostitutes that the old madam didn't want, they were experienced beings in the flower house, and none of them dared to act like monsters. They were all under the control of Li Ruoqiu and the maid Taohua, and they were learning the new service rules of the shop.

Inspection completed.

Li Ruoqiu consulted with Li Huaian on the side: "Are you satisfied with it, but are there any changes that need to be made? I can make changes according to your needs."

"temporarily unavailable."

Li Huaian thought for a moment and said: "We can uniformly dress up the maids who are going to the shops. Whether it is the dresses or accessories they wear, they must be unified, or some level-based decorations can be made on the accessories. The difference allows customers who come to the store to distinguish through the accessories which of the store's female waiters are ordinary female waiters and which ones are the leading female waiters."

In fact, the requirements for this accessory are just like the nameplates worn on the upper body in modern society, which can be used to distinguish one's own hierarchical status and the other's hierarchical status.

However, in the Tang Dynasty world, asking a group of maidservants to wear nameplates made him feel a bit too dramatic. After all, this was ancient times, and it was not good to be too out of place.

For better management, I thought of differentiating levels through accessories.

Anyway, these maids don't need to let people know their names, just let people know their status.

"Okay, sir, I'll go get ready soon."

Li Ruoqiu said she remembered it.

"Ah."

Li Huaian nodded. After seeing the results of Li Ruoqiu's training of 120 maids, there was nothing left to stay in this courtyard.

So I planned to leave this yard and find a quiet yard to tinker with the matter at hand.

Tintin is holding a bag of things he just bought from the Taoist priests practicing Taoism in Chang'an City.

Seeing that her husband was about to leave, Li Ruoqiu quickly ordered her maid Taohua to take care of the maids in the yard and ordered them to carry out activities according to the usual routine.

And she herself quickly caught up with Li Huaian who left, intending to serve her husband.

In a small independent courtyard.

It is also the courtyard where the study is located.

The location of this courtyard is the backyard of the first house Li Huaian bought in Chang'an City. Now, because it is used as a study area, it has been separated by him and has become the most tightly managed place in the house.

Without Li Huaian's permission, no one in the house could enter this small courtyard at will.

Only Li Ruoqiu and the maid Taohua, who followed him first, were allowed to enter and leave the small courtyard at will.

"What are you doing, Mr. Lang? Do you need help from the slave family?"

In front of a stone table, Li Ruoqiu curiously looked at the package opened by Li Huaian on the stone table. She saw several bottles and jars, and she didn't know what was inside. In addition to a few bottles and jars, there were also a few pictures of the most recent items. Second-rate hemp paper.

"Do you understand black powder, do you understand mononitrate, disulfide and charcoal?"

"These jars are filled with saltpeter and sulfur that I bought from the Taoist priests in Chang'an City today."

“You have charcoal at home, so there’s no need to buy it.”

Li Huaian opened the seal of one of the jars, looked at the contents, and explained to Li Ruoqiu next to him what was in these bottles and jars.

In Chang'an City, saltpeter and sulfur are really hard to buy.

Fortunately, sulfur is sold in grocery stores. It is a commonly used item for ordinary people. People buy it and can use it to drive away some snakes and insects in their lives. It is also sold in drug stores and can be used as medicine to cure diseases and save people.

Only saltpeter is difficult to find in Chang'an City.

A large amount of saltpeter can only be bought from those alchemy Taoist priests who are cultivating immortality and practicing Taoism, trying to gain immortality by taking elixirs, and want to ascend.

"Could it be that Lang Jun bought these things to make elixirs?"

Li Ruoqiu quickly stopped her and said, "Langjun can't listen to the deception of those Taoist priests. Those Taoist priests are very deceitful. Those Taoist priests often kill people when they make elixirs themselves. These damn Taoist priests are here to deceive Langjun."

"If Langjun wants to make an elixir for consumption, he can leave it to the Taoist priests to make the elixir. There is no need to make the elixir yourself. The family can just ask a Taoist priest to come back and make the elixir specifically for Langjun."

Thinking of the Taoist priests who were killed by the alchemy furnace for refining alchemy, Li Ruoqiu hurriedly snatched the jar from Li Huaian's hand and protected it behind her with a look of determination.

"If Lang Jun really wants to make the elixir himself, even if Lang Jun beats the Nu family to death, the Nu family will destroy all these things."

"What are you thinking?"

"Who wants to make elixirs?"

Li Huaian looked at Li Ruoqiu who had taken away the jar. He did not reach out to take the jar back, but patiently explained: "Your husband, I am not trying to make elixirs, but to make something for the opening of the shop. Fortunately, it is time to use it for the opening of the shop." , there won’t be any danger.”

"Besides, who wants to eat that stuff? It's mercury, it's poison, and there are all kinds of heavy metals in it. Unless you don't want to live, it's better not to eat that stuff."

"These Taoist priests are just going the wrong way. That's not alchemy, it's new material science. What you practice cannot just be eaten casually, and you won't be afraid of dying early."

Done.

Feeling uneasy, thinking of the ancients' obsession with elixirs, she warned Li Ruoqiu.

"If you're fine, don't even think about taking those elixirs trained by Taoist priests. If you get sick, just go to the doctor or the drug store to get medicine. Do you hear me?"

Warning over.

Li Huaian stretched out his hand and said, "Okay, give me the thing. After you make it later, you will know what it is."

"Well, the slave family heard it."

Li Ruoqiu saw that Li Huaian didn't seem to be coaxing her, and that he really wasn't trying to make elixirs, so she took out the jar behind her and said softly: "Since Lang Jun made it for the opening of the shop, the slave family will serve Lang Jun."

It seems that I am still a little worried.

"it is good."

Li Huaian took the jar and ordered: "Go to the kitchen first and get me some eggs and some charcoal. I want to use them."

Then, he gave another instruction.

"By the way, there are also three stone mortars in the kitchen."

"The slave's going here."

Li Ruoqiu nodded and quickly went to get the things.

Since the house was expanded, there have been many more maids, and there have been many more rules in the house.

On weekdays, as long as there were matters related to this small courtyard, she and her maid Taohua would do it personally, and never let the maids in the house interfere.

I saw Li Ruoqiu going to get something.

Li Huaian picked up a piece of hemp paper from several pieces of hemp paper on the stone table, cut it, and made some preparations.

have to say.When he was buying paper at a paper shop, he was really shocked by the price of the paper.

There is no paper that costs less than fifty cents a piece.

Especially the price of rice paper that can be used for writing and drawing. The lowest piece of second-grade rice paper has a starting price of [-] copper coins and goes up. No bargaining is accepted.

High-quality rice paper can even reach the price of a regular silver coin, but it is not always available and ordinary people cannot buy it.

Except for these rice papers.

There is also the most expensive kind of rice paper in the paper shop. A piece of rice paper costs ten guan. You need to pay and reserve before you can get the paper. Just like that, the time to get the paper is not yet certain, so you have to wait patiently.

Seeing the price of these papers, Li Huaian felt that he was not worthy, so he chose to buy a few sheets of the cheapest hemp paper.

Even the price of hemp paper.

The lowest grade hemp paper costs eighty cents per piece.

This is not selling paper, it is simply selling gold.

For a moment, Li Huaian felt that this paper shop was a real profit-making industry that came from the modern world. People like him who sold glass in the Tang Dynasty world were just childish.

Especially the attitude of the paper shop selling paper, with an expression of whether you want to buy or not, and leave quickly if you don't buy. It is extremely impatient. It seems that being able to sell paper to customers is a sign of respect for customers, and being willing to sell paper is the greatest goodwill shown to customers. .

There is a kind of appearance that foreign countries in the main world are technologically leading in a certain industry.

Grandma...

If he didn't have a clear understanding of himself in his heart, he almost wanted to get involved in the paper business of the Tang Dynasty.

During the Tang Dynasty, paper was a monopoly commodity sold in small quantities, and it was almost difficult to circulate among the people, because most paper-related transactions were monopolized in the hands of aristocratic families.

Especially during the Tang Dynasty, the Five Surnames and Qiwang had an absolute monopoly on paper.

These aristocratic families not only monopolized the trading of paper, but also monopolized the spread of knowledge.

Any items produced in the early Tang Dynasty that could be related to knowledge could vaguely see the names of the five surnames and Qiwang.

you could put it that way.

Before the reform of paper in the Song Dynasty, aristocratic families like the Five Surnames and Qiwang had always had a monopoly on learning, which had never been broken.

It’s also because I understand this.

Only when Li Huaian was buying paper, he instantly gave up the idea of ​​making and selling paper now.

With his current strength, he is simply unable to fight against the aristocratic families of the Tang Dynasty. If he rashly infringes upon the core interests of the aristocratic families headed by Wu Xing Qiwang, he will easily attract attacks from the aristocratic families and completely destroy the current good situation.

In that case, it won't be worthwhile.

This is also the reason why Li Huaian chose to sell glass products in the Tang Dynasty world.

after all.

No matter how you say it, in ancient times, glass, also known as glass, had direct or indirect connections with overseas countries. In ancient times, glass products from the Central Plains were basically brought to the Central Plains by Persian merchants and Hu merchants through the Silk Road.

As long as Li Huaian insists that all the glass products he sells come from overseas and are goods obtained from overseas Persian merchants, he can fool him a little bit.

It would not attract the attention of the top forces in the Tang Dynasty.

Wait for Li Ruoqiu to get the things.

Li Huaian also cut the hemp paper and began to make black gunpowder.

As for the recipe for black powder.

In fact, for a modern person, most people can tell the formula of black powder, and the jingle is even more casual.

The difficulty is how to ensure that the black powder will not explode naturally during manufacturing.

Therefore, Li Huaian was very careful during the production process for fear of causing sparks.

When turning saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal into powder, they poured the three items into three stone mortars and crushed them into powder.

I didn't dare to finish it in a stone mortar, for fear that the collision between stones would produce sparks during crushing.

Make three things into powder.

Li Huaian prepared the mixture according to the proportion and added egg white into the gunpowder, hoping to make the black gunpowder into granular form.

The entire production process was completely based on the black powder production process that he had seen online when he was bored.

"Lang Jun, is this black powder?"

"Yes, this is black powder."

Li Ruoqiu looked at the black thing in front of her with confusion on her face. She felt that it was no different from the elixirs trained by Taoist priests. It was really not an elixir for consumption.

"What do you want to do with this black powder?"

"I'm going to use these black powder to make a firecracker first and try to make a sound."

"Firecrackers, are you talking about the kind of bamboo used for burning on New Year's Eve?" In Li Ruoqiu's impression, firecrackers don't need black powder at all, just cut down some bamboo and burn them.

"That's right, but my firecrackers are different from the traditional firecrackers you know. The firecrackers I make are more powerful and the sound is louder. When the shop opens, I set off some red firecrackers, which can add various elements to the shop. The less festive look can attract people around you to immediately pay attention to the opening of the shop.”

Li Huaian explained to Li Ruoqiu the use of firecrackers made with black powder, and began to make the first black powder firecracker, which was also the first official black powder firecracker in the Tang Dynasty.

Li Ruoqiu on the side was very curious about what firecrackers made with black powder looked like.

Make a firecracker about the size of two fingers.

Li Huaian used some of the remaining gunpowder powder to make a very long fuse with twine and hemp paper, about one meter long, and used it as the fuse for firecrackers.

no way.

For safety reasons.

Since it is impossible to judge the burning speed of these gunpowders, we can only rely on extending the fuse to increase safety.

All right.

Li Huaian took the firecracker, the small firecracker with a long fuse, and took Li Ruoqiu to find an open place in the yard, ready to test the power of the firecracker and the sound.

"Is Mr. Lang going to start lighting firecrackers?"

Li Ruoqiu watched Li Huaian use a fire stick to light the fuses of the firecrackers placed in the open space, and came over like a curious baby, wanting to see how loud the firecrackers made with black powder made.

In her impression, the sound of those firecrackers used to burn on New Year's Eve was not very loud and there was no danger.

Li Ruoqiu didn't know the power of black powder.

Li Huaian knew the power of black gunpowder. Even if the firecracker in front of him was only the size of two fingers, he could not deny that it was made of black gunpowder.

What's inside is black gunpowder that's been made into granules with egg whites and enchanted.

How could Li Ruoqiu be allowed to observe closely?

After lighting the fuse, regardless of whether the fuse would go out, he quickly turned around and pulled Li Ruoqiu beside him to a relatively safe location, waiting for the firecracker to explode.

At the same time, he reached out and blocked Li Ruoqiu's ears.

"Plug your ears first. The sound may be very loud for a while. It's your first time to hear it at such a close distance. You may be easily frightened."

"Then I will also cover my ears."

Li Ruoqiu stood up on tiptoes and reached out to cover Li Huaian's ears. The two of them stood close together, looking at the firecracker that was burning the fuse.

(End of this chapter)