It is very casual for the Queen Mother to find Fujin to enter the palace, as long as she wants, she can order which eunuch and guard to come to the Rui Palace. No, the strong father-in-law beside her came to summon again.

For the Queen Mother's "high view", Fujin was annoyed, but he didn't dare to refuse. Who is the Queen Mother? the emperor! The top woman of the Great Qing Kingdom. I had to dress up and follow this father-in-law into the palace.

After the ceremony, the Queen Mother did not have any temptation, and said straight to the point: "I know that your house is busy, and this palace will make a long story short." Let's take a look at what's in this pocket? What is it for? ”

"This, it's seaweed salt produced in other people's foreign places, it's fine salt for fine noodles, my prince gives you stir-frying, you don't think it's arsenic, right?"

The Queen Mother laughed: "Lord Rui wouldn't have such an idea. What do you tell Hongu what is seaweed iodized salt? ”

"The concubine has heard what the prince said, and she didn't remember it all, there is a description in this bag of salt, which probably means that this seaweed iodized salt is the best iodized salt in the exotic land. Consuming a certain amount of iodized salt every day is as important as maintaining normal physical and intellectual development, and maintaining normal study, life and labor is as important as having to eat every day. Children who do not eat iodized salt will not grow tall, including adults, if they do not eat iodized salt for a long time, they will get goiter, that is, thick neck. But excessive consumption of iodized salt is also not good. ”

"But how many years has this palace eaten salt without iodine, doesn't it also have a thick neck?"

"The salt used in your dishes will also contain some iodine."

"So, what is iodine?"

According to this note, iodine is one of the essential trace elements for the human body, and the iodine content in seafood is several times higher than that of plants on land. For example, kelp, jellyfish, and seaweed are not poisonous, and in the gift to you is a few packets of seaweed salt, which you can ask the chef in the imperial dining room to cook for the eunuchs to taste. The seaweed salt given to you by the concubine is refined salt, very white and fine, so don't put too much when cooking. ”

"It would be nice if Lord Rui could bring back the method of producing fine salt. We are in short supply of edible salt in the Qing Dynasty, and many people have lost their lives in order to traffic in illicit salt. The emperor said that whoever can have a recipe for the mass production of edible salt will give him the title of prince. ”

Fu Jin smiled: "My prince already has the title of prince. ”

The Queen Mother also laughed: "You are really a little stupid to say that you are smart." There is a prince's title and two on his head, which is nothing more than giving him an extra 10,000 taels and 10,000 Hulu rice every year, but it is still cost-effective to let the people have salt, so that the merchants do not work hard for salt, and also add silver taels to the treasury, and then give a prince's title. ”

"This is good news, the concubine must tell my prince when she returns home, and ask him if he has any recipe for making salt to bring back."

The Queen Mother hurriedly said: "If there is, this recipe or method does not need to be handed over to the palace, you can make salt by yourself." Even if the emperor doesn't give a reward to Prince Rui, the palace will also give it, it must be a high reward, plus the title of a prince. Such a credit is no less than Wu Sangui opening the door of Shanhaiguan. ”

"The concubine thanked the queen mother first, and then went back to the house to ask my lord."

"Hehehe, look at your urgency."

Fu Jin walked out of the Shenwu Gate, got into the carriage of the house, and sat in the carriage and laughed secretly: "My prince is not uncommon to be rewarded with any titles!" ”

After Fu Jin returned home, he immediately told the prince about it, and there were only two husband and wife in the house, and Fu Jin began to complain in a low voice: "We are still in business, where is the time to make salt for her?" I don't know if people are busy. ”

The prince patted Fu Jin lightly on the shoulder: "Pay attention to your emotions, you must be the one who suffers when you are angry with her." In fact, it is not very difficult to make salt, and this king will take Liangzi and Mangge to the coast of Tianjin tomorrow to see where it is suitable to build a salt farm. It's not like there's a place to dry salt, our little mother seems to be whimsical, and I don't want to bear the money and manpower for building a salt farm. Where can we have such a little bit of people in the palace? Show her where to build a salt farm, and then show her how to dry salt, and we'll have to do our part. Otherwise, it would be too much energy. Anyway, she didn't make a decree, if she ordered us, I could only tell the emperor, we are not a panacea, it will be cool everywhere. It's not Luban, any building and pavilion will be built. She is up and down lips, so as soon as we touch it, let's hurry up and eat it as a dog's leg. We can't make iodized seaweed salt, so it's good to make a little bit of salt. ”

"It's also troublesome to give her two packets of salt, and she won't give anything in the future."

"That's right, the better you treat him, the more he thinks he should be. When do I have to tell the emperor about the queen mother's actions, she is not a favor to us but a prying.

Before the prince looked for the emperor, the emperor knew about it, was very angry, and quarreled with his mother: "Do you want to peel two skins from a cow!" How many people in the Imperial Brother's Mansion can make salt? His energy is limited, and he has to do whatever you tell him to do? ”

"How did the emperor know?"

"Do you think that the royal brother sued you? He won't! It was I who went to the imperial brother's mansion to satisfy my hunger and wanted to eat Sister Jinxiu's three fresh, and saw that the imperial brother was choosing someone to go to Tianjin Wei with him. I met someone from the soldiers gathered in the garden, and asked him what he was going to do in Tianjin, and he said to see if there was a place by the sea where he could build a salt farm. I knew it was your order, for you had said several times that the salt given to the Imperial Dining Room in the Imperial Brother's Mansion tasted better than that of the Great Qing Dynasty. He's done to me beyond his means, what else do you want him to do? ”

"The emperor's temper is getting bigger and bigger, and he can't understand if he doesn't shout loudly when he talks to Eniang? E-Niang meant that if they had a ready-made method for producing salt, they would give it to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and did not ask him to produce salt himself. ”

"Brother Huang really has this method in his hands, and he can't be ashamed to hand it over to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which was obtained by people thousands of miles away, so it should be handed over to the Ministry of Internal Affairs as a matter of course? That's someone's private property! What he learned in a foreign land was the skills of growing grain, flowers, and fish, so could it be that he could learn everything in a year? ”

"It makes sense for the emperor to say this, if you don't send someone to talk to them, you won't go to Tianjin Wei, right? Didn't Eniang think that our Qing Dynasty salt was in short supply? The salt your royal brother brought back is so good......"

"One person's energy is limited! You can't ask him to be all-encompassing! I went to my brother's house to explain to him. ”

The emperor came from Weifu, so he didn't alarm anyone. The emperor came to the palace to entertain in the Xiaoyao Palace, and after seeing the ceremony, he said to the prince apologetically: "Brother Huang, the emperor's mother is a woman, she won't be so thoughtful about anything, forget about the salt, you should be busy with your own business." ”

"The Queen Mother is also a kind-hearted, our salt in the Qing Dynasty is very scarce, the minister will see if there is a place to build a salt farm along the coast of Tianjin Wei, to say that I am afraid that the minister's house is still not enough to dry the salt. Seawater salt is a little easier than rock salt and well salt, but it can't be compared with foreign lands, everything is modern, the equipment is also very advanced, and the speed of salt production is also fast. How much salt do people get for 1.3 billion people? The minister will look at the situation, whether he can do it, and he can't and dare not force it. It's just that our conditions can't make seaweed iodized salt, it can only be that kind of large-particle salt. There will also be a lot of investment. Salt cannot be dried on the beach, and the sea water will immediately flow away from under the sand, and even if it is dried, how to collect the salt and sand grains mixed together? It is better to use some building materials to make the place where the salt is dried harder. According to the minister's knowledge, the salt in our salt works in the Qing Dynasty is all dried on muddy beaches and tidal flats. The salt from the mud texture is not so clean, look at it, Chen try to find a way, even if it is to increase the amount of salt a little. ”

"What does the imperial brother think about the management of our Qing Dynasty's salt?"

"Then the minister is blunt?"

"It's best to be outspoken."

"The minister thinks that the price of official salt is very disadvantageous, and this is not a disadvantage of our Qing Dynasty, it has been like this since ancient times. Give too much power to the officials in charge of the salt industry, and then they fill their pockets. The management of salt in foreign lands is fully liberalized, and salt is also purchased and sold by the state, but there is no difference between private salt and official salt, and the price of salt is the same across the country, so officials can't fill their pockets if they want to. It is said that the price of official salt is high, and the state is in charge, and the quantity must be controlled, but in fact, it is a loophole. The price of salt is too high, and the common people cannot afford it, ostensibly because the state takes the lion's share, but in fact, the lion's share is swallowed up by the officials in charge of the salt industry...... The minister said a lot. ”

"Not so! What you say makes too much sense. I heard that some of the salt patrols are rich and rival the country, isn't it just huge greed? You can show me the situation, and if you can, you can do what you say, and build a salt pan with a hard ground at any cost. ”

The prince didn't say anything else, in fact, it was too simple to build a hard ground, just use large stones to pave the ground. The stones were laid tightly so that the sea water did not leak, and some stone fenced salt ponds were built. However, it is not so simple, and there are many practical problems. You can only look at it, the wisdom of the ancients cannot be underestimated, they can't think of using stones as a base?

So the prince took Tian Liang and Mangge, as well as a few personal guards to Tianjin Wei in the covered carriage of the house. Starting from the seaside of Tianjin Wei, the South Canal, the North Canal, the Daqing River, the Ziya River and the Yongding River join the Haihe River at the mouth of the Sancha River in the urban area of Tianjin, and flow into the Bohai Sea through the Haihe River. They are all rivers with a large mud content, so it is difficult to have a beach at the mouth of the river, so it is good. During the Qing Dynasty, the pollution of the seas and rivers was relatively small, and it was still possible to build salt farms and take seawater for salt drying in the seaside tidal flats not far from the estuary. However, the concentration of salt in the coastal areas is obviously not the same as that in places far from the coast, so it is necessary to obtain seawater from the deep sea a little farther from the coast to dry the salt, and the salt from the salt is clean when the salt content is high. However, if you build a large ship with a lot of seawater, pour it into a salt pond by the sea to dry, and the water will evaporate completely. It's easy to say, but it's hard to do. Shipbuilding requires human and financial resources, and chiseling stones also requires human and financial resources. But if you build a huge salt farm, the economic benefits are also considerable, and it can't be built in a day or two.

The queen mother is not an unreasonable person, under the reminder of the emperor's son, she knew that she was too anxious to use the money, and did not take into account the actual situation of Lord Rui, and there was really a practice of peeling two skins of a cow, which was very unkind. Since her son quarreled with her, he didn't mention the matter of salt.

When the prince came back from the Tianjin Wei inspection and told the emperor about the specific situation and his own thoughts, the emperor handed over the matter to the prince and told him: "This matter can be done immediately without being in a hurry, you can do it when you have free time, don't let anyone know." If you do it, I will give you ......"

"Your Majesty, there is no need for a reward, this is what a minister should do."

"Okay, I won't urge you, and the emperor won't give you any decrees. You take your time. ”

The prince returned home after three days of inspection in Tianjin. After coming back, he naturally went to Fujin's room to rest, and Fujin complained: "Our old lady has also reached menopause, right?" How do you think that a play is a play? It's like we're a panacea, cool everywhere? ”

"Hehehe, your emotions are big enough, let's not be angry, okay? Don't you ask me if I have gained anything from this trip? ”

"It's also vain to ask, whatever good things will happen in the future will be their mother and son, it would be good if we didn't become Han Xin and Yue Fei."

"It doesn't have to be like that, does it? The emperor also promised me a heavy reward in the future. ”

"The concubine is angry, and the queen mother suspects us of misdeeds, and at the same time uses us to treat us as fools."

"You know what? Fools are the most blessed of all. What is the master of the backyard busy with? ”

"Painting, Sister Yun's skills have taught a lot to the girls and grandmothers in the house, and the people who order are also these contents, so she has a little time to paint, and she also accepted Xuan'er and Rui'er as apprentices. It would be nice if Xue'er was in the house, and the concubine would let our daughter learn to paint with her little mother. Sister Yun's paintings are growing up very quickly, and she is still not satisfied with her paintings that are quite good. ”

"There is no end to learning, and it is a good thing that young people are willing to learn."