Turbulent Times Chapter 934: There is a pearl left in the grass
(Thank you very much for the generosity of 'book friend 18672397' for the five thousand coins and the support of 11 monthly tickets.)
The golden time for cooking salt is from October to January every year. During this period of time, it is the slack season. Almost all the people in Fanyang County will be mobilized to provide dry firewood for the saltworks. During these three months, the saltworks produce Salt is almost half as much throughout the year.
In fact, this is not only the case in Fanyang County, but also in the five major salt-producing counties in the East China Sea. Because the consumption of wood is too much, it has to be shipped from far away, so the price of sea salt is getting more and more expensive.
After Liu Yanlang, another salt worker said immediately: "My lord, the villain's name is Lian Zhongtao. The villain thinks that salt is an official operation. After removing the capital, and then taxing it heavily, this is the output." The reason why the price of official salt is as expensive as silver, and this has also led to the flood of private salt!"
The same weight of salt is almost equal to the same weight of silver. Although it is a metaphor, it shows how expensive sea salt is. Of course, the salt worker named Lian Zhongtao was right about the reason why it was so expensive. The heavy salt tax of the imperial court was indeed the source.
In the same way, the price of private salt is one-third or even one-fifth of official salt. People are not stupid, so they naturally want to buy private salt that is much cheaper than official salt. The underground salt produced by Lu's The main reason why the industry can make huge profits is that it has a market.
"Your name is Lian Zhongtao. Listening to your words, you seem to have read a book." Although what Liu Yanlang said before was pertinent, as long as he has rich experience and a flexible mind, he can think of it, but this time this person is called Lian Zhongtao What the salt workers said is beyond what experienced ordinary salt workers can think of.
Lian Zhongtao was shocked when he heard the words, and said: "The villain is originally from Jiangdu. Three years ago, because of a crime, he was assigned by the government to be a salt slave in the salt field of Fanyang County. Last year, the villain discovered the tide ahead of time. , and reported it to avoid some losses in the saltworks, and was taken as a slave by Mr. Dong at the time, and became a salt worker.”
Wang Junlin nodded, did not say anything, and motioned for the other three to continue. This made Lian Zhongtao feel a little worried. Although he was imprisoned in the salt field, he also guessed that the new prefect was at odds with Mrs. Lu. And that Dong Kang is obviously a member of the Lu family, so he couldn't help worrying that the prefect would not like it because he mentioned Mr. Dong.
After the other three salt workers had spoken, Wang Junlin nodded and said, "That's right, you five are all knowledgeable, you can be regarded as sensible people, Liu Yanlang, Zhang Qi, Wang Mazi, Li Gou'er, you The four of them are master master craftsmen from now on, and there is still a shortage of master master master craftsmen. Xu Xiaohu, you can choose one more, and another fifty ordinary master craftsmen. Get ready, and I will arrange a study and assessment later. Only by passing it can you truly become a Master Master or Master Master."
The four salt workers who were named were overjoyed when they heard the news, they knelt down and kowtowed to Wang Junlin to thank Wang Junlin. , After kneeling and kowtowing to Wang Junlin, he also wanted to leave, but Wang Junlin suddenly said: "Lian Zhongtao stay."
Lian Zhongtao's body shook, he stopped quickly, and respectfully said yes, at this moment he almost cried, he thought he had missed a great opportunity to ascend to heaven.
"You follow me." Wang Junlin seemed not to notice the excitement of the ups and downs on Lian Zhongtao, and walked forward. Zhang Tiangang glanced at Lian Zhongtao and followed, and even Zhongtao hurriedly followed behind .
The method of cooking salt like a baby by master craftsmen is actually very simple. Even with Wang Junlin's level of chemical knowledge, he can tell what's going on at a glance, let alone let Nie Xiaoyu take action, so the reduction in salt production In terms of cost and efficiency improvement, Wang Junlin waited for Nie Xiaoyu to come. What he has to do now is to make preparations in advance. On the basis of winning the hearts of all salt workers and salt slaves yesterday, by selecting the backbone from them, Further firmly control these people in their own hands.
However, Wang Junlin had always had a question in his mind, and at this time he wanted to further test Lian Zhongtao, so he asked, "I heard that there is a method of sun-drying salt. This method does not need to be boiled, but directly uses sunlight and salt. It is obtained by the wind and the sun, which greatly reduces the cost, why doesn't the saltworks use this method?"
Based on Wang Junlin's poor knowledge of chemistry, salt is soluble in water. Once the seawater dries up, wouldn't layers of salt precipitate out?
He didn't bring it up these days, because he thought that the salt farm has been cooking salt for more than a thousand years. These people study this every day, and they are not fools. If the method of drying salt works, how could they not use it? It takes five hundred catties of firewood to boil a stone of salt, and it also requires too much manpower.
Lian Zhongtao didn't have any extra expressions on his face, and replied honestly: "What your lord said is very true. In theory, the method of drying salt is indeed feasible, but the method of boiling salt in the salt field is really a last resort. Because The salinity of seawater is far lower than that of inland salt ponds and brines, and it takes too long to dry the salt, and there is not enough sunlight in winter, and it is even useless when it is cloudy. Compared with boiling salt, the efficiency is too poor.”
Wang Junlin nodded, not much surprise on his face, Lian Zhongtao's answer was similar to what he imagined, but Lian Zhongtao actually knew the salt ponds and brines in the inland, this is not something that just anyone can know Yes, you must know that the channels for obtaining knowledge and information in this era are too scarce and narrow. In addition to traveling thousands of miles to see things in this area, you have read books on this area, and of course you may have heard other people say it. Bear in mind, but either way, it's far beyond the knowledge of an ordinary salt worker in a seaside saltworks.
Seeing Wang Junlin nodded with admiration on his face, Lian Zhongtao boldly said again: "My lord, in fact, the salt field is in the sun when the sun is strongest in summer and autumn, and the supply of timber is not urgent. Salt is produced by half-boiling, which imitates the method of well salt in Bashu. After autumn, the brine is first stored in the sun to increase the concentration, and then decocted in winter, so as to reduce fuel and cost.”
Wang Junlin glanced at Lian Zhongtao thoughtfully, and suddenly said, "Have you mastered the method of cooking salt?"
Lian Zhongtao shook his body, and said: "My lord's eyes are like a torch, the villain has indeed guessed the method of cooking salt based on the clues in the past three years. If the lord gives the villain a chance, the villain will demonstrate it now." Fan."
"That's fine." Wang Junlin glanced at the direction of the sea, and then at the entrance of the salt field, thinking that Lu Han and Guan Xiaotong led more than 500 cavalry to keep running around these days. They were exhausted, and at least they had to rest for half a day. Time to recover before thinking about doing other things.
In addition, counting the time, if Fang Qiao goes well, the emperor's secret decree should have arrived. There are not enough troops in hand, and the emperor has not given power to suppress Xue Li, so as to mobilize the county soldiers. Some things cannot be done for the time being. Can only wait.