179 5.68 Production of Hamigachiko And Kaori No Kyandoru Commences (2/2)

After performing a demonstration and letting the girls make a new batch and scent, they picked up the skills very fast.

In order to make Hamigachiko, the following ingredients were used:

25 litres of unscented coconut oil.

25 kilograms of pure unbaked baking soda

1 litre of peppermint Essense

For every kilo of baking soda, I added 1 litre of coconut oil and stir. This is a 3 people operation per cauldron and once all the baking soda and coconut oil had been thoroughly mixed, I added the peppermint Essense and stirred.

After some time the whole paste becomes uniform in texture and it would be then poured into the porcelain ware up to a certain level and closed.

Its very simple to produce and market this product and it would be a hit for the rich and famous. The porcelain container was also airtight and the contents would last a week, at most 10 days.

Next for the Scented candle:

The wicks must be measured about an inch above the beehive-shaped clay bottle. Then it was secured by paper glue right at the bottom and dead centre.

A piece of skewer was used to secure the wick upright so that it won't move about.

The spermaceti would be heated until it became slightly liquid base and left to cool in the cauldron. About 5 minutes or so, use a scoop and slowly pour in the contents. The beehive clay bottles were placed in a 6x6 holding tray so it won't about.

Using the glass eyedropper, each clay bottle requires 5 drops of Essense each. After that, the holding trays are carried slowly to be stacked in a height of 10 x 5 per pallet. Each pallet would be able to hold 1,800 beehives shaped Scented candle bottles.

4 types of scent could be produced at one time and each girl assigned for each scent would label the holding box so it won't be mixed with other scents.

Mesen-san and his nephew were briefing all the 72 assemblers on how to install the components of the STM and by 3 hours of demonstration followed a trial, they managed to set up 8 machines in under 4 hours.

The 2nd shift went back at 11 pm as production resumes at 11 pm onwards by the 3rd shift. In a 24 hours cycle, the assemblers could produce between 30-45 STM.

I quickly draft out the 12-months instalment scheme for the treasury to vet and get a sample draft for the Head of Treasurer to read and to make several changes in the morning when we meet him.

The next morning when Hiko-sama and I went to meet the Head of Treasurer, he takes a look for the instalment scheme and liked it very much and he approves the draft. We went to a printing shop to prepare the stencilling of the instalment agreement and made 200 for Kitakata, 400 each for Aizuwakamatsu and Yonezawa and 600 copies for Shibata.

I requested the assistance of the Head Treasurer to write 3 letters to the Treasury in the said towns stating the documents are being approved by him and could be implemented immediately.

Once the 200 copies of the instalment copies are ready, we kept it on our side first, while we engaged the Messenger Guild to do another despatch of the instalment schemes and a letter and sample instalment agreement from the Head Treasurer to Aizuwakamatsu, Yonezawa and Shibata and paid for the costs.

The courier would have to make 2 stops to send the instalment scheme to the branch office first, and then for the Head Treasurer. Now we have to think of the delivery since it would be done on a daily basis.

Delivery of 6 STM x 2 wagons x 3 towns daily would be performed by 3 x ambassadors and 3 x guards paired squarely and moved out by 9 am.

The guards will be armed with a Kodachi while the 2 delivery boys had their 2 prop katana placed behind their backs like a shinobi. They were advised not to engage any hostiles but to display the skull and crossbones prominently. All they had to do when faced with Bandits are to only taunt them.

After the next 2 days, we had arranged for the first delivery of the STM. As it was the first, the process would take longer than usual because the sales lady has to inform the first 12 customers to come and sign the agreement and processed to the Treasury first. Upon approval, the delivery boys would then deliver.

The items were then sent to the clients' homes and a simple demonstration was made by the delivery boy. Before the delivery boy leaves, he made sure that all bolts and nuts were tight and to tighten them up if necessary, as the roads were a bit bumpy towards the town.

After completion, the sales lady would call another 12 more clients to sign the agreement and were delivered to the Treasury on the same day. The transaction of the STM instalment scheme by the bank was made by the deposit slips directly to the corporate account. In this manner, there is an income of 360 coins daily. These slips were compiled by Hiko-sama and deposited on a weekly basis...

After we had sent the Refined Iron and the letters to the Blacksmith Alliance in Tochigi Prefecture and the 11 cities some time back, we had their replies stating the amount that they require for every fortnight. The orders were as follow:

Ashikaga Blacksmith Alliance 12,000

Kanuma Blacksmith Alliance 7250

Moka Blacksmith Alliance 6150

Nasushiobara Blacksmith Alliance 7500

Nikko Blacksmith Alliance 6765

Otawara Blacksmith Alliance 7105

Oyama Blacksmith Alliance 7810

Sano Blacksmith Alliance 7460

Shimotsuke Blacksmith Alliance 7245

Tochigi Blacksmith Alliance 7700

Utsunomiya Blacksmith Alliance 38,500

115,485 pieces of Refined Iron was required to supply the needs of these towns and we could supply 3 towns per day with our new mould injected systems. Thank God, we would be able to achieve this feat. If anyone had a heart attack, that person would have long been 6 feet underground already because earning close to 1.5 million coins per fortnight is a formidable achievement!