By the way, before I knew it, it was summer again, and it was time for the experimental salt field that Shi Ding was responsible for to produce results.
After almost a year of dormancy, quietly expanding the scale, etc., the output of the experimental salt fields is no longer the same.
The area controlled by the three thousand men and horses slowly expanded, and finally stopped when it reached the limit.
It seemed that the magical scene of sea water being directly transformed into sea salt after being dried in the sun was a little irritating to Shi Ding.
This guy's courage and ideas are getting bigger and bigger, and he even wants to break through the restrictions set by Jia Rong. He thinks that the bigger the scale, the more credit he will get.
Apart from anything else, wouldn't it be a big surprise for today, and the rewards you can get in the future will be more and more generous?
And then be resented by the world's salt merchants and the powerful men behind them?
Jia Rong dispelled Shi Ding's thoughts of blind expansion with just a few words.
There is no question whether Shi Ding completely captured the three thousand troops in his hand.
As for the strength of the Historian family, it is only a bit stronger than the Wang family. Otherwise, the two top-notch princes would not be so transparent in the Ministry of War and the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion.
It is conceivable that if this sea salt salt field experiment is successful, in order to protect the victory, corresponding salt soldiers will definitely be established today.
We have to wait until the wind and waves rolled up by Haiyan completely disappear before the troops and horses guarding the salt fields can be withdrawn. This interim period is a good opportunity.
If Shi Ding can become the supreme commander of the Salt Army, the gains will be great.
Jia Rong has carefully discussed these with him and deduced them. He feels that there is a high chance that such a decision will be made today.
As long as Shi Ding can grasp it well, it will be easy for him to become a powerful official in one fell swoop.
Compared with Wang Ziteng, who had to work hard to run Tianjin and then used the city's size, population density, and economic activity to demonstrate his political achievements, Shi Ding would undoubtedly have an easier time to succeed.
As long as he can provide a continuous supply of sea salt, his contribution will be greatly appreciated. After all, it is just money.
This is also the main reason why Shuanghou Shijia gave up his position as Deputy Water Transport Envoy. Otherwise, how could such a popular position be given up to others?
Right now, the most important thing is to keep it secret.
With three thousand men and horses, the number of sea salt fields that can be controlled has reached its limit. If the salt fields continue to be expanded, the news may be exposed immediately.
This is undoubtedly very stupid!
Do you really think that the world's salt merchants and the powerful men behind them are just paper?
Once your interests are violated, you might just stab someone with a knife.
The nature and severity are much worse than the conflicts between Wang Ziteng, Caobang and related yamen.
With the rapid development of Tianjin and the increasingly busy shipping industry, Shi Ding's men could not hide it for long.
After all, there are three thousand officers and soldiers. It is impossible to hide the supply of logistical materials, as well as the construction and layout of the camp.
At first, you might just think of it as normal military training, but how could you keep hiding it as time went on?
Not to mention, three thousand officers and soldiers have been hanging out at the beach for a year, which places extremely high demands on the military discipline and control.
Jia Rong knew that if Shi Ding had not wanted to drink the soldiers' blood, and he treated his three thousand troops very generously, all kinds of logistics materials were used on them, and with generous welfare benefits, he could barely stabilize the morale of the army.
Even if the top soldiers don't know anything, what about the officers?
Looking at the variegated salt fields, don’t you have any thoughts?
Coupled with the intensity of training such as two exercises for five days, Shi Ding's 3,000 men had actually reached the limit of what they could maintain.
It's not like you're going to the battlefield, it's just guarding the salt fields. Do you need to be so fierce in training?
If he hadn't been stationed at the seaside and had a sufficient supply of all kinds of food and supplies, even meat, otherwise such an intense training method would have caused a stir long ago.
Jia Rong came here often and knew all about these things. He didn't believe that Shi Ding didn't know about them?
I just feel that when I hand in my homework, I want greater benefits.
However, this kind of thing is different from marching and fighting. Unless the country's financial difficulties can be solved in one fell swoop, no matter what goal you want to achieve, you have to weigh whether you are worthy of it.
As far as Jia Rong knows, the experimental sea salt salt fields have been quietly selling large amounts of sea salt to the outside world.
In fact, the salt market in the north has been affected.
The most obvious example is that the price of private salt in the north has been reduced by one copper plate, and one pound is already less than ten copper plates.
But even so, the supply of salt in the northern market is still quite sufficient, and it has not been affected at all by the price drop.
Apart from anything else, the channels for ordinary people to purchase private salt are quite smooth, and there are no obstacles.
Such a situation is puzzling to the existence of operating the northern salt market.
Obviously the demand in the market is not small, but the supply seems to be increasing. Where does the extra salt come from?
Even though the price of private salt has only dropped by one copper plate, the impact on those selling private salt is still quite huge. It can be said that the losses are not small.
The way they can make up for the loss is to add more grass roots and sand to the table salt. Originally, a pound of private salt usually contained grass roots and sand, but now it has reached an astonishing about 70%.
Is it an exaggeration? It’s not an exaggeration at all!
Compared with the high price of official salt, the price of private salt is cheap, so there is no need to count on quality.
Ahem, the sea salt in Shi Ding's hands all flows to the northern salt market through private channels.
This was Jia Rong's idea, and it is still recognized today.
After all, official salt can almost only be sold in towns and cities. This is an indisputable fact.
If you want to benefit the lower class and more rural people, you can only circulate it through private channels, which is also impossible.
The price of sea salt is naturally cheaper than that of private salt, and it is not mixed with grass roots, sand or other things, so it is quite popular.
As for the possibility that there are unclean things mixed in, the taste and function of sea salt are not very good, how can the people at the bottom care so much?
It is not easy to take a bite of salt in a smooth operation. Solving the problems first, and then solving the product quality problems is the right thing to do.
It doesn't matter if this is done. As far as Jia Rong knows, there are many Lianghuai salt merchants whose main sales are in the north, but they have been cheated.
I heard that Lianghuai Salt has already suffered heavy losses, and I am afraid that there will be a new round of changes in the number and list of salt merchants.
The fall of a named salt merchant may involve the loss of hundreds or thousands of people's lives. The interested parties involved may be tens of thousands of people, which is no joke...