Compared with artificially boiled salt, seawater salt drying is undoubtedly a lower cost and more efficient method. There is also a salt field in Laizhou Bay, which adopts the same method of drying salt, and compared with artificial boiling salt, the output of Laizhou Bay salt field is still very large. However, the salt works over there are not advanced enough, because when the Laizhou Bay salt works were built, there was no cement. Without cement, the area of the salt works could not be very large. It is the emergence of cement that makes the construction of salt drying plants simpler, larger and more advanced.

After investigation, all the unique natural conditions in front of Xiahe Village can build a large-scale salt drying field. There is very little rainfall here, but the sea breeze is very strong. For almost twelve hours a day, the sea breeze blew. Wear wet clothes and stand on the shore for half an hour to dry all your clothes. The sea breeze brings a strong amount of evaporation, which can evaporate the sea salt faster.

Generally, the salt content of seawater is about 3%. A 15-acre salt field, with a total area of 10,000 square meters, is put into 0.15 meters (15 centimeters) of seawater, and the total capacity of seawater is 1,500 cubic meters, that is, about 1,500 tons. At a 3% level, at least 45 tons of sea salt can be obtained by evaporating all the seawater. According to the calculation of 2,000 catties per ton, you will be able to get 90,000 catties of sea salt.

The dried sea salt will be further purified through supporting facilities such as filtration tanks, sedimentation tanks, purification tanks, crystallization pools, etc., and turn them into refined salt. Based on the current weather conditions, it will take about a month for the sea water to evaporate. Plus follow-up work, up to a month and a half. In other words, if everything goes well, as long as it takes one and a half months, a 15-acre salt farm can get 90,000 catties of refined salt.

If there were more salt pans...... Of course, these are just theoretical values. In fact, due to the influence of weather changes, the output of the salt works cannot be so large. If it is the rainy season, there may not even be a salt or two. Most salt works, only half of the year, can be used for production. Therefore, in order to maximize the production of refined salt, it is necessary to open up more salt farms.

At the same time, with a large amount of refined salt pouring into the market, it is absolutely impossible to maintain the price of more than 100 yuan per catty. The price of refined salt will definitely be reduced to less than 100 wen per catty. However, because the cost of salting in seawater is very low, the profit will not be cut too much. The decrease in unit price can be fully compensated for by the rapid increase in quantity.

As it stands, the more refined salt there is, the more market it can seize, and the greater the profit it will get. The current refined salt market is far from reaching the point of saturation. The Ming Dynasty needs to consume more than hundreds of millions of catties of salt every year. Even if Zhang Zhun opened up a hundred salt farms, it would only be a drop of water in the sea. Therefore, there is no need to worry about the saturation of the market at all.

In fact, the refined salt currently produced in Yangjiatun is mainly sold in Shandong, and some of it is sold to Huai'an Mansion in the south through Huang Shilang and Guo Mingtai. The sale of refined salt in these places is still far from saturated. From a long-term strategic point of view, the refined salt produced in Xiahezhai should mainly be sold to Jiangnan and other places, where the population is larger and more salt needs to be consumed. Waiting for millions of catties is not enough to see.

If the domestic market is saturated, it can also be shipped directly to overseas. Whether it is North Korea or Yuben, it is relatively short of salt. Even, in the South Seas, refined salt is also needed. Of course, the most salt-deficient areas are still the Liaodong and Mongolian steppes. In areas where livestock farming thrives, there is a high demand for both tea and salt. It's just that if you sell salt to the Tartars and the Mongols, you are an enemy. This is certainly not something to do.

The initial investment in the salt drying plant is not a small amount. A 15-acre salt drying field is an astronomical amount of cement alone. The cement produced in Fushan needs to be used for urban construction and port construction, and it is still a bit difficult to extrude it to make a salt drying field. Therefore, this involves another issue, that is, whether to build a few new cement kilns in Lingshanwei to provide cement on site.

However, the construction of new cement kilns also requires initial investment. A cement kiln, too much money is not needed, five hundred taels of silver is still needed. A few cement kilns are thousands of taels of silver. Add in the wages of the workers or something, and this number will only increase, not decrease. No matter what you build, reaching out is money. If it weren't for the extra profits made by relying on glass, Zhang Zhun would not have had the funds to build a salt drying plant.

It's really not easy to start from scratch!

"My lord, Miss Shen Lingfei asks to see you."

When Zhang Zhun was inspecting the salt factory, he suddenly received a report.

"Shen Lingfei?"

Zhang Zhun was slightly strange.

How did she end up in Xiahe Village? Isn't it time for her to return to Gangnam? Came back from Gangnam so soon? Don't know how the sales of glass are? If the sales of glass are ideal, it is necessary to increase productivity, and now Zhang Zhun is really short of money.

"Ask her to come over."

Zhang Zhun said with a deep groan.

Soon, a group of people appeared in front of Zhang Zhun.

The one who took the lead, tall, well-dressed, pretty and enchanting, who is not Shen Lingfei? Today's Shen Lingfei is obviously deliberately dressed up. She wore a lake-green silk gown with streamers of the same color, and a white silk silk skirt with intricate ornamentation at the waist, and her hair was combed in a high bun, but she was only wrapped in a jasper hairpin.

And her skin is white and tender like jade, and her facial features are exquisite, especially the eyes that look forward to Shenfei, when she smiles faintly, she is calm and casual, and she has a determined and dignified prestige. People are in good spirits on happy occasions, and her mood looks quite good. When she came to Fushan City, she didn't have this kind of heartfelt joy and smile, it seems that the glass business is very good!

What made Zhang Zhun a little strange was that there were also Huang Shilang and Guo Mingtai who came with her. A beautiful and enchanting young woman, a fake talent who is desperately trying to be Sven, and a strong man in a place with five big and three coarse, walking together, no matter how you look at it, how awkward. But the three of them talked and laughed vigorously, and seemed to be chatting very speculatively, which is really strange.

"Your Excellency."

The three of them came to Zhang Zhun and greeted Zhang Zhun in unison.

"Why are you here together?"

Zhang Zhun asked a little strangely.

Shen Lingfei actually mixed up with Huang Shilang and Guo Mingtai, which shows that the world is really too small. Huang Shilang and Guo Mingtai were absolutely impossible to take the initiative to find Shen Lingfei, and with their abilities, they couldn't find it. Therefore, it must have been Shen Lingfei who took the initiative to find them.

"I invited them."

Sure enough, Shen Lingfei said very knowingly.

Her smile is faint, quite professional, just right, like a spring breeze, giving people a very comfortable feeling. Of course, in the eyes of some people, it may feel a little hypocritical and a little contrived. Zhang Zhun suddenly had an illusion that this Shen Lingfei seemed to be a young version of Ji Yuqing. It's just that it's not as charming and tempting as Ji Yuqing.

"Let's talk."

Zhang Zhun nodded.

The three of them got together for business matters, and most of them were related to private salt. Because, Huang Shilang and Guo Mingtai's main business is to sell illicit salt. Shen Lingfei took the initiative to find them, naturally she also came for private salt. Sure enough, after the group returned to Xiahe City, Shen Lingfei explained her intention straight to the point: she also wanted to get a piece of the refined salt business.

"Your Shen family, it seems that you have never been in the business of refined salt?"

Zhang Zhun frowned and said with a deep groan.

"Start with me!"

Shen Lingfei said firmly.

Zhang Zhun still shook his head gently.

It's not that he is unwilling to sell refined salt to Shen Lingfei. To whom is refined salt sold and not sold? As long as you have money to collect, it doesn't matter who you are. However, Shen Lingfei is different. Zhang Zhun was mainly worried that Shen Lingfei would not be able to control the situation and cause her own death. Her glass business is doing well, is it necessary to go to the troubled waters of refined salt? That's right, the private salt business, but the real muddy water, with a strong smell of blood. If you are not careful, all your net worth and surname may be dissolved in it, and even the scum will not be left.

Everyone knows that the profits from smuggling table salt are huge and eye-popping. Since the profits are huge, the competition between them is naturally very fierce, and the rush is the most common. Salt barons often fight for territory and supply of goods. Far aside, Huang Shilang and Guo Mingtai used to fight a lot. Everyone in the ancient town knows that the two used to kill and injure hundreds of thugs every year because of the firefight.

In addition, the imperial court spared no effort to crack down on the salt lords, and if they were caught, they would be beheaded all over the place. With the outbreak of turmoil in Shaanxi, the Tatars continued to enter the country, and the tax revenues in various places decreased rapidly. At present, the relatively stable income of the imperial court is the salt tax. It can be said that the salt tax was the last straw for the imperial court. If this last straw is broken, the court will definitely collapse immediately. Unless there is a background and a backstage, otherwise, catching it is a dead end.

In the salt market in the south of the Yangtze River, it is naturally controlled by the eight major salt merchants in Yangzhou. Their control of the Jiangnan market is very strong, and it is easy not to let outsiders get involved in this cake. In fact, in a sense, the salt merchant is the biggest salt baron. In order to protect their own interests, they were even more active in fighting other salt lords than the imperial court. There is no doubt that it is impossible for them to watch Shen Lingfei intervene in this market. Behind the eight major salt merchants, they all have strong strength. Faced with the double blow of the imperial court and the salt merchants, does Shen Lingfei have the ability to resist?

Zhang Zhun shook his head inadvertently.

No, it's too risky.

A woman, just do some other small business, what kind of fun do you make on private salt? Isn't it great that the glass business is easy and comfortable, and there is not much risk?

Huang Shilang sensed what Zhang Zhun meant, and said euphemistically: "I also told Miss Shen that outsiders can't do this business, especially girls, and they can't do it, the water inside is too deep, but it's ......"

Shen Lingfei said proudly: "As long as I have salt in my hands, I can sell it." ”

Zhang Zhun said thoughtfully: "Why is Miss Shen so confident? ”

Shen Lingfei said confidently: "I don't engage in retail, I sell directly to the Han family in Xin'an." ”

Guo Mingtai was shocked, and said slowly: "The Han family you are talking about, but Han Minghua? ”

Shen Lingfei nodded and said, "That's right, it's Han Minghua." ”

Huang Shilang pondered for a moment and said slowly: "In this way, you can give it a try." ”

Shen Lingfei briefly introduced this Han Minghua to Zhang Zhun.

Speaking of which, Han Minghua should be regarded as one of the backbone figures of Hui businessmen. In the beginning, he started out in the pawnbroking business. Many Xin'an merchants (i.e., Hui merchants) started their businesses by relying on the pawnbroking industry. After making a fortune, he switched to other businesses. After Han Minghua made his fortune, he changed his career to do business, which was the salt industry. Although the current scale is not as good as the eight major salt merchants in Yangzhou, it is not much different. Han Minghua's biggest problem is that he started too late. Even if the speed of development is very fast, it is not easy to catch up with other salt merchants.

The core of the Hui merchants is actually the Confucian merchants. While doing business, Xin'an businessmen also continue to open private schools, entertain famous teachers, train their own family children, study and take the imperial examination, and get ahead. If there are poor disciples in their hometown who are good at reading, they will also try their best to fund them to solve their worries. Even, when Hui merchants were doing business outside, if they found children who had the potential to study but did not have the money to go to school, they would also give money to help them complete their education.

Over time, those children who were sponsored by them gradually entered the officialdom and formed a large force. For the original grace of dripping water, of course, they will reciprocate. Therefore, as long as it is within the scope of its own power, it will definitely open the door for Hui merchants. At the same time, for those officials with the potential to improve, Hui businessmen will also vigorously sponsor to help them climb to the top of the ranks. You come and go, and slowly a strict system of combining government and business has been formed.

However, the main salt merchants in Yangzhou are indeed very strong, and the background is quite scary. Their monopoly is not something that others can easily break. In the past, there were Xin'an merchants who tried to challenge the salt merchants in Yangzhou, but as a result, they were defeated. However, as the officials cultivated by the Huizhou merchants gradually reached the top level, their strength became stronger and stronger, and they began to have the strength to challenge the Yangzhou salt merchants.

For example, the Han family in Xin'an is a typical example of the gradual rise. Han Minghua's brother is the prefect of Suzhou Prefecture. Suzhou is famous for weaving all over the world, rich in the world, and the people of the Han family can climb to the position of the prefect, which is more difficult than those in Nanjing. Such a prefect, even if he behaves and abides by the law, his income will not be less than 100,000 taels of silver in a year. One year in the Qing Governor's Mansion, 100,000 snowflakes of silver, in fact, in the Ming Dynasty, it has already begun to take shape.

(To be continued)