Great Tang princess

Chapter 418 Refined Salt Appears
Li Yuechen is a miraculous princess. Not to mention the whole country, at least in Dongdu... It should be said that those who follow her are convinced of this matter.

After all, she has produced too many things since she was a child.From the simplest princess plow, to bicycles and four-wheeled carriages, even she herself opened the era of human beings flying into the sky.

But even so, both Geng Yunqiang and the students in the military academy are still curious about how she can turn sea water into salt.

Rather, they also know that seawater is salty and there may be salt in it, but they have a strong curiosity about this process.

Seeing a group of children running to the edge of Yantian every day after class to watch, Li Yuechen didn't bother to stop it, let them take a look, some things, instead of just explaining them in books, it's better to let them see the process with their own eyes.

A few days passed, and the water in the salt pan also flowed from one pool to another under her command.

On the seventh day of June, in the classroom.

Li Yuechen is teaching the children moral and moral lessons.She was wearing a vest with bare arms, standing on the podium, answering the children's questions.

"Perhaps you have thought that we are the royal family, and there are no rules in this world that can bind us, right?"

The children below nodded. For them, this was a matter of course.

But Li Yuechen did not punish them for this, but replied: "Actually, on the contrary, because there are no rules to restrain us, as a royal family, we must learn to restrain ourselves!"

"Actually, looking at the past dynasties, the dynasties without self-restraint have all ended. The closest to me is the Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty! Going forward, during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the emperors were worse than each other. So they perish after all!"

Li Chengqi, who was sitting in the back, didn't understand, raised his hand and asked, "Then I dare to ask, is it right or wrong to kill people?"

Li Yuechen nodded with a smile: "This is a good question! Actually, let me take myself as an example. I am a soldier, and I never shy away from killing people. I will not be soft on those who should be killed. But 'killing' itself is just a means, not a crime. purpose. In fact, the act of killing is inherently wrong, but we are responsible for this mistake!"

……

While chatting, a loud "report" suddenly sounded outside the door.

"Enter!"

After Li Yuechen agreed, a soldier pushed open the door of the classroom and said out of breath, "His... Your Highness! Salt has come out! The sea water has turned into salt!"

"Let's go and have a look!" Li Yuechen waved his hand lightly.

Just as she was about to leave, she saw that the children in the classroom were also staring at her with burning eyes, and the look of expectation in their eyes was self-evident.

She smiled, then waved to them gently: "Go, let's go together."

The children cheered in unison, and then ran out of the classroom after Li Yuechen.

When they came to the gate of the camp, they all stopped at the same time, and quickly lined up in two teams to go out quietly.

Although there are no martyrs' nameplates hanging on the street trees on both sides of here, this seems to have formed their instinct.

Seeing this scene, Li Yuechen felt a little relieved, at least it showed that the education of these children had worked, and the temperament of arrogance and domineering was gradually moving away from them.

When we came to the edge of the salt field, before we got close, we saw many soldiers forming a circle by the edge of a pool, talking to each other.

"What are you all doing here? You don't need to patrol anymore?" Geng Yunqiang was the first to see Li Yuechen approaching, and quickly cursed.

The surrounding soldiers agreed and hurriedly dispersed.

Such a scene made Li Yuechen couldn't help but smile, this guy was quick to cover for his subordinates.

But this is also a good thing. A general who loves his soldiers is a real good general.

After scolding, Geng Yunqiang trotted all the way over: "Your Highness, the salt is out!"

Li Yuechen agreed, and brought a group of children to the edge of Yantian.

In the pool, there are still some yellowish crystalline salts that are gradually increasing at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the liquid in the pool is also shining brightly under the sufficient sunlight.

Li Yuechen looked up and waved at Geng Yunqiang: "Ask people to put on their leather boots and go and look through them with a wooden shovel!"

"Yes!"

Geng Yunqiang agreed, and hurried over to convey the order.

After a while, more than a dozen soldiers entered the pool, using wooden shovels to continuously turn up the sticky white liquid at the bottom of the pool.

When it was almost solid, under Li Yuechen's order, it was pushed into piles of salt with a wooden shovel.

Li Yuechen brought Geng Yunqiang to a salt pile to observe. At present, the salt is still a little yellow, and it is still a large crystallization, the largest one is even the size of a fist.

Geng Yunqiang subconsciously stretched out his hand to taste it, but Li Yuechen slapped it on the back of his hand: "It's not over yet, what's the rush? You can't eat this salt right now! It's slightly poisonous!"

"Hiss..." Geng Yunqiang was slapped on the back of his hand. The painful Geng Yunqiang took a deep breath, covered the back of his hand and rubbed it gently back and forth.

Upon hearing this sentence, the children who were eager to try also silently withdrew their hands, and several children looked at Geng Yunqiang with pity.

I have heard that my aunt's strength is infinite, even incomparable to the wrestlers in the palace. It must be painful to be whipped.

At this moment, there were bursts of exclamations from the side.

Turning his head, he saw that it was a few craftsmen from the Academy of Engineering and some captives under the engineering unit.

Although the engineering troops are specialized in work, many of the dirty work is still done by some captives captured by Tubo and Turks.

At this time, they all ran towards the edge of the salt field with a look of surprise, Li Yuechen turned his head: "Send someone to stop them, don't let them eat the unfinished salt."

"Yes!"

Geng Yunqiang waved his hand, and immediately a group of soldiers stopped them, only letting them watch outside, not allowing them to go in and touch the freshly crystallized salt.

However, there was still a Tubo man who knocked away the intercepting soldiers, but because of his unsteady feet, he fell down in front of the salt pile.

Then without saying a word, he picked up a handful of salt with both hands and was about to stuff it into his mouth.

Li Yuechen reacted quickly, and in a blink of an eye, he had already come to the captive, and just as he was about to stuff the salt into his mouth, he kicked him on the wrist, breaking up the handful of salt.

Because Li Yuechen withdrew his force deliberately, so it didn't break his wrist.

Just when he was about to continue to grab, he was dragged back by two soldiers by his ankles, no matter how hard he struggled, it was useless, and he was directly pressed to the ground.

The soldier next to him quickly ran over to salute: "I am truly ashamed of His Highness for letting this dog kill me to collide..."

"Okay, nothing!"

Li Yuechen waved his hand, it was understandable for the Tubo man's behavior.

The output of Tubo salt in this period was also very low, and it was also not affordable for ordinary people.Moreover, their salt is red, which is not as good as the white salt in the mainland as a whole.

Fortunately, Tubo is a country with both animal husbandry and farming, and the people at the bottom who cannot afford salt can occasionally supplement some salt by eating meat and other methods.

The pool for drying salt is built with a higher middle and lower surroundings. In this way, as long as the coarse salt is piled in the middle, the mother liquor will naturally flow to the surroundings and separate the two.

"Well, now put all the coarse salt into the pool over there, and then stir well..."

Hearing this, Geng Yunqiang was shocked: "Your Highness, why did you dissolve the salt again?"

In the eyes of people in this era, the only requirement for salt is that it does not kill people, and it is good to eat some.

But Li Yuechen naturally couldn't use this heavy metal salt to fool his mother, but he didn't rush to explain, just smiled and said: "The next few days, watch carefully!"

After speaking, she waved her hand and ordered the soldiers to do as she said.

The soldiers carrying out the order also had expressions of pity and incomprehension on their faces, and they transferred the yellowish-white coarse salt into the water with wooden shovels.

This scene made many craftsmen who were stopped over there look ashen, and even a few of them burst into tears.

It was also thanks to Li Yuechen's good temper, so a craftsman bravely walked over and saluted, "Dare to ask Your Highness, why did you dissolve the salt again?"

"After a few days, you'll understand when you come and take a look!" Li Yuechen didn't bother to explain, waved his hands and took the children back.

The principle, she plans to explain to them after a few days.

……

That night, everyone in the camp received the news that His Royal Highness had successfully produced salt. There were dozens of small mounds, and the amount was several thousand catties by visual inspection.

But there is another bad news, she dissolved the salt again!Don't know what to do.

In this era of lack of entertainment, this gossip news spread throughout the entire camp almost at night, even Wang Wuqiong, who was in charge of training female soldiers, heard about it, and sat with Xiao He to mutter it after returning.

In the new camp, Li Yuechen's room has changed into a layout similar to two bedrooms and one living room.

She lives in a room by herself, and Wang Wuqiong, the bodyguard, lives in another room with her maid Xiao He.

The current Li Yuechen is too lazy to gossip, he is sitting on a rattan chair in the room and fanning himself with a folding fan.

June is very hot, and the temperature is very high. Even after taking a bath after dinner, I still feel very hot.

She was wearing a low-cut camisole and a pair of silk shorts on her legs. She was lying on a rattan rocking chair facing the window to enjoy the shade.

At the same time, I couldn't help thinking in my heart, I must get out the cheongsam after the things here are almost done, otherwise the summer without air conditioning would be too sad.

Xiao He originally wanted to come over to fan her, but she refused.

After all, while Xiao He was fanning the wind, he was also sweating from exhaustion. Seeing her sweating profusely, he would also feel hot.

Finally, after eating a bowl of Su Shan, Li Yuechen climbed into bed and went to sleep.

……

Three days passed in a flash. During these three days, Li Yuechen and the soldiers in charge of salt making were making lime and caustic soda, which made them feel a little confused.

But no one dared to speak out, but followed the steps she said step by step.

On the fourth day, a group of children and senior military officers such as Geng Yunqiang were called into the production plant.

As soon as I came to the door, I saw soldiers carrying the snow-white refined salt in large porcelain basins into the room and pouring them into the prepared large vats.

The snow-white refined salt, like fine sand, formed waterfalls and was poured into the water tank.

Li Yuechen walked by the soldiers at work, looked at the large vats that were about to be filled with refined salt, and suddenly reached out and dipped a little bit with his fingers into his mouth.

A salty taste of the sea permeates the mouth, this familiar taste has been absent for more than [-] years.

These salts, except that they were not intentionally iodized, are no different from those after more than a thousand years in terms of appearance and taste.

Li Yuechen nodded, turned his head and spit, and said to himself: "Not bad! Come and try it too."

Geng Yunqiang and the others couldn't wait a long time ago, just waiting for this sentence.

Immediately, they came over to dip some with their fingers, observed carefully, and couldn't help saying: "This salt foam is too fine! It's almost like flour!"

"It's not that exaggerated..." Li Yuechen smiled, and then waved his hand to let them taste it.

After putting them in their mouths, they all opened their eyes wide, looking at each other in disbelief.

The coarse salt that I used to eat is basically bitter, that is, the bitterness can be reduced after cooking, but it still has a slightly bitter taste.

However, this salt has no bitterness at all, it is very salty!It's a taste that I couldn't even imagine before!

"Your Highness, this... really is a god!"

Li Yuechen smiled: "I didn't expect to succeed the first time. Okay, let's pack this batch of salt and send it back to Dongdu, and then make more while the weather is in!"

"Yes!" Geng Yunqiang quickly agreed.

Although he is not an official in the court, he also understands that once this thing comes out, it will cause a great shock in the court, and the businessmen who make a living by smuggling salt all over the country may go bankrupt.

The father and daughter Wang Xiaojie next to him were also shocked. They had never heard of this kind of salt, let alone seen it before.

Since ancient times, salt and iron have been run by officials, and the price of official salt is actually not low, and not all ordinary people can afford it.

So there are smuggled salt dealers, who reduce the cost by relying on the leftovers of official salt or mixing sand and vinegar cloth in the salt, and the natural price can be much lower than that of official salt.

Many ordinary people eat this kind of low-quality smuggled salt because they can't afford official salt, and they don't care if it's healthy or not, as long as they don't kill people.

And behind these private salt dealers, there are more or less backers.

Now that the refined salt comes out, according to the princess, the cost will be reduced and the salt will be sold at the price of cabbage... It is conceivable that the private salt market will cause a big earthquake in the future.

This is really not a joke. The first batch of experimental refined salt produced nearly [-] catties. If the salt field is really fully opened, it is estimated that the salt production will reach about one ton at a time!
This output is already completely oversupplied!
More than a dozen large vats of refined salt packed with white flowers were placed on the carriage, and a few letters from Li Yuechen were escorted to Dongdu by a battalion of soldiers.

Li Yuechen felt that it was time to try making MSG next.

And at this time, Jiang Zhengan, the governor of Qingzhou, also brought nearly a thousand soldiers over...

(End of this chapter)