Steel Dynasty - Chapter 436

[Chapter 436 Saltworks]

The sea breeze blew, and the waves hit the white sandy beach, making waves crashing on the shore.

“The salt field is divided into two parts, one is the evaporation pond, and the other is the crystallization pond. Generally speaking, drying salt requires building a beach, cleaning the beach, receiving tides, making brine, measuring brine, crystallizing and collecting salt to return to the pot. Seven sets of processes.” Xiao Ming explained the method of seawater salt drying to Yao Wenyuan in detail.

At this time, the images of the salt-drying method in the technology library kept appearing in Yao Wenyuan’s mind, as if Xiao Ming had experienced every word he said personally.

And he gradually understood what an evaporation pond is, what a crystallization pond is, what a saturated solution is, and how to dissolve coarse salt and continue to extract it.

After describing it in detail, Xiao Ming said to Yao Wenyuan: “Do you understand now?”

Yao Wenyuan nodded, “Back to Your Highness, I understand. This salting method involves first building tidal flats, and then leveling the beach. When the sea tide rises, seawater is introduced into the salt field to produce brine. Then lotus seeds are used to measure the saturation degree of the brine. Generally speaking, the saturation of brine water is 10%. Two lotus seeds are used, one is 50% the size and the other is 50%. 100% size. If 50% lotus seeds raise their heads in brine, they will be 20% to 30% brine. If they float flat on the brine surface, they will be 50% brine. If 100% lotus seeds float obliquely in brine, they will be 70% to 80% brine and float flat on the brine. The surface is 100% brine.

When the brine reaches 100%, clean the mud on the floor of the crystallization pond, smooth it and compact it, put in the brine, and the flowers will crystallize on the same day. After a few days, the salt will be collected and returned to the lump.

” After a moment, Yao Wenyuan continued: “What you get at this time is still coarse salt. The table salt that can be used needs to continue to be dissolved, filtered with charcoal and then crystallized into fine salt.”

Nodding with satisfaction, Xiao Ming said, “Yes, this is the method. , the construction camp will arrive in the next few days, and they will help you build the salt fields. Governor Yang, you must cooperate with the Salt Transportation Department to expand the number of salt workers. The number of salt workers should be expanded to 2,000. If the salt production is hard, there will be more Pay some salary to the salt workers. In addition, salt production is a major matter for the country. You, the Salt Transportation Department, must not neglect your duties and steal. Otherwise, don’t blame me for being ruthless.”

At the end of his speech, Xiao Ming’s tone suddenly became very stern.

Yao Wenyuan and Yang Chengye immediately bowed and said, “I don’t dare to lower my rank.”

“This is the best.” Xiao Ming said lightly. The destruction of an empire often starts from within. In ancient times, peasant uprisings often failed because internal people were eager to enjoy themselves. .

Life in the fiefdom had been better in the past two years, but what he was most worried about was the rise in hedonism and the corruption of officials.

After talking about the salt-drying method, Xiao Ming, Niu Ben and others started to patrol along the coastline on horseback.

The location of the salt field of the Salt Transportation Department already belongs to the border of Dengzhou. Further west is Laizhou. In addition to having a salt field here, the Salt Transportation Department also asked the Salt Transportation Department to go to Laizhou Bay to build three more salt fields.

In modern times, the salt fields of Laizhou Bay are famous throughout the country, and in ancient times Qidi has always been the area with the richest salt production. The salt in this area was once the source of tribute salt. The predecessor Xiao Ming did not pay attention to it. He must now turn the salt industry into a After all, this is a stable source of income. When the industrial volume increases, he will prepare to sell salt to every corner of the Great Yu Kingdom.

Walking along the seaside towards Dengzhou, Xiao Ming vaguely saw a small island on the sea. This small island is the modern Changdao County.

The scope of Dengzhou in Dayu State covers a wide area, and the place where Dengzhou City was established is today’s Penglai, and Changdao County is directly facing Penglai. In addition to Penglai, Dengzhou also includes modern Yantai, Weihai, and Qixia , Haiyang, Rushan and other large areas.

The location of the military port he established was the famous Penglai Military Port of the Ming Dynasty. During the Wanli Period, the Ming Dynasty Navy set out from here to fight fierce battles with Japanese pirates at sea. At the same time, it was also the place where Qi Jiguang trained his troops. After the Second Opium War, he landed The state was required to become a treaty port.

Therefore, when Xiao Ming chose Jiangjun Port here, he did not make the decision based on his head, but based on his own reasons.

Moreover, Dengzhou is in a superior location. Opposite is the Bisha City of Goryeo, which is the modern Dalian. From Dengzhou, the straight-line distance by sea is only 200 miles, and his navy only needs one day to arrive.

Now Goryeo is collaborating with the barbarians, and they have made peace with the Japanese country and sent a large number of soldiers disguised as Japanese pirates to attack the coast. When they take Ryukyu, it is time to pick up the stick and teach them how to behave.

After several days of inspection, Xiao Ming had a detailed understanding of Dengzhou. In the future, Dengzhou would become a prosperous seaport city, which forced him to pay attention to it. Even after the steam locomotive was developed, he would immediately consider starting from Qingzhou. Build a railway line to Dengzhou so that a continuous flow of materials can be transported out by sea.

After returning to Dengzhou and resting for two days, Xiao Ming prepared to return to Qingzhou.

Now that the navy has begun to show its prowess and the north has temporarily stabilized, he finally no longer needs to be anxious all day long. The rest of the things he needs to do are just step-by-step. And he can also be a teacher at Bowen College with peace of mind and demonstrate the knowledge in his technology library. For the students of the academy.

There is no way. Seriously speaking, what he is pursuing now is just military-first politics. All industries are to serve the military, and real private industries have not developed much.

Science other than military technology has also not been expanded. Such development is abnormal. Compared with today’s European civilization, his fiefdom is still an uncivilized area.

However, it is very difficult to change the way of thinking of a nation. Governing a big country is like cooking small dishes. It can only be done tepidly and not impatiently.

“Yang Chengye, I have said everything I should say these days. You, the governor, have a heavy responsibility. Don’t let me down.” Xiao Ming told Yang Chengye before leaving.

Yang Chengye used to think that he belonged to a small frontier official, but now he suddenly became a very important official. He was quite flattered.

He said: “Your Highness, don’t worry, Yang Chengye will do his best.”

Xiao Ming nodded and looked at Ye Qingyun, “I leave the defense of Dengzhou to you, don’t make any mistakes, especially the shore defense of the military port. “

Yes, Your Highness.” Ye Qingyun bowed and responded.

After instructing the two of them, Xiao Ming and Niu Ben led their troops back. This time he wanted to talk to the King of Chu and the King of Wei about the supply points along the coast. After all, he was going to attack Ryukyu, and he couldn’t do it without supplies.

Three days later, the two returned to Qingzhou. This trip lasted half a month, and the weather became colder and colder.

After arriving in Qingzhou, Xiao Ming and Niu Ben separated outside the city, and he went straight back to the palace.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he returned to the dormitory, a very fragrant scene suddenly appeared in front of him.

(End of chapter)