Picturesque Rivers and Mountains in the Red Chamber

175 Chapter 3.82

Volume Three

3.82 Guarding this salt field, who else can arouse other interests?

Halfway up a mountain on the seaside of Miyako Island, a large house with a distinct Jiangnan garden style stands proudly overlooking the distant sea. It is the residence built by the second family of the Xue family after they landed on the island. Gunpowder should have been used to open the mountain during the construction, otherwise I'm afraid there isn't such spacious flat land on this mountainside to support construction.

"My nephew has met my second uncle!" As soon as he entered the main hall of the main courtyard, he saw that Xue Xun, the second house owner of the Xue family, was already sitting on the main seat waiting. "I have been busy with my own affairs these days, but I still need Brother Tao to remind me. It’s extremely rude to come and visit!”

"Hahaha, one family doesn't speak the same language as the other!" Xue Tu laughed and stood up to greet him. He helped Zhou Yang, who was bowing, "Although I haven't been in the capital for a long time, I heard that you broke into a good place. You have a great reputation, if Tao'er can be half as capable as you, even if I go to see big brother now, I can pass by with a smile!"

"Second uncle was joking. Such a treasure land needs you to support it all the time. How can we talk about life and death!" Zhou Yang smiled and greeted, "I just came all the way. My nephew really didn't expect you to be in such a good place. I have built such a big business in a short period of time, which really makes my nephew admire me very much!"

"Hahaha, thanks to my nephew for reminding me, otherwise, the old man would still be living in the small place of Jinling, hoping to earn some money all day long, and thinking about it again at night, for fear of offending some important person. I accidentally lost my life." I don't know if it was because of the support of his improvement in strength, but Xue Xun's temperament was obviously "sunny".

"How could it be that with so many years of sea trade experience, Second Uncle can still see such a big island?" Zhou Yang continued to say New Year's greetings, "Now that the foundation has been laid out, all that is needed is to operate it smoothly, just like Second Uncle As I said at the beginning, the Xue family’s century-old destiny is now stable!”

"I hope so!"

"Second uncle!" Zhou Yang interrupted him with a smile, "My nephew came here this time, and he only brought the Li brothers and one girl. Let's not talk about Qingwen. Who else cares about the expense of traveling? ? I heard Brother Tadou mentioned earlier that something has happened on this island. If my second uncle doesn’t mind, how about we go and take a look now? "

"Oh?"

"In that case, nephew, please leave!" Zhou Yang nodded, knowing that he wanted to ask Xue Biao about things in the capital and on the road, so naturally he would not stop him.

Following the guide arranged by the Xue family, we went all the way south from the port area. After walking for more than two miles on horseback, we bypassed the "dividing line" and directly reached the mountain wall by the sea. The scene in front of us suddenly became clear. The entire Miyako Island You can have a panoramic view of the seaside plain that stretches for more than thirty square kilometers.

But what really shocked him was not this plain, but the almost endless stretches of salt fields arranged along the coast. It happened that there was a salt field not far away producing salt, and the white sea salt was as crystal-like. Spread out, under the unobstructed sunshine on the beach, it shines with a heart-stopping light.

On the salt fields, workers are sweating profusely, driving animals, vehicles, or using various tools to load and transport the formed white salt into trucks. This vast salt field covers more than ten square kilometers. It's enough to make anyone in this era crazy and desperate, even if the emperor comes!
Taking the Manchu and Qing Dynasties, when production peaked in the feudal era, as an example, all types of salt production were included, and the annual production was less than 200 million tons. It sounds like a lot, but you can compare it with how much salt production was in Red China. Woolen cloth?[-] million tons and still growing!

Zhou Yang has not carefully inquired or understood the current salt production of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and he does not need to know, because according to the efficiency of boiling salt in the feudal era, the output of this salt drying field is likely to exceed that of the entire Great Zhou Dynasty, and at present In the environment, "salt" can basically be equated with "silver"!
Against the backdrop of these almost frightening salt fields, at the foot of the Nantou Mountain of the island plain, the blast furnace chimneys emitting white smoke are easily overlooked, let alone the rice fields extending inwards to cover half of Miyako Island. This is the imprint of the Chinese nation. The "natural skills" in the bones are fully displayed here. With such a beautiful coastal plain, I would definitely not be able to bear not planting something.

"Nephew Zhou Xian, how are you?" Looking at this piece of land, Zhou Yang was completely confused and confused. He didn't know how long he had been here, but suddenly a voice came from behind and he was patted on the shoulder. He almost drew his sword on the spot, "This salt field is all thanks to your reminder, and now it has grown into a towering tree!"

"Second Uncle, this is really true." He looked at Xue Xun and his son repeatedly with a wry smile, as well as the more than twenty guards behind them. Zhou Yang took several deep breaths before regaining his ability to speak, "With this salt field, what you need most now is It is supported by strong enough force, otherwise it would not be silver, but a sharp sword hanging above your head!"

"Don't worry, my dear nephew, the Xue family has suffered for two generations in the cracks of the major forces because they have too much money. They know best how many risks there are." Xue Xun's tone was very firm, "Currently there are less than one person on the island. There are [-] guards. It’s not that I don’t want to increase the number, but it’s restricted by two problems.

One is that the Xue family has a limited number of people, and there are even fewer who can be supported and reused. If they continue to expand their troops, I have no confidence in controlling them; the other is that the island is almost deserted, and even the people from Jinling want to use the island at all costs. The number of people transported so far is only a little over 5. After excluding the manpower needed everywhere, there is really no way to expand the escort. "

"That can only be the case for the time being!" Zhou Yang couldn't conjure manpower out of thin air. "Fortunately, the way to improve strength is not only to increase manpower, but also to improve equipment. With these small cannons, the island will not be as big as it was in its heyday. The navy of the Zhou Dynasty collided, or all the pirates in this sea area joined forces, otherwise it would be safe and secure.

What the nephew means is that the second uncle will continue research and development to see if he can come up with bigger artillery. Even if it is heavier and inconvenient to move, it doesn't matter. He only needs to build a few forts in strategic locations to ensure that no one can shake the island. Foundation, more advanced light artillery can take its time. "What my nephew said makes sense." "Xue Tu's eyes were wandering, but he still nodded, "Zha'er, did you hear that?You have always been the leader at the iron factory, passing on the request and asking them to get it done as soon as possible. You might as well tell them directly that this time the Xue family has prepared a reward of 3000 taels. It depends on which of them has the ability to win it! "

"Father, don't worry!" Xue Biao's expression became even more erratic.

"My nephew, do you have any questions?" Looking at the surprised Zhou Yang next to him, Xue Xun asked with a smile, "If you are talking about the reward just now, then there is really nothing to say. These master craftsmen have many methods, and Some of them are skills, but the reason why they dare not show them is because they are afraid that if they are leaked, they will have no food to eat.

I gave them enough sweetness, so that even if they lost their skills, they would still have a worry-free life. The effect was naturally nothing to say, not only the blast furnace, refined iron, salt fields, white goods, but also the flying machine that my nephew mentioned earlier. Shuttle and multi-joint spinning machines have now been produced with reliable finished products, but I am no longer interested. "

"Guarding this salt field, who can have other interests?" Zhou Yang could only smile helplessly. Who was the richest businessman in the feudal era?A three-year-old child knows that he is a salt merchant. Although silk and cloth can bring money, they are nothing compared to salt products. "If my second uncle is not interested, I might as well hand it over to the Jinling tribe. At least it will give them something to look forward to."

"My nephew, what he said is absolutely true!" It’s a headache!”

"Second uncle said that!" Zhou Yang smiled. Since it was handed over to the Xue family's eldest room, there was really no need for him to ask any more questions.

"Except for these things you call 'civilian', look at this -" Xue Xun took a matchlock gun from the guard behind him, "This is a method proposed by a master craftsman, using dark iron mixed with fine iron to create the ultimate A good drill bit drills out a qualified barrel in a carefully cast iron rod. Nowadays, such high-quality firearms are equipped with every guard.

And the special warships you mentioned are not doing well now, but I have already planned to install artillery on all the ships one after another, but the weapons can't keep up. As you said just now, this kind of small artillery is still not powerful enough , it is actually unaffordable to put it on the boat, so we can only wait until later. "

"Second uncle, just remember it." Zhou Yang said with a smile, "Nowadays, in the maritime realm of the Zhou Dynasty, no one can compare with the Xue family, at least not in a short period of time. This leaves enough time for development. New weapons, artillery, matchlock guns and even warships, etc., as long as there are no problems, these things will be solved sooner or later.

On the other hand, my nephew was originally worried that there would not be enough salt. Now it seems that the biggest problem is how to sell it. In the past, salt merchants were all in the south of the Yangtze River, and there were no big merchants in the north. My nephew mentioned it to Brother Tadou a few days ago. Her Royal Highness Princess Yongchang can eat a lot, what does the second uncle think? "

"What else is there? I gave it away a long time ago!" Xue Xun couldn't help but laugh, "It doesn't matter if you can establish a relationship with the royal family, even if you lose money; not to mention that half of the white goods made by drying salt are given away for free. The rest are making more money than before; the only problem is that our current shipment volume is too large, which has seriously affected the kitchen households and salt cooking plants in Jiangnan."

"This is an unavoidable fate. It will happen sooner or later." Zhou Yang didn't take it seriously. "Boiled salt should have been eliminated a long time ago. It's just that some people don't take human life seriously and squeeze the kitchen households desperately. All they earn is with their hands. The silver of blood; if it can be replaced by sun salt, it will actually save these poor people who have been working as cattle and horses all their lives.

The biggest problem is the identity of the second uncle. After selling such a huge amount of salt products, Jiangnan salt merchants usually have some brains and will not sit back and take action. How can the second uncle solve these problems? "

"What to solve? The Xue family's fleet sails across a vast area, from Japan and Goryeo to Annan, Siam, and Java. Some of these places are salt fields, and some are people trying to make money. We are just relying on the large volume of ships to earn some hard money. Forget it, who would like it? If you are really serious and have no eyesight, the Xue family’s firearms and artillery are not just decorations!"

"Have you ever done anything?" Zhou Yang asked with a smile.

"Otherwise, why do you think the Zhen family is so honest?" It’s the white goods from this salt factory!”

"It's not just the Zhen family, right?" Zhou Yang asked next.

"Of course there are other things - okay, let's not talk about these spoilers, Zhu'er just said, are you going to release thousands of households in August? Second uncle has nothing to give, if you need anything then, send someone to deliver the letter It’s fine to go to Jinling’s old house, and you don’t need to pay any money, as long as your place can be transported by water, I will definitely not miss it!” Xue Xun said proudly.

"In that case, thank you very much, uncle!" Zhou Yang smiled and bowed.

(End of this chapter)