I am Emperor Shizu of Song

Chapter 16 A Gift to Tokyo

Half a month passed in a flash, and it was already April.

Early in the morning of the second day of April, a small boat sailed south from Suzhou along the Grand Canal and arrived at Zhaojiazhuang, Nanhu, Xiuzhou with ease.

Deng Yue was the boatman, and Yang Zhi was also on board. Yang Zhi, acting on Zhu Jie's orders, had come to fetch Zhao Zicheng back early. However, Yang Zhi was unfamiliar with the water, and the Murong family, concerned about Zhao Zicheng's well-being, sent a boat to fetch him.

The replacement Taoist scriptures sent by Huang Shang will arrive in Suzhou soon, and Zhu Jie doesn't want to delay the shipment even for one more day.

Deng Yue had been to this place half a month ago when he sent Zhao Zicheng here, but this was Yang Zhi's first time here.

So when they arrived at Zhaojiazhuang, Yang Zhi was not surprised to see the harmonious scene of chickens and dogs hearing each other, but Deng Yue was amazed.

Seeing his expression of emotion, Yang Zhi couldn't help but wonder, "What does Deng Baozheng mean by this? Is this kind of peaceful and happy Zhuangzi rare in Jiangnan?"

Deng Yue nodded. "It's only been half a month, but I feel like there have been significant changes. There are a lot more people at the manor, and it's so busy. It seems that this Young Master Zhao is truly a man of both civil and military talents. He can make a big splash wherever he goes."

As they were talking, they moored the boat and went ashore to Zhao Zicheng's home.

After walking a few steps, Deng Yue was stopped by a young man in his early twenties: "Isn't this the one who brought Uncle Six back last time..."

Deng Yue had no impression of the other person, so he politely bowed and said, "You are..."

The other party was quite familiar: "My name is Zhao Boqi. Are you looking for my sixth uncle? I will take you there."

After a few words of conversation, Yang and Deng realized that Zhao Boqi was the grandson of Zhao Zicheng's second uncle.

Zhao Zicheng's second uncle was born out of wedlock, so although he was older, his status in the clan was still very low. His branch of the clan depended on Zhao Zicheng's father for survival.

During the two years that Zhao Zicheng was away studying, his farmland needed help, and during the busy mulberry picking season, Zhao Boqi and his family often came to help. This time, Zhao Zicheng bought another property in the county town and entrusted the management of his farmland in the countryside to Zhao Boqi and his family.

The next generation of the Zhao family are all named "Bo" and are named with the character "Yu"/"Wang" next to them, so the character "Bo" has nothing to do with seniority.

Historically, Zhao Zicheng later had two sons, named Zhao Bogui and Zhao Bocong. Zhao Bocong was later adopted as Emperor Xiaozong of Song, so he changed his name to Zhao Shen to avoid common characters being taboo in the emperor's name.

The group walked along the lakeshore beside the village, and soon a workshop appeared in front of them, with smoke billowing out.

Deng Yue felt something was amiss and raised several questions, "Isn't this the road to Young Master Zhao's house? The village looks a lot busier. Are those workshops in front the ironworks?"

Zhao Boqi said proudly, "Sir, you are very perceptive. That row of workshops is exactly the new business that my sixth uncle wanted to start. He just found dozens of women from the tenant households to help with the work.

He's there all day, so when he leaves, he'll let me help run things. I used to do some small business traveling around. "Sir, you're a wealthy guest from Suzhou, so you'll have to take care of our business in the future."

During the Song Dynasty, commerce flourished, especially in the south of the Yangtze River. Many of the royal family's children, including those born out of wedlock and illegitimate children, who were not supported by their families to study, chose to engage in business.

"If there are any new and good products, it will naturally not be a problem, but I don't know what they are made of?" Deng Yue agreed readily.

He knew that Zhao Zicheng was a person valued by his mistress and young master, so he naturally had to take care of the Zhao family's business unconditionally.

Before Zhao Boqi had the chance to explain, the group had already arrived at the workshop. Zhao Zicheng just happened to come out and ran into them head-on.

Deng Yue and Yang Zhi hurried forward to salute, then looked at the smoke-filled place curiously: "What is this for?"

Zhao Zicheng pointed to the large pots and women working nearby and said, "They're cooking duck down. They're collecting duck feathers from all over the place to make cotton-padded jackets and quilts."

It turned out that after returning to his hometown that day, Zhao Zi said that he felt very uncomfortable after sleeping on a reed quilt for two nights, so he quickly spent money to ask someone to go to the county town to buy a silk quilt.

Then he thought that silk was expensive and whether cotton would be better.

But cotton could not be grown in the south, which made him feel like a bone stuck in his throat and very uncomfortable.

After practicing martial arts for a few days to vent his emotions, he suddenly gained something while observing rural life.

He found that people nowadays make very little use of the feathers of some poultry.

Goose feathers are white and have long, stiff fibers, so many people use them, mainly to make fans and haori, and they are relatively expensive.

Otherwise, how could the saying "A gift of goose feathers from a thousand miles away is worth more than its value" come from? It can be seen that the ancients also regarded goose feathers as serious property.

Feathers that are harder than goose feathers are strategic materials and can be used to make tail feathers for arrows.

However, the feathers of domestic ducks and other soft, colorful waterfowl were very worthless, and the people of the Song Dynasty hardly made use of them.

Very often, extremely poor people would simply use it to fill their quilts and jackets, but they didn’t know how to make down, so it was very undurable and smelly.

The more sophisticated people couldn't stand the smell, so they just used the leftover duck feathers to make compost.

Ten days ago, Zhao Zicheng saw with his own eyes that his eldest cousin Zhao Ziyue, the clan leader, held a buffet at his home and used up a lot of waterfowl. In the end, all the duck feathers were going to be composted. Zhao Zicheng felt very sorry and spent a few copper coins to get the duck feathers.

Deng Yue is also from the south and has seen many kinds of waterfowl. After hearing this, he felt that it was a little unreliable:
"So, sir, you intend to have people use these duck feathers to replace silk cotton to make cotton-padded jackets and quilts? But ducks are smelly, and the feathers will be trapped in the cloth and rot in no time. Wouldn't that ruin the cloth as well?" Stuffing the duck feathers into a sealed cloth cover without any treatment will reduce air circulation, and the effect is almost the same as composting directly in the clothes. No wonder others are not optimistic about it.

Ordinary people in the Song Dynasty would not use duck feathers to keep warm unless they were poor people who really couldn't make ends meet and stuffed them in to keep warm for a few days during the coldest time of winter.

But these are not problems for Zhao Zicheng.

The later down industry basically did not mature until the 19th century, but now in the Western Nordic region, small-scale down use has begun to emerge.

In his previous life, he was a history teacher and loved playing historical strategy games. He remembered playing Uncharted Waters and how many ports in Northern Europe, like Copenhagen and Oslo, had down products.

To prepare duck feathers to prevent them from smelling and rotting, it's actually quite simple. It's simply a matter of boiling the feathers in an alkaline solution to remove the fat and protein that are prone to rancidity.

However, people in the Song Dynasty generally did not think of doing so.

Zhao Zicheng said that after breaking this window paper, it is actually very simple to implement it.

Because every household in the Jiangnan region, especially in the Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Lakeside areas, cultivates mulberry trees and raises silkworms, the cocoons are harvested and boiled in alkaline water to remove the sericin and retain the fibroin, ensuring the long-lasting preservation of the silk.

After all, whether it is silk or duck feathers, they are all animal fibers, and the easily rotten components must be removed before they can be used.

Moreover, silk is delicate and the raw materials are valuable. At that time, people could only soak it in salt water or steam it in a steamer, and they did not dare to be too violent.

Duck feathers are much tougher and more durable than silk, and the raw materials are cheap, so there is no need to worry about the slight loss in the processing process, so they are actually easier to handle.

Zhao Zicheng did not hide anything from his own people, and in a few words he made the key points clear:
"...So, frankly, this isn't that difficult. It's not yet the busy season for spring silkworm rearing, so the women in the tenant farmers' families are relatively free. I found a few dozen silkworm mothers who are skilled in boiling cocoons and spinning silk, and asked them to help boil the duck feathers, comb the down, fluff it up, and dry it in the sun.

Nowadays, everyone else only uses duck feathers to make compost. For one dollar, you can get several kilograms. If you make them into odorless, soft, durable, and warm quilts and coats, the profit is more than ten times greater. It's a pity that the cold weather is over now. If we wait until winter, business will definitely be good."

Zhao Zicheng spoke eloquently, making Deng Yue and Yang Zhi feel trusted.

In fact, Zhao Zicheng also omitted some details that the other party was not interested in and difficult to understand.

For example, the most critical thing is how to prepare the water for boiling duck feathers to deodorize and preserve them.

In modern times, with the advent of the alkali industry, it would be most convenient to use soda ash, baking soda, or other industrial alkalis to boil feathers.

However, there was no soda ash in the Song Dynasty, so other raw materials had to be used as a substitute.

Zhao Zicheng first thought of the wood ash that can be found everywhere.

Wood ash is potassium carbonate, which is useful for removing grease and breaking down animal fat.

After some experiments, I added some other easily available ingredients, tried them together repeatedly, and finally came up with a recipe for boiled duck feathers.

Zhao Zi said he wouldn't share this secret recipe with anyone. These days, he buys his own ingredients, even deliberately buying some he doesn't need that he can use later. He selects the ones he finds useful, mixes them according to the right proportions, and then has someone cook the raw materials and handle the subsequent steps.

While Zhao Zicheng was explaining casually, several large pots of duck feathers were processed. Several hired silkworm maids began to drain the water, spread the duck feathers out to dry, and comb them for disposal.

Deng Yue and Yang Zhi watched the entire production process and were shocked by Zhao Zicheng's open-mindedness.

Deng Yue, in particular, had helped the Murong family run the family business and knew a thing or two about business. He certainly knew how envious this new and ingenious way of making money would be if it were placed in other gentry families, even those of officials.

Zhao Zicheng showed it to his own people so openly and freely. This trust and magnanimity can no longer be described as generosity.

Deng Yue couldn't help but ask, "Sir, aren't you afraid of people stealing your skills?"

Zhao Zicheng was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "This thing is not as promising as you think. It has ten times or even a hundred times the profit right now, but it is just because others don't know its value and duck feathers are as cheap as fat soil.

When duck feather quilts become more common in the market and people realize the benefits of duck feathers, they will no longer be so cheap. We can't raise more ducks just for plucking, and we won't be able to make money from it for many years.

I'm thinking that in the land of fish and rice, Jiangnan, with its abundance of waterfowl, developing this method would benefit the people's livelihood, and I'm not worried about the barbarians learning from it. In the bitter cold north, where there aren't as many waterfowl, the Liao and Xia bandits wouldn't benefit from it. So, this time in Beijing, or next time I have the opportunity, I'll present this method to the court and ask for its promotion. It will benefit both the country and the people."

Zhao Zi said he knew that it was impossible to make this money in the long run, and the production capacity expansion of this industry was very limited.

After making some quick money by taking advantage of the time difference, you should consider using it to buy fame and exchange for political achievements.

"What an open and honest gentleman! I admire you so much." Deng Yue and Yang Zhi were both impressed and had great respect for Zhao Zicheng's realm.

There are actually such gentlemen in the world. After coming up with a clever way to make money, they make a little money for themselves, and then start thinking about promoting it to benefit people all over the world.

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PS: I am guilty. I wanted to keep it concise, but ended up writing a whole chapter just for a farming plot.

Please don't spray me.

(End of this chapter)