"Brother Han, now that you are clean, you have something to say." In the house, Li Kui and Han Dahu sat on the edge of the fire, cooking while roasting the fire.

But Han Dahu was reluctant to let go of the salt shaker, which made Li Kui laugh.

He also wondered that salt was not a rare thing in the Northern Song Dynasty.

This was originally a magic weapon for him to prepare for his ambitions in the Great Song Dynasty, but unfortunately it was also a technological innovation that hit him the hardest. That's right, salt. Salt was the most expensive necessity for the people in the Han and Tang dynasties, and there was not even one of them.

Once the Tang Dynasty's finances dried up, they put their hands into the salt bags of the people and began to make money. The salt of the Tang Dynasty was the most expensive to the point of two hundred wen a catty, and the Han Dynasty was almost like this, the monopoly of salt and iron allowed Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to have a strong financial power to conquer Mobei, and at the same time, the wealth of the people was quickly depleted because of the heavy salt tax.

A powerful dynasty, but with a group of weak people with endless grievances.

Such a dynasty is destined to be unpeaceful.

But the Song Dynasty was very different, the salt tax was still very important in the early Northern Song Dynasty, but since Zhenzong, the status of the salt tax in the Great Song Dynasty tax has become lower and lower, and even the wine tax and commercial tax are not as good, and the price of salt has naturally fallen to an amazing point.

In the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty, the salt tax only accounted for 3% of the tax revenue of the Northern Song Dynasty, and it remained at about 3 million guan for many years. (It is recorded in the History of the Song Dynasty and the Food and Goods Chronicle)

It's outrageously low. In other words, the salt tax borne by each ordinary person in the Northern Song Dynasty every year is only less than 30 Wen. This directly led to a result, the price of salt in the Northern Song Dynasty was so low that it was worse than the price of rice. In the Northern Song Dynasty, sea salt was divided into 31 grades according to quality, with the most expensive being 45 wen a catty and the cheapest being 15 wen.

Well salt is slightly more expensive.

The most expensive green salt is also maintained at an outrageously low price - around 70 wen per catty.

Even if Li Kui purifies 15 wen a pound of salt and sells it to 70 wen, excluding consumption, labor costs, and material costs, how much does he earn for a pound of salt?

Especially in the Northern Song Dynasty Salt Office, he also needs to have the identity of a salt merchant, which is even more difficult.

The fact that the price of salt is so low is simply a disincentive to smuggler salt.

Li Kui, who thought that he would make a fortune with salt, was finally hit by the cruel reality and bruised all over his body. Li Kui's fantasy of becoming the largest salt merchant in the Great Song Dynasty was extinguished by the infinite salt prices of the Northern Song Dynasty. The traverser is very awesome, but no matter how awesome it is, it can't change the entire era. It also needs to complete the integration of the book into the era before it can be like a fish in water. Especially when he was still a small person who did not enter the stream, his dream of being a salt merchant was blocked, like a dead man covered with a coffin board, even if he came back to life, he couldn't jump up.

The salt that hit Li Kui to the gray at the beginning made Han Dahu so excited, which is what Li Kui didn't understand the most.

"Brother, what's wrong?"

After Li Kui put the fried big pot of vegetables into the water, he covered the pot with no fetters in his hands, so he pushed Han Dahu, and the other party woke up in hesitation. staring at Li Kui with straight eyes, the latter calmly agreed, so that he suddenly had a thousand things to say, but finally converged into one sentence: "Why is the salt in your house only salty?" ”

"Nonsense, salt doesn't have a salty taste, so is it still salt?"

Li Kui is a little anxious about Han Dahu's IQ, this thing is also an official, right? However, the official rank is too low, and among the military attaches in the Northern Song Dynasty, he is also the lowest-level bureaucrat, and the small one cannot be a small sesame official. But you can't just open your eyes and talk nonsense, right?

What is called salt only salty, is it not possible that the salt of this world is still sweet?

As soon as the words came out, Han Dahu hurriedly shook his head and said, "Brother Xian, I was so surprised that I didn't explain it, it was my brother's fault." I mean the salt tastes good, without any bitterness of salt. You know that your brother runs a pharmacy, and you know a little bit about medicine. ”

Speaking of this, Han Dahu smiled apologetically: "Brother Xian's martial arts have entered the realm of transformation, so he naturally has a lot of research on medical Taoism, and he is brother Meng Lang." The virtuous brother should know that there is bitterness in salt, which is brine, and salt brine is poisonous, but it cannot be removed. Only the best snowflake salt is said to be almost unbitter. However, the Great Song Dynasty produces tens of millions of quintals of salt a year, but how much snowflake salt is produced, and it is not enough for the use of Da Nei. And the salt in my brother's house is quite similar to the rumored snowflake salt, white as snow, fine as sand, pure in taste, and the first treasure in the world, I wonder if my brother can tell ......"

"No way!"

Li Kui trembled his legs, looking like he had eaten Han Dahu. Since he learned the highest price of salt in the Great Song Dynasty, he broke off his dream of becoming a top salt merchant.

But Li Kui is still quite curious, and I haven't heard of the tribute snowflake salt! He had to ask; "Brother has seen snowflake salt?"

"Nope." Han Dahu shook his head and smiled bitterly: "I'm just waiting for a small official, don't look at my brother who has an official position of inspection, the county order can be driven, and the county can be called, not to mention the head of the head, and the boss of countless bosses, how likely I can have the opportunity to see the tribute?" ”

"However, my brother has heard of the introduction of snowflake salt, which comes from the mines of Sichuan, and expensive auxiliary materials need to be added to the refining process to make the salt tax as white as snowflakes. Especially after the toxic brine in the salt is filtered out, the salt becomes a real condiment rather than a poisonous poison. Although the brine is not too poisonous, salt is a condiment to be eaten every day, and people will not live long without salt. Ingesting micro-poisons every day, after accumulating over time, individuals can't stand it. ”

Han Dahu's words were agreed by Li Kui. The first time he ate the salt of this era, the bitterness was very strong, and even the cheap sea salt had impurities such as sand in it. As for Han Dahu, he cherished the salt in his house so much, most likely because he took the ship of tribute. Any commodity, as long as it is related to tribute, will immediately increase in value by a hundredfold. But the question is, are the two of them, one of them a petty official who is not in the stream, and the other a grass people, qualified to sell tribute?

If it's really stupid to sell it on the market, wouldn't it be a lawsuit?

He also took a lot of painstaking efforts to purify table salt, sand filtration, activated carbon adsorption, and even lime precipitation. The result is pure table salt.

But as a result, he painstakingly made it, and in the end, a basin of cold ice water poured him from head to toe.

Nima, the most expensive salt is only sold for 70 wen a catty, and ordinary people eat about 20 wen a catty of sea salt, this price is too cheap, won't the salt merchants of the Northern Song Dynasty rebel?

Under the rehash of the old matter, Li Kui also paid attention to the salt he had purified, and felt that it should not be such a low price as seventy yuan, otherwise Han Dahu would not hold the salt shaker and say nothing and not let go. He asked tentatively, "Brother, how much do you think this kind of salt can be sold for?" ”

"You did it, you didn't do it, you can purify the sea salt." is worthy of being a businessman, and he began to doubt it from Li Kui's words, and he refused to let go.

Li Kui didn't shirk it, and he felt embarrassed when he nodded, so what if he simply gritted his teeth and admitted it? He doesn't believe that Han Dahu can still turn the sky in his hands?

"That's right, I purified the sea salt, removing the impurities and bitterness from it. But brother, don't you think you should answer my question first? ”

"Five, no, ten." Han Dahu exclaimed, then glanced out of the door heartily, and shouted to his subordinates: "Go farther, don't disturb this official!" ”

Then, Han Dahu ran to Li Kui with a salt shaker and said in a low voice: "Brother, we sell ten guan, as long as we sell 100,000 catties a year, you and my brother can accumulate millions of family properties." ”

That's a real million-dollar property!

Li Kui was really tempted. But after thinking about it, he has money, but he has to spend it! He is a country boy, a petty official who inspects Han Dahu's inaccessibility, and even the county order can send him around, if the two of them really do this kind of business, maybe it will cause the greed of the big man, and finally end up with a ruined family.

Although the windfall is good, but some windfalls are not strong enough, it is better not to worry about it. Because he has no blessings at all.

Li Kui shook his head and said, "Brother Han, if I call you big brother, I naturally respect your character and can tell me such an important matter." But first, the price of salt was officially determined, and the highest was no more than 70 Wen, which was still green salt from Western Xia. Well salt is only 50 Wen, and the most expensive sea salt is only 45 Wen, you sell it for 10 yuan a catty, who will buy it? ”

"Brother is too worried, do you know how many people in the Great Song Dynasty have a consistent fee? How many people spend more than 10 yuan a day? And what about Baiguan? These are just everyday expenses. The price set for my brother is definitely sold. Han Dahu was afraid that Li Kui would not believe it, and even cursed: "Brother says the number, how much to sell in a year, for the brother is to smash the pot and sell iron, and the brother can't make the brother suffer." ”

Li Kui frowned and said: "The price is just one of them, there is another problem." The younger brother doesn't mean to look down on Brother Han, but you are just the identity of the inspection, if it is a dignitary, the younger brother will definitely believe that the eldest brother can maintain this deal, but if someone takes a fancy to this deal and wants to go, I am afraid of the powerful and agree. If we resist, you and my brother will die without a place to bury. ”

Li Kui's words are also a calculating idea, although money is good, but compared with life, life is more important.

Han Dahu suddenly sneered: "For the brother, I am not afraid of the virtuous brother's nonsense, for the brother and the official family are brothers-in-law, if you are a relative of the emperor and the country, if you really come to someone who is not afraid of death, let him come, and he can stop him as many as he comes." ”

The official family is the emperor, Han Dahu actually went out bald in order to make a fortune, even if he didn't want to die, how bold is this guy?

The royal relatives look like you?

If Li Kui hadn't seen that Han Dahu was here to give him money, he might have pulled out his fist and beckoned to the other party's face.

It's shameless, pretending to be a relative of the emperor, this Han Dahu's courage is fat enough. The key is that Li Kui privately pondered, could it be that the master's appearance was so rude that it made people feel that it was easy to deceive?