After hearing this, Li Tai shook his head and smiled bitterly. He picked up the wine glass again and touched Zhang San, saying: "You are not in the court. You may not understand many things. Although our Tang Dynasty has salt, it does not give salt to the border."
.”
Hearing what Li Tai said, Zhang San was a little confused and didn't know what it meant.
Seemingly seeing that Zhang San still didn't understand, Li Tai continued: "In fact, many people in the court were opposed to the use of troops against the Turks this time, especially the aristocratic family headed by the Zheng family. In the end, it was the emperor and his father who took the lead in the battle.
The Duke and the Marquis pushed through all the opinions and pushed for this to happen.
At present, many salt wells are in the hands of those people, and the Shandong literati group also follows the Zheng family's lead. At this juncture, they wish that the Northern Expedition would stop. How could they provide salt? Besides, the Turks are also closely watching the movement of our army's food and grass.
We will definitely not let the salt reach the border easily."
After listening to Li Tai's narration, Zhang San also understood that his relationship was hindered by aristocratic families inside and intruded by Turks outside. It's no wonder that Li Shimin wanted to eradicate these aristocratic families. They were really a bunch of pests.
Of course, it is wrong to say this. In fact, it is mainly because the interests of the two parties are different. However, in this kind of foreign war, this kind of fight will often cause harm to the dynasty without any benefit.
"Don't worry, the people going to the border this time are all experienced veterans and will handle the matter properly." Zhang San consoled him.
"Oh! I hope so. Now looking at this table full of delicious food, thinking that the border soldiers can only eat jealous cloth to supplement the salt, I am very distressed. If there is any way to make them eat salt, even if it is the most
Even bad salt is good!”
Hearing what Li Tai said, Zhang San didn't know how to comfort him. According to historical development, the Tang Dynasty finally won the war against the Turks. But now that history has advanced, Zhang San did not dare to
I believe in history.
Suddenly remembering what Li Tai said just now, a soldier died after eating mineral salt. Zhang San suddenly had an idea and asked quickly: "I just heard you said that a soldier died after eating mineral salt. Is there a salt mine over there?"
Li Tai didn't know what Zhang San meant by asking, and replied: "Yes, I heard that there are salt mines in the Yanyun area and Yunzhong. Unfortunately, these are of no use. The salt cannot be eaten."
"Who said it can't be eaten? It's just that they didn't extract edible salt." Zhang Sanyi heard that it would be easy to handle if there was a salt mine.
When Li Tai heard this, he was happy at first, and then sighed, thinking that Zhang San was joking, and if it worked, his father would not be so worried.
"Why don't you believe it?" Zhang San asked when he saw Li Tai pouring himself a glass of wine and ignored Zhang San.
"Of course I don't believe it. Mineral salt cannot be eaten. This is a truth that everyone understands. Otherwise, my father would not be so anxious." Li Tai curled his lips and said, feeling that Zhang San was not so smart sometimes.
"That's because you haven't found a way. Do we want to make a bet?" Zhang San said a little competitively when he saw that Li Tai didn't believe it.
Li Tai saw that Zhang San was not joking. Coupled with some of Zhang San's previous deeds, Li Tai seemed to see the light of day. He excitedly grabbed Zhang San's arm and said, "Are you not joking?"
"Betting or not?" Zhang San asked again confidently.
"Bet, you can bet on anything. As long as you can turn mineral salt into edible salt, just say whatever you want." Seeing Zhang San's firm tone, Li Tai was already half convinced.
"Okay, if I really turn table salt into edible salt for you, can you give me a salt mine?" Although Zhang San feels that he is weak now and can't touch this cake, it doesn't mean that he won't be able to in the future.
"Yes, as long as you can solve this problem, what if I give you a salt mine?" Li Tai agreed without hesitation.
"Well, it's not that I don't believe you. Can you really decide this matter?" Zhang San asked with some doubts.
"You are questioning my Highness's ability. Don't worry, I guarantee that I can handle this for you, provided you can turn the mineral salt into edible salt." Li Tai was a little angry when he saw that he was looked down upon by Zhang San.
said.
"It's up to you, but there's a problem. You need to find me some mineral salt first, and I'll teach you how to extract edible salt." Zhang San replied happily.
"Leave this to me." After Li Tai finished speaking, he stopped eating and asked his guards to hurry back and prepare the mineral salt.
Zhang San also asked his servants to prepare the tools for extracting salt. Fortunately, he had many ready-made tools for making wine.
Just when Li Tai was getting impatient with waiting, the guard finally delivered a cart of mineral salt.
"The next step is up to you." Li Tai said expectantly.
"Haha, just keep it in mind and remember to choose a better salt mine for me." Zhang San patted Li Tai on the shoulder and started tinkering with his equipment.
"Xiao Si, let the servants do this. Look at what you've done, you still look like a prince."
Zhang San kept stirring to fully dissolve the mineral salt, while Li Tai was lighting a fire to heat the dissolved mineral salt to crystallize the first salt.
"No, it's important. It's just the two of us." It was the first time Li Tai lit a fire. He was choked by the smoke and coughed constantly, and his face was dirty.
"Okay, you are the prince and you have the final say." Zhang San has said several times to let his servants do it, but Li Tai refused every time, saying that it was a secret and could not be leaked.
In fact, it is simple to say. Mineral salt extraction is nothing more than dissolving the mineral salt first, then heating and cooking it to obtain the first batch of salt.
Then dissolve the salt again, add some charcoal, and then filter it with gauze to remove magnesium and other metal elements and dirt inside.
Finally, you can get edible salt by cooking it. If you want better quality, you need to filter it multiple times.
Li Tai did every step personally and recorded these steps and methods.
"Phew! It's basically OK. Once the water evaporates, the crystallized salt will be edible."
Zhang San will continue to boil the brine filtered with charcoal. At this point, it is basically considered a success.
Li Tai was also full of excitement, flickering the wind with his fan to increase the firepower.
After baskets of salt ore, Zhang San only got a small bowl of salt. Zhang San was very dissatisfied with the salt content of this salt mine.
But Li Tai's eyes were dazzled because the salt turned out to be as white as snow, which was much better than those green salts.
"Is this the salt we refined?" Li Tai couldn't believe it and couldn't help but want to dip some in it to try.
Seeing this, Zhang San quickly stopped him and said, "Wait a minute, let's test this first before eating it."
Although Zhang San knew that the salt should be fine, it was his first time to refine it, and Li Tai was still the king of Wei, so how could he dare to let him try it so easily.
Zhang San originally wanted to find a few dogs and pigs for experimentation, but Li Tai said that it was better to use humans for experiments. Zhang San firmly opposed this, but Li Tai was very tough this time and directly called his personal guards and asked them to try it.
taste.
Zhang San sighed secretly, there really is no human rights in this era. Fortunately, there is no problem with these salts in terms of their condition.
Li Tai waited for his bodyguard to eat the salt and repeatedly observed that there was no discomfort. He was ecstatic and did not expect that it could actually be eaten.
"Xiao San, you have done a great job. I will go to the palace and talk to my father." After Li Tai finished speaking, he picked up the salt he had just refined and hurried to Chang'an with his guards.
"Damn, what the hell is this!" Seeing that Li Tai seemed to be in a hurry to reincarnate, Zhang San cursed angrily, turned around and called his servants over to clean up the mess.