The process of salt mining in various parts of the Ming Dynasty is different.

There are two salt producing areas inland, one is the salt land of Ningxia and the other is Jiezhou in Shanxi.

There is a salt pond with very high salt content in Jiezhou, which is extracted by Jin merchants through layers of filtration, and in coastal areas such as Shandong, the way of taking salt is copied and dried.

It is said that it is refined salt, but it is not pure.

The weight comparison shows that some salt weighs ten taels per liter, and some only seven taels per liter of salt.

It is recorded in the history of the Ming Dynasty that if you eat too much salt, you will suffer from black blood, perhaps because of insufficient purification.

Yan Chengjin instructed He Neng: "Find copper basins, charcoal, muslin and wooden barrels." ”

He Neng didn't know what the young master wanted to do, so he hurriedly went to find something, and Sister Chunxiao brought fine gauze.

Yan Chengjin poured all the bags of salt into the wooden barrel and dissolved them.

"Young Master...... It's a waste! He Neng cried out in pain.

Salt is already more expensive than rice, but when the city is closed by heavy snow, salt is even more expensive.

"Take a knife and drill a small hole under this barrel, not too big." Such a dangerous thing as holding a knife, of course, has to be handed over to how he can do it.

He could not turn out the small hole in a short time and come back with the barrel.

It's just that Yan Chengjin was still not satisfied, so he asked him to drill a few more, and the eight wooden barrels at home were empty.

There are two more with salt water, so they didn't drill.

Yan Chengjin was not idle, and ordered someone to take the charcoal to the kitchen, pour it all into the pot, and boil it with water.

He wanted to make activated charcoal, and asked the cook and He Nengeng to come and see.

"This pot can't be used, you know what Young Master Ben means, right?"

How can he nod aggrievedly: "Buy a new one!" ”

Hurriedly ordered someone to buy two new pots and resisted back.

After boiling, Yan Chengjin ordered someone to scoop up the charcoal, this step is a bit dangerous, so he will not operate it himself.

After the charcoal is washed with clean water, put it on the lid of the pot and bake it dry.

After drying, change to a new pot, pour it into the pot again, continue to boil, then scoop it up, and dry it again.

This is repeated three times, using up three pots, before picking up the dried activated carbon.

On the bottom layer of the barrel with small holes, spread five layers of gauze, pour in plant ash, and then spread five layers of gauze.

All three barrels do this to remove magnesium chloride from the salt and remove bitterness.

Finally, under two wooden barrels with small holes, spread five layers of gauze, pour activated charcoal, and spread fifty percent gauze on top.

The two open-bore barrels are operated in this way.

Yan Chengjin poured the salt water into the wooden barrel and filtered it through gauze→ plant ash→ activated carbon → gauze.

Salt water drips from the small holes.

The result is a bucket of clear brine.

When it comes to cooking, cook in a large pot to get a pot of snow-white salt powder.

Compared with the yellow salt just now, it has shrunk by nearly one-eighth.

"Do you see clearly? The salt that will be given to Young Master Ben in the future will be refined in this way. ”

He could be dumbfounded.

It took nearly two hours to get this bucket of salt, and Yan Chengjin sat by the stove, turning the whole sheep slightly, and next to him was half a bucket of nearly snow-white salt powder.

"Go and call the king to come."

Xie Yu returned to Jiangnan for the New Year's Festival, and Yan Chengjin looked for Wang Busui.

After a while, Wang Busui came to Yan's mansion and brought a calligraphy and painting as a New Year's gift to Yan Chengjin.

"What do you have to tell the young master to find a villain?"

"In the future, the chamber of commerce in Liangxiang will also sell salt." Yan Chengjin Road.

Wang Busui's face was blue and white for a while, and there was a natural salt pond in Jiezhou, with a radius of more than 120 miles, which was inexhaustible.

Jin Shang is almost the largest salt merchant in Beizhili, and the salt in Liangxiang is still unknown where to find it.

"Young master, there is no salt pond in our good township, and there is no salt soil."

Liangxiang is far away from the sea, where to get salt, and they can't fight the Jin merchants when they get salt, their channels are all over the world, and even some horse markets and tea markets on the border also have their figures.

"Let's buy their salt and make refined salt."

Yan Chengjin lifted the gauze, revealing a bucket of nearly snow-white salt, Wang Busui dipped a little with his fingers, stretched it out to his mouth, and stared wide-eyed, this is ...... Salt? It's not bitter!

"Young Master, how did you refine this?" Wang Busui had never seen such fine salt.

"Let the commercial houses in Liangxiang sell refined salt."

Most of the salt of the Jin merchants was coarse salt for the common people and fine salt for the gentry, but the market for refined salt was blank.

The cost of extracting refined salt was high and it could only be sold to the gentry.

How can he learn from Yan Chengjin's appearance and demonstrate it, and sure enough, what came out in the end was a fine and almost snow-white salt powder.

During the New Year's Festival, Wang Busui rushed to Liangxiang, recruited some women, and began refining refined salt in the empty grass shed of the shipyard.

Members of the Liangxiang Chamber of Commerce were recruited to pay for the sale of salt.

The gentry are not stupid, can they sell salt over the Jin merchants?

Wang Busui simply took out the small jar containing refined salt and said, "You can taste it." ”

"This ...... Not bitter? ”

"It tastes so good!"

You can't see such fine salt on the market, this is the artifact of the rise of the Chamber of Commerce!

"Wang Dongjia, where did you come from?"

Wang Busui smiled and said nothing.

Early the next morning, on the streets of Liangxiang, a shop selling soy sauce was changed to Liangxiang Yanji by Wang Busui.

Yan Chengjin didn't want to give too expensive gifts during the New Year, so he ordered someone to refine another bucket of refined salt, put it in a small jar, and send it to Wang Yue, Dai Shan, Liu Jian and others.

Yan Chengjin ordered someone to fill a jar of refined salt and came to Li Dongyang's mansion.

The housekeeper of the Li Mansion was polite: "Lord Yan, wait a minute, the master has gone to the Xie Mansion to play chess, and I am afraid that I will not be able to come back until later." ”

"It's okay, you can see Miss first."

Yan Chengjin came to the back hall of the Li Mansion, and after waiting for a while, Li Qing'e came out hand in hand with another handsome girl, her face was slightly inferior to Li Qing'e, but her figure was superior.

Xie Xiangling saw Yan Chengjin and smiled playfully at Li Qing'e: "My sister will be in love today, and my sister will come back another day." ”

"Xiangling, don't talk nonsense......"

Yan Chengjin looked at this girl and smelled the smell of gossip, this girl looks a little like Xie Qian, will she be Xie Qian's daughter?

Xie Qian has two daughters, and according to the calculation of time, she is still waiting to be married.

After Xie Xiangling left, Li Qing'e said softly: "Xiangling is the daughter of Lord Xie, she likes to come to the house to talk to me on weekdays, she has a straightforward temperament and no bad intentions. ”

"Miss is too careful, I didn't take it to heart, and I specially brought a gift to Miss for the New Year's Day." Yan Chengjin took out a rouge box from his cuff and said, "It's cold and windy, apply this cream to your face and hands, and it won't dry out." ”

Li Qing'e took it and smelled it, with a faint plum fragrance, and said, "Thank you, Lord Yan." ”

At this time, outside the gate of the mansion, Li Dongyang walked back with his hands on his back and won two games against Xie Qian, and he was in a good mood.

When I saw the broken sedan chair, I was in a bad mood.

He Neng hurriedly stepped forward to greet him: "Master Li is back." ”

Li Dongyang knew that this was the family member of the Yan Mansion, so he hummed lightly, walked into the mansion and saw his wife holding the rouge box, and said quietly: "Where is Yan Chengjin?" ”

"In the back hall with Qing'e." Liu smiled: "An Dingbo's son, what does the master think?" ”

Li Dongyang ignored her and strode towards the back hall, but was stopped by Liu, and was disgusted: "When you see which son Qing'e wants to see alone, it is obvious that you are interested in Yan Chengjin." ”

"I'm afraid that Qing'e is interested in him!"

Liu frowned and said: "This son has a heart, and sent a jar of refined salt to the house." ”

Li Dongyang didn't care, salt is not a precious thing, "A jar of salt bought you?" ”

Liu was disgusted: "The master is not at home, he doesn't even know firewood, rice, oil and salt, and he can't buy such fine salt." ”

The servant brought the salt shaker of the cook, and the two jars of salt were placed on the table together.

When Li Dongyang saw the salt shaker, he was a little shocked, why is this salt so snow-white?

tasted the one at home, with a bitter taste, and then tasted the jar of new salt, his eyes lit up, and he ordered someone to ask Yan Chengjin to come out.

"Where did the refined salt come from?"

"Refined in the house."

Yan Chengjin saw the jar of yellowed salt, this salt was not refined, it was low-toxic, and it was not possible for Li Dongyang's son to survive, which had something to do with it.