On the third day after the letter was delivered at full speed, the imperial envoy came to Qi Mansion with the decree from Kyoto, and formally conferred Hu Sisi as the salt-making envoy, with an official rank of seventh rank.
This incident spread quickly in Min County.
Suddenly, voices of discussion arose.
Can women also be officials?
This is unheard of and unseen in Min County.
He is also a seventh-grade official.
This is also the largest official in Min County's history.
The difference is that in the past, officials were county magistrates and commanders of the military and horse departments.
Now, this official is the salt envoy.
In other words, Min County will start producing salt.
Originally, I thought that Hu Sisi became an official because of Qi Xiangru's relationship.
But after asking about it, I found out that it was Hu Sisi who had a method of making salt. This method of making salt was valued by the court, so they made an exception and made her a female official.
Min County is going to make salt.
To make salt, you need to consider a problem.
Salt production is inseparable from the place where the salt is produced.
In Daqin, salt comes from two places, sea salt and lake salt.
However, Min County is not close to the sea and has no lake. Where will this salt come from?
But this is just the opinion of others, and for Pei Yun, in addition to sea salt and lake salt, there is another kind of salt, and that is mineral salt.
It’s no wonder that others don’t know the existence of mineral salt.
The mineral salt is buried 280 to 500 meters deep underground. With Da Qin's technological level, it is impossible to obtain the mineral salt.
But this didn't faze Pei Yun.
It's not just underground, just dig it out.
You need to know what Pei Yun did in Nanshan Village.
Digging coal, digging stones... Pei Yun has every idea on how to dig underground.
Of course, digging for mineral salt is different from digging for coal or stone.
When digging coal or stone, you don't need to dig that deep.
If you want to mine salt, you must first determine whether there is mineral salt underground.
Pei Yun was able to confirm that there was mineral salt underground in Min County and found the salt ore by the river.
Although there was not much salt ore by the river, Pei Yun concluded that there was mineral salt underground in Min County.
After finding out the existence of mineral salt, the next step is to dig out the mineral salt.
It is impossible to dig out the mineral salt buried 280 to 500 meters deep underground. This is impossible in the eyes of others, but Pei Yun has a way to make the impossible possible.
Please do not underestimate the wisdom of ancient people, according to historical records.
About 2250 years ago, the first salt well was dug in Sichuan, my country.
In 1050 AD, the mining of salt wells made a qualitative leap, from digging wells to drilling.
The full name is: impact file drilling technology.
The drill bit is made of iron, and the drill rod is made of bamboo. A person stands on the wooden frame, like stepping on a seesaw, lifts the drill rod, and then falls freely, allowing the drill bit to impact and crush the rock.
In 1700 AD, the depth of salt wells in Sichuan generally reached 300 meters to 400 meters.
In 1835, the depth of Shenhai Well exceeded 1,000 meters, which was the deepest depth that could be reached by human drilling in the world at that time.
After digging the well, it’s time to collect the mineral salt.
The process is not difficult.
Use a pipe to inject water into the well, dissolve the mineral salt into brine, and then pump out the brine.
Then the brine is analyzed, evaporated, and dried...
Simply put, the whole process is to dissolve first and then crystallize.
Originally, salt production had to rely on either the sea or a lake, but according to Pei Yun's method, salt can also be produced on land.
Environments like seas and lakes are only available in specific places, which creates a problem of inconvenient transportation.
As for Da Qin's transportation level, it can really torture people to death.
That is to say, due to the limited salt production areas, the production of salt cannot be high even if we want to.
Nowadays, there is not only sea and lake, but also salt in the ground.
Suddenly, salt-producing areas blossomed everywhere and were no longer exclusive to seas and lakes.
And when it comes to transportation convenience.
Min County is inland, and at least the road to Kyoto is much more convenient than starting from the sea or the lake.
Pei Yun told Qi Xiangru how to make salt and where to dig, and Qi Xiangru was responsible for arranging people to do it.
In addition to bringing the decree, the imperial envoy also brought a group of people, including workers under officials and post officers to liaise with Kyoto.
The post officer is not an official in the strict sense, just a bad one.
However, if someone can contact Kyoto, his identity is naturally not simple.
In addition, the imperial envoy has one more thing to do.
That is to go to the site and see how salt is made.
Seeing is believing.
When he saw the mineral salt brine emerging from the ground and the refined salt produced after a series of processes, the imperial envoy was overjoyed and said three times.
Then there was a secret meeting between the imperial envoy and Qi Xiangru, accompanied by Hu Sisi, and even Pei Yun was present.
The imperial envoy knew Hu Sisi, but this was the first time for Pei Yun to meet him.
When a new face appears in a secret meeting, people always wonder about his identity.
But Qi Xiangru didn't want to introduce him. He just said that he was one of his own, so just leave him alone.
No matter what I said, I felt that it was inappropriate,
Since Qi Xiangru said he was one of his own, he naturally became one of his own.
But he also said to leave him alone, as if he was superfluous, but if he really was a superfluous person, he shouldn't have appeared in the secret meeting.
Qi Xiangru did not intend to explain more, and the imperial envoy did not ask any more questions.
The imperial envoy's name is Yu Changsheng.
It seems that the relationship with Qi Xiangru is very good.
As soon as they met, he saluted and said: "I have met Qi Gong. His demeanor is even better than before. I am very happy and congratulated."
"You're still as sweet-tongued as ever. If you can speak, just say more." Qi Xiangru's words were filled with ridicule.
Just these two sentences are enough to let people know that this relationship is not a good one, it's like talking to one's own family members.
Indeed, there is nothing wrong with saying he is one of his own family.
Although Qi Xiangru's three sons were military generals who were stationed at the border and never returned until their death, this did not prevent them from having close friends in Kyoto.
Yu Changsheng is one of their close friends.
Therefore, when there are no outsiders, the relationship between Yu Changsheng and Qi Xiangru is the same as that of his own family members.
There are not many people like Yu Changsheng.
Just like what Qi Xiangru said to Hu Sisi.
"You have to know that you have three brothers. Although they are dead, some of them are not here anymore."
Qi Xiangru had three sons die, so the court decided to give him the title of viscount and allocate fiefdoms to him.
And this is only done at the court level.
At the court level, there are still many people who are willing to do something for Qi Xiangru.
In other words, the three sons died, but they left Qi Xiangru with many connections.
If Qi Xiangru doesn't use them, these connections will naturally be useless.
But if something happens to Qi Xiangru, the role of these connections will be revealed.
Just like now.
The imperial envoy and Qi Xiangru sent by the imperial court were actually members of his own family.