Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 35 The art of making salt
Jia Xian brought Ye Chen to the back camp. While sending people to gather all the craftsmen in the general, he impatiently urged Ye Chen to write down the various tools and materials needed for salt making.And vowed to pat his chest, as long as Ye Chen is willing, the military craftsmen who participated in the manufacture of salt making tools can be sent to Ye Chen afterwards, and sign relevant contracts with Ye Chen.Guaranteed not to disclose the method of making any salt making tools.

Ye Chen nodded noncommittally, he didn't take this matter to heart, but showed a slight embarrassment on his face, thinking about another matter.

He knows most of the traditional characters, but he can hardly write them. On the other hand, his calligraphy is terrible. How dare he write and expose this matter.

After pondering for a while, Ye Chen pretended to be very casual and said: "Master Jia, I will dictate now, and Master Jia will write it down."

Jia Xian didn't care about this matter, he agreed immediately, and quickly prepared his pen and ink.

The military craftsmen who accompanied the army in the Song Dynasty were usually used to build siege equipment and repair various weapons and armor at any time. They were all experts from all walks of life requisitioned from the people.

Therefore, the speed of making salt-making tools is very fast, and the craftsmanship is much better than that of Ye Chen, who fumbled to make tools by himself. Under Ye Chen's guidance, it took half a day to make the tools Ye Chen said. It was built, and there were as many as ten sets.

These tools include sieves, iron pots, sackcloth, hammers, iron brazing, charcoal, wooden barrels and ten hand mills.

Ye Chen looked at the ten 'excellent' salt-making tools in front of him, and remembered that he was looking for and building a set of tools that were several times smaller than the ones in front of him, but it took him half a month to get them together.

At this time, Jia Xian walked towards Ye Chen from a distance with a young man wearing the uniform and armor of the commander of the Forbidden Army Battalion.

Ye Chen glanced at it, and there was surprise in his eyes. As the commander-in-chief of the entire army, Jia Xian was responsible for the distribution of logistics, military supplies and living supplies, although there was General Zhao Pu on it, but Jia Xian was in charge of all the specific operations, so Jia Xian had the authority. It is extremely heavy, and because of the mathematics, he is one of the best figures in the Song Dynasty, and he is arrogant.As far as Ye Chen knows, he doesn't pay much attention to ordinary generals below the fifth rank.But at this time, Jia Xian seemed to be quite polite to the people around him.

Ye Chen had already guessed that the person Jia Xian brought must have been sent by Zhao Kuangyin to cooperate with him in making salt, but seeing Jia Xian being so polite to him, he couldn't help feeling a little interested.

This man is six feet tall, with sharp eyes and a pair of sword eyebrows, with a pair of slightly delicate phoenix eyes. 23 looks like a four-year-old, and the overall appearance is heroic.In particular, this person's demeanor and demeanor are quite extraordinary, giving people the impression that his birth was definitely not simple.

And when Ye Chen saw this person, he felt a little familiar. After thinking about it for a while, he remembered that every time he followed Cao Bin to the imperial tent of the Chinese army to discuss matters, he could see this person with hundreds of personal soldiers outside the tent, firmly protecting the entire city. Royal account.

Obviously, this general of the forbidden army is the most trusted personal general around the emperor of Song Dynasty.

When the general of the Forbidden Army was five steps away from Ye Chen, he politely clasped his fists at Ye Chen and said, "Brother Ye! Next, Luo Yaoshun, the Commander of the Forbidden Army's Guards and Infantry, will bring two thousand for guards and five hundred Soldiers who participate in the salt production will obey Brother Ye from now on."

Ye Chen didn't dare to take it too seriously, so he hurriedly cupped his fists in return, and said, "General Luo, you are being polite. The three of us, General Luo and Mr. Jia, should complete the important task that His Majesty told you as soon as possible, which is the most important thing."

When Luo Yaoshun and Jia Xian heard Ye Chen mentioning the Son of Heaven, their expressions became solemn, and they expressed deep agreement with what Ye Chen said.

"Brother Ye! This General Luo is not an ordinary army commander, but a seventh-rank Lieutenant Yunqi. This honor can only be enjoyed by those who are closest to the official family." Jia Xian reminded Ye Chen attentively. .

Ye Chen was surprised. According to what he recently learned about the official and military system of the Great Song Dynasty, the military commander governed five battalions of soldiers and horses, and the battalion commander governed five capitals, each with 100 people.Ordinary army commanders are only from the seventh rank.And this one in front of him is actually a seventh rank, which shows that he is not an ordinary army commander.If it wasn't for his extraordinary family background, it would be because of his outstanding ability and great achievements, which made him quite optimistic and favored by Zhao Kuangyin.Therefore, there will be this honor.

Ye Chen is currently only a school lieutenant, equivalent to a squad leader in the army of later generations, not an officer.Not even graded.Although, he already expected that as long as he finished the salt making work well, he would jump through the dragon's gate afterwards, have an official position, and become a person with official status, and his grade should not be lower than Luo Yaoshun.

But Ye Chen is very self-aware, even if he really has the official status of the seventh rank, with his foundation in the Song Dynasty and the weight in Zhao Kuangyin's heart, I'm afraid he can't compare with Luo Yaoshun, unless he can make other great achievements.

Thinking in this way, Ye Chen feigned surprise on his face, clasped his fists to Luo Yaoshun, and said respectfully: "It turns out that Master Yunqi, I'm being polite."

Before Luo Yaoshun came, he had a detailed understanding of Ye Chen's background. He thought that such high-level disciples were all arrogant and difficult to deal with. Unexpectedly, Ye Chen was completely different from what he imagined, and he turned out to be very modest and cautious.

And he knew that Ye Chen would have an official status comparable to his in a short time, so before Ye Chen really bowed down, he took two quick steps, supported Ye Chen's arm, and said, "Brother Ye You are welcome, Ye Geer is a disciple of a master, the lack of salt in the army is no small matter, it is related to the victory or defeat of our army, Ye Geer can solve this matter, make a great contribution, after the incident, the government will reward you heavily, with Ye Geer's With this ability, it will definitely be a great success in my Great Song Dynasty."

Ye Chen, Luo Yaoshun, and Jia Xian led [-] forbidden soldiers, pulled ten sets of salt-making tools in a mule cart, and found a salt mine by the Fen River, more than ten miles away from the camp.

After Luo Yaoshun confirmed that this place was the final location according to Ye Chen, Dang even summoned the battalion commander and Dutou, and sent out a security post in front of Ye Chen and Jia Xian, allowing 2000 people to camp outside the salt mine. , and set up tents for the remaining 500 people, and firmly guarded the entire salt mine. The remaining 500 people are the personal guards around the emperor, and they will be under the command of Ye Chen to participate in the salt production.

The 500 people left behind by Luo Yaoshun were all burly men with martial arts skills. The road in front of the salt mine was difficult, and mules and carts could not pass through.Soon all the tools were transported to the salt mine.

Immediately following Ye Chen's order, under Luo Yaoshun's command, a field of four or five acres was quickly leveled out, the camp was settled, ten sets of tools and equipment were separated, and placed one by one according to the procedure.

Everyone looked at Ye Chen.

Ye Chen coughed lightly and said, "I believe Commander Luo has already told everyone about the importance of this matter, so I won't talk nonsense. Next, I will demonstrate the method of making salt first, and General Luo will designate each link in advance. Candidates. Everyone carefully watched, and the whole process will only be done once."

Including Luo Yaoshun and Jia Xian, when everyone heard the words, their expressions immediately turned solemn, their eyes widened to the maximum, and they stared at Ye Chen, and they felt that they were about to go to the battlefield to kill the enemy, and the lord would arrange the mission with awe and desolation. Feel it.

Ye Chen ignored the 'killing' eyes of the five hundred strong men, and said immediately: "The first link requires 100 people, divided into ten groups, ten people in each group, and people with strong strength and steady hands are needed. General Luo first picks out 100 people."

Luo Yaoshun was obviously very familiar with these 500 people, and immediately picked out 100 people to stand in the front and surround Ye Chen, while the other 400 people retreated to the back.

After the person selected, Ye Chen walked to a set of tools, picked up a shovel, and dug out a large block of salt weighing more than 20 kilograms from the nearby salt mine, then picked up a small hammer, and carefully ground into small particles.

After finishing these things, Ye Chen said: "This is the first link. It will be done by 100 of you. There are ten sets of tools in total. Every ten of you will supply one set of tools."

Then Ye Chen signaled the hundred soldiers to retreat outside, and said to Luo Yaoshun, "General Luo, please choose another hundred soldiers with strong endurance."

Luo Yaoshun immediately picked out another 100 people quickly, and let them surround Ye Chen as before, while the others all backed away again.

Then, Ye Chen poured the salt mine that had just been smashed into small particles into the stone mill, and began to turn the stone mill by hand, and the brown mineral powder slowly overflowed from the edge of the stone mill.

After more than 20 catties of salt were all ground into mineral powder, Ye Chen stopped and said: "This is the second link, which will be done by 100 of you, just like before, you will supply a set of tools for each group of ten. Hmm... General Luo, please choose another hundred soldiers who are more careful in their work."

This time, without waiting for Ye Chen's order, Luo Yao asked the 100 people to step aside first, and then quickly selected 100 people.

When the 100 people gathered around, Ye Chen put the ore powder into the wooden barrel, added water, and stirred it with a wooden stick to let the salt fully dissolve into the water. When the solution was saturated, he poured it into another wooden barrel covered with a double layer of sackcloth. After a while, the sackcloth was covered with gray-black slag.After removing the sackcloth, the solution in the barrel turned brown and became lighter in color, but there were still many impurities. A wooden barrel was covered with four layers of sackcloth, and filtered again, leaving a light red solution.

This link is a little more complicated, Ye Chen explained carefully while doing it, making sure that everyone really understands how to do it.

The latter two links are relatively simple, Ye Chen just asked the remaining 200 people to be randomly divided into two groups.Let 100 people gather around first, and then start the demonstration again.

"Now that the impurities have been filtered out, it's time to detoxify. The detoxification process is divided into two steps. 100 of you are responsible for the first step. Everyone pay attention." Ye Chen said.

As soon as the words fell, Ye Chen took a huge funnel, smashed some charcoal into pieces, then wrapped the charcoal grains with four layers of linen cloth and stuffed them into the funnel, squeezing them tightly.

"This is the fourth link, which is also the first step of detoxification. It is relatively simple, but it is also extremely important. Don't make any mistakes, otherwise all previous efforts will be wasted." Ye Chen said lightly, but the 100 people were With a chill in their hearts, many people were even a little nervous, and began to carefully recall every action Ye Chen made just now.

Ye Chen ignored them and asked the last 100 people to come up, saying: "The last link is also very simple, but it is the most important step in the entire salt-making process. Everyone, pay attention."

Speaking of this, Ye Chen fixed the funnel stuffed with four layers of linen cloth and charcoal grains on the shelf, poured the solution in the second stage into the funnel, and after a while, the light blue solution slowly flowed out, and Ye Chen picked it up. Taste it, yes, only salty, no bitterness.

Ye Chen felt relieved, thinking that this method can only be regarded as the crudest method in future generations. Although some salt was lost in the process, it can guarantee that the boiled salt is absolutely edible.

Then he set up a firewood pot and poured the solution into the pot to boil.

After finishing all this, he stood up and said, "Just wait now, when the pot is boiled dry, the rest will be salt."

Everyone watched the solution bubbling and bubbling in the pot, their eyes widened, waiting for the result to be revealed.

The water in the pot gradually evaporated, leaving a thick blue-colored hard shell at the bottom of the pot. The firewood was removed, and a piece was broken off from the pot and still stuck in the mouth.

"Well, it's not bad, the salt is ready. That's the process. Commander Luo! Let's start according to the division of labor just now! The army is still waiting for salt to eat!" Ye Chen rubbed his slightly numb waist and said.

At this time, Ye Chen realized that the scene was already silent, and everyone looked at him with admiration in their eyes.

Jia Xian and Luo Yaoshun also stepped forward quickly, broke off a piece from the pot and put it in their mouths, with intoxicated expressions on their faces.

"This...it's salt! I've never seen such clean salt, without any bitterness. To tell you the truth, Ye Geer, the salt used in the next family is the same as the salt used in the palace, but I have never seen it so clean. And there is no salt with the slightest bitter taste. Brother Ye is indeed an expert disciple, and he can learn such a secret technique." Luo Yaoshun looked at Ye Chen with a very different gaze, and said with some emotion.

(End of this chapter)