Ouch, what a big ship!

A few men from the north looked at a few large ships of 2,000 materials and sighed. Fang Xuedu just glanced at it, and then looked straight at the endless water and the outline of the giant island in the distance, his mind was turbulent, and he secretly called out a good place!

Blessed with a unique nature, as long as there is enough food, why fear 100,000 male soldiers?

"Brother Fang, General Dong, you will board the ship with me." Xu Guanzhong walked sideways, and out of the corner of his eye, he happened to see the expressions of several people, and turned around and invited with a smile. With Fang Xuedu, Dong Cheng and others, they got on the ship and went straight to the cabin.

The cabins were lined with bulging sacks neatly arranged and piled up to the deck, on either side of which there was only a narrow aisle.

"There are more than 2,500 stones on one boat, and more than 10,000 stones on five boats." Xu Guanzhong stopped in the corridor outside the cabin and patted the sack to explain.

"Master Xu, we need to inspect the goods." Dong Cheng withdrew his gaze from the sack mountain, looked at Fang Xuedu beside him, and said loudly.

"Yes." Xu Guanzhong smiled and nodded, and when he saw that the other party took out a dagger, he hurriedly reminded: "General Dong, pick open the seal, don't poke the bag!" ”

"Hahaha, I can save this." Dong Cheng was overjoyed by General Dong's call, and felt that Xu Guanzhong was a lot more pleasing to the eye, so he strode into the cabin. Looking around, he casually touched the sack and pulled it out. Filled with more than 60 catties of sea salt, it was as light as nothing in this man's hands.

It can be seen that this manpower is infinite! Xu Guanzhong secretly thought to himself.

Dong Cheng's face was stricken, and the sharp dagger was pulled to cut the twine of the seal.

There was a stabbing sound, and the mouth of the sack was torn open.

Fang Xuedu took a few gentlemen to come forward to look, his face full of astonishment. Inside the bag was a piece of white flowers. Crystal clear, the color is like snow, fine as powder.

It's even better than the best refined salt they've ever seen!

Everyone, including Dong Cheng, a fierce general, was a little incredulous. Everyone reached out and twisted a little, put it in their mouths, and a salty and sweet taste spread with the stirring of their tongues, making their faces full of enjoyment, and they couldn't help but admire the good things.

"Hey, the taste is pure, there is a kind of sweetness, the best."

"Yes, slightly fishy, it's sea salt, the top quality."

The gentlemen accompanying him in Hedong were obviously experts, and everyone was of good character.

No wonder the expressions of several people are really salt has a special status in ancient times!

Table salt, like food, is a necessity for all populations. But salt differs from food in that almost all regions are self-sufficient or largely self-sufficient, while salt is only produced in a specific location.

Therefore, the "rigid demand" of salt is higher than that of grain. Since people cannot obtain salt on their own, the production and marketing of salt is completely monopolized in the channel link.

Generally speaking, during the Northern Song Dynasty, the salt production areas were mainly pond salt in the northwest, well salt in the southwest, and sea salt in the east coast. The production of pond salt is limited, and the production cost of well salt is high, and Haiyan is actually mainly in Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang because the road from Fujian and Guangdong is too far away and the transportation is inconvenient. In other words, most of the population of the Song Dynasty at this time ate sea salt produced in these four places.

In other words, the salt economy depends entirely on the coast. It's just that the drying technology is not up to par, there are a lot of impurities, and the salt eaten by most people is slightly bitter. The price is expensive, but the output is there, and you can't eat it.

However, Shuibo Liangshan sells illicit salt, which has a pure taste and a sweet taste. Definitely the best of the best. It is Fang Xuedu, Dong Cheng and others have never tasted it. A few people came back to their senses, but they still couldn't believe it.

Dong Cheng got Fang Xuedu's signal, and went to the depths of the cabin again, and took out the sacks from different places and picked them open, without exception, revealing the refined salt of white flowers. Fang Xuedu led people to taste them one by one, all of which were superb.

It turns out that the illicit salt sold in Liangshan is of excellent quality.

Fang Xuedu looked left and right, secretly speechless in his heart, but his face was not shocked. Turning to look at Xu Guanzhong outside the cabin door, he shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Brother Xu, is it possible that the sea salt on these ships is of this color?" ”

Xu Guanzhong saw that the fish had already taken the bait, and nodded confidently: "More than a few ships, in the warehouse, and in the future, they are all such superb." ”

Dong Cheng was a little curious, and an old man with a goatee said meaningfully: "Hey, these few workshops in Haiyan Beihai can't be dried." ”

Xu Guanzhong glanced at the old man, and his words were gentle but showed a tough attitude: "The buyer decides to buy, the seller only talks about selling, and it is taboo to explore the source of the goods." Besides, Xu didn't know where Haiyan came from. ”

"What Brother Xu said is that we are here to do business." Fang Xuedu looked at the few people around him sternly, and then looked at Xu Guanzhong again, and went straight to the point.

"I don't know the price of this batch of salt?"

"Let's go back to the village store and talk about it in detail." Xu Guanzhong smiled and nodded, but he hesitated, and then said with a serious face: "Just wait for the inspection first." Shuibo Liangshan and Guishanzhai do business, absolutely Tong Su is not bullied. ”

Next, he didn't give the Hedong team a chance to react, ordered the crew to dispose of several bags of salt, and continued to take Fang Xuedu and the others out of the cabin.

I went to several ships one after another, and took out sacks from all directions in the cabin full of sacks to inspect the goods, in the name of inspecting the goods, to ensure that there were no mistakes, but in fact, to buy time, so that Shi Xiu and Zhu Gui could complete the infiltration task.

If it weren't for Fang Xuedu, he said that he believed in Liangshan's sincerity and was an ally. Xu Guanzhong will really take them to the warehouse to have a look.

After more than half an hour, everyone returned to the village store.

In the backyard of Beishan Restaurant, two important people from the mountains gathered to discuss cooperation.

"As we all know, our Dasong salt is mainly divided into sea salt and mineral salt, which is divided into several grades according to color and coarseness, and the price also fluctuates. Cai Jing's old puppet in Bianliang City even advocated a severe crackdown on illegal salt ......"

Fang Xuedu obviously did his homework before coming to Jeju, holding a teacup, talking about the profiteering and control of salt and iron in the Great Song Dynasty, and his slightly chubby face was full of determination, and there was a meaning that I understood very well.

Everyone present, Dong Cheng and a few gentlemen will not interrupt.

Xu Guanzhong, Shi Yong, Li Xiaoer and others were all smiling and would not interrupt the guests. The face is full of confidence, and having salt means having confidence.

Due to the dietary structure and labor intensity, the salt consumption of ordinary people greatly exceeded that of later generations. Generally, according to the data of the Song and Yuan dynasties, the per capita annual salt consumption is about 5 kilograms, which is equivalent to 15 grams per day. The current population of the Song Dynasty is about 100 million, according to this calculation.

The national salt consumption is 500,000 tons, or 60 million buckets. However, the salt production of the Song Dynasty was far from sufficient. There is a shortage of salt everywhere in various prefectures, cities and counties, and the people can only save carefully. It is the need of the market that breeds many illicit salt dealers. Smuggling and selling from Western Xia or Liao, there are no less than 20 people in Chaojiazhuang alone.

I have to do it at the risk of killing my head, just because this business is profitable.

Tian Hu, the king of grass, knew the market, so he was moved and sent an envoy.

And as a party peddling illicit salt, how can it not be investigated in advance? Xu Guanzhong, Shi Yong and others have the confidence to come from this, after all, the quality of their own sea salt is so good, and the wholesale price is very low, so they don't have to worry about no sales.

After Fang Xuedu finished talking about the profiteering of official salt, he made a comparison and poked at the point: "Brother Xu, although it is said that the best clear salt is mostly supplied to princes and nobles, and it is sold for eighty or ninety or even more than one hundred wen per catty, but the people can't afford it." I have to admit that the sea salt in Liangshan is crystal clear in color and excellent in quality, so it is difficult to do it here. Success is also the best, defeat is also the best. ”

In the end, Tian Hu's number one military advisor had a somewhat complicated expression, looked at the half-sack of sea salt on the table like snow powder, and shook his head and sighed regretfully.

It's not that he's deliberately sensational.

Da Song salt is not cheap and expensive, which is highlighted in two aspects.

One is expensive to dry sea salt or filter mineral salt. Another thing to consider is the cost of transportation, coupled with the limited production volume, the price of salt remains high.

The salt containing more impurities is about 20 wen per catty, and the higher the condition, the more expensive the price. As he said, he provided more than one pound of 100 wen to the nobles of Wang Gong.

But the quality of the sea salt provided by Liangshan is too good, what about the price?

It was precisely with this in mind that Fang Xuedu did not reduce the sadness on his face. His own king, Tian Hu, does not have that vision, but he knows that selling salt in private is not only an important source of income, but also a means to appease the people.

"Oh, I don't know what Mr. said about this?" Xu Guanzhong saw the other party's hesitation and guessed one or two, but his heart was like a mirror, but his face was full of doubts.

Fang Xuedu didn't go around the corner, and said honestly: "Let's make it clear below!" If the price of your salt is too high, and the price rises again after our hands, it is too expensive to sell and difficult to be accepted by the people, and this private salt trade is not easy to do. Because there is no profit to be made, it is thankless. ”

Dong Cheng next to him couldn't hold it back, and said urgently: "Master Xu, you guys hurry up, how much is a catty, we can accept the deal and reach it." ”

"Yes, let's quote a price!" Fang Xuedu nodded slightly.

"Fifty wen a pound!" Xu Guanzhong smiled and stretched out a slap.

"This salt is not easy to sell!" Fang Xuedu's face changed, and he said secretly Sure enough, the price of this kind of superb sea salt is not low. After passing through their hands, the price rose by 20 wen, and the burden on the people was very heavy, and they could only be sought after by wealthy businessmen.

Xu Guanzhong saw his thoughts, and his voice was very soft but like a bombshell: "Brother Fang, don't get me wrong, fifty wen is the highest price, and we have thirty wen a pound here." You see, this price is not satisfied? ”

"What? Thirty essays? On the opposite side, Dong Cheng and others exclaimed.

Xu Guanzhong had already guessed that this would happen, and he was even a little shocked when he learned the price. After knowing Chao Gai's intentions, he nodded calmly: "Yes, the official price of ordinary quality salt is generally 30-50 wen per catty." The highest price of our salt is fifty wen to steal the market privately. ”

"Master Xu, can you ...... cheaply?" an old man on the other side asked again.

But before he finished speaking, Xu Guanzhong had already shook his head solemnly: "No, don't be greedy, old gentleman, this is already the lowest price, the cost is twenty yuan, and there is no way to make a profit." ”

"Liangshan is a good man, we can't ink, we take as much as we want." Fang Xuedu is a decisive person, and he was a little excited to learn that the purchase price was only 30 yuan. After calming down, he spoke loudly.

"Okay, this deal is done!"

"Brother Fang, let's discuss the details between the two sides next!"

The smile on Xu Guanzhong's face did not change, and Cheng Zhu nodded in his chest. Immediately, in the name of Shuibo Liangshan, he negotiated with the other party for the sale of private salt.