It was already the second watch time when he spoke, and the watchman passed outside the Hou Mansion and walked in the direction of the settlement a few miles away.

And everyone was not tired, and even the spirit was more concentrated.

Xu Zi first asked people to inform the inner house, send some supper, after a while, someone cooked flat food out, this thing southerners eat less, but the nobles will occasionally eat some, because the south and north see more, the snacks around the country will make the chef learn.

Flat food is a small bowl per person, to satisfy hunger, and there is a little chill at night, and some pepper is added to the soup to make the soup slightly spicy, which can drive away the cold.

Everyone ate it for a while, Xu Zixian did not sell Guanzi so far, and said to everyone: "I have a salt drying method, you can build a salt pond by the sea, I have seen it, from Huaxi to the southeast for nearly twenty miles, it was originally also near the salt field where the salt ambassador and the stove driver boiled salt, a large tidal flat, it is easy to build a salt field, and dry salt around the sea." ”

"Salt?" Fu Qian said: "If you want to dry the sea water in the sun, I'm afraid it's difficult?" ”

"It's not hard." Xu Zixian said: "Build salt ponds of different heights, constantly introduce seawater into the pool, stir back and forth, and gradually crystallize...... Well, build a pool first, the cost will not exceed a thousand kan, and we will see when the time comes. ”

Everyone will be skeptical, but they all know that Xu Zixian has always been targeted, and at the moment Kong He was the most excited, and said: "Does the prince know the output?" ”

"It's only going to be higher than you think." Xu Zixian himself was also extremely excited, this time because of chatting with Fu Qian, he remembered a very important matter, and then observed the terrain, combined with the knowledge he knew, and knew that things were promising, it can be said that he was the most excited.

If he succeeds, it will be a profit of millions a year, which can be as high as millions, and it has nothing to do with the salt law control of the imperial court, and it may slightly touch and transfer the interests of the envoys, but considering that the imperial court put him on a desert island like the Eastern Domain, he was originally a little guilty, as long as he didn't make too much money on the surface, it was the private salt market that was suppressed, and the law allowed it, the law originally stipulated that the clan on the island had the right to boil salt and cast iron to start a factory, if not, how could it attract people to such a desert island?

If this happens, the income will increase by millions of guan a year, and with the raw silk of the cotton fields, tea fields, oil mills, and in a few years, the income on the island will be unimaginably high.

In addition, the land will continue to be cultivated, and a large amount of sugar cane will be planted on some hills and corners.

The weather on the island is quite suitable for growing sugar cane, which grows quickly and has a fairly high sugar yield.

It doesn't require a lot of technology, and the sugar is so simple that it can be made in a very short time.

What is needed is a large number of donkeys to constantly rotate the machine, at this point, the sugar press seems to be not driven by water conservancy in history, but Fu Qian can be asked to give it a try.

It doesn't matter if it doesn't work, sugar is different from salt in this era, salt is a necessity for the body, it cannot be replaced, sugar can not be eaten and will not have any bad effects on the body, food will produce sugar, as long as you eat a full meal, you will have a full sense of happiness, dessert after a meal is a luxury for a few people in this era.

The output of sugar does not need to be too high, nor does it have to be too urgent, but it is necessary to ensure that the price is high quality and cheap, so that the market can be quickly opened and a large market share can be obtained.

Rich people in the country, or middle-class or above, always like to eat a little sugar, drink a little sweet soup sugar tea and other things, even if it is an ordinary farmer family, as long as it is not a destitute family, during the New Year, visit relatives and friends, boil two eggs in sugar water, this is the highest etiquette of hospitality.

This custom has been maintained in many places until hundreds of years later, in the early days of modern society, Xu Zixian visited relatives and friends with his grandparents during the New Year when he was a child, and his favorite was this poached egg with sugar.

So this market is not small, it may be bigger than imagined.

"Then we'll see." Kong He was quite skeptical, but he could only fully support this matter.

"Don't be difficult to hold yourself up when the time comes." Xu Zi made a joke first, but it didn't take long to realize that he had made a prophecy.

……

"It's getting hot." Xu Zixian, Xiaomei, and Xiuniang sat together on the embankment above the salt field, according to Xu Zixian's request, made some cold food, set up a grill to barbecue, and spread it on the ground with an oilcloth, and the three of them sat cross-legged on the mat, eating, blowing the sea breeze, and looking at the blue sea in front of them.

Even if there is a sea breeze, the sky is still a little hot, it is already early May, and the time flies quickly.

This kind of novel eating law Xiaomei and Xiuniang feel very happy, the two women are less than twenty, they live very quickly by Xu Zixian's side, there are no elders in Nan'an Hou Mansion, there is no restraint, and Xu Zixian will not care about them, so they live very quickly and are very relaxed.

Xiaomei and Wei Yi's family affairs are just tacit understanding on both sides, and they have not yet entered the formal six-rite link, but Xiaomei and Wei Yi will have daily correspondence, and the boat to Penghu will bring letters from both sides every few days to return, Xu Zi first felt that next year, Xiaomei will be fifteen years old, and she can almost decide to be engaged, and then three years later, it is better to marry at the age of eighteen.

Although it is still early love in later generations, in this era, it is too late to go out at the age of eighteen in a powerful family, and Chen Wenjun is seventeen this year, and the time to marry is just right.

In the laughter of the two girls, Xu Zi first paid attention to the progress of the salt pond.

The ring-shaped salt ponds have almost been built, and the pools of different heights have been built according to Xu Zixian's requirements, and then there are water diversion and reservoirs, and a lot of suitable tools have been prepared.

The original salt ambassador was very experienced in boiling salt, although he was very confused about the matter in front of him, but he was quite cooperative with a group of salt men and stove masters, plus the strong men who were recruited and transferred, and did things very beautifully, Xu Zixian had already decided to keep him in office.

Xu Zixian estimated that if everything is normal, the salt drying can be completed in only ten days, and a pool can produce more than 10,000 catties, and more than a dozen salt ponds in front of him can produce 15 to 200,000 catties of salt in half a month, and 400,000 catties a month.

If this figure is sold at the official price, it will be 16 million yuan, which is 16,000 guan, which is still far from Xu Zi's income of 1,000 guan first.

Fortunately, it has only taken less than 300 yuan now, and if everything goes well, more than 20 salt ponds will be built nearby, and the maximum number of workers will be more than 1,000 people, but the daily maintenance management and shoveling salt will be enough.

The monthly output value reaches about 10 million catties, and it is sold at the price of private salt, which can almost reach a net profit of about 3 million yuan a year.

This is almost the same, if there are more, the court should be in a hurry.

Of course, if in two years, the imperial salt law completely collapses, and the control of various places is lost, and more salt ponds are built, and the output is expanded to 20 or 30 million catties, and the net profit of 5 or 6 million guan is obtained, it is not impossible.

Fu Qian was very curious about what was in front of him, but he was too busy, and he had to run around everywhere.

Especially recently, it is not easy to buy ironware, and the island began to build its own furnace room, preparing to try the traditional cast iron method, using the soft casting steel method, to manufacture the steel needed for the crossbow machine, which is not easy, and the cost is also large, and it can only be tried on a small scale for the time being.

Many machines, including those used in water conservancy, will be used for a much longer period of time if steel is used for casting, including chamber milling machines, etc., which are in demand.

In addition, Fu Qian is trying to make nuts, running hydraulic oil presses, and forging machines, all of which need nuts.

"Brother, can this really produce salt?" The little sister ate the sea fish that Xu Zixian had just grilled, her face was full of appreciation, but when she swept to those salt pools of different heights, there was still a look of disbelief and worry in her eyes.

"Don't worry." Xu Zixian had already gone down, and saw that the sea water was gradually becoming turbid, and there were obvious signs of crystallization, so he asked people to put some more water into the salt, and then stirred, and then continued the previous action, and did it again and again, and it would soon be successful.

Everyone stayed at the beach for a while, Xiuniang wanted to ride with Xu Zixian, she sat at the front of the horse, Xu Zixian sat behind her, feeling the youthful vitality contained in the petite body, smelling the fragrance of the girl, it felt not bad.

"I wish this day hadn't passed." Xiuniang has been reading books with her little sister in recent years, and her speech is different from before, at this time she has a melancholy look in her eyes, looking at the scenery of the sea and sky, and can't help but snuggle in Xu Zixian's arms.

"Don't worry." Of course, Xu Zixian knew what the girl in his arms was worried about, so he hugged her hard, rode his horse slowly, and said softly: "Wen Jun, you have seen it, he is a generous person, and I will not allow the back house to catch fire." I'm a man, but I have to spend my energy on military and political affairs, and I'll be about you two women in this life. If ten or twenty years later, when I reach middle age, and I want to take another concubine, you can use my words today to block me. ”

"I don't dare." Xiu Niangjiao smiled: "It's not my responsibility to do this, it's great to tell the future mistress what you said today, and she will say it." ”

When Xu Zixian heard this, he couldn't help laughing.

……

"Spring ploughing is shallow, autumn ploughing is deep," Li Guozhu and Huang's father, Huang Mu, and more than 1,000 men and women from 1700 households walked barefoot in the fields together, or with a single horse, or with a mule, or with an ox, everyone ploughed the land together, and sang the song of spring ploughing together: "Spring ploughing is like turning cakes, autumn ploughing is like digging a well, spring ploughing is an inch deep, you can top a dung, spring ploughing is not busy, the face is hungry and yellow in autumn, ploughing is good and raking is good, the crops do not grow grass, the crops do not recognize the father and mother, intensive cultivation and more grain......

The singing was long and full of charm, Xu Zixian, Li Yi, Chen Zuocai and others stood aside and listened, with smiles on their faces.

The field had been turned over several times, watered, soaked and soaked, ploughed once and ploughed deeply, the lime had been burned, and the field had been cleared from the original bushes and gravel.

Then again, the river mud was used on a large scale, and once before, this time the river mud was used in combination with the manure collected on the island.

Of course, the taste is not flattering, and Xu Zixian was reluctant to approach the acres for a long time.

By mid-May, the time for planting had finally arrived.

The acres of land in the first year are not yet ripe, although many methods have been adopted, but the laws of nature are there, and Xu Zixian is unwilling to challenge it.

If you plant rice, this time is also just right, and the weather is good, in fact, the Eastern Domain can plant one season of early rice and another season of late rice.

Champa rice has long been introduced to the Great Wei, at least in Guangzhou and Fuzhou.

This kind of rice can be harvested three times a year in some places, but there is no way to grow three times in the Eastern Domain, and it is completely okay to double crop.

If there are more than 2 million mu of land in the future, two crops of rice are planted a year, and 6 to 7 million stone is harvested each time, and 13,400 million stone is harvested twice, this figure is quite astonishing, and this is the most ideal state.

Xu Zixian has worked hard until now, just to want the most ideal state.