The next day.
Liu Chan led an army of one hundred sons, and his entourages on the left and right were Guan Xing, Zhang Bao, Xiang Chong, Fei Yi, Dong Yun and others.
Wang Lian and the subordinate staff of the Yanfu school captain were waiting in the young master's house early.
"I heard that the young master had cast a curved shaft plow and a barrel cart before, and used them for spring plowing in various places in Yizhou. The officials and the people praised them. Originally, only one acre of land could be cultivated in a day. With the curved shaft plow, three acres of land can be cultivated in a day. "Young master can make such a sharp tool for spring plowing according to ancient books. This time you are so confident about increasing the production of salt wells, but what kind of tools are you forging?"
Wang Lian looked left and right, but he couldn't see anything like a curved shaft plow or a barrel cart.
"You'll know when you get there."
Although Wang Lian had doubts in his heart, everyone set off on horseback, so he had no choice but to follow behind.
Guangdu Salt Well in Shu County is not far from Chengdu.
This Guangdu salt well was dug by the local people when Li Bing was appointed as the warden of Shu County.
For Li Bing, who built the Dujiangyan Irrigation System, digging a salt well is no different from digging a water well. He uses a shovel and a hoe to dig down. The characteristic is that the well head is larger, but the well cannot be dug too deep, so it is called a "large shallow well."
Types of salt include sea salt, pool salt, well salt, rock salt, etc.
Sea salt is mainly distributed in coastal areas, while inland it is edible pool salt.
Well salt is popular in the Bashu region.
There are two main methods of producing salt: boiling and drying.
The former is made by boiling sea water or salt water in salt ponds or salt wells at high temperatures to produce salt. This is the most common production method. The latter relies on sunlight to evaporate salt water into salt, and this sun-made salt does not need to be boiled.
Guangdu salt wells are used for drying, so the cost is very high, it takes a long time, and it occupies a large area.
It is not a simple matter to increase the production of well salt in a short period of time.
But Liu Chan had other ways.
"Secretary, please lead the craftsmen to build these appliances according to the drawings!"
Sure enough, there are tools!
Wang Lian's eyes lit up, and his confidence in Liu Chan's ability to increase well salt production inexplicably increased a lot.
"promise."
Qiao Zhou took the order and left.
"Captain, it will take time to make the equipment. Please show me around the Guangdu Salt Well."
"yes!"
Liu Chan and his entourage looked up and down the Guangdu Salt Well as if they were leading an inspection.
Wang Lian is truly outstanding in business ability and has come up with many ways to increase production.
"Actually, salt wells are dug too shallow nowadays, and the brine in the deep layers is no worse than that in the shallow layers. Unfortunately, there are no tools, and if you take the risk of lowering people down, nine out of ten people will die. If the salt well is dug too deep, there will be poisonous gas, hey~ This is why I told the young master that it is difficult to increase the production of salt wells."
It is definitely good to dig deep salt wells.
By the time of the Qing Dynasty, salt workers of all dynasties had drilled more than 13,000 wells in Shu County, Sichuan. Some wells were as deep as 1,000 meters. Even if the average depth was 300 meters, it was equivalent to drilling through more than 400 Mount Everests.
It’s not that salt wells cannot be dug deep, but that the technology is not yet in place.
As for the poison gas!
It is even more beneficial for salt production in salt wells!
One hundred young masters' troops had already set up a simple camp.
In the main tent, Liu Chan sat on the main seat, and Wang Lian and others sat accordingly. The staff of Liu Chan's Prince's Mansion sat to the left, and the officials of Shu County, Yanfu School Lieutenants, and the powerful Shu County officials who came to curry favor with Liu Chan sat to the right.
"Everyone, you have been working hard today. Let's rest today. We will come back tomorrow to solve the problem of increasing the production of the salt well. Drink cold water first."
After all the running, the sky was getting dark and everyone was sweating profusely.
"Sir, after watching for a day, do you have any plans for tomorrow?"
Wang Lian wiped the sweat off his face. He was very concerned about the work of the Yanfu captain.
"Today I looked up and down the salt well. I already knew the direction. The principal said that it was the right direction to dig the well deeper. Moreover, it was too slow to dry the salt, the sun was not bright enough, or there was a heavy rain. This There will be no harvest from the salt well. This is not possible. We should use the method of boiling salt."
"Sir, although the yield of drying salt is not high, fortunately it does not require too much manpower and material resources. If the method of boiling salt is used, the consumption of firewood will be an astronomical figure. Then the cost of salt mining will increase, which will in turn increase the cost of salt production. The young master’s wish has gone completely wrong.”
"Don't worry, Captain, I already have a strategy in mind!"
Got a strategy?
Wang Lian's eyes lit up. He had been focusing on this issue for several years. Even after exhausting all his energy, he still could not solve this problem. And the young master had only been here for less than a day, so he had a solution?
"Master, please enlighten me!"
"Don't take it seriously."
Liu Chan drank the cold water in one gulp and said with a smile: "The salt well cannot be dug deep. Firstly, it is difficult to bring up the brine. Secondly, there is a lack of tools to drill deeply. Thirdly, after the salt well is drilled deep, there will be poisonous gas. But ?”
Wang Lian nodded heavily.
"Today I ordered the craftsmen to make tools for digging wells and transporting salt brine. The poisonous gas in the salt well, or should be called earth gas, is flammable when exposed to fire."
"Earth energy?"
Wang Lian was stunned. This was his knowledge blind spot.
"It's the earth's energy. It's flammable when exposed to fire. If people smell it for a long time, their lives will be in danger."
The so-called earth gas naturally refers to natural gas.
"There is such a thing..." Wang Lian was shocked and couldn't believe it.
"Captain, wasn't there water in the salt well last month? Could it be due to the local weather?"
Leaking water?
Wang Lian's eyes lit up.
"It seems that there is such a thing. If the earth's energy can really be ignited by fire, then the method of boiling salt can be established!"
Wang Lian stood up, bowed heavily to Liu Chan, and said: "When I heard about the reputation of the young master before, I thought it was exaggerated. Now it seems that the young master's wisdom is really extraordinary, and he is like a god!"
"No need to praise, let's prepare dinner first, then take a rest, and come back tomorrow to show off your talents."
"I obey your orders!"
Everyone had a simple meal and then went to rest.
During this period, some powerful men came forward to curry favor with Liu Chan and sent Mei Ji's maid into Liu Chan's tent.
Although Liu Chan accepted these beauties, he did not sleep with them.
Since ancient times, heroes have struggled with beauties. What if this beauty wants Liu Chan's life?
Accepting Mei Ji is also a way to win the hearts of the rich and powerful in Shu County. In addition, if you have any talents under your command in the future, you can also give Mei Ji as your wife to win people's hearts.
certainly...
If she is really beautiful to a certain extent, after ruling out the suspicion of Mei Ji's assassin, it might not be impossible to bring her into the house.
....
The next day, before dawn, Yanfu School Captain Wang Lian was waiting at the Guangdu Salt Well. When purple light appeared on the horizon, Liu Chan and his party also arrived in front of the Guangdu Salt Well.
Dozens of craftsmen worked overnight, and the tools for digging wells and transporting brine were ready.
A 60-pound drill bit is suspended in the air, and the gravity of the drill bit is used to fall down and smash the rock. Then manpower lifts the drill bit, and the cycle starts again.
At this time, use a mud fan to take out the muddy water containing rock and sand, thus forming a well.
I don’t know how much faster this method would be if someone did it.
An elevated frame is built over the salt well, and a pulley is placed on the frame to rotate the bucket tied to the rope. The rack is divided into two layers, with two people on each layer, using a wheel to extract the brine.
As the brine was taken out, the salt well became deeper and deeper.
"Is there any deep well that has produced earth energy?" Liu Chan asked from the side.
"This way."
Wang Lian led the way.
"This is it."
In front of Liu Chan, there was an unfathomable well that had been abandoned long ago.
Liu Chan stepped forward and smelled it.
Sure enough, there is the smell of natural gas accompanied by methane.
This is a natural fire well!
Liu Chan ordered people to throw bamboo and wood to make fire. After the fire was brought up, they covered the well with a basin, that is, the iron basin for boiling salt was placed over the well to prevent the natural gas from spreading and leaking.
The salt brine in the basin is actually being steamed.
Wang Lian was overjoyed.
"It's just as the young master said!"
Liu Chan was not surprised and said: "When the salt well is dug deeper and deeper, it can be used as a salt well and a fire well. After extracting the brine with a wheel, the brine extracted from the well is introduced to the stove for cooking salt, and is first poured into the salt tank. , and then pour it into the salt pot. The salt boiling stove used has five salt pots, and there is a fan in front of the stove to assist the fire. After the salt is boiled and processed, it is transported out by specialized personnel. "
Liu Chan wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "In this case, can the salt well increase its production?"
Wang Lian nodded heavily, now he had no hesitation!
"Master Qi, I am confident that we can increase production three times, no, five times in a short period of time!"
"good!"
Liu Chan was quite pleased.
"The captain should be the first to contribute to the increase in salt well production!"
If production could be increased fivefold, the income from selling salt would be enough to fund military expenditures.
Even because it is convenient to make salt in Yizhou, it can be resold to Soochow and Cao Wei, just like Shu brocade. This is a huge open source project!
If a trade route can be formed as a result, it will become a long-term business!
"How dare I take credit for this? I only tried my best to increase the production of salt wells."
"There is no need to belittle yourselves. I will keep your contributions in mind!"
The young master is truly a god!
Wang Lian was impressed by Liu Chan's magnanimity and said: "Young Master is benevolent and righteous. Lian is willing to die for you!"
"Captain, please rise."
Liu Chan was in a good mood after conquering another talent.
"Today the salt well has increased its production. It is a big event, a good thing, and a happy event. You all have worked hard for days. Let's have a banquet tonight!"
"Young master is wise!"
"Young master is wise!"
~
As soon as they heard the news of the banquet, all the subordinate officials in Yanfu beamed with joy, and the officials and powerful officials from Shu County congratulated together. For those who didn't know this scene, they thought it was the Emperor of the Han Dynasty who was coming in person!
…
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