The development of beach salt fields outside the city went very smoothly.
There are many saline-alkali lands in Huguang. This is mainly due to the brine infection from underground salt mines, which destroys the soil on the ground and makes it difficult for plants to grow. Naturally, it is impossible to grow crops. These lands can be used with a little modification.
It’s just that many methods need to be used to remove and preserve the brine.
Especially if the brine is not stored well in the middle and late stages of drying, all the efforts will be wasted when it rains and needs to be dried again. This requires diverting the brine to a covered place before it rains and releasing it again after the weather clears.
show.
"The salt brine that has been exposed to the sun for more than five or six days must be kept well, and there must be a brine preservation area as a buffer between every two salt flats."
Zhu Hao is like a professional engineer. When building salt flats outside the city, he will personally come forward and guide step by step.
…
…
June fourteenth.
The first batch of salt extracted from bitter brine outside the city was successfully dried.
The courtyard already has experience in drying salt, and with the good weather, the salt came out very quickly.
When Zhu Niang saw the white salt crystals at the bottom of the salt pond, she was overjoyed.
"This...is it really made from Yanwozi's brine?"
After tasting it, Aunt Li's eyes widened with disbelief on her face.
Zhu Hao smiled and said: "Auntie, this is nothing. If we were at the seaside, we would guard the sea and provide braised food. That would be an inexhaustible supply. But now we are in Huguang, inland... But
That's fine. Who would have thought that we use bitter brine to make salt? No one checked."
"Quick, pick up the salt."
People all over the courtyard were busy.
Even the youngest Zhu Ting helped hold up the sack even though she had little strength.
The difference from before is that this time I bought a few donkeys. The donkeys are mainly used for grinding, grinding the salt crystals, and then sealing them in bags.
"Mom, when we have more money, we will stop drying salt in this yard. The place is not big, and we have to transport the brine into the city when we buy it. It is easy to be stopped by officials for questioning. After we return a few batches of salt, we will return the yard to the house.
Set it up so no one can discover the secret of sun-dried salt."
"By the way, mother, in a few days we will transport salt to Dongzhu Su. For the first time, mother has to come forward in person. Whether it is Dongzhu Su, the Zhu family or those with ulterior motives, they will all pay attention to what method we use to make it.
Salt, we must keep the secret."
The family worked until late at night to collect all the salt.
For drying salt, as long as there is no bad weather, you can continue drying it after harvesting one batch and waiting for the next batch of brine to be delivered.
Continuously.
June sixteenth.
Two more batches of salt were dried outside the city. Unfortunately, one salt flat failed to control the water flow and water was accidentally poured into the freshly dried salt, thus delaying the shipment. The rest of the salt flats produced salt smoothly.
After putting the salt away, Zhu Niang took Yu San and others to Hanshui overnight.
The next morning, Zhu Niang brought people back from outside the city. When she got home, she mysteriously called Aunt Li and Zhu Hao and took out three silver ingots worth ten liang and one ingot from the bag she carried with her.
"Madam, this is..."
Aunt Li is not sure.
Zhu Niang said happily: "It's all earned."
"oops."
Aunt Li danced with excitement when she heard this, "The two hundred taels I borrowed didn't cost much, and with these... it's enough to pay back Boss Su."
The courtyard suddenly became alive.
Aunt Li began to look forward to it again: "If by the end of the month, two or three more batches of salt are delivered... I guess there will still be an income of eighty or ninety taels of silver..."
Zhu Hao asked: "Mom, it seems that the official salt in our hand has not been transferred out yet... How can we get eighty taels of silver?"
"Um."
Zhu Niang smiled and nodded.
Aunt Li asked in confusion: "What salt? Didn't they all be given to Dongzhu Su?"
Zhu Niang explained: "What Xiaohao is talking about is that we have Yan Yin's official salt in our hands, which is a full twenty Yin, eight thousand kilograms. One kilogram is paid for ten cents. If it is put on the market, it can be sold for ten kilograms."
Sixty-seven articles..."
Aunt Li was stunned: "There are so many more?"
I thought that a net profit of thirty taels at a time was already an exaggerated figure, but I didn't expect that the eight thousand kilograms of "raw salt" that Su Xigui originally gave me had not yet been sold.
"Mom, is there any way to contact the merchants going south? I hope we can sell this batch of salt ourselves, but it may be too late... At the moment, we can't even sell ten kilograms of salt a day."
Zhu Hao understands that currently, all parties are suppressing him, various rumors are flying all over the sky, and few customers come to his door, so making money through retail is not reliable.
We can only resell large quantities of official salt.
Zhu Niang shook her head: "I asked people on the river, and they said that the boundary between Jiangxi, Gansu and Huguang is not peaceful recently. The chieftains in the south of Huguang are causing trouble again, and there are bandits in the mountains of Jiangxi and Gansu. If you want to produce salt, it is best to go there
Go north."
"Mom, if you go north, the ground won't be right. We didn't do salt trading before, so we don't know much about the market. But now that we want to trade salt, we must understand the market. In fact, the less peaceful the ground is, the harder it is for traders.
The greater the opportunity, the more we can sell it at a fair price, we won’t lose money.”
Zhu Hao noticed Zhu Niang's avoidance of doing business.
She used to be a small business hawker engaged in retail, and now she was suddenly asked to be the "salt owl" on the ground in Huguang. How could she adapt to this change all of a sudden?
When there is a problem, Zhu Niang first wants to avoid it, rather than face it.
"But how can we resell this batch of salt?"
Zhu Niang is still in trouble.
Zhu Hao smiled and said: "In Anlu, the official salt trade has been monopolized, but not in the provincial capital. Even if Huangfantai is strong, it is impossible to capture all the benefits. There is a lot of room for maneuver.
, we can send people to the provincial capital to inquire about information and contact people there to get the goods..."
"provincial capital?"
Zhu Niang retreated again.
Zhu Hao understood that Zhu Niang was unwilling to leave Anlu. As a wise woman, she was not mentally prepared to become a big businessman. She was more of a wealthy person who was satisfied with herself as long as she could keep the property left by her husband.
"Mom, you don't have to go in person, just let someone go. Why don't you let Yu San take the goods? Yu San seems to be a smart person, so he should be able to handle this kind of thing."
Zhu Hao made suggestions.
…
…
Zhu Family Manor.
In recent times, Zhu Jiashi has not interfered with Zhu Niang's business affairs.
Zhu Wanjian asked someone to keep an eye on him at all times. Although the rice shop was still open, only a handful of people actually went in to buy salt and grain. Zhu Wanjian had calculated that it would be difficult to earn even forty taels with this posture, let alone forty taels.
At this time, Zhu Jia was meeting with Lin Baihu, the Jin Yiwei who had just returned to the capital and rushed back to Anlu without stopping.
"...Previously, a minister cited Song Renzong's precedent of keeping the clan's sons in the palace, and submitted a petition to your majesty to select talented and virtuous members of the royal family to enter the palace to study. When the Queen Mother learned about it, she became furious and strictly ordered all clan members not to publicize this matter.
The Anlu lineage can be said to be the target of public criticism.
"The Empress Dowager called for questioning and specifically mentioned that since Prince Xing's son was born, the inside story of Prince Xing's palace has never been reported to the public. She blamed Zhu Qianhu for his incompetence in doing things."
After Lin Baihu finished speaking, he handed a receipt to Zhu Jiashi.
The receipt was signed by Zhu Wanhong, Zhu's eldest son, indicating that the money given by the Zhu family had been accepted by him.
But Zhu Jia knew that even if the money reached the capital now, it would probably not fall into the hands of his son, but would be swallowed up by the moths from Jinyiwei and even Dongchang. Zhu Wanhong did not have the guts not to sign the receipt.
"Then Lin Baihu, you came here this time on important errands?"
Zhu Jia felt that Lin Baihu's visitor this time was not good.
Lin Baihu said: "I would like to meet Zhu Qianhu and talk to him in detail." This is because he does not want to tell too many secrets to Zhu Jia, but wants to talk to Zhu Mingshan who has been ordered to move to Anlu to monitor Prince Xing's palace nearby.
plot.
Zhu Jiashi shook his head: "My husband is bedridden. He is often unable to speak. He needs someone to take care of him, so it may be difficult to deal with it."
Since Zhu Mingshan fell from a horse last year and injured the back of his head and spine, he is now only half alive. Sometimes he is very clear-headed, but has no ability to express himself. The Zhu family relies on Zhu Mingshan's official position and his good relationship with the royal family to gain a foothold in Anlu.
.
Zhu Jia knew very well that it was impossible for the Zhu family to move back to the capital. The best thing was to maintain the status quo. The worst thing was that Emperor Zhengde had no heirs and Prince Xing ascended the throne. Then the Zhu family would be in jeopardy.
"That's it... then, old lady, I have a secret matter, it doesn't hurt to tell you."
Lin Baihu pondered for a moment, and his expression became serious, "Previously, Jin Yiwei had arranged for six agents to sneak into Prince Xing's Mansion. However, they were discovered and four of them were kicked out. The remaining two have no trace until now. They are probably gone.
Silenced."
Zhu Jia was shocked: "Prince Xing's Mansion actually dared to include people from the imperial court..."
"There is no evidence, and neither the body nor the living person is seen. I personally recruited people from the palace before, hoping that someone could pass on the news to the outside world. However, even Mr. Xi, who was recruited by the palace, kept secret about the affairs in the palace."
"I also secretly interrogated the teachings of Prince Xing's crown prince, and asked about Prince Xing's teachings to the crown prince. At that time, I knew a little bit about it... But then his family moved away, and the Jinyi Guards have not found his whereabouts until now."
Lin Baihu looked quite helpless when he said this.
Zhu Jia said: "Is this Prince Xing's Mansion a dragon's pond and a tiger's den?"
Lin Baihu smiled bitterly and shook his head: "I, like your family, have been ordered to keep an eye on Prince Xing's palace. I have not made any achievements in the past few years. I am afraid that I will be held accountable by the court when I turn around. I will never have the opportunity to come to Anlu again. I have a piece of advice...
If the Zhu family can find out more things from Prince Xing’s mansion...especially if they find evidence of the connections between Prince Xing and the civil and military ministers of the court..."
Zhu Jia's face was gloomy and he remained silent.
"With that said, I'll take my leave."
After Lin Baihu finished speaking, he clasped his fists and left.
Zhu Jiashi stood up in a hurry and asked, "How to check?"
Lin Baihu said: "There is something that others don't know, but the Zhu family must know. Prince Xing's eldest son died five days after he was born. The Zhu family must have contributed at that time, right?"
Zhu Jia's face was stern.
What the other party meant was that Zhu Houxi, the eldest son of Xingwang Zhu Youqi, did not die in a normal way, but was murdered.
"So after the birth of King Xing's second son, he has been very careful to this day. There are many children of similar ages in the house at the same time. Outsiders can't tell which one is the real son of King Xing... King Xing only has one son, and everything must start from this son. If
If something unexpected happens to him...then everyone will be happy and everyone will enjoy peace."