Tang Dynasty: What! My mother is actually Empress Zhangsun

"Refining salt!"

Gao Qiu frowned and said puzzledly:"Brother Li, these mineral salts are poisonous salts, you know......"

Before he finished speaking, his expression froze, and then his breathing became rapid. He emphasized:

"You mean, you know how to remove the toxins from this poisonous salt?"

Li Nian smiled and nodded, unable to deny it.

""Huh!"

Thinking of this, Gao Qiu couldn't help but shudder all over.

No wonder Li Nian is so cautious. If this gets out, it might bring about a fatal disaster!

Salt is a strategic material in this era.

People can live without sugar, because sugar can be taken from other foods.

But people must not live without salt.

Once salt is not taken for a long time, the whole body will be weak, dizzy and so on.

In severe cases, there will be anorexia, nausea, vomiting, accelerated heart rate, weak pulse, muscle spasms, blurred vision, weakened reflexes, etc., and severe cases can lead to death.

Not only people, but war horses also need salt.

On the battlefield, on the eve of the war, salt and feed must be added to the war horses, otherwise, the war horses will not run at all, let alone charge.

Soldiers fight, bleed and sweat, and their demand for salt is high. Bigger.

Therefore, salt is definitely a strategic material.

But in this era, there is no technology to extract mineral salt. Most of the table salt is sea salt, and the output is limited. In addition, in the deep inland, the mountains are high and the roads are long. The price of salt transported to inland places has increased several times.

Therefore, some poor families can't afford to eat salt on weekdays. Only the laborers in the family are qualified to eat salt during the busy farming season.

Because if you don't eat salt, you will have no strength, and if you have no strength, you can't work.

However, if there is a technique to extract mineral salt, the output of salt will be greatly increased! The Tang Dynasty will no longer have to worry about the shortage of table salt!

This technology is equivalent to mastering the photolithography machine now!

Similarly, if you master the technique of extracting mineral salt, what a huge amount of wealth will be obtained!

Thinking of this, Chief Gao couldn't help but shudder all over.

"Brother Li, is what you said true?"

Even a veteran warrior like Gao Qiu couldn't help but be moved at this moment, and said in a hoarse voice

"Of course it's true!"

Li Nian said with a heavy face:"Brother Gao, this matter only needs to be known between you and me. If it gets out......"

"I understand!"

Gao Qiu bit his tongue and said in a sonorous tone:"I will definitely keep it to myself!"

"Brother Gao, there is no need to be so nervous!"

Seeing the shocked Gao Qiu, Li Nian said with a smile:"I will make this technique public sooner or later, but not now!"

"Therefore, we still have to be careful for now!"

Staring at the men working, Gao Qiu swallowed his saliva and said,"Brother Li, why did you tell me such a confidential matter?"

"Naturally, I need your help."

Li Nian said:"This salt mountain is here. To refine the mineral salt, we naturally need manpower."

"My idea is to recruit local villagers to dig salt mines and grind salt rocks."

"Then I will extract it into salt and sell it to the government, or sell it myself!"

Li Nian had already done some research before coming here. In the early Tang Dynasty, there was no salt and iron monopoly. It was not until after the An-Shi Rebellion that salt tax was collected in order to increase fiscal revenue.

Therefore, private individuals can still sell salt now.

"The villagers of Gaoshan Town live in poverty, but if the salt mountain is dug, I believe their lives will get better soon."

Li Nian added:"Don't worry, I will share the profits from the salt mountain with the villagers in a 50-50 split."

Gao Qiu felt a little excited when he heard it.

Everyone knows how profitable it is to sell salt.

If the salt mountain is really dug, the lives of the villagers will be greatly improved!

He grew up here since he was a child, so he naturally knew how hard the lives of the villagers here were.

Most of the villagers are military households, and they have almost no other property except for the land.

Once a big war is encountered, the court will recruit soldiers, and the first to be recruited are these military households, and they have to purchase weapons and prepare dry food at their own expense.

This treatment is even worse than that of ordinary farmers.

If the salt mountain can be dug, even if it is 50% profit, it will be enough to improve the lives of the villagers!

""I, the humble general, would like to express my gratitude to Brother Li!"

Chief Gao bowed his head and

"Brother Gao, please don't do this!"

Li Nian said with a smile:"It's just that each of us takes what we need. In the end, I am just a profit-seeking businessman."

"Brother Lee..."

Gao Qiu choked up a little, his eyes were red, and he wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Li Nian:"Okay, okay!"

"If this matter is to succeed, we need the help of Brother Gao!"

When Gao Qiu heard this, he immediately wiped his eyes and said in a sonorous voice:"Brother Li, if you have any instructions, just tell me!"

Seeing Gao Qiu nod, Li Nian told him all his ideas.

"Mining the salt mountain requires a lot of labor, and Brother Gao needs to select them.

Chief Gao nodded. No one is more suitable than him for this kind of work.

He is a local born and raised person, and his father is the local chief, who is highly respected.

"After the salt stone is dug out, the first step is what these people are doing now!"

"Once the salt stone is ground into powder, it will be transported to Chang'an City, where I will refine it into mineral salt and then sell it."

Gao Qiu nodded repeatedly when he heard this.

"Brother Li’s arrangements are very appropriate!"

"Don't worry about the salt mine excavation. No one will make any mistakes. If anyone leaks a word, I will bring my head to see you!"

This matter is of great importance, and Chief Gao did not dare to be careless.

""Good!"

Li Nian was delighted to see Gao Qiu being so straightforward.

He liked dealing with such people, who would keep their word and keep their word!

Here, eight men were pushing the stone mill all night.

In a small room, candlelight flickered.

Su Yang, Gao Qiu, and Old Man Su gathered in front of a big pot, watching Li Nian's operation.

Li Nian collected the ground mineral powder into a wooden barrel, added water, and stirred it with a wooden stick to allow the salt to fully dissolve into the water.

When the solution was saturated, it was poured into another wooden barrel covered with double layers of linen.

After a while, the linen was covered with gray-black slag.

After removing the linen, the solution in the barrel turned brown and the color became lighter, but there were still many impurities.

Four layers of linen were covered on another wooden barrel, and then...

After filtering again, a light red solution was left.

Seeing that it had been filtered clean, it was time to detoxify.

As he spoke, he took a large funnel, smashed the charcoal, wrapped the charcoal particles with four layers of linen and stuffed them into the funnel, squeezed it tightly, found a rack, fixed the funnel on the rack, poured the solution into the funnel, and soon, the light green solution slowly flowed out. He scooped up a handful and tasted it. It was good, only salty, not bitter. Although some salt was lost in the process, it can be guaranteed that the boiled salt is absolutely edible.

Set up a wood pot and pour the solution into the pot to boil.

The water in the pot gradually evaporated, leaving a thick layer of green hard crust on the bottom of the pot. Remove the firewood and break off a piece from the pot. Everyone's eyes suddenly brightened.

"Come on, everyone, have a taste!"

Several people carefully dipped their index fingers in the liquid and put it in their mouths, and suddenly their brows jumped.

"Such fine salt!"

""It's better than any salt I've ever eaten!"

Gao Qiu couldn't help but exclaimed.

Among them, only Gao Qiu had a wider range of knowledge. He had been in the army for a long time and served as a lieutenant general. Naturally, he knew that the quality of this salt was better than the official salt!

"Doctor Li is truly an immortal who can turn poisonous salt into such exquisite fine salt!"

"God bless us!"

Old man Gao said excitedly, his beard trembling.

Li Nian stood up, put the salt in the pot into a bag, and handed it to Old man Gao.

"Dad, the villagers of Gaoshan Town don't have to worry about salt anymore!"

This sentence instantly broke the defense of the old man Gao, and he burst into tears.

He hunched over and kept wiping his red eyes.

This old soldier of the Tang Dynasty came out of blood and fire, rode on the battlefield, killed countless enemies, witnessed death, and was reborn.

But at this moment, he burst into tears.

"Don't worry, doctor. The villagers of Gaoshan Town will never let you down!"

Chief Gao has already informed Old Man Gao about the excavation of the salt mountain. He also knows how important this matter is, so he said this.

"In that case, then I'll have to trouble Dad Gao with everything!"......