The old lady and Du Fugong glanced at each other, the old lady was old and had seen a lot in his life, Du Fugong was full of economy and was also well-informed, but it was really difficult to understand Chu Huan's words.

"Zikong, take it!" Chu Huan signaled to Sun Zikong that in front of these two people, Chu Huan did not sell Guanzi.

The grandson went out for a while, and soon came in, holding a white stone in his hand, which was the cold stone.

The corners of the old lady's mouth squirmed, and her expression was even more confused, Chu Huan had already said with a smile: "Of course the old lady knows what this is." ”

"It's a cold stone." The old lady said: "It can be regarded as a specialty of the northwest...... My lord, what does this cold stone have to do with your new salt? At this time, Chu Huan asked his grandson to hold a cold stone, of course the old lady understood that this cold stone might have some connection with the new salt, but no matter how wise he was, it was impossible for him to think that the cold stone would be made into salt, so it was impossible to think about it in this way, and there was a puzzled look on his face.

Du Fugong stroked his beard, thoughtfully, and suddenly his body shook, as if he thought of something, his eyebrows locked, and he said incredulously: "My lord, you ...... You don't think this new salt ...... This new salt will be ......! I just thought it was incredible, and I didn't go on.

Chu Huan had already nodded with a smile and said, "Mr. Du, you guessed right, this new salt is extracted from the cold stone!" ”

Du Fugong's mouth opened wide, and although the old lady heard it, he thought he had heard it wrong, and couldn't help asking, "My lord, are you...... What do you say, do you mean...... Is the new salt extracted from the cold stone? ”

Chu Huan's expression became serious, and he said, "Exactly, the new salt is extracted from the cold stone!" ”

The old lady understood this time, and couldn't help but say, "My lord, don't you want that old man to joke, this ...... The old man has lived for most of his life, and the people who have to go into the coffin, the native of the northwest, have never heard of the cold stone can be inhibited into salt ......! The old lady only felt that it was a bit ridiculous, and he would rather believe that Chu Huan was teasing his old prince than that stones could be turned into table salt.

Chu Huan said solemnly: "Old lady, you are my elder, you are old and respectable, how dare I joke with you?" ”

Sun Zikong also said beside him: "Old lady, teacher...... Well, the Governor is not joking, this salt is indeed extracted from the cold stone, the Governor himself did it, the little one assisted by the side, and the little one watched the adults extract the salt from the stone. Xiang Du Fu said fairly: "Mr. Du, the adults didn't tell you in advance, they just wanted to determine whether it could really be successful, last night's dishes were all made with new salt, so the taste is different from usual." ”

The old lady still didn't believe it, Du Fugong saw Chu Huan's serious expression, and knew that on this occasion, Sun Zikong would never dare to talk nonsense, although this matter was indeed incredible, but he believed that Chu Huan was not joking.

He knew a lot, but he never knew that the cold stone in the northwest could make salt.

He understands the significance of this, and knows that this is not just a small discovery, but a major event related to the people's livelihood and the lives of future generations.

Refining table salt from stone has never been discovered or even thought of before.

Du Fugong suddenly felt that he had underestimated Chu Huan before, this young governor seemed to be much more powerful than he knew.

The old lady's hand trembled a little, and in the lobby, there was silence for a while, and after a long time, the old lady sighed and said, "My lord, you first came to the northwest, but you ...... But it has already brought great gifts to the northwest......! The old man's eyes were already red, "The old man never thought that one day, he would be able to eat the refined salt ...... produced in the northwest!" ”

He was extremely excited, Du Fugong understood the significance of cold stone salt production in the future, and the old lady also understood the significance of cold stone salt production to the current situation in Xiguan.

Although the old lady is a businessman and belongs to the local gentry, he is not confused about the situation in the world, in fact, he has seen a lot of things, the imperial court uses troops in the southeast, and it has not been able to quell the Tianmen Rebellion for a long time, but the form of the southeast side is getting worse and worse, he knows very well in his heart that the court's mind is in the southeast, and will not give too much help to the northwest, Xiguan wants to revive, and he can only rely on the Xiguan people themselves, and he knows that according to the current situation, the salt road of the East China Sea and Jianghuai will eventually be completely cut off, The empire could only rely on the salt supply of the Fukai Road to supply the whole country, and that would inevitably lead to a salt shortage.

The northwest and Fuhai Road are far away, and the salt in the pass will not be available at that time, not to mention that there will be salt transported to the northwest, the old lady has been worried about this matter, if it really comes to that time, the northwest will inevitably face a catastrophe, this disaster, not even less than the invasion of the Western Liang soldiers, it is precisely because of this worry, the old lady has even secretly found someone to secretly find private salt, as much as possible to store some salt.

But Chu Huan was like magic at this time, turning stones into salt, and the stones were still a huge number of cold stones in the northwest, the old lady was like a small broken boat in the sea that could be silent at any time, and when he saw a magnificent dragon boat, how could his heart not be excited, and he understood better that salt was like silver, when Xiguan had such an economic lifeline, then the revival of Xiguan was just around the corner.

The old lady was dizzy and dizzy because of excitement, her body shook, Du Fugong next to her hurriedly supported her, and Chu Huan also got up, "Old lady, are you okay?" ”

Du Fugong helped the old lady to sit down, the old lady came to his senses, waved his hand and smiled: "My lord, you are really a bodhisattva who saves suffering...... You ...... this way? How did you come up with ......! "I really felt that Chu Huan was really a bodhisattva sent by God to save Xiguan.

Chu Huan smiled: "I also heard a master talk about it before, I just thought it was a joke at the time, but I tried it this time, I didn't want to really succeed, it was ......really a fluke!" ”

Of course, he can't say that he came through time, in a very distant future, rock salt making salt is already a well-known thing, and in other words, he knows that rock salt can make table salt, and it is indeed taught by the chemistry teacher when he was in school, and the teacher is very tall, and he is considered a tall person.

Du Fugong was surprised, but also very excited, he knew that this was a great opportunity, and said: "My lord, it is not easy to do something here, as the saying goes, it is difficult for a hero to lose money, without silver, the revival of Xiguan is just an empty word." Since you have made such a discovery, you should start preparing immediately. ”

Chu Huan said: "What advice does Mr. Du have?" ”

"First of all, all the mountains in Xiguan must be owned by the government." Du Fucheng said: "There are many mountains and lakes, which belong to the private property of the local gentry, since the cold stone can be used to make salt, and the salt and iron belong to the government, then the mines with cold stones cannot be handed over to private mining......!" He glanced at the old lady and said, "Old lady, Du said bluntly, it is the private mountain of the seven surnames of Xiguan, and it is also to be returned to the government!" ”

The old lady frowned, the northwest is mountainous, many of its mountains are privately owned, Xiguan Qi surname is the head of the Xiguan Dao family gentry, but there are also many mines under each name.

The mine was owned by the government, which naturally touched the interests of everyone.

"There are a few mines under the name of our Su family." The old lady pondered for a moment, and finally said: "The affairs of the Su family, the old man can still call the shots, and it is not difficult to hand over the mine, even if there are complaints in the clan, the old man can calm it, but ......!" After a pause, he finally said: "There are not a few wealthy families who have private mountains, and there are private mountains of wealthy families in the four states of Xiguan...... The old man is only worried that if the adults forcibly return the private mountains to the government, it will cause people to be dissatisfied and complain ......! ”

Chu Huan bowed his head and said: "What the old lady said is that I have just arrived, the foundation is not stable, and I have to rely on the help of the wealthy families in Xiguan, but the salt and iron official camp, open a salt farm to make salt, the method will not be hidden for a long time, sooner or later it will leak out, if the mine is not owned by the government, then many people can mine their own private mountains and secretly make salt, and when the time comes, I am afraid that there will be many private salt transactions, and the entire salt market will be chaotic ......!" After a pause, he said: "Mr. Du said that he wanted to collect the mountain, this is an inevitable thing, I am determined to collect the mountain, but I have come up with a way, the two of you can see if you can implement it!" ”

The old lady asked, "What way?" ”

"In the final analysis, the collection of mountains touches the interests of the wealthy families, but most of the wealthy families today only have the title deed in hand, and the title deed does not have too much financial resources." Chu Huan said slowly: "I heard that many families that were once prominent can't even eat now, in this case, I think there is a method that is beneficial to both parties, and it is imperative for the government to collect the mountain, but it will give them compensation, according to the size of the mine area, give corresponding compensation, old lady, what do you think of this method?" ”

The old lady groaned slightly, nodded and said, "If that's the case, you can give it a try." What the adults said is right, in fact, many families that used to have rich wealth are no longer as good as before, and if they are given a certain amount of compensation, there must not be much resentment. And the salt and iron official camp, this is the traditional royal law, the old man thinks they should be the truth. ”

Chu Huan looked at Du Fugong and asked, "Mr. Du, in addition to collecting the mountain, what other suggestions do you have?" ”

"One is to produce, the other is to sell." Du Fu said: "Since you want to make salt, you have to open a salt factory, and the salt factory needs to turn salt into silver." He arched his hand to the old lady and continued: "With the help of the seven surnames of Xiguan, it should not be particularly difficult to open a salt factory, but it is not a simple matter to sell salt. ”

The old lady immediately said: "Your Excellency, Mr. Du, our seven surnames in Xiguan have business dealings in the customs and can help sell salt!" ”

Du Fugong shook his head and said: "First of all, salt and iron are sold by officials, and the seven surnames of Xiguan are not officials and businessmen, if you sell salt, it will be bad for the king's law, but I am afraid that people with other intentions will be unfavorable to us." In addition, the lord is the governor of Xiguan, and he can use the official salt office of Xiguan to buy salt in Xiguan, and if the salt from Xiguan is transported into the customs without authorization, someone in the court will definitely impeach him. ”

Chu Huan leaned back in the chair, touched his chin and said, "What is Mr. Du's idea?" ”

"It is inevitable to go up, and I implore the Holy Lord to issue the will of salt inward, and there is a shortage of salt in the Guan, and there is salt in the West Pass, which is also a tricky matter for the imperial court." Du Fu said fairly: "The salt farm can be built as soon as possible, before the will of the imperial court is issued, the adult can sell salt in Xiguan first, and the adult can naturally sign an order to designate the officials and merchants who operate the salt, and the adult has this right." ”

Chu Huan said: "This is not difficult, the old lady can select capable talents from the clan to open a salt shop, and I will issue an order to designate him as an official and businessman who deals in salt." ”

The old lady knew that this was Chu Huan's trust in the Su family, and immediately said, "Don't worry, my lord, the old man will select the most capable people in the clan to come out and prepare for this matter." After a pause, he said worriedly: "It's just that the lord is sure that the imperial court will agree to the entry of the adult's salt?" The old man bluntly said that this is a piece of fat, and the court will not let adults obtain the right to enter the customs with salt so easily, right? ”