Chapter 33: Ancient Thorn Water

"I want to try the spice business!"

Liu Zheng did not waste words and stated his idea directly.

"Spices?"

Zheng Yue Ru was left between laughter and tears: "But Brother Liu, where would we get spices in Yinzhou?"

She felt this matter was a bit ridiculous.

Yes, who didn't know that spices were profitable? Who didn't know that the profit margins on spices were high? As the saying goes, an ounce of spice is worth an ounce of gold; this was no joke. In this era, the main spices still relied on overseas imports. Huaxia had, of course, possessed its own incense and spices since ancient times, but that was a luxury only the royal family and Nobles could afford.

The earliest spices in ancient China were produced locally, such as the more than ten types of fragrant herbs including ginger lily, wild ginger, mountain pepper, fragrant laurel, magnolia, angelica, wild ginger, and magnolia flower, but after these spices were burned, the fragrance dissipated quickly and was difficult to sustain.

Later, the agarwood and sandalwood produced in Nanyang overcame this deficiency. And the import of spices via the Silk Road made the spice market of Huaxia civilization unprecedentedly prosperous.

The most popular spices on the market were frankincense, ambergris, eaglewood incense, sandalwood, and agarwood, among which ambergris was the most precious, reaching the level of an ounce of spice for an ounce of gold.

As for the entertainers at Fengming Tower, the spices they used were the cheapest...

Things like pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves—being able to use spices concocted from these in Yinzhou was already quite an achievement.

And as it happened, this spice business was indeed something the Zheng Family excelled at. Furthermore, the spice business even accounted for a quarter of the Zheng Family's business share! This was precisely because the level of civilization in the Longyan Dynasty was actually similar to that of the Song Dynasty, and during the Song Dynasty, people's esteem for spices had reached a peak.

Zheng Yue Ru was also quite obsessed with spices.

"Brother Liu, I know the profits from spices are abundant, but..."

She gave a bitter smile and shook her head.

A place like Yinzhou had very few crops and barren land; how could it possibly produce things that could only be grown in the south?

"It's not growing, it's making!"

Liu Zheng chuckled.

"Making?"

Zheng Yue Ru was stunned and asked skeptically: "Are you saying, import the raw materials, and then blend them?"

That wouldn't work either!

The blends of those spices on the market already had mature formulas. Could it be that this Young Master Liu was also a fellow who liked to conduct little experiments?

Liu Zheng shook his head, knowing that people of this era would likely find something like Perfume difficult to understand. He continued to smile: "Eldest Miss Zheng, if I can develop a spice that has a long-lasting fragrance, one that can even last for a whole day, and where the scent notes change at different times, what do you think? Instead of our previous cooperation method, we use a profit-sharing system. I want seventy percent of the profits, how about that?"

"What?"

Zheng Yue Ru was so shocked she stood up.

A spice that lasts for a day? Isn't this a pipe dream? For ancients, being able to have incense linger on the body for an hour or two was already quite difficult. You want to start with a whole day?

"This is absolutely impossible!"

Zheng Yue Ru said decisively.

Liu Zheng smiled: "Whether it's possible or not, wait until I've developed it. Right now, I'm talking about a profit-sharing system. I want a commitment to a share of the profits—seventy percent!"

He stared intently at Zheng Yue Ru and said: "Listen well, I want seventy percent of the total profits! Your Zheng Family gets thirty percent, which includes all your costs!"

Liu Zheng explained it for a while.

He was truly too poor! He had to think of every possible Method to generate income, so the previous supply method could no longer satisfy his needs...

He wanted a share!

"A share?"

Zheng Yue Ru had never heard of such a method before, and it took a long time for Liu Zheng to explain it before she understood what it was about.

At this moment, her face turned dark.

This method might not be impossible...

But...

Seventy percent?

Zheng Yue Ru cursed Liu Zheng's shamelessness and greed in her heart, but she remained immersed in the shock brought about by what Liu Zheng had just described to her.

Gritting her teeth, she made a prompt decision: "If such a spice really exists, then seventy percent it is!"

"Good! It's a deal!"

Liu Zheng was overjoyed.

Seventy percent of the profits was a terrifyingly high share. After all, in this era, the biggest cost was logistics and transport, all of which the Zheng Family would need to be responsible for later.

Liu Zheng would essentially be making money while lying down!

"Miss Zheng, words are not proof; we must sign a contract!"

Liu Zheng suggested.

Zheng Yue Ru was taken aback and gave a bitter smile: "Brother Liu, you haven't even developed the spice yet..."

Is it necessary?

Liu Zheng insisted: "The contract must be signed!"

Zheng Yue Ru was also a shrewd merchant and chuckled: "But Brother Liu, once the contract is signed, what if you can't produce the spice? Does that count as you breaching the contract?"

Liu Zheng laughed heartily: "Seven days, I only need seven days! If I can't produce the spice, all of Fengming Tower is yours! But if I do produce it, not a single bit of that seventy percent profit can be missing!"

"Fine!"

Seeing Liu Zheng so insistent, Zheng Yue Ru also called for someone to bring paper and a brush.

"This spice is to be high-end Ancient Thorn Water, comparable to Dragon Saliva Incense?"

"Ancient Thorn Water?"

Zheng Yue Ru was left between laughter and tears.

In fact, in the history of Huaxia, there was also Perfume, called Rose Water, also known as Ancient Thorn Water. It was a type of Perfume distilled from rose flowers, introduced to the country from overseas during the Five Dynasties period. This Ancient Thorn Water could be consumed or applied to the body. Later, people used this technology to create various scented types of Ancient Thorn Water; this was the Perfume of ancient Huaxia.

But...

Because there was no Alcohol in ancient times, this type of Ancient Thorn Water also lacked persistence, and most of the time it was not even as long-lasting as incense, so only the true royal family and Nobles would choose this kind of Ancient Thorn Water.

Seeing Liu Zheng write such a description on the contract without the slightest bit of false modesty, Zheng Yue Ru was overjoyed. Wasn't this just handing Fengming Tower over to her on a silver platter?

After signing the contract, Liu Zheng happily tucked one copy away, not forgetting to remind her: "Miss Zheng can go ahead and prepare in advance!"

"Naturally, it is for publicity and sales channels!"

Liu Zheng smiled mysteriously: "This Ancient Thorn Water of mine must first be supplied to the Imperial Household, and only then to the nobles and Powerful Clans! You can have the Zheng Family caravan promote it along the way, claiming a supreme-grade spice is about to be Transcendent, grabbing attention and creating enough hype. Does Miss Zheng understand?"

The concept of advertising did not exist yet, so Liu Zheng could only explain it in simple terms.

Only then did Zheng Yue Ru realize that Liu Zheng wanted to use the Zheng Family's connections with the Empress and the advantage of the Zheng Family's caravans being spread across the country. She immediately shook her head and smiled: "Brother Liu, don't worry about the sales channels. As long as you can produce it..."

She didn't say anything offensive. Exclusively supply the Imperial Household?

Are you kidding me!

It would be one thing if it were truly a spice like Dragon Saliva Incense; the Longyang Dynasty received many high-end spices from overseas as tribute every year. She felt Liu Zheng was a bit too overconfident.

"Very well, I have said what I needed to say. Miss Zheng can consider it herself."

Liu Zheng did not waste words and turned to leave.

Zheng Yue Ru watched him with a wry smile, not taking what Liu Zheng said seriously. In fact, if she had truly taken it seriously, she certainly wouldn't have agreed to give Liu Zheng seventy percent of the profits!

Therefore, she did not know at this moment that in a few days, she would regret this so much that her intestines would turn green.

Riding his horse to his Shen Gong Workshop, the current Shen Gong Workshop had completely changed its appearance. It was no longer the small Iron Smelting Workshop from before. The Shen Gong Workshop backed onto a large mountain, and at this time, Liu Zheng had already ordered people to develop the Shen Gong Workshop into the mountain—that is, digging caves, building tunnels, and opening workshops.

This mountain was originally called Jitou Mountain. When Liu Zheng heard the name, he nearly spat out his drink and ordered it renamed Fengming Mountain.

Fengming Mountain was continuous and unbroken; although it was not like Shu Mountain or Taihang Mountain, in a place like Liangzhou, it was already a rare, deep, and precipitous mountain range.

Liu Zheng's idea was very simple: the entire Fengming Mountain would become his own production base!

Therefore, most of the one hundred thousand taels of silver confiscated from the Chen Family this time had been invested in the construction of this Fengming Mountain.

"Young Master!"

As soon as Liu Zheng arrived, Wei Tiezhu ran out. He was now an Industrial Department Counselor, wearing official robes and accompanied by several counselors; he was mainly responsible for this Shen Gong Workshop and coordinating the industrial development of all of Yinzhou.

"Are the things I wanted ready?"

Liu Zheng dismounted and asked.

Wei Tiezhu said: "Young Master, as you instructed, a large amount of Bitter Water Rose has been transported here!"

Liu Zheng smiled with satisfaction.

It must be said that although Liangzhou was barren and rugged with few crops, it had a specialty that could not be ignored due to its unique climate and environment! That was the Bitter Water Rose. These roses, produced in Kushui Town, were famous in later generations. Their characteristics were abundant flowers and juicy petals with a pure, delicate fragrance. In later generations, because of these roses, Kushui Town was known as the "Number One Hometown of Huaxia Roses," and that was no joke.

Bitter Water Rose was mainly used for making food and extracting rose essential oil. The essential oil extracted from this rose could even be worth more than its weight in gold!

In Liu Zheng's memory, the Bitter Water Rose of his past life was brought back by a scholar returning from an imperial examination during the Qing Dynasty, who planted a few branches in his courtyard. Unexpectedly, due to the unique climate of Liangzhou, the roses grew vigorously with abundant flowers and a captivating fragrance, becoming deeply loved by people, which led to large-scale cultivation.

He hadn't expected that in this world, the Bitter Water Rose was already in Liangzhou, and people grew it for ornamental purposes. This surprised him greatly. Since it was the season for roses to bloom, he immediately sent Wei Tiezhu to lead men to purchase these roses. He didn't expect that this purchase would result in over a dozen carts being brought back!

"So many?"

Liu Zheng was dumbfounded.

Wei Tiezhu chuckled: "Young Master, the rose season is almost over, they were dying to sell them! It's just that Tiezhu doesn't understand, what does the Young Master want with so many roses?"

Liu Zheng smiled mysteriously: "You need to know, you are the Young Master!"

Wei Tiezhu scratched his head, thinking that was true, and hurriedly followed behind Liu Zheng.

According to Liu Zheng's instructions, the workshop responsible for producing perfume had long been prepared, along with the distillers specifically for the perfume workshop. At this time, Liu Zheng had already upgraded his equipment; he no longer needed cow intestines to serve as distillation tubes and had long since switched to ceramic tubes.

With the distillers, high-proof Alcohol was naturally no longer a problem.

Thus, perfume was naturally not far off.

Liu Zheng suddenly felt ambitious.

He ordered the craftsmen to move the cartloads of roses inside. To make perfume, it was naturally best to pick roses at the peak of their flowering period. When was the best time?

Liu Zheng felt that roses about to wither were the best!

This season was exactly the best time for roses!

"Young Master, what are you doing?"

"With all these flowers and wine, is the Young Master going to brew flower wine again?"

"Probably!"

The craftsmen in the Shen Gong Workshop could not understand any of it.

Liu Zheng first ordered these roses to be dried in the shade, then placed into the distillers to distill rose essential oil, while the high-proof Alcohol was prepared by the Brewery.

And at this time.

The matter of the Liu Family Young Master hauling dozens of carts of roses from thousands of miles away was once again spreading like wildfire in Yinzhou.

Many people were wondering, what was this Liu Family young master tinkering with again?

For a time, they were itching with curiosity, but no one dared to go to the Shen Gong Workshop to investigate.

After all, right next to the Shen Gong Workshop was the newly built Fubing Camp of the County Marquis Mansion!

"Is he really doing it?"

Returning home, Zheng Yue Ru heard the news and was also left between laughter and tears.

Even at this point, she still did not take it seriously.