Song Gexing

Chapter 106 Sun-Salt Method

Zhao Fang was helpless. He knew that Zhao Pan'er did it on purpose, but he still didn't dare to take the risk. If the wound really burst, he would be heartbroken.

"Alas! It seems that this trip has come to an end."

Although he is willful, he also knows that if this happens, the court will definitely explode. What makes him more helpless is that in the palace, his two mothers will definitely go crazy.

When he escaped, he was mentally prepared to go back and be beaten, but now it was better. This meal was definitely unavoidable, and he had to face his crying mother.

"Forget it, let's go to the city, you must be worried here."

Since exposure is unavoidable, there is no need for camping. The big guys are very happy to hear this. Who knows if there will be any accidents after the long night, at least the safety factor in the city is higher than outside the city.

Immediately, some people rushed to the city gate to ask for the door to be opened, and went straight to the county government office to inform them. This frightened the magistrate of Changshe and turned green in the face.

He sent people to Xuchang overnight to inform the governor that Changshe was under the jurisdiction of Xuzhou, but in fact it was closer to Feng, and in later generations it was included in the administrative scope of Kaifeng.

But the county magistrate naturally did not dare to send someone to Kaifeng Prefecture to report. It was only in line with the rules to inform the prefect in advance and let him report.

Zhao Fang, who was welcomed into the county seat, was placed in the back house of the county government. The county magistrate drove all his family members out of the back house overnight. After dawn, Zhao Fang originally wanted to ask him to move to another place to live.

After all, it was inappropriate to occupy someone else's residence, but the county magistrate persisted and advised Wang Zhongzheng: "Your Majesty, it's better not to move anymore. If you can't stay here for two days, people sent by the government should arrive tomorrow."

This made Zhao Fang think about it. A distance of more than 100 miles would take an ordinary caravan several days to travel, but this time Zhao Zhen must have ordered the cavalry to march out in a hurry.

"Forget it, let's leave it like this. It's a pity that this king's journey in the world will be ruined."

Zhao Fang, who was sighing endlessly, was secretly looked at by others. If he hadn't been so troubled, he wouldn't have been in such trouble. As a prince, he had no self-consciousness at all. Wouldn't this cost people's lives?

After a night of that night, the army from Bianjing arrived just after dawn, and it was the Dragon Guards who came. Sure enough, Zhao Zhen sent cavalry to let him go back.

It was said that he was being escorted, but it was actually being escorted. The soldiers took turns staring at him, and they almost had the words "You are the bad guy" written on their faces.

"It seems I have to find something for everyone to do, otherwise those people who have nothing to do this time will definitely cause trouble for me."

After some thought, Zhao Fang ordered the team to move slower, just as Zhao Pan'er's wound gave him an excuse.

It took the Dragon Guards more than a day to arrive and a full seven days to return. The soldiers who were so slow along the way did not bother to rush.

Zhao Fang took advantage of this time to write tens of thousands of words eloquently in the carriage, and the team also arrived at Xincai Gate, and the Dragon Guards heaved a sigh of relief.

Daqing Hall, this main hall where officials gathered is the Jinluan Hall of the Song Dynasty. Zhao Zhen sat high on the dragon chair and watched Zhao Fang come in with his face as heavy as water.

After he saw the courtesy, he said: "King Wei, you know your sin! As a prince, you left the capital privately. Where did you put the laws of the country?"

Zhao Fang also saluted solemnly at this time and said: "I know my crime! But I traveled around the world for the sake of the national economy and people's livelihood, and inspecting the world will increase the wealth of our Song Dynasty."

Zhao Zhen laughed angrily: "What a sharp tongue. Let me ask you, did you get any results from the examination?"

All the ministers watched the father and son play, knowing that Zhao Zhen was reluctant to punish his son, and they were worried that the ministers would gain the upper hand by admonishing him.

And Zhao Fang's answer also made everyone snicker. This time he was defeated by the emperor. Let's see how you quibble.But Zhao Fang calmly reached into his arms, took out a large roll of paper, held it up high and said: "I inspected the world's salt and found that there are too many impurities and it is expensive. The only good salt is well salt. However, well salt The output is too small and the common people cannot afford it. The only thing that really consumes a lot is sea salt. However, brining and frying salt not only consumes a lot of labor, but also wastes a lot of wood... Imaomi invented a method of drying salt, which not only has excellent effects, but also can increase the number of people. Several times or even dozens of times the output..."

The court hall exploded with a "boom", and the ministers who were watching the excitement shouted excitedly. Few people doubted that Zhao Fang was talking nonsense, and most people believed that his words were true.

Zhao Zhen couldn't sit still now, the monopoly of salt and iron was a national policy of the imperial court, not only a matter of finance and taxation, but also a major issue of strategic materials.

The human body cannot lack salt. If you don't eat salt, you will die. People in future generations will not feel it. That is because the production of salt in future generations is sufficient.

Only those who have diarrhea and dehydration can feel it, because the doctor uses normal saline for infusion.

The sun-salting method did not appear until the Ming Dynasty, but it was not popular because sun-salting depends on the weather. If there are too many rainy days, the yield will be affected.

This is why the ancient method of boiling salt has been used for thousands of years. The Chinese have long known that seawater can make salt, but there is no other way except boiling salt.

Of course, boiling salt does not mean boiling seawater directly, because the salt content of seawater is too low. Instead, you use seawater to drizzle the soil and keep pouring it, leaving a brine with a high salt content for cooking.

This is the brine-fried salt method, but there are too many impurities in this process. Zhao Fang knows the sun-dried salt method because he was from Fujian in his previous life.

I grew up by the sea. There is a town in the county called Yantian. It was originally a salt field where salt was dried. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, it was abandoned and turned into a town.

Those who live in the local area have been salt dryers in the salt field for generations. The older generation passed down word of mouth about how to dry salt and how to refine it. He heard it when he was a child.

I didn't take it out before, firstly because I was young, and secondly, this is a big change that affects all aspects, and you can't make everyone accept it with just one word.

Things are different now. Over the years since the Qingli New Deal was implemented, everyone in the Song Dynasty has accepted the emergence of new affairs. In addition, his talents have been demonstrated in the past few years, and no one will question him.

After getting the detailed information he wrote, including how to open fields, how to divert water, several processes and other details, Zhao Zhen was very excited when he saw it, which made the officials anxious.

When he finally finished reading and handed it to the prime minister, Yan Shu grabbed it without any politeness. Several heads immediately gathered behind him, craning their necks to look at it.

"Add brine layer by layer... When the concentration is reached, close the diversion channel... Salt will be produced by drying in the sun..."

"Back! Look at the back, Yan Xiang, you are too slow."

Yan Shu was not angry at being urged, nor did he feel impolite at all. He finally finished reading and looked up at Zhao Fang with glowing eyes.

"Is this possible?"

Zhao Fang looked at his helpless look and nodded solemnly: "It works!"

After receiving his affirmation, Yan Shu immediately turned to Zhao Zhen and cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, I would like to ask you to encircle the fields starting from Jingdong East Road. If feasible, immediately expand to Liangzhe Road, Fujian Road, and Guangnan Road. In this way, our Song Dynasty No shortage of salt!”

Zhao Zhen nodded and said, "Yes!"

The ministers immediately cheered. Jingdong East Road was Shandong in later generations. It was obvious that Yan Shu was very concerned. Since it was sun-dried salt, Shandong must be better than Fujian and Zhejiang, because Shandong has more sunshine and less rain.

(End of this chapter)