All Heavens: Get the Nine Swords at the start

Chapter 251 Salt and Iron

Salt was an indispensable thing in people's life in ancient times.

If you have to make a comparison, the ancient table salt is to the rulers of the feudal dynasty what coal is to the first industrial revolution and oil is to the second industrial revolution.

There are three main sources of ancient table salt:

[-]. Sea salt, dig out connected square grids on the low and flat beach, and use the salt drying method to obtain table salt.

[-]. Boiling salt, the salt wells in Zigong, Sichuan are the most famous.

[-]. Salt lakes, such as: there is a "Chaka Salt Lake" in Qinghai, which stretches as far as the eye can see, full of crystal clear salt, which can be eaten after being dug out and treated briefly.

The Qin State, which is backed by the Qinling Mountains and located in the land of Guanzhong, is obviously not a salt-producing area. First, it is not close to the sea, so it cannot obtain salt from sea water. Second, there is no salt lake in the territory to provide a large amount of salt.

The salt of the Qin State mainly comes from the northwestern part of the border between Gansu and Qinghai. In addition to the Chaka Salt Lake, there are many small salt lakes, and the salt produced in the mountains of Longnan, which is the main source of salt for the Qin State.

The loss during the transportation, and some unscrupulous merchants deliberately raised the price of salt in Qin State, which caused the price of salt in Qin State to remain high. For this, the court has been helpless. In addition, the war is imminent, and these people are needed to provide salt for Qin State’s huge army , Ying Zheng could only hold his nose and bear it.

Regarding this matter, Li Ming also noticed it not long ago. After learning that the State of Qin was in urgent need of salt, Li Ming tried to make salt by himself by using the brine salt extraction method mentioned in the previous life book.

After repeated experiments, after confirming that it was correct, Li Ming recorded the method in the silk script and handed it over to Ying Zheng at this opportunity.

Bitter salt is very common. It is found in almost every mountain forest. Herbivores such as cattle, sheep and horses usually rely on licking bittern salt to replenish salt. This thing looks like a stone, so it is also called cattle Sheep lick bricks.

Because there are too many impurities in it, this kind of salt is not suitable for human consumption. Only some poor people who cannot afford to sell table salt will eat these brine salt in small amounts.

In ancient times, many civilians died of poisoning from eating brine salt every year, which also shows the importance of salt in ancient times.

Therefore, it is not difficult to understand that Ying Zheng was solemn after seeing the method of refining bittern salt.

"Mr. is a great talent. Ying Zheng thanked Mr. Qin on behalf of the people of Qin!"

Ying Zheng stood up solemnly and saluted Li Ming.

"Your Majesty, don't do this."

Li Ming quickly stood up and helped him.

After the two sat down again, Ying Zheng saw that there was a long paragraph of text behind the marinated salt method, and couldn't help but read it seriously.

"Thus, the method of extracting brine salt can temporarily alleviate the situation of Qin's salt shortage, but it cannot completely solve the problem..."

In the follow-up, several methods of refining table salt, including sea salt, etc., were written by Li Ming.

Although these methods have not been tested, they are much more advanced than the current refining technology. In the future, the unification of Qin will definitely be used.

These are just appetizers, and the follow-up content is the most important.

The problem of salt is solved, and the problem of weapons comes down.

Although bronze is strong, but it is too rigid and easy to break, the weapons made should not be too long, and most of them are mainly straight stabs, not suitable for chopping...

Li Ming first listed the defects of bronze products, which is indeed the case. Except for top weapons such as famous swords, weapons made of bronze are generally short, because they are too rigid and easy to break, and weapons are too long and lack toughness. It will break if you are not careful.

Although there is a method of making iron, it is not yet mature and can only be used in a small range, and cannot be popularized on a large scale.

Even in the Han Dynasty, when iron weapons were mature, they were only popularized in the army, and bronze products were still used by the people. It was not until the Tang and Song Dynasties that iron farm tools became popular among the people.

What is mentioned in the silk script is the crucible iron smelting method of the Western Han Dynasty. The time between the two dynasties was not long. With the national strength of the Qin Dynasty, this method can be applied immediately.

Behind it is the hydraulic blast furnace of the Eastern Han Dynasty, that is, water row steelmaking.

Of course, the subsequent steel pouring method is also included, but Li Ming doesn't know much about it, so he can only write down this method according to the scriptures, and the remaining steps need to be continuously tested and perfected by craftsmen.

After explaining the method of ironmaking, there are still some design drawings of classic weapons of later generations on the silk book. These are all copied by Li Ming from memory. There is no specific design plan, and it also needs to be perfected by craftsmen's experiments.

Huanshou Dao, Mo Dao, Tang Dao, etc. are all listed.

In addition to the classic weapons in history, Li Ming also listed the classic European cuirassier cuirassiers and supporting weapons.

Although the cuirassier is a product of the West, it has to be said that this kind of cavalry is indeed powerful. It was still able to look down on the European battlefield where the arquebus was popular. It was not until the emergence of automatic weapons that the cuirassier completely withdrew from the stage of history.

Since it is a good thing, why bother about other things, as long as it can help China expand its territory.

As for, behind the breastplate, there are some historical classic farm tools, such as Quyuan plow and so on.

How could Li Ming forget these agricultural tools that can increase the output of the land to a certain extent.

Before bringing back high-yield crops such as potatoes and sweet potatoes, wheat and millet were the crops that people ate the most.

Even if these things are brought back, crops such as wheat are the main source of food for farmers. Only in times of disaster, potatoes and sweet potatoes will be considered as the staple food.

Therefore, the Quyuan plow, which can save a lot of labor, is particularly important.

Ying Zheng couldn't help being immersed in the various tools and their functions described in the silk script for a while, unable to extricate himself for a long time, until he saw the end of the article, Ying Zheng couldn't help but become serious again.

Yantie official camp.

In fact, Yantie Guanying had a precedent in the Spring and Autumn Period. At the beginning, Guan Zhong proposed the "Official Mountains and Seas" policy.

That is to say, salt and iron were monopolized together, and Qin State actually implemented salt and iron official management to a certain extent after Shang Yang's reform, which was also one of the main sources of Qin State's finances.

Since Li Ming proposed the Yantie official camp, it is naturally impossible to be the same as Shang Jun's Yantie official camp.

Li Ming’s proposal for the official operation of salt and iron is to distribute the production of salt and iron to the people and let the people produce it themselves. Of course, the people can only produce it and have no right to trade it privately. Once discovered, it will be decisive.

The salt and iron produced by the folk must be handed over to the government for unified purchase, and then sold by the government.

This is also to protect the people at the bottom. Without this layer of protection, how could ordinary people be the opponents of the landlords and wealthy families.

And Yingzheng has a series of high-yield salt and iron production methods proposed by Li Ming in his hands. How can these aristocratic families who want to take advantage of the opportunity to make profits, nobles and powerful, be Yingzheng's opponents.

Only relying on the price war can make these people completely lose interest in salt and iron. At this time, the salt and iron made by the people will naturally have a way out.

It can also provide people at the bottom with one more way to earn income during a disaster year.

……

(End of this chapter)