Chapter 29: Turning Coarse Salt into Refined Salt

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  Yang Rui explained that the Mo Ye camp was located north of Mo Ye County, originally a military camp where hundreds of recruited soldiers were stationed. When Kong Youde rebelled in Dengzhou, the soldiers of the Mo Ye camp were transferred away, and the Mo Ye camp was temporarily empty. After Kong Youde surrendered to the Later Jin, the soldiers of the Mo Ye camp did not return to garrison, but were instead transferred to the front line in Henan to confront the Shaanxi rebel army. As a result, the Mo Ye camp was left vacant for a long time.

  It is not clear when the salt smugglers began to occupy Jimo Camp as a trading place. Small salt smugglers from various places sold their privately collected salt here. Some larger salt smugglers bought large quantities of private salt here. If private salt was directly sold in Jimo Camp, each catty of private salt could be sold for more than ten cents.

  However, the road to Jimen Camp from Fushan is over a hundred miles long and it takes two days to transport salt. It's hard to say whether they will encounter other salt bandits on this journey and have a scene of "black eating black". This kind of thing happens often. A load of salt that arrives at Jimen Camp can be sold for one or two silver coins, which is enough to tempt other salt bandits.

  Moreover, it's possible to encounter the salt smugglers' accomplices. If you encounter salt smugglers, at most they'll just rob your private salt and a few people might die. But if you encounter their accomplices, you'll be ruined financially. The Salt Inspector's expertise is to catch one person and then extort money from their relatives, squeezing oil out of stone. To describe the Ming dynasty officials' skill in extorting money as "masterful" would not be an exaggeration.

  "I'll think of something."

  Zhang Zhun took over the difficulties without hesitation.

  He immediately found Yang Zhìyuǎn and Hao Linyong, and discussed the matter of transporting private salt to Jimo Camp.

  "Captain, if you don't go, it's definitely not safe on the road. But if you do go, what about things here?" Yang Zhiyuan said with some concern.

  Hao Linyong also thinks so.

  Actually, Zhang Zhun was also very headache.

  A commander should be with his own troops!

  Without an army, a commander is nothing!

  He must bring the main force of the guard troops if he goes to Jimo Camp!

  Bring private salt to the Muye camp, he has a full grasp. The salt bandit is not what's so special, everyone sees each other, at most they will have a fierce fight. Killing a few of the opponent's men and letting them see their own strength will naturally make them dare not provoke easily. If done more fiercely, go straight to the door and wipe out the opponent completely to eliminate future troubles.

  The problem is that going back and forth, it will take at least four days. Four days is enough time for Wang Shixin to find an opportunity to raze Yangjiatun to the ground. The escort team cannot be too far away from Yangjiatun, this is everyone's consensus. If they are escorting private salt and as a result their homes are looted, it would clearly not be worth it.

  However, if Zhang Zhun doesn't go, relying on others is really not reassuring.

  Yang Zhiyuan and Hao Linyong, among others, did not have the strength to fight against the salt bandits alone.

  Divided attention, Zhang Zhun had no choice but to temporarily put this matter aside.

  After several days, the training results of the guards were getting better and better. The killing skills of the new recruits had also improved to the point where they could be put into battle. However, the private salt that was being hoarded was also increasing day by day. By early March, every household had accumulated nearly a dan (a unit of measurement) of salt, plus what Lao San had seized last time, which added up to almost two dan of salt.

  The families of the guards relied on cooking salt to make a living, and tea oil sauce vinegar rice were all from private salt. Now that private salt can't be sold, the only source of income is cut off, and although there are still fish to eat every day, people's hearts are inevitably floating.

  Zhang Zhun then decided to use the silver he had confiscated from Lei Lao San to buy all the private salt. There were a total of 60 bags of private salt, approximately 6,000 or more catties, at a purchase price of five cents per catty, which was just over 30 taels of silver. In this way, the silver he had confiscated from Lei Lao San was basically all spent.

  The private salt has been purchased, and the guards' minds are also stable. Everyone continues to train with peace of mind. But now it's Zhang Quan's turn to worry. How to deal with these more than 60 dan of private salt is really a troublesome thing. Moreover, as time goes by, the military households will produce even more private salt. If they still can't sell them out, they will have to stockpile them, and he doesn't have the money to buy these private salts anymore.

  Without income, the guard will definitely disband.

  What's wrong?

  Every military household's gaze was focused on Zhang Zhun's body.

  Lian Yang Kaidi also got up with a cane and strolled around.

  With so much private salt unsold, he can't help but feel anxious!

  Yang Rui Feng went to Jimo County several times, wanting to find the salt merchant who bought salt again. As a result, he found that without special relationships, no one would accept private salt. The situation he understood was not only Yangjia Tun, but also the private salt of other Tuns, which was difficult to sell.

  The specific reason is not very clear, it seems that due to the war outside, many private salt smugglers were unable to transport their goods, and their funds could not be circulated, so they naturally couldn't continue to purchase private salt. A small rumor spread from somewhere, saying that the Shaanxi insurgent army was causing a big stir in Henan, even cities like Luoyang and Kaifeng had to close their gates and prohibit people from entering or leaving.

  "Isn't there another sales channel?" Zhang Zhun asked.

  "It's all gone." Yang Rui replied.

  Yang Rui said that the current problem is no longer just about Zhang Zhun sending private salt to Jimo Camp, and even if he sends it, there won't be a big salt smuggler to take over. Moreover, this kind of problem is not unique to Yangjia Village alone.

  I must have another way out.

  This is Zhang Zhun's idea.

  On March 15th, the weather wasn't very good. The sky was gloomy and overcast with thick clouds that seemed to be on the verge of rain, but it never actually rained. The air felt extremely stifling, as if it was hard to breathe.

  In the morning, Zhang Quan saw that Yang Rui had uncovered several salt bundles in the empty space, probably to check if the salt was damp. If the salt got damp, it would go bad and the salt merchants would be even less willing to buy it.

  Seeing Zhang Zhun come out, Yang Rui Feng sighed and said: "What good salt, no one buys it, it's really a pity."

  Zhang Zhun slowly walked over and took a glance at the salt in the bamboo basket.

  He had not noticed the quality of these salts before, because all the salt loads were covered with canvas to prevent moisture. Now, Yang Rui Feng removed the canvas, and Zhang Zhun truly saw the true face of these sea salts. He stood beside the salt loads for a while, looking somewhat puzzled.

  "Is this good salt?"

  Zhang Zhun muttered to himself and asked.

  Undoubtedly, in Zhang Zhun's eyes, these sea salts were just the most primitive salt, containing many impurities, with a yellowish color on the surface, and looked very ugly. He picked up a handful of sea salt, which was rough to the touch, with large and uneven grains. Such sea salt, used for stir-frying dishes, seemed a bit forced, and it was unclear what it was used for.

  He suddenly had a slight movement in his heart, thought of something and asked: "Feng Ge, are all private salts like this?"

  Yang Rui said, "No. Some people like to mix some dirt or fine sand into the salt, or hide a big stone under the salt container to increase the weight, but our Yang family village are all honest people and have never done such things."

  “……”

  Such sea salt still needs to be mixed with mud, Zhang Zhun was speechless.

  Why doesn't everyone make this sea salt better?

  The salt of later generations is all powdery, fine and white, looking very good!

  The salted fish in front of me, if placed in later generations, not to mention selling for three cents a catty, even if it's given away with three cents attached, I'm afraid no one would give it a second glance, the appearance is really too terrible.

  "After a moment of silence, Zhang Zhun said: 'If there is better quality salt, will it sell better?'"

  Yang Rui said: "Better quality salt is only refined salt and Qinghai salt. However, they are only available in the mainland, not in Shandong."

  He briefly explained that refined salt is used by wealthy families, with a clean white color, powdery texture, and a smooth feel to the touch. The dishes made with it also have an even flavor. High-end restaurants use refined salt as well. The market retail price for one kilogram of refined salt is at least 50-60 cents, and the supply quantity is not large either.

  As for Qing Yan, he had never seen it before. It is said to come from the distant northwest and is very valuable. The amount of Qing Yan transported to Shandong is small, resulting in a selling price of over 100 yuan per catty, which is an absolutely unaffordable sky-high price. In Shandong, only wealthy families can afford to buy Qing Yan. A basket of sea salt is not as good as a few catties of Qing Yan, which is a well-known fact.

  Zhang Zhun said: "If I could turn these coarse salts into refined salt?"

  Yang Rui looked at him in surprise.

  Turn sea salt into refined salt?

  Change magic?

  Zhang Zhun ignored his surprise and said to himself: "Can it be sold?"

  Yang Rui nodded and said: "Of course... Shandong's refined salt and green salt are all transported from Shaanxi, but now Shaanxi is in chaos, Henan is also in chaos, the roads are blocked, refined salt and private salt can't be transported, prices have risen several times..."

  He explained in detail that the salt of Shandong is actually not among the best in the country, whether it's the output or quality. To the north of Shandong is the Changlu Salt Field, and to the south is the Jianghuai Salt Field, both with large outputs and relatively good quality salt. However, the best salt in the country still comes from Yanchi Town, Huaiyuanbao, Huamachi, and Xihai (Qinghai Lake) in Shaanxi Province, as well as the surrounding areas of Gansu Province. Because these salts have a hint of blue color, they are called Qingyan.

  For a long time, Qingyan has had medicinal functions such as salting, coldness, cooling blood, and naming. In the Ming Dynasty, the greatest use of Qingyan was not for seasoning, but for rinsing mouth. The first thing rich families did in the morning was to rinse their mouths with Qingyan. So, for some groups of people, Qingyan is indispensable. Now that the road is blocked, good salt from outside cannot be transported in, and self-produced coarse salt cannot be sold out, resulting in two problems: one is that good salt has become more expensive; the other is that coarse salt has become cheaper.

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