Fu Tinghan understood immediately, "You can't find the craftsman?"
Zhao Kuan sighed and said: "Shang Shu, this is not an excuse, but I really can't find it."
Everything in Qingzhou is more important than studying the salt-drying method now. It's not that there is no salt in Dajin, it's just a little more expensive, so he thinks he can start later.
However, Fu Tinghan came here in person. Considering the general's high regard for him, I am afraid that there is something else going on in this salt policy.
Zhao Kuan thought about the people he could use now in his mind, and said: "I will ask people to search for craftsmen who can cook salt in various counties."
At present, the main way to obtain salt in various places is to boil it with firewood.
However, there is also a skill involved in boiling salt. It is not just about filling the pot with water and just lighting the fire, so they have to find technicians.
Of course, boiling salt is not difficult for Fu Tinghan, but time is tight now, and he really doesn't want to find someone new to teach him one by one.
However, people in various states are now wandering around due to the war, and most of the recorded craftsmen are not in their place of origin, so it is really difficult to find them.
Fu Tinghan thought for a while and then said: "You are looking for craftsmen for the time being, and find me a hundred trustworthy and strong young people. I will teach them how to boil salt and dry salt."
Zhao Kuan agreed, but expressed doubts about the method written on the paper by Fu Tinghan, "Shang Shu, can seawater really produce salt?"
Soon, the two salt-boiling craftsmen Zhao Kuan found gave him an answer, saying: "It is true that salt can be produced by drying sea water, but the salt cannot be eaten. If you eat it, you will die."
Of course, they will not die immediately, but they have lived by the sea for generations. Their ancestors occasionally discovered that under the sun, there would be white crystal grains on the beach, and they knew they were salt when they touched them.
Therefore, our ancestors secretly tried to use sun-dried salt from seawater, but the sun-dried salt was very bitter and difficult to swallow. After a period of time, people would be poisoned and die.
So they refused to use salt.
However, Fu Tinghan insisted on drying the salt.
Craftsmen and Fu Tinghan, Zhao Kuan naturally believed in Fu Tinghan, so he directly handed over the two craftsmen he finally found to Fu Tinghan and the selected one hundred young men.
Fu Tinghan took them to live in a small abandoned fishing village by the sea. It was very convenient here. Not only was the beach flat and open, but Guangzhou was also next door.
When Sun Linghui heard that Fu Tinghan had arrived, he immediately selected a hundred young men and brought them over to him.
Regardless of whether the salt-drying method works or not, it is always right to leave it to Fu Tinghan and learn from him.
If Qingzhou has it, she should have it in Guangzhou too.
Seeing that Sun Linghui led people directly across the border to Qingzhou, and asked Fu Tinghan to open a few salt fields on the tidal flat next door to test, Zhao Kuan couldn't help but said: "Prince Sun, why are you in such a hurry? The salt-drying method has not yet been revealed."
Sun Linghui smiled and said, "I have never doubted Fu Shangshu's ability."
Zhao Kuan glanced at Fu Tinghan, whose mouth was slightly raised, and cursed in his heart a "flattery", and then immediately said: "Third brother-in-law, I believe you too."
The corners of Fu Tinghan's mouth curved even further, and there was a smile between his brows and eyes. "I still need some things. I'd like to ask the two governors to help me find them."
He was also very fair. He gave them a piece of paper. The content on the paper was still the same. They took a look at it and found that it was the same as the prescription they got when they left Chen County. It asked for all kinds of strange things, such as
Barite is not uncommon on the seaside. You can find a large piece of it among the rocks in the shallow sea area.
Fu Tinghan said: "These things are not expensive, and we will need a lot of them in the future, so the more, the better."
Zhao Kuan and Sun Linghui looked at each other and nodded in agreement.
They are so busy. Fu Tinghan's coming here not only did not reduce their workload, but actually increased it.
The two of them sadly went down to make arrangements.
Fu Tinghan began to lead people to build salt fields.
He took people all over this river beach. In order to increase the contact area between salt water and air, increase the evaporation area, and strengthen evaporation, Fu Tinghan also made arrangements in each salt field.
In order to prevent future disputes between Qingzhou and Guangzhou, he treated everyone equally. Each of the 100 people they sent worked on their own tidal flats, and even the number of tidal flats developed was the same.
At this time, it is actually not very suitable to dry salt. After all, the weather is starting to get colder. Fu Tinghan also knows that he is still focusing on research here.
Fu Tinghan led the young men to dig out the trench. Every time the tide rises, seawater will pour into the trench, opening the gate of the salt field, and the seawater in the trench will flow into the salt field.
Qingzhou and Guangzhou have less rain, more sunshine, and strong winds. Therefore, even if the temperature is slightly lower at this time, the seawater is still evaporating rapidly under the sunlight and the wind. Especially Fu Tinghan has people stir regularly to increase the volume of saltwater.
The contact area with air evaporates faster.
The brine from the fields in the first area is placed in the second area. When drying in the second area, the first area is flattened again and salt water is added. When the brine in the second area evaporates and becomes thicker, it is placed in the third area, and then sea salt is dried for the second time.
Entering the second area...
As a result, all the 100 people on both sides were not idle. The speed was very fast, and gray-white and gray-yellow crystals precipitated in the salt field.
After Zhao Kuan heard about it, he ran over to see him. He hadn't seen him for twenty days. He had lost some weight, and his beard covered half of his face, making him look darker.
Although Fu Tinghan was also dark, at least he didn't make himself look like he was almost unrecognizable to acquaintances.
Zhao Kuan squatted on the edge of the field, grabbed a handful of sea salt piled into a hill, and asked: "Is this enough?"
Fu Tinghan glanced at him and said: "Not yet, this is coarse salt, I need to dissolve it and filter out the impurities."
Fu Tinghan uses two methods to filter coarse salt. One is to dissolve the coarse salt with a proportion of materials, filter it and then dry out the salt; the other is to dissolve it with water, stir it and filter it, and then precipitate the sea salt.
He wants to see which method is faster and better, and maybe combine the two.
Zhao Kuan looked at the small mountains of coarse salt in various salt fields and marveled, "If the salt dried like this is really edible, the price of salt in the future..." Wouldn't it be a sky-high price?
Zhao Kuan's heart trembled, feeling that the world was about to change drastically.
Cheongju and Gwangju may be in a whirlpool.
Zhao Kuan wiped the salt off his hands and said to Fu Tinghan with a serious face: "Shang Shu, just tell me whatever you need in the future. As long as I can find it, I will definitely find it for you."
"Should I send you another two hundred people? I think there are not many people in this salt field. It's such a big area over there and the sea water is the same. It should be able to produce salt."
Fu Tinghan can even make colored glaze. Isn’t it easier to make dried salt than to make colored glaze?
Zhao Kuan felt that his confidence in him before was not strong enough, and he could definitely be more confident.
"If two hundred people are not enough, I will recruit more for you. You can have as many as you want."
Fu Tinghan asked: "Our food and grass are in arrears for two days. Can you afford to feed another two hundred people?"
Zhao Kuan wiped his face and said: "I will ask someone to bring you food and grass, and the food and grass will be enough to make up for it."
He gritted his teeth. At worst, he would sell some things and buy some food from passing merchants.