The Empress’s Gigolo

“Sir Tong, is the rubber here?” Ren Baqian had just heard that over ten cattle carts filled with wooden barrels had arrived at the workshop. He rushed over and saw Tong Zhenye in a courtyard filled with cattle carts.

“Sir Ren has come at the right time.” Tong Zhenye smiled. “See if this is what you want? I will show you some good stuff later.”

Ren Baqian rubbed his palms and went forward to open the lid of a wooden barrel. Inside was a milky white resin that was different from the dried-up rubber samples they had received previously. This time, the latex collected was sealed in a wooden barrel and sent on a long trip to Lan City.

“This is it!” Ren Baqian smelled the latex and laughed. After so long, he had finally gotten what he was waiting for.

With this batch of rubber, a lot of projects could commence.

“Send one cartload of this rubber to the Black Bamboo Academy and the rest to the beast park.” After making the arrangements, Ren Baqian asked Tong Zhenye, “Is the soap ready?”

“I have produced one batch based on your instructions. Since you are here, let’s go and take a look,” Tong Zhenye said with a smile.

The price of soap wasn’t cheap in the Yun Nation, let alone in Dayao. Very few people could afford it.

Surprisingly, this thing was very easy to make, and once you knew the method, all it took was a few people to make usable soap.

Moreover, according to Ren Baqian, adding ground flower petals to the soap gave the soap different colors and fragrances. Compared to the soap from the Yun Nation, it looked much better.

Tong Zhenye felt self-satisfied.

Although this type of soap was produced according to Ren Baqian’s instructions, the Ministry of Works still got the credit.

It must be mentioned that Dayao had very few products. Therefore, every time a new product was launched, it made him feel excited.

Ren Baqian followed Tong Zhenye out of town to a newly built courtyard. The walls and buildings were all constructed with red bricks.

Someone saw them coming with their guards and immediately ushered them inside.

In a slightly bigger warehouse, Ren Baqian saw the soap that had just been made. According to Ren Baqian, they were perfumed soaps.

This type of soap was made by mixing ground-up jumping sheep pancreas with ashes and animal fats. This combination was stirred to make a thick paste. After adding floral powder, the mixture was pressed into blocks and cut into pieces after being left to dry in the shade.

Ren Baqian arrived at the warehouse and saw big blocks of soap put to the side. Under the shelves, there was a basin that channeled the dripping liquid into a barrel.

This liquid was glycerin, a byproduct of making soap that was even more important than the soap itself.

Glycerin could be made into nitroglycerin as well as diatomic manganese explosives, colloidal explosives, and even smokeless gunpowder.

However, Ren Baqian wasn’t prepared to use this highly unstable explosive on the battlefield. There was no secret in the world that could be kept forever. The aboriginals were individually strong, but their population was small and explosives and gunpowder were a big threat to them.

If explosives and gunpowder were developed, the advantages of the aboriginals would greatly decrease while the disadvantage of having a small population would become obvious.

As a result, Ren Baqian intended to keep this thing under his tight control.

If explosives and gunpowder weren’t an inevitable part of the development of science and technology, Ren Baqian wouldn’t want to make them.

Ren Baqian walked around the warehouse and took a few pieces of soap that were already cut. They consisted of three different fragrances, one of which was highly favored by the empress. Even though the finished products were rough, it was considered not bad for a start.

Ren Baqian procured a basin of water and washed his hands with soap to test the results. After confirming that there was no problem with it, he asked Tong Zhenye, “Sir Tong, how do you intend to sell this soap?”

“I don’t know…” Tong Zhenye shook his head, “Before the salt mines were opened, the imperial court didn’t sell anything at all. After making this product, the empress has to decide how to sell it.”

Ren Baqian nodded his head slightly and threw the few pieces of soap to the guards behind him.

“Sir Tong, I will handle the glycerin later,” Ren Baqian said. The production of soap would produce a huge amount of glycerine, some of which could be used as solvents. The remainder needed to be processed somewhere else.

He didn’t intend to hand over this type of material to other people.

“Does this material have other uses?” Tong Zheng had wanted to ask this question for a long time.

“There are some uses, but it’s better not to use it.” Ren Baqian waved his hands.

From there, they went to a few other warehouses, each of which was respectively used for drying the ground pancreas, grinding the flower petals, and heating the animal fat to make the soap. A big empty plot of land was reserved for burning grass and wood to produce ashes.

Although the area used wasn’t small, the number of workers was only about a few dozen.

“Decorative patterns can be printed on the soap by getting carpenters to carve molds and then imprinting these patterns when the soap is pressed into the molds. This makes it look more refined. Moreover, the factory can be expanded since there are too few workers and the production volume is too low. These are consumer goods, so even if the volume is increased by ten times, they will still sell. If they really can’t be sold, we can find a way to sell them in Great Xia.”

“Does Sir Ren have the commercial means to sell in Great Xia?” Tong Zhenye asked.

“We are establishing the contacts now.” Ren Baqian had already contacted Su Qing through Qing Lian. After that, he could open another route by sending a caravan composed of Jing Tribe people to Great Xia.

However, Great Xia would encounter internal turmoil during the first one or two years, so it was hard to say what the conditions would be like.

In such troubled times, nonessential goods like soap, glass, and silver mirrors would have limited demand.

However, once the Yun Nation was defeated, it would be a good dumping place for consumer goods.

After finishing his inspection of the soap factory, Ren Baqian returned to the palace with a few pieces of soap for the empress and said, “Your Majesty, these were made by the Ministry of Works.”

“Soap?” The empress picked up a piece to inspect. It had straight edges and right angles, leaving behind the marks made during the cutting.

“It’s not bad. I have tried it, it’s within my expectations, and it’s better than the soap from the Yun Nation.”

“That’s good!” The empress smiled. The days when all the commodities were brought in by foreign caravans were beginning to fade away.

Ren Baqian then discussed the manufacture and sale of the soap with the empress.

“What’s your opinion?” Regarding such issues, the empress’s first thought was always to consult Ren Baqian.

“Form a Department of Commerce that is responsible for the management of factories and channels of sales. At the end of each year, a certain proportion will be given to the court and another portion will be used for the expansion of the factories,” Ren Baqian said casually.

“Aside from you, I can’t think of anyone else who can manage this,” the empress said.

“I don’t have the time, but I have an idea. Your Majesty, select a department head first. Then, appoint the two former managers of the merchant caravans, Tang Feng and Gu Ziheng, as his deputies. Tang Feng and Gi Ziheng are veteran caravan merchants and are capable of being deputies because they have a good understanding of business. There’s only one soap factory at the moment, and this can be used as a training ground. When they are familiar with the setup, they can start setting up other factories.

In the past, the things needed by the various ministries were allocated internally. In the future, commercial products will be placed under the control of the Department of Commerce. The Ministry of Revenue will allocate the funds to the various other ministries while these ministries will buy from the Department of Commerce. After the Department of Commerce has deducted the cost of the goods, the money will be paid to the Ministry of Revenue proportionally. In this way, everything will be on track,” Ren Baqian said.

In fact, Ren Baqian wished that these factories would operate as state-owned enterprises and eventually become independent entities. However, Dayao lacked talented people and still needed a government department to manage trade and industry.

“Is this the business model on Earth? However, in doing so, the Department of Commerce will have too much power in the future,” said the empress as she rested her chin on her palm.

Although the Department of Commerce currently had little, the empress knew that it would become the most powerful ministry in Dayao if it developed like Ren Baqian anticipated.

By that time, it would become a separate ministry from Dayao’s other six ministries.

“Therefore, Your Majesty must choose the right candidate for this position. Capability and loyalty are both mandatory,” Ren Baqian said.

The empress looked at Ren Baqian and said, “You will take charge of this position for the time being. After you set up the organization and everything is on track, I will assign someone to take over.”