Coming out of Second Uncle Yang's house, Zhang Dalang was holding a salt cube in his arms, but from time to time he glanced at Wei Shuo next to him and stopped talking. Seeing this scene, Wei Shuo touched his nose and smiled: "I said Brother Zhang, if you have anything to say, you can say it directly, and the younger brother must know everything and say everything." ”

"Brother Wei, do you really have a way to turn coarse salt into refined salt?"

"Of course, can I still lie to you about this? If you don't believe me, I can try to turn all the salt in your arms into refined salt when I get back, but I have to prepare a few things before I can do that. ”

Hearing this, Zhang Dalang said eagerly: "I'll prepare what I need right away." ”

No matter how dull his personality is, he clearly understands that if he can really turn coarse salt into refined salt, the day of making a lot of money is coming. At present, don't say that the entire Qingzhou, even Jizhou, Yuzhou, Yanzhou and other regions, the demand for refined salt is a bottomless pit, and how much refined salt is not enough to fill. It's not a cash cow or a cornucopia at all.

For Wei Shuo, the purification of coarse salt is just a simple physical experiment, which can be completed by middle school students who have little contact with physical chemistry knowledge in modern times, but in the eyes of the ancients, it is extremely difficult.

As soon as he got home, Zhang Dalang pulled Zhang Laohan and muttered non-stop, and after a while, all the Zhang family took action. Soon, according to Wei Shuo's requirements, the Zhang family prepared the relevant equipment for purification experiments. Since there are no glasses, just use large wooden bowls, barrels, and tubs instead.

Looking at the Zhang family father and son with nervous faces, Wei Shuo smiled and said, "Uncle Zhang doesn't need to be so nervous, this is just a simple physical experiment." I used to do it in the lab many times when I was in school, and there were absolutely no problems. ”

Wei Shuo's comfort did not make the Zhang family, father and son relax, and also, it was impossible for anyone to remain calm in the face of a golden mountain. The difference between refined salt and coarse salt is too big.

If it is really like Wei Shuo said, you can turn coarse salt into refined salt, it will definitely make a lot of money. In the future, the villagers in the valley will not have to work hard for life, and selling a few stones of refined salt will be enough for everyone to eat and drink spicy food.

Seeing the utensils on the ground, Wei Shuo first ground a few pieces of coarse salt into powder according to the experimental steps in his memory, and then threw them into a wooden barrel, added water, and stirred them with a clean wooden stick. When all the salt is dissolved, set aside, and after a while, when some of the water-insoluble magazines have sunk to the bottom of the bucket, pour the top solution into the wooden basin next to it......

The purification of coarse salt in the laboratory is nothing more than grinding, dissolving, filtration, distillation and other steps, and its function is to remove the impurities in coarse salt. Among them, the filtration link is the most important, and it should be repeated many times.

In the process of Wei Shuo's operation, everyone in the Zhang family stared at him intently, for fear of missing a single bit, and they all wanted to see how coarse salt turned into refined salt.

After many filtrations, the impurities in the brine are almost removed, and finally the final step of purification - distillation. Wei Shuo poured all the salted water after repeated filtration into the cauldron, lit a firewood underneath and boiled it vigorously until the water in the pot completely evaporated.

As Wei Shuo kept stirring, the water in the pot became less and less, and white crystals slowly began to appear......

"Okay......" Wei Shuo said with a happy face, and it was very refreshing to witness the fruits of his labor.

"Where, where, let me see!"

Everyone in the Zhang family rushed to the front, and everyone saw the blue and white at the bottom of the pot at a glance, Zhang Erlang couldn't help but buckle a small piece with his index finger and put it in his mouth, and instantly a strong salty taste was transmitted to the brain through the taste buds, almost so salty that Zhang Erlang spit it out, but fortunately he covered his mouth with his hand at the critical moment.

"Hey, it's so salty!"

At this time, the coarse salt bought from the Yang family was no longer in its original lumpy form, and it was no longer yellow, and it had all turned into a white powder. In fact, you don't need to taste it, just from the appearance, you can know that the quality of the purified refined salt is much better than the original coarse salt.

Zhang Dalang asked tremblingly: "Dad, this, this, this is Qingyan?" ”

"To be honest, your father and I have never seen what green salt looks like in my life, but even if it is not green salt, it is estimated that it is about the same, at least it is much stronger than the coarse salt we used to eat."

Zhang Laohan is an ordinary farmer, and he has never seen real green salt at all, but in his opinion, green salt should be like this.

Wei Shuo looked at the Zhang family a little proudly, and couldn't help but sigh that the ancients were easy to be satisfied! A small physics experiment will make them bow down, and if it were in modern times, it is estimated that they will be able to go to the school.

"Uncle Zhang, this method of making refined salt from coarse salt cannot be known to the outside world, and it can only be in the hands of its own people for the time being, and relevant information must be closed. Otherwise, if it is known to outsiders, we will face unknowable dangers. Wei Shuo admonished in a low tone.

Wei Shuo said this is by no means untargeted, as the saying goes: "The husband is not guilty, but he is guilty!" "At no time can we underestimate people's greed, even Lao Ma has said that when the profit exceeds 300 percent, he dares to trample on all the laws of the world.

Zhang Laohan nodded with a heavy face, he naturally knew what kind of consequences would be brought to the families in the entire valley once the news of coarse salt turning into refined salt was leaked. He told his two sons with a serious face: "Da Lang, Erlang, from now on, don't talk about making green salt in front of outsiders." ”

"Got it, Dad." Zhang Dalang and Zhang Erlang nodded busily and agreed.

Seeing the whole process of making refined salt, the Zhang family was nervous but could not suppress the excitement in their hearts. Next, under the guidance of Wei Shuo, the two Zhang Dalang brothers continued to dissolve, filter, and distill the remaining coarse salt repeatedly, and when the snow-white refined salt appeared at the bottom of the pot again, the two Zhang brothers could no longer help but exclaim in a low voice.

With the salt-making technique provided by Wei Shuo, life can be regarded as hopeful, and now Wei Shuo's status in the Zhang family has changed abruptly, and he is no longer a stranger of unknown origin, and he has suddenly become equal to Zhang Laohan, and even Zhang Erlang, who has never looked down on him, is respectful when he sees Wei Shuo.

Due to the success of salt production, breakfast is also much more abundant than in the past, Zhang Laohan took out all the bacon that he was reluctant to eat during the New Year, and boiled a large pot of broth with wild vegetables, and everyone gave a big bowl. Although this meal is not as delicious as the instant noodles that Wei Shuo has eaten, at least it can be eaten.

Wei Shuo said while eating: "Uncle Zhang, I want to go to the city in the afternoon to see what the price of this refined salt is, and if it is suitable, I will sell the refined salt that we have just distilled." ”

"Let Da Lang Erlang go with you, and there will be a good response on the way."

"Hey, I got it, Dad." Da Lang and Erlang responded.

After breakfast, Zhang Dalang carried five catties of refined salt in a package, carried five or six five-baht coins in his arms, and the three of them went on the road. The northern foot of Laoshan Mountain is less than 15 kilometers away from the county seat of Buqi, and due to the poor road conditions in ancient times, it took Wei Shuo and the three of them more than an hour to arrive at the county seat of Buqi.

Buqi County is the seat of Changguang County, located in the northwest of Laoshan Mountain, Xianning three years (277 years) of the Western Jin Dynasty, divided into Donglai Country Buqi, Changguang two counties and Beihai County Ting County to Changguang County. The jurisdiction is similar to Qingdao City, Laoshan, Laixi, Haiyang, Jimo, Laiyang and other counties in Shandong Province.

Standing at the gate of the city, Wei Shuo looked up and down the ancient city thousands of years ago, in fact, Buqi County was not a real ancient city, at best it was just an earthen city. The walls are about 4 meters high, about 700 meters long from east to west, and about 800 meters long from north to south.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty once divided the great Situ Fu Zhan as the marquis, 3,600 households, passed on to the eighth generation, until the nineteenth year of Jian'an, Cao Cao arbitrarily destroyed the Fu family, and abolished the marquis of the country.

In the past, there were only more than 4,000 households in the county, but with the chaos in the Central Plains, many people from Yanzhou, Yuzhou and the western part of Qingzhou began to flee here, making the population of Buqi County begin to exceed 50,000.

After paying a certain amount of poll tax, Wei Shuo and the three of them stepped into the county seat, in order not to cause trouble, Wei Shuo wore a hat on his head and a shabby leather jacket on his body, as long as no one found the exposed fair skin, he was no different from an ordinary farmer in this era.