Chapter 146: Hidden Worries After Victory

Compared with modern candles in the Song Dynasty, there are still many shortcomings due to the problem of all materials, beeswax and insect wax, these things have a small output and belong to scarce materials - so a large number of animal fats and fats are used, but the desoaping technique has to wait for seven or eight hundred years before it is invented, so the candles made of oil, because they contain glycerin, the flame is smoky when burning, and the smell is unpleasant, but this is not something that ordinary people can use, and the meat can't be eaten, where does the fat come from!

Zhao Ta commanded several craftsmen to put the paraffin wax into a few cauldrons to heat and melt, fully stir and dehydrate to remove impurities, and then add the red dye and spices that weighed well, and then poured the wax juice into the mold where the candle wick was placed, and made sixteen in a row before stopping, and after the wax juice was completely cooled and condensed, the mold was dismantled, and what appeared in front of everyone was more than ten red candles, with a strong man's waist and a height of more than one person. The last to come to the scene were two carvers, who carved a hundred 'longevity' characters on each red candle according to the instructions of the prince, and carved the twelve zodiac signs on the candles respectively, and depicted them with gold dust before they were completed.

At that time, if there was a Guinness Book of Records, it was estimated that these candles would be selected that year, because at that time, the raw materials for making candles were softer, and they were softer when heated, and they were burned to the bottom of a puddle, and it was impossible to make such tall candles. The rest of the paraffin Zhao Ta was not wasted, made into an ordinary candle, but the wick was changed from one to three, which is more than underestimating this, which solves the trouble of frequently cutting the wick in the past few hundred years.

After the candle was made, Zhao Ta ordered someone to wrap the candle in yellow silk, put it into a custom-made box, and send someone to escort it to the capital to congratulate his father on his birthday. In the next few days, Zhao Ta personally presided over the test, and used all the means he could use, refining gasoline, diesel, kerosene, asphalt and lubricating oil from petroleum. He hasn't figured out what to do with gasoline, the possibility of building cars and tractors in this era is almost equal to zero, and it is easy to catch fire when it burns, but he has also preserved it properly, who knows when he will be able to use it; Diesel fuel and kerosene can be used to light lamps and clean gun parts; Of course, the quality of lubricating oil cannot be compared with modern ones, but it can replace animal fat, and it is durable; After the asphalt is melted, it is brushed on the linen cloth to make rainproof felt, which can be used as a rain cloth to build a simple house——

This business can be said to be a businessless business, and no one collects oil resource taxes these years, and the amount of money produced is earned in vain, of course, the premise is to do a good job of publicity. Zhao Ta and Sun Erqian agreed that candle sales would be divided into two steps, first opening the high-end market, selling it as a luxury product, and then taking the civilian route when the output increased, making small profits but selling them quickly, and exchanging quantity for profits. Kerosene was mainly used by the loyal soldiers, and Zhao Ta made a kerosene stove for himself, which is lightweight, and convenient, and can meet his needs at any time, of course, he can only use it for himself...

The prince said, Sun Erqian calculated, if these things are really used as the prince said, the profit brought by the candle alone is not a small amount, the yamen does not light candles, and there is also the prince, the candles lit in the palace every year are massive, winning this big order, turning losses into profits is not a dream, maybe it won't take two years at all.

"Erqian, has the government been in trouble now?" Zhao asked.

"Lord Wang, do you still need to ask about this?" Sun Erqian was stunned for a moment, and said with a wry smile, "In addition to paying taxes according to the rules, our warehouse also has to pay filial piety, and the little officials also come to rub the oil. ”

"Well, this is easy to say, tomorrow I will hang a sign for you, it will be called 'Hedong Material Supply Station of the Loyal and Brave Army', so that your dealings with us will be justified, and I will let Zhao Zhi send a team of sergeants to your post for a few days, and those guys will take it directly if they come to make trouble again!" Zhao Ta thought for a while and said, "I'll say hello to Zhao Zhi again, in the future, the loyal soldiers will eat, drink, use, and these materials will be contracted to the warehouse for procurement and transportation, do you think we have the strength now?" ”…,

"Lord Wang, no problem, with this brand, we can let go of our hands and feet, the eating and drinking of more than 20,000 people is trivial, there is no problem at all, and it is definitely lower than the price on the market!" Sun Erqian is happy, this is also a big deal, although it is sold to his own family, but as long as it is operated well, it is also profitable, the prince is really shrewd, and he knows how to not flow fertilizer and water into the fields of outsiders.

"Hehe, let's just say two points, the quality of things must be good, the price must be fair, and you must not harm your own family, otherwise you don't blame me for turning my face!" Zhao said with a smile.

"Don't worry, if I don't do this well and let my brothers suffer, the prince will cut off my head and kick it as a ball!" Sun Erqian said with an oath.

As for the remaining four candles, Zhao ordered the craftsmen to reduce the height and diameter, painted colorful patterns, and wrote the words "loyal to the country", "protecting the family and defending the country", "diligent government and loving the people", "honest and fair", etc., and then moved the four smaller candles back to the yamen of his own strategic production division, and made four two-foot-high candlesticks with white marble and placed them in the hall of the preparation division.

The officials who came and went in and out of the yamen every day did not know how many roads there were, and they were all amazed when they saw these four 'giant things', and they all inquired where the control envoy got it, and the small officials of the control department were all silent, and they were 'really' entangled, so they quietly revealed it to them. It is said that there is a shortage of four or five hundred yuan to buy one until the New Year, but those finger-thick small candles are open to supply, and they want to buy twenty wen each, but this kind of candle has high brightness, burns for a long time, has less wax tears, and does not need to cut the wick, and is deeply loved by those who need to stay up late at night and servants and maids, and they have asked to buy.

Now Sheng Yitang in addition to selling candles also has more services, for the back and forth of the cart axle free oil, at the beginning of everyone to see this black thing on the top, but also on the effect of the doubts, but after a few trips to find that this oil is good, plus a can walk four or five hundred miles without oil. Businessmen who have a lot of money to calculate their accounts and stay and eat here for the cheap price of car fuel, of course, sometimes they can't withstand the persuasion of the guys to buy some goods. But there are also people who come to the brand of 'Shengyitang', most of them are old businessmen who go south and north, and they know the weight of this brand, and there will never be a cheat or a cheat when doing business with them.

Of course, there are those who want to stick to the big bargain, seeing that Sheng Yitang's business is booming, they want to buy and sell to monopolize the candle business, and even empty gloves white wolf wants to occupy this feng shui treasure, but when they put it into practice, they found that there was a square sign on the side, and there were officers and soldiers wearing military uniforms in and out, and they immediately put out their minds.

With the income of candles, Zhao Ta believed that the income of the northwest could gradually support the various expenses of the pro-army, and his strategic focus was in the northwest, and the time for industrial transfer had come, so he sent letters to Fengxi and Meng Tao, Zheng Shou, and Zheng Lu respectively, instructing them to gradually move the guns and cannons, bullets, and gunpowder workshops involved in the military industry to the north, leaving only the production of civilian products in Xiangyi, and the workshops would turn their production direction to shipbuilding in addition to agricultural tools and expand overseas trade.

In the letter, Zhao Ta paid a 'secret recipe' for the production of perfumes, in which the specific preparation was continued to be developed by them, still in the guise of luxury, which will quickly accumulate funds, increase the income of the Zhuangzi, supplement the needs, maintain the operation of the various systems, so that the transfer of the workshop will not affect the income of the villagers, and stabilize the hearts of the people.

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Zhao Ta has been tossing in Hedong for nearly a year, and Tong Guan has not been idle, and there is an official document on his desk, which is a report on the battle of Niucheng in July. The Northwest Sixth Road passed through a little pacification to make Tong Guan's order to defend Kuozhou, so that He Guan sent out a surprise army to launch a night attack from the city of Fugong, and successfully pulled out the fortress set up by the Western Xia to cut the cattle city, and played the emperor with a great victory, Longyan Dayue, and gave this castle the name of Tong'an City, in order to show the meaning of commanding the border Jing'an Xia. …,

Zhao Ta found the location of the Cattle Cutting City on the map, and this is indeed a dangerous place. After last year's Battle of Gugu Dragon City, the Song army defeated the Western Xia military commander Cha Ge of Jin and took control of the Datong River. The Datong River is located between the old frontier of Hehuangjiao and the Zhuanglang River of Western Xia, and is the first line of defense between the Western Front of Western Xia and the Song Dynasty. And cut the cow city is a pass on the six ridges, this city is surrounded by high mountains on all sides, the middle road is only open to a line of pass, the danger guards the Ganqing main road, the Western Xia relies on this city to hold the Zhuanglang River, and then controls the north of Yongdeng. As soon as the Niucheng was lost, the Zhuo Luonan Military Division of the right wing of the Western Xia Western Front Defense Center was completely wandan, and the door to the Xingling area in the heart of Western Xia was opened.

"Alas, I don't have much time left!" After Zhao Ta finished studying the map, he threw down his pen and sighed, it was precisely because of the victory in this battle that Tong Guan was carried away, made a wrong judgment, and was determined to achieve the goal of conquering the right wing and finally taking Xingling, so as to achieve the strategic goal of first sweeping away the threat of Western Xia, stabilizing the backyard of the northwest, and then going north to conquer the Liao State and restore Yanyun.

Zhao Ta, as later known as the Dao Tong'an City War, was killed in the battle of 'natural god general' Liu Fa, 20,000 iron cavalry were lost, and then lost the end of Tong'an City, after which the two countries ceased their troops again. The Western Army of the Song Dynasty was ready to attack Liao on its back, but was dragged by the Fangla Uprising, and as a result, under the two major battles, the Western Army ran out of blood, and finally defeated Yanjing City, and then it was defeated again and again, and collapsed. The Song Dynasty has been conquering for decades, and the efforts of three generations of emperors have spent countless money and grain, and the land exchanged for the flesh and blood of hundreds of thousands of soldiers has been in vain.

"How can we break the confinement, change the historical dilemma, and prevent the tragedy from repeating itself?" Zhao Ta looked at the dancing lights on the table and fell into deep thought.

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