Fu Song

Chapter 150
The surrounding area is covered with snow, but there are hundreds of acres of square gardens in front of you, and you can hardly see the existence of snow.

Here is one of the important targets that Xiao Ding wants to get in this attack on Yanzhou, Salt Lake.

This is a generous gift from nature to humans. What humans have to do is to dig it out and perform some simple processing to turn him into copper coins, food, cloth, medicine, etc.

This natural salt lake is not big. There are hundreds of thatched huts around, which are the residences of salt workers. A little farther away, there are several houses made of rammed earth, which are the original residences of those officials. up.

Of course, these officials are no longer officials. They have fallen from the high-ranking managers to the salt workers who were previously managed by them.

But when it comes to the real situation, these people are probably even worse.

Those who were bullied by them before can now bully them back as much as they want, but they have no other choice but to grit their teeth and bear it.

The reincarnation of heaven, the retribution is not good.

"Commander, the time is too short. This is the first workshop we have built." A manager in Tsing Yi bowed slightly and said to Xiao beside him. "Although the area of ​​this salt lake is small and the production is not much, but among all the salt lakes, the quality of the salt produced is the best."

Xiao Ding nodded, and said: "Everyone has worked hard. It's just that I don't understand why the second brother wants you to bother to build a new workshop to refine salt. Can't you continue to use the old one?"

The steward laughed and said, "Commander, does the salt you ate before taste the same?"

Xiao Ding frowned, and said: "It's different, besides salty, some are bitter, some are astringent, except snowflake salt, others have some other flavors in them."

The steward said in admiration: "That is to say, the commander makes people like you, even if they are noble, not forget to share the joys and sorrows with the people below, so that they can distinguish different kinds of salt."

Xiao Ding smiled, he has always been like this, and he doesn't think it's surprising.

"The bitterness and astringency are actually the impurities in the salt. Erlang said that it is harmful to people, so we have to find a way to separate the impurities in the salt." Guan Shi said.

Xiao Ding stopped in his tracks, and said with some hesitation: "According to what you say, wouldn't they all turn into snowflake salt? How many people can afford it?"

A catty of ordinary salt costs only a dozen renminbi. This thing affects the nerves of thousands of households. A slight price increase is a big deal.But a catty of Snowflake Salt can only be priced in terms of weight, and ordinary people can't afford it except for officials and wealthy families.

"The commander is very worried." The steward said, "So the salt we produce in the future is also divided into grades. Generally speaking, it only costs about ten yuan, but it is definitely much better than the salt on the market. At least the bitterness There will be no taste. This is the first workshop we are building, and it is also responsible for studying how to improve the purity of salt, increase the output of salt, and reduce the cost of salt. There are more than a dozen more A house will be built!"

"These salt lakes are the source of our wealth in the future, and they must be managed well." Xiao Ding reminded.Now under his command, the military expenses needed for more than [-] iron harriers and [-] paces of postscripts, can't they all come from here?

"Commander, don't worry." With a well-thought-out plan, the steward led Xiao Ding into a rammed-earth room. Inside, straw bags were piled up one by one into square piles.The steward pulled out a short dagger from the shaft of the boot, plunged it in with a bang, and pulled it out again, a lot of snow-like things came out from the blade.

Xiao Ding dipped a little bit into his mouth, tasted it, and said in surprise, "Snowflake salt?"

The steward nodded.

"There is only one small salt lake like this now, and there is only one workshop that can work normally, but we can also produce hundreds of catties of this kind of snowflake salt every day." The steward smiled: "Commander, wait until our snowflake salt is put on the market , Yan’an Mansion, and Jingzhao Mansion are all dumbfounded, either they come to us to buy goods, or they are waiting to be crushed by us.”

"Our cost?" Xiao Ding asked.

"There is only one workshop now, and there are less than ten stoves. The total cost is about [-] yuan." The steward said: "As the renovation of the workshop is completed, the cost will drop significantly."

"How much did you sell for?"

"Five hundred Wen!" The steward grinned and laughed silently. "Ten times the huge profit, we also leave double the profit to those retail merchants. Of course, if we get more goods, we can also reduce the price. However, although this kind of salt makes a lot of money, the sales are limited in the end, and the real money is made. The big head is still ordinary salt, but even with that kind of salt, we have five or six times the benefits."

Xiao Ding took a deep breath.

"How much money do you make every month?"

"I don't know yet, but I have a rough estimate. If everything goes well, in the first three months, there will be a net profit of about [-] per month, and then it will increase every month." The steward said: "Wait until all the workshops are built. If it is completed and the sales are fully opened, there will be about [-] per month. This is only for the Hengshan area, Ganning and the entire Shaanxi Road.”

"I understand!" Xiao Ding shook his fist vigorously. With [-] per month, the problems he was worried about would no longer be problems.

"In fact, if things like salt can be sold to Qingtang, Western Regions and other places, the profit will be higher." The manager laughed.

"It's a matter of the future." Xiao Ding thought of Xiao Cheng's vision for the future, and couldn't help laughing. It seems that these stewards also heard a lot of big cakes he described from his second brother, one by one. They are all full of longing for the future.

First came the caravans, then the army, then the government, and finally the culture.The completion of these four steps basically completes the complete occupation of a place.

This is the tetralogy of occupying a place that Xiao Cheng told him.

But this is still too far away for Xiao Ding, and now he still wants to survive.

Li Xuhui counterattacked.

Ma Xing will try to take away his victory.

Li Xu is an enemy, and he is easy to deal with.It's nothing more than steel knives and spears and crossbows.

But the pressure from Ma Xing is very troublesome.

In the past, this would not have been a problem for Xiao Ding at all.

But now, these have become big problems.

He patted the steward on the shoulder: "I will leave the matter of salt to you. For the salt workers, be more lenient. A few days ago, we were extremely strict with them in order to capture Yanzhou City as soon as possible. They died Many people, these need to be comforted, trying to smooth out these hatreds."

"Commander, don't worry. Erlang has already made a plan for these things. It's a thick book!" The steward laughed.

Xiao Ding spread his hands: "It seems that there is nothing that my Erlang didn't think of. Forget about these things, he is indeed much more thoughtful than me. You just do what he says."

Hearing the monthly income here, Xiao Ding finally felt at ease.At least he doesn't have to worry about the military expenses for the next few months and the expenses of the upcoming war.

Yanzhou is a good place. After occupying the government treasury and other places, the Guangrui Army made a fortune.

Guangrui's army broke through Yanzhou City so fast that Zuo Qiuming didn't have time to destroy these things, and Xiao Ding was all cheap.

Leaving the location of Salt Lake, Xiao Ding rode his horse and galloped all the way. Before dark, he finally saw a military camp in front of him.

Here, about fifty miles away from Yanzhou City, the army stationed here is more than two thousand iron kites under the command of Xin Jian.

Xin Jian personally went out of the camp and took Xiao Ding into the camp.

Looking at the furnishings and arrangements in the camp all the way, Xiao Ding felt relieved.Now the officers in the entire iron kite, Guangrui Army veterans and party members account for half equally, but the soldiers are basically party members. These soldiers were very honest when they were in Shentangbao earlier, but Xiao Ding has always been a little worried about these Whether a person can maintain the style and discipline that a soldier should have in a war, it seems that Xin Jian is doing well.

In the eyes of the imperial court, the Fan soldiers are a chaotic group, they are used to wear down the enemy's feathers and arrows and other weapons in the war, and they are not regarded as companions at all.

In the past, Xiao Ding also thought that the Fan soldiers were difficult to control, but now it seems that it is not the same thing.Whether it is difficult to manage depends on how to manage it, and of course it also depends on whether the person in charge can truly regard these people as his comrades-in-arms and companions.

If you want to get, how can you not give?

"Commander!" After welcoming Xiao Ding into his big tent, Xin Jian was a little surprised, and didn't understand why Xiao Ding left Yanzhou City and appeared here. "For several days, the scouts have been placed fifty miles away, and no trace of the enemy has been found yet."

"The later the enemy appears, the greater the difficulties we will encounter, and we must not let our guard down!" Sitting by the firepit, Xiao Ding put his almost frozen hands on the fire: "How is the morale of the army? "

"The morale is high!" Xin Jian said with a smile: "After taking Yanzhou City, the commander is so generous and the rewards are so heavy. When have these guys made such a windfall, they are counting on it to continue!"

"There are wars, but if you want to get rich, you have to win the battle. And if you want to win, you must first have strict military discipline." Xiao Ding said: "Even in this weather, at this moment, when it's time to train, You must also practice. Soldiers, you must never let them idle, and accidents are easy to happen if they are idle."

"I understand, Commander, I will definitely find some things for them to do next." Xin Jian was terrified that these things were not learned when he was in Bianliang.

"This time, I actually came here specifically to find you. There are some things I want to talk to you about." Rubbing his hands, Xiao Ding looked at Xin Jian with bright eyes.

(End of this chapter)