Chapter 5: Making Ice From Saltpeter

"Liu Fu, are you going to buy some saltpeter?"

The sun was past noon.

Zhao Xu thought that the people from the Yan County nobles would probably come soon.

So he asked Qin's accountant to take out ten taels of silver and told Liu Fu.

Zhao Xu nodded.

In ancient times, saltpeter was a laxative herb that was sold in drugstores.

In modern times, saltpeter is called saltpeter.

The way he got silver from the Yan County nobles this time was to use saltpeter to make ice.

In ancient times, people in the north used winter to store ice in cellars and took it out in summer to cool off.

There was also an institution in the imperial city that specialized in managing ice storage.

In summer, the emperor would give ice as a reward to his ministers.

So ice has always been expensive in ancient times.

For Dasong, ice is even more precious.

The reason is that the imperial city of Dasong is Jinling, which is Nanjing, one of the four furnaces in modern times.

It is different from the north. Even in winter, it is not too cold there, and there is no thick ice layer to be mined in winter.

In his memory, there were few snowfalls in Jinling City in the past two years.

So when the hot summer came, Jinling City, or the entire south, would fall into an ice shortage.

Rich people wanted to buy ice to cool off but couldn't.

This also led to the saying that ice was as expensive as gold in the south in summer.

It was the hot summer now.

If there was a lot of ice to sell in Jinling City, it would definitely make a huge fortune.

"Buy three pounds, go and come back quickly." Zhao Xu gave Liu Fu ten taels of silver and instructed.

Liu Fu nodded, and came back with a small bag of saltpeter in the time of an incense stick.

The heat soaked his clothes completely.

Wiping his sweat, he panted and said, "Your Highness, is the saltpeter here?"

Zhao Xu nodded, and asked Liu Fu to find two porcelain basins of different sizes.

Not long after, the servant came to report that someone from the wealthy family had arrived.

Zhao Xu asked Liu Fu to lead them to the front yard.

"What on earth did your Highness ask us to come for?" said a wealthy family member dressed in silk and with a big belly.

Looking at the dilapidated palace, he couldn't help but look down on it.

The palace was so shabby that it was not even as good as the courtyard where their servants lived.

But he thought it was normal. No prince had come to Yan County since the founding of Dasong.

This Prince of Yan was the first one, and the prince who could come here was basically no different from being exiled.

The emperor would not give any generous conditions.

"Your Highness said that he would perform a skill for you when everyone is here." Liu Fu said exactly what he said.

"Hahaha..."

Everyone laughed.

"Is the madness of the Prince of Yan really cured?"

"Probably not, otherwise how could there be such a ridiculous thing?"

"Hey, let's go, let's go, it's just nonsense." Someone wanted to leave.

At this time, Zhao Xu came out of a room.

"Meet His Highness the Prince of Yan."

Seeing Zhao Xu, everyone began to salute.

But many of them just bowed slightly and pretended.

Zhao Xu saw it, but he didn't get angry.

One day, he would make these people kneel down and sing "Conquer" for him.

"No need to be polite." Zhao Xu waved his hand.

He had asked Liu Fu to remember all the names of these people.

He knew exactly which family the servants came from and which family the head came from.

In the future, he would know which powerful families could be won over.

"Please be patient, I am not fooling you. Wait a moment, and you will know an opportunity to make a fortune." Zhao Xu said.

Seeing that the King of Yan came out in person, everyone stopped and decided to wait and see. At most, it would be fun.

Forty or fifty people stood together waiting.

At this time, Zhao Xu entered the house.

He put the small porcelain bottle in the big porcelain bottle and filled it with water.

Then wrapped it with cotton cloth.

The principle of making ice with saltpeter is that saltpeter dissolved in water will absorb a lot of heat, theoretically it can drop to minus two degrees, and finally turn water into ice.

The purpose of the big basin and the small basin is to use the saltpeter in the big basin to cool down and turn the water in the small basin into ice.

In this way, the ice in the small basin can be eaten.

After all, saltpeter is still poisonous.

The cotton cloth is to isolate the heat outside.

After the ice making is finished, as long as the water in the big basin is dried, the saltpeter will be precipitated again, and the loss part will be removed, and the rest can be reused repeatedly.

After all this is done, it is time to wait.

"Almost done."

After waiting for a quarter of an hour, Zhao Xu lifted the cotton cloth.

The moment the cotton cloth was lifted, a white mist rose from it, and the cold air was pressing.

Thick ice has already formed in the small basin.

With joy in his heart, he carried the ice in the small basin to the yard.

"Everyone, please look, this is the performance that the king said." Zhao Xu took the ice and walked around in front of everyone.

"It's ice." Someone exclaimed.

"It's hot in this summer, where is the ice."

"Incredible."

"..."

A whisper sounded.

Liu Fu also opened his eyes wide, unbelievable.

Apart from buying saltpeter, Zhao Xu did not let him participate in any process.

He also did not know how Zhao Xu did it.

"Not only did the King of Yan recover from his madness, but he also became so powerful." He exclaimed in his heart.

"Your Highness, is this ice from the ice cellar?" someone asked.

This was also what others thought.

If not, does the King of Yan have magic?

"No, this is what I did, it is the art of turning water into ice." Zhao Xu straightened his chest.

When these words were spoken, the nobles immediately went crazy.

"Does your Highness know magic?" One person was shocked.

"No, it's just an ordinary skill. If I teach it to you, you can do it too." Zhao Xu glanced at everyone's faces to see their reactions.

Now, many people have completely lost their contempt for him.

Some people are thoughtful,

And some people's eyes are shining, obviously thinking of ways to make money.

"Dong An, the eldest son of Dong in Xiayan County, came to see His Highness and hoped that His Highness could teach him this technique." A young man came forward.

This person has a fair complexion and looks very elegant.

"The Yang family in Xiayan County also hopes to be supported by His Highness." Another person came forward.

Among the people, many people have already figured out the taste.

Some smart slaves have already run home.

Those stupid ones looked confused.

Zhao Xu nodded secretly, there are many smart people in the wealthy families of Yan County.

After all, they have a lot of resources and have been studying and doing business since they were young.

It's easy to figure out Zhao Xu's intentions.

By this time, he was no longer secretive.

"As we all know, ice is expensive in the hot summer in the south of the Yangtze River. It is June now and the hot summer has just begun. If you understand this ice-making technique, you will definitely earn a huge amount of silver in the imperial city or even in the south of the Yangtze River."

After a pause, he said, "The king came to you to teach you this technique. After all, I have no royal orders and cannot leave the fief. Naturally, I cannot return to the imperial city to earn this money. However, this Naturally, the secret technique cannot be given away for free.”

Zhao Xu said it so straightforwardly that everyone woke up.

Someone asked: "Jiangnan ice is expensive, but how much does it cost to make ice?"

"It can be said that you can make a lot of profits." Zhao Xu said.

At this point, everyone could no longer remain calm. They were all smart people.

Dasong's Jiangnan is the richest in the world. If he really masters this ice-making technique, he will definitely become rich.

At that time, their strength will be greatly increased.

So, someone shouted excitedly at that moment: "Your Highness, how much silver do you need to learn this secret technique?"