The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 773 Salt business, hold a banquet to ask for bribes

Salt was an unexpected harvest, not the reason why Yang Tong asked Li Keshi to come here urgently, but salt was related to the life and health of thousands of people in the Sui Dynasty. Once the problem was encountered, it had to be solved as soon as possible.

Yang Tong immediately brought Li Keshi back to the big tent and taught him the technique of extracting salt.

There are three types of salt: sea salt, well salt, and lake salt. Lake salt is also called pool salt. The Qinghai salt that is everywhere is a kind of lake salt. For example, the Chaka Salt Sea, Qinghai Lake, and the salt lakes in the Qaidam Basin have formed dry lakes after tens of millions of years of change. The salt crystals are exposed on the surface and can be directly excavated without processing. The only process required is purification, The two steps of drying are just two steps, but it is just that the purification technology is not in place, so it has not been developed, and it has been exposed to the wilderness for generations like soil.

However, compared to the complex and easily purified Hedong salt, the salt of Xihai is a natural high-grade edible salt with a very simple composition. First, it is liquefied into brine, and an appropriate amount of lime water is added, and several major impurities will undergo chemical reactions. Oppose, settle down, take the upper layer of clear water, then use soda water, and keep stirring until there is no more turbidity, the astringency can be removed, and finally steamed or dried to get high-quality table salt like snowflakes, and the rest is harmful to the human body Beneficial and harmless trace elements.

After listening to Yang Tong's technique, Li Keshi felt suddenly enlightened. After thinking about it carefully, this method seems to be nothing, the key is that no one has thought of it before.

"This method of making salt is actually very simple." Yang Tong said, "The hundreds of salt lakes in the West Sea are full of crystallized salt, and coal is used as fuel for liquefied crystallized salt and cooking. It's not a problem."

In any era, salt is the top priority of a country. On the one hand, it is related to the lives of thousands of people, and on the other hand, it is related to the taxation of the court.Because of any dynasty, the salt tax is a small amount that cannot be ignored.

The salt of the West Sea is backed by the inexhaustible Chaka Salt Lake and the Qaidam Basin. As long as there are enough people, the production capacity is unimaginable. After that, it can be transported by official roads, the Yellow River, and Huangshui. It can be said that the salt of the West Sea has unique conditions .

Once the West Sea becomes a major salt-producing area, the impact on all aspects will be huge.

In particular, the Qaidam Basin, relying on the innate conditions such as iron, copper, salt, and coal, which is rich in the local area, will surely become an industrial center specializing in salt, iron, and copper products in the Sui Dynasty like later generations.

"My lord, according to what you said, this kind of salt has the characteristics of local materials, simple method, low cost, high quality and low price. Once it goes on the market, it will definitely cause a sensation, and it will instantly beat the expensive fine salt on the market. Coarse salt, poisonous salt. Let them close down. If salt is produced, how will it be sold?"

Li Keshi knew that Yang Tong only let him know this salt-making technology. Obviously, it was a secret technique that he cherished for himself, and it was only used by the court, instead of giving the huge profits to the salt merchants.

Yang Tong said: "This kind of technology and products that are beneficial to thousands of people should be used to benefit the people and must not be used as a tool for some people to make huge profits. I still plan to include them in the Ministry of Commerce and be sold by the supply and marketing cooperatives at a fair price."

The Supply and Marketing Cooperative is a government-run supermarket chain. It not only sells luxury goods such as glazed products and heroes, but also agricultural tools, ironware, grain, oil, and other items related to people's livelihood. Due to the continuous bumper harvest and the large amount of reserves from the imperial court to stabilize prices, Therefore, the prices of grain and oil have always been stable, and there have been no incidents of low grain prices hurting farmers or high grain prices hurting the people. The importance of salt is not weaker than grain, so naturally it must be included in the scope of the imperial court's control and take the road of making small profits and benefiting the people.

"If it is under the control of the imperial court, the price of salt will drop sharply, which is really a blessing for the people of the world. The sage is benevolent and righteous." Li Keshi praised him and expressed his own thoughts: "After the salt from the West Sea is made, it can be transported to Jincheng through Huangshui. Then it was transported through the Yellow River to Huining, Lingwu, Wuyuan, Yulin, Dingxiang, Mayi, Loufan, Yindiao, Lishi, Longquan, Yan'an, Wencheng and other county supply and marketing cooperatives on both sides of the Yellow River, and finally distributed to Yong, Merge the inland counties of the two prefectures; the second route is to enter Guanzhong through the Weishui River; the third route is to go south from Heyuan and enter Yizhou. The fourth route is to transport from Daxing to Luoyang through the Guangtong Canal, and then take Luoyang as the center. It is transported to all parts of the country through canals and official roads. As for the counties close to the West Sea, it can be transported by land nearby.”

"If this is the case, the transportation cost will still remain high. I plan to use the salt from the West Sea to solve the salt problem in the Sui Dynasty to the west of Luoyang with the method of Prefect Li; as for the east of Luoyang, sea salt is the main source." Yang Tong laughed. road.

"Can this method also be used for sea salt?"

"Yes." Yang Tong said: "The high price of salt is mainly due to the lack of production capacity, and the lack of production capacity is due to the wrong method of salt production. If sea salt replaces the steaming method with the sun-dried method, the long coast is the land of salt production, and the output is natural. That's it. Although table salt is an essential food, it is a condiment after all. A catty of salt can last five people's household for ten and a half months. So after the first wave of influence, people's demand will drop greatly, and However, table salt continues to enter the market, and the price will naturally drop. At this time, table salt will appear in a situation similar to 'cheap grain hurts farmers', but production must not be stopped, so in order to maintain a large number of salt farmers, then To open up new business avenues."

"Takeaway via the Silk Road?" Master Li's eyes lit up.

In today's world, not only in the Sui Dynasty, but also in the Western Regions and other countries because of insufficient technology, the price of salt in various countries is also high.If you go north from the West Sea, you can enter Zhangye through Dadouba Valley. If you start from the Qaidam Basin and cross the Daxiaochaidan, Altun Mountains, and Qibian Mountain Pass, you can reach Dunhuang. Leading to the Northern Silk Road in the Western Regions.But if you go directly to the west from the Qaidam Basin and pass through Mangya, you will be Shanshan and Qiemo, and then you will go to the Western Regions. This is the Southern Silk Road. For the West Sea, the Southern Silk Road is undoubtedly closer.

"I think so too. After the salt from the West Sea satisfies the domestic demand, it is specially used to earn money from the Western Regions, Western Turks, and Persia at a high price."

Yang Tong said with a smile: "To produce a large amount of salt, you need to hire a large number of Xihai people to mine raw materials, and everyone's life will be rich because of salt. For the local people, mining salt raw materials is more beneficial than grazing, and gradually They will settle near the saltworks, and even attract many Hexi people to come, and you, the parent official of Xihai, only need to divide the land equally and settle it properly, and you will save a lot of trouble for management and education in the future. In the long run, the nomadic people It’s no different from our Central Plains. But everything is difficult at the beginning, and your burden is also heavy now.”

"My lord, I am not afraid that the burden is heavy, but I am afraid that there is no burden." Although Li Keshi is Li Jing's younger brother, the difference between the two brothers is 11 years. A vigorous "vigor".Otherwise, he would not give up the good life in Guanzhong, so he asked his orders to be released, and became a prefect of Xiajun with relish.

But if Yang Tong follows Yang Tong's thinking and goes smoothly, this Xihai County, which is not even qualified to go down to the county, will sooner or later develop into a Shangshang County that has attracted worldwide attention.

Yang Tong also liked this kind of "vigorous" official, and said with a smile: "Large-scale production requires large-scale workshops, so there is no rush. You should write down all these steps first, and let the craftsmen do it many times. Test the addition ratio of lime water and alkaline water, and strive to produce the best table salt, and then use this formula to produce a large amount of salt.”

"My servant obeys." Master Li said excitedly.The emperor asked him to be solely responsible for the refining of salt, and obviously did not treat him as an outsider. This strong trust made him very encouraged and moved.

"You can start with Chaka Salt Lake and make this a success story, and then expand to other places when you have enough people."

"Here."

"Yesterday, more than [-] Tubo soldiers were captured. Half of them need to build Jishi Pass, and the other half will be your labor. First, build workshops, blast furnaces and other infrastructure near Chaka Salt Lake, and then dig coal."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Master Li Ke was overjoyed. What he was most worried about now was the manpower. The tens of thousands of captives were like pillows that fell from the sky before going to bed.

"You can use these captives at ease, it doesn't matter if they are all dead, I'll just catch them again." Yang Tong said indifferently.

"Hey hey!" Master Li suddenly smiled sinisterly, such an attitude was exactly what he hoped for.

. . . . . . . . . . .

"Developing the salt industry in the West Sea is just one of the reasons why I asked you to come here." Yang Tong also wanted to save face, and naturally he would not say that the important salt industry was an accidental product after listening to Wei Fengwu and Li Keshi chatting, "Still There is another reason."

"Please give me your orders." Listening to His Majesty's tone, another matter seemed to be more important than the great cause of salt, Master Li also became serious.

"There is also an anti-Sui force that has been entrenched in the West Sea for many years. About this force, I only know three pieces of information. First, the leader of this force is named Tuoba Wei, and I suspect that he is a remnant of the Wei Dynasty; second, they With Fuluochuan City as the center, it developed to the surrounding area, and used hostage-taking methods to force the surrounding ministries to contribute supplies and support the army; thirdly, Tuoba Wei was connected with the opposing forces of the kings of many countries in the Western Regions; Fourth, Tuoba Wei intends to surrender to Tubo, and use Tubo's power to establish an anti-Sui country based on the West Sea and Heyuan." Yang Tong said the true meaning of this trip.

Master Li's head buzzed, as if it had exploded. After all, rebellion has been the most serious crime since ancient times. If the local officials were ignorant before the rebellion, they would all be punished afterwards. The crime will be punished, and one will end up with the family being ransacked and exterminated.

He bowed his hands nervously and said: "As the prefect of Xihai County, I don't know anything about this force. This is a serious dereliction of duty. Please punish me."

"You have been the prefect of Xihai for less than a month, and this is not your responsibility." Yang Tong helped him up, and said with a smile: "This force, in fact, was established as early as when Li Gui was pacified and Ye Hu was defeated. I have already found out and asked the Western Regions Xingtai to investigate openly and secretly, but their actions are secretive and hidden very deeply, so they have not been able to find out why, and I only found out that the leader is called Tuoba Wei yesterday."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your innocence." Mr. Li Ke breathed a sigh of relief.

"I don't know exactly how many troops there are in Tuoba Wei." Yang Tong said, "What I'm worried about now is that if the war between the Sui Dynasty and the Ertu Allied Forces comes to a stalemate, he will give us a fatal blow from behind. Therefore, I I plan to cut through the mess with a quick horse, and cut it off before the decisive battle."

Reassured, Li Keshi hesitated for a moment, and said, "Your Majesty, we don't know anything, so it might not be easy to uproot it in such a short period of time, right?"

"I know."

Yang Tong nodded and said, "Tuoba Wei's men, there is a Tocharian named Jialuohan, do you know this person?"

"My lord, Jia Luohan is a big man in Fuluochuan City, and many people know him." Master Li continued to introduce: "A few years ago, the whole country was in turmoil, and the Hexi Corridor was also in a situation of separatist rule. , Hexi Ligui, Longxi Xueju, and Yongbei Liangshi capitals, resulting in the obstruction of the Northern Silk Road of the Hexi Corridor, and the Southern Silk Road of 'West Sea-Qaidam Basin-Altun Mountains-Western Regions' also Therefore, it ushered in the peak of development. In this, Galahan played exactly the same role as the previous Tuyuhun. In order to make a profit, he not only took on the important task of guiding the direction and providing armed escort, but also bought it from Hu merchants at a low price. The bloody horses from the Western Regions and Persian carpet specialties were sold at high prices. In the hands of Xue Ju and Li Yuan, Li Shimin’s war horse Shifachi was the Persian BMW that Jia Shihan gave to Li Yuan. As for Central Plains items, he also bought them from Central Plains merchants at low prices. He bought special products such as "Silk Porcelain Paper Medicinal Tea" in his hand, and then resold them to Hu merchants at a high price. He sat firmly in Fuluochuan City, and through the hands of merchants on both sides, he made a huge difference in price. He became a great man in the West Sea."

Although Mr. Li has been in office for a short time, he has a very good understanding of the local forces. This is also the first job that the new official must do well after taking office.

Yang Tong nodded. This is good news. No wonder the old man Su Sang said that Jia Luohan is easy to find. It turns out that he is a rich man in Xihai, so this matter will be easy to handle.He hurriedly said to Li Keshi: "In this case, Jia Luohan is equivalent to Ling Jing, Shangshu of the Ministry of Commerce, who is in charge of the most important thing, money. It can be seen that Tuoba Wei has a lot of trust in him, and it must be very important to know the secrets. Small."

"The Holy Master Mingjian." Li Keshi also thinks so.

Yang Tong pondered for a moment, then made a decision, and said with a smile: "In the name of your patrol here, call all the big men in Fuluochuan City, and say that you hold a bonfire banquet for local gentry."

"Here." Master Li smiled wryly upon hearing this.

The officials before Emperor Shengwu, after they took office, many people would make up their names, win over the gentry, and blackmail part of the money in the name of paying taxes and donations. Then the officials and gentry colluded to squeeze the people and embezzle the court money, and everyone was happy in the end.

Whoever wants to do this now will suffer disaster for the whole family.Even though they escaped by chance at first, the officials of the Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of Defense who went deep into the people would wring them out one after another from the feast of the new officials, and there would be a lot of them at once.Therefore, the current officials dare not host or attend banquets.

Now that the emperor made such an arrangement, he probably intended to make himself a corrupt official temporarily, in the name of holding a banquet to extort bribes, and tricked all the big men in Fu Luochuan to come here.However, this method is indeed a good way to make the big men in Fuluochuan relax.

(End of this chapter)