Chapter 286 The Problem of Salt and Cotton Clothes
"Um."
Looking down at her, Wei Chengyi placed one hand behind his head and stared at the ceiling. "As early as half a month ago, I received news from the Imperial City that the Emperor already knew that Chenzhou's military power had fallen into our hands. The reason he kept his troops inactive during this period was, firstly, that he couldn't spare so many men, and secondly, that he was afraid of Master and the others. I was originally wondering what he would do next, but I didn't expect him to be waiting for us here."
At this time in his previous life, the peasant uprisings in Quanzhou and Taizhou had been suppressed, and the emperor only needed to worry about the wars in Binzhou and the Eastern Territory. But in this life, the peasant uprisings in Quanzhou and Taizhou are still raging under his intervention. Even if they are suppressed, they will soon revive. Not to mention Binzhou, the rebels have won three consecutive battles. In the Eastern Territory, the situation is better than in his previous life because he fully supports Chu Liang. However, these are enough to give the emperor a headache. It is estimated that most of the remaining Dragon Shadow Guards have been sent to those battlefields. It is impossible for them to be sent to Chenzhou to die in waves as before.
However, the emperor was truly ruthless. Cutting off their salt and iron supplies was tantamount to severing their lifeline. If they weren't short of iron, they wouldn't even be able to manufacture weapons. How could they continue to train for battle? And salt was essential. Without salt, people lacked strength. If they couldn't find a large and stable supply of privately-owned salt, they would constantly face a salt shortage.
"Dog Emperor!"
With a curse, Shen Xiangwan sat up wrapped in the quilt and said, "Buying illegal salt is not a good idea. Not only is it expensive, but the supply is not necessarily stable. What's more, we don't want a small amount. We must find a way to solve the problem once and for all... By the way, are there any salt mines in Chenzhou?"
Halfway through his words, Shen Xiangwan suddenly looked at him with shining eyes. Salt is not only found in the sea.
"Salt mine?"
Wei Chengyi was stunned for a moment, then frowned and said, "Stop it, eating rock salt will kill you."
It's not that he didn't understand what she meant. It was precisely because he understood that he was helpless. Many people had eaten mineral salt before, and without exception, they all died. The imperial court had explicitly stipulated that ordinary people were not allowed to eat mineral salt. If any profit-driven merchants sold mineral salt, their entire family would be executed. Therefore, almost no one dared to touch mineral salt.
"Who told you that eating mineral salt would definitely kill you?"
Leaning over and poking his furrowed brow, before he could protest, Shen Xiangwan continued, "It's true that consuming mineral salt directly can kill people, but I have a method for refining mineral salt that can remove the toxins and turn it into pure white salt. If there were salt mines in Chenzhou, we could solve the problem of salt shortage and wouldn't be strangled by the dog emperor anymore."
"really?"
Wei Chengyi sat up suddenly, his eyes shining. As far as he knew, there were many salt mines not only in Chenzhou but also in other places. If they could really turn waste into treasure, then they would no longer have to worry about the salt problem.
"I wouldn't joke about something like that."
Meeting his inquiring eyes, she nodded and leaned on his chest: “I will give you the method of refining mineral salt tomorrow, and you can also arrange people to find salt mines.”
"good."
Holding her with one hand, Wei Chengyi nodded with a smile, not doubting whether her so-called method of refining mineral salt was really feasible. He trusted his daughter-in-law 100%. Even if she said pigs were flying in the sky, he would subconsciously look up instead of doubting what she said.
"The military affairs should be almost settled, right? When will you be back?"
After the two lay down again, Shen Xiangwan asked casually while resting his head on his arm. As early as the end of last month, the Wei family army had exceeded 100,000 people. They had stopped recruiting soldiers and were now in intensive training. The reason why Wei Chengyi had not returned was not because there was a problem with the army, but because the gap in military supplies was too large and he needed to be in charge of the dispatch.
"This year, the country has been plagued by floods and droughts, and resources are extremely scarce. We're not so far off with weapons; we've found enough iron ore, so we just need to smelt it. With your generous support, we have no shortage of food. Our biggest problem right now is the war horses and winter cotton clothing for the soldiers. The court has already begun regulating the former, and even ordinary people are struggling to buy it. The latter is also a problem, with a shortage of nearly 50,000."
No matter what the matter was, Wei Chengyi would not hide it from her. As long as she asked, he would tell her everything he knew.
"I see."
Shen Xiangwan nodded vaguely, and after a moment of hesitation, he said, "You guys continue to think of ways to buy war horses, and leave the cotton-padded clothes to me."
"Um?"
Hearing this, Wei Chengyi frowned slightly: "The gap in the cotton-padded jacket is too big, we..."
"Have you forgotten that my space can be used for planting?"
Before he could finish, Shen Xiangwan looked up at him with a smile. "As for cotton, if we plant it now, it will be ready for harvest in ten days at the latest. Tomorrow, I'll have Number One draw you a blueprint for a loom. We'll have it built as soon as possible in the next few days. Once the cotton is harvested, we'll start weaving it right away. Since we can't buy cotton, we'll be self-sufficient. We absolutely can't let the soldiers train in the cold."
After her space was upgraded to level nine, the area was large enough. She only needed to grow one season of cotton, which should be enough to fill their gap. As for the war horses, she was powerless to do anything.
"good."
After she said that, Wei Chengyi suddenly understood. Potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn have been planted in the space, especially corn. Although its yield is not as good as potatoes and sweet potatoes, the dried corn kernels can be stored for several years without spoiling, making it very suitable as a reserve food for the army. He had forgotten that other things could be planted in the space.
"By the way, how's Seung Hyuk?"
In a blink of an eye, their eldest boy has been in the military camp for several months. Seeing that he hasn't come back yet, he should have adapted to it, right?
"Not bad, I can now lead the team in training."
Speaking of his younger brother, Wei Chengyi couldn't help but smile slightly. He had suffered a lot when he first joined the army. I heard that he almost cried, but he gradually got used to it. A few days ago, he saw him from a distance and he was already doing well. However, if his father and brothers were still alive, they would be heartbroken to see this scene, right? At first, it seemed that his mother didn't let him join the army, but in fact, his father and brothers didn't want him to set foot on the battlefield again. They just wanted him to be a carefree young master, but they didn't expect...
"Let him come back during the Chinese New Year. Although Mom doesn't say it, she still misses him very much."
Not long ago, she accidentally saw Zhao Yuping quietly asking about Yuan Xiu's military camp.
"Um."
Wei Chengyi nodded and did not refuse. No one knew his mother better than him. She was probably worried to death.
"Go to bed early, we'll be busy tomorrow."
As she spoke, Shen Xiangwan yawned and snuggled into his arms again. Wei Chengyi stopped talking and just pulled up the quilt to cover her naked body. After her breathing stabilized, he leaned over and kissed her forehead before hugging her and closing his eyes.
[End of this chapter]
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