The official below was stunned for a moment when he heard the word "refining", and then nodded and said: "Yes, these are seawater introduced into the salt fields, and the seawater is evaporated and concentrated using sunlight and wind to reach saturation. After the salt naturally precipitates, the salt particles are taken out.
The amount of salt produced is about the same every year, but now due to climate reasons, it is basically impossible to produce much salt. When winter comes, there will be no salt produced and we have to wait until next year."
Hua Yanxi nodded, she had already heard about this.
When using concentrated seawater to extract salt, you can only rely on the weather. If the weather is hot, the food production will be higher. If the weather is cold, the evaporation will be slow, and the food production will naturally be slower.
In addition, there are only a few salt-producing places in the country, and a lot of money is spent on manpower and material resources every year, so naturally there are rare things to live in.
"Didn't you say you thought of a way to increase salt and grain production? Is it possible that you could also change the weather?" Ye Juechen asked.
Hua Yanxi didn't answer, but just said: "Let's go to the salt field to check the situation first."
The group walked for more than an hour and arrived at the salt field. From a distance, they saw layers of white crystals on the shore. These were grains of salt.
The method is also relatively old. It is nothing more than digging a deep pool, scooping seawater in, waiting for the seawater to evaporate, and then continuing to scoop water until a thick layer of salt rocks condenses before ordering people to take it out and bag it.
This is the most labor-saving method, but it is too slow.
Hua Yanxi looked at Ye Yibai: "Didn't you say that you are very familiar with Xishan? Then tell me what you know."
Ye Yibai glanced at Hua Yanxi and began to tell her about the topography and trend of Xishan Mountain, as well as some things that even the local officials didn't know. Everyone present was stunned.
When Ye Juechen came here, he naturally sent someone to inquire beforehand. When he heard Ye Yibai's words, he couldn't help but ask: "How do you know that people will die here in the Xishan Salt Farm?"
This is secretly blocked.
After all, if the news spreads and people die in the place where salt is made, it is not good news for sales.
Ye Yibai tilted his head and looked at him: "If you don't want others to know, you can't do anything except yourself?"
"If you don't know how to use idioms, don't use them randomly. Those people died in strange ways, and there were no abnormalities during their lives. Who would have known that they would suddenly be poisoned."
Hua Yanxi said: "It's not strange."
"Um?"
Hua Yanxi said: "These salts are all coarse salt. Because of the high price, ordinary people only buy them and eat a little bit. It is naturally harmless to the body. But the workers here naturally have no worries about using salt. These
Eating too much unextracted coarse salt will naturally cause mineral poisoning.”
The local management immediately nodded: "What the Fifth Princess said is that we also suspected this was the reason later, so we strictly prohibited the workers here from eating more of these salts, and the number of deaths later will not be that many."
Hua Yanxi said: "This is not a long-term solution. The people are in trouble because they think salt is expensive. If the production increases next year and everyone can afford it, major accidents will still occur."
"Why will the output be large next year? Do you know the weather will be good next year?" Ye Juechen frowned.
"It is not difficult to increase salt production, but we have to start refining and extract fine salt from coarse salt." As she said, Hua Yanxi paused and picked up a salt block. The fine salt is not such large particles, but very small.
The delicate kind has higher salt content and is lighter. Not only is it harmless to the human body, but it can also nourish the body if you eat more of it."
How to extract it?
Everyone began to have questions in their minds.
Hua Yanxi glanced at the salt farm: "This can be roughly used as a place to collect coarse salt. The refining should be done in the factory."
"As for how to increase production, it's simple. Just build a big pot with a deep mouth, boil the brine from the beach or salt wells, and add solid matter to crystallize it into salt."
"Boil it with water? How long does it take to boil it? The effect is too slow, isn't it?" The person who specializes in making salt here said with some disapproval.
If you burn the waste wood, the cost of burning it will be higher.
"Of course not all sea water can be boiled. You need a salt well with high salt content. I will teach you how to identify it. In the future, whether you use boiling or boiling, you can save a lot of time."
Hearing this, everyone nodded.
What made them even more excited was that the fifth princess said that the salt could be purified to remove impurities.
In fact, they also know that the salt is not very fast, and there will be sand in it, but it is impossible to pick it out, so it has always been sold like this.
On the way back, Hua Yanxi was telling them about the benefits and edible value of fine salt, and everyone was exclaimed in surprise.
I never thought these salts have so many benefits.
Originally, the journey of more than an hour felt a bit boring, but because of her explanation, the journey did not seem so long.
When they returned to the factory, Hua Yanxi ordered someone to find a salt stone, fetch a basin of water, and light a fire pot.
When everyone heard her instructions, they felt puzzled as to what this had to do with refining fine salt.
Hua Yanxi did not let many people watch, leaving only Ye Juechen, Ye Yibai, and two management officials.
The five of them gathered together in a small kitchen.
Hua Yanxi suddenly threw the salt block into the water and quickly crushed it with a spoon.
Everyone was stunned when they saw the salt block melting into the water.
"Fifth Princess, what are you doing? This salt melts when it enters the water. Isn't this a waste?" the official suddenly said with heartache.
Just such a big piece is worth a lot of money.
Hua Yanxi didn't say anything, she just found another piece of fine gauze and poured the water into another basin through the cloth.
After filtering it several times, the water was poured into the pot.
As the fire burned, the water kept rolling, and the water became less and less.
On the side, the official said with some heartache: "Fifth Princess, why are you bothering? We know that the method of boiling seawater to extract salt you mentioned is effective, and there is no need for you to use solidified salt blocks to prove that you are right.
Well, this, isn’t this putting the cart before the horse?”
It has already become a block of salt, melted into water, and then cooked like this, isn't it unnecessary?
Ye Yibai shook his head and stared at the pot: "This is different. This is removing impurities. When the water dries, it will be clean fine salt, right?"
Hua Yanxi nodded: "Yes, it's not just that, because there are many substances in the salt block, and people will feel uncomfortable if they eat too much. After high temperature, those substances can be oxidized and digested."
What is oxidation and what is digestion? These people seemed to understand but did not understand, and they did not know what to ask. They could only stare at the water that had gradually bottomed out with several pairs of eyes.
Soon, the entire pot was burned dry, all the water was evaporated, and only a layer of snow-white particles remained at the bottom of the pot.