In mid-February, in early spring, the cold wind in the north seemed to be tired and quietly returned home. The spring of Beidi County has gradually revealed a trace of spring, and the life buried in the land has quietly poked its head out, and the willow trees have begun to pull branches, and the entire Beidi County has shown a piece of spring!

It was night, the spring breeze in the north was still a little chilly, Zhang Cheng, who was sitting in the courtyard looking at the stars in the sky, shrunk his neck, thinking of the pretty women of Linyang County, the lingering pretty face and back, so that Zhang Cheng was always haunted by dreams in the lonely night!

When he returned to the house and couldn't fall asleep, Zhang Cheng came out for a walk, but when he passed by the study on the side of the lobby, he saw that the lights were still on inside. Zhang Cheng was curious, so he walked in to take a look.

In the study, Yang Wenzhao was immersed in official business, and the scribe who was waiting was already asleep, and there was a faint snoring sound.

"Take the household registration of the villagers in the south of the city, by the way, and the land account book of that Ling County, take it! I'm going to check it out! Yang Wenzhao buried his head and wrote something. Zhang Cheng rummaged around for a long time, but he didn't find it. Yang Wenzhao said impatiently: "How can you be slow, there is still half a month before the beginning of spring, at this rate, when will it be finished?" ”

He looked up and was about to get angry, but he saw Zhang Cheng standing in the pile of books, looking for it.

"My lord! What are you doing here? Yang Wenzhao said in surprise.

"Looks like this isn't something anyone can do! Feed! Get up! Get up! Zhang Cheng patted the sleeping scribe and woke him up.

"Ahh Is it dawn? Yes! My lord! The little one accidentally fell asleep, the little one should be damned! Little damn it! The scribe hurriedly knelt down and begged for mercy.

"Let's go down!" Zhang Cheng waved his hand and asked him to go down first.

"This matter is in a hurry, but it can't be like you! You haven't had a good rest for two days in a row! Zhang Cheng said with relief.

"Can you not be in a hurry about this? The families of more than 1,000 of our soldiers are about to return, and this time, there are not just one or two. Every soldier has little in the family, and he is also his parents; There are many wives and children, and even brothers and sisters, and brothers and sisters have wives and children, and such a large group of people rushed over together. That's three or four thousand, or even five or six thousand! We have few people who read and write, and there are only a dozen of them! There are not enough people, there is really no way! Yang Wenzhao was also helpless and said with a wry smile.

"That's right! From now on, many people have come and gone, and they are waiting and watching. But there are also many people who stayed, and the population of Xiyang City has skyrocketed to more than 3,000 all of a sudden. At this rate, there will definitely be more people coming over before spring ploughing! Now there is not even a county order in each county, in case a large number of people really rush over, Xiyang County will definitely not be able to arrange it! It seems that the matter is in a hurry, and the only way to do this is to send Boss Zhang and these big bosses down first! Zhang Cheng said with a frown.

"That's right! Now everything is missing, and there is no way to do it. But each county must be equipped with two scribes, Boss Zhang, they are in charge of the general direction, and the meticulous work has to be done by the scribes! Yang Wenzhao added.

"Good! That's it! I'll arrange it when I get back! You coordinate here, and I'll go down to execute! Zhang Cheng said with his hands on his hands.

"This, how can this work! You, the county guard, are not in the county guard's mansion, what can I do as a historian! Yang Wenzhao said with some surprise.

"Who said you can't do it! Only you are the best fit! This kind of thing is delicate and trivial! I don't have that ability! You will coordinate and formulate a plan in Xiyang County! I'm going to earn you money! In the past two days, I have come up with a way to purify refined salt! We'll have a lot of money to make by then! ”

Zhang Cheng has been experimenting with how to purify refined salt for the past two months, he is a promising young man in the 21st century in China, and he has always been particularly interested in the problem of salt merchants in the Qing Dynasty, so he has studied coarse salt, refined salt and green salt that appeared in that dynasty! Later, he found a friend who was studying chemistry and did experiments on the process of refining salts.

In fact, salt is the sodium chloride rich in seawater, which is the so-called salt, is refined to produce crystals, and after some treatment, it becomes the edible salt used in our daily life. The process of making sea salt is to expose the sea water to sunlight to evaporate the excess water, so that the salt finally adheres to the soil, and after it is peeled off, it is often called coarse salt. Coarse salt contains a lot of dirt and fine sand, which is difficult to swallow. But the poor people could not afford the expensive refined salt, so they had to use coarse salt!

In China, the most famous is the salt produced from Qinghai Province, strictly speaking, it is a kind of pool salt, because in Qinghai Province, there are many salt lakes, among which sodium chloride is as high as 90% of the "salt", and the quality of the production is the best, because it is produced in Qinghai, so it is called green salt! In addition, there are pool salt and well salt. It's made in much the same way!

The production of refined salt is actually to refine seawater many times to remove excess impurities, and it will become refined salt! Because the ancient people's scientific and technological level was limited, they did not know enough about this kind of thing itself, they only knew that if they refined seawater infinitely, they would definitely be able to succeed! But this process is time-consuming and laborious, and the final yield is not high!

Zhang Cheng knew this key, he directly used coarse salt, mixed coarse salt in water, stirred evenly, filtered out the coarse mud and fine sand with a cloth, and then burned it over high fire to evaporate the water until crystals were produced in the pot and refined salt appeared!

However, the results of the previous month or so were not very satisfactory, and there were still many fine grains of sand, mixed with salt, which was even more troublesome to eat! But this yellow salt is several times better than coarse salt!

But Zhang Cheng was not satisfied, he repeated the test countless times, but in the end it didn't work. Until one time Yang Wenzhao put forward a constructive suggestion, he observed many times that the tool that really turned coarse salt into refined salt was cloth, so he suggested that Zhang Cheng use cotton cloth!

Sure enough, it was a success!

Now Zhang Cheng has set up a funnel and five cauldrons in the courtyard of his Assassin's Mansion, and asked the most trustworthy guards to help refine it!

"This is a big way for us to make profits quickly! This secret must be protected! If those salt merchants knew about this, they didn't know how much of a wave it would make! For the money! Those salt merchants dare to even leak the national tax, what else can't they do! Therefore, everyone who refines refined salt in the future must be our cronies! Yang Wenzhao also rubbed his hands when he heard Zhang Cheng talk about refining refined salt, but he also thought of the serious consequences of this matter!

"Hmmm! I know! Right now, our production is too low! In one stone of coarse salt, only thirty catties of refined salt can be refined! After using up three hundred stones, I barely managed to refine eight stones! Tomorrow I want to take these eight stones of refined salt to Wuzhou! Now that we have something, we have to start looking for a few next homes to sell our things! Zhang Cheng nodded, thought about it, and said decisively: "You can concentrate on coordinating the implementation of the population of Beidi County!" Zhang Cheng patted Yang Wenzhao on the shoulder and said.

"Wuzhou? So far! That's more than a month to go back and forth between two states! For so long, if something happens to Northland County, who will I go to! Yang Wenzhao immediately became anxious after hearing this, and shouted.

"Where birds don't lay eggs, who else cares? Rest assured, it's okay! Besides, what are you doing! Don't worry, I'll definitely wait until after spring ploughing before leaving! Zhang Cheng said!

Hearing this, Yang Wenzhao breathed a sigh of relief!

Half a month later,

In the evening, the afterglow of the setting sun has sprinkled all over the city of Xiyang City, shining the entire Xiyang City with golden light.

Today is already the deadline for the scheduled time, but the brothers of the 1st Division have not yet returned! This made Zhang Chengcheng, who was originally happy because there were many more people in the city, not happy!

He stood a little depressed on top of the city, looking at the distant horizon, lying on the top of the city and looking silently!

Yang Wenzhao, who had just settled down as a new resident of Xiyang City, happily ran behind Zhang Cheng and said excitedly, "My lord county guard, good news!" So far, there have been 4,893 people who have come to settle in Xiyang City one after another! Coupled with the previous population, our Xiyang City already has a population of more than 5,500 people! ”

"Oh? So much population? What was the reaction of the county guards everywhere? When Zhang Cheng heard this, the haze in his heart was a little less, and he asked with a smile.

"Well, according to Yao Han of Anhua City, the county guards from all over the country have gone to Lord Assassin Shi to complain! Fang Qian also had a headache, but for the sake of face, he pressed it down and left it undelivered. I heard that Fang Qian scolded you more than once after being a person. Yang Wenzhao said that in the end, he also laughed.

Laughing, Zhang Cheng said helplessly: "He is a dumb eater of Coptis chinensis, and he knows that he is bitter!" It seems that Lord Fang is afraid that it will be rare for him to become my Zhang Cheng's father-in-law again! ”

Looking into the distance, Zhang Cheng sighed, turned around and walked towards the city! Yang Wenzhao followed behind, seeing that Zhang Cheng's mood seemed to suddenly become depressed again, thinking that in the past two days, Zhang Cheng had been standing at the head of the city every day and waiting silently. Of course he knew what Zhang Cheng was waiting for.

It has been almost four months since more than 1,000 people of the First Division were repatriated to their hometowns at the end of last year, and so far, not a single person has returned! As Zhang Cheng, who has the most brotherly feelings, seeing that his brother has failed him, if his heart is good, he will not be called Zhang Cheng!

"Are you thinking about the more than a thousand brothers?" Yang Wenzhao knew that this was Zhang Cheng's reverse scale, and he said cautiously.

Waving his hand, Zhang Cheng shook his head, he didn't want to say anything with a calm face. When I got out of the city, I saw that Boss Zhang was still standing at the gate of the city. Walk over to Boss Zhang.

"General!" Boss Zhang salutes!

"Close the gates!" Zhang Cheng didn't even glance at the city gate, waved his hand, and said to Boss Zhang. Then he walked straight to the county guard's house.

Looking at the general's somewhat sad back, Boss Zhang asked Yang Wenzhao with some puzzlement: "What is the general?" ”

"Haven't you noticed that the general often looks at the city from afar in the past two days? What is he looking at? Do you know? Yang Wenzhao also looked at Zhang Cheng's slow figure and said.

Boss Zhang thought about it for a long time, but he didn't understand, he shook his head.

"Stupid! How many days has it been since the brothers of the 1st Division left? ”

After thinking about it for a long time, Boss Zhang, who had been counting on his fingers for a long time, came to his senses and said, "Oh! Today is the last day of the agreed deadline, and none of them in the Qin Dynasty have come back, and the general is sad about this? ”

"Hmm...... Oh, yes! Yang Wenzhao sighed, waved his hand, and asked Boss Zhang to close the door.

Just as the gates were about to close, a shout came from outside: "Wait! ”

The city gate opened again, and the guards looked at it from a distance, and recognized at a glance that this was Qin Chao, the deputy commander of the first division!

"Battalion commander! You see! It's Deputy Battalion Commander Qin! He's back! The guard shouted in surprise.

Boss Zhang hurriedly looked out of the door, and saw that the sturdy body, holding a long lance, was majestic, who was not Qin Chao!

"General! It's Qin Chao! It's Qin Chao! He's back! Boss Zhang was also pleasantly surprised.

When Zhang Cheng heard this, he hurriedly ran back, but he didn't expect to step on a piece of snow and fall to the ground with a pop, and he didn't care about it, he ran to the door with a roll, and sure enough, he saw Qin Chao.

"It's back! Sure enough, it's back! Open the gates! Fast! Zhang Cheng pushed open the city gate again and again and ran out to greet him!

Seeing Zhang Cheng running out to pick him up, Qin Chao was inexplicably grateful, he felt that his efforts this time were worth it! He hurriedly jumped off his horse, stood firmly in front of Zhang Cheng, made a military salute, and said sonorously: "Report to the general!" Qin Chao, the lieutenant of the first battalion of the first division, returned to the team as agreed! ”

Zhang Cheng grabbed Qin Chao's shoulder, looked up and down, and said, "Okay! Good! It's good to be back! It's good to be back! As he spoke, tears of excitement welled up on his face.

Qin Chao is a meticulous person, and it is very abnormal for him to see Zhang Cheng so excited. Thinking that he only returned to the team on the last day of the appointed time must have made the general suspicious. He explained: "General! He returned to his hometown of Yishan County this time, and brought a total of 38 members of his family's parents, wife and children, as well as two brothers and their families, to Xiyang City! The last general in Yishan County also persuaded the villagers in the county to come to Beidi County many times to settle down! On the way, he persuaded the villagers along the way many times, and delayed a lot of effort along the way. I haven't returned to the team until now, I hope the general will forgive me! ”

"I'm so glad you're back! Let's go, go to my house, I'll pick you up and wash the dust! Zhang Cheng waved his hand and pulled Qin Chao to go back and drink two cups!

"Wait, General! I'm afraid I can't drink with the general tonight! Fan Zhong and I brought 6,352 people to Beidi County this time! Look! Qin Chao arched his hand and said.

Zhang Cheng and Yang Wenzhao glanced at each other and were stunned. glanced back, and sure enough, he saw that Fan Zhongzheng was leading the first division and more than 6,000 people behind him to support the old and the young, and a large team with pots and pans was walking towards Xiyang City! Yang Wenzhao was pleasantly surprised: "So many! Good! I'm going to get ready to go! So saying, he trotted out into the city.

Just as Fan Zhong also arrived, he saluted Zhang Cheng and said, "Fan Zhong, report to the general!" Without too many words, Fan Zhong said bluntly.

"Good! Good! All right! Let's go, go back to town! I congratulate the two heroes! Zhang Cheng pulled the two away.

By the beginning of March, more than 4,000 households and more than 14,000 people had lived in Xiyang City. Xiyang City is already full of vitality, and there are two grain shops selling grain and a salt shop.

Seeing that Xiyang City was already on the right track, Zhang Cheng was anxious that all the officers above the rank of lieutenant were discussing matters in the county guard's mansion.

In the hall, more than a dozen people gathered together, and their eyes were focused on Zhang Cheng. Zhang Cheng looked at Yang Wenzhao beside him, he stood up and said, "Now, the population of Xiyang City is quite large, and Xiyang City can only accommodate 30,000 people at most. No matter how much there is, there is not enough land for the house! Our promises will not be kept! Therefore, the surplus villagers will be arranged in the periphery of Xiyang County, Ling County, Yanping County, Jiawei County and Qu County to be diverted! But now there are no suitable candidates in each county to serve as county magistrates, and for the sake of the development of Beidi County, I have to send a few of you to serve as county magistrates for the time being! Listen, Lingxian County Commander Zhang Boss and Cheng Shi Qin Chao; Fan Zhong of Yanping County, Huang Ling of Jiawei County, and Li Hao of Qu County. Each leader leads a regiment to go down to maintain order and help the people settle down! ”

Yang Wenzhao stood up at the right time, and he also said with a serious face: "In addition, I will send two more scribes to you to help you register your household registration!" ”

"That's good! I'm still thinking that I'm a big old man who can't read a single word, and I can't do this kind of trivial thing! Lord Yang is thoughtful! Hey! Boss Zhang scratched his head and smiled.

Everyone laughed.

The iron pillar on the side was a little reluctant, he stood up and asked, "Brother, what am I doing then?" ”

"That's what I'm going to tell you next! I'm going to Wuzhou tomorrow, and Tie Zhu, Qi Tian and Yao Han will follow me! Bring a fire with me! I'm not in Northland County these days, everyone in Northland County must obey Lord Yang's arrangement! Whoever disobeys his orders will disobey my Zhang Cheng's orders! Violators will be executed! Did you hear it all? This Great Seal of Northland County, Lord Yang, I will hand it over to you! Zhang Cheng finished speaking fiercely, and then from the case. Hand over the seal of the county guard to Yang Wenzhao and say to everyone!

"We will obey the general's orders!" Everyone clenched their fists and said.