Above the hall, King Yi and King Jaw had their own opinions, and both sides seemed to have no intention of compromise, and Mei Siyuan couldn't interject for a while. Yi Wang Xian remembered what was going on, and he had no intention of continuing the stalemate, so he looked at Mei Siyuan and asked, "Master Mei, my father has ordered you to be in charge of the Anxian Salt Administration for more than ten years, although you have not yet arrived, I think you have thought a lot, what are the best strategies, it is better to refer to one or two?"

Mei Siyuan got up from his seat and said, "Thanks to the recommendation of His Royal Highness the Jaw King, the emperor's grace, the ministers dare not slack off when they receive the order." The salt danger is everywhere, and the people of Li are living hard, and the ministers are deeply touched. In the past ten days, all I have thought about is salt politics, but I am afraid that my experience is still shallow, my thinking is insufficient, and I will miss the country's major affairs. Since His Royal Highness King Yi has an inquiry, although the minister does not have a comprehensive plan, he should also express his plan!" After speaking, he looked at Xia Muchao, and saw his smile, which was obviously what King Yi thought, and his mind was established, so he elaborated:

"The minister thinks that it is not necessary to spend time and effort to investigate the first mistake to solve the danger of salt. The crisis has been achieved, and we should go all out to solve it. ”

Hearing this, King Yi and King Jaw nodded slowly.

"The minister dismantled the salt administration into five, one of which is: refining. At present, the three-toothed pickaxe provided by the Ministry of Salt Mining in the mine has a handle diameter of eight minutes and a length of four feet, and the teeth are three inches and three triangular thorns, and the pickaxe weighs more than eight catties and five taels, and one husband quarries more than 12 stones of salt stone per day. A few days ago, he found a famous iron shop master in the capital to forge an iron tool, and added sawdust ash and copper when smelting iron, and its shape was forged like a shovel and pickaxe, which can be shoveled and chiseled, and the minister temporarily ordered it to be a spade and pickaxe. The size of the spade pickaxe is the same as that of the pickaxe, and the teeth are twelve small teeth without a blade, but because of the addition of copper, it is heavier than the pickaxe, about nine catties and twelve taels, brighter than the pickaxe, and it is not easy to wear out the palm skin. And copper is more wear-resistant than iron, and the body of iron is stiffer after adding sawdust ash. A self-measured quarrying should be no less than fifteen stones"

"Wonderful!" The head of the Ministry of Engineering and several people in charge are all under Xia Muchao, so as soon as Mei Siyuan finished speaking, Xia Muchao understood the truth.

King Yi also nodded, obviously agreeing with this statement.

Mei Siyuan continued, "Not only can the tools of mining be changed, but also the tools of salt refining. Boiling salt in a large pot is really time-consuming and laborious. Taking the salt field in Lanzhou as an example, there are more than 7,600 conscripts, more than 2,000 soldiers, more than 2,300 salt pots day and night, and no more than 30,000 catties of refined salt at sunrise. The minister thinks that the kang bed can be built in the salt field, the kettle or tripod is placed on the top, the charcoal fire is burned below, a salt kang is placed in 16 tripods, a tripod is injected with 200 catties of water and 300 catties of salt sand, and the mineral salt texture of Fuzhou is used to remove the sand at least 320 catties of salt water at a time, 60 catties of salt separation, and a kang produces 1,000 catties of salt per day. A salt field is placed with 100 kangs, and 3,000 conscripts are conscripted, and 100,000 catties of salt are produced, which is 800 stones. And the husband and soldier have less wrestling, more rest, and the complaints will be reduced. ”

Hearing this, King Yi knew that this method was generally feasible, and immediately raised his head and sighed: "It is indeed twice the result with half the effort to replace the pot with Ding Kang! According to this, a hundred kang fields have an annual output of nearly 200,000 stones, which is enough to meet the needs of the three counties, and it is really a rain and dew!" Looking at Mei Siyuan again, "Please be sure to write down one of the reasons and report them to my father." Master Mei, let's go on. ”

"Boiling salt is to use salt sand as the body, clean water as the medium, simmering as the guide, melting salt in water, and evaporating the brine to precipitate salt. During this period, there are many tricks to pounding grains, taking water, and boiling salt. Most of the servants in the salt works are villagers in Zuo Jinzhou County, and there are few people who have received education, and it is difficult to grasp the middle proportion, which is detrimental to salt production. Therefore, the minister thought that when the servant of the salt field had a certain post, he should do a lot of things, such as the pounder full-time pounding grain, the particle size, the quality of the salt, the boiler is in charge of boiling salt, when to take water, what is the water level, when is the salt? This is the second one. ”

"Wonderful!" Xia Muchao couldn't help but applaud after hearing this!

"This method is very good!" Xia Muren echoed.

"At present, all salt farms use clay pots to store salt, which has a disadvantage: Anxian Mountain is dangerous, the official road is rugged and steep, people and horses are tired of long distances, and there are many accidents. "The minister thinks that the turnover station can be set up in the post road, taking Fuzhou to transport salt to the capital as an example, Fuzhou to Qingzhou has many waterways, during which it can be transported in tanks; Qingzhou to Lanzhou is mountainous, it is advisable to bag and transport, and the road from Lanzhou to the capital is flat and wide, and then transported in tanks. Although it was disassembled and assembled many times during the period, it took some time and effort, but the amount of salt destroyed in the transportation must be reduced, and the benefits outweigh the disadvantages after all. This is the third one. ”

Xia Muren showed a smile on his face, stood up and said to Mei Siyuan, "Lord Mei's concerns are really thorough, this method of changing shipments is very novel, and it sounds very feasible! It seems that Lord Mei has indeed not spent much effort!"

Mei Siyuan bowed and said, "The minister lives in the temple, and the world receives the emperor's favor, so he should share the worries of the court, but I am afraid that I will be shallow in my studies, and it will be difficult to repay the emperor's grace!"

Xia Muchao smiled and said, "Haha, Siyuan, you don't have to be humble. Come on, keep talking!"

"Soldiers are the sharp weapons of the country, and there is a lack of training in salt transportation all year round, and the combat power is not strong. Once a foreign war starts, these salt-transporting soldiers are afraid that they will not be able to attack the city and defend the country. ”

"If you don't send troops to transport salt, how will the salt be transported?" Xia Muren asked.

"Folk darts. Encourage the big dart bureau to make a register of the political secretary, the political secretary to dart, the dart bureau to charge the dart, and the state capital to collect the dart. The dart money is allocated by the household department to the yamen of the state capitals. Mei Siyuan replied, "Many of the transportation capacity is the most popular dart. The dart bureau makes a living by holding darts, and has always been known for its short transportation time and without losing its darts, so that the people's darts are used by the imperial court, then the soldiers can be returned to the barracks for training, and the dart bureau, the salt administration, the soldiers, and the people benefit from each other without any harm! This is the fourth. ”

"Fifth, a new post road. At present, the Anxian salt transport official post is only the line from Fuzhou to Shanzhou, once the salt supply increases, it is really difficult to reach the limit, and no matter the east, south, south, and north, it must pass through this road, and the road will be increased. The minister thought that he could open up a post road to the north and south, and to go north could go out of Dengzhou through Azbo County, and to go south through Muqin County, turn to Wangtahe to Pudu County, and then go south by Pingzhou official road. For details, the minister also asked Mr. Duan Zeqing. ”

"Yes, once the amount of salt produced in Fuzhou increases, an official road is really insufficient, and the official post costs a lot of money, and it takes a long time to recruit and consume a long time, so we must speed up the process", Xia Muchao also felt the pressure for a while, and said to Xia Muren.

"Well, why don't we jointly report this matter to our father tomorrow?" Xia Muren obviously agreed with Xia Muchao's statement.

"That's the best!" Xia Muchao nodded, and then praised Mei Siyuan, "Siyuan, you have to mention this matter, otherwise if you think about it later, I'm afraid it will take a lot of time!"

Xia Muren listened to Mei Siyuan's five theories on salt control, and he was very appreciative in his heart, and couldn't help but appreciate, "I really benefited a lot from listening to Lord Mei's salt control today. This king once recommended Sima Ang to be the secretary of the Anxian salt transportation department, and today I see that Master Mei's strategy is far better than him. With Master Mei sitting in charge of Anxian Salt Transport, the Dahua Salt Crisis will be solved in three years!" After speaking, he walked in front of the Jaw King, and the Jaw King got up and faced each other. "Mu Chao, I'll go back and prepare, tomorrow you and I are in the Department of Internal Affairs, and I will ask my father to play at the time. ”

Xia Muchao smiled, "Very good!"

Xia Muren nodded to Mei Siyuan, and then strode out.

Mei Siyuan saluted, "Congratulations to His Royal Highness King Yi!"

Xia Muchao approached Mei Siyuan, and when Xia Muren walked away, he said softly, "Siyuan, you are full of talents from all over the world, and you will show it today!"