Before coming to Yin Island, Qin Zheng, Wang Yunpeng and others made up for the knowledge of salt making. Because salt production has always been one of the great killers of crossing, the relevant knowledge is very rich. In the database established by the traverser, whether it is the boiling salt method or the drying salt method, there are detailed process instructions. I know that this process is called "ash leaching".

Because the salt content of seawater is not high, the average concentration is only 7‰, whether it is boiling salt or drying salt, seawater can not be used directly, so the salt rate is too low, so the seawater must be made into brine with high salinity first, in order to carry out the next step of salt crystallization process, in order to increase the efficiency of salt production, and the process of manufacturing brine, it is called "ash leaching brine".

In the information of salt production, the process of "ash leaching" is very detailed, that is, soaking seawater with plant ash to absorb enough salt, of course, fine sea sand can also be used to replace plant ash, and spread out in the sun to produce salt flowers. Then spread a layer of straw on the brine pool, and pile up the grass ash or mud and sand that has absorbed enough salt on the straw and flatten it, which is called "pile ash", and then pour the clean seawater that has been presettled and treated to the ash, this process is "leaching brine", the seawater fully absorbs the salt in the ash, and filters out the impurities through the straw and flows into the brine pool, which becomes the raw material for salt production - salt brine, which can be used to boil salt or dry salt. Sometimes, in order to increase the salinity of the brine, two or even three times the "ash leaching" process is carried out. However, Qin Zheng also noticed that the salt field was not used to drench brine, but the well water from several wells in the salt field.

After looking at the "pile of ashes and brine" for a while, Qin Zheng walked to the stove to take a closer look, only to see that there was a large iron pot with a diameter of about one meter on each stove, some pots were filled with water to boil, steaming, and some pots had crystalline salt, and two people took turns with a big shovel, and kept shoveling in the pot, and some people added firewood to the stove, some people added water to the pot, some people packed the made salt in barrels, put it on the side of the stove, and another person transported it to the warehouse door for storage. Although it was the end of December and the weather was cold, the temperature in the shed was quite high, coupled with a lot of physical labor, so the people who fried salt were shirtless, and they were all sweating profusely. Others sat on the side to rest and drink.

After looking at the stove for a while, Qin Zheng looked at the several buckets of self-made salt on the side, and saw that the color of the salt was snow-white, which was not much different from the salt in the old time and space, and dipped it a little more to taste in his mouth, and felt that in the salty taste, it seemed to have a little bitterness. This is also normal, because there are other minerals in the salt brine, so it has a somewhat bitter taste.

Of course, this was not a problem in the old plane. The dried salt can be processed for a second time, and the bitterness in the salt can be eliminated by chemical process treatment and purification. In this era, it can only be solved by people, which is said to be an experienced brine master who can control the brine to the benefit and minimize the bitterness of the salt.

However, the salt method by boiling salt method is low, labor-intensive, and consumes resources, because boiling salt consumes a lot of firewood or coal, so if you want to produce salt on a large scale, you must use the salt method by drying salt. Of course, the quality of boiled salt is better than that of sun-dried salt, because the main ingredient of salt is sodium chloride, and the solubility of sodium chloride is about the same in boiling water and room temperature, and the solubility of other impurities in boiling water is much larger, which leads to the fact that when the brine is boiled, the sodium chloride is preferentially crystallized, and most of the other impurities are still in the mother liquor, but if it is a drying method, because the temperature is not high enough, the solubility of sodium chloride and impurities is also about the same, and the crystallized salt is mixed with many impurities, and the purity is lower than that of boiling。

According to the information provided by Cheng Shishuo, Yin Island should have a salt drying process, Yin Island is finally connected to the mainland, from an isolated island in the sea to a peninsula, which has a direct relationship with salt drying, because salt drying requires the construction of a large number of salt pans on the seaside, as a result, the salt pans continue to expand to the seaside, slowly filling in the strait between Yin Island and the mainland, and Yin Island is also connected with the mainland.

At this moment, I saw that Han Gaocheng attracted an old man who was about fifty years old, saw Qin Zheng, and said: "Qin Junmen, this is the steward of the salt farm, called Han Yuqing, if you have anything to do with this salt farm, just ask him." ”

Han Yuqing gave Qin Zheng a salute and said, "Xiaomin has seen the military gate. ”

Qin Zheng nodded and said with a smile: "Old man, you are old this year, how many years have you been working in this salt farm?"

Han Yuqing said: "If you go back to the military gate, the villain is fifty and three this year, and he worked in the salt field at the age of fifteen, and he has been working for thirty-eight years. ”

Qin Zheng couldn't help but be a little respectful when he heard this, and said, "It's not easy to work for thirty-eight years." Who else is in the family? Is my wife okay? How many children do you have, do you have grandchildren?"

Although Han Yuqing was a little surprised, because Yin Island is located in a remote area, it is generally difficult to see big officials, the county magistrate can't come back for a few years, and it is a great official to come to a history and book office, and according to Han Gaocheng, Qin Zheng is at least a commander, it can be said that this is the biggest official who has been to Yin Island in the past hundred years. But such a big man is much more easy-going than the classics and bookstores he has seen before, and he actually started a family routine with himself. But he still replied honestly: "The villain's wife is at home, and he has two sons, both of whom have been married for several years, and each of them has given birth to a male baby, and now one is working in this salt, and the other is going to sea to fish for business, and there is a daughter, who got married the year before last, and will have a baby next year." ”

Qin Zheng laughed and said, "So you are also full of children and grandchildren, what a blessing?"

Han Yuqing hurriedly said: "There, there, it's all the blessing of Lord Tuojunmen." ”

After pulling the routine for a while, Qin Zheng turned to the topic and said, "How many salt farms like this are there on this island?"

Han Yuqing said: "Back to the military gate, we have been producing salt in Yindao for more than 2,000 years, there are more than 50 large and small salt farms, we have 8 salt farms in Hanjia Village, and every other village has salt farms, but the number is different, some villages have three or five salt farms, and some villages have only one, but in terms of scale, we have to count our Langjun salt farms as the largest, and the salt production is also the largest. ”

Qin Zheng said again: "How much salt can you produce in a day in this salt farm?"

Han Yuqing said: "We have a total of 112 stoves in this salt field, but now it is less than two months away from the New Year, many people go to Jiaozhou to play New Year's goods, plus this year's boxing bandits, there are few businessmen who come to buy salt, so there are less than 60 stoves that are started now, and they can produce less than 10 stones of salt a day, and if all the stoves are used, the brine can also be supplied in a very timely manner, and the daily salt production can reach more than 20 stones, and the villain remembers the most salt production of 23 stones, 7 buckets and 3 liters of salt a day. ”

After Qin Zheng listened, he took out his mobile phone and calculated, one stone is about 65 kilograms, this salt farm produces about 240 tons of salt per year, according to the whole island There are 50 salt farms, and the output of each salt field is equivalent to that of Langjun Salt Farm, and it produces 12,000 tons of salt every year, and considering that this is the largest salt farm in Yin Island, the overall output must be subtracted by at least three percent, so that the estimated annual salt production is about 7\8000 tons.

If this output is edible, it is passable, but salt is not just edible, in the chemical industry, such as chlorine, bleaching powder, caustic soda, soda ash and other chemical products, a large amount of salt is required. Although industrial salt is not the same as edible salt, it is still processed from edible salt, so in the near future, the traverser will need a large amount of finished salt.

According to the information provided by Cheng Shishuo, after Yindao fully popularized the salt, in the Republic of China, the annual output can reach about 35,000 tons, and after the liberation, the introduction of machine production can reach an annual output of nearly 100,000 tons, so there is still a lot of room for improvement in the salt production of Yindao.

Wang Yunpeng interjected and said: "I see that the water you use to drench brine is well water, not seawater, why is that?"

Although he didn't know Wang Yunpeng's identity, seeing him and Qin Zheng standing side by side, obviously not a petty official, Han Yuqing said with a smile: "Back to this old man, the well water here is mostly connected with seawater, and the salt in the well absorbs the sediment in the seawater is saltier than the seawater, and it is cleaner than the seawater after being deposited in the well, so the salt boiled in the well water requires more salt from the seawater, and the quality is better than the salt boiled from the seawater." ”

Wang Yunpeng nodded, and he also had to admire the wisdom of the ancient working people, although they didn't know much scientific knowledge, but they had accumulated thousands of years of wisdom, and they still couldn't be underestimated.

At this time, Qin Zheng asked again: "Is all the boiling salt on Yin Island?

Han Yuqing was stunned for a moment and said, "Our ancestors here have been boiling salt for generations, and no one has ever done anything to dry salt. After a pause, he said: "Salt needs good weather, only the southern climate is hot, you can dry salt, and our Yin Island has four distinct seasons, summer is hot and winter is cold, only 4 or 5 months of salt can be dried in a year, just like the current season, although it is not dripping into ice, but it is also cold, how can you dry salt?"

Qin Zheng listened, although Han Yuqing's words made some sense, but the cold weather is not a reason why salt cannot be sunned, because in the old time and space, Yindao actually used the salt method to make salt, and many northern cities in China also use the salt method to make salt, which shows that in the cold temperate zone, the salt method can also be used. Moreover, Yin Island belongs to the oceanic climate, the winter is not cold, the average temperature is above zero, and the current daily temperature is still above 4 or 5 degrees, such weather can also be salted in theory, but the speed of salt is slower, but Qin Zheng only has theoretical knowledge of the salt drying method, but lacks practical experience, so he can't say why.

At this moment, a young man beside Han Yuqing suddenly interjected: "Uncle Qing, didn't the two boys of the Eighth Uncle's family build a salt field on the side of Changmen Beach to dry salt, they have already built two pairs of bucket salt fields, and the salt was released last month." ”

Han Yuqing glared at him and reprimanded: "What do you know, those two boys are fooling around, we have been boiling salt for thousands of years, and there are those who dry salt." ”