Chapter 224 Baby
The filtering device was ready, and the servant who went to fetch the brine also came back.
He ordered people to skim off the turbid material in the middle layer and put it into a basin. The ingredients inside were mainly unreacted lard and impurities, as well as a small amount of soap.
Fang Jun asked someone to add the prepared brine into it and stir it vigorously.
After a while, the lard in the basin changed again and gradually solidified.
Fang Jun looked at the shiny pieces of lard and felt extremely excited. The experiments he had done in the laboratory in the past could now be completely remembered! Add caustic soda to lard, and soap will be obtained after the reaction. Add hydrochloric acid, and another substance will be generated.
wax!
That is, candles used for lighting.
But in this era, wax is a luxury product. The high-quality wax is made from substances secreted by white wax worms, or beeswax, which is simply astronomically expensive! Even the most common ones are made from high-quality fats and oils, so they are often called butter wax, which is very expensive!
The most common way for ordinary people to light their homes is to use oil lamps!
As soon as this lard wax comes out, with its low price and quality far exceeding that of oil lamps, it will surely become popular all over the world!
Sure enough, knowledge is power!
Fang Junmei is bubbling! Brother is so talented...
He quickly ordered someone to bring another piece of cotton thread.
Note, it is "cotton thread", not "cotton thread"!
Is there a difference?
The difference is huge!
Before cotton was introduced to China, China only had kapok for stuffing pillows and no cotton for weaving. Before the Song Dynasty, there was only the word "mian" next to silk in China, but not "cotton" next to wood.
The word "Mian" only began to appear in the "Song Book".
It can be seen that cotton was introduced in the Northern and Southern Dynasties at the latest, but it was mostly planted in the border areas. In distant ancient times, the main raw materials for clothing of our people were silk, hemp and kudzu. Clothing and bedding to keep out the cold are also made of these materials, which can be stuffed with feathers from some animals and poultry.
At least in the early Tang Dynasty, cotton definitely did not appear in the Central Plains!
Inadvertently, Fang Jun discovered another business opportunity and was in a great mood!
Using his own tea cup as a model, he made a simple candle to light on the spot.
A lamp is like a bean, but it is still very bright in broad daylight, and there is almost no black smoke when the oil lamp is lit!
A craftsman said excitedly: "Oh my god! This is much cheaper than butter wax, and the quality is almost as good. This can make a lot of money!"
Fang Jun laughed, isn't this nonsense? The magazine in this kind of oil wax has almost reached the lowest level in this era, so the ash after lighting is much less than that of ordinary candles, and oil lamps are even more incomparable!
Of course, this is not over yet.
Fang Jun stared at the last half of the pot of "waste liquid" with burning eyes. This is the essence of the saponification reaction!
These waste liquids contain a substance that is a hundred or a thousand times more precious than soap and wax - glycerin!
Glycerin is a colorless, clear and viscous liquid with a sweet taste, and is an extremely important chemical raw material. The wide range of uses covers almost most chemical fields. It is used in food processing, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics manufacturing, industrial machinery lubrication, organic synthesis, plasticization and other fields.
In the early 20th century, glycerin was the main raw material for making explosives!
Of course, with the current technology and Fang Jun's level, this is basically a no-brainer...
But with glycerin, everything is possible! Even if he can't make it himself, he still has the best foundation. It will be much easier for future generations to take a step further based on his foundation!
Moreover, these things are not useless now. After simple dilution and clarification, a kind of glycerin sweet water can be extracted from the waste liquid.
The servants were ordered to remove the alkaline sediment, and what was left was glycerin sweet water. This stuff was light yellow in color and had a foul smell. All the craftsmen covered their noses, wondering what the use of this smelly water was.
Fang Jun asked a servant to slowly pour the smelly water into the filter jar that had been prepared. After a while, water slowly poured out of the thin tube at the bottom of the jar. What was surprising was that the water flowing out was Not yellow water, but a clear and transparent liquid.
"Uncle Dagen, is there still any left in the jar of peach wine you brought from home a few days ago?"
Fang Jun asked an old craftsman.
The old craftsman's face twitched, and his face was covered with wrinkles like ravines: "Forget it, the old woman at home was not in good health last year. When she made wine in the fall, her daughter-in-law was in charge of it. Her craftsmanship was not good, and the peach wine became more and more astringent. After a jar, None of them were sold. That day I brought a jar to satisfy my craving, but I only drank two sips..."
There are many wastelands in Lishan, and many places are not suitable for growing food. It is a pity to be abandoned, so some old farmers planted some fruit trees. In the fall, they bore fruits and took them to the city to exchange for some money and goods, but they could not sell a few, and the remaining ones were large. Some of them are not willing to be thrown away, so they are put into vats and brewed into fruit wine.
Tang people are good at wine, and the sales volume of this fruit wine is also good.
It's just that although this wine has a fruity aroma, it tastes sour and not very drinkable. If the craftsmanship is poor, it will be difficult to swallow.
Fang Jun then said: "Go and get it."
The old craftsman was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay!" and turned around.
Fang Jun looked at the clear water gradually flowing out from the bottom of the jar, as if he saw a bunch of copper coins pouring out of the thin tube, exuding a golden light...
This clear glycerin water can be extracted into pure glycerin through simple distillation, and now, it can also do a very important thing.
For example, peach wine or wine will produce something called tannin during the brewing process. No matter what kind of fruit is fermented, the tannins cannot be decomposed and remain in the wine. The naturally brewed fruit wine tastes bitter and astringent, and is extremely unpleasant to drink.
Tannin is the culprit responsible for the bitter taste of fruit wine, but it is indispensable when later generations pay attention to the quality of fruit wine. The amount of tannin can determine the flavor, structure and texture of a wine. Fruit wines that lack tannins will appear light and not thick.
In fact, tannin has antioxidant effects and is a natural preservative. It can effectively prevent wine from becoming sour due to oxidation, so that long-term stored wine can maintain its best condition. Therefore, tannin plays a decisive role in the aging ability of red wine. A bottle of red wine from a good vintage may only become better after ten years.
This is the power of tannins.
But what is needed now is fruit wine that can be brewed and drunk immediately. Who has the patience to seal it and store it for ten or eight years?
Then you need glycerin water.
The glycerin in the glycerin water can decompose the tannins in the fruit wine and effectively remove the bitter taste in the wine. Moreover, because glycerin has a touch of warm sweetness, it can also greatly improve the quality and taste of fruit wine, making it an excellent fruit sprinkle additive.
As long as the bitterness of the fruit wine is removed and the wine is filtered and clarified, the sweet and clear fruit wine will definitely become a very popular wine.
Princess Gaoyang on the side had long forgotten that Fang Jun had ignored her, let alone getting angry, and was completely shocked.
With her almond-shaped eyes widened, she watched Fang Jun tossing around such a pot of smelly lard, and he was able to come up with so many tricks. It was simply unbelievable!
Could this person really have the magic touch to turn stone into gold?
Fang Jun directed his servant to make a new filtering device, and then boil the half pot of glycerin water. The boiling point of glycerin is higher than that of water. As long as the sweet water containing glycerin is heated to 100 degrees Celsius and the water is evaporated, pure glycerin can be obtained.
Of course, the purity is definitely not good, but there is no problem at all when used to add fruit wine.
After a while, Uncle Gen came with his jar of peach wine.
Fang Jun ordered someone to divide a jar of wine into ten portions, add different amounts of glycerol and several egg whites respectively, and then record the amounts added. Because he didn't know the best ratio, he could only experiment like this. After stirring thoroughly, filter it to make it pure.
A portion of clear and translucent peach wine appeared.
Just looking at the color, it has already risen to more than one level.
Then, naturally, after testing them one by one, I asked Uncle Gen to taste them one by one. Anyway, this stuff tastes good or bad, but it won’t kill anyone.
Of course, Fang Jun himself would never drink this kind of semi-finished product made in a laboratory...
Princess Gao Yang came over and looked at Uncle Gen's feat of "testing the poison with his own body" with confusion...
"Is this really drinkable?" Her Royal Highness asked uncertainly.
"You can try it, it tastes very good!" Fang Jun encouraged, showing his big white teeth.
"Eh!" Princess Gao Yang wrinkled her face and showed a disgusted expression.
Fang Jun looked at the beautiful and charming Princess and smiled, but his head hurt... (End of Chapter)