The pork butcher is smoother than a pig butcher!

Chapter 451 Hot-selling honeycomb briquettes
The Sichuan chef's skills were as fierce as a tiger's.

Several mud stoves were lit at the same time.

It took less than half an hour.
All ten delicious and visually appealing Sichuan and Chongqing specialties have been prepared.

They have everything: braised dishes, boiled dishes, stir-fried dishes, steamed dishes.

The crowd of onlookers was so tempted that their mouths watered.

Before meals.

Tiger Head grinned and brought over a basin of warm water, placing it in front of the merchant and Steward Zhu.

Then he handed them a round, light yellow, block-shaped object.

"Please wash your hands before meals, Uncle Zhu. You and this friend should quickly try this soap to see how it cleans."

Hand soap?

Manager Zhu smiled broadly, his heart filled with joy: They're here, they're here! This time, we're going to have another eye-opening experience.

If this thing works well, it'll probably sell like hotcakes in the Kansai region.

I heard the general mention in a letter that the raw material used to make soap was mutton fat.

The general was the best at making use of waste.

Before we could even get the wool yarn sorted out, the wastewater from washing the wool came in handy.

Another workshop in Ganluchuan is about to become famous.

The traveling merchants remained calm even when they saw the soap.

He is a worldly man.

Soapberry, soap beans, and pig pancreas, which Han Chinese used for personal hygiene, were all on his must-buy list when he sold goods.

I wonder what the difference is between this soap and the ones he sold before.

The difference is significant.

First of all, this soap looks very pretty.

The color is pure and free of impurities.

As soon as I received it, I smelled a very strong orange scent!
Fresh and pleasant!
It smells so much better than pig pancreas!
He couldn't wait to soak the soap in water for a few moments before rubbing it with his hands.

Wow! So many bubbles!

His hands frequently gripped and handled the honeycomb briquettes.

After rubbing my hands together a dozen times, they became visibly cleaner.

Most importantly, your hands won't feel dry after washing with soap, and they'll have a faint orange scent.

Tiger enthusiastically recommended the product to the traveling merchants:
"This is my favorite scent. When I use it to wash clothes, it not only cleans them exceptionally well, but the clothes also smell wonderfully of oranges after they dry."

Upon hearing this, the merchants forgot all about starting the banquet immediately.

With eager eyes, he grabbed Tiger Head and asked, "Young man, how much do you plan to sell this soap for?"

Tiger Head spoke with an air of 'you're getting a good deal,' declaring firmly, 'A bar of soap for only five hundred coins! Absolutely no bargaining!'

The traveling merchant was so anxious he could only stare helplessly: "The purchase price of pig pancreas has never exceeded one hundred coins!"

Tiger Head said:

"How can smelly pig pancreas compare to our soap? Its cleaning power goes without saying. Our soap now comes in four scents: milky, floral, orange, and tea."

Extracting these spices is extremely troublesome. This month, three thousand bars of each type were produced. If it weren't for Uncle Zhu's high status with our General, these soaps wouldn't even be enough to go around in Guanzhong.

They were practically saying, "Buy it or don't, it's up to you! We're not worried about selling it!"
The traveling merchant clutched his purse, silently feeling remorseful.

Tiger Head planned to catch a fat sheep and fleece it mercilessly.

"Don't panic, my friend. Let me do the math for you! Iron pots are indeed quite expensive, and there are also purchase restrictions, so you should put it off for now."

I don't need to say much about the tea bricks; the price is only 30,000 taels of silver for a whole lot. The Silk Road has been closed for years! Our top-quality tea bricks would be snapped up by any tribe in the Ili River Valley!

Buy the soap without hesitation; you'll make at least 20,000 taels of silver resale value! You won't lose out, you won't be cheated. And our honeycomb briquettes and mud stove—we're only sending them to you as a friend. Otherwise, how much better stuff could our camel cart hold if we freed up the space?

Moreover, both items are very cheap. The wholesale price of a stove is only 500 coins each, and a honeycomb briquette is 10 coins each!
If your citizens find it useful, we can deliver more to you every two weeks, with no limit!

After a thorough accounting, the 100,000 taels of silver were gone in an instant.

Merchant: Thank you so much!

While tea and soap were high-profit commodities, he saw a huge business opportunity in the unlimited supply of honeycomb briquettes.

If each household uses two honeycomb briquettes a day, what is the daily consumption of the entire Ili River Valley?
Even if he only earns five coins for a single honeycomb briquette, the profit is still astonishing.

The herders used to be poor.

The herders' pockets are bulging now.

His breathing quickened at the thought.

Manager Zhu thought he was upset by Hu Tou's attitude, so he quickly comforted him:
“Friend! We Han Chinese have an old saying: ‘The wool comes from the sheep’s back!’ The few businesses my nephew has picked out for you are unique in your entire Ili River Valley. Of course, if you can’t handle them all, we won’t make things difficult for you. You can always find a few more merchants to share the order.”

The traveling merchant was almost jumping up and down in panic:

Why bother with group buying!

If anyone tries to steal his exclusive business, he'll fight them to the death!
These products are unique not only in the Iri Valley, but also in the entire Kashgar Khanate.

I quickly ate a few bites of food.

The largest deal he had ever handled in most of his life was finalized in just a few words.

To reassure the people, the traveling merchant decided to sell the clay stoves and honeycomb briquettes in his own general store in Bali Town.

The enticing aroma of milk tea permeated the city.

The townspeople passing by the shop assumed that this general store sold tea.

They all flocked to it.

As it turned out, when they went into the general store, they found out that they were selling stoves and fuel for making milk tea.

The convenience and affordability of clay stoves and honeycomb briquettes meant that more than half of the city residents who saw them would buy them.

The news of this rare item spread throughout the city, which was only eight li in diameter, in less than an hour.

The merchant bought a clay stove and honeycomb briquettes with 10,000 taels of silver, which filled the entire courtyard.

This much stock isn't enough to sell for three days!
Who understands the joy of quick monetization?

after that.

The traveling merchants quickly organized their people, loaded tea bricks and soap onto carts, and were already on their way to the capital.

The purchasing power of the residents of Balicheng is astonishing.

The herders in the nearby tribes were equally impressive.

Manager Zhu's livestock trade with various tribes never ceased.

Soon, news that he had five thousand iron pots spread among the herders.

One pot, ten taels of silver.

The prices were acceptable, but the preconditions for purchasing from the ranch made things difficult.

Why do I need my household registration number to buy a pot?

The herders have never even had that kind of thing.

But the leaders of each tribe knew exactly how many people lived in their tribe and how many people lived in the neighboring tribes.

They corroborate each other and are largely accurate!
That's it.

Manager Zhu specifically selected the ten tribes with the most livestock and sold out 5,000 large iron pots in just two days.

A recovery of 50,000 taels of silver!

Within three days, the large iron pot and the readily available honeycomb briquettes swept across the entire Iri River Valley like a tornado.
(End of this chapter)