Northern Song Dynasty: It’s a showdown, who said I, Zhao Zhen, don’t have a son?

Chapter 93: It’s hard to find soap in Bianjing

The city of Bianjing is as prosperous as ever, and the people are still enjoying their leisure after the New Year.

After the heavy snow melted, the people of Kaifeng Prefecture were busy on the streets, and they often saw frozen corpses on carts pulled by government officials on the streets.

These corpses will be transported to Kaifeng Mansion and wait for three days for identification. If no one identifies them, they will be burned directly and the ashes will be buried.

Although the people would feel unlucky when seeing dead people, after all, there were a lot fewer dead people on the streets, which was also a relief for the people of Bianjing.

The upper class in Bianjing did not pay much attention to this kind of thing.

Instead, it was a strange object that attracted countless powerful women to flock to it.

It is only said that recently, an object called soap has appeared in Bianjing City. It is small and delicate, pink and exudes a strong fragrance.

After bathing with this product, the fragrance will remain on your body for a long time.

This item was once sought after by countless women in Bianjing City, but no one knew how it got into this class. All they knew was that it could not be found in any store selling women's items.

Some businesses immediately smelled the huge profits and launched their own 'soap'. However, this behavior was quickly resisted by those powerful women.

The reason was that the wife of a high-ranking official heard that this soap was sold in Bianjing, so she bought several pieces and invited her friends to share it. However, one of them had actually seen the soap and directly exposed it. This incident caused that woman to lose a lot of face.

Afterwards, the shop that was doing fake business was directly labeled as a fraud and was shut down. Since then, no one dares to sell under this name anymore.

After all, they don’t have real soap, which is not what powerful women want. If someone doesn’t like it and closes your shop, you, a businessman, have no place to cry!
The beginning of this wave was because the soap flowed in from nowhere, and then passed into the hands of a few families with superior status. There were only a dozen pieces of this soap in Bianjing, and it immediately became a rather rare treasure.

Then one of the pieces was brought into the palace as a tribute to the current saint. It is said that when the saint saw the soap, he was surprised, and then he was full of praise and even said, "Exquisite and ingenious thing, the fragrance is endless." The city of Bianjing fell into madness again.

Almost all the top families are sending people to inquire about the soap. After all, the wives and concubines in the family are almost crazy about this thing, and they also want to get the soap that the sage mentioned.

This object was inquired about from all walks of life, and finally someone asked who sent it. For a time, countless people came to visit Qin Wan in Chunming Tower, just asking Qin Wan to tell who provided this object.

Externally, Qin Wan only expressed regret that this thing was given by friends who came to visit relatives. She just saw that this thing was good and gave it to a few friends.

Speaking of Qin Wan's friend who is visiting relatives, it is not easy for the visitor to ask. After all, it is already related to family background, and it would be offensive to ask again.

Then he had to say that if there was any news about this thing, he must inform them and he would be grateful.

Qin Wan was also surprised when she saw this situation.

Although I initially thought it might cause a big disturbance, I didn't expect it to be so big.

If the soap is like this, what about the perfume I have seen before? Wouldn't it cause an even greater disturbance?

How did Zhao He make such objects?
Because she was worried about the impact of her visit to Zhao He, Qin Wan just stayed normal during this period. She was curious about how Zhao He could use the fame he gained during this period to launch this soap into the market.

The gaffe continued until the eighth day of the first lunar month. Vendors across Bianjing gradually returned to normal operations, and Zhao He's fried dumpling stall also reopened.

In the early morning, a large group of people came. They hadn't eaten Zhao He's fried dumplings for a while, so naturally they missed it very much, so they came to support it on the first day it opened.

"Young man, it's the same as usual, twenty fried buns and a bowl of wontons!"

"Fortunately, Xiao Langjun is also open today, otherwise I wouldn't know what to eat..."

"Haha, it's wonderful to be able to eat this delicious food again!"

"..." The stall soon became crowded with people, and they were also talking about interesting things about Bianjing during this period.

"Have you ever heard of it? The mother-in-law of Xia Song, our Bianjing minister, wants to buy a piece of soap for [-] yuan, but she can't even buy it now..."

"Fifty guan? I heard that there are only a dozen pieces of soap in the entire Bianjing. Whoever holds the soap in their hand is short of money. Five hundred guan is about the same."

"If you ask me, these five hundred guan are too few, a thousand guan will do..."

Most of the people who said this were ordinary people. They may have never seen what fifty strings looked like together, but this did not prevent them from talking loudly. After all, there was no tax for bragging.

Zhou Fei and Guo Huai were also busy, and they couldn't help but feel happy when they heard this.

If they knew about the young man who made this soap, I'm afraid they wouldn't know how to control his expression!

The soap will be put on the market soon, and they are looking forward to it now.

Not far away, Jia Changchao and Wang Anshi came together, with a little worry on the old man's face.

"Are you leaving Beijing today?"

Wang Anshi nodded slightly: "It's better to take office earlier. It will be easier to understand some local conditions as soon as possible. Besides, the New Year has just passed, and the people are also busy, and there will be a lot to do."

Hearing this, Jia Changchao smiled and said, "I'm afraid if you come back, today's officialdom will change again, and it's time for you to show your talents."

"Xiao Langjun, two cages of fried buns and two bowls of chaos."

Seeing that it was Jia Changchao and the other two, Zhao He also smiled and said, "You two are really happy to support us. We are here on the first day of opening."

Jia Changchao said with a smile: "My little friend is leaving Beijing today. I want to take him to have an authentic Bianjing meal, so naturally I have to come here."

Zhao He clicked his tongue and said in surprise: "I can't believe that in the old man's place, my fried buns have become Bianjing style. I'm really embarrassed. In this case, I won't charge for these fried buns, so I should give them to Lao Wang." .”

After saying that, Zhao He walked over with the fried buns and patted Wang Anshi on the shoulder: "Old Wang, outside is not as good as in the capital. If you want to eat my fried buns outside..."

Wang Anshi chuckled: "Is it possible that you can still deliver it to me? The place I want to go is eight hundred miles away from Bianjing."

Zhao He immediately said: "Then think about the taste of the fried buns here!"

Wang Anshi snorted, then lowered his head and started eating breakfast. I have to say that the fried buns with chaos are really something that you never get tired of eating. If you eat them after a long time, they always have a different flavor.

"It would be great if I can still eat your fried dumplings when I come back."

Zhao He chuckled: "Then I'll lend you some good advice."

The three of them chatted for a while, and then Zhao He went to work again. When he came to his senses again, Jia Changchao had already left with Wang Anshi.

In the fifth year of Qingli, Wang Anshi left Bianjing and returned again many years later.

During Renzong's reign, many talents were used for three generations. Wang Anshi, who blessed the Song Dynasty for a hundred years and was weak in the crown, was one of them.

This scholar, who is destined to leave a mark in history, has just embarked on a journey.

(End of this chapter)