Chapter 15: Prepare for a Rainy Day
The development of salt fields outside the city went very smoothly.
There are many saline-alkali lands in Huguang, mainly due to the infiltration of brine from underground salt mines, which destroys the ground soil and makes it difficult for plants to grow, and naturally it is impossible to grow crops. These lands can be used with a little modification.
However, a lot of tricks are needed in making and preserving the sauce.
Especially for the brine that has been dried in the middle and late stages, if it is not preserved properly, a rain will make all the previous efforts wasted and it needs to be dried again. This requires diverting the brine to a covered place before the rain, and putting it out to dry again after the weather clears up.
"Brine that has been dried for more than five or six days must be well preserved, and there must be a buffer area between every two salt flats to preserve the brine."
Zhu Hao is like a professional engineer. Whenever the salt marshes are being repaired outside the city, he will come out in person and provide hands-on guidance.
…
…
June 14th.
The first batch of salt extracted from bittern outside the city was successfully dried.
The courtyard already had experience in salt drying, and with good weather, the salt was produced quickly.
When Zhu Niang saw the white salt crystals at the bottom of the salt pond, she was overjoyed.
"Is this...really made from the brine from the salt pit?"
After tasting it, Aunt Li opened her eyes wide with a look of disbelief.
Zhu Hao smiled and said, "Aunt, this is nothing. If we were by the sea, we would have an inexhaustible supply of brine from the sea. But now we are in the inland Huguang... But it's okay this way. Who would have thought that we use bittern to make salt? No one would check."
"Quick, salt it."
The people in the yard became busy.
Even the youngest Zhu Ting, who didn't have much strength, helped to support the sack.
What’s different from before is that this time we bought a few donkeys. The donkeys are mainly used to pull the mill, grind the salt crystals into pieces, and then package them into bags.
"Mom, when we have more money, we won't dry salt in this yard anymore. The place is small, and we have to transport the brine we buy to the city, where we may be stopped and questioned by officials. After we produce a few batches of salt, we will put the yard back in order, so that no one can discover the secret of drying salt."
"Oh, by the way, mother, we will deliver salt to Su Dongzhu in a few days. This is the first time that mother has to come in person. Whether it's Su Dongzhu, the Zhu family or those with ulterior motives, they will all pay attention to how we make salt here. We must keep the secret."
The family worked until late at night to collect all the salt.
As for drying salt, as long as there is no bad weather, you can continue drying it after harvesting one batch and waiting for the next batch of brine to be delivered.
A constant stream.
June 16th.
Two more batches of salt were dried out outside the city. Unfortunately, because the water flow on one of the salt flats was not controlled well, water accidentally entered the freshly dried salt, resulting in delayed shipment. However, the production of salt from the other salt flats went smoothly.
After putting the salt away, Zhu Niang took Yu San and others to deliver it to the Han River overnight.
The next morning, Zhu Niang brought people back from outside the city. After arriving home, she called Aunt Li and Zhu Hao mysteriously, and took out three silver ingots, each weighing ten taels, from the bag she carried with her.
"Madam, this is..."
Aunt Li wasn't so sure.
Zhu Niang said happily: "It's all earned back."
"oops."
Aunt Li was so excited that she danced with joy when she heard this. "I didn't spend much of the two hundred taels I borrowed before. With these...it's enough to pay back Master Su."
The courtyard suddenly came alive.
Aunt Li began to look forward to it again: "If I can deliver two or three batches of salt by the end of the month... I estimate that I can earn another eighty or ninety taels of silver..."
Zhu Hao asked, "Mom, it seems that we haven't sold the official salt yet... How can we get eighty taels of silver in return?"
"Um."
Zhu Niang smiled and nodded.
Aunt Li asked in confusion: "What salt? Didn't we give it all to Master Su?"
Zhu Niang explained: "Xiao Hao is talking about the official salt we have in our hands, which is 20 salt permits, 8,000 kilograms. We bought it at 10 cents per kilogram. If we put it on the market, we can sell it for 16 or 17 cents..."
Aunt Li was shocked: "There are so many?"
I thought that a net profit of thirty taels was already an exaggerated number, but I didn't expect that the eight thousand kilograms of "raw salt" that Su Xigui originally gave me had not been sold yet.
"Mom, is there any way to contact the merchants going south? If we expect to sell this batch of salt by ourselves, it may take forever... Right now we can't even sell ten kilograms of salt a day."
Zhu Hao understood that all parties were suppressing him at the moment, all kinds of rumors were flying around, and few customers came to his store, so it was not reliable to make money by retail.
They could only resell large quantities of official salt.
Zhu Niang shook her head. "I asked people on the river. They said that the borders between Jiangxi and Huguang are not peaceful recently. The chieftains in the south of Huguang are causing trouble again. There are also bandits in the mountains of Jiangxi and Jiangxi. If you want to produce salt, it's best to go north."
"Mom, if we go north, the land will not match. We didn't do salt business before, so we don't know much about the market. But now that we want to trade salt, we must understand the market. In fact, the more unstable the land is, the more opportunities there are for merchants. Even if we sell it at a fair price, we won't lose money."
Zhu Hao noticed Zhu Niang's avoidance of traveling merchants.
She used to be a small retail trader, but now she is suddenly asked to become a "salt smuggler" in Huguang. How can she adapt to such a change all of a sudden?
When there is a problem, Zhu Niang's first thought is to avoid it rather than face it.
"But how can we resell this batch of salt?"
Zhu Niang is still in trouble.
Zhu Hao smiled and said, "In Anlu, the official salt trade is monopolized by others, but not in the provincial capital. Even if Huang Fantai is powerful, he can't take all the benefits. There is a lot of room for maneuver. We can send people to the provincial capital to inquire about the news and contact the people there to get the goods..."
"provincial capital?"
Zhu Niang backed out again.
Zhu Hao understood that Zhu Niang was unwilling to leave Anlu. As a virtuous woman, she was not mentally prepared to be a big businessman. She was more content with a small fortune and was satisfied with keeping the property left by her husband.
"Mom, you don't have to go in person. Just send someone else to go. Why not let Yu San take the goods? Yu San seems smart and should be able to handle this kind of thing."
Zhu Hao made a suggestion.
…
…
Zhu Family Manor.
Recently, Zhu Jia has not asked about Zhu Niang's business affairs.
Zhu Wanjian hired someone to keep an eye on the shop at all times. Although the rice shop was open as usual, only a handful of people actually went in to buy salt and grain. Zhu Wanjian had calculated that with this situation, it would be difficult to make even four taels, let alone forty taels.
At this time, Zhu Jia was meeting with Lin Baihu, a captain of the Jinyiwei, who had just returned from the capital and was rushing back to Anlu.
"... Previously, a minister cited the precedent of Emperor Renzong of Song raising a son of a royal family in the palace, and petitioned Your Majesty to allow a talented and virtuous royal family member to study in the palace. When the Queen Mother learned of this, she was furious and strictly ordered all royal families not to publicize this matter. The Anlu lineage was the target of public criticism.
"The Queen Mother summoned him to question him. She specifically mentioned that since the birth of Prince Xing's son, no information from Prince Xing's mansion had been reported to the emperor. She blamed Captain Zhu for his incompetence."
After Captain Lin finished speaking, he handed a receipt to Zhu Jiashi.
The receipt was signed by Zhu Wanhong, the eldest son of the Zhu family, indicating that he had received the silver given by the Zhu family.
But Zhu Jia understood that even if the silver arrived in the capital now, it would most likely not fall into her son's hands, but would be swallowed up by the Jinyiwei or even the corrupt officials in the Eastern Depot. Zhu Wanhong did not have the courage not to sign the receipt.
"Captain Lin, are you here on an important mission this time?"
Zhu Jia felt that Captain Lin came with ill intentions this time.
Captain Lin said, "I hope to meet Captain Zhu and talk to him in detail." This was because he did not want to tell too many secrets to Zhu Jiashi, but wanted to conspire with Zhu Mingshan, who was ordered to move his family to Anlu to monitor Prince Xing's Mansion nearby.
Zhu Jia shook her head: "My husband is bedridden and often unable to speak. He needs someone to serve him personally. I'm afraid it will be difficult for him to cope with it."
Since Zhu Mingshan fell off a horse last year and injured the back of his head and spine, he is now half dead. Sometimes his mind is clear but he is unable to express himself. The Zhu family relies on Zhu Mingshan's official position and his good relationship with the royal family to gain a foothold in Anlu.
Zhu Jia knew very well that it was impossible for the Zhu family to move back to the capital. The best case scenario was to maintain the status quo. The worst case scenario was that Emperor Zhengde would have no heir, and the Prince of Xing would ascend the throne. At that time, the Zhu family would be doomed.
"I see... Then, old lady, I have a confidential matter that I would not mind telling you."
Captain Lin pondered for a moment, his expression becoming serious. "Previously, the Jinyiwei had planted six spies into Prince Xing's mansion, but they were discovered, four of them were driven out, and the remaining two have not been found until now, and they are likely to have been silenced."
Zhu Jia was shocked: "Xing Wangfu actually dared to do that to someone from the imperial court..."
"There is no evidence. No one is found alive or dead. I have personally recruited people from the palace before, hoping that someone can pass on the news to the outside world. However, even the teachers recruited by the palace are very secretive about the affairs of the palace."
"I once secretly interrogated a tutor of the prince of Xing and asked him about the prince's teachings. I did understand a little bit at that time... but then this person and his family moved away, and until now the Jinyiwei has not been able to find his whereabouts."
Captain Lin said this with a helpless look on his face.
Zhu Jia asked, "Isn't this Prince Xing's Mansion a den of dragons and tigers?"
Captain Lin smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Like your family, I have been ordered to keep an eye on Prince Xing's Mansion. I have not made any achievements in the past few years. I am afraid that I will be held accountable by the court and will never have the opportunity to come to Anlu again. I have a piece of advice... If the Zhu family can find out more from Prince Xing's Mansion... especially find evidence of Prince Xing's contacts with civil and military officials in the court..."
Zhu Jia's face was gloomy and she remained silent.
"That's all I have to say. I'm leaving now."
Captain Lin finished his words and left with a fist salute.
Zhu Jia hurriedly stood up and asked, "How do we check?"
Captain Lin said, "There is something that others may not know, but the Zhu family must know. The eldest son of Prince Xing died five days after he was born. The Zhu family should have contributed to the cause at that time, right?"
Zhu Jia's face was grim.
The other party implied that Zhu Houxi, the eldest son of Prince Xing Zhu Youlang, did not die of natural causes but was murdered.
"So since the birth of Prince Xing's second son, we have been very careful and cautious. We have raised several children of similar ages in the palace at the same time, so that outsiders cannot tell which one is the real Prince Xing... Prince Xing has only one son, so we have to start with this son in everything. If he encounters an unexpected event... then everyone will be happy and enjoy peace."
