Prince of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 241 Using Salt as a Sword

The person who came out at this time was none other than Lu Zhi, Minister of the Household Department.

Lu Zhi came from the Lu family in Fanyang, he was the representative and leader of the Lu family in the court, and even the one who proposed to marry the daughter of the Lu family to Zhang Sizheng in order to gain Gao Ming's support was also Lu Zhi.

In fact, Lu Zhi had no choice but to do so because the situation of Lu's family was not very good.

As the saying goes, it is called "every family has scriptures that are difficult to recite". Although Fan Yang and Lu belong to the aristocratic families with five surnames and seven Wangs, they are indeed ranked at the bottom. too close.

"Two Cui" refers to the Qinghe Cui family and the Boling Cui family. These two families are stronger than the Lu family no matter whether they are ruling forces or opposition forces. What's more, these two families are from the same line. Now The relationship is also very good.

People say that relying on the mountains to rely on the mountains to rely on the water to drink water, with such a powerful neighbor as "Two Cui", it is naturally not so easy for Fan Yang and Lu to reap benefits.

Facing the predicament, the members of the Lu family did not sit still, but learned from the "successful experience" of the Qinghe Cui family.

Didn't your Qinghe Cui family marry their daughter to Cheng Yaojin?Then our Lu family will too!

Therefore, Fan Yang Lu's patriarch at that time made an important decision, that is to marry Lu's prostitute daughter to Fang Xuanling.

As the saying goes, "There are people in the court who are easy to handle." With Fang Xuanling's help in the court, the Lu family finally got a chance to turn around.

Now that more than 20 years have passed, the Lu family has also stabilized its position and has become a member of the Five Surnames and Seven Wangs. Although the ranking is lower, it is at least a little better than the Wang family in Taiyuan.

Today's Wang family in Taiyuan is not as good as before, and many people call it the "Houlou Wang family", which means that the current Wang family has become a family like an ornament.

In private, some people have already excluded the Taiyuan Wang family from the "Five Surnames and Seven Wangs", leaving only the four surnames "Li, Cui, Zheng, and Lu".

It is estimated that the Wang family was also forced to do nothing. Seeing Gao Ming's strength, they just gritted their teeth and married an unmarried girl in the family to Li Goudan to gain Gao Ming's support.

In fact, they did the right thing. Let alone Li Goudan, who is less than 30 years old and has become the governor of Jinzhou, he is a potential stock worth investing in!

And for Gao Ming's face, the eldest grandson Wuji, Cheng Yaojin and others in the court will give Wang Ze some face, which also increases the power of the Wang family in the court.

The biggest advantage of the Lu family is that they are good at learning. Seeing that the Wang family's dependence on marrying a daughter is about to climb over his own head, Lu Zhi immediately made a decisive decision to marry his niece to Zhang Sizheng, Gao Ming's other confidant.

Lu Zhi's attitude was very resolute, and after learning that Zhang Sizheng had gone to Jinzhou, he even made people chase him to Jinzhou to gain Zhang Sizheng's favor.

Now, it's finally time to harvest!

As Lu Zhi expected, in less than three months, Gao Ming made a big move to expand the Hundred Knights from a small group of less than 200 people to a large army of nearly 2 people. Zhang Sizheng's status has also risen accordingly, and he has become a commander and acquaintance who leads thousands of people.

The Great Tang focused on military merits, so military generals were more popular than civilian officials, so even without the influence of Gao Ming, Zhang Sizheng's current status alone was enough to marry Lu Zhi's niece.

What's more, in Lu Zhi's opinion, it is impossible for Gao Ming to show nothing at all.

It was precisely because of this idea that when Gao Ming sent someone to invite him to the Royal Club, Lu Zhi immediately put down what he was doing and ran over excitedly.

After meeting Lu Zhi, Gao Ming went straight to the point.

"Lu Zhi, I know that the reason why the Lu family married their daughter to Zhang Sizheng was mainly for my face. Don't worry, I will give your Lu family a satisfactory dowry."

Of course, Lu Zhi didn't think that Gao Ming's dowry was just some money. After all, as Gao Ming's crown prince, it would be too vulgar to just give money, so Lu Zhi immediately showed a hint of excitement.

"I don't know what the betrothal gift His Royal Highness said is..."

Gao Ming didn't answer him directly, but pointed to the door behind him and laughed.

"You go to the house to drink tea first, and you will know what the betrothal gift is later."

Seeing that Gao Ming didn't say anything, Lu Zhi didn't want to ask more questions, so he could only enter the room obediently, waiting for Gao Ming's answer.

After waiting for nearly half an hour, Lu Zhi finally heard the movement outside, so he quickly held his breath and listened carefully.

What Lu Zhi heard was nothing but the conversation between Gao Ming and Tian Yi just now. After Tian Yi left, he opened the door and walked out.

Now when Gao Ming asked him what he thought of Tian Yi, he saluted Gao Ming with a smile.

"His Royal Highness is wise. This person is quite assertive, and he does not lack loyalty and courage. He is worth using!"

As the Minister of the Household Department of the Tang Dynasty, Lu Zhi is well-informed and has a good way of judging people. Gao Ming also believes in this, so after hearing his evaluation of Tian Yi, he also laughed.

"Haha, since Mr. Lu is so optimistic about Tian Yi, then I will let him be my representative and take full charge of the Fanyang Saltworks."

"saltworks?"

Hearing Gao Ming's words, Lu Zhi frowned immediately.

"His Royal Highness may have misremembered, right? We don't have a salt farm in Fanyang, and even the salt we usually use needs to be purchased from the salt merchants of the Cui family."

Having said that, a trace of helplessness flashed across Lu Zhi's face.

Gao Ming also knew why Lu Shi showed such an expression, and immediately couldn't help laughing again.

"Haha, don't worry, it will be three months soon, half a year later, and the Lu family will no longer have to buy salt from other people. Not only that, but Fan Yang will also become the largest salt producer in the entire Tang Dynasty!"

Gao Ming didn't lie, because according to the information he got, the sphere of influence of Fan Yang and Lu's family included Tianjin and the coast of the Bohai Sea, and this place has a famous name in later generations - Changlu Salt Field!
The Changlu Salt Field is the largest salt field in my country, and its annual salt production accounts for a quarter of the country. The Hangu Salt Field alone has an astonishing 119 million tons of annual output!

This is a very scary number.

However, Fan Yang and Lu's family occupy such a precious land, but they still have to spend money to buy salt from others. In Gao Ming's view, this is just begging for a golden rice bowl.

However, Gao Ming was not surprised by this incident. After all, the Tang Dynasty mainly produced salt by steaming in a pot, and sun-dried salt was only available in the Song Dynasty.

It is precisely because of this that Gao Ming intends to make the sun-dried salt method come out in advance!
Thinking of this, Gao Ming suddenly became a little excited.

"Old Lu, let me tell you, as long as you follow my method, the salt produced in one year is enough to supply the entire Tang Dynasty!"

As soon as Gao Ming finished speaking, Lu Zhi's eyes widened.

"Supply for the entire Tang Dynasty? At least 50 shi is enough?"

One stone in Datang is equivalent to 120 catties, and 50 stones is about [-] tons.

This is a very low number, but the current population of the Tang Dynasty is only about 300 million households. As the Minister of the Ministry of Households, Lu Zhi knows this well, so there is not much difference between his estimate and the facts.

But after listening to his words, Gao Ming couldn't help laughing again.

"50 shi? Your thinking is too conservative. Once you build the saltworks according to my method, the annual output can reach at least 200 million shi!"

Gao Ming didn't brag anymore, because the annual output of the Hangu Saltworks alone was 119 million tons, which would be 980 million shi when converted into Datang's counting unit. Gao Ming only counted one-tenth of it because of technical reasons.

Even so, Lu Zhi was shocked enough, his eyes widened immediately, and then he took a deep breath.

"Hiss... 200 million stones?"

Seeing his shocked appearance, Gao Ming nodded immediately.

"This is based on the minimum calculation, and if the workers work harder, it will not be a problem to double the output. With so much salt, I think it is enough to overwhelm the other companies!"

As soon as Gao Ming finished speaking, Lu Zhi immediately nodded vigorously.

"Enough is enough, the Cui family only produces about 20 shi of salt every year, and even Guanlong can produce less than [-] shi of salt every year, and the rest comes from Central Shu and Jiangnan Road. "

Having said this, Lu Zhi's face also became excited.

"If we can come up with 200 million... No, as long as we can come up with 100 million shi, the salt merchants in the whole world must be selling our salt!"

Lu Zhi didn't doubt Gao Ming's words, because he knew that if Gao Ming was not sure, he was just telling himself.

Seeing Lu Zhi's excited look, Gao Ming grinned again.

"How is it? Can the Lu family be satisfied with this dowry?"

Hearing Gao Ming's words, Lu Zhi immediately nodded his head like a chicken pecking rice.

"Satisfied, very satisfied! His Highness the Crown Prince has treated my Lu family with kindness again. If His Highness the Crown Prince gives orders in the future, all members of my Lu family will follow His Highness the Crown Prince's lead. If there is any regret, you will be punished by heaven!"

People in the Tang Dynasty value oaths very much, so they generally don't swear poisonous oaths at will. Once an oath is made, it is basically credible.

Lu Zhi was really serious, because he knew that if what Gao Ming said was true, then the rise of the Lu family was inevitable.

Seeing Lu Zhi's serious face, Gao Ming laughed again.

"Don't make such a poisonous oath. I don't want the Lu family to make huge profits with the salt. This salt farm doesn't need a penny from the Lu family. After the salt farm is completed, I will name it Datang Royal Salt Farm. As an operator, you can enjoy [-]% of the salt, and the salt is given to the Lu family for free."

Hearing Gao Ming's words, Lu Zhi fell silent immediately.

As Gao Ming said just now, the output of the saltworks is more than 200 million shi, so one achievement is 20 shi.

If someone had said before that they were willing to give the Lu family 20 shi for free, Lu Zhi would have jumped up happily, but now he already knows that the saltworks can produce 200 million shi, and this is a conservative estimate, so [-]% is in Lu Zhi's hands. It seems that there are too few.

Lu Zhi lowered his head and thought for a while, his face changed several times, finally he gritted his teeth, and bowed to Gao Ming.

"His Royal Highness, [-]% is too little. My Lu family is willing to contribute money and people to build the salt field. I hope His Royal Highness can give [-]% of it to our Lu family!"

What Gao Ming was waiting for was Lu Shi's words. After his words fell, Gao Ming laughed.

"make a deal!"

(End of this chapter)