During the dinner, Zhao Wuji pretended to say accidentally: "It's been a few months since Bin'er went to visit. I don't know how he got used to staying in that place in Yancheng these past few months."
Concubine Ding knew that the emperor was beginning to explore the content of the letter, so she nodded to Liu'er, who turned around and walked towards the table aside.
Concubine Ding turned back to Zhao Wuji and said, "I was reporting to the emperor after he had dinner. Bin'er sent two letters from home today, one for me and one for me. Forwarded to the Emperor."
Zhao Wuji seemed a little surprised and said, "Oh? Bin'er has a letter. Please take it and take a look at it."
Concubine Ding took the letter from Liu Er and then handed it to Zhao Wuji: "Your Majesty, please read it."
Zhao Wuji put down the chopsticks in his hand and took the letter. When he saw that Zhao Bin wrote in the letter that he had developed a method of making salt from seawater, Zhao Wuji could not hide his excitement.
The number of salt mines in Daxia is limited, and the amount of salt produced each year is also limited. Therefore, the price of salt on the market is relatively expensive, and ordinary people cannot eat much salt in a year.
Moreover, most of these salt mines were in the hands of aristocratic families. The salt mine business brought them huge income, but the court could only collect a very small salt tax.
If the court had a way to refine salt, it could drive them out of the royal sphere of influence and increase the court's income.
Zhao Wuji continued to read the letter in his hand. Because he already knew that Zhao Bin exchanged salt with the Xianbei people for livestock, Zhao Wuji didn't mind it too much.
Moreover, Zhao Bin distributed the cattle and sheep acquired in exchange to the people, and kept some of the horses for his own use, while the rest were handed over to the court. These horses were enough to form a small cavalry for the court.
But when he saw the end of the letter, Zhao Wuji couldn't help but frown slightly, because Zhao Bin did not hand over the salt training method, but negotiated a deal with him, that is, one pound of salt for one hundred and fifty yuan.
However, after thinking about it for a moment, Zhao Wuji felt that what Zhao Bin said did not make sense. The royal sphere of influence is mainly inland and not close to the sea.
Secondly, most of the officials in the imperial court are members of aristocratic families. This method of practicing salt is afraid that they will enter the palace today and leave the palace tomorrow.
Zhao Wuji put the letter on the table. Concubine Ding Gui looked at Zhao Wuji's changing expressions and said with some confusion: "Your Majesty, what did Bin'er say in the letter? Did he cause trouble for the Emperor again?"
Zhao Wuji looked up at Concubine Ding, straightened his expression and said, "No, Bin'er not only did not cause any trouble, but actually made a great contribution." Zhao Wuji briefly told Concubine Ding the content of the letter.
After listening to Zhao Wuji's narration, Concubine Ding couldn't help but said: "Bin'er is really ignorant. Since he already has a method for practicing salt training, he should submit it to the court. How can he practice salt training privately?"
"You can't blame him for this. He was worried that the method of refining salt would be leaked. This is also true.
I can comply with the conditions he mentioned. The Yan land is bitterly cold, and Bin'er just wants to make more money," Zhao Wuji said with a smile.
"I thanked the Emperor on behalf of Bin'er. By the way, Your Majesty, Bin'er also sent someone to deliver a wooden box. Liu'er went to get the wooden box."
Liu'er placed the wooden box on the table and opened the shackles on it. Inside was a cloth bag filled with fine white salt.
Zhao Wuji looked at the pure white fine salt with excitement and couldn't help laughing loudly: "Hahaha, good, good, good, it is indeed the best fine salt. This good fine salt will definitely sell well in the capital."
On the second day, Zhao Wuji left Qingxin Palace happily. Soon after, several shops in Jingchengfang changed owners and were renovated.
In Ya City, the restaurant rented by the prince was still under renovation. Two people walked directly into the restaurant outside the door. These two people were Zhou Shun and Li Hua who came from Yancheng to deliver a message.
When a young man who looked like a businessman saw the two of them entering, he hurriedly stepped forward and said, "My dear guests, I'm sorry, our store is still under renovation and is temporarily closed. If you want to eat, you can go elsewhere first."
"We're not here to eat. We're here to meet people." Li Hua said, looking at the boy in front of him.
The boy scratched his head and asked, "Who are you two guests looking for?"
At this time, Tian Qi, who was busy on the second floor, heard the conversation below, looked down, and recognized Zhou Shun and Li Hua at a glance, so he said, "Shunzi, why are you here?"
Zhou Shun looked up and saw Tian Qi coming down the stairs. Just as he was about to call Captain Tian, he suddenly thought of something and immediately changed his words: "Brother Qi, the young master asked us to come."
Tian Qi walked down the stairs and said to the boy: Go and do your work.
The boy responded and went to do other things.
"Let's go to the backyard and talk." Tian Qi led the two of them through the lobby to the backyard.
Tian Qi walked to a door and whispered inside: "Miss, there is someone at home."
This room is Xing'er's room, and the title was decided upon by several people after discussion. It is inevitable to meet acquaintances in the capital, so try to avoid calling them names to avoid being overheard and attracting other people's attention.
The door opened slightly, and Myolie walked out. When she saw Zhou Shun and Li Hua, the smile on her face suddenly bloomed. Myolie asked happily: "Why are you here?"
Li Hua whispered: "The prince sent us to deliver a message to the imperial concubine, and then asked us to come find you."
Xing'er gently closed the door, turned around and said, "Let's go to the living room to talk."
After entering the living room and several people sat down, Xing'er said, "Your Majesty, is she okay?"
"Don't worry, Miss Xing'er, everything is fine with the prince. This is the letter that the prince asked us to bring to the girl."
Xing'er took the letter handed over by Li Hua. The beginning of the letter contained some disgusting words of love, which made Xing'er's face turn red.
Then he told me some things about the restaurant. After reading it, Xing'er stuffed the letter back into her sleeve.
"The restaurant has almost been renovated and will be open for business in a few days. However, the mutton for now may have to be purchased in the capital."
"Don't worry, girl, the autumn harvest is now over. There is a large area of open land north of the Yellow River with no crops. The prince has ordered some sheep to be driven to the north bank of the Yellow River.
Moreover, it is going to freeze soon, and the sheep can be transported directly after being slaughtered. "Li Hua replied.
Then Li Hua briefly talked about the people's corvee service.
When she heard that many people who had received cattle and sheep came to do corvée voluntarily, Xing'er couldn't help but sigh: "Your Majesty has really planted good fruits in the hearts of the people."
"Isn't it? You don't know the scene at that time. More than 20,000 people came straight to Yancheng. Everyone thought that someone was going to attack Yancheng.
Later I found out that these people came to help on their own initiative. From ancient times to the present, I have never heard of anyone rushing to do corvee work. That is to say, our prince has this ability. Zhou Shun said with pride.
"Not only that, iron ore was also found in Wei Dutou. The prince now ordered people to build a smelting plant in the northeast of the city to cast farm tools for the people. The prince said it was to improve farmers' production efficiency." Li Hua added.
The few of them chatted for a while, and the next day, the two of them said goodbye and went straight to Yancheng.
