The Qingtang Salt Well near Tongwei produces more than 10,000 kilograms of salt every year, and hundreds of kilograms of salt are produced every day.
Zhang Yue once inspected the Qingtang Salt Well, but found that it was a large, shallow well.
This method of extracting salt is very backward, and the method of digging is very clumsy and crude, and consumes a lot of manpower, material and financial resources.
Such shallow wells do not solve the problem of cementing, and there is no way to obtain brine deeper underground.
Zhang Yue remembered that during the Song Dynasty, Sichuan salt wells produced more than 16 million jins of salt a year. They had begun to abandon the method of collecting such large shallow wells.
Su Shi once wrote an article called "Shu Salt Theory", in which he wrote that "Since Emperor Qingli, Shu first created 'Zhuotong'." Use a round knife to carve a mountain as big as a bucket, and if it is as deep as tens of feet, the salty spring will come from the top.
That is to say, during the Qingli period, Zhuo Tuojing was invented in Sichuan.
As the name of this Zhuotong Well implies, the wellhead is only as big as a bamboo tube, but it can be dug down to a depth of dozens of meters or even hundreds of meters. At that time, not only Su Shi but also Fan Zhen also praised this well.
After Zhang Yue took control of Xizhou, he learned that the Qing and Tang tribes already owned salt wells, and every battle revolved around the salt wells. Zhang Yue immediately looked for salt workers from Sichuan.
Later, Zhang Yue took over several salt wells in Muzheng. After the two parties bargained, Zhang Yue finally gave Muzheng 50 salt a month to settle the matter.
In fact, Zhang Yue didn't like a few salt wells, but what he really wanted was the salt source near these salt wells.
Then Zhang Yue invited experienced salt well craftsmen from Sichuan and Shu to dig wells in Qingtang.
The well builder is an old man in his fifties or sixties, named Xu Ada. He has been digging wells for half his life, and now he is invited to Qingtang.
From Hanzhong, Sichuan to Shaanxi, you have to cross the Qinling Mountains. There are many roads, such as the famous Ziwu Valley Road. Later, it was called the Lychee Road because Yang Guifei wanted to eat lychees.
But if you don’t take this road and go to the Qing and Tang Dynasties, you can take the Qishan Road. This road is more famous because it is well known because Zhuge Wuhou struggled in the second half of his life to go out of Qishan Mountain.
The end point of Qishan Road was Tianshui County, which is today's Qinzhou City.
Zhang Yue sent people to take Xu Ada to Qinzhou, and then asked Peng Jingyi to arrange carriages and horses, and sent soldiers to escort him all the way to Weiyuan Fort.
Zhang Yue also personally went out of the city to greet Xu Ada to show his respect for Xu Ada.
Zhang Yue entertained Xu Ada for a meal, and Xu Ada suddenly lamented the difficulty of obtaining salt in Sichuan.
Xu A Da Dao: "The Dragon Picture of Qi, the salt pool of Shanxi Jieyan, the blue and white salt of Dangxiang, can be eaten after being dried, while the salt of Huaiyang is taken from the sea, and can be turned into salt after being dried. There is only Shu in the world." The most difficult thing to obtain is the salt in the middle. This salt is hidden deep underground. It cannot be obtained without the difficult digging of salt wells and the complicated and hard work of collecting brine."
"However, the officials of the imperial court did not think about how easy it is to turn sea salt into salt, and how difficult it is for the people in Shu to obtain salt. They levied excessive taxes on salt wells without understanding the suffering of the people. This is what the old man cannot bear, and the old man's words It’s insignificant, but what Long Tu says can be heard in heaven, so please take pity on me, the people of Sichuan, Long Tu!”
After Xu Ada finished speaking, Wang Hou, Huang Haoyi and others who were accompanying the banquet were all unhappy.
We asked you to come to Qingtang from Sichuan to dig the salt well here, but what are you doing with this? Is it necessary for us to disengage our officials for this matter of yours?
Besides, we have no control over matters in Shuzhong now.
Zhang Yue signaled his men not to say anything more, and then said: "Old man, Zhang has known the disadvantages of Shu salt for a long time. It is difficult to buy official salt and difficult to sell private salt. Therefore, the people have been eating too little for a long time, so that there are white-haired teenagers everywhere. ."
"If the ban on digging wells and salt can be abolished and benefit the people, this will be a good thing!"
Xu Ada said gratefully after hearing this: "Long Tu is interested."
Zhang Yue appointed Huang Haoyi to be responsible for the salt well. The next day, Huang Haoyi and Xu Ada inspected the Weiyuan salt well.
The two were walking and chatting together, and Huang Haoyi asked: "The water from the well is shallow and salty, but why is it so shallow and salty?"
Xu Adao: "In the universe, the light ones mostly live at the top, and the turbid ones mostly live at the bottom. The water is still light, so it is above the salt. Just as the mountains are higher than the rivers, and the rivers are higher than the seas, so the water of the rivers is watery, and the water of the sea is salty. ."
Huang Haoyi nodded abruptly.
Xu Ada looked at the salt wells dug by the Tibetan tribes in the Qing Dynasty and shook his head and said: "Look, these are shallow wells, only a few feet deep. Even if they go down more than ten feet, they are mostly filled with salt. If you really want to dig a salt well, you must Above thirty feet, salt will come out.”
Huang Haoyi thought about Xu Ada's words and suddenly said: "It is true. The deeper you dig, the saltier the brine you get."
Xu Ada grabbed a handful of newly produced salt water from the salt well, nodded and praised: "Good salt! If we can produce salt on a large scale, we can still travel to Sichuan and Shu!"
Huang Haoyi gave a high-five and said: "Yes, Sichuan and Sichuan are short of salt. If the surplus salt from Weiyuan can be marketed to Sichuan and Shu, this is also a way to make money! Then why are you waiting to dig a salt well immediately!"
Xu Adaodao: "No rush! Choose the salt vein first! If you don't choose the salt vein well, everything will be in vain."
Immediately Xu Ada and Huang Haoyi circled in the mountains, and finally came to a tunnel: "It's good here. There are three oxen facing the horse ridge here. If you don't leave the noble man, you can get out of the salt well."
Huang Haoyi slapped his legs and laughed and said: "We are all in the Tibetan tribe. How can there be any noble people? It must be Yanjing."
A few days later, Zhang Yue transferred more than a hundred kitchen workers and well craftsmen from the city.
Xu Ada first selected the source of salt and ordered people to use an iron awl to dig a well. When the well was as big as a bowl, he used a hard bamboo hollowed out in the middle to tie it with iron and then drove it in with an iron awl.
It will take several days of hard work during this period, until the hard bamboo tube is penetrated twenty or thirty feet, which is the big eye.
The function of the big eyes is to isolate shallow water.
Then a hard pole is used to dig deep into the bamboo tube. This time, a special round file is used, which has a straight blade. The round file is lifted high with the help of more than a dozen saltworkers. Fall hard again.
Use the gravity and impact force of the round file to break the rock at the bottom of the well, and continue to drill down for another twenty or thirty feet. This is the small eye.
When reaching here, the barrel maker used a special salt truck to draw brine from the well.
Zhang Yue came here for several inspections. Because the salt well was close to Muzheng's territory, Zhang Yue ordered a hundred Tibetan troops to guard it and built a beacon tower.
By the time the brine was pumped out, the beacon tower had been repaired, and straw sheds had been built above several Zhuotong wells.
Xu Ada, Huang Haoyi and others were all smiling. Xu Ada personally brought out a bowl of freshly made brine. Zhang Yue took a sip and found it very salty.
It is indeed much better than the brine produced in shallow wells.
Xu Ada reported to Zhang Yue: "Look, Long Tu, one bucket of brine from this well can produce more than three bowls of salt, while the salt produced from a shallow well cannot even produce one bowl!"
Zhang Yuexi held the opponent's hand like a dead tree and said, "Thanks to you, old man!"
After actually seeing this Zhuo Tsutsui, Zhang Yue sincerely lamented the hard work and greatness carried by the working people of this era.
Zhang Yue finished praising Xu Ada, but he saw Huang Haoyi standing behind him and winking, vaguely hinting to Zhang Yue that his contribution was also quite great, so why don't you praise me a few words.
Seeing this scene, Zhang Yue couldn't help but laugh.
As the saying goes, if I have a salt well in my hand, I have the world.
Zhang Yue continued to call in salt workers from Sichuan and Sichuan. Nowadays, Zhuotong wells are constantly being dug on the mountain, and wooden shacks like watchtowers are increasing continuously. There are also rows of thatched houses where salt workers live along the hillside from the river. Build it up.
Everywhere you can see hangers sweating profusely while twisting the ramshackle carts, throwing away their arms to spin the ramshackles. Sweat flows from their faces and necks to their backs and arms, while the hand lifters are carrying hundreds of kilograms of weight. Salt buckets line between the well room and the kitchen room.
In the new salt pot houses constantly being built at the foot of the mountain, large salt pots are set up, and firewood is piled in by hand. Hundreds of salt stoves are burning with green smoke all day long, floating on the Bird and Rat Mountain, as if covered by heavy fog. The entire mountain range.
Seeing this scene, Zhang Yue felt sincerely.
The salt of the Qing and Tang Dynasties was called Zhang salt in ancient times. It was recorded as early as the pre-Qin period. Because it was produced in the Rong tribe, Zhou Li called it Rong salt. Because of the sweetness of the salt, it was also called malt salt.
Later, this place fell into Tubo, and Zhangyan was abandoned. Now the scene of boiling salt has reappeared in the Han Dynasty.
Zhang Yue praised Huang Haoyi very well, saying that the other party had indeed made a great contribution in supervising salt this time. In addition to Huang Haoyi and Peng Jingyi, there was also Lu Guang drafting documents beside Zhang Yue.
Zhang Yue and Lu Dafang had an old relationship, Han Jiang lost power, and after Lu Dafang was demoted, Lu Guang followed Zhang Yue.
Lu Guang had a keen eye and wrote well, so Zhang Yue entrusted him with the document.
This person is also very hard-working and keeps the documents in order.
Zhang Yue saw that this person could be used, so he entrusted him with some accounting matters, and he still did a good job.
Sometimes, in order to encourage farmers to grow mulberry trees, Zhang Yue would often go to the fields in person, reclaim wasteland and build water canals with farm laborers and soldiers. After finishing the work, he would chat with the soldiers.
At the same time, in view of the soil erosion in the lower reaches of the Weishui River, Zhang Yue and his soldiers also planted trees along the Weishui River Valley.
Zhang Yue did many things personally. Seeing that even the governor of the state went to the fields to farm, everyone had nothing to say, but they all worked hard.
The entire Weiyuan Fort is a prosperous scene.
Time has also arrived in August, and Qingtang has officially entered autumn.
Military news also continued to come from the Tongyuan Army. It turned out that Liang Yi was unwilling to accept the defeat of Tiandu Mountain and decided to rebuild the Tiandu Military Supervision Department and gathered troops at Nanmou meeting point, preparing to take advantage of the Song Dynasty's new base here. When the foothold was not stable, he recaptured Lanzhou and Huizhou, and then attacked Tongyuan Army directly.
After hearing the news, Guo Kui immediately reported the matter to Shuguan's family and asked all parties in Shaanxi to send elite troops to Qinfeng Road.
Guo Kui personally led 5,000 troops to station in Gangu City, and sent Xiang Bao, deputy general manager of troops and horses, to lead another 3,000 troops to station in Tongwei.
At the same time, Gao Zunyu and the newly appointed Qinfeng Road Economic and Strategy Secretary Zuoma accepted Li Xian and stationed 3,000 troops in Dingxi City, while Wang Shao himself and General Wang Junwan led 5,000 troops to station in Tongyuan Army.
Even Zhang Yue, who was in Weiyuan Castle, could feel the tension of a war about to break out.
Liang Yi, the Prime Minister of Xixia, came with a large army. There will be a big battle when the time comes.
At this time, the negotiation between Zhang Yue and Mu Zheng broke down. After learning that Xixia had sent troops to Lan Hui, Mu Zheng contacted the tribes in Xihe and other states to prepare to attack Weiyuan and Qingping Second Fort.
It has to be said that Mu Zheng grasped the timing very well.
