Chapter 39: Old Acquaintance Zhang Shuye

  Fantastic plot unfolding, seeking support...

  Sea salt is boiled from seawater, with a very poor taste, bitter and containing many impurities, including mud and sand. On the other hand, the natural salt pools in Western Xia produce salt of much better quality. Because they contain different trace elements, they appear in various colors such as red, purple, blue, black and white, among which cyan and white are the most common colors for salt.

  "Its salt is big and green, called Qingyan." "Red and black are all small, only white is big." Thus, Qingbai salt became the synonym for Xixia region's salt products.

  These salts within the Western Xia territory are of excellent color, fragrance and taste. In "Zhou Li", they were called "饴盐". In "Lüshi Chunqiu", they were called "大夏之香盐" (Big Xia's fragrant salt). In "Guang Zhi" and other records, they were referred to as "戎盐" (Rong salt). There are many varieties of salt recorded in medical books, including Guangming salt, Peach Blossom salt, Crystal salt, Qing salt, Yin salt, Rong salt, Qiang salt, Shi salt, and Yanshan salt. Due to their high nutritional value and ability to promote health and longevity, the elderly among the Tangut people often lived up to 105 or 160 years old. The many salt pools and mines here were once precious resources first developed and utilized by the Qiang and Xia ethnic groups. Among them, Qingbai salt was finely made and inexpensive, widely welcomed, and a major source of revenue for the Western Xia treasury.

  The largest commodity produced in Western Xia is indeed Qingbai salt. The Song Dynasty, in order to use economic means to bring down Western Xia, did not allow the buying and selling of Qingbai salt produced in Western Xia. However, the more this was done, the better the sales route for Qingbai salt became. Therefore, smuggling began, and the profit also became greater!

  Let's not mention anything else, just talking about the Ming and Qing dynasties of later generations, those Yangzhou merchants were rich all over the world, relying on nothing but monopolizing the salt industry? It can be imagined that there are huge profits inside, compared to this, Wen Fei's business is just a small matter.

  Zhang San's campsite was vast, looking neat and orderly. There were dozens of tents piled with goods, hundreds of flatbed carts for transportation, which can be imagined to be on a large scale. The entire camp had several hundred people, each carrying weapons, exuding an aura of solemnity and killing intent.

  "My goodness, this old man's business is so big!" Wen Fei was amazed, initially only knowing that Zhang San Weng was a knowledgeable and well-read old man. He didn't expect him to be from a good family background, let alone doing such a huge business.

  The flatbed cart was a means of transportation used in ancient times in the plains, made of wood, with a load capacity of several thousand catties. It can be seen that Zhang San's business is quite large, and looking at these laborers' bodies, they are all carrying weapons, looking like strong and agile models, almost making Wen Fei take them for soldiers.

  Compared to Wen Fei's shock, the shock of these ancient people was even greater. They stared blankly at a massive object that emitted a terrifying roar and approached them. Everyone became tense, and some even drew their weapons.

  Wen Fei saw Zhang San Weng and several others standing out, hurriedly stopped the car, opened the door and waved to greet: "San Weng is me!"

  "How long?" Zhang San Weng was also stunned, last time Wen Fei made such a big commotion. He actually earned several catties of gold sand from the hands of Hu Yanbu, attracting the envy of countless people. These gold sands were worth a lot to others, but to him, they were just ordinary. Just as he was about to call someone to protect Wen Fei, unexpectedly, Wen Fei revealed an astonishing and shocking technique. And then, under everyone's eyes, he disappeared in broad daylight.

  This made Zhang Sanweng sigh for half a day, this must be an encounter with a superior person. Maybe it's really the True Martial Ancestor who has encountered difficulties and sent someone from the lower realm. He didn't even seize the opportunity! In the eyes of a big family like Zhang Sanweng, silver and money are not the most important things. If he could help the immortal, get the immortal's blessing, that would be the true good fortune of the family! What a pity, what a pity!

  But unexpectedly, Wen Fei appeared again this time, causing such a big commotion, and rode such a huge monster to arrive at the Luoma Market. It seems that this Daoist priest Wen Fei must have encountered some difficulties up there. Maybe he is really the messenger of the True Martial Ancestor, and the Ancestor has encountered some difficulties up there, needing financial support from below! Otherwise, a celestial being like him would not appear in such a broken place as Luoma Market.

  With a preconceived notion, Zhang San Weng's smile became even more amiable: "It's actually Wen Fei Daozhang, it's been a long time!"

  Wen Fei waved, and suddenly found a man in his thirties wearing a green robe standing beside Zhang Sanweng. His heart skipped a beat as he thought to himself: "Isn't this the same guy who was with Can Jun last time?"

  But he didn't know that the other person also found him very familiar, and the participant was also a decisive character. This time coming to Luoma Market was related to a big thing, not just for taking care of his own family business. For several days, I have been listening to San Shu mention the various wonders of Wen Fei Dao Chang, now seeing that it is indeed extraordinary, even such a huge monster is enough to be shocking.

  Now seeing Wen Fei Dao, he felt a little familiar, so he walked up and said: "I am Zhang Shu Ye, the recorder of Lanzhou Prefecture, I have met Wen Fei Dao!"

  What is the position of Recorder and Military Counselor? Wen Fei was completely unaware. However, thinking back to when he had just crossed over, he had someone pin this guy to the ground, leaving a psychological shadow in his heart.

  But then Zhang Shu heard a long, muffled laugh and said: "Logically speaking, as an official of the imperial court, you're doing these private smuggling deals. You should be somewhat guilty, not recklessly revealing your identity. But as soon as you saw Daozhang, you felt happy and familiar, thinking that Daozhang wouldn't... Hmm..."

  Zhang Shuye spoke more and more, feeling that Wen Fei was very familiar. Suddenly, he thought of it all at once, wasn't this the strange person I met last time when I encountered Gu? At that time, I even thought I had met Lü Zu coming down to the world, playing with the red dust.

  Wen Fei laughed and said: "So it seems that we are all old acquaintances! Does the business we discussed last time still count, San Weng?"

  Zhang San actually had the intention of making friends with this kind of immortal, so he naturally replied with a smile: "Alright, of course. This time, let's see what good things you've brought, Master Immortal!"

  "Wen Fei said, 'You open the door at the back, all the goods are loaded inside!' He had made up his mind not to get off the truck. In case of danger, this driver's cabin welded with steel plates and steel bars was very safe."

  As soon as he said that, Zhang San Weng was in a difficult situation. Looking around, everyone had a fearful expression. The Zhang family is a large family, and these people are all servants of the Zhang family, who have always been loyal and very diligent. However, when they saw this strange creature that they had never seen before, they also felt a chill in their hearts, and no one dared to come forward.

  It was Zhang Shu Ye who had the bigger guts, he was a civil official, yet he actually wore a precious sword at his waist. Holding onto the hilt of the sword, he walked forward, following Wen Fei's guidance to arrive behind the carriage.

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