Even in modern times, large-scale mechanized production has been realized, and salt drying is still a labor-intensive, extremely hard work, far from digging some condensation and evaporation ponds on the beach to produce salt in batches - the ancients have long known that the evaporation of seawater accumulated on the reef can condense a small amount of salt, but until the Yuan Dynasty, boiling the sea for salt was still the most widespread salt production method. Drying salt is not as simple as imagined - the theory needs a systematic process to be applied in production practice. Wang Luobin has seen salt production in rural Guangxi. The process flow is that the seawater is incorporated into the water storage ditch inside the dam from the tidal diversion ditch outside the dam, and the water is sent to the evaporation pond from high to low by power machinery, and the brine reaches 5~10 degrees (Baumé degree), and then concentrated to 20~25 degrees after being put into the brine tank, and then collected back to the brine machine room by the brine ditch, and then lifted to the brine pool by power, and then injected into the crystallization pool. The depth of the brine is 6~8 cm, and the concentration should be kept at 26~28 degrees, so that the salt can be dried.

In ancient times, it was obviously impossible to have such production conditions, and how they could increase the concentration of brine under primitive conditions was a question of great interest to him.

The village chief took him and Xiong Buyou to the embankment, and under the embankment were many large stone salt troughs that looked like inkstones. In order to make the most of the sunlight, the center of the salt trough is a black salt pan. The village chief said that there are now more than 7,000 salt troughs in the village, all of which have been dug and polished by ancestors and passed down from generation to generation.

Yantian is a muddy tidal flat, which they call "salt mud". When the sun shines more strongly in the dry season, the sea water will flood this salt mud twice a month, the salt mud has the effect of absorbing the salt in the sea water, when the sea water recedes, the salt mud is loosened with a rake, and then the water is evaporated by the sun for a few days, and the salt mud contains quite high salt.

The salt mud is then put into the salt pond, which is completely manual work: the dried haode mud is put into the salt pond with a wooden rake. The so-called salt pond is a 2-meter-wide, 3-meter-long, and 1-meter-deep pond excavated in the salt pan, with bamboo chips and thatch underneath to serve as a filter.

After the salt mud enters the pool, the salt worker needs to step on the ground, and then inject seawater, and the filtered water flows into the brine pool on one side from the small opening reserved next to the salt pool, and there is a pool of brine.

How to judge the concentration of brine? The salt will break off the stem of a plant that grows on the edge of the salt pan and put it into the brine pool, only the stem of the yellow croaker floating on the water surface is the real saturated brine, otherwise it will be exposed to the sun repeatedly.

Pick the brine to the salt trough, the salt trough is made of volcanic stone, Wang Luobin looked at it carefully, there are fine and dense holes in the stone, maybe it plays a role in water permeability? When the sun is not rising, the brine is poured into the salt trough, and after a day of exposure, the salt can be scraped with a board at dusk and put into the bamboo basket. In the sunniest and hottest season, a salt trough plus two or three times of brine can evaporate dry.

At this time, most of the salt troughs are empty, but there are still some salt troughs with salt crystals that shine in the sun, which is very beautiful.

Wang Luobin looked at the more than 7,000 salt troughs: it was with such the most primitive way of working that more than 200 tons of salt could be produced here a year, and he couldn't help but marvel at the infinite wisdom of the ancient people.

There was a shed on the embankment where tools were placed, and out of curiosity about the ancient salt pan tools, Wang Luobin walked in to take a look, and there were many tools piled up inside, and the appearance was not much different from what he had seen in the salt pan in the past. I tried the rake and found that it was much heavier than the modern product - in ancient times, it lacked processing capacity and could only be manufactured by the most cumbersome method. It is really hard work to work in the sun with such a heavy tool on a hot summer day.

He approached a salt trough, which had condensed a layer of white salt, which was very beautiful and very delicate. It looked very much like the refined salt made in a modern salt factory - much to his surprise, sea salt could reach this level without being refined, at least not before he had ever seen it. Tap some with your finger and put it in your mouth, it is much lighter than bringing fine salt, and it will melt in your mouth.

I don't know what the sodium chloride content is. There are no instruments here, and there is no analysis. However, Wang Luobin knows that with the appearance of this salt, he is not worried that it is not a hot item.

But it's surprising that this place is so poor. The working people of ancient times were really living in dire straits.

As he was sighing, he suddenly saw a group of people also walking towards the embankment, led by a man riding a horse, which is a rare thing in the local area, followed by a large group of Tsing Yi figures. When Tan Cunzi saw it, a look of fear and disgust appeared on his face, and he turned his head to Wang Luobin and said, "It's a big family." ”

"Gou Dahu?" Wang Luobin vaguely remembered the name, and it seemed that he had forgotten it.

"Uh-huh." Village Chief Tan seemed to be afraid of the power of this big family, and he didn't even have the time to say a word to him, so he hurriedly greeted him, saluted with his hands crossed, bent his back, and his attitude was very respectful.

Wang Luobin didn't know who this big family was, but judging from the respectful and scared appearance of the village chief surnamed Tan, this person must not be a good person, nine times out of ten he is a local tyrant and bully, they are now weak, it is difficult to deal directly with such a person, so they simply watch from the embankment.

I saw that the people on horseback were scolding again and again, and Village Chief Tan was bowing and bowing, as if he was begging for something, such a live pantomime was performed for a while, and Village Chief Tan led people to the village with his head down. He left them on the levees and ignored them. Wang Luobin hurriedly used the walkie-talkie to inform the people who were still carrying salt in the village, and asked them to pay attention to their vigilance.

But the people who came obviously didn't dare to provoke them, the short-dressed and haired pirates are powerful, and now they are known to women and children in Lingao. After a while, the village chief returned to the embankment and led them back to the village with a sad face.

Xiong Buyou inquired for a long time before he figured out what was going on. Originally, according to the regulations of the government, the salt factory adopted the system of discounted payment. In other words, the salters did not have to pay the rated salt directly to the government, but converted the salt into rice or silver. In the old days, the rule was to convert each quotation into one stone of rice, and later, the folding rice was changed to silver: first the salt was converted into rice, and then the rice was converted into silver according to the price of rice. The amount of salt in the Mayuan Salt Farm is "1,417 and 230 catties", and the folded rice is more than 1,400 stones. According to the market price of the Apocalypse Chongzhen year, the folded silver will cost nearly two thousand taels.

The salt tax has certain advantages for the salt people: production is no longer subject to the supervision and control of the government, as long as the salt tax is paid on time, basically you can do whatever you want, and you don't have to dedicate yourself to the salt cause of the Ming Dynasty day and night. After the salt is out, there will naturally be merchants to buy it, if the salt is too much and the market is good, then life is still good. Some people think that salt is too bitter, and there are also those who use the income from business or reclamation to pay salt and silver.

But after the earthquake, everything changed. Taking advantage of the fact that the salt pans in the village were washed away and the salt tax could not be paid for a while, Gou's father gradually controlled most of the salt sales by borrowing debts on behalf of the cash. But his purchase price was much lower than the market, and the salt that the salters were tired of drying out was not enough to repay the serial Hades debts. He also colluded with the government to take charge of the salt class, insisting that the price of rice is high now, and the color of each stone of rice is three taels of silver. The loan sharks here can't be repaid, and the official fees over there are in a mess. The salters knew that he was making trouble, but they had to beg him to slow down his cheeks in front of the government. Over time, the Gou family became the de facto rulers of the village. The salt fields seem to have become the private property of the Gou family, and the exploitation is getting heavier and heavier, and every time the pirates come to Gao over the years, they always have to rob the salt in the salt works, and kill many people, and the village has become more and more desolate. The young and strong people usually dare not go home, and gather in some inland places to cultivate land and live.

As for his intention just now, it was actually to urge the payment of this month's "regulation silver", and asked him to call all the young and strong people back to dry salt, otherwise he would arrest the women, children, and children in the village and go to prison.

"Jail?" Wang Luobin asked, "Is he an official?" ”

"Where, it's his family's private prison." Village Chief Tan shuddered as he spoke, "The Gou family is amazing, not to mention a private prison, if anyone provokes his family, there will be people who will be arrested and tortured to death-"

Saying that, he quickly shut up, probably thinking that he had said too much, and just urged them to carry the salt and leave quickly. Wang Luobin felt that the matter in Yancun was a complicated issue. The issues involved here may really have to be dealt with by the land reform team.

In order to obtain guidance from the Executive Committee on this, he returned to Bairen City that night. Although some of the members of the executive committee were not in the city, the rest of the people agreed with his idea of the task force: to send a shrewd and capable team to the salt works to help the local villagers resume production, and to arm the salt workers from the threat of bullies and pirates, so that the Mayuan salt works would become an important base of salt raw materials for the traversers.

Because this is the first time that the traversers have really carried out a comprehensive transformation of a place from a social level, each team has taken this matter very seriously and has sent personnel to form a salt field team.

Originally, the Executive Committee was going to let Wang Luobin be the leader of the task force, but Wang Gong thought that this position was best filled by a person who was both familiar with the military and had strong social communication skills, and Zuihou decided that Xi Yaya would take the position.

Du Wen was in charge of organizing the propaganda work -- since she landed, she had not been able to do any work other than reading the radio scripts every day, and this time when she heard that she was going to go to the "land reform," she immediately became enthusiastic and took part in the meeting. The entire team consisted of 30 people, including a doctor, Hippo.

Each person carried enough weapons: pistols, rifles, daggers and plenty of ammunition. The hippopotamus brought a lot of medicines and improvised surgical instruments. In view of the possibility of a permanent presence there, the team also brought wind turbines and some other equipment. The food problem is more troublesome - in addition to eating yourself, you may also have to give relief to the local people. Although Xiao Zishan had already taken people to Guangzhou for a large purchase, there was still a period of time before the first batch of grain was shipped back, and Wu Nanhai did not dare to give more, so he allocated a week's worth of grain and non-staple food.