Daqin Fusu: It is difficult to start the battle

Chapter 157

On the road that runs almost parallel to the Wei River, cars are like running water and horses are like dragons.

Fusu was sitting on the golden root car, facing Zhao Ji who was radiant and moist at first sight, Tian Ji who was hugging Ying Yinman and whispering in whispers, and Qi Ruier who was huddled in a corner and drawing circles.

The military parade for the La Festival is over, and when returning to Xianyang, apart from paying homage to the mausoleums of successive Qin emperors on the south bank of the Wei River, there is no need for the emperor's frame, so Tian Ji and the others unanimously decided not to leave Fusu.

After all, there are sofas, heaters, and springs under the carriage of the six-horse horse, which greatly improves the comfort of long-distance travel.

Fusu let out a long sigh again, and began to express his sorrow under Qi Ruier's mournful eyes.

One of them was sent by the son of the Shaofu, asking him when he would go to inspect the Hedong salt field and asked him about the sales of the salt produced by the new law.

Of course, Fusu directly skipped the string of eulogizing words at the beginning and the end of the memorial.

As for the new method he mentioned, Fusu imitated the improved method of reclamation and irrigation that later generations saw in the Hedong Salt Industry Museum.

Why is Hedong salt called bitter salt?

It is because the fishing method was adopted first.

That is to say, it is exposed to the sun every day, crystallizes naturally, and then let the salt miners go to the salt pond to fish directly, which is completely dependent on the sky.

After all, the weather in Hedong Yanchi is dry and hot, with sufficient sunlight, and the annual precipitation is far less than the annual evaporation.

And it is located at the northern foot of Zhongtiao Mountain. The south wind passes through the Zhongtiao Valley. Due to the narrow tube effect, the wind force is strengthened, which can quickly blow away the water vapor generated during brine drying, so that the sun can illuminate the brine more effectively, and the brine continues to evaporate, accelerating Salt crystals precipitated.

But also because of this, what was obtained in the initial fishing method was coarse salt containing impurities such as magnesium sulfate, which tasted bitter.

Although it is also salt, it is not easy to sell, so it is very cheap.

Moreover, it depends on the sky for food, and the output is also low.

A "Song of the South Wind" handed down from the period of Yu Shun vividly reflects the relationship between the Yantian in Hedong and the lives of the people at that time.

So in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Yanchi adopted the method of reclamation and watering.

It is to manually open up a field outside the salt pond, and introduce the brine in the salt pond into the furrow through the ditch, and wait for the water to evaporate and crystallize into salt.

But in doing so, what you get is still bitter salt.

As a traverser, Fusu naturally chose the improved method of cultivating fields and watering and drying in one step.

On top of the original farmland watering and drying, fresh water and brine are used to dry salt.

Due to the low temperature of fresh water and high temperature of brine, the original temperature of brine has been adjusted, and impurities such as magnesium sulfate and sodium sulfate are decomposed to form a "nitrate board". , and the crystallization time is greatly shortened, and salt can be formed in five or six days.

In the past dynasties since the birth of the improved version, Hedong Salt Pond has always occupied an important position in the salt industry. With the power of one place, it accounted for one-eighth of the country's fiscal revenue, and even reached one-sixth in the glorious period. !

In Fusu's view, the Hedong Salt Pond is not only a source of income for the empire, but also has another important meaning.

People can't do without salt, especially in this era where human beings dominate.

Doing heavy work will inevitably lead to profuse sweating, and sweating will take away the salt in the body, so there is such a record in "Guanzi Haiwang Chapter":
'In a family of ten, ten people lick salt, in a family of one hundred, a hundred people lick salt.For the amount of table salt, five liters is less than half for a husband in one month, three liters is less than half for a woman, and two liters is less than half for a baby. '

In other words, an adult man needs five and a half liters of salt per month.

One liter in Qin State is about 200 milliliters in later generations. Because of the business relationship between Qi State and Qin State, it changed its own measurement units such as liter, bean, quarter, kettle, and bell into liter and dou, which are similar to Qin State's unit value.

So in conversion, the salt consumed by an adult man in one month is about 1000 milliliters, about two catties!

Therefore, Qi State, which has the benefits of fish and salt, is extremely rich.

Fusu bought tea at a high price in the Jiangnan area, and used the benefits to lure the "eight thousand Jiangdong children" to reclaim barren hills and grow tea, so as to disintegrate the appeal of the Xiang family to them.

This is the inspiration he got from a documentary in later generations. Another means of the government's anti-secession is to give those social idlers a chance to exchange labor for remuneration.

After all, Brother Kong Fang is loved by everyone!
But to govern Qidi, which is also a gunpowder keg, needs to be prepared with both hands.

One is to favor Tian Ji, who was born in the family of the King of Qi. When the time is right, she can be canonized as a queen, and she will strive to have a boy and become a prince.

In this way, if the Qi girl is the queen, and the son born to the Qi girl will be the next Qin emperor, then the scholars and people of the Qi state will have a sense of identity with the Qin state.

So the emperor's lust is to work for the country, which is different from ordinary people!
The second is to lower the price of salt and crack down on private salt dealers in Qidi.

In Fusu's memory, the industry of private salt dealers should not be underestimated. After all, they want money and riches, and there are countless desperadoes under them!

During this period, the private salt dealers in Qi were mainly the princes left over from Qi, and they were also the main force for Tian Dan to restore Qi in later generations.

If you want to deal with private salt dealers, you can't just rely on severe punishments and strict laws.

Those who engage in this business, like the drug lords of later generations, know their end.

but……

The wages of avarice is death!

So what Fusu has to do is to transport a large amount of salt to Qi after it is produced in Hedong, and dump it with official power.

Compared with private salt dealers' seawater boiling salt method, the cost of using the cultivation method of watering and sunning is lower, and directly lowers the retail price of common salt to the cost of private salt dealers.

Let them sell a catty of salt and lose a catty of money!

Solve the problem of private salt dealers once and for all.

As for whether the imperial court has so much salt?

There is absolutely no need to worry about this.

Because Fusu has not only the Hedong Salt Lake, but also the Dingbian Salt Lake, the Jilantai Salt Lake, and the Chaka Salt Lake that is about to be captured from the Qiang people!
Of course, in order to achieve this goal, another means is needed, and Fusu will make up for it after returning to Xianyang.

After transcribing the thoughts in his heart to another piece of bamboo paper, Fusu left his own comments on Gong Ziyan's memorial.

1. The matter of patrol inspection is temporarily put on hold.

The country is unstable, so for a long period of time in the future, he will not leave the power center near Xianyang.

2. The salt produced in Hedong will still be sold outside according to last year's plan, but the salt that has been increased due to the new law will be sealed up for other use.

Fu Su closed the memorial, glanced at the group of four who were doing nothing on the side of the carriage, and was about to tell them a story.

That is another version of Huangdi fighting Chiyou that he saw in the Salt Industry Museum.

(End of this chapter)