Start having a baby!I dressed as the mother of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 37 37. Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes (Thank you for your support!)
Going down by boat, this is the Shangguan Salt Canal dug by Liu Bi, king of Wu.

Thousands of sails chasing waves, people sleeping on the river, smoked willows and painted bridges, wind curtains and emerald curtains, how much prosperity flows in the Baili Canal.

my country's terrain is high in the west and low in the east, which determines that most of the rivers run east-west.In ancient times, transportation was underdeveloped, and river transportation became the most convenient method.But east-west rivers can only solve east-west traffic, and north-south traffic has become the biggest problem.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, King Fuchai of Wu excavated the first canal in history—Hangou, which connected the Yangtze River and Huaihe River together, which was the origin of the north-south artificial Grand Canal.

Liu Bi, king of Wu, then dug the Shangguan Salt Canal.The Shangguanyun Salt River leads to Yangtai in the west and reaches the seashore in the east, connecting the eastern Jianghuai River and the Jianghai Plain, and is a cross-regional water channel.

The Grand Canal, which was extended successively afterwards, connected the five major water systems of the Haihe River, the Yellow River, the Huaihe River, the Yangtze River and the Qiantang River, and eventually became the main artery of my country's north-south transportation.

Lai Tongbo has traveled thousands of miles so far.In addition to the basic functions of military transportation, water transportation, salt transportation, and freight transportation, the canal also played an irreplaceable role in flood control, drainage, and irrigation.

"General Ji, look at that salt ship, the draft is very heavy. How much does this ship cost!" Wang Zhi sighed, "There are so many salt ships coming and going! No wonder the country of Wu is rich."

"The state of Wu is rich, but it doesn't appreciate the grace of the saints. It is arrogant and arrogant, and it is above the court!" Ji Bu said with a sullen face.

"It's not that the imperial court didn't allow the land of Wu to be rich, but that the king of Wu was arrogant and coveted the world. If the land of Wu prospers and the world shares prosperity, it will be the great fortune of the great man!" Wang Zhi also felt regretful.

King Wu was arrogant and extravagant, while Emperor Wen was simple.If Wu's wealth is used to benefit the world, the Han Empire will surely be stable and prosperous.For the Xiongnu, is it still used to make peace with relatives?Beat him to death!
"My lord, do you want to go to see the saltworks, or go directly to Guangling?" Ji Bu asked.

"Let's go to the salt field first." Wang Zhi wanted to feel the salt bottom of King Wu.

Wu Guoji County is Jiangsu and Zhejiang, including the coastal areas of Fujian.

There are salt pans everywhere.The way to make salt is simple and crude.Salt is mainly made by directly heating seawater, commonly known as "boiling the sea".

The king of Wu ordered people to make a huge iron pot, which was called "prison pot".It is similar to the iron pot for frying vegetables in the school cafeteria, but it is flat.Just set up a pot and set up a stove by the sea, fill the pot with sea water, burn firewood and start cooking.

At room temperature (20 degrees Celsius), the saturated solubility of sodium chloride aqueous solution is about 36 grams (per 100 grams of water), and the converted composition ratio means that the salt content of saturated sodium chloride aqueous solution is 26.47%.However, the salt content of my country's offshore seawater only fluctuates between 2.4 and 3.4%, which is not only far from saturation, but also contains many kinds of salt.

To boil a pot of seawater, about [-]% of the water must be evaporated before the salt begins to precipitate, which consumes too much firewood.It can be seen how low the efficiency is!
The main salts in seawater are sodium chloride, potassium chloride, and magnesium chloride.In addition to sodium chloride, which can be eaten, a slight excess of potassium chloride and magnesium chloride will affect human health, and the taste is bitter.

Wang Zhi and the others stood on the beach, watching the seashore lined up one by one, with dozens of pots boiling seawater.The firewood was billowing with smoke.

The sea breeze is rustling and the sun is shining brightly in autumn.On this beach, the smoke is steaming, the crowd is busy, and the sky is full of excitement.

Suddenly, a fight broke out in front of several prisons!
Ji Bu hurriedly ordered people to go and check, and there were villains making trouble.

The Wu people were already tough, and with the addition of criminals and rogues from other countries, fights happened from time to time.

"Father!~~Mom!~~"

A child screamed and cried loudly, causing Wang Zhi to rush over.A mother can't hear the cry of a child!
It turned out that the fighters overturned the prison basin, and the scalding seawater splashed on a four or five-year-old child!

The clothes on half of the child's body were wet, crying and tearing the clothes with his hands.

As soon as Wang Zhi grabbed the child, he ran into the sea, and Zhi Du and a guard followed up to pick up the child.

"Take off your clothes!" Wang Zhi yelled, and Zhi Du and the guards pushed the child into the cold sea water and took off the clothes.

"Zhu'er! Zhu'er! What are you doing?!" A woman chased after her and shouted angrily.

"Slow down!" Wang Zhi stopped her, "The child is covered in hot water and his skin is scalded! Soak in cold water to cool down, otherwise he will get blisters all over his body, and it will kill him!"

Only then did the woman understand Wang Zhi and the others' kindness, and rushed to the child.

Zhidu picked up the child, and the child was red all over, like a boiled shrimp.

"Mom! It hurts, it hurts to death!" The child cried and opened his hand to his mother.

"Let's soak for a while longer!" Wang Zhi persuaded, "You may catch a cold. It's better than being bruised and bruised!"

Fortunately, the rescue was done in time. Apart from the redness of the skin all over the child's body, which was so painful that he couldn't touch it, there were only a few small blisters on his chest.The woman cried a thousand thanks.

"Go to the pharmacy and buy some comfrey. Heat the oil and add comfrey, and fry until the comfrey becomes slag. The comfrey oil you get, let it cool down and apply it on the burnt area, and it will heal slowly."

Wang Zhi confessed to the woman, and brought Du Jibu and the others to leave.

"Benefactor!" The woman plopped down on her knees, "Your clothes are all soaked, go home and dry your clothes by the fire before leaving!"

The woman climbed a few times and came to Wang Zhi: "I don't know where to get the oil you mentioned, please benefactor to save my child!" She kowtowed to Wang Zhi.

"This..." Wang Zhi was hesitating when a group of salt cookers surrounded him.

They are all salt cookers here, and they have just worked together to drive away the troublemakers.

"Go home! The seaside wind is very cold, you can't walk in these wet clothes!" Everyone chattered.

"Benefactor!" A man also knelt down and begged Wang Zhi. He and the woman were the parents of the injured child.

Exchanged glances with Ji Bu, Wang Zhi nodded.

So, Wang Zhi and the others went to this family's house.

The man's name is Du Feng, and his wife, Yuan Shi, was originally a seaside resident, and his ancestors made a living by fishing.After getting into the business of boiling salt, he stopped fishing in the sea.

Wang Zhi asked his attendants to go to the pharmacy to buy some comfrey, angelica, cork, etc., and Jiaoyuan fried them in sesame oil to make comfrey oil.

When the comfrey oil was applied to Zhu'er's skin, the child felt the pain relieved and smiled happily.

Seeing Zhu'er's smiling face, Wang Zhi thought of Ping'er and Shuang'er, and couldn't help feeling worried.

"Benefactor! This is a small favor from a villain, please be sure to accept it!"

Du Feng and his wife took out their boiled salt and dried seafood to thank Wang Zhi and the others for their help.

"Du Feng, what's the reason for arguing with someone today?" Wang Zhi asked.

Du Feng and his wife also saw that Wang Zhi and the others were not ordinary people.All the bitter water poured out.

It turned out that boiling salt was adopted by the "civilian government".Those who cook salt are called "stove households", and the officials will issue prison pots to cook salt.At this time, there were few ironware, and they were easy to corrode and rust. Generally, stove households could not buy prison pots by themselves.

The salt produced by the kitchen households is purchased in grades by the official salt officials.Some domineering people colluded with salt officials to bully kitchen households, collecting salt from kitchen households at low prices at low levels, and selling them to salt officials at high prices.

"Today they came to collect the salt. Everyone thinks that the grade they give is low and the money is low. If they refuse to sell it, they will smash our prison!" Du Feng said, gnashing his teeth.

I thought that the land of Wu was rich and everyone was lucky.Reality is always skinnier than imagination.Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes, and where there are profits, there are squeezes.How can there be any paradise on earth?People are divided into grades, grades, and grades, and they will never change.Wang Zhi thought.

"Your salt is indeed not the best." Wang Zhi opened the salt bag Du Feng gave him, looked at it and shook his head.

"In their eyes, there is no good salt! They keep the price so low that they don't even have enough money to buy firewood!" Du Feng said angrily.

"It is indeed a waste of time and energy for you to cook salt like this. Have you ever thought about improving your method of cooking salt?" Wang Zhi asked.

The purification of salt is the content of junior high school chemistry.For a master of pharmacy, what medicinal chemistry, physical chemistry, inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, analytical chemistry... a package of chemistry.Salt making is really an entry-level, preschool education content!
"Improvement?" Du Feng looked blank, "We have always boiled salt like this, is there another way?"

"Then, let me teach you how to save firewood and labor, and the boiled salt is of good quality. Do you want to do it?" Wang Yan asked with a smile.

"The color is good, can it be sold for a high price?" Yuan Shi asked Wang Yan excitedly after applying comfrey oil to the child.

　Happy holidays!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)