Datang: What's wrong with my fief being a billion points larger?

Chapter 54: I didn't catch any fish, but I caught a person
Li Yuanji watched the ditch being filled with mud and the seawater in the salt pond not flowing out, with a smile on his face.

To extract sea salt, you need clear, unpolluted seawater. In this era, is there any difference between having this condition or not having it?
In this era, if you want to pollute the sea water, you need something that can pollute it, which also made the ancient sea water particularly natural.

As for the three methods of extracting sea salt, the reason why they are all applicable here is that there is sun and wind here. The air-drying method requires wind, and he cannot create artificial wind, but there is plenty of natural wind here. As for the sun-drying method, there is also sunlight. Anyway, no matter what, he is going to do it because he has no other way.

After a while, Xie Shufang came to Li Yuanji.

"My lord, everything is done."

Li Yuanji nodded, and then began to explain the reasons to Xie Shufang.

"Shufang, we must pay special attention to this. These large pits are called salt ponds. They are used to make table salt. The salt made in this way is extremely white and has small particles. It is better than the salt we use now.

Moreover, it can be produced in large quantities. Although the salt court does not collect taxes nowadays, there are still few people who can afford salt and the price is still not low.

Especially the salt used nowadays contains other impurities, is not pure, and tastes bad, except for the salt used in the palace which is slightly better, but not much better.

You may not understand what I am telling you now, but you will know it once the salt is made.

By then, the salt produced here will be as small as fine sand and snow-white, which will whet your appetite just by looking at it.”

Xie Shufang indeed did not know the kind of salt that Li Yuanji was talking about, but he could imagine what Li Yuanji described, and he also knew the situation of the salt that Li Yuanji was talking about. If such salt could really be produced, Xie Shufang knew that people outside, especially the Tang Dynasty, would come to grab it like crazy.

But Xie Shufang was not happy or excited, because although Li Yuanji described it very well, looking at those big pits, no, the sea water in the salt ponds, Xie Shufang found it hard to imagine how such good salt could be made in this way.

This is what Li Yuanji said. He executed it unconditionally and was willing to believe it. If anyone else said it, even if it was the Tang Emperor Li Yuan, Xie Shufang would think that the other person must have something wrong with his brain.

After a moment, Uncle Xie slowly spoke.

"I believe in you, my king. I will stay here to protect the salt."

Li Yuanji looked relieved. With Xie Shufang here, he could rest assured.

"Okay, I'll leave this to you. Remember, if you see any crystals at the bottom of the salt pond, tell me immediately without delay."

After giving instructions to Xie Shufang, Li Yuanji watched for a while. As the sky gradually darkened and there was no change in the salt lake, he left.

The next day, Li Yuanji woke up early and a new daily task came into his mind: fishing for two hours. Completing it would earn him five contribution points.

Looking at this task, Li Yuanji immediately started to act. At this time, he already had the method of fishing. Li Yuanji found a thin cotton thread and used a small dead branch. He chose a small piece to act as a float. As for sinking, he found a small stone and tied it to the line. With a bamboo pole, the fishing rod was ready.

As for the bait, that was even simpler. He just found a few earthworms in the ground and a small river, and then Li Yuanji began his leisurely day today.

Now that everything has been explained, Wang Xuance and others are busy, but he has some free time. He would look around here and there from time to time, act as a supervisor, chat with people, and ease everyone's mood.

Although Li Yuanji did nothing, even so, everyone was very excited, especially the people of Haikang and those who were flirting.

Li Yuanji gave them real food, and as a prince, he would comfort them from time to time. Everyone respected Li Yuanji very much.

Li Yuanji stayed in the river for a while, but there was no movement for half a day. Li Yuanji was almost falling asleep. There was really no movement at all. It was so boring.

Although he fished, it was only occasionally, and he was an amateur among amateurs. At this time, he had completely lost the excitement he had at the beginning. At this time, a man came to him, wearing a straw raincoat and holding a small stool, without a float or even a sinker, and started fishing.

Li Yuanji looked at the man, who was already quite old, so out of kindness, Li Yuanji spoke.

"Father, there are no fish in this stream. Please go to another place. I have been watching for half an hour and there is no movement at all."

The old man was very thin, with almost no flesh on his face and only a few teeth left.

"Young man, fishing requires calmness, not impatience, and patience. I have been fishing in this river for nearly twenty years. How could I not know whether there are fish or not?"

Li Yuanji listened to this with full of disbelief. He had been fishing for twenty years?

Who are you trying to fool? You fish all day and don’t eat?
Li Yuanji was too lazy to care, but after two incense sticks of time, Li Yuanji, who was still watching the fun, suddenly saw the old man pick up the fishing rod. Li Yuanji's pupils shrank, he knew that the man had caught a fish.

Sure enough, after a while, the old man brought a fish weighing almost half a pound to the shore. Li Yuanji looked at the fish, then at the float here which was motionless, and was stunned.

It was clearly him who came here first, and they were only three or five meters apart, so why was there no movement here?

Li Yuanji picked up the fishing rod. The earthworms had turned from dark to light color, but there was no movement at all.

Li Yuanji angrily replaced it with a fresh earthworm and threw it down again.

At this time, the old man's voice was heard.

"Young man, you are too clever for your own good. The stone you tied to the bait will make the bait sink to the bottom of the river. There are no fish at the bottom of the river. If you remove the stone, you can catch fish."

Li Yuanji listened to this and really didn't know it was possible. He had always used this method when fishing. He never used deep or shallow water. He always fished at the bottom. Apart from fishing at the bottom, he didn't know how to do anything else.

Li Yuanji didn't believe it and continued not to listen to the old man, but he didn't stop talking.

"Old man, from what you say, you are not a local flirt, right?"

When the old man heard this, he sighed silently and spoke after a while.

“It doesn’t matter if I’m not from here. I’ve been here for 27 years. I have children and grandchildren here, and I’m satisfied.

You came here with the king, right?

I can see that the king is a good man. It is hard to find such a kind-hearted king nowadays. I am already quite old, but I met one at this time. The world is really unpredictable. "

Li Yuanji understood what he heard. It sounded like the old man was praising him, but in fact, he was saying that he was pure. Yes, pure means stupid.

Being in the royal family and having a kind heart, isn't this stupid?
Li Yuanji was already a little impatient, and after hearing this, he immediately became dissatisfied.

"Old man, tell me in detail what this great king is like. And what crime have you committed that you have stayed here for twenty-seven years? Have you ever thought about going back?"

(End of this chapter)