Three hundred miles of fireworks, the stove is full of stars -- this is the first image of Cai Ji when he first arrived at Qucheng Salt Farm. I saw that on the tidal flats, which are about 200 miles long, there are more than 100 salt pavilions densely covered with stars. A puff of salty steam rose from the salt pavilion like a swirling mist, and from time to time a naked and sweaty salt came out of it. Not far away, more woodcutters piled bundles of freshly cut firewood in front of the salt pavilion.

At this time, Cai Ji only felt that the water was salty, the soil was brine, and even the wind blowing in his face was astringent. This is very different from the image she had had last come to Qucheng. Therefore, Cai Ji couldn't help but ask Duan Xian beside him curiously, "Duan Shibo, I haven't seen such a posture when I came to Qucheng last time. ”

"Back to Fujun, Qucheng Salt Farm cuts firewood and grass and boils salt in the sea from October to the first month of the following year every year. The last time Fu Jun came to Qucheng, it was past the first month, so naturally he couldn't see such a situation. Duan Fu replied.

"Why do you only boil salt between October and the first month of the following year?" Cai Ji asked puzzled.

Duan Xian couldn't help but be stunned by Cai Jihui's question. It is important to know that boiling salt from October to the first month of the following year is an old rule that has been passed down since the spring and autumn periods, and few people really think about doing it. However, Duan Xian is an old bureaucrat after all, and after thinking about it for a while, he casually said a reason: Dao Fujun didn't know that the reason why the salt farm chose to boil salt in winter was because it was a time when the farmers were slack, and they could attract a large number of people to cut wood and boil salt. Second, every time the stove boils salt and lights the fire, it needs to be boiled day and night, and it can be boiled continuously for four to ten days before the fire can be extinguished. If it is in the spring and autumn season, the heat is unbearable, how can the salt stove and the people stand the fireworks. ”

In ancient times, because the stove was used to boil seawater to obtain salt, the salt people were also called stove people. And at this time, Cai Ji also felt some truth when he heard Duan Xian's explanation. However, the salt is boiled for three months a year, and the use efficiency of this salt farm is too low after all. So she followed up and asked, "How much salt does Qucheng produce in a year?" ”

"During the Jianning period, Qucheng boiled more than 400,000 stones of salt per year." Duan Xian's words turned around and sighed when he said this, "However, since the Yellow Turban thieves, Qingzhou has been in turmoil, and many stove people have been lost, and the salt field can only boil 200,000 stones of salt per year. ”

When Cai Ji heard that the salt production in Qucheng County had been reduced by half due to the war, he couldn't help frowning and asked, "This salt boiling is very labor-intensive?" ”

"Yes, especially when it comes to cutting wood, it takes a lot of manpower." Duan Xun nodded in response.

"I see." After Cai Ji nodded thoughtfully, he raised his hand and invited Duan Shibo to Duan Xian, why don't you accompany me to see this method of making salt. ”

Although Duan Xian didn't want to enter the hot salt pavilion, he saw that Cai Ji and his guard Li Da had already walked to the nearest salt pavilion, so he had to follow quickly with a group of officials.

As soon as she entered the Salt Pavilion, Cai Ji felt a salty heat wave hit her face, but she did not flinch because of this. After getting used to the harsh working conditions in the salt pavilion, Cai Ji began to visit the salt-making process of the Eastern Han Dynasty without changing his face. At this time, I saw a few stove people pouring seawater directly into the bucket with a long-handled spoon, and two people carrying seawater and pouring it into the pool above the pot stove. There is a pipe between the pool and the pot, and seawater can be added to the pot. Someone added firewood to the stove, and someone next to the stove kept using a salt shovel to scoop the crystallized salt in the pot into the jar next to it.

Seeing this situation, Cai Ji thought to himself, no wonder this salt pavilion is still hot like a sauna, and the so-called boiling salt is like this, directly scooping seawater and putting it in the pot to boil! How much firewood does it take to get this pot down? How much manpower? Waste! What a waste. No wonder the salt of the Eastern Han Dynasty was sold so expensive!

Cai Ji, who had such a personal experience, immediately walked out of the salt pavilion and pondered before Duan Xian, who was behind him, before he was stunned by the steam. Obviously, Qucheng County now uses the most primitive direct decoction method, which requires a lot of manpower to prepare firewood and frying brine. In Cai Ji's image, salt drying was the mainstream salt making method in later generations. Although Cai Ji has never dried salt, she had visited the local Yantian village when she traveled to Hainan in her previous life. The ancient salt pans there have a history of more than 1,200 years and have maintained the most primitive artificial salt drying process. At that time, the more than 1,000 inkstone salt troughs of different shapes that were densely scattered on the beach left a deep impression on Cai Ji. Although Donglai is not as sunny as Hainan Island, the summer sun is still quite scorching. Anyway, Duan Xiandu said that there is no salt boiling here in summer, so the salt field is empty. It is better to dig a batch of salt troughs on the beach, or simply use brick salt ponds to dry salt, which can save costs and increase production.

Thinking of this, Cai Ji immediately turned around and asked Duan Xian, who was wiping his sweat, "Duan Shibo, have you ever heard of drying salt?" ”

"I haven't heard of it." Duan Xian gasped and shook his head.

"Don't hide the county order, when I was in Luoyang, I heard people talk about the natives in the south who set up stone troughs on the beach to dry salt. Its stone trough is shaped like an inkstone and has sediment inside. At high tide, the sea water floods the stone trough, and the sediment absorbs the salt from the seawater. After the tide recedes, the natives use a rake to rake the salt mud loose, and after several days of exposure, the salt mud is put into the stone trough covered with straw mats, and poured into the seawater for filtration. This filtered water is brine. The natives will put it in a clean stone trough and continue to expose it to the sun until the sea salt is dry. Cai Ji seriously explained the method of drying salt that she had seen.

After listening to Cai Ji's explanation, Duan Xian couldn't help but start to be a little suspicious. To tell the truth, the method of drying salt that Cai Ji said, he has never heard of it, and he has never seen it. Although Duan Xian can't say that there is no such way in this world, he can't take lightly what a fourteen-year-old girl said. Even if this girl is his nominal boss. Thinking of this, he immediately shook his head disapprovingly and said, "Since the Su Sha clan boiled the sea for salt, we all boiled sea salt with firewood, and I have never heard that sea salt can be dried just by drying it." This method is too hearsay. ”

Cai Ji thought to himself, it is precisely because you are using the salt production methods of primitive societies that this is so inefficient. It's just that before she could speak, Li Da couldn't wait to defend Cai Ji, saying that the lord of my family exterminated the locusts and built ships, and that was not a move to benefit the people. What a hearsay! ”

"Li Daxiu is rude." Although Li Da's words expressed Cai Ji's heart, Duan Xian's kindness to her after all, this face still has to be given. So Cai Ji followed and persuaded Duan Xian, saying that Duan Shibo was reasonable. As the saying goes, hearing is false, seeing is believing. Why don't we ask a stove farmer? ”

Duan Xian saw that Cai Ji was holding on to the salt, so he nodded and sent someone to find an elderly stove farmer to come and question. But he saw that the stove man first looked curiously at the little Taishou in front of him who was old enough to be his grandson, and after the county commander was looking at it with a straight face, he quickly knelt down on the ground and kowtowed, "Xiaomin Han Qi has seen the prince." ”

"Uncle, please get up. I wonder if my husband has ever heard of drying salt? It is the sea water that staggers on the rocks and is exposed to the sun and turns into salt grains. Cai Ji asked politely.

As soon as Cai Ji's words fell, Han Qi on the other side suddenly shivered and prostrated on the ground to accuse the Dao Mansion Monarch of sparing his life...... The small people only scrape the salt from the stone in front of their house. There is no stealing of salt from the salt works! ”

Cai Ji was confused by Han Qi's sudden appearance. However, Duan Xian, who was on the side, was suspicious. It is important to know that although the stove people work hard to make salt, they themselves cannot afford to buy salt. Therefore, it is not uncommon for the people in the stove to take sheep in the salt field. So at this time, Duan Xiandang waved his hand to Han Qi and said, "We are not tracking down the salt theft today. All you need to do is answer the king's questions truthfully. ”

When Han Qi heard Duan Xian say this, where did he dare to be a little lazy, and hurriedly replied Huifujun, this sea water left on the rocks can indeed be sunburned into salt grains. It's just a very small amount, and we can only scrape a few taels of fine salt after finding a dozen or so rocks. ”

Cai Ji didn't care how much sea salt the stove people could scrape from the rocks. As long as she can prove to Duan Xian, the sun can indeed produce salt grains. Therefore, after getting the answer he wanted, Cai Ji smiled happily at Duan Xian, "Duan Shibo, it seems that this method of drying salt is indeed feasible. Of course, Donglai is not as hot as the south, and it may be difficult to produce a large number of salt flowers if you rely on sun exposure alone. However, according to the government, we can boil the brine obtained from exposure to the sun in a pot, so as to save firewood and manpower. Moreover, if this method is used in the salt farm, it can also be dried and harvested in the hot summer. ”

The temptation of "saving firewood and manpower" and "you can also dry salt and collect salt in summer", coupled with the evidence of the old stove people, made Duan Xian finally adopt the method of drying salt provided by Cai Ji. After all, as the commander of Qucheng County, Duan Xian also hopes to increase the production of sea salt, and he does not want the salt factory to only open for three months a year. Therefore, at this moment, he bowed to Cai Ji with one hand, and Dao Fujun was really well-informed. The old man was taught. ”

Duan Shibo was polite. After the government, this method of drying salt was written down so that the salt field could refer to it. In addition, the government felt that it was still quite inconvenient for the natives to dig stones and dry salt, perhaps the county government could recruit stonemasons to build stone ponds on the beach to store water and dry salt, of course, the stone ponds should be large and shallow, so that the salt flowers could be dried. Cai Ji was proud, and unconsciously explained the method of drying salt in more detail.

No, Duan Xian, when he heard Cai Ji say this, he immediately raised his head meaningfully and said, "I never thought that the prince from Luoyang was so proficient in drying salt. ”

Cai Ji couldn't help but smile when he saw the words in Duan Xian's words, and responded, "Duan Shibo has won the award." The government is just speculating according to common sense. As for whether this method can be used, it still needs to be tried. But I don't know if there are other salt farms in Qucheng County in addition to the salt field in front of me? ”

Duan Xian saw that Cai Ji asked about other salt farms, thinking that she was going to investigate Duan Rong's sale of illicit salt, so he responded half-truthfully, "Yes, there is, but they are all small salt farms with a hundred quintals of moonrise, and they are not as good as the official salt here." ”

"That being the case, why don't Duan Shibo just shut up these small salt farms. Anyway, there wasn't much salt out of it, and it cost manpower and firewood. Cai Ji pointed to the woodcutter who was still working hard to chop wood not far away.

"Oh? Fujun wants to learn from Sanghong sheep salt monopoly? Duan Xun asked noncommittally. Cai Ji's father, Lao Cai Taishou, also considered the matter of salt monopoly, but he was finally forced to give up the matter under the pressure of the local gentry. At this moment, Cai Ji brought up this matter again, so let's see what tricks this girl will play.

"Yes, yes, no. If the method of drying salt proposed by the government is feasible, then the cost of official salt will be lower than that of private salt in the future. Cai Ji paused when he said this, then glanced at Duan Xian and said, "Of course, unless someone spreads this method......

"Rest assured, the old man will strictly grasp this matter and never let this law flow into the people." Duan Xianyi solemnly assured.

"Of course, this house is the means of Shibo." Cai Ji smiled professionally and bowed slightly at Duan Xian, and then continued, "In fact, instead of letting the salt merchants lose money to boil salt, it is better for the government to dry the salt and boil the salt, and then sell it to the salt merchants." Speaking of which, this is for the sake of the salt merchants. ”

Duan Xian saw Cai Ji saying that he was going to close the private salt farm, but at the same time he said that she was doing it, and he couldn't help but secretly sigh that this little Cai Fujun was much thicker than the old Cai Fujun. So he followed up and asked, "Then the salt buyers will definitely flock to it, I don't know how the prince will decide?" ”

"Naturally, the one with the highest price wins." Cai Ji said and added, "However, this mansion doesn't want real money. What the government wants is food. ”

"Grain?" Duan Xun frowned and asked.

"Nope. It's food. The government doesn't care about those merchants who use methods to get food. Anyway, only those who have food can exchange salt from Donglai. If you really don't have food, you can also recruit displaced people to come to Donglaituntian in exchange for salt. Cai Ji's trick was learned from the "Yantun" of the Ming Dynasty in later generations. In the Ming Dynasty, it cost a lot to transport grain into the border, so the lack of the military was created by the merchants, and the Ming people called it "Kaizhong". At first, it was for the government to summon merchants to transport grain and salt, and later the border of various provinces also called merchants to sell salt in order to complement military reserves, salt laws, and border plans. At that time, Shanxi merchants were keenly aware of the business opportunities of this policy, and transported grain from Henan, Shandong, and Jiangnan to the northern border towns in exchange for "salt introduction", and then turned around and traveled to Lianghuai, Hedong, Sichuan and other places where salt was produced to buy salt with "salt introduction", and finally sold salt to other parts of the country for profit, thus creating the famous "Jin merchants" in later generations. It's just that Cai Ji only provides salt now, and does not solve the problem of purchasing grain, and his purpose is to let those salt merchants help Donglai Tuntian.

Duan Xian, an old bureaucrat, naturally figured out such tricks. Because of this, his gaze at Cai Ji at this time has become quite complicated. If Cai Ji had provided the method of drying salt just now, Duan Xian could still blame this matter on the fact that this girl had heard a lot of strange things in Luoyang. At that moment, the method of "Yantun" is not something that can be explained by being well-informed. If Cai Ji is a prodigy, he has read poetry and books since he was a child, so he knows so many things, then how many books does the Cai family have to hide? Why doesn't his father Cai Boqi understand these things? If Cai Ji has been instructed by a master, then who is this master? Why would you instruct a girl? What's more, if there is really such a capable person, he will not be a leader? And is this girl in front of her really Cai Boqi's daughter?

Seeing Cai Ji standing confidently in front of him in men's clothes, and then looking at the reverent eyes of Li Da and other guards behind Cai Ji, Duan Xian, who was full of doubts in his heart, finally figured out one thing. It no longer matters whether the girl in front of her is Cai Boqi's daughter or not. It no longer matters who her master is.

The reason why she is Xiao Cai Fujun is because she is Cai Ji!

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