Johime Three Kingdoms

Chapter 173 The Magic of Salt
Wu County, Wu County, when Bai Tu was presiding over the overall situation in Huainan, many representatives of the major aristocratic families were invited to Wu County.

Lu Kang, Yu Fan, Zhang Zhao and others who worked in General Cheqi's Mansion also came to the salt field in Wuxian County to participate in the "salt viewing" ceremony - nominally allowing everyone to visit the salt produced in General Cheqi's Mansion.

In fact, a few days ago, I said that I would show you the salt, but it was delayed for a while, which made the few companies who originally regarded "millions of rock salt" as a joke think it was a tactic to delay the attack.

However, the reason why the name is placed on today is because today is the day when Gan Ning led the sea fleet into the sea to fish.

After that, I also ask everyone to actively use food to buy fish to save people...

As the wealthy onlookers who didn't know the truth, they all expressed disdain for Bai Tu's action, secretly believing that it was "official begging" and just wanted them to "contribute" a little.

They knew that the first batch of ships launched in Kuaiji had arrived near Wuxian County, but... how much fishing could be caught?As for inviting them over seriously?

However, Bai Tu is now the "master" of Jiangdong, and the Lu family, the Zhang family, the Yu family, the Wei family... these noble families are now willing to carry the sedan chair for the general's palace, and other wealthy families must follow closely.

He secretly scolded Bai Tu for "begging", but in fact he still came here with a heartbreaking amount of money in mind.

When they arrived at the warehouse outside the salt farm, they mysteriously asked everyone to wait until the right time - after all, this was the first time the salt farm opened its doors.

Of course, only the outer warehouses are allowed to enter.

At this time, Pang Tong reluctantly greeted representatives of major aristocratic families outside.

Since being reused by Bai Tu, Pang Tong has become less and less willing to deal with other people. In contrast, he prefers to spend his time swimming in the ocean of knowledge.

If Pang Tong before had low self-esteem and stubbornly wanted to be recognized by others because of his appearance, then Pang Tong now has a bit of "everyone is drunk, but I (and my teacher) are sober." .

Others didn't know Pang Tong's talents. When they saw his appearance, they looked down on him. This was still the late Eastern Han Dynasty. When the "Wei and Jin style" became popular, ugly people were considered dead, but judging people by their appearance has been a tradition since ancient times. Of.

But when everyone saw that Lu Kang, Yu Fan and others were very polite to Pang Tong, and that the latter was neither arrogant nor impetuous even when facing Lu Kang, people began to take it seriously. .

As important members of the Sixth Department of the General's Mansion, Lu Kang and others naturally know some inside information...

It is said that this young man who looks... quite strange is the candidate for the most mysterious "Ministry of Industry" among the six ministries that Duke Bai prefers!
Therefore, no matter how much salt you can see today, there is no need to offend Pang Tong...

After Pang Tong exchanged greetings with several important representatives, he gave a short speech that was neither salty nor cold, and then said directly: "Thank you for taking the time from your busy schedule to attend the first release of the General Mansion Salt Field. Salt, you can follow me into the warehouse to view the salt. If you are interested in cooperation, you can inquire about the 'Yan Yin' matter. If you are not interested, you can sit here for a while and wait until the afternoon to go to Prefect Gan to buy fish."

Asking the prefect to buy fish...sounds weird!

But now, Pang Tong feels like he has returned to his original nature. He is gradually less interested in the sophistication of people and speaks more and more straightforwardly.

Zheng Xing, one of the seventeen salt sellers in Wu County, listened in the back and secretly laughed in his heart: "Yan Yin?"How much salt can you have?Pay back the salt... tsk tsk.

Now they also know what the "salt guide" that the General's Mansion is going to launch is, it is a voucher for getting salt at the official salt field!
The salt farm does not sell salt directly. You need to go to the government to buy salt. Naturally, the salt tax already includes the "salt tax."

Afterwards, with Pang Tong leading the way, a group of representatives from aristocratic families arrived at what looked like a large warehouse.

I saw...mountains of salt that looked like hills, whiter and more shiny than boiled salt!
In a warehouse, there are probably fifty or sixty salt mountains as tall as two people.

Just seeing this is not enough to make people's hearts tremble. At least seventeen major salt merchants have seen this scene.

But you know, there are twenty more warehouses like this here!

"Shi" is a unit of volume, usually filled with a container carved from a large stone. When it is full, it is "one stone".

Therefore, in terms of weight, one stone of salt is half to twice as heavy as one stone of rice.

Now Pang Tong has produced two batches of sea salt, totaling 200 million stones, divided into 1500 warehouses. Each warehouse contains about 2000 to [-] cubic meters of salt...

This is a bit scary, almost twice the total annual output of [-] companies.

"No, it's impossible! It must be fake!"

"There should be...other things inside, right?"

"Haha, I heard that this is how Dong Zhuo entered Luoyang..."

After a brief period of surprise, more and more doubts began to circulate in private.

Using straw to "disguise" food and grass and using less to make up for more is not a new thing. For example, Dong Zhuo, who brought disaster to Luoyang a few years ago, when he first entered Luoyang, Liangzhou soldiers were not much more numerous than Luoyang's guards.

However, after accepting Li Ru's advice, Liangzhou soldiers began to swagger into the city during the day and quietly leave the city at night. After a few days of confusion, it made people feel that Dong Zhuo had brought hundreds of thousands of cavalry and was actually being bluffed. He deceived the Dukes of Gungun and incorporated Luoyang's tiger guards...

Upon thinking of this, although everyone was still a little surprised, they gradually calmed down.

At the same time, what was going on in my mind was that I was also worried about Pang Tong...or rather, what was Bai Tu doing this for?
Do you want to use "fake salt" to recruit our salt fields just like Dong Zhuo recruited the imperial guards?

They had already seen through Bai Tu's "treacherous plot", but... what if Bai Tu directly used violence?
It’s hard to say that some blood will still be shed, please be safe!
But at this moment, Pang Tong took the initiative and said: "Many of you here know a lot about salt..."

"Don't dare, don't dare!" No one dared to agree. After all, smuggling salt in name is a serious crime.

"Oh, it's okay. I invite you all to come here today because I want to learn and communicate with you. What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of the salt in this warehouse and the salt in other warehouses compared to the salt you... know about? Later, you can I’ll give you enough time to taste it, and don’t worry about messing up the salt pile. Please feel free to do so,” Pang Tong said.

Obviously Pang Tong also understood what these people were thinking, and in order to dispel their doubts, he directly let them go for inspection.

"Ahem, Dr. Pang, how about we go to the side hall to have tea? Dr. Pang has important responsibilities. He is usually a little distant from us colleagues. We just happened to keep in touch today." Yu Fan said at this time.

Naturally, Yu Fan and the others would not do such a trivial matter as testing the salt themselves. There are responsible clan members in the clan.

Pang Tong didn't want to stay here long, lest other people would be unable to let go - and he didn't have to watch, just let these dozens of people eat secretly, how much could they eat?

"That's fine." Pang Tong actually wanted to study more, but...thinking of the heavy responsibility the teacher had given him, he decided to sacrifice some happy study time.

In the eyes of Lu Kang and others, Dr. Pang, a young man from the Ministry of Industry, is a symbol of being dull in "observing things" and neglecting human relations. After a brief contact, this stereotype has been further deepened.

But considering the nature of Pang Tong's official position...maybe this kind of person is needed?

When we went to have tea and chat, the experienced Zhang Zhao wanted to guide the topic so that Dr. Pang would not be too lonely...

Unexpectedly, after gradually regaining his former state, Pang Yi lost his previous dull appearance. Apart from his facial features, from his dress to his words and deeds, he really looked like a gentleman.

Whether he was talking about elegance or commenting on current affairs, Pang Tong was not afraid at all.

Even when Zhang Zhao was led to reveal some government information, Pang Tong was able to respond.

Moreover, most of the people present could tell that Pang Tong was not just a scholar who could only talk on paper, but had real talent and practical knowledge!

Zhou Shang was also present at this time. Although the Zhou family was theoretically a family in Shu County, Lujiang and not in Jiangdong, now because of Zhou Yu, the focus was gradually tilting to Jiangdong.

Zhou Shang felt a little complicated when he thought of the "Dr. Pang" in front of him. It was said that he was originally under his nephew's hands. After being depressed and frustrated, he was personally interviewed by Bai Tu.

Among many grassroots officials, this is an inspiring story that many people know.

In fact, Zhou Shang can also understand that Zhou Yu, who has always been a good judge of people, actually missed the reason for Pang Tong this time - his appearance!
As Zhou Yu's close uncle, Zhou Shang also knows one of his secrets, that is, Zhou Yu possesses the legendary Heavenly Book, which is "Book of Heaven Volume Seven·Phases".

Moreover, after Zhou Yu obtained the "Phase Scroll" at an early age, he tended to apply his own understanding of "Phase". As he grew older, Zhou Lang, who had been cute since childhood, became more and more "beautiful".

At the same time...even his luck and intelligence were affected by his appearance and gradually improved.

Moreover, Zhou Yu's ability to recognize people is based more on "observation of physical appearance", so... it is normal for him to miss Pang Tong.

At the same time, Zhou Shang even secretly speculated that Pang Tong might also possess the Book of Heaven - Zhou Yu's "observation of appearance" is not just based on appearance. "Visions in life must have supernatural powers." It is only within the recognition range of "observation of appearance", and the result of being able to interfere with "observation of appearance" shows that... Pang Tong probably also possesses the Book of Heaven.

As time went by, while everyone was amazed at Pang Tong's versatility, they also gradually realized some other things.

For example... Pang Tong's attitude was very relaxed, and he had no intention of bringing the topic to Guanyan, as if he was waiting for the results of other people's inspections.

Could it be...

A guess that does not conform to the basic logic gradually emerged in the minds of Lu Kang and others.

Two full hours passed, and Lu Kang's old kidneys couldn't bear the tea. After going to the toilet several times, Pang Tong finally took everyone to see the "experts" who tested the salt.

When I came to the warehouse again, I could see that many of the original salt mountains had been razed to the ground. The surrounding salt workers looked at the guys who had inspected them with some resentment. The other nineteen warehouses also had signs of inspection.

As for the result?

The gray and defeated faces and dazed expressions have already explained the final result!
200 million rock salt, all real...

(End of this chapter)