The opening of the beach and salt pans outside the city is very smooth.

There are many saline-alkali lands in Huguang, which is mainly due to the infiltration of brine from underground salt mines, which destroys the ground soil, making it difficult for plants to grow and naturally unable to grow crops, which can be used with a little modification.

It's just that in terms of halogen and halogen, a lot of means need to be used.

Especially in the middle and late stages of the salt brine, if not preserved, a rain will be equivalent to the previous efforts are wasted, and it needs to be re-dried, which needs to be diverted to a covered place before the rain, and the weather is sunny and then re-released to dry.

"The salt brine that has been exposed to the sun for more than five or six days must be kept well, and there must be a buffer area between every two salt flats."

Zhu Hao is like a professional engineer, when he repairs the salt flats outside the city, he will personally come forward and guide him by hand.

……

……

June 14.

The first batch of salt, which was extracted from bitter brine outside the city, was successfully dried.

The yard already has experience in drying salt, and with the beauty of the sky, the salt comes out quickly.

When Zhu Niang saw the salt crystals of the white flowers at the bottom of the salt pond, she was overjoyed.

"This ...... Is it really dried out of the brine of the salt nest? ”

Aunt Li's eyes widened after tasting it, and her face was in disbelief.

Zhu Hao said with a smile: "Auntie, this is nothing, if we are at the seaside, guarding the sea to give the marinade, then it is called inexhaustible, but now we are in the inland Huguang...... But that's fine, who would have thought that we would use bitter brine to make salt? No one checked. ”

"Quick, salt."

The yard was busy.

Even the youngest Zhu Ting, even if she didn't have much strength, helped to hold the sack.

Unlike before, this time I bought a few donkeys, and the donkeys were mainly used to grind, grind the salt crystals, and then seal them in bags.

"Mother, when we have more money, we won't dry salt in this yard, the place is not big, and we have to transport it into the city when we buy brine back, and it is easy to be stopped and interrogated by officials. After a few batches of salt, let's put the yard back in place, so that no one can discover the secret of drying salt. ”

"By the way, mother, in a few days, we will transport salt to Su Dongzhu, the first time my mother has to come forward in person, whether it is Su Dongzhu, the Zhu family or those with ulterior motives, we will pay attention to what method we rely on to make salt, we must keep the secret."

The family was busy until late at night before they completely collected the salt.

As long as there is no bad weather, you can continue to dry the salt after receiving a batch and waiting for the next batch of brine to be delivered.

Steady stream.

June 16.

There are two more batches of salt outside the city, but unfortunately one salt flat is not controlled well, and the freshly dried salt is accidentally poured into the water, so that the shipment is delayed, and the salt from the rest of the salt flats is very smooth.

After putting the salt away, Zhu Niang took Yu San and others to Hanshui overnight.

The next morning, Zhu Niang took people back from outside the city, and when she got home, she mysteriously called Aunt Li and Zhu Hao, and took out three silver ingots of ten taels from the baggage she carried.

"Ma'am, this is ......"

Aunt Li wasn't so sure.

Zhu Niang said happily: "It's all earned." ”

"Oops."

Aunt Li danced excitedly when she heard this, "I didn't spend much on the two hundred taels I borrowed before, plus these...... It's enough to pay back the owner of the Soviet Union. ”

The small courtyard suddenly became vibrant.

Aunt Li began to look forward again: "If this is the end of the month, two or three more batches of salt will be handed over...... It is estimated that there is still an eighty or ninety taels of silver in the ......"

Zhu Hao asked, "Mother, it seems that the official salt in our hands hasn't been transferred out yet...... How can there be eighty taels of silver? ”

"Hmm."

Zhu Niang smiled and nodded.

Aunt Li asked puzzledly, "What salt?" Isn't it all handed over to the owner of the Soviet Union? ”

Zhu Niang explained: "Xiao Hao is talking about the official salt that we have in our hands, which is full of twenty leads, eight thousand catties, and one catty and ten cents are approved, and if it is put on the market, it can be sold for sixteen or seventeen cents......"

Aunt Li was speechless: "There are so many?" ”

I thought that a net profit of thirty taels at a time was already an exaggerated number, but I didn't expect that the eight thousand catties of "raw salt" that Su Xigui initially gave had not been sold.

"Mother, is there a way to contact the merchants who are going south? This batch of salt, counting on us to sell it ourselves, may be old...... At present, I can't even sell ten catties of salt in a day. ”

Zhu Hao understands that at present, all parties are suppressing themselves, all kinds of rumors are flying all over the sky, few customers come to the door, and it is not reliable to make money from retail.

A large amount of official salt can only be resold.

Zhu Niang shook her head: "I asked the people on the river, and they said that the boundary between Jiangjiang and Huguang has not been peaceful recently, and those toasts in the south of Huguang are doing things again, and there are bandits in the mountains of Jiangjiang." If you want to get salt, it's best to go north. ”

"Mother, go north, the land will not be right, we didn't do salt trading before, so we don't know the market very well, but now since we want to do salt, we must grasp the market, in fact, the more flat the ground, the more opportunities for merchants, even if we sell at a low price, we will not lose."

Zhu Hao saw Zhu Niang's avoidance of businessmen.

used to be a small merchant and hawker engaged in retail, but now she is suddenly asked to be the "salt lord" of Huguang Land, how can she adapt to this change all at once?

If there is a problem, Zhu Niang's first thought is to avoid it, not to face it.

"But how can we resell this batch of salt?"

Zhu Niang is still embarrassed.

Zhu Hao said with a smile: "In this place of Anlu, the official salt trade is monopolized, but the provincial capital will not, even if Huang Fantai is strong, it is impossible to occupy all the benefits, and there is a lot of room for operation, we can send people to the provincial capital to inquire about the news, and contact the ......people over there."

"Provincial capital?"

Zhu Niang retreated again.

Zhu Hao understands that Zhu Niang refuses to leave Anlu, as a festival woman, she is actually not psychologically prepared to be a big businessman, but more of a small wealth is the psychology of peace, and she is content if she can keep the property left by her husband.

"Mother doesn't have to go in person, just let people go, it's better to let Yu San bring the goods, Yu San looks clever, this kind of thing should be able to be handled."

Zhu Hao made a suggestion.

……

……

Zhu Family Manor.

Recently, Zhu Jiashi has not asked Zhu Niang about business.

Zhu Wanjian is looking for someone to keep an eye on at all times, although the rice shop is still open, but there are only a handful of people who really go in to buy salt and grain, Zhu Wanjian has calculated, not to mention that this posture is to earn forty taels, it is difficult to earn four taels.

At this time, Zhu Jiashi was meeting with the Jinyi Weilin Baihu who had just returned to Beijing and rushed back to Anlu non-stop.

“…… Previously, some ministers cited the precedent of Song Renzong's raising the clan in the palace ban, and asked His Majesty to enter the palace to study with talents and virtues among the royal family.

"The Queen Mother summoned and specially mentioned that since the birth of the son of King Xing, the internal situation of King Xing's Mansion has never been reported, and blamed Zhu Qianhu for not doing things well."

After Lin Baihu finished speaking, he handed a receipt to Zhu Jia's family.

The receipt has the signature of Zhu Wanhong, the son of the Zhu family, indicating that the silver given by the Zhu family has been received by him.

But Zhu Jiashi understands that even if the silver arrives in Jingshi now, most of it will not fall into the hands of his son, but will be swallowed up by the moths of Jinyiwei and even Dongchang, and Zhu Wanhong has no courage not to sign this receipt.

"Then Lin Baihu, you came this time, do you have an important errand?"

Zhu Jiashi felt that Lin Baihu was not good at coming this time.

Lin Baihu said: "I hope to meet Zhu Qianhu and talk to him in detail." "I don't want to tell Zhu Jiashi too many secrets, but I want to conspire with Zhu Mingshan, who was ordered to move to Anlu at home to monitor the Xingwang Mansion nearby.

Zhu Jiashi shook his head: "My husband is bedridden, and many times he can't speak, and he needs to be served closely, so it may be difficult to deal with it." ”

Since Zhu Mingshan fell from a horse last year and injured the back of his head and spine, now he only has half a life, sometimes he is very clear-headed, but he has no ability to express, and the Zhu family relies on Zhu Mingshan's official position and his good relationship with the royal family to gain a foothold in Anlu.

Zhu Jiashi knows very well that it is impossible for the Zhu family to move back to the capital, and the best thing is to maintain the status quo, the worst is that Emperor Zhengde has no queen, and the son of King Xing ascends the throne, and the Zhu family will never recover.

"That's right...... That old lady, there is a confidential matter, and it doesn't hurt to tell you about it. ”

Lin Baihu pondered for a moment, and his expression became solemn, "Previously, Jinyi Wei had placed six fine workers to infiltrate the Xingwang Mansion, but it was discovered that four people were driven out, and the remaining two have no trace until now, and it is very likely that they have been wiped out." ”

Zhu Jiashi was shocked: "Xingwangfu even dares to ...... people in the court"

"There is no evidence, no one is alive or dead, no corpse is seen, and I have personally recruited people in the palace before, hoping that someone can pass the news to the outside, but even Mr. Jiaoxi, who was recruited by the palace, is very secretive about the affairs in the palace."

"I also secretly interrogated the teachings of a prince of Xingwang and inquired about the teachings of King Xing to the prince, but I knew something about it at that time...... But then the family moved, and until now, Jinyiwei has not found his whereabouts. ”

When Lin Baihu said this, his face was quite helpless.

Zhu Jiashi said: "This Xingwang Mansion, isn't it Longtan Tiger's Den?" ”

Lin Baihu smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Like your mansion, I am ordered to keep an eye on Xingwang Mansion, I have not made an inch of success in the past few years, I am afraid that I will be held accountable by the court when I turn back, and I will not have a chance to come to Anlu again, there is a word of advice...... If the Zhu family can find out more things from King Xing's mansion...... In particular, evidence of collusion between King Xing and the ministers of Chinese and military affairs of the dynasty was found......"

Zhu Jia's face was gloomy and silent.

"That's all I have to say, and I'm going to say goodbye."

After Lin Baihu finished speaking, he hugged his fists and left.

Zhu Jiashi hurriedly got up and asked, "How to check?" ”

Lin Baihu said: "There is one thing, others don't know, the Zhu family must know that King Xing's eldest son died five days after he was born, and the Zhu family should have contributed at that time, right?" ”

Zhu Jia's face was grim.

The implication of the other party's words is that Zhu Houxi, the eldest son of Xingwang Zhu Youqi, did not die normally, but was murdered.

"Therefore, after the birth of the second son of King Xing, he has been careful to take precautions until now, and many children of the same age are raised in the house at the same time, and outsiders cannot distinguish which is the real son of King Xing...... King Xing has only one son, and everything must start from this son, if something happens to him...... Then everyone will be happy, and everyone will enjoy peace. ”