farming female castellan

Chapter 392 Salt Making
Doctor Chu took Chen Fan's pulse and showed a smile.Madam Xu immediately asked happily, "Are you pregnant again?"

Zhang Ci's expression instantly became apprehensive.Dr. Chu glanced at him, and said with a chuckle, "Congratulations, master, congratulations, madam."

Zhang Ci said with a complex expression: "Everyone has a reward."

Mother Xu was overjoyed: "It's great, we can add a young son again, more children are more blessings, madam, please lie down and rest, I'll make some food for madam to replenish my body."

Madam Xu went out without touching her feet, Doctor Chu said: "The yamen is sealed at the end of the year, there is nothing to welcome and send in the first month, Madam can just rest."

Zhang Ci closed the door and buried his head in Chen Fan's arms: "It's going to be hard for my husband again."

Chen Fan was funny: "Then what should I do?" She couldn't make a joke about taking concubines, for fear that Zhang Ci would be angry and he would take it seriously.

Zhang Ci said sullenly: "Whether this baby is a son or a daughter, there will be no more babies in the future. Madam doesn't have to work hard to conceive and breastfeed, and take risks to have a baby."

Chen Fan patted him on the back: "It's just right to hold this big kid."

Zhang Ci lay on the ground for a while, then raised his head: "Is there something wrong with you? You can't hide it from us."

"Fortunately, a little tired and a little sleepy, it's nothing. I was blessed with the first two pregnancies, and I didn't have much morning sickness. If my legs are swollen, I can still find my husband." Chen Fan looked at him softly, "My husband is my biggest Blessing."

Zhang Ci snorted: "It's nasty. Do you want to be nicer to your husband?"

"Of course, I'll rub your head now, I guess you have a headache." Chen Fan smiled and pressed his head twice.

Zhang Ci grabbed her hand and whispered something in her ear, and Chen Fan stepped on him in shame.

After the new year, Mo Jian and Xiang Jian took people to the mining area.Ten days later, they brought two pieces of good news: first, gunpowder was made, wrapped in several layers of paper, and it could indeed explode after being ignited; second, an underground salt mine was discovered in the wasteland in the northwest of Yuanshuo County.

Chen Zhongyan's eyes lit up: "Is there a lot of mineral salt?"

Xiang Jian said: "At present, it is found that there is well salt in the exploration area, which has not been refined yet, so I don't know the quality." He put the salt rock he collected in front of the three of them.

This is the first time Chen Fan has seen the original ecological salt rock, it is ugly, brown, gray and black, but the white is almost invisible.

Chen Zhongyan looked at Zhang Ci: "How about we each write down the refining method?"

Zhang Ci readily agreed, and Chen Fan also joined.

The three of them put together the plan, and Chen Zhongyan frowned: "There are steps of filtering and cooking, and they are all different. Cut some rocks and try all three methods."

"No, just combine the three methods." Zhang Ci said.

The first step is grinding. There are stone mills and stone mortars, and they are unified as stone mills.

There is a stone mill in the mansion. The guards turn the stone mill, and the mineral powder slowly overflows from the edge of the stone mill like bean dregs.The guard put the mineral powder into the barrel, added water and stirred it with a wooden stick.

The filtering step is done by Chen Fan in a rough way, covering the wooden barrel with three layers of linen cloth; Zhangci and Chen Zhongyan are in a delicate style, using linen cloth to make a filter like an embroidered stretcher, and you can stack as many layers as you want Stack several layers.Chen Fan clasped his fists in greeting: "I admire you, you are indeed a son of a family."

The strainer is also precisely sized to snap over the rim of the barrel.The guards slowly poured the saturated salt solution into the barrel, and a thick layer of slag gradually accumulated on the sackcloth.

After peeling off the three-layer filter, everyone found that the solution in the bucket was not black, but brown.Zhong Yan said excitedly: "It looks much cleaner."

Zhang Ci was relatively calm: "There are still a lot of impurities, and they need to be filtered." The guards stacked three layers of filters on another wooden barrel, and filtered again. More transparent and purer.

"The color is so beautiful." Chen Zhongyan was a child after all, and he admired every step he made for a while.

Chen Fan was actually very excited, and he was more excited than him, but he just put on airs and pretended to be steady.

The third step is detoxification.The use of charcoal and plant ash in this dynasty has been very extensive.The guards smashed the charcoal into pieces, wrapped it in four layers of fine linen cloth and stuffed it into the funnel. The plug was tight, and it was fixed on a narrow-mouthed wooden barrel, allowing the solution to slowly pour into the funnel and into the barrel.

Chen Zhongyan scooped out a spoonful of the solution, which looked light blue.He licked it, and immediately frowned: "It's so salty, but it doesn't seem to have any astringency."

The fourth step is to cook, which is the responsibility of the cooks.The water in the pot gradually boiled dry, leaving a thick layer of salt rice crust at the bottom of the pot.

"Is it done? Is it done?" Chen Zhongyan looked at Zhang Ci excitedly.Zhang Ci dug a little bit with a spoon to feed him, Chen Zhongyan frowned again, but shouted: "It's done! It's done!"

Then he shouted again: "These are all mine!"

Is this kid planning to report the matter of the salt mine to the emperor?
Zhang Ci handed him a glass of water: "Although this piece of land has been given to you, major matters still need to be reported. As a minister and son, it is always better to take the initiative than to be passive."

There is no impenetrable wall in the world, and the matter of the well salt mine in Yuanshuo County will soon be known to the court, and will also be known to other princes.Reporting to the emperor earlier is also equivalent to seeking protection, preventing other princes from competing.

Chen Zhongyan nodded: "I will write the memorial right away, and send it to the capital as soon as possible."

"You can mine a batch first. After all, the scope is unknown, and you need to explore first." Zhang Ci said.

Chen Zhongyan went to Si Bing and went to the barracks with him to arrange mining for the soldiers.

Chen Fan lazily leaned on the back of the chair: "I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing."

Zhang Ci smiled bitterly: "Who knows. The imperial court will definitely send a group of people to share with Chen Zhongyan. Whether we will stay or not is a question."

Chen Fan sighed: "This place is already a fief, so it doesn't matter who is the county magistrate, right? It doesn't matter if we stay?"

Zhang Ci shook his head: "Dazhi in Yuanshuo County, you are no longer of much use as a county magistrate. I can't say whether I want you to stay here to enjoy the results, or go to a new place to play a new role."

Chen Fan stroked his abdomen: "I want to take good care of my baby right now."

Her current status is a bit embarrassing: as a county magistrate, she will go to the state capital to report to the governor for the past three years; as a fief official, she can be under the care of the sixth prince.

Zhang Ci took people to the mining area and brought back several truckloads of salt.

"These are ours. No matter how the court manages the salt area or treats us, we must hold these salts in our hands."

Chen Fan put all the salt into the space, and said, "There is not much salt, it is far from enough to do some business."

Zhang Ci said: "I'll bring some here first, and someone will send it over later. The salt mine is huge, and if you want to mine it, you have to dig a piece completely. It is said that the salt mine was discovered after digging a lot of places."

Chen Fan smiled in his heart.Zhangci is also forced to this point.

(End of this chapter)