C174 Salt and the Lifeline of the Nation

Although Xiao Wen's food was very sumptuous, having meat and food, he could even eat some pickled vegetables. In ancient times, where there was no refrigerator and no unseasonable vegetables, it was a good life.

Xiao Wen even spent a huge sum of money to buy a bottle of whale oil to replenish his vitamins.

Although Xiao Wen, the five little fellows and Li Zi Cheng, a young man, had a good life, the other guards were not as good.

The guards who were out hunting today were alright, they were all given half a roasted rabbit – the other half would be taken away by the chef to smoke as a reserve.

Those guards who did not go out, or who gained nothing after leaving, could only eat the smoked meat and drink the porridge cooked by the millet.

This was something that they could only eat during festivals in the past.

"Only when I am with Young Master will I be able to make a huge meal of myself!" A guard said with his loud voice to Xiao Wen.

As he said this, he even picked up a bowl of wine and paid his respects to Xiao Wen.

Xiao Wen also raised his glass and politely responded to the guard.

"Speaking of which, Cloud City is far away from the coast, and also far away from Shu County. Where did Mister get so much salt from?" The sensitive Zhuge Liang looked at Xiao Wen. He knew that the reason why everyone was able to be so big was because there were a total of five carriages in the caravan, each with two hundred catties of salt.

Zhuge Liang didn't understand. Every year, the merchants that came and went through the clouds rarely sold salt here.

Every year, in the Cloud County, the amount of salt traded was not even enough for the people there to eat every day.

Many poor families are weak because of a chronic salt deficiency in their diet.

But capital pursues benefits from birth.

In the eyes of those merchants that sold salt, as farmers, the citizens of the cloud did not need that much salt, so it was difficult for them to sell it for a good price.

But nomads were different.

The need of the herdsmen for salt was urgent.

For not only the herdsmen themselves, but also their cattle and sheep, need salt to keep them healthy.

Without salt, their milk production would definitely be reduced.

It could be said that to the herdsmen, salt was equivalent to fertilizer to the farmers.

Because there weren't many salt mines in the Inner Mongolia Great Prairie, the salt needed by the herdsmen was largely dependent on the imports of the merchants of the South.

Therefore, if the merchants were to transport the salt to the grasslands north of the clouds, although there would be some dangers, the profits from selling the salt would also increase by several times.

As a result, Xiao Wen Ming saw that due to the war this year, Shang Jia did not head north, but the herdsmen were anxious about the situation with salt. They took the opportunity to prepare a large amount of salt, planning to make a fortune on the way to Dragon City.

However, this salt was not produced by craftsmen in Song and Ming countries near the sea, but was slightly bitter due to the poor treatment process.

It was also not produced in the Han State of Shu, and was regarded as the well salt of luxury goods that only nobles could afford.

Considering that Zhuge Liang would also be managing the country's internal affairs in the future, Xiao Wen didn't hide his craftsmanship.

He said magnanimously, "Do you remember the salt I bought earlier, which was used to make ice?"

"Of course." Back when Xiao Wen had yet to reach great heights, he had worked as an ice maker for He Shen.

At that time, Zhuge Liang had also helped a lot.

"Only," Zhuge Liang said hesitantly, "Sir, those salts can be made into ice, but they cannot be eaten!"

That salt was Xiao Wen's way through Heshen, from the west of Han and even from the Qin.

Zhuge Liang knew very well that although there was a lot of salt in the west, it could not be eaten even once.

"That's poison salt, you can't eat it. If you eat that salt, you'll die from diarrhea, not to mention the fact that you'll turn purple from eating that thing." Zhuge Liang said.

Saying this, he paused before continuing, "I have also seen the well salt of Shu County, but even that salt is not as pure as the salt that Teacher made."

Xiao Wen nodded.

Nitrate and phosphorus potassium impurities in salt mines.

If someone were to eat these impurities together, they would be courting death.

Maybe it will last for a while. But it would be strange if the body did not turn purple after eating too much phosphorus and potassium.

Later on, Xiao Wen had seen calcium supplements, iron supplements, nitrate supplements, phosphorus and potassium supplements.

However, Xiao Wen said sincerely, "Xiao Liang! That salt mine really can't be eaten like this. In fact, the poison salt needed to be crushed, dissolved, filtered, and analyzed. Only the human eat the salt would be crystallized in the end. It was just like some medicinal herbs that were poisonous, but after special processing, they would become non-toxic and could even cure illnesses. This salt was also reasonable. "Everything in this world is prepared for humans. As long as you find the right method and find the right one, everything in this world can be used. It is just a small path in the art of salt making."

Zhuge Liang nodded in deep agreement.

In fact, this wasn't the first time Xiao Wen had instilled this thought into Zhuge Liang.

Xunzi Day: A gentleman is born different from others, and is good at things.

In fact, the reason why humans were able to become the top organisms of the food chain was because they possessed the production tools to make themselves capable of doing things that they were originally unable to do.

This was also the reason why humans were able to continuously develop.

Xiao Wen needed Zhuge Liang to understand this principle. It was only with this knowledge that he would know that developing productivity was an important way of promoting national development.

And because of this, only after Zhuge Liang became the Prime Minister was he able to accomplish something great.

"Sigh, what a pity." After listening to Xiao Wen talk about the secret recipe for making salt, Zhuge Liang didn't have any reaction. On the other hand, Yang Xiu and Sun Shangxiang had regretful expressions on their faces.

"What are you guys sighing about?" Looking at their expressions, Xiao Wen was puzzled.

Yang Xiu looked at Xiao Wen with disdain, as if he was a country bumpkin that didn't care about the world.

Only then did he slowly explain, "If Sir's secret recipe had been announced earlier, perhaps His Majesty would not have been in a hurry to attack the country. Furthermore, even if we have to beat up Liaoning Province, we will not be controlled by Zhao Kuangyin, that dog, the Song Emperor. "

On the other side, Sun Shangxiang also said: "Although salt is a type of seasoning for nobles, it is a good thing for soldiers to strengthen and strengthen their bodies. Unfortunately, although the well salt of the Shu County is good, the output of it is very low. Just the nobles who are satisfied with my strength have already used up most of it. "Not to mention those merchants who, in order to make money, sell salt abroad despite the emptiness of the domestic salt market."

"However, most of the salt that our people and soldiers eat is from sea salt cooked in coastal countries like Song Ming."

"One of the reasons why His Majesty is going to the Kingdom of Liaoning is to raise the domestic economy. On the other hand, it was also for the sake of connecting Han and Song Ming countries so that sea salt could be transported inland more easily. Furthermore, when the Song Emperor was trying to tempt His Majesty, he had proposed to increase his luck by three times every year. For the sake of the bodies of the soldiers, His Majesty chose to go on an expedition to the State of Liaoning. "

Hearing this, Xiao Wen sighed.

He was just a small technology that could improve his life. In this era where he was behind in productivity, he was actually able to influence a country's lifeline.

At this moment, a voice sounded from outside the camp.

"Listen, people inside, hand over your money. I guarantee you that your lives will be fine. Otherwise, this grandpa will kill all of you! "