The motorcade entered Yancheng and soon drove into the Wangfu Courtyard prepared in advance under the escort of escorts. All the personnel transporting the motorcade were arranged to the kitchen area of the Wangfu to wait for meals. There are several water jars in the courtyard, supporting more than ten large pots, and a few simple nets made of gauze and other materials. The production of sea salt is actually mainly about those steps. First, the seawater is dried to produce coarse salt, and then the coarse salt is dissolved in clean water, and then the impurities are filtered out with a filter, and then evaporated again to get the final edible salt. If you just take If you come to exchange cattle and sheep with the Jie people, this kind of salt is enough, but if you want to eat it yourself, you still have to use chemical methods to separate impurities such as magnesium chloride and potassium chloride.
As soon as Xing'er, Ling'er and Cui'er heard that the motorcade was back, they also hurriedly came from the palace. Under Zhao Bin's arrangement, after careful investigation, twenty security guards who were confirmed to be trustworthy were brought to the other courtyard. The two team leaders led by them were named Wang Dayong and Tian Qi. At present, the method of making salt still needs to be kept strictly confidential. As for when it will be made public in the future so that more people in Daxia can afford cheap salt, this still depends on the timing. Zhao Bin asked Xing'er to get a pen and paper and write down the steps and process of making salt one by one. Then Zhao Bin began to teach the twenty guards how to make fine salt. Due to the simplicity of the method, the twenty guards quickly learned how to make fine salt.
"Brothers, I have handed over this method of making salt to you. I hope you all understand that this method can not only make people rich, but it is also a life-killing knife. Therefore, for the sake of confidentiality, we will not use this method for the next two months. No one can leave this courtyard until we get a large number of cattle and sheep from the barbarians. At that time, our palace will have meat to eat every day, and everyone's salary will be doubled." Zhao Bin faced everyone said.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, if anyone dares to leak the method of making salt privately, I, Wang Dayong, will be the first to be widowed." Wang Dayong said immediately.
"Okay, write down your home address later, and I will have someone send money to each family member for three months' salary to ensure that they can buy and sell food and buy clothes before winter comes."
Twenty men immediately knelt down on one knee and said in unison: "Thank you, Your Majesty."
"I will set another rule for everyone. From now on, I will visit you often. You don't need to kneel down when you see me in the future. From now on, everyone is your brother. Do you understand?"
"I understand"
"Okay, let's start practicing salt." After Zhao Bin said this, everyone began to gradually get busy according to the method just now. Zhao Bin paced back and forth, correcting mistakes from time to time. After busying for a while and seeing that everyone was getting more proficient, Zhao Bin took Xiao Chu, Wang Wu and the others away, leaving Xing'er alone to stare at them.
Zhao Bin returned to the palace and went straight to the courtyard of the dining room. There were four or five tables in the dining room. Thirty people were devouring food around the table. The wind on the seaside was strong and the sun was poisonous, making everyone's face red and black from the sun. When everyone saw Zhao Bin walking in, they hurriedly got up from the table and knelt down.
Zhao Bin hurriedly signaled that everyone did not need to be polite today, and then found a place to sit down together. He had been busy all day and had not eaten a bite. He was really hungry now. When he sat down, the dozen or so guards did not feel that he was hungry. What, when they escorted King Yan to Yancheng, everyone was eating and drinking together in the outdoors, but the twenty or so workers were immediately frightened, and no one dared to move their chopsticks. Zhao Bin then said: "Don't be cautious, everyone. There are not so many rules in my palace. If you don't believe me, ask them if they eat with me on weekdays. Let's continue eating. Lao Wu, go get some jars of wine." , reward brothers. It is true that drinking makes people bold. After drinking a few bowls of wine, everyone began to become bolder. Zhao Bin told Zhao Bin how they opened up wasteland on the beach, how they cultivated salt fields, and how they picked up seafood. One of them, a lean man in his thirties, happily gestured: "Your Majesty, I picked up such a big prawn for you on the beach. I, Lao Zhang, have seen small shrimps in the river, but I have never seen such big shrimps. They look quite scary. Mr. Xu said that the prince likes to eat this kind of prawns, so I will catch them for you. Just put it on the carriage.
"Okay, thank you for your hard work. I will go and see how many prawns you caught soon." Zhao Bin also responded with a smile. While everyone was chatting happily, Chunxi walked in with a plate of copper coins. Zhao Bin stood up and said : "Brothers who are coming back first today, I will pay you your wages for this month first. After dinner, if you want to go home, you can go home and see your family, and take the money home with you. If you don't go home, Yes, you can also go to the barracks to rest with the brothers in the escort team, and report back to the palace tomorrow morning. You will not wait if you are late. But I want to make one thing clear. This matter is confidential and cannot be told to anyone. There are not many errands to make money. If you go out, you will have no chance." The reason why Zhao Bin said so simply was not because he trusted these workers, but because of the method of drying the salt. There was nothing to keep secret. The focus was on the method of purifying the fine salt in the later stage.
Everyone also promised one by one that they would never tell anyone, not even their own mother-in-law.
"Okay, I have other things to do, so I won't accompany you anymore, so I won't drink any more wine, so as not to cause trouble. When you come back next time, I will take care of it."
After Zhao Bin left, everyone stopped eating and left the palace in twos and threes and went back to their homes. The lean man named Zhang did not leave, saying that he wanted to go back to the barracks with the escort. "What? Lao Zhang, why don't you go home?" a guard asked. "I don't have anyone at home anymore, and I feel empty when I go back alone. I have someone to talk to when I go back to the barracks with you." The lean man replied. These days, he eats and sleeps with the guards every day, and has become very familiar with them. He often jokes with everyone when nothing happens.
Zhao Bin left the dining room and returned to the other courtyard where he practiced salt training. At this time, he just caught up with the first batch of fine salt being taken out of the pot. Zhao Bin looked at the fine salt that had just been sorted out, dipped a little of it with his finger, and put it in. I took it into my mouth and tasted it. Although the taste was not as pure as the salt of later generations, it was basically the same.
Wang Dayong came forward and asked, "How are you doing, Your Majesty? Is it delicious?"
Zhao Bin almost laughed at his words, "It's delicious, try it all," Zhao Bin said.
Ling'er also reached out and dipped a little bit into his mouth, then smashed his mouth and said: "Well, it is indeed delicious. It is more delicate than the salt eaten in the palace, and the salt eaten in the palace is slightly bitter."
When everyone heard that it was more delicious than the salt in the palace, they couldn't help but reach out and taste it. One of the guards even pinched a handful and put it directly into his mouth. He must have been choked by it, with a weird look on his face. His expression made everyone burst into laughter.
Tian Qi stepped forward and said, "My lord, if you cook it this way, the charcoal won't be enough to burn it."
"Well, please estimate how much firewood is needed every day. Then tell Chunxi and ask Chunxi to find more firewood dealers and ask them to deliver rations of firewood every day. In addition, the salt must be stored dry." Zhao Bin said.
"It's the prince." Tian Qi
Zhao Bin didn't stay long and watched the salt practitioners for a while before returning to the palace.
Returning to the palace, Zhao Bin was thinking about the next step. Now that the salt was made, the next step was to find a buyer. There were some small Hu tribes around Yancheng that stayed from the early days. This tribe would occasionally exchange some cattle and sheep for salt. Some food, salt, cloth and other things, but after all, the tribe is too small and there are not many livestock. The biggest buyers are the Jie tribe and the Xiongnu tribe on the grasslands, as well as the Xiliao and Xianbei tribes in the northeast. The Jie tribe and Daxia have always been at odds with each other, making it difficult to establish trade for a period of time. Let’s start with Xianbei and Xiliao. There are no pass barriers in the Northeast, and it is also a good place for transporting cattle, sheep, horses and other livestock.
