Chapter 93 Disappeared
The result...is not really.
The salt produced in the official fields does not exceed four days at most, and batches of salt are transported out of the salt fields without avoiding people.
This is just coarse salt that has not been processed into fine salt. It seems to be of much better quality than the coarse salt from the salt fields of the powerful people. The most important thing is that its cycle is short!
This alone makes it surpass other salt fields.
"Let's go and see what method Guantian used!" Liu Gu angrily threw a high-quality teacup, and the good tea leaves that usually needed to be carefully tasted fell to the ground.
The servants around were all silent.
His housekeeper stood at the front and pointed at himself blankly: "Master, you want me to go?"
Seeing that Liu Gu was about to get angry again, the housekeeper hurriedly said, "This... Lord Cao is very smart. Although they don't hide from others when transporting salt out, they can't let anyone else into the salt fields except the salt farmers. There are patrols everywhere. If they see anyone standing outside the salt fields, they will drive them away, let alone see what methods they use."
Liu Gu pointed at the steward, veins popping out of his forehead. He thought for a moment, "Isn't the official farm still hiring? Find two of our salt farmers and sneak them in. Have them steal the salt-making method."
The butler quickly agreed and felt relieved. This was much better than asking him to figure it out on his own!
Seeing the people below moving, Liu Gu's mood improved a little, but his mood worsened again when Cheng Hongye hurried over.
"What? You don't want to buy salt from us, but go to the government farm?"
Cheng Hongye smiled and said, "Don't worry. I just found out about this this morning. The salt merchants are all very shrewd. Some of them have heard the news from the capital long ago, saying that they are going to suppress us. However, most of those who have close ties with us have not made any move. Now only two small salt merchants have gone."
"Okay." Liu Gu sat back.
They can't sit still.
"Cao Su has been well behaved for a while, but now he acts like he has received guidance from an expert," he said bitterly.
Cheng Hongye drank his tea slowly, ignoring the mess of broken pieces on the ground. He said slowly, "There's only one thing I can't understand now, and that's why the official fields can produce salt in less than four days."
"Whether we are boiling or drying salt, that is all passed down by the older generation. Who didn't make a fortune by relying on this skill? I don't believe that our ability to make salt by the sea is not as good as that of a kid from the capital?" Liu Gu couldn't figure it out.
Yan Xuanyu: Of course I can't understand. My methods are the crystallization of hundreds of years of wisdom...
"Or, go..." Liu Gu raised his head slightly and gestured.
Why was the position of Salt Inspector important before? It was because there were powerful people supporting him. Otherwise, he would be nothing!
Since Cao Su refused to accept their toast and insisted on going against them, there was no need for him to be the salt inspector.
The city they were in was called Jishui City. The prefect of Jishui City, Fang Liqun, had served here for many years - yes, he was an official who had not been purged.
It was also because the Jinyiwei were doing things too peacefully in Jishui City that gave the powerful people the wrong impression.
First of all, compared with those officials who committed unforgivable crimes, Fang Liqun's problems were similar to those of the prefect of Jinning City. He was corrupt and a little greedy, but he had never done anything to take human life.
The Jinyiwei did not kill people without restraint. They would not just behead anyone who made a mistake. In the words of Yan Xuanyu, "we should give some people a chance to correct their mistakes." So for Fang Liqun, they just confiscated all his property of unknown origin.
If Fang Liqun, the governor of Jishui City, knew what the Jinyiwei were thinking, he would definitely burst into tears. This "just" is so spiritual...
This matter was not brought to light, but the Jinyiwei's ability to conceal the truth was not just talk.
So, in the eyes of others, what's the big deal about the Jinyiwei from the capital? Didn't they just wander around and leave without finding anything? Fang Liqun is still doing his job as a prefect!
After that, whenever they wanted to go to the prefectural government to give gifts during festivals, Fang Liqun refused them on the grounds that "the situation is tense recently."
The powerful people didn't take it seriously, so what? After several days of investigation, they couldn't find them. If they were to say, Fang Liqun was becoming more and more timid as he became more powerful.
They only talked about these things in private, and they had to be on good terms with the prefect on the surface.
"I'll contact other people and go to the prefect's mansion together." Cheng Hongye understood what Liu Gu meant without having to say it explicitly.
They were determined to bring down Cao Su.
...
The Grand Administrator who was able to suppress Cao Su was now in a state of great trouble...
"What a bunch of idiots." Fang Liqun held his forehead with his hand.
These idiots didn't think about it. Cao Su was sent from the capital with the emperor's will. He was just the governor of a city on the edge of the Great Zhou. What did the powerful people want him to do? Suppress the emperor?
Why not just give him some treasures and let him rebel?
He still wants to live a few more years!
"Let them in." Fang Liqun sighed.
The doorman received Fang Liqun's order and let several people in.
Among them, Liu Gu and Cheng Hongye were the leaders, and behind them were several powerful people who had salt fields in Jishui City.
"Your Excellency the Governor." Cheng Hongye bowed politely.
Fang Liqun was impatient to go through these empty formalities with them and just wanted them to leave quickly.
Over the years, local tyrants have withheld wages from salt workers, seized salt fields, and prevented the people from taking the seawater from the areas they have allocated, tightly controlling the salt and profiting from it.
Fang Liqun knew very well where he was wrong, and inaction was a mistake.
Inaction is letting go.
His mistakes will not disappear with the taking away of his wealth, but will be recorded, which is like having a knife hanging over his head that may fall at any time.
The powerful people didn't know that everything Cao Su had done recently was supported by him.
Thinking of this, even though he was facing everyone, he couldn't help but show a bit of annoyance.
But a few people mistook the emotions he showed as impatience.
Liu Gu and Cheng Hongye looked at each other, and Cheng Hongye asked his followers to bring in a large wooden box.
"Sir, please look." Cheng Hongye said with a smile.
Following his gesture, his followers opened the wooden box that required four people to lift, and the room was suddenly filled with bright lights.
"This..." Fang Liqun frowned.
Seeing his expression, Cheng Hongye thought he was halfway to success, so he said, "Your Excellency, this is a small gift from us to you."
Fang Liqun remained silent.
Liu Gu took a look and also stood up and said, "Sir, I heard that the Salt Inspector Cao has built salt fields. This matter should not trouble you, but..."
"There are fewer salt farmers in our salt fields, and people are feeling uneasy lately."
Fang Liqun laughed and said, "What do you want?"
"Of course..."
...
After the powerful men left with satisfaction, a man walked out from behind the screen in the main hall.
Cao Su stood in front of the still-open box and examined it carefully for a while before saying, "They really took the trouble."
It sounds like there is some emotion in it.
Fang Liqun asked, "What should we do next?"
"I just accepted their gifts, but didn't do what they asked for." Cao Su said as he counted the boxes in the main hall.
Fang Liqun was silent. Those who came from the capital were not simple people.
"I heard that they will send salt farmers here to gather information," said Cao Su.
Fang Liqun frowned: "How many days do we need to stop?"
Cao Su shook his head. "Not only will we continue, but we will also do it on a grand scale and improve the treatment of the salt farmers! We're not afraid of them learning, we're just afraid of them not learning."
Seeing Fang Liqun's puzzled expression, Cao Su continued, "Of course we don't let them touch the things in the salt fields. We only let them dig the ponds. These ponds are not important. As long as they look at them a few times, they can figure out how to dig them out. It's okay to tell them."
Based on Fang Liqun's understanding of these people, it is simply impossible to improve the treatment of salt workers.
"Oh, they have hidden quite a few good things." Cao Su said, "Such a large red coral is not often seen in the palace."
Fang Liqun just smiled and said nothing. What could he say? What good would he gain if Cao Su wrote down his words and passed them on to the emperor?
The generous gifts that the powerful men had sent to the prefectural governor's mansion were quickly disguised and sent on their way to the capital...
As for the other gold, silver and valuables, Cao Su used them to continue fighting against the powerful.
...
Ah Hu was the salt farmer who was hired by Liu Gu's steward to sneak into the government fields.
He was first asked questions such as "age and hometown", "what do you do and how long have you been doing it", and then he was brought in by a person who looked like a manager.
Ah Hu thought: He's coming in right now?!
The steward, unaware of the turmoil in his heart, asked him casually, "Were you working at the Liu family salt fields before?"
"Yes." Ah Hu nodded hurriedly.
Before the steward could say anything, he brought out the excuse that Master Liu had given him: "I heard that the money earned here is more than other salt fields, so I... came here secretly."
The steward suddenly laughed: "That's the truth."
Ah Hu felt awkward. He... was really not used to this. He seemed to be more accustomed to the tone of command and the way of kicking around. The manager talked to him while walking like this, which made him feel uncomfortable as if he was floating and couldn't touch the ground.
Ah Hu glanced at the steward and asked cautiously, "What about the contract that Master Liu and I signed?"
The steward smiled and said, "The contract you signed, please sign another one after you come here. The previous one will not be valid."
Ah Hu didn't understand.
Seeing his puzzled look, the steward patiently said, "Because the salt fields will no longer belong to them, the contract signed on the salt fields will no longer be valid."
If the salt fields were obtained legitimately, they would be compensated even if they were taken away. As for those obtained by the powerful by unscrupulous means, do they need to notify the powerful if they want to take them back?
Ah Hu was taken to a place in a daze. There were already many people there, busy digging a pond.
He even saw a few familiar-looking people, all of whom he had seen before in the nearby salt fields.
A shovel was stuffed into Ah Hu's hand. "Go follow that man. He will teach you what to do."
The man the manager mentioned was called He Bin. When he saw another person coming, he stopped what he was doing and walked over. "We don't need any more people here. Go dig on the other side and dig as deep as I can."
Just do this?
Ah Hu was dumbfounded.
In Mr. Liu's salt fields, doing this kind of work is called being lazy!
They had to bend over and fetch seawater all afternoon, carrying it over and over again every day. The flesh on his shoulders kept getting rotten and then healed - and this was only a few years after he started working in the salt fields.
The other tasks are not easy either. I heard that frying and boiling are the most time-consuming and labor-intensive.
Ah Hu was a little tired after digging here for half a day, but it was nothing compared to before.
"Okay, okay."
As He Bin said this, the people around Ah Hu stood up and put down their shovels.
"What is this for?" Ah Hu was puzzled.
Someone explained, "It's time to eat."
At noon, each person had a pancake and a very delicious mixed vegetable. The vegetable must have been grown in the shallow sea. I don’t know what seasoning was used, but it was refreshing, fresh and crispy.
On his way back to work after eating, Ah Hu saw a group of people passing by with small jars that were half the size of their palms.
After eating and drinking, Ah Hu remembered that he had come here on a mission. He quietly asked the person next to him: "Do you know what those people are holding in their hands?"
Ah Hu just asked casually, without intending to get anything out of it.
"I know." the man replied.
"Those people were working in the salt pans. They were given the ointment by the manager to make their hands feel better."
"Ointment?" Ah Hu was shocked.
Isn't hand ointment something only rich people can use?!
Why can it be sent to anyone here?
...
At the end of the day, Ah Hu left the salt field in a daze with today's wages.
I get paid every day... and I get so much...
It wasn't until Mr. Liu's housekeeper came to find him that he finally came to his senses and told him everything he had seen today.
"...At noon, each person gets a pancake and a side dish. It's crispy and lightly spicy. If there's not enough, you can grab another pancake if there's leftover."
"On the way back, I saw a group of people carrying anointing oil. They said it was given by the manager to anoint their hands. Those people were working in the salt fields..."
The housekeeper's face grew darker as he listened!
What the hell is going on? This is not what he wants to hear.
"Anything else?"
Ah Hu nodded quickly: "Yes, yes. Let me dig a pond when I get there."
"What kind of pool?" asked the housekeeper with a frown.
"It's square and divided into grids..." Ah Hu described it. "I heard from the manager that after it's dug, there will be places underneath to put pottery shards. This pool doesn't need to be filled with water; it can be filled up when the tide comes in."
The butler nodded.
He chuckled a few times, "Yantian is trying so hard to recruit people, they are not afraid of learning their methods."
Haven't they learned it?
The housekeeper casually sent Ah Hu away, but saw Ah Hu still looking at him.
"What's wrong?" the butler was puzzled.
Ah Hu said: "Master, we agreed..."
The butler took out a copper coin and threw it into his hand.
"You only brought back this little bit of information, and you still want a reward?"
...
The housekeeper of the Liu Mansion went back and told Liu Gu about these things. Liu Gu was overjoyed and ordered his own salt fields to dig a few of the ponds that Ah Hu had mentioned.
After digging as Ah Hu described, it became easier to divert water, and laying tiles underneath also increased efficiency.
However, Liu Gu did not dig such a large-scale reservoir. Wouldn't the porcelain pieces cost money? Let the salt farmers do these things and they can also produce salt without spending any money!
...
A month later, when the housekeeper ordered people to look for Ah Hu again and wanted him to continue to gather information, he discovered that Ah Hu had disappeared at some point. Ah Hu was alone in the first place, and he could not be found as soon as he left.
"Are you talking about Ah Hu? I seemed to hear him say that he went to work in Guantian..." said Ah Hu's former neighbor.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
