Wentang

Chapter 648 New Method of Extracting Refined Salt

A month ago, Dizhou.

Tian Xuechen, the governor of Dizhou, and Gan Yuanfeng, the county magistrate of Shangcheng, held a routine meeting. The two of them are the spokespersons of the Yue Department in Dizhou, and they need to cooperate in many things.

So from time to time they will meet to exchange information and opinions.

Tian Xuechen said: "Magistrate Gan, I heard that someone made trouble at the pier yesterday?"

Gan Yuanfeng said casually: "The Gu family's fleet in the south tried to jump in but was rejected and couldn't help but want to make trouble, so they were taken down by the river patrol team."

Tian Xuechen said sarcastically: "People from these aristocratic families are used to being arrogant, do they think that Dizhou is Suzhou?"

In the Tang Dynasty, the power of the aristocratic families was respected by the five surnames and seven wangs, but in the south it was headed by the twelve aristocratic families, and the Gu family was one of them.

"Liu Dudu led the army to go to Fusang, and Dizhou's coastal defense is empty. We must be vigilant and not be taken advantage of by others." Tian Xuechen said again.

Gan Yuanfeng said: "I have already dispatched good fishermen from Dizhou to form a patrol team. With a fleet left by the Navy, we should be able to keep Dizhou from being harassed by water thieves."

Tian Xuechen shook his head and said worriedly: "I'm not worried about water thieves, but..." He pointed to the north.

Gan Yuanfeng immediately understood what he was referring to, but he said in disbelief: "They face the threat of Goguryeo, so they probably don't have the guts to send troops."

The two were talking about Baekje, a country that had to surrender to the Tang Dynasty under the threat of Goguryeo.After Dizhou became prosperous, the pirates who killed the most were from Baekje.

Tian Xuechen said: "Wealth touches people's hearts, so it's better to be careful, and they have been acting dishonestly. In the past, Governor Liu frightened them from moving around, but now it's hard to say."

"We must not only prevent them from giving to Dizhou, but also prevent them from attacking Liu Dudu's fleet. We must pay attention to the movements there, and we must respond immediately if we find any movement of the navy to gather."

Gan Yuanfeng grimaced, and said, "Understood, I will let people pay attention to the movement over there."

Seeing that he listened to it, Tian Xuechen felt relieved, and continued: "The weather is getting hotter, the season for drying salt..."

"Tuk tuk." The two were talking when they were suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door.

Tian Xuechen paused before saying, "Come in."

I saw a civil official come in and report: "The governor, the master of Yanchang Tang, please see me."

Soup pot?What did he come for? Did something happen to the saltworks?Thinking like this, he said, "Please come in."

After a while, a middle-aged man walked in, followed by a timid old man.

The owner of the soup is a strong man with a dark complexion, more like a soldier than a literati, but he is indeed the owner of the saltworks, and also Yue Shan's confidant.

"I've met Governor Tian and County Magistrate Gan."

The old man following behind him also saluted, too nervous to even speak.

Tian Xuechen said kindly: "Boss Tang came to see me at this time, what's the matter?"

Tang Jinke said with joy: "This old man is a salt worker in the salt field. He invented a new method of extracting refined salt, which can shorten the construction period by one-third and does not require charcoal filtration."

"What?" Tian Xuechen and Gan Yuanfeng said in surprise.

Tian Xuechen asked hastily, "Master Tang, are you serious?"

Tang Jinke couldn't hide his excitement and said: "It really can't be more true. I have verified it dozens of times before I report to you."

Tian Xuechen suddenly fell into ecstasy, and it took him a long time to come back to his senses, and he couldn't wait to ask: "Quickly tell me what the method is."

"Mix the refined salt into clear water until it can no longer be incorporated. Then pour coarse salt into the water and stir to get refined salt." Tang Jinke explained.

"This..." Tian Xuechen and Gan Yuanfeng looked at each other in dismay, and stirred the refined salt and coarse salt together. Shouldn't they all turn into poisonous coarse salt?How can it become refined salt?
Is he playing with us?
Seeing the suspicious gazes of the two, Tang Jinfu could guess what they were thinking. To be honest, he wouldn't believe it if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes. It was against common sense.

But he only knew that doing so could extract refined salt, but he didn't know the principle, and he didn't know how to explain it to the two of them.So he pulled out the old man behind him and said:
"This involves the knowledge of Gephysics. I have limited knowledge and don't understand this. Let Zhou Yangong explain it to you."

Design to knowledge of physical science?Tian Xuechen and Gan Yuanfeng showed suddenly enlightened expressions.

This is the knowledge created by Yuehou himself, and there must be something magical about it. It is not incomprehensible to extract refined salt with this unreasonable method.

But then a bigger doubt came, this old man didn't look like he knew Gephysics at all.How did he use the method of physics to invent a new method of extracting refined salt?

Seeing Zhou Yangong trembling nervously, Tian Xuechen said in as kind a tone as possible: "Zhou Yangong, right? Don't be afraid, can you explain to me what the principle of this refined salt is?"

Maybe his reassurance played a role. Although Zhou Yangong still didn't dare to raise his head, he finally dared to speak: "Instor... Inspector, this method... method was not thought of by me, it was told to me by my grandson."

Speaking of his grandson, the old man's expression immediately changed. He even forgot to be afraid, and said proudly: "My grandson is studying in our Dizhou Academy, and he gets a bonus every time he is assessed."

Tian Xuechen and Gan Yuanfeng showed relieved expressions. It turned out that the students in the academy came up with the solution. Does this conform to their cognition of things?

But to think of such a method, the grandson of Zhou Yangong must be a genius.He said just now that the student won prizes every time he took the exam, which confirmed their guess.

Now Tian Xuechen's attitude towards the old man is even more cordial. Compared with his grandson who is a scholar, he is still one of the top ones, and he can barely be regarded as one of his own in terms of status.

"Zhou Yangong, what's the name of your grandson? I'll send someone to invite him over now."

"His name is Zhou Shifang, a student in Class A, Grade Three." The old man said with a hint of showing off.

If the old man had dared to talk to them in this tone just now, Tian Xuechen would have definitely kicked him out, but now he thinks the other party is very interesting.

After all, there is a [-]% chance of becoming an official in Class A of the third grade in the middle school.

Moreover, there are as many as three opportunities for them to become officials. They can take part in the imperial examination and become officials;If you can get recommended by that famous teacher, you will even have a better future than taking the imperial examination to become an official.

The third type is that if you fail the first two, you can still become an official in Dizhou. The students in Class A of the third grade have never failed in the examination of the scribes in Dizhou.

Therefore, the status of the Intermediate Class A of Dizhou Academy is very special, and it can be treated as an official.

This is why Tian Xuechen has a completely different attitude towards Zhou Yangong.

Dizhou Academy was not far from the shopping mall, and Zhou Shifang was quickly brought here.

This is a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy with a very bookish air, but his demeanor is completely different from that of his grandfather.Facing Tian Xuechen, the governor, he was neither humble nor overbearing and polite.

This made Tian Xuechen even more satisfied.

What he was satisfied with was not Zhou Shifang's performance. If the students in Class A of the third grade of middle school did not have this kind of bearing, they would not be worthy of being called Class A of the third grade of middle school.

What really made him happy was the other party's age, fourteen or fifteen.This is a veritable genius, if you take him as a disciple... No, you can't take him as a disciple, you have to recommend it to Yuehou.

In particular, he seems to have research on Gewu, and Yue Shan likes such talents the most.If Zhou Shifang is sent to him, he will be very happy.

My tenure in Dizhou is about to expire, so I have to do a good job to make Yue Hou happy, so I can find a better place to go.

He has an ambition to return to Gyeonggi, and it is best to be able to enter the sixth department to take up a real job.

He has been paying attention to the situation in the capital, and he is very clear that the Yue family has been fully formed, and dropping him into the capital is just a matter of words for Yue Shan.

Zhou Shifang didn't know what was going on in Tian Xuechen's mind, he just thought that his enthusiasm for him was because he valued his knowledge, and he was very proud of it.

When asked about the new method of extracting refined salt, he said confidently: "...Yuehou mentioned in Weishui Academy's latest Gewu Suijuan that there is an upper limit for the solubility of water to different substances, and this upper limit is the degree of saturation... ..."

"...After the saturation of a single substance is full, another substance can continue to dissolve until it reaches the level of water power until it reaches saturation..."

"I was thinking that refined salt should be a single substance, while coarse salt is a mixture containing other substances... If you dissolve refined salt into water to reach saturation... then put coarse salt in water and stir it..."

"...Because the water is saturated with salt, it cannot be mixed with salt, but the solubility of other substances is not yet saturated, the toxins in coarse salt can be dissolved into saturated brine... The rest is naturally refined salt..."

"I call this method the saturated salt washing method. In fact, I only came up with it after receiving Qing Shuihou's works. It's right that I stole his idea."

Everyone present, including Tian Xuechen and Gan Yuanfeng, looked like they were listening to the scriptures. They knew every single word, such as single substance and saturation, but they had no idea what they were talking about together.

But they understood one thing. Zhou Shifang came up with this method after reading Yue Hou's essays for inspiration.

Tian Xuechen's eyes lit up, what is fate, this is fate.

Originally, I thought it would be abrupt to recommend Zhou Shifang to Yue Shan, but now I don't have any worries.This is simply a great opportunity given to me by God.

Thinking of this, he said kindly: "Shifang really deserves to be the leader of Class A in the third grade of the middle school. The research on Gewu makes me feel ashamed."

Zhou Shifang shook his head and said, "Tian Cishi praised it absurdly. The real way of learning things is in Weishui Academy. I just learned some superficial knowledge. My greatest dream is to go to Weishui Academy and ask Qingshuihou about the way of learning things in person. Is there such a chance?"

Tian Xuechen suppressed the ecstasy in his heart, and said: "Don't be discouraged, I have some friendship with Yuehou, if you really want to go to Weishui Academy, I can write you a letter of recommendation, I believe Yuehou will give me some kindness. I don't know if you would like it?"

So there was the letter in Yue Shan's hand.

Yue Shan was also confused when he first saw the content of this letter. He read it carefully several times before he could believe what was written on it.

Almost all his knowledge of science has been compiled into books and handed over to the teachers and students of Gewu Academy for research. Now the Gewu textbooks are summarized based on the knowledge and ideas he provided.

It’s just that occasionally when the inspiration comes, I will think of some scattered knowledge, which is not suitable to be directly compiled into the textbook.

Generally, it will be written as an essay together with other people's research results for the teachers and students of Gewuyuan to read.

And there are many students from Dizhou Academy in Weishui Academy, and they will copy all the knowledge that can be passed on from the academy and send it back to Dizhou Academy for people there to learn.

Yue Shan didn't expect that someone would sum up the saturated salt washing method based on the contents of this essay, and it was thought of by a 14-year-old boy. What a genius this is.

He didn't know if this method existed in his previous life, anyway, he had never heard of it.But the meaning is very simple, he can understand it at a glance.

Then he was deeply ashamed. What he wrote himself failed to apply what he had learned. Sure enough, he was a scumbag of science.We don't even know the gold and silver mountains are in front of us.

The saturated salt washing method is a golden mountain and a silver mountain to the current Datang.

The salt drying method summarized by Yueshan before is divided into three steps, drying the brine, filtering the brine, and drying the filtered brine to extract refined salt.

The saturated salt washing method directly changes the original three-step salt production method into two steps, brine drying and salt washing.

Without the third step of drying and extracting refined salt, the time can be saved by about one-third.

The most critical thing is to omit the step of filtering.

Activated carbon is needed to filter brine, and the daily consumption of activated carbon in Dizhou Saltworks is huge.How is activated carbon made?Cutting wood and burning charcoal, then placing the charcoal on the steamer and washing it with a fast-moving stream of steam...

This process requires a lot of manpower, and the most important thing is that too much firewood is needed.In order to burn charcoal, I don't know how many forests in Dizhou have been cut down.

It can be said that more than half of the cost of Dizhou salt comes from activated carbon.

With this method, the price of salt in Dizhou can be halved once, and the people of Datang can really eat cheap and cheap table salt.

Not to mention the protection of the environment without burning charcoal, which has a far-reaching impact.

He was full of curiosity about this boy named Zhou Shifang, wishing to see him right away.

After reading the letter, he went to the academy as quickly as possible, planning to use the academy's channel to deliver the letter to Dizhou, and asked Tian Xuechen to send the boy over.

When I went to the academy and went to Wang Ji, I found that he was not there, so I asked a gentleman to ask and found out that there was another fight in Erya Building, and Wang Ji went to mediate.

(End of this chapter)