The world of film and television starts from the flow of money

Qin Shihuang specifically asked the Shaofu to check the salt production in Jibei, Linzi, Jiaodong and Langya counties in Qi area for him, and the result almost made him explode!
During the Tian Qi period, relying on its unique geographical location and superb salt-making skills, the amount of salt obtained from boiling the sea reached more than 100,000 zhong every year. The mountains of white salt not only met the huge domestic demand, but also brought huge wealth to the country through trade, making Qi prosperous for a time.

Now, when the Qin Dynasty was in charge of these salt fields, the output had shrunk significantly, to only 50,000 or 60,000 zhong. This huge gap was hard for Qin Shihuang to accept.

Since last year, Qin Shi Huang has issued several strict orders, ordering the coastal counties to carry out comprehensive rectification of the salt fields. He hoped that through strict management and supervision, he could increase salt production and increase salt tax revenue. However, the feedback he received time and time again disappointed him, and the results were always unsatisfactory.

But Zhao Gao actually said with certainty that his sister had a way to double the output of the salt field, and according to him, it has already achieved initial results. This news is undoubtedly like a huge rock thrown into a calm lake, instantly stirring up thousands of waves. For Qin Shihuang, this is the issue he cares most about.

Out of curiosity and expectation about the "God of Craftsman" Yilan, Qin Shihuang was eager to see the new changes in the salt field with his own eyes, and wanted to confirm that what Zhao Gao said was true.

Thinking of this, Qin Shihuang finished his breakfast, walked out of the palace, and decided to go to the salt field at the mouth of Ju County (Rizhao City) to inspect the situation on the spot.

Following Qin Shi Huang's order, the motorcade slowly set off, the wheels rolling and raising a cloud of dust.

An hour later, the huge convoy slowly arrived at the salt field at the mouth of the sea. Everyone looked out and saw the vast blue ocean, like an endless scroll, occupying most of the field of vision. The waves surged and rolled, as if the sun, moon and stars all came from it. When people first saw this scene, they felt it was magnificent, and the majestic momentum instantly swept away the grievances in their hearts.

Soon, Qin Shi Huang's eyes were drawn to the salt fields on the beach that were connected by paths and divided into fields. Qin Shi Huang narrowed his eyes slightly, his expression full of thought.

"Tell me about it." Qin Shi Huang looked at Zhao Gao, pointed at the salt fields and asked, "What's going on? Is this the new method of drying salt invented by Yilan?"

"Exactly!"

Yi Huawei bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the people of Qi have been boiling the sea to make salt for nearly a thousand years, which has caused the firewood along the coast to be exhausted. Firewood needs to be transported from more distant hills, and the cost is extremely high..."

Sea salt these days is basically made by frying. The method is similar to boiling sugar. First, boil a high-concentration brine in a large pot, then transfer it to a small pot, and finally get a white hemisphere, which is the fried pan salt. Then break it up and it becomes the sea salt sold in bulk.

The golden period for boiling salt is from October to January every year. During this period, the people living on the coast of Qi will be mobilized to cut firewood, carry water, and boil the sea for salt. In three months, 36,000 zhong of salt can be obtained! This number has tripled by the time of Tianqi, with an annual output of 100,000 zhong. The output in Jiaodong is about 50,000, but the price is getting more and more expensive because too much wood is consumed. Coupled with heavy taxes, the price of official salt is almost the same as honey. However, using the same method, the price of private salt is one-third or even one-fifth of official salt. The people are not stupid, and they would rather buy private salt secretly.

With the increasing cost and the market being squeezed out by private salt, the expansion of reproduction of Jiaodong official salt naturally became an empty talk. This is also the reason why the production of Jiaodong official salt became increasingly sluggish.

Yi Huawei continued, "So my sister thought of the method of making salt in Huamachi, Beidi County. It does not need to be boiled, but is directly made by drying it in the sun and wind... Your Majesty, please follow me."

As he spoke, Yi Huawei led the way, leading Qin Shihuang slowly into the depths of the salt fields by the sea. The first place they approached was a series of potholes, but these were not used to dry salt, but were specifically used to make mud.

The pit dug on the beach was now filled with seawater left over from the last high tide. A group of slaves stood barefoot in it, holding wooden rakes with teeth in their hands, raking the seawater and mud in a crisscross pattern. Under the scorching sun, the seawater and mud gradually mixed and turned into hardened lumps. Afterwards, these lumps were sent to the rear one by one.

Yi Huawei showed a faint smile on his face and said, "This is the first step in making salt."

The ministers looked at each other in confusion, because in their opinion, those hardened black mud lumps seemed to have nothing to do with the white salt.

Yi Huawei was not in a hurry to explain, and then led everyone to several parallel ditches. He slowly said: "These are ditches that were built during the Jiang Qi period. After hundreds of years, their purpose is to use the tide to allow seawater to flow into the reservoir through the ditches, so that water can be taken for boiling."

The group followed the canal and slowly walked to the huge pond. The seawater here was divided into shallow salt ponds. After several days of exposure to the sun, the water level dropped slightly. Yi Huawei pointed to the salt pond and said, "This is the second step in salt production."

Beside each salt pond, there is an animal-powered waterwheel. The blindfolded donkey keeps turning in circles, driving the waterwheel, which continuously extracts seawater from the pond and transfers it to the next stop: the filter tank.

The shape of the filter pond resembles a terraced field. Each water outlet is equipped with several layers of bamboo mats, supported by fixed bamboo baskets and padded with bamboo strips and straw. A hard mud board containing a large amount of salt is placed in the middle. After the seawater from the reservoir enters the filter pond, it flows from high to low. Before entering the next layer, it is first filtered through the water level difference, and then it goes back and forth until it is filtered five or six times. The whole process can take as short as one day or as long as two days.

Yi Huawei explained in detail: "This is the third step in salt production, brine pouring. Although the whole process is long, after filtering for one to two days, you can get brine with a higher concentration in the filter tank at the bottom! You know, if it only relies on wind and sun, this process will take more than ten days! After the brine is made, the salt workers will pull off a piece of shrub to determine the concentration of the brine. If the branches float on the surface of the brine, it means that the brine has reached a sufficient concentration and can be used to make salt. If it sinks to the bottom of the water or floats in the middle of the water, it means that the brine concentration is insufficient..."

Qin Shihuang listened to Yi Huawei's explanation, nodded slightly, and looked thoughtful.

After walking along the way, the group finally arrived at the salt fields where salt was dried. Yi Huawei ordered the craftsmen to make some modifications and dig some rectangular fields with stone bricks as the bottom, shallow and wide. The qualified brine from the filter pool was carried here by the craftsmen and servants in small wooden buckets and poured into the salt fields.

It was afternoon now, the sun was blazing, and the wind was strong, so the brine was evaporating. Crystal clear salt grains had formed at the bottom of the salt pans. When the water dried up completely, the servants went down to the pans and piled up the salt with shovels. In each salt pan, there were salt hills half a person's height.

These salt mounds looked very pleasing, so Qin Shihuang asked someone to scoop up a handful of salt to take a look. The salt was white and fine, of pure quality, and its color was no less than that of Anyi salt. It turned out that the salt mud and bamboo mats in the previous filter pools not only increased the concentration of brine, but also had another purpose, which was to filter impurities in seawater. Therefore, the brine in the salt fields looked very clean, and the salt that was dried out had fewer impurities.

The quality was fine, so what Qin Shihuang cared about was efficiency and output. Looking at Yi Huawei, he asked, "How many days will it take to make salt using the new method of brine drying?" The reason why the people of Qi boiled salt was because simply drying salt was too slow and it depended on the weather. Once the time was too long and a sudden rain fell, all the previous efforts would be wasted, so not every place was suitable for drying salt.

Yi Huawei reported: "Scrape the soil, gather the earth, drain the brine, and it will be done in three days! As for drying the salt, it requires the right time and place. When the sun is at its peak, let the brine be exposed to the sun until dusk, and you will get salt!"

In summary, this method only takes four days and five steps! Its speed is as fast as boiling the sea! And the cost is much lower than boiling the sea.

However, this method is extremely dependent on the weather. First, the salt mud must be made after the tide recedes before it can be dried. Generally, there are two high tides every month, each lasting about five or six days, so the time to dry the salt is only about half a month to 20 days each month. If the sunlight is not strong enough, the salt yield of the brine is very low, so the best time to dry the salt is only from April to October in a year, which is exactly the opposite of boiling salt. This means that a lot of labor force will be occupied in this industry.

Qi used the salt boiling method and worked for three months from October to December to obtain 36,000 zhong of salt, which was about 200,000 shi of Qin. When Tian Qi opened up a new salt field, the output increased to 300,000 shi, but due to various reasons, the salt production shrank to 50,000 shi.

“How much salt can be produced per month?”

In Qin Shihuang's opinion, it would be good enough to catch up with the previous output.

But Yi Huawei gave him a big surprise: "In just one month, this salt field has produced 2 shi of salt! Even if it is only dried for half a year, it can still produce at least 12 shi of salt. Adding the other small salt fields, it is no problem to produce 15 shi a year!"

Not only was the output half as much as boiling salt, but the cost was also much lower. Qin Shi Huang was delighted.

Li Si then made a careful calculation in front of the Emperor: "Your Majesty, the amount of salt consumed is 5.5 liters per month for men, 3.5 liters per month for women, and 2.5 liters per month for infants. In this way, a family of five consumes 15 liters of salt per month."

(One liter is approximately equal to 200 milliliters today)
150,000 tons of salt can supply one million households, about five million people. This means that Ju County can solve the salt problem of more than four million people on top of meeting its own needs!

Moreover, the salt produced here is white salt of better quality, not black salt mixed with a lot of mud and sand. Salt these days contains more impurities, and in many places, the local salt must be "cleared of mud" and dried before it can be eaten. It is normal to have two liters of mud in a bucket of salt.

Zhang Han was very happy at this time. He said excitedly: "Your Majesty, if we can expand Jiaodong's method to the whole country, especially to Langya, Donghai and Kuaiji counties, we can produce an extra 200,000 or 300,000 tons of salt every year! In this way, the Shaofu can make a huge profit by collecting salt taxes!"

As an official in charge of finance and living within one's means, Zhang Han, who was equivalent to the National Development and Reform Commission, naturally understood that salt was the cheapest and most effective means of taxation! Qin Shihuang listened to Li Si and Zhang Han, nodded slightly, and began to think about how to promote this new method of salt production throughout the country.

"Zhao Gao, you are a great sworn sister! You have brought me many surprises. Yilan, you are worthy of being called the 'God of Craftsmanship' by the people. Hahahaha~ With a daughter like this, why should we worry about the prosperity of the Great Qin!!"

Qin Shi Huang's laughter echoed over the salt pan by the sea, full of praise and joy. After a while, he turned to look at Yi Huawei and said, "Zhao Gao, Yilan has made another great contribution. How do you think we should reward her?"

Hearing what Qin Shi Huang said, Li Si and others looked anxious. Yilan is now the head of the Southern Court. If she is promoted again, what should she be promoted to? Shaofu? How can a woman take on such a big responsibility? They were full of worries. On the one hand, they were worried that Qin Shi Huang's reward would break the traditional official system. On the other hand, they were afraid that Yilan's power would be too great and affect the stability of the court.

Yi Huawei bowed his head slightly, thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, Yilan's contribution is indeed worthy of reward. But I think the reward needs to be carefully considered. It should reflect your majesty's favor, but it should not violate the rules of the court. Perhaps you can reward Yilan with some gold, silver, treasures, land and real estate, or give her some honors and privileges."

Qin Shi Huang frowned slightly, and seemed to be dissatisfied with this suggestion. He knew that Yilan's contribution could not be measured by ordinary gold and silver. After thinking for a moment, he said: "Yilan's contribution should be rewarded heavily. I have decided to confer Yilan the title of 'Marquis of Sea Salt' and grant him a fief of 1,000 households!"

When these words came out, everyone was shocked. To be a marquis, what an honor! But for a woman, this was undoubtedly an unprecedented move. Li Si and others looked at each other, wanting to persuade him, but seeing the firm look in Qin Shihuang's eyes, they dared not speak easily. They knew in their hearts that once Qin Shihuang made a decision, it would be difficult to change it.

Qin Shi Huang narrowed his eyes slightly, quietly watching the complicated expressions on everyone's faces, and he already understood their concerns. He slowly straightened his body, and his majestic aura instantly spread, and then he spoke:

"I am well aware of your concerns, but Yilan's contributions are obvious to all. I have always been clear about rewards and punishments, and those who have made contributions must be rewarded. Moreover, this move is also to inspire people in the world, to let them know that as long as they have talent and have made contributions, no matter whether they are men or women, they can be appreciated and reused by me."

Qin Shi Huang's words were steady and powerful, as if they carried an irresistible force. After hearing Qin Shi Huang's words, although everyone still had doubts in their hearts, they also knew that once Qin Shi Huang made a decision, it would be extremely difficult to change it. So everyone knelt down and shouted "Long live the emperor". The voices were uniform and loud, expressing their support for Qin Shi Huang's decision.

Qin Shi Huang waved his hand gently, his expression solemn, and spoke again: "Zhao Gao recommended you for merit, and saved me many times in times of crisis. You are indeed a loyal and brave man, so I promote you to the position of Shaofu. I hope you will be diligent and dedicated in your new position, and keep a good watch on the national finances. Don't let me down. Zhang Han, although your protection this time was not good, I will transfer you to Dianke for your past achievements. You should learn from your lessons in your new position and properly handle foreign affairs."

"Thank you, Your Majesty! I will do my best to live up to Your Majesty's expectations!"

When Yi Huawei heard that he was promoted to Shaofu, he thanked him immediately and expressed his sincere intention to do his best to serve the country and live up to the trust of Qin Shihuang. Although Zhang Han was transferred to Dianke due to his poor guarding, he felt a little disappointed, but he also knew his fault and knelt down to accept the order.

(End of this chapter)