Volume 2: The King's Way Chapter 160 Agents
The new salt field in Wu County was truly astonishing in scale and shrouded in mystery Not only were there high walls built around it, but there were even sentinels guarding the surrounding mountaintops, and no unauthorized personnel were allowed to approach.
There are probably thousands of guards stationed here, which makes it even more difficult what the General's Mansion is trying to do with this fierce operation.
Some even speculated that it was Bai Gong who discovered the pirate king's treasure near the coast, and that these people were actually here to dig for treasure...
Of course, there are very few brave people who dare to verify it, and the very few who are brave enough to be tempted by huge profits never return. Even if someone comes to ask for it, it is useless - since you dare to come, just do hard labor honestly for a few years... Let people know that the General’s Mansion is not to be bullied!
Instead, it was only when firewood started to be transported in large batches that everyone "suddenly realized" - they were actually going to make salt?
When Bai Tu saw Pang Tong's plan before, he was also enlightened by Pang Tong's ideas.
He deliberately chose a location with a large area of sand to open a salt field, and even placed a glass factory nearby, so that fuel would really be used, making it even more difficult for others to figure out what he was doing.
After hearing about this from his nephew Lu Da, Old Lu thought that Bai Tu was crying poor, so he came to see Bai Tu specially and hinted that the Lu family could "help out".
But Bai Tu did not accept it...
"In a few days, the first batch of salt from the General's Mansion will be out, probably... about one million stones. If Mr. Lu wants to help, please help me find a sales channel. The quality... is much better than those from the General's Mansion." Bai Tu said.
Lu Kang looked at Bai Tu in surprise, seemingly a little distracted, wondering what the hidden meaning was in Bai Tu's words.
"Huh? What's wrong?" Bai Tu looked at Lu Kang in confusion.
"I am old, and I don't know what the lord's deep meaning is...you may as well tell me." Lu Kang said he couldn't think of it.
"Huh? What I'm talking about is producing a million stones of salt, and you come and help me find sales channels... There's no other meaning!" Bai Tu had an expression that said, "If you don't even understand this, just retire."
Lu Kang still looked at Bai Tu in confusion - in his eyes, Bai Tu was just talking nonsense!
In the whole Jiangdong, the total annual salt output of the seventeen largest salt tycoons is only about one million shi. The other scattered ones... added together would not be more than this. What did Bai Tu just say?
A salt field, the first batch... about one million stones?
Seeing Lu Kang's incredulous expression, Bai Tu said seriously, "Of course, if any of you seventeen companies want to be 'agents' in the future, I can give you priority."
These wealthy families who make a living by boiling salt have many channels at their disposal. What Bai Tu values most is naturally buying salt "outside" so that the entire region under his rule can benefit.
As long as they cooperated, even though the General's Mansion would definitely take the lion's share in the future, it was not impossible to let them be "agents" - that is, the salt merchants in the Ming and Qing dynasties, who got salt permits from the court and then sold the salt themselves.
Seeing Bai Tu speak so seriously, Lu Kang believed him against common sense, and added: "My lord, you are wrong. There are no 'you' seventeen families, but 'they' sixteen... ahem, we are all on the same side as you."
Lu Kang was not thick-skinned enough and felt that categorizing the Yu family, Wei family, and others as "them" seemed like he was speaking ill of them behind their backs.
"That's good. Then the salt workers can be sent to the salt field in the general's mansion." Bai Tu said.
From what Bai Tu said, it seemed as if all the salt fields would go bankrupt if he made a move...
This is indeed the case!
More than one million shi a year...it sounds like a lot, but in fact, if converted into "shi" of the Han Dynasty, it is only more than 30,000 tons!
The modern Lianghuai Salt Field has an annual output of 3 million tons...
Of course, the Lianghuai Salt Field was not owned by just one household. When the Ming Dynasty was still mainly engaged in salt boiling, the Lianghuai Salt Field had an output of nearly 400,000 tons.
To put it in a more intuitive way, the traditional method of salt drying with modern technology can produce half a ton to one ton of salt per day per acre of salt flat - in fact, even with modern salt drying, there is no fundamental breakthrough in the principle, there are just more mechanical equipment.
If Bai Tu were to do it originally, it would definitely take time to explore before the optimal ratio could be achieved. However... now that Pang Tong is here, even though Pang Tong still needs some time to communicate with the craftsmen below and direct the Ji zao workers, the exploration phase has been greatly shortened!
If it's cloudy and rainy, Pang Tong only needs 200 acres of salt fields to be on par with the 17 largest salt producers in Jiangdong. If the output is lower because they are just starting out, 300 acres should be enough, right?
Oh, the location is not the best either. I'll give you some more. Is 400 acres enough? 500 acres... Is 1,000 acres enough?
The salt and glass factory that Pang Tong built this time covers a total area of 100 hectares...
As for the surge in salt production, will it change market supply and demand, causing a sharp drop in salt prices?
Bai Tu had studied this issue with Lu Su and Pang Tong before, and the conclusion was only to increase the salt production in Jiangdong tenfold...there is very limited room for decline!
After all, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, "salt" was not only a seasoning, but also a "refrigerator"...
The people's demand for pickled ingredients is in great short supply. Even if the amount of salt in Jiangdong increases tenfold and is all consumed internally, it will only allow everyone to pickle salted fish more happily. It is still a long way from "freedom to pickle salted fish". There is no surplus of salt. What's more... most of the salt in Jiangdong is still shipped outside.
Lu Kang was also puzzled. After all, the scale of the salt field was there. Moreover... even if he couldn't go inside to see it, he could always roughly estimate the amount of firewood and charcoal transported in every day.
Where did the million rocks of salt come from?
Can the ugly... ahem, strange-looking Dr. Pang, who is in charge of the salt field, create salt out of thin air?
After Lu Kang and Lu Da talked about this, Lu Da even swore to heaven and earth that it was absolutely impossible for that inexplicable salt field to "produce" so much salt!
However, Lu Kang, who had been influenced by Bai Tu's miracles for a long time, still told Lu Da to be prepared... to cooperate with the official salt company whose output was nearly ten times the total of the 17 companies.
Lu Tan even suspected that his uncle was too old and really confused...
But he didn't dare show it on his face, so he just accepted the request and left.
…
On the other side in Xudu, Xiahou Dun found his younger brother Xiahou Yuan.
"Brother Dun, why are you so free today that you come to my house? Do you want to have a sparring match?" Xiahou Yuan asked enthusiastically.
The two were brothers, and they both got along well with Cao Cao, so naturally they had a good relationship and there were not so many formalities between them in private.
Xiahou Dun asked Xiahou Yuan mysteriously, "Miaocai... Brother, I see that Juan'er is not young anymore, but she hasn't got engaged yet, right?"
"Oh? That's strange... Who is it? How could you ask Dong Yuan to ask you to propose marriage?" Xiahou Yuan immediately asked vigilantly, even changing his address to his courtesy name.
Xiahou Yuan, also known as Miaocai, and Xiahou Dun, also known as Yuanrang, were both generals from the Xiahou family and relatives of Cao Cao.
Xiahou Juan was Xiahou Yuan's niece, but was adopted by him since she was a child. And because Xiahou Juan's deceased parents had been kind to her, during a famine in the Central Plains, when Xiahou Yuan's own sons all starved to death, he still gritted his teeth and raised Xiahou Juan, and loved her even more than his own daughter.
He also knew that the person he was talking to was definitely not Xiahou Dun's son, after all, he was not yet out of the fifth degree of mourning...
"What do you think of the white map?" Xiahou Dun continued to be mysterious.
"Bai Tu? Which Bai family... wait... Bai Tu?" The look in Xiahou Yuan's eyes when he looked at his brother Dun was even more puzzled than that of Lu Kang who was far away in Jinling.
What does this have to do with anything? When can you propose marriage for Bai Gong?
