big song poppi

Chapter 216 0213 [Guangling Salt Affairs]

Han Zhen did not stay in Shouguang for long.

The purpose of coming here is mainly to rectify the salt affairs of Guangling, and the inspection of Shouguang is just incidental.

On the second day, he arranged for the remaining three officials, a group of subordinates, and [-] soldiers to go to Changle to take office, and then he went straight to Guangling with the monkey.

Guangling was neither a county nor a town. Due to its high salt production and many salt households, the imperial court set up a salt service here.

Shandong is a major salt-producing province with many coastal areas. There are salt fields in Mi, Deng, Qing, Lai, and Binzhou. Among them, in terms of quality, the salt produced in Taoluo field in Mizhou is the best.

In terms of quantity, Guangling ranks first.

The reason is simple. There are coal mines in Qingzhou and Huaizhou.

And Qingzhou’s coal mine is in Shouguang.

Nowadays, whether it is Zhao, Song or Xixia, salt is made by boiling brine.

Use fire to evaporate the water in the brine, and when the concentration of the brine becomes high, the salt will precipitate on its own.

Although the salt obtained by this method is also coarse salt, its purity is relatively high. The disadvantage is that the cost is also high.

Guangling is backed by the Shouguang Coal Mine, only about fifty miles away. The cost of coal transportation is almost zero, and the transportation is fast, so the output will naturally be higher.

Before the Song Dynasty, coal was not the main energy source. Whether it was for life or production, most of it was logging as timber.

There was no way, the technology was not enough before to mine coal deep underground.

The use of coal in the Song Dynasty was actually forced out.

As the population of Tokyo increases, the demand for wood increases.

By the time the city's population exceeded one million, the trees for dozens of miles around Kaifeng Mansion had already been cut down.

Not only Tokyo, but other cities with populations of hundreds of thousands are also facing the same dilemma.

As a result, the world's first energy crisis occurred.

Without firewood, people can't make fires to cook, and workshops can't operate...

The court was forced to use coal.

It is under such demand that coal mining and smelting technology have been rapidly improved.

Facts have proven that if you don’t push yourself, you will never know how much potential you have.

A journey of more than fifty miles, starting early in the morning and arriving at noon.

Along the way, we passed through depressed villages.

After arriving in Guangling, the population flourished, and it seemed that it was not affected by the war and banditry at all.

"It's amazing!"

The monkey was riding on a war horse, looking at Dazhuangzi not far away, with a look of surprise on his face.

At this moment, Han Zhen's sharp eyes discovered that on a hill not far away, there was a naked little baby with wide eyes, looking at them curiously.

Han Zhen waved to him and shouted: "Little baby, come here!"

Instead of running away, the little baby actually trotted all the way over.

The child had dark cheeks and a runny nose. He only wore a tattered shirt on his upper body, and his lower body was bare, with a pair of straw sandals on his feet.

Arriving in front of Han Zhen and others, the little doll raised his head and asked curiously: "Are you officers and soldiers?"

Han Zhen didn't answer but asked: "Aren't you afraid of us?"

"I'm not afraid!"

The little doll shook her head.

"Why?"

Han Zhen became interested and teased: "Aren't you afraid that we are bandits?"

The little baby said proudly: "My grandpa said that no matter whether he is an official or a mountain king, he must eat salt and sell salt. So no matter who comes, we salt farmers are not afraid, because we know how to make salt."

Hearing this, Han Zhen smiled slightly: "Your grandfather is a smart man!"

"hey-hey."

Hearing outsiders praising his grandpa, the little kid grinned with joy.

"Call your grandpa over!" Han Zhen said, taking out a few pennies from his arms and throwing them over.

The little baby had quick eyes and quick hands, and could catch the coin accurately without waiting for it to hit the ground.

A few pennies is already a huge amount of money for a child.

After receiving the reward, the little boy immediately ran towards the village with a smile on his face.

Looking at the little kid's back, Monkey said with emotion: "This kid's grandfather sees things thoroughly."

Salt and iron has been the most profitable business since ancient times, bar none.

Therefore, these salt households are almost like chickens that can lay golden eggs. Whether they are rebels or the court, they will squeeze, but they will not easily take the lives of salt households.

Han Zhen smiled and said: "Poor people also have their own wisdom."

Not long after, a group of people walked out of the village and headed straight for Han Zhen and others.

The leader was an old man wearing coarse linen clothes. He had gray beard and hair, and was thin but strong in his steps.

Arriving in front of Han Zhen, the old man bowed and saluted: "I have met my husband!"

The cowherd boy didn't understand, but he did.

The young man in front of him was brave and domineering, with an intimidating momentum. Behind him were hundreds of soldiers wearing iron armor and holding long spears. They were all like wolves and tigers.

How can the rebels have such momentum and sophisticated weapons? They should be the elite soldiers of the imperial court who came to suppress the rebellion, so he said that he is fair.

Han Zhen looked around condescendingly. All of these people had sallow faces and thin skin, and were not fully clothed.

It's only slightly better than the escape from Songshan Ridge.

In fact, the little kid just now was only half right.

Being able to make salt is one thing, but on the other hand, the salt farmers are too poor. They can’t squeeze even a few ounces of oil into the pot. They are so poor that they only have one life left. Who will rob them?

Looking back, Han Zhen asked: "Who are you?"

The old man answered truthfully: "My name is Li Da, and he is the head of Lijiazhuang."

Han Zhen asked again: "How many salt households are there in Guangling?"

"I don't know the exact number, but the six surrounding villages are all salt households, and it is estimated that there are more than [-] people." Li Da counted on his fingers.

Just over [-] people?
Han Zhen and Monkey looked at each other and had the same idea in their hearts.

Too little!
It seems that we are going to recruit refugees who have run away from home.

You know, the salt factory in Xiaowang Village has more than 2000 workers.

As the main salt production base in the future, the 5000 People's Committee is too few, and it will have to be at least doubled to be barely enough.

After suppressing his thoughts, Han Zhen continued to ask calmly: "Did any rebel bandits come here some time ago?"

Since Zhang Wanxian had his longevity, it was impossible to let go of Guangling who was so close.

Even if he was stupid, Shi Wenhui would suggest him to take advantage of the situation and occupy Guangling.

"Have!"

Li Da nodded.

Han Zhen's expression remained unchanged and his tone was calm: "Where are you now? How many people are there?"

"There were only more than 1000 people. They first killed the officials of the salt prison and lived here for nearly two months. They seemed to have heard something a while ago and fled to Dayu Mountain overnight."

Li Da didn't understand before that the gang of rebels were in such a hurry when they escaped that they didn't even take away all the food in the granary.

Now that I saw Han Zhen, I understood the reason.

It turned out that the officers and soldiers were coming!
Salt households, like craftsmen in government-run workshops, were not allowed to farm, do business, or engage in other professions.

The only thing he does is make salt.

The rations are distributed by the court, there is no salary, and there are task quotas every year.

If the targets are not met, the punishment will be deprivation of food, or punishment with whips and sticks.

In addition, salt supervision officials are extremely strict in the management and supervision of salt fields. Salt residents must take off their clothes and undergo inspection when leaving the salt fields to avoid bringing in illegal salt. Therefore, it is impossible to sell salt privately to supplement household income.

(End of this chapter)