xymnovel Chapter 127 The Birth of Refined Salt
Chapter 127 The Birth of Refined Salt
Looking at the pile of weapons and equipment on the ground, which resembled a small mountain, Tian Feng and his companion were speechless.
They truly hadn't expected that Yuan Shao had made preparations all along.
Although I don't know where this equipment came from, none of that matters.
As long as the army's combat effectiveness is maintained, Li Zhao's plan will fail.
Instead, they received an endless supply of food!
That's brilliant!
"Now that you're here, I'll show you what...real gains really mean!" Yuan Shao said smugly.
Then, he took the two men again and inspected all the granaries in the area.
After seeing and touching the millet piled high in the granary.
The last vestiges of doubt in Tian Feng and Ju Shou's hearts were completely dispelled.
The two men didn't say a word, but simply bowed respectfully to Yuan Shao before leaving.
Watching them leave, Yuan Shao finally couldn't help but burst into laughter.
It's really not easy to convince these two old guys.
Turning his head to look at the weapons and equipment piled up on the training ground, Yuan Shao's eyes flickered.
He knew very well that these were all things that looked good but were useless.
nowadays.
Most of the supplies in Bingzhou were exchanged for food.
The reason they were able to create these impressive-looking things was because they collected all sorts of iron tools from ordinary people, which barely allowed them to reach this scale.
This situation cannot continue indefinitely. How can we break this deadlock?
He thought of Gongsun Zan again!
This old fellow once commanded a large army, so his stockpile of weapons and equipment must be enormous.
What's even more remarkable is that...
Youzhou also has abundant iron ore, so refining iron is by no means a problem.
It all depends on how to win over Gongsun Zan and get him to cooperate with us!
After much deliberation, Yuan Shao thought of Zhang Yang again. This man had no deep-seated hatred for Gongsun Zan and was a local figure in Bingzhou.
If he were to bring the benefits, there might still be room for negotiation.
He could also take the things meant for Cao Cao to Gongsun Zan, without losing anything himself.
Wonderful!
That's a good idea!
Having made up his mind, he immediately sent someone to find Zhang Yang...
……
Ye City.
The backyard of the governor's mansion.
At this time, a large crowd had gathered, including Chen Gong, Xu Shu, and others who had just arrived.
Even Lu Bu and Zhao Yun took advantage of their free time to come here.
The reason is simple: Li Zhao has started tinkering with new gadgets again!
A large pot has been set up against the wall in the backyard.
There was dry firewood piled up below, and a big fire was burning something.
"What is the lord doing?" Chen Gong was a little confused, but dared not disturb him, so he looked at Xu Shu beside him and asked.
Xu Shu waved his hand, fanning away the smoke that drifted towards him.
Without saying a word, he casually pointed to Lü Bu not far away.
He then noticed that there were several dark-skinned laborers wearing straw sandals beside Lü Bu.
They stood there too, craning their necks to watch the spectacle.
This kind of scene could only be witnessed by Li Zhao.
"That looks like...that looks like someone transporting something!" Chen Gong muttered to himself.
After a slight hesitation, he walked directly towards Lü Bu.
Xu Shu, on the other hand, was very decisive and immediately followed, having been waiting for this moment.
Approaching Lü Bu, Chen Gong gently patted his shoulder, "Fengxian..."
"What are you doing, my lord?"
After the two arrived, the laborers who had been standing around them quickly and sensibly retreated.
He found a suitable spot and continued to watch Li Zhao's every move.
Lu Bu turned and saw the two men, explaining softly, "Our lord had underground brine brought from Qingzhou, and coarse salt from the North Sea!"
"As for the specifics of what will be done, we don't know yet!"
Xu Shu chimed in, "What has our lord done? We arrived too late and didn't see what happened ahead!"
At this moment, Zhao Yun, who was not far away, also came over. After hearing his words, he took the initiative to explain, "Our lord first put the coarse salt that was delivered into a pot with water and boiled it!"
"Then I got a bunch of charcoal and wood ash, and dumped it all in at once."
"To be honest, seeing so much salt, wood ash, and charcoal being cooked together really makes me feel a little sorry for them..."
That's not his fault; in this day and age, salt is an essential commodity.
Especially in the military, even the coarsest salt is highly sought after.
Soldiers in the army consume too much salt every day, and if they cannot replenish it in time, their bodies will soon break down.
and so.
Salt is an extremely precious resource, which is why Zhao Yun felt it was a pity.
Lu Bu sighed, "Only our lord could be so wasteful!"
"If it were us... no, we wouldn't do that!"
"No!" Xu Shu shook his head. "Based on my understanding of our lord, he wouldn't easily do something so wasteful."
"Since it was done, there must be a deeper meaning!"
"Let's take a look first..."
While they were discussing in hushed tones, Li Zhao had already started to move.
Zhao Yun reacted the fastest, immediately leading his men to help.
Pour the water out of the pot again and filter it through gauze and a bamboo funnel.
After all the brine has been filtered repeatedly, pour it back into the pot and continue to boil it over high heat.
The whole process lasted for more than an hour. In the end, everyone except Xu Shu and a few others had left.
Watching the spectacle briefly is fine, but they wouldn't dare linger in front of those important figures for more than that long.
If you accidentally offend them, losing your job would be a terrible thing.
Seeing the large pot emitting blue smoke, Xu Shu and the others also went closer.
All I saw was...
The water in the pot had evaporated, leaving only a thick layer of crystals.
"Don't just stand there, bring the pestle and mortar over..." Li Zhao waved his hand.
Zhao Yun and Lü Bu worked in unison, bringing over the pestle, mortar, and millstone.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Li Zhao slowly ground the crystals into powder and then carefully dried them.
Only then did they realize what Li Zhao had gone to so much trouble for.
The coarse salt that was originally yellowish and contained impurities has now turned into snow-white and fine salt.
Even on the surface, the huge difference is obvious!
"My lord, this...this is..." Zhao Yun stared at the finely ground salt, speechless with shock for a long time.
Just over an hour ago, he was still feeling bad that so much salt had been wasted.
I never expected this.
In this way, coarse salt was transformed directly into such beautiful fine salt.
"I was too busy before and never had a chance to try it, but now it seems this method really works!"
"Qingzhou is by the sea and has abundant underground saltwater. In the future, we can use this method to produce fine salt on a large scale so that our people can also enjoy the benefits, right?" Li Zhao said with a smile.
Although he spoke lightly, everyone present understood how important this was.
Suddenly.
Everyone except Li Zhao was kneeling on one knee...
……