During this period of time, Song Xuan asked Shi Shi to make many pottery specially prepared for refining salt.
These pots are wide and large. One pot of this kind can be worth four or five pots in the past. It is perfect for finally evaporating the water in the brine.
At the same time, several pottery jars with water outlets at the bottom were also made, but because they were relatively large and relatively troublesome to make, only three were made, but they were more than enough to refine the salt needed by the tribe. .
There are also bluestone rods for grinding salt ore, as well as various hammers and chisels. Some of them were also polished in the tribe.
The most critical thing is naturally the filtering equipment. This has also been changed into a large pottery, which is much thicker than the previous bamboo tube. According to Song Xuan's requirements, the top is funnel-shaped and there is an outlet diagonally downwards. The water inlet can directly flow the filtered water into the pottery jar below.
Naturally, the main filtration method is bamboo charcoal. There is not enough cloth in the tribe, so Song Xuan can only use the hair of wild beasts as the preliminary filter. In order to be able to see the impurities inside, most of the hairs used are white. , and after repeated washing, at least it can be guaranteed that there is no other dirt on it.
As long as this set of equipment is placed properly, a lot of manpower can still be saved.
Although there are a lot of equipment, the problem is that it is not that easy to move these things, especially each large pot is 70 or 80 centimeters wide. Although it is a little shallower than the pot for eating, it is still heavy in terms of weight. It's several times heavier.
It was almost impossible to carry it on the shoulders. If two people carried it, it would be difficult to walk in the forest, so Song Xuan could only find a way to have everyone tie it up with animal skins and carry it behind his back.
Fortunately, everyone is relatively strong, so the weighing of several dozen kilograms does not have much impact on the movement, but the speed is just a little slower. This time, apart from basic food, there is not much else to carry. , even for weapons, each person only carries one or two of the most handy ones.
Everyone carries large and small items, and there is really no extra space to put other sundries. Even Song Xuan carries several filter cartridges on his back.
Fortunately, the distance was not too far. In the afternoon, everyone had already arrived in the valley. The first task was not to refine the salt, but to put the jars and jars carried on their bodies into the appropriate positions. So after putting down the equipment, everyone Out looking for rocks.
Whether it is to set up a pot, put a filter bucket, or even the base for grinding rock ore, a lot of big stones are needed. Fortunately, this is in the mountains, and this is a valley. Stones are not uncommon, but this huge stone It's just a little difficult to move.
But if the stone is too small, everyone is worried, especially if it is used to hold pots. Once it collapses or breaks, the pot on top may fall down and be smashed.
However, everyone is still very experienced in handling these stones. In addition to moving them back directly, Teng She's people will also use a very traditional method to crack them directly.
And the concept is quite advanced. We first put a lot of dry firewood around the stone, and then lit a fire and burned it violently, so that the temperature of the stone increased rapidly. When it was almost burned, a basin of cold water was poured over it, and the stone was violently heated. It cracked directly under the alternation of hot and cold.
Fortunately, I had prepared a large amount of firewood before and stacked it under the shed. Now it is completely dry and can be used directly. It is also relatively convenient to get water. You can walk from the small pool to the entrance of the valley. That is a distance of one to two hundred meters.
The small ditch dug last time was not blocked, but showed signs of gradually expanding. The water flowing down from the mountain was obviously larger than at the beginning.
The current depression is already filled with water, and it can be called a pool, but the area is slightly smaller, only about twenty square meters, and the deepest part of the water is less than one meter.
However, with a steady flow of living water flowing in, it is not a problem to satisfy everyone's consumption. It is impossible to use up this pool of water alone.
The two of them carried the big basin to the cliff, and then hung it directly down with a rope. The height of seven or eight meters was not too difficult, but it was a little troublesome, but this could also avoid the two of them from getting upset. Climbing up and down is much easier than this.
Song Xuan originally wanted to solve the water problem at once, but this time there was really no manpower available. At least two people would be needed to carry such a long bamboo, and there were really not enough manpower.
But it’s not particularly troublesome at all. If you do it this time at most, you will definitely be able to make this place better next time.
I was busy until dark, and I didn't move back the stones I walked through, but it was enough to set up a pot and build a few stone platforms to put other things on.
Evaporating water in a pot is, after all, the last step. There is still a lot of time tomorrow to do it slowly. As long as the previous steps are completed, there is no need to worry too much. You will have to free up a few people to evaporate the water. It's just a little slower when it's set up.
This time the division of labor is quite clear. The men are mainly responsible for breaking the stones down and breaking them into smaller stones, and then transport them to the women. The women are responsible for breaking the small stones into smaller pieces and then using bluestones. Grind the rod into a fine powder.
There are three or four people performing each step at the same time, as if an assembly line has been formed. Song Xuan mainly leads two people to dissolve and filter the rock ore that has been ground into powder.
This step is a little more troublesome. After all, you have to pour it back and forth and filter it several times to ensure the quality of the final salt.
Moreover, the pottery jar must be cleaned every once in a while to ensure that the large impurities deposited inside cannot affect the water outlet, otherwise the sedimentation will be of little significance.
This time, Song Xuan also changed the method of dissolution. Last time, he stirred and heated at the same time. This time, he used boiling hot water directly. Although it is a little more troublesome, there is no need to set up a stove on both sides, and one side is filtered and the other side is filtered. Boiling water is actually faster in terms of efficiency.
Most of the time, boiling water can be used directly. Before, it could only guarantee a relatively hot temperature, and it was difficult to wait for it to boil. Now after putting the rock ore powder in, pour a lot of hot water into it first. Then wait for the water to slowly cool down. When it is almost cold, the impurities have basically settled to the bottom. At this time, just release the water directly. Higher temperature will also allow the salt in it to dissolve more fully.
There is no cloth that can be filtered, so we can only use the most primitive sedimentation method. Although it is slower, the effect is still quite good. The first sedimentation can sift out the obvious particles, at least to the naked eye, and the subsequent processing It's basically just slightly turbid salt water.
After many times of adsorption by bamboo charcoal, the salt water will become clearer and clearer. After filtering it four or five times, it can be poured directly into the large pot for evaporation, and then just light a fire and cook it.
Because new brine will be added soon, and if the filtration speed is slower, the two can even reach a delicate balance. A jar of water evaporates here and a jar of water is filtered out there.
However, after all five pots were put on the shelf, the filtration speed could not keep up with the trip. Even if two of them were used to boil water, the water and salt water in the other three large pots were slowly decreasing.
At the end of the day, a layer of white salt can be seen at the bottom of the big pot. Although it is not too thick, you must know that the diameter of the pot is not small. The three pots added up are still four or five kilograms.
Although everyone was a little excited when they saw the salt, Song Xuan did not let them scrape it off because they had to continue refining it later. It was better to put it inside and collect it all at once after the last refining. , although it may be a bit hard to bear in the early stage, but when I think about leaving, I can shave off dozens of kilograms at once, and everyone is vaguely looking forward to it.
At night, several bonfires were raised around the shed, and everyone went to sleep in the wild. Fortunately, there were no traces of wild animals in this valley. After the group of goats were wiped out before, Song Xuan did not find them these two times. A wild beast came over. I don’t know if it was alarmed or something.
Various tools are specially built, so everyone's efficiency has also been improved a lot. Now more than 20 people are working hard, and they can basically extract seven or eight kilograms of salt in a day. Although the quantity is not large, Teng She has the most It only takes about half a catty a day. Even if you include bacon and other things, the average day is just over a catty. This is enough for the tribe to use for six or seven days.
Ever since they learned about the discovery of salt mines in the tribe, everyone started to use salt without the usual strings and knots, and everyone became lavish.
When I was cooking before, I just needed a little salt in the soup. Now the taste is much richer, but it is not without its benefits. At least it will taste more delicious.
In the past, I had no choice but to use it so carefully. After all, it was relatively expensive and everyone felt a little distressed when using it. But now I no longer have this worry.
In addition to daily consumption of food and drink, before the meat was preserved, most people would put a little salt on the surface for a while. Now they will smear it thoroughly, although they will still pick out the dried salt in the end. I reused it, but I did use it several times more than before.
After the salt enters the meat, it is good for the preservation of the meat. At least it will not go bad easily, and when you take it out to eat later, the taste will be better, especially when people like Shi Meng go out, the meat will naturally If it has a salty taste, it will not only make people feel more comfortable when eating it, but also if you are busy, you no longer have to think about using extra salt water to replenish the salt in your body.
In this weather, even if you are chasing and running outside, you still need to ensure that you have enough salt in your body.
