Daming: If I find a great-grandson, I will teach an emperor through the ages

Chapter 92 Lao Zhu was shocked, new salt-making technology?

The next day.

[Countdown to return: 185 days, 17 hours, 13 minutes and 34 seconds]

Before dawn, Cao Wei had already woken up from his dream and sat up.

After finally waiting until dawn, Cao Wei put on his clothes and left the house, all the way to Lao Li Tou's clinic in the village.

Lao Litou had just opened the door of the shop when Cao Wei came.

Old Li Tou is about 60 years old now, but because he knows medicine, he is taking good care of his body.

Cao Wei is a master who does not get sick all the year round. Logically speaking, he should have nothing to do with this old Li Tou.

But Lao Litou's only hobby is that he likes to drink two sips of wine every day.

Before Zhu Yuanzhang came to this village, Cao Wei and Lao Li Tou often met at the tavern at the head of the village, and they became familiar with each other after going back and forth.

However, since Zhu Yuanzhang arrived in Zhengkan Village, Cao Wei has become busier day by day, and he no longer has much time to go to the tavern.

Old Li Tou, who was cleaning up the shop, saw Cao Wei. He was stunned for a moment and then grinned and said: "I'm a rare visitor, but I haven't seen you for a long time. I heard that your kid has become rich recently. He works under the imperial court and has a big problem." What manufacturing bureau?”

Cao Wei shook his head, "It's hard to explain in words. We'll talk about this later. Now there is something I need your help with, Lao Li."

Old Li Tou stopped what he was doing and looked at him doubtfully, "What's going on? Who are you pretending to be dead again?"

Cao Wei once told Cao Ying that he only had one year left to live, and even moved out this old Li Tou as a cover.

In order not to betray the gang, Cao Wei approached Lao Li Tou and asked him to keep this secret for himself. As long as Cao Ying came to ask him for confirmation, he would tell him that he did not have much time.

Later, Cao Ying did come to Lao Li Tou's shop and got the same answer.

"Not this time," Cao Wei waved his hand, "Old Li, is there anything you can do to make my pulse more chaotic? It's like having an incurable disease?"

Old Li Tou was very puzzled by Cao Wei's unreasonable request.

"Someone will come to see me in a while. If he finds out that I am actually not sick, he will suffer a lot."

Lao Li looked at Cao Wei with a bitter look on his face and smacked his lips: "Stretch your hand over."

Cao Wei did as he was told, and Lao Li touched Cao Wei's wrist with his first two fingers. After a moment, he sighed.

"Your body is too strong and your pulse is strong and powerful. This is the only old man I have ever seen in my life. There is really nothing I can do for you."

When Cao Wei heard this, he was immediately disappointed. Could it be that he really couldn't escape this time.

He took out twenty copper coins from his pocket, but Lao Litou waved his hand, "Forget it, I won't charge you."

Cao Wei still put the copper plate on the table aside, "I'm buying you a drink."

After saying goodbye to Old Li Tou, Cao Wei turned and left.

There is nothing Lao Li can do, so what should he do?
Otherwise, why don't you go home today?
After this idea came up, Cao Wei thought about it seriously and felt that it was inappropriate.

You can hide for a while, but you can't hide for a lifetime. What will you do next time?
After returning home all the way, Cao Ying had already woken up, and the two started boxing in the yard, but Cao Wei was absent-minded and his movements were completely lost.

After eating, after a while, someone finally knocked on the courtyard door.

Cao Ying quickly opened the courtyard door. Outside the door stood an old man with white hair and beard, carrying a small box on his waist. He had a kind face and kind eyes. He was the imperial doctor who came to treat Cao Wei at Zhu Yuanzhang's order. .

After confirming his identity, Cao Ying took him into the courtyard.

"Father, the imperial doctor is here." Cao Ying shouted to Cao Wei, who was like an eggplant beaten by frost.

Cao Wei twitched the corner of his mouth, but there was no response.

The imperial doctor walked into the main room carrying a small box and sat down in front of Cao Wei.

"Master Cao, let me take a look for you."

He stretched out his hand so as not to hit the smiling man. The old man had a smile on his face, and Cao Wei could only move his hand away.

But his other hand pressed on the back of his arm, exerting force up and down.

Although I don't know if I can play the song "General's Order", this is Cao Wei's last hope.

The imperial doctor put his hand on Cao Wei's wrist, calmed down to feel it, and slowly frowned.

When Cao Wei saw it, he felt happy. Could it be that there was something going on?The strength in his hands became a little heavier.

The old imperial doctor touched it for a long time, repeatedly confirmed it, and finally let go.

"strangeness."

"Why is it weird?" Cao Wei asked hurriedly.

"When His Majesty ordered the old man to come here, he said that Mr. Cao is terminally ill, but I have confirmed again and again, Mr. Cao, that your pulse is stable and strong, which is a sign of good health and not like a person with a disease."

Cao Wei's full hopes suddenly vanished.

The old imperial doctor was still worried and changed his hand to feel Cao Wei's pulse.

After a while, the old doctor let go of his hand.

"That's right. Mr. Cao, you are in good health. You are in good health."

As he said that, he stood up and said, "Since Mr. Cao is not sick, the old man will go back to resume his duties with His Majesty."

As soon as he handed over to Cao Wei, the old imperial doctor said goodbye and left.

Cao Ying sent him out and looked at Cao Wei happily when he came back, "Great, father, you are not sick!"

Cao Wei nodded reluctantly, "Yeah, great."

Sure enough, all general orders are fake...

the other side.

The old imperial doctor returned to the palace and went to Nuange to report to Zhu Yuanzhang.

After Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he frowned.

"Are you sure you read that correctly?"

The old imperial doctor bowed respectfully and said, "Your Majesty, the old man has been practicing medicine for 40 years and has never made a mistake. Mr. Cao is indeed in good health and has no disease."

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang thought thoughtfully and waved his hand, "Okay, you can go down."

"No!" the old imperial doctor responded, bowed and exited the Nuan Pavilion.

After a while, the palace sent people to Zhengkan Village again to summon Cao Wei into the palace.

Cao Wei also knew that he could not avoid what was coming, so he followed him into the palace and came to Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Common people see you, Your Majesty." Cao Wei bowed his head and saluted.

"no."

After Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand, he asked again: "Cao Wei, do you know why we asked you to come to the palace now?"

Cao Wei nodded. "Then what do you have to say?" Zhu Yuanzhang had a serious face.

Cao Wei thought for a while: "Maybe...my illness will heal on its own?"

"You said this, do you believe it yourself?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked still with a stern face.

Cao Wei shook his head helplessly.

In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang was not that angry or angry.

Although the fact that Cao Wei was terminally ill was false, in Zhu Yuanzhang's view, it was not that Cao Wei deliberately deceived others. Maybe the doctor was wrong at the time.

And Cao Wei is not terminally ill, which is actually a good thing for Zhu Yuanzhang!

Cao Wei was a talented man. If he died early, it would be a big loss to the Ming Dynasty. Now it is confirmed that Cao Wei is in good health and not sick, so that he can continue to serve the Ming Dynasty.

The reason why Zhu Yuanzhang put on a black face was just to scare Cao Wei.

Seeing Cao Wei shaking his head, Zhu Yuanzhang snorted coldly, "So, you are deliberately lying to us?"

"Your Majesty clearly knows that ordinary people have the courage to deceive Your Majesty. Maybe the doctor was wrong at the beginning..."

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and said, "Stop saying those useless words. What you did is committing the crime of deceiving the emperor. Do you know how serious this crime is?"

When Cao Wei heard this, he immediately raised his head and looked at Zhu Yuanzhang angrily.

Lao Zhu, are you serious about riding a horse?

How much contribution have I made to the Ming Dynasty, and yet you want to kill me just by bullying me?
Then wasn’t all my hard work before was in vain?

At this time, Cao Wei, who felt that he was sincerely feeding the dog, also got angry, and responded with a stiff neck: "I know!"

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Cao Wei's indignant way of vindicating himself. He felt funny in his heart, but his expression remained calm.

"The crime of deceiving the emperor will cost you your head!"

Cao Wei held his head high and said, "If you lose it, you will lose it. At worst, you will be a good man again in 18 years."

When the head eunuch saw this scene, his mouth opened wide.

On weekdays, I only see Cao Wei talking about things, but I didn’t expect him to be a tough guy?How dare you talk back to Zhu Yuanzhang like this!

This was the first time he had seen such a bold person.

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but raise the corners of his lips, and then said in a deep voice:

"We are not unreasonable people. You have made extraordinary achievements for the Ming Dynasty. If the merits and demerits are equal to each other, this head... will not be chopped off."

Cao Wei was stunned when he heard this. He didn't expect Zhu Yuanzhang to say such words suddenly.

Since the beheading is not going to happen, everything is fine.

In the blink of an eye, Cao Wei smiled again, raised his hands and said to Zhu Yuanzhang: "Your Majesty is truly a saint!"

Cao Wei's face changed so quickly that the head eunuch also opened his eyes.

"But... you can avoid the death penalty, but you can't escape the living crime. It's true that you lied to us, but you still have to get fifty votes to do it." Zhu Yuanzhang hadn't felt so happy for a long time. At this time, his bad taste came up and he continued to scare Cao Cao. Wei, let’s see how Cao Wei reacts.

At this time, Cao Wei didn't need to be beheaded, so he naturally didn't want to suffer the [-]-year ban.

"Your Majesty, if the common people can continue to make contributions to the Ming Dynasty, let's pay these fifty pieces." Cao Wei said to Zhu Yuanzhang with a flattering expression.

"Huh?" Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at him, this kid is really a naughty guy.

"You will do meritorious service later, and we will talk about it later. Now..."

"Your Majesty, the common people can develop a new salt-making technology so that the Ming Dynasty will never be short of salt!" Cao Wei said.

Zhu Yuanzhang stopped joking and asked, "New salt-making technology?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty is in very short supply of both coarse salt and green salt, but that is only because the salt production process and technology are insufficient. However, there are countless salt mines in the Ming Dynasty. As long as the common people develop new salt-making techniques, the Ming Dynasty will be I can have endless salt!" Cao Wei vowed to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang pondered for a moment. He didn't really want to beat Cao Wei fifty times. After all, Cao Wei had helped him raise his grandson for ten years.

I just didn't expect that these fifty slabs would play a big role and actually force a new salt-making technique.

Salt, iron, and grain have always been extremely important strategic materials for a country.

The reason why it is important is because it is scarce, so it can become hard currency.

The Ming Dynasty was naturally short of salt, and as the Ming Dynasty's population grew, the scarcity of salt increased day by day.

Children all know that if people don’t eat salt, they will lose strength and cause various problems in the body. Therefore, as long as they live, no matter who they are, they cannot live without salt.

As for Daming's salt extraction process, its output was really average.

The green salt produced by the government has better quality, fewer impurities, and a pitiful output. It can only be consumed by the royal family and dignitaries.

Even if it is sold to the public, the price of green salt is too high and ordinary people cannot afford it.

So there are private salt merchants, who roughly process the salt rocks from salt mines into small pieces of coarse salt.

Although these coarse salts have more impurities and have a bitter taste, ordinary people can only buy this kind of coarse salt to eat.

What's more, people who are very poor at home can't even afford coarse salt, so they can only use vinegar cloth and the like instead.

However, after Zhu Yuanzhang opened a hole in the policy, the salt merchants of the Ming Dynasty united to raise the price of private coarse salt and make money. This has become a problem in Zhu Yuanzhang's mind, but there is nothing good about it. Way to solve it.

We have to let the salt merchants sell salt, otherwise the people will not even be able to eat coarse salt.

At this time, Cao Wei suddenly said that he could develop a new salt-making technology so that the Ming Dynasty would have endless salt. Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to see hope all of a sudden!
If someone else had said this, Zhu Yuanzhang would not only not believe it, but would also reward him with a big meal. How dare you confuse the public with your lies?

But the person who said this was Cao Wei... Zhu Yuanzhang could not ignore it.

Cao Wei once developed a train that can run by boiling water, and developed a new steel-making method. The steel produced is stronger than traditional steel-making. There are also huge sky lanterns, reading glasses, open seas, and publicly owned land. , spread into acres.

Cao Wei has allowed Zhu Yuanzhang to see too many impossible things become possible. So, the new salt-making technology that Cao Wei said is probably true? !

If Cao Wei really developed a new salt-making technology, then the salt shortage dilemma of the Ming Dynasty would be solved!
Not only can it provide lower-priced salt to the people, but the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty army can also have enough salt to eat!
In the past, when salt production was low, soldiers of the Ming Dynasty would either only eat a little coarse salt or use vinegar cloth as a substitute when marching and fighting.

Without adequate salt intake, it would be difficult for Ming soldiers to fully exert their combat effectiveness.

If enough experiments can be supplied to the army, the combat effectiveness of Ming soldiers will be greatly improved!
Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang's heart trembled and he said in a deep voice: "Cao Wei, you can't say this nonsense."

Cao Wei raised his hand and said: "Your Majesty, the common people are not talking nonsense. It only takes half a month for the common people to develop a new salt-making technology."

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but clenched his fists, "Okay, I'll give you half a month. If you can develop a new salt-making technology so that the Ming Dynasty will no longer be short of salt, not only will we not blame you, but we will also reward you heavily." !”

"The common people obey the decree!" Cao Wei bowed, and he didn't have to endure the fifty big bans.

After leaving Nuange, Cao Wei went to the Ministry of Industry to find Yan Zhenzhi and asked him to find some salt stones.

"What do you want a salt stone for? That thing is no different from a stone. It's called a salt stone, but it's inedible. If you're short of salt, just ask me for it."

Facing Yan Zhenzhi's concern, Cao Wei smiled mysteriously: "Who said salt rocks can't be eaten..."

(End of this chapter)