Zhang County, the Qin Dynasty was a barrier county for the Han people in Yanchuan Village.
It means the western frontier and was renamed Zhang County in the Tang Dynasty.
Today, Yanjingzhai and Zhangxian County are only separated by a river.
Once upon a time, six streets in Zhaizi led from the mountainside to the Zhanghe River, and five major markets extended from the river beach into the neighborhoods.
The one who came to greet him was a Jianggong salt official from the official salt field. He pointed at the desolate ruins in front of him and recalled the past prosperity with sighs.
"Yanjing Village once had six streets and five markets. Countless firewood transactions were made every day in the firewood market. Skilled craftsmen from all walks of life flowed in the people's market. The hotel market welcomed salt traders from all directions. The daily miscellaneous market sold all kinds of daily necessities.
Various types of salt are scattered in department stores and salt markets.
Caravans, mule teams, donkey teams, cargo carriers, porters, porters, and caravans, nine salt roads extend in all directions, transporting salt as snow as silver, as well as local fur products from Zhangxian County, and grain and cloth.
Horses, money and silk·····
Our place is a well-known city that never sleeps. The waterwheel on the well platform is rumbling and the lights are shining brightly. The fire in the burner is blazing and the mist is rising. The sound of camel bells, horse hooves and cries can be heard in the streets and alleys, until the east is white.
The prosperity of the salt industry has led to the prosperity of all industries. Five industries and eight industries are prosperous in the village. Those who practice medicine, teach martial arts, run casinos, hook up fences, and pray to gods and ask fortunes. We have all kinds of businesses here. In the whole Longyou, our place is the most prosperous.
lively."
Lu Huairang pointed to the dilapidated scene in front of him, "What else is there?"
"Hey, they are all damn Turks. They raided, burned, looted, and smashed the temple of the Salt God. Later, the Qiang people came to take advantage of the fire and robbed the salt. The kitchen households and burners ran away, and the nine salt roads were also destroyed.
It was blocked, and the salt sellers from all directions stopped coming.
Even now that the salt god father-in-law has run away, there is no brine coming out of the salt wells.
After the founding of the Tang Dynasty, official salt fields were also set up here, but private salt fields still accounted for the majority. There were more than a hundred salt-cooking mills, countless stove households, and countless firewood customers who supplied firewood, which also attracted countless salt collectors.
Traffickers and caravans.
"Each Youyi Station commanded Youyi Town soldiers, garrison soldiers, and beacon guards, each patrolling the road to ensure the smooth flow of the salt channel. At the same time, they also inspected the station, inspected salt goods, and checked taxes. If there are thieves, Qiang and barbarians will not dare to
Blocking roads and cutting paths, looting merchants and goods, and directly arresting and killing them."
"Why?"
Everyone has heard of this white-robed general manager for a long time, especially the appearance of controlling thunder and defeating the enemy in the First Battle of Longxi. Everyone is now aware of it.
Lu Huairang said: "You may not know how powerful Wu Zhenjiang is. He once painted for the generals Qin Qiong and Yuchi Gong, and then painted talisman and seal scripts. He communicated with the door god Tu Yulei and borrowed the power of the door god to give it to the portrait, and then restrained the prince.
From now on, the prince will have peace of mind at the east palace gate, and no evil spirits will dare to invade it."
The salt wells in Zhang County used to have good conditions, mainly because they happened to be located on a dry inland salt lake with an inexhaustible supply of live salt springs.
But now, only ruins are left here.
"Is that salt? Why didn't the Turks and Qiang people take the salt away?"
It’s abandoned, Yanjing Village is abandoned.”
If they are Qiang thieves and the bandits are powerful, then You Yibing only needs to find out the trace and immediately report it to the town secretary of Yanjing Village. Huaiyu will then go to discuss with Cheng Chumo, Wu Huaiyi and others of Pingle Tongjun Mansion in the county town on the other side of the river, and even
Discuss with Weizhou and Qinzhou governor's offices to mobilize troops for encirclement and suppression.
How many wealthy and powerful families operated here in Yanjing Village in the past?
Now the temple of the Salt God is in dilapidated condition, and the statue of the Salt God inside is also destroyed.
The salt official lamented.
Everyone is doubtful.
Huaiyu and others followed the salt officials into the dilapidated village. There was originally a temple of the salt god Gonggong in the village, and the salt god enshrined in it was said to be Dayu.
In fact, making salt by hand is not complicated. You need to take the brine, fill it with water, boil the pot, boil it, and fill it with salt. The first element is brine. Only with brine can you cook the salt.
Hospital Town will also be stationed in the village.
"It seems we are late. There is nothing left here except these worthless Glauber's salt."
Even Zhanghe Beach is called Yinqian Beach. As long as you come here, you can find some work and earn two steamed cakes easily.
"The father-in-law, the God of Salt, must have gone to meet the mother-in-law, the God of Salt, at Yanguan Village in Chengzhou," the salt official told Huaiyu and the others. A temple was built in Yanjing Village to honor the Father-in-law, the God of Salt, so that the salt wells would have brine. Everyone usually calls the Salt Temple
Lock it up with a chain and open the temple door only in early April every year.
There are also piles of white-flowered soil.
Liu Haoqiang suddenly sent several boxes of beautifully packaged salt dolls, and also included some salt guagua. The salt guagua is also a by-product of boiling salt. It is an extremely hard layer that sticks to the wall of the pot after boiling salt many times and contains a large amount of Glauber's salt.
Some of the salted crispy rice balls can be as thick as two or three centimeters, and they are also very effective in treating gastrointestinal diseases.
"The God of Salt has run away and the brine is gone. How can we recover?"
Each Youyi station is responsible for patrolling the Youyi route and setting up forts at dangerous locations. Each Youyi station is also responsible for the beacon shop of its own road. The beacon men in each beacon front are the local people recruited to serve.
.
But now Huaiyu stands on the beach of Zhanghe River, and all he sees are traces of smoke and fire.
The two east-west salt roads are Sunjia Gorge and Shiqiangou Road in the direction of Qinzhou and Chang'an. Sunjiaxia Tourist Station and Shiqianggou Tourist Station are set up.
Lu Huairang went around and fetched water from three salt wells. He frowned after tasting it, but there was no reaction when he poured it on the ground. According to the salt official, when the brine is good, just pour the well water on the ground and it will soon form
A layer of white frost.
Official Yan took Huaiyu and the others to Shangjing.
Each one of them prepared a very generous meeting gift and sent it to them.
However, Huaiyu's eyes were fixed on those piles of thenardite. These piles that no one cared about were treasures in Huaiyu's eyes.
After some research, Huaiyu believed that there was not no brine in the salt well, but that the content was insufficient. It might be due to reasons such as a drop in concentration after stopping water extraction. He could clean the well, take out all the water in the well, and wait for new spring water to arrive.
, maybe the concentration is enough.
"Because the Salt Temple is not locked, the Salt God Father-in-law will go to Yanguan Village to meet the Salt God Mother-in-law. Once the Salt God Father-in-law leaves, the salt well will no longer produce brine and cannot be boiled into salt, so the Salt God Father-in-law must be kept.
Let them meet only in April every year."
Since the salt can be famous until later generations, it is impossible to say that it will disappear. Moreover, according to the legend of the local salt god father-in-law and the salt god mother-in-law, there were occasional situations where there was no brine here in the past.
Now the Turks destroyed the Salt Temple and let go of the Salt God, so the salt wells no longer produce brine.
"This is a salt well left over from the Qin Dynasty. The brine is the best. Fifty kilograms of brine can boil out fifteen kilograms of salt. However, if you go to the salt well, fifty kilograms of brine can only boil out ten kilograms of salt.
These wandering Yi soldiers were similar to the Ming Dynasty soldiers who went out to patrol the nine salt roads. Huaiyu did not believe that the salt roads could not be restored.
"Since the discovery of salt springs here in the pre-Qin Dynasty and the digging of wells to boil salt, this place has been prospering continuously. In history, it was only during the period of Wu Hu's chaos in China that Zhangxian County was destroyed and the salt wells were abandoned. However, during the Sui Dynasty, this place flourished again. How so?
It’s so lively.”
"I can draw symbols to communicate with the Salt God. As long as we rebuild the Salt Temple for him and reshape the statue, the Salt God will naturally return to his place.
Huaiyu was also looking around.
After the Sui Dynasty resumed the production of salt, because there was no salt ban, no salt tax, and no monopoly, the salt industry flourished. Industry and commerce here was active, and it became one of the largest well salt fields in the northwest.
"Recall all the former Zaohu Shaoshou of Yanjing Village, as well as the local powerful people. If everyone has the money and strength to contribute, let's clean up Yanjing Village together and rebuild the Salt Temple together."
"That's not salt, it's Glauber's salt. The Glauber's salt left after boiling salt. This stuff is usually used to cook leather, and it can also be refined into medicine. But in Yanjing Village, there's too much Glauber's salt everywhere, so it's not valuable at all.
"The salt official said.
He only set up a town division in the village and left a team of town soldiers.
This well is a salt spring, with an opening three feet three feet square and a depth four feet six feet. The well is not far from here, and is similar in size and depth."
"The small well is separated by a salt river. There used to be a salt bridge connecting it, but it has also been burned down now."
It’s not terrible to lose the salt house and burner, and it doesn’t require much upfront investment.
Among them, salt dolls are a by-product of salt production. It is said that after the pot of boiling salt breaks after being boiled for a long time, a small amount of salt water is exposed at the bottom of the pot and is burned by the water into a coral-like doll. This thing has a miraculous effect in treating bloated stomach and indigestion. Moreover, this thing
It's hard to find, so it's very rare.
As long as salt production starts again here, salt sellers will naturally come, and firewood customers will still come back to supply firewood.
When everyone hears that he still has this ability, he should hurry up.
Everyone is somewhat skeptical about this new town general. The local powerful people are also coming back one after another. Although there is no brine anymore, if it recovers and they don't guard it, what they have won in the past will
The foundation may be occupied by others.
However, Huaiyu did not station all the soldiers here.
However, I suggest that instead of locking up the Salt God all the year round, open the Salt Temple to pay tribute on the 4th and 8th festivals, so that the Salt God can meet with the Salt Goddess Mother-in-law when he is free, so that the Salt God can bless the brine all the time.
Here, the seasons flow."
"We have to do two things now, restore the brine and open up the salt channel. As long as we do these two things, the place will naturally be able to restore its former glory."
Everything else is secondary.
Of course, you may not believe this.
Each Youyi station also dispatched a group of garrison soldiers, and these garrison soldiers were responsible for dispatching criminals.
For the remaining nine teams of troops, he set up nine camps, each stationed on the nine salt roads leading to Zhangyan.
There are three roads to the north, Yanbo Valley, Peijia Valley, and Zhaoshi Ramp in the direction of Weizhou and Lanzhou, each with a tourist attraction.
There were not many kitchen households and Shaoshou people left, and the firewood merchants, salt merchants, caravans, etc. were all missing.
The four southwest roads lead to Min, Tao, Jie, Muzhailing, Dongzhagou, Fenshuiling and Huangjiashan in the direction of Sichuan, each with a Yisuo.
Some gave salt dolls, some gave gold and silver, some gave slaves, and some gave horses. In short, all of them were generous.
The salt official didn't know why Dayu was worshiped as the salt god, but he knew that there was also a salt god named Granny in Yanguan Village in Chengzhou.
The hundreds of stoves spread throughout the village and the stacks of firewood and hay that were once a symbol of the prosperity of Zhangyan are now just piles of ashes.
Even the God of Salt has gone away, and there is no brine coming out of the salt wells.
This stuff can not only be used to tan leather, but can also be used to make medicine, such as Xuanming powder and watermelon cream, which can clear fire and reduce swelling, and can also be used to make laxatives.
Of course, Glauber's salt can also be refined to make soda ash. Adding lime liquid can also make caustic soda. Soda ash can be used to make soap and glass.
Although this thing is not the same thing as the saltpeter used to make gunpowder, the price is not low at all when used.
Where are the piles of rubbish, there are simply piles of treasures.
