Even in modern times, when large-scale mechanized production has been achieved, salt drying is still a very labor-intensive and extremely hard work. Far from digging some condensation on the beach, the evaporation pond can produce salt in batches - the ancients have long
We know that the evaporation of seawater accumulated on the reefs can condense a small amount of salt, but until the Yuan Dynasty, boiling the sea into salt was still the most common method of making salt. Sun-drying salt is not as simple as imagined - theory must be applied in production practice
A systematic process flow is required. Wang Luobin has seen salt production in rural areas of Guangxi. The process is that seawater is diverted from the tidal ditch outside the dam into the water storage ditch inside the dam, and power machinery is used to move the water from high to low, and is sent to the evaporator through the main and branch water channels.
In the pond, the brine reaches 5 to 10 degrees (Bome degree). After being put into the brine brine pool, it is concentrated to 20 to 25 degrees. It is collected back to the brine machine room through the brine transport ditch, and then raised to the brine pond by power, and then injected into the crystallization tank.
The depth of the brine should be 6 to 8 centimeters, and the concentration should be maintained at 26 to 28 degrees, so that the salt can be produced.
In ancient times, it was obviously impossible to have such production conditions. How did they increase the concentration of brine under primitive conditions? This was a question that he was very interested in.
The village chief took him and Xiong Buyou to the embankment. Under the embankment were many large stone salt troughs that looked like inkstones. The placement of these salt troughs was very particular. They seemed to be stacked up irregularly, but in fact they were high and low.
They are well-proportioned. In order to make full use of the sunlight, the salt tanks are surrounded by patches of black salt fields in the center. The village chief said that there are now more than 7,000 salt tanks in the village, all of which were dug and polished by our ancestors and passed down from generation to generation.
Yantian is a kind of muddy tidal flat, which they call "salt mud". In the dry season, when the sunlight is relatively strong, the seawater will flood through the salt mud twice a month, and the salt mud can absorb the salt from the sea water.
When the sea water recedes, rake up the salt mud and leave it in the sun for a few days to evaporate the water. This piece of salt mud will contain a very high salt content.
Then putting the salt-containing mud into the salt pond is completely manual work: use a wooden board to rake the sun-dried mud into the salt pond. The so-called salt pond is a 2-meter-wide, 3-meter-long, and 1-meter-deep pool excavated in the salt field.
Bamboo chips and thatch are placed underneath to act as a filter.
After the salt mud enters the pool, the salt worker needs to step on it firmly and then inject seawater. The filtered water flows into the brine pool on one side from the small opening reserved next to the salt pool, and there is a pool of brine.
How to judge the concentration of brine? The salt cubes will break off the stems of the yellow croaker plant that grows beside the salt fields and put them into the brine pool. Only the stems of the yellow croaker floating on the water are the real saturated salt water, otherwise the sun will have to be exposed repeatedly.
Exposure to the sun will do.
He carried the brine to the salt trough. The salt trough was made of volcanic stone. Wang Luobin took a closer look and saw that there were tiny holes on the stone, which might have a role in water permeability? He poured the brine in before the sun rose.
After a salt tank is exposed to the sun for a day, you can use a board to scrape the salt at dusk and put it into a bamboo basket. In the sunniest and hottest seasons, a salt tank plus two or three times of brine can evaporate to dryness.
At this time, most of the salt tanks are empty, but there are still salt crystals on some salt tanks that shine brightly in the sun, which is really beautiful.
Wang Luobin looked at these more than 7,000 salt troughs: Even with this most primitive working method, more than 200 tons of salt can be produced here a year. He can't help but marvel at the infinite wisdom of the ancient people.
There was a shed for tools on the embankment. Out of curiosity about ancient salt field tools, Wang Luobin walked in and took a look. There were many tools piled inside, and their appearance was not much different from what he had seen in the salt field in the past. He tried raking the ground.
The rake was found to be much heavier than modern products - ancient times lacked processing capabilities and could only use the cumbersome method to make it. It is really a very difficult task to drag such a heavy tool under the sun in the hot summer.
Hard work.
He approached a salt drying tank, and a layer of white salt had condensed in it. It was crystal clear, beautiful, and very delicate. It looked very much like the refined salt produced in a modern salt factory--this was a big surprise to him.
Unexpectedly, sea salt can reach this level without refining process, at least he has never seen it before. He pointed some with his fingers and put it in his mouth. It was much lighter than the fine salt he brought and it melted in his mouth.
I don't know what the content of sodium chloride is. There are no instruments here, so I can't analyze it. But Wang Luobin knows that based on the appearance of this salt, it is not a hot commodity.
But it is really unexpected that this place is so poor. The working people in ancient times really lived in dire straits.
As he was feeling emotional, he suddenly saw a group of people walking towards the embankment. The leader was riding a horse - this is a rare thing in this area. Behind him was a large group of people in Tsing Yi. When Tan Cunzi saw it,
With a look of fear and disgust on his face, he turned to Wang Luobin and said, "It's a wealthy family."
"Gou Dahu?" Wang Luobin vaguely remembered this name, but it seemed he had forgotten where it came from.
"Well, well." Village Chief Tan seemed to be afraid of the power of this big family. He didn't even have the time to say a word to him. He hurriedly greeted him, crossed his arms in salute, and bent his back with a very respectful attitude.
Wang Luobin didn't know who this wealthy family member was, but judging from the respectful and fearful look of the village chief Tan, he was definitely not a good person. He was most likely a local tyrant. They were now weak and it was difficult to compete with them.
If you deal with such people directly, you might as well just watch from the embankment.
The man on the horse was seen scolding repeatedly, and Village Chief Tan was bowing and bowing, as if he was begging for something. After performing this live pantomime for a while, Village Chief Tan led the people to the village dejectedly.
They left it on the embankment and ignored it. Wang Luobin hurriedly notified the people who were still moving salt in the village about the situation through the intercom, asking them to be on guard.
But the visitors obviously didn't dare to provoke them. The pirates in short clothes were so powerful that everyone in Lingao knew it. After a while, the village chief returned to the embankment and led them back to the village with a sad face.
go.
Xiong Buyou inquired for a long time before he finally understood the whole story. It turned out that according to the government's regulations, the salt field adopts a payment system based on the price. In other words, the salt workers do not need to pay the extra amount of salt directly to the government.
Convert salt into rice or silver. In the old years, the rule was that one stone per meter was converted into rice. Later, the name of converting rice was changed to converting into silver: first convert salt into rice, and then convert it into silver according to the price of rice. Ma Niao Salt Works
The amount of salt is "one thousand four hundred and seventeen and two hundred and thirty jins", and the amount of rice is more than 1,400 jin. The price of silver is nearly 2,000 taels according to the price of Tianqi Chongzhen year.
There are certain benefits to the salt collectors by paying the salt tax at different prices: production is no longer subject to the supervision and control of the government. As long as you pay the salt tax on time, you can basically do whatever you want, and you no longer have to devote yourself to the salt industry of the Ming Dynasty day and night.
After the salt is produced, businessmen will naturally come to buy it. If the salt is dried a lot and the market is good, then life will be good. Some people think that the salt is too bitter, and there are also those who use their income from business or land reclamation to pay the salt tax.
.
But after the earthquake, everything changed. Gou Dahu's father took advantage of the fact that the salt fields in the village were washed away and he could not pay the salt tax for a while. He borrowed debts to advance and gradually controlled most of the salt sales. But
His purchase price was much lower than the market price. The salt that the salt workers worked so hard to dry was not enough to repay the debt of the King of Hell. He also colluded with the government and took over the salt class, insisting that the price of rice is now high, and every day
Shi Mi's discount was worth three taels of silver. He couldn't repay the loan shark here, and he couldn't pay off the official debt there. The saltmen knew that he was causing trouble, but they had to beg him to relieve their cheeks in front of the government. As time went by,
The Gou family became the de facto rulers of the village. The salt fields seemed to have become the private property of the Gou family, and they were increasingly exploited. In addition, every time pirates came to Gao in recent years, they always robbed the salt in the salt field and killed many people.
The village is becoming more and more desolate. The young people usually dare not go home and gather in some inland places to reclaim wasteland and live a living.
As for the purpose of his visit just now, it was actually to demand payment of this month's "regulatory silver" and to ask him to call all the young men back to dry the salt, otherwise he would arrest all the women, children and children in the village and put them in jail.
"Is he in jail?" Wang Luobin asked, "Is he an official?"
"There, it's his family's private prison." Village Chief Tan shuddered as he spoke, "The Gou family is amazing, let alone a private prison. Anyone who offends his family will be arrested and tortured to death.
have--"
As he spoke, he quickly shut up, probably thinking that he had said too much, and just kept urging them to transport the salt and leave quickly. Wang Luobin felt that the matter in Yancun was a complicated issue. The issues involved here might really require land reform.
The team will handle it.
In order to obtain the guidance of the executive committee on this matter, he returned to Bairen City that night. Although some of the executive committee members were not in the city, the remaining people, after discussion, agreed with the idea of the work team he proposed: sending a smart and capable team
Stationed in the salt field, helping local villagers restore production, and arming the salt workers to get rid of the threats of bullies and pirates, making the Ma Niao Salt Field an important salting raw material base for time travellers.
Because this is the first time that time travelers have truly comprehensively transformed a place from a social level, each group attaches great importance to this matter and dispatched personnel to form a salt field work team.
Originally, the executive committee was going to let Wang Luobin serve as the captain of the work team, but Wang Gong believed that this position was best filled by someone who was familiar with the military and had strong social communication skills, and finally decided on Xi Yazhou.
Du Wen was responsible for the organization of cultural propaganda. She had not found any real work since landing except reading radio scripts every day that no one could listen to. When she heard that she was going to "land reform", she immediately became interested and volunteered.
Participated. The entire working team consisted of thirty people, including a doctor - Hippo.
Each person carried enough weapons: pistols, rifles, daggers and a large amount of ammunition. The hippos brought a lot of medicine and simple surgical instruments. Considering that they might be stationed there for a long time, the team also brought wind turbines and other
The problem of equipment and food is more troublesome - in addition to eating for himself, it may also be necessary to provide relief to the local people. Although Xiao Zishan has taken people to Guangzhou for large-scale procurement, it will still be some time before the first batch of food is shipped back, and Wu Nanhai does not dare to do more
Here, we have allocated a week's supply of grain and non-staple food.