The wind on the beach is particularly strong, which can easily blow the clouds and spread them, so it will not maintain a certain weather for a long time. It was rainy yesterday, but today it was a sunny day with sunshine.

Xu Jin went to the salt field early in the morning, accompanied by Zhu Wan and others. In order to facilitate the collection of seawater and boiling salt, the salt field was built on the open tidal flats by the sea, digging ground to make a pond, and sucking seawater into it for later use.

For example, the Fu'an Salt Field in front of me dug a lot of reservoirs. Looking around, the salt workers were running back and forth with wooden barrels. Not far from the reservoir, rows of straw sheds were built, and salt stoves were built under the straw sheds. Nearly a hundred salt stoves were fired to boil salt at the same time, but the flames were blazing and thick smoke was rolling, and the scene was very spectacular.

It is said that the fuel used by the stoves to cook salt is all plants and trees, so it is very hot. The ash is very large, and it is blown by the strong sea breeze, and it is suddenly filled with water. Xu Jin just strolled in the salt field for a short while, and a thin layer of ash fell on his official robe. Xu Hui, judge of the Salt Transport Department, cleverly led the group to the upper wind area.

Xu Jin dusted the ash on his official robe and frowned and asked, "Judge Xu, hasn't the salt drying method in our court yet?"

Xu Hui smiled and said, "I have it since the Emperor's Officer. The salt drying method has been in place since the Song Dynasty. Now, the salt drying method in Fujian is used in the salt farms."

Xu Jin couldn't help but say, "Then why do you still use the backward salt cooking method here?"

Xu Hui's eyes flashed and explained: "The imperial envoy didn't know. Although the salt drying method is simpler and easier and the output is much larger, the salt drying method also has shortcomings, that is, the salt produced is too coarse and the quality is far less than that of the salt boiled in an iron pot [Didaxs www.didaxs.info], so the salt farms in Lianghuai and Liangzhe have always used the method of cooking salt."

Xu Jin's sword eyebrows couldn't help but frown. This explanation seemed to make sense, but in fact it was nonsense. You should know that the salt drying method is much more advanced than the salt boiling method, which saves time, effort and costs, and the output can be increased N times. Even if the salt dried out is too coarse, can't be filtered and purified again? Anyway, there is not much technical content. Those who know the salt drying method should also know how to purify it.

At this time, Zhu Wan pointed to the salt stove not far away and asked, "Did Lord Xu see the iron plate on the salt stove?"

The iron plate that Zhu Wan refers to is actually an iron pot set on a salt stove. This iron pot is amazing. It is nearly three meters wide in diameter and weighs hundreds of kilograms. It must be more than twenty people to operate it together. Some people pour brine into the pot, some people are responsible for burning the fire, and some people are responsible for cooking. Usually, two hundred kilograms of salt can be cooked in one day and night.

Xu Jin's heart moved and nodded, "I saw it, what's the secret?"

Zhu Wan said lightly: "Only the government can cast this kind of salt-boiled iron, but ordinary people cannot make it themselves. Moreover, the government also stipulates that stove owners can only use this kind of iron to cook salt. This kind of iron can only be used in coordination with more than 20 people, so naturally, more than several laborers can cook salt together. In this way, it can have the effect of mutual supervision, and it will be difficult for salt owners to store private salt."

Xu Jin couldn't help but realize that the salt farms in Lianghuai and Liangzhe areas are still using the backward salt cooking method. The purpose is to better control the stove owners and kill the production of private salt from the source. It's so stupid. Isn't this a typical waste of food because of choking?

In order to monopolize salt, the government abandoned the more advanced salt drying method and forced the stove owner to use the more backward salt cooking method. It was simply a waste of people and not only pay salt tax, but hundreds of thousands of stove owners along the coast of Jiangsu and Zhejiang also had to pay grass tax (the fuel for boiling salt comes from grass on the river beach, and the tax is paid for cutting grass). There are only a few kids left throughout the year, and their lives are getting poorer and poorer.

Although Zhu Wan is upright and severely cracked down on private salt, as a parent official in the salt-producing area, he also knows the sufferings of coastal stove households. Because of this, he pointed out the reasons in front of Xu Jin. The purpose is naturally to hope that Xu Jin, a close minister, can report the situation to the emperor. Since even the land can be remeasured, why can't the reform of the salt law be promoted and benefit hundreds of thousands of poor stove households along the coast?

Xu Jin naturally understood the reasons why Zhu Wan told him these things, but he quickly calmed down after being angry. The current salt in the Ming Dynasty was as important as oil in later generations in the Republic. It occupied a considerable part of the country's fiscal and tax revenue and brought considerable benefits to the national treasury every year. The rulers naturally tried every means to monopolize it.

For example, in the Republic's oil, various additional taxes account for half of the oil price. If one day a new alternative energy source appears, or even ordinary people have the technology to easily obtain oil, the government will naturally relax its monopoly on oil.

Salt is a good example. With the improvement of technology and productivity, humans can easily produce salt. In addition, the seawater for salt production is inexhaustible, so the government naturally gave up on continuing to monopolize salt.

Backward productivity will inevitably be replaced by advanced productivity, so Xu Jin believes that even if he does not promote it, the salt-salt method will eventually replace the salt-salt method. Of course, if the sea ban can be promoted and the court can obtain huge profits from maritime trade, it will naturally not continue to focus on the salt-salt item. At that time, the popularization of the salt-salt method should be twice the result with half the effort.

Therefore, in the final analysis, the maritime ban must be opened.

In short, development is the best medicine to solve all problems. If a country's economy stagnates or even regresses, various problems will definitely arise. When social problems break out in a concentrated manner, revolution will inevitably follow, and everything will be pushed down and started over again.

After inspecting the salt field, Xu Jin passed through the mudflats, walked up to the Fangong Dike, and prepared to go to the Xixi Inspection Department to review the troops.

The Fan Gong Dike was built by Fan Zhongyan, a politician and writer in the Northern Song Dynasty. It is nearly 300 kilometers long and is used to prevent sea tides from causing damage to coastal farmland and salt fields.

"Worry about the world first, and then enjoy the world later. Fan Wenzhong's words and deeds are consistent. This sea-defying embankment is of great benefit to the present and future generations. It has indeed made great blessings for the people of future generations." Xu Jin stood on Fan Gong's dike, looking at the blue sea in the distance and sighed.

Zhu Wan nodded and agreed: "The merits are in the present and the benefits are in the future. Brother Ziqian's sentence is very wonderful."

Xu Jin laughed silently, and a sentence from later generations was fresh in the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Wan raised her eyebrows and said, "Why did Brother Ziqian laugh?"

Xu Jin pointed to the sea in the distance and said with emotion: "I felt a sense of emotion for a moment. Brother Zichun, look at the mudflats that cost dozens of meters outside the dike. I remember that Mr. Fan built the sea defense embankment here. At that time, the sea water must have flooded the dike. Now the sea has retreated for dozens of meters, revealing a large mudflat. It is just like this that the sea turns into mulberry fields."

Zhu Wan couldn't keep up with Xu Jin's jumping thinking, so she could only say casually: "If it's a tide, the sea water can barely flow under the dike!"

Xu Jin smiled helplessly. In fact, five hundred years later, the coastline here retreated even more violently, revealing a mudflat that was dozens of miles wide, which nearly doubled the area of ​​Dongtai County. The Fan Gong Dike was also transformed into a national highway line, running through the entire county from north to south. Only Xu Jin, a lonely time traveler, could feel this sense of time and space disorder of the sea turning into mulberry fields.
Chapter completed!