At night, the General Flag Office.

Liu Yan's general flag hall is not big, just a small courtyard, there are three main rooms in the courtyard, the left wing room is where Liu Yan works, and the right wing room is the dining room and kitchen. In addition, there are several inverted seats, which are barracks for Wang Bo's team of dun troops to live in.

At this time, in the right wing, Liu Yan prepared a table of wine and food to entertain Wang Weizhen and Jia Hongyu, and Chen Xun and Wang Bo, two small flag officials, accompanied him.

After three rounds of drinking, Wang Weizhen gave Jia Hongyu a look, Jia Hongyu smiled knowingly, and then said to Liu Yan: "I said brother, you said that you have something to report to the master of the management team, what is the matter, it is so mysterious." ”

Liu Yan said with a smile: "That's the case, some time ago, when I took the military households in the fort to survey various wastelands, I found a cornucopia on the beach in the south, I don't know if the master of the management team and Brother Jia know?" ”

Wang Weizhen and Jia Hongyu suddenly changed color, Jia Hongyu hurriedly shook his head slightly at Liu Yan, but Liu Yan pretended not to see it, still staring at Wang Weizhen and waiting for the following.

I saw that Wang Weizhen's face was no longer smiling, and he said in a deep voice: "What does Liu Zongqi mean is that he is ready to reopen the salt drying field?" ”

"Exactly!"

"Then does Liu Zongqi know the situation of the salt drying field? Do you know why the salt drying plant is deserted? ”

"My subordinates know something, the salt drying field was originally run by Dai Baihu, but later because it was exploited by Shangguan, it had to be abandoned."

Wang Weizhen said: "Since Liu Zongqi knows the reason, why bother to wade into this troubled water? This salt business is so deep that if you are not careful, you will drown! ”

Chen Xun and Wang Bo on the side didn't dare to interject, but after listening to Wang Weizhen's words, the two also hesitated, and sat on the side and looked at Liu Yan.

At this time, Liu Yan said: "My lord, forgive me, my subordinates have already sent someone to clean up the salt drying plant, and it won't be long before it can be re-operated." ”

"What!"

Wang Weizhen stood up suddenly, and Jia Hongyu on the side also got up, and then said in a slightly reproachful tone: "I said brother, you are too impatient, such a big matter, why don't you report it to the management team in advance?" Today's matter, for the sake of your brother, your lord has already had a bad relationship with Dai Baihu, plus the matter of this salt drying field, in the future, Dai Baihu may make some trouble, you are making trouble for adults! ”

Liu Yan got up and clenched his fists and said, "Master Guan, Brother Jia, don't be impatient, listen to me." ”

Wang Weizhen sat down again under Jia Hongyu's persuasion.

Liu Yan said: "My lord, my subordinates think that although there are some disadvantages to reopening the salt drying field, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages in the end. ”

"That Dai Baihu has been watching the position of the defender, that is a stumbling block on the road to the promotion of adults, even if Dai Baihu does not come to us for trouble, in the future, adults are bound to compete with it. Therefore, the subordinates thought that the adults didn't have to pay attention to Dai Baihu's reaction, and they just saw the move. ”

"In addition, once the salt drying factory starts to operate, the silver earned will never be less than that of the soap workshop, adults can calculate, how much silver can we earn every month and every year?"

As soon as he heard that there was money to be made, Wang Weizhen's face was slightly better, and he said, "You! Liu Zongqi is just thinking about making money, don't forget that the salt farm is the industry of Dai Baihu, even if it is abandoned, it is the same. Let's take it directly and run it, and we won't take care of it if we get out of the stiffness! ”

Liu Yan laughed out loud and said, "Who can prove that the salt drying field belongs to Dai Baihu?" Can Dai Baihu have a paperwork? ”

Wang Weizhen was speechless for a moment, and then said, "What do you mean ......?"

Liu Yan said: "My lord, the salt field was obviously newly built by his subordinates, what does it have to do with Dai Baihu!" ”

At this time, Wang Weizhen and Jia Hongyu suddenly took a breath of cool air, and secretly exclaimed in unison, "What a gut!" ”

"This kid turned his face directly and didn't admit what happened before, even if these Dai Baihu knew, they would be dumb and eat Coptis chinensis!"

Jia Hongyu thought secretly in his heart, and a smile appeared on his face, and said: "My lord, I think what Liu Zongqi said has some truth, anyway, the salt drying field is also deserted, why can't we take it over and operate it?" ”

Wang Weizhen was already a little moved, but he still asked Liu Yan: "If there is something, do you have a plan for the aftermath?" ”

Liu Yan pointed to Chen Xun and Wang Bo, who were accompanying him, and said, "My lord, my subordinates have trained one hundred and eighty elite soldiers with just one soap workshop to build a fort like Dapan Fort. If you add a salt drying field, it won't be long before your subordinates can expand their dun army several times! Of course, the same can be true for adults! ”

Listening to Liu Yan's words, Wang Weizhen and Jia Hongyu's eyes widened, and their breathing became heavier.

Yes, after having a large sum of silver, you can naturally train soldiers and horses!

Wangjiazhuang is originally a hundred-household office, and Wang Weizhen, as a team officer, can naturally invest in the personnel of the silver training center.

Jia Hongyu was more direct, and said to Wang Weizhen with a little excitement: "My lord, what Liu Zongqi said is very true! As long as our Wangjiazhuang soldiers are strong and strong, then Dai Baihu will definitely not dare to trouble us. ”

Wang Weizhen nodded in agreement, but at this time, Wang Weizhen was not thinking of large-scale training of the Dun army and the tun army everywhere, but thinking about whether to expand his family team after he had the income from the salt drying field, and at least fifty family members.

"Hmm!"

At this time, Wang Weizhen was completely moved by Liu Yan's words, so he said: "Since Liu Zongqi is interested in this, this official, as the chief official of Dapanbao, can only fully support it." ”

"Thank you, sir!"

Then Jia Hongyu mentioned Liu Dayu, Shen Wenyun, and Liu Qunyi, and Wang Weizhen said coldly: "These three bastards, this time they actually colluded with Dai Baihu to give me eye medicine, and find an opportunity after I go back, Jia Zongqi, you take someone to check the situation of Huangshan Dun, Shagou Dun, and Fengshan Dun, and find a reason to reprimand them!" ”

Jia Hongyu clenched his fists and said with a smile: "Don't worry, my lord, I'll do it in two days!" ”

The next morning, Liu Yan took Wang Weizhen and Jia Hongyu to the salt drying field. Everyone climbed over a small dirt slope by the sea, and they were greeted by an endless sea, the sea was gray-brown, and the sky was blue, which was very spectacular in contrast.

Around the salt drying field is a large tidal flat, and the large and small wetlands formed by fresh water are covered with aquatic weeds and reeds.

Zhang Yi, the little flag officer, led the team back here, and was busy with more than 30 strong women.

At this time, the two salt pools have been thoroughly cleaned, and the aqueducts of the two pools have been repaired. In addition, Zhang Yi also led people to repair the rest of the salt drying field.

"What are they doing?"

Wang Weizhen pointed to the busy strong woman and Dunjun and asked.

Liu Yan said: "Lord Qiyu, my subordinates have already let them start to try to dry salt, and now they are draining seawater, filtering and cleaning up the impurities in the seawater, although they have not yet officially prepared for salt production, at this time everyone is practicing the process of drying salt, and after a few days of familiarization, they can officially produce salt." ”

Then, Liu Yan talked about the general process of drying salt for Wang Weizhen and Jia Hongyu.

The first is the tide, which is to bring in seawater.

This is also particular, "the tide is at the head of the dry and sunny days, the tide is in normal times, the tide is at the end of the rain after the rain, and the night tide is at night in summer and autumn."

As the so-called embankment is wet, Zhang Yi led people to rebuild the embankment by the sea, forced the seawater into the aqueduct, introduced into the salt pond, and then in this season, exposed to the sun for about seven days, when the sea water naturally evaporated, the soil at the bottom contains a considerable concentration of salt, and then the soil can be taken for later use.

The next step is to make brine.

The thatch by the sea is dried, and then the stove is built with wet soil, and the thatch is built on the bamboo chips, and after it is paved, a natural salt drain is formed, which can be used to make brine.

The salt mud collected by Nachao is spread on the grass, and the seawater is taken from a large bucket, and the salt mud and thatch are constantly washed, and after the mud and grass are passed, the usable brine is filtered out.

The brine is filtered again to remove impurities, and it is placed in a jar to settle for a period of time, and then the final decoction step can be carried out.

At this time, Zhang Yi had already led people to build several houses on the north side of the salt field, and there were several large stoves and large iron pots in the house, which were specially used to fry brine.

First use a high fire to boil, after the brine boils, and then simmer slowly, about four hours later, the water of the brine will be boiled dry, and the white sea salt is now formed, which is the complete method of boiling salt.

Wang Weizhen and Jia Hongyu also sighed after listening to Liu Yan's introduction. Although Wang Weizhen was more or less involved in the previous Dai Baihu operation here, he had never been here and did not know much about the matter of drying salt.

At this time, Wang Weizhen asked: "What is the price of salt now, has Liu Zongqi ever inquired?" ”

Jia Hongyu also asked on the side: "How much sea salt can these two pools produce?" ”

Liu Yan smiled and said, "Lord Qiyu, reply to Brother Jia's words." Now if the quality of sea salt is better, it can be sold for one pound and one or two and a half dollars of silver. At present, two salt drying ponds have been cleared in the salt drying field, and the other salt drying ponds will continue to be cleaned in the future, and new salt drying plants will continue to be excavated according to the actual production demand. ”

As the saying goes: three stone rice and one pound of salt describe the high price of salt at this time, and the price of official salt on the market is even more expensive. Therefore, Liu Yan's price is one or two and a half dollars of silver and a pound of sea salt, and the price is already very, very low.

"Judging from the current output of the two salt ponds, each salt pond can introduce about 2,000 catties of seawater, and more than 800 catties of salt mud can be obtained after exposure. After these salt muds go through the process, you can get more than 700 catties of brine, and finally after decoction, you can get at least more than 300 catties of sea salt, and the two salt pools are nearly 700 catties. ”

Wang Weizhen said with some disappointment: "Seven hundred catties of sea salt, one or two or five dollars of silver per catty, this is only more than a thousand taels of silver!" ”

Liu Yan said with a smile: "My lord Mingjian, after this round of production, the cycle is not a month, but five to seven days. That is to say, the monthly output of the two salt ponds should be more than 4,000 catties, and the income should be more than 6,000 taels. ”

"That's too little!"

You must know that in the soap business alone, Wang Weizhen can earn more than 10,000 taels every month. Now the Haiyan business promised by Liu Yan, the income of more than 6,000 taels per month is only gross profit, and various expenses such as labor costs must be deducted, and the profit will be shared with Liu Yan, and finally how much silver can be in Wang Weizhen's hands? It is estimated that one or two thousand taels will burn high incense, and he will have to bear the possible pressure from Dai Baihu for this, and this business is a little uneconomical no matter how you think about it.

Looking at Wang Weizhen, who was a little disappointed, Liu Yan pointed to the surrounding tidal flats and said: "Adults should know that Dai Baihu used to be very profitable when he ran this place, and that was because the original salt drying field was very large, and the size of these two salt drying ponds was only a trumpet. ”

"My subordinates looked for the old man and learned that there were ten large salt pools and fifteen small salt pools. The monthly output of those large salt drying ponds is at least about 10,000 catties, so adults can calculate the amount of income after the salt drying field is completely cleaned up. ”

When Wang Weizhen heard this, he immediately began to calculate: "If all these salt drying ponds resume production, they can produce more than 130,000 catties of salt in a month, and it will be about 200,000 taels of silver!" ”

Thinking of this, Wang Weizhen's face flushed, and Jia Hongyu next to him was also breathing heavily, and said in a low voice: "My lord, do it!" ”

Wang Weizhen nodded heavily.

Liu Yan then said: "Since the adult agreed to Li, the subordinates made it clear: all the preliminary investment in this salt drying field, all the manpower investment is done by the subordinates, and there is no need for the capital of one or two silver from the adults." ”

Wang Weizhen's face was overjoyed, and then he heard Liu Yan say again: "After the sea salt is produced, the subordinates will send people to Wangjiazhuang, the Guzhen Inspection Department, and the surrounding places to sell it. The salt farm has 30% of the shares of adults, and the income will be calculated according to 30% at that time, and it will be sent to adults every month, how about it? ”