The more important thing that Bailian said was salt.

Salt is indispensable for people, and if you don't eat salt, you won't have strength. There are very few places on the grassland where salt is produced, and the salt that herders eat on weekdays is exchanged for cattle and sheep, which is expensive. Large quantities of salt were in the hands of the aristocracy, and the poor herdsmen's hard-working cattle and sheep could only be exploited by them.

For herders, salt is expensive, but it is still guaranteed for daily consumption. But for the cottage now, the source of salt has been cut off, and now it is only relying on a little stock of the Helanda tribe to support it.

When Helanda mentioned this to Bailijian, Bailijian took it to heart, which was another problem that Bailijian had to face after solving the food crisis.

There is a salt pond on the west side of Helan Mountain, which is something that herders know, if they can have a stable source of salt, they can not only meet their own needs, but also bring huge benefits to the cottage through the sale of salt. Such an important matter, of course, Bai Lijian has to deal with it personally.

handed over the cottage to Liu Jing, selected a few well-behaved horse bandits, led by Mangula, and Bai Lijian and his party left the cottage and went west.

To the west of Helan Mountain, there are dozens of salt lakes, many of which are virgin land that has not yet been developed. At this time, the method of extracting salt was very rudimentary, the yield was low and time-consuming, except for the large salt ponds occupied by large tribes, and the rest of the herders could only use the simple method of boiling salt to obtain the salt they needed for daily use.

Of course, Bailijian did not want to use such a time-consuming and labor-intensive method as boiling salt to make salt. The natural light conditions in the northwest can allow the salt drying method to be implemented, so Bailijian attaches great importance to the selection of terrain.

However, after Bai Lijian inspected the terrain around the salt pond, he immediately changed his mind.

The salt pond itself is formed by the salt-containing ore washed by rainwater over the years, and it is a convenient way to make salt from the water of the salt pond, but it is not an easy thing for the current cottage.

For people of this era, salt is known to be very precious, and the profits are even higher. Once discovered, it will inevitably cause a lot of trouble. With the current strength of the cottage, it is impossible to safely transport the prepared salt back.

But if you switch to transporting salty ore and then go back to the cottage to make salt, the safety will be much better. You must know that salt mines contain toxic minerals, and if they are not purified, they will kill people if they are eaten. With the current level of technology in this era, it is impossible to purify at all.

Of course, there is also a problem of transportation costs to consider. In this era, not only is the purification technology not good, but the roads are not well repaired, and transportation will be a huge trouble.

Since the water in the salt ponds is not drinkable and is rarely inhabited around the salt ponds, most of the salt ponds are still ownerless. This saved a lot of trouble for Bailijian salt production.

Mangula followed behind Bailijian, watching Bailijian keep wandering around the salt pond, occasionally scraping some white powder from the rocks to taste it, and his heart kept pounding. The water from these salt pools is not to be drunk, and although there is a salty smell on the stones, if you eat it, you will die.

But fortunately, Bailijian didn't eat much, so Mangula didn't stop it in time. But when Bai Lijian knocked down a lot of debris from the rock and carefully wrapped it, Mangula suddenly couldn't help it, grabbed Bai Lijian, and kept saying: "Childe, you can taste it, but you must not take it back to eat!" ”

Bailijian was crying and laughing when he was told by Mangula, it was a stone, and Bailijian asked himself if he was not stupid enough to eat a stone. However, Bai Lijian didn't plan to explain anything to the reckless man Mangula, he just glared at him fiercely, and Mangula immediately shrank back.

has been following Bailijian for a long time, and Mangula has long seen Bailijian's vicious methods, and for the sake of his own life, he still obediently closed his mouth.

Because the cottage was still unstable at this time, Bai Lijian did not dare to leave for too long, and after conducting a preliminary investigation, and after getting satisfactory results, Bai Lijian rushed back with people.

Back at the cottage, Bailijian plunged into the tent and began to study how to obtain salt from the salt mines. Although Bai Lijian knows the principle, he has never operated it before, and whether it can be done or not can only be known through practice.

Liu Jing is not surprised by Bailijian's strange behavior, instead of spending time caring about Bailijian's strange behavior, it is better to spend energy on the construction of the cottage. Seeing a cottage that was gradually taking shape in his own hands, Liu Jing also felt infinite satisfaction in his heart.

The mention of salt is actually not difficult, it is nothing more than a few steps such as dissolution, filtration, analysis, crystallization, etc., but there are not many salt mines brought back by Bailijian this time, and there are only two or three opportunities for verification at most, so Bailijian is very careful at every step, for fear that there will be any mistakes.

Time passed imperceptibly, and Bailijian's experiment continued in an orderly manner. When a trace of cyan crystals appeared in front of him, Bai Lijian's eyes suddenly lit up, this is the famous green salt, which is the best refined salt. I gently dug a little with my fingernails and put it in my mouth and tasted it. When the long-lost salty taste kept echoing in his mouth, a bright smile suddenly appeared on Bai Lijian's face.

The success of the production of green salt not only solves the problem of salt shortage in the cottage, but also brings a stable income to the cottage. It is conceivable that these delicate green salts can bring a lot of income to the cottage continuously.

Nowadays, the whole north is in a chaotic situation, and both the Han and Hu people are living a precarious life, which provides a basis for the recruitment of people in the cottage. But it is not easy to feed so many people, and the consumption of food alone is enough for a pot of Bailijian. This is not counting other daily costs, and even if you want to arm more troops in the future, you will have to spend more money.

Baili was strong and endured the joy in his heart, and asked Mangula to invite Liu Jing to come, such a happy event must be shared with someone.

"Sir, please try this!" Bai Lijian put the ground green salt in front of Liu Jing, and looked at Liu Jing's every demeanor with full attention, for fear of missing a little bit.

Liu Jing looked at the handful of cyan powder in front of her, and immediately understood in her heart that this was the harvest of Bailijian who locked himself in the tent all night. Looking at Bai Lijian's expectant expression, Liu Jing dipped a little with his little finger and put it in his mouth.

At first, Liu Jing didn't notice anything, thinking it was just ordinary salt, but then her eyes widened suddenly, she looked at the powder in front of her carefully, and exclaimed: "This is the best salt, better than any salt I've eaten before!" ”