Chapter 2879: Drying Salt
Manbao had no intention of not eating meat, and he also understood their limited circumstances, so he said, "If you can reduce your exposure to cold water, then do so. Everyone knows that women shouldn't touch cold water during confinement, but women who are susceptible to cold should try to avoid cold water throughout their lives, let alone soaking in seawater like you did."
She said, "Let's not talk about distant things. I just want to ask you a question that's close to home. How old is the oldest woman in your village? How old is the oldest woman who doesn't go to the sea but only works in the fields?"
"They certainly lived longer than you, and when they were older, they generally suffered less than you."
The women fell silent when they heard this. People living by the sea all envied the people on land, thinking that they had fields and land and were born to live better than them.
Many fishing families wish to earn more money by fishing, and then buy some better land on land, leaving the seaside and never fishing again.
Manbao's expression improved when he saw that they listened to his advice.
The villagers basically just endure their illnesses, so it's not obvious on the surface, but they have many illnesses, big and small, especially since they are hungry and cold, which makes them even more ill.
When Bai Shan came back, Zhou Man had only seen half of the people.
The village chief excitedly went to greet everyone and prepare lunch for them. Manbao also finished his work and took a break. He looked at the excited village chief, then at Song Zhubu who looked unhappy, and turned to ask Bai Shan, "What happened?"
Bai Shan said, "I have decided to reopen the new saltworks here. We took another look today and we all think that we can start work after building some stoves."
Manbao asked, "Do you want to cook salt?"
Bai Shan raised an eyebrow when she asked, "Is there any other way besides boiling salt?"
Manbao glanced at him, got up and went back to the house. After a while, he brought out a thin book and gave it to him. "It contains several salt-making methods. I flipped through it and found that besides boiling salt, we can only use the sun-drying method. We can't do other methods under our current conditions."
Bai Shan took it and found that it was a book without a beginning or an end. It must have had a lot of paper torn off. He was not surprised by this situation. Sometimes the books Manbao took out were like this. Not only were the beginning and the end missing, but also the things in the middle.
He looked up and saw the village chief busy in the kitchen, while Song Zhubu was sulking behind the wall, and Dong Xianwei was talking to him in a low voice. Except for Daji, no one paid attention to them.
Bai Shan lowered his voice and asked, "Did your father-in-law give this to you?"
Manbao didn't nod, but he didn't shake his head to deny it either.
Bai Shan sighed and said, "My father-in-law is so good to me."
Manbao ignored him and said, "Take a look first. Some of the words above are unclear, and I don't know if Beihai County is suitable. You should try it first."
Bai Shan nodded.
I opened a book and read it in the yard. Although it was broad daylight, the house was still very dark, so it was more refreshing to read in the yard.
Since he was so open and honest, naturally no one would come to join in the fun and ask him what book he was reading. Song Zhubu was worried about other things, so he didn't come over either.
Bai Shan pondered it all night, and the next day he excitedly called the village chief and said, "Let the young men take hoes, shovels and other tools. Let's try to build a salt field today."
The village chief was stunned and said, "Sir, we haven't gone to chop firewood yet. We need to chop firewood and come back to dry it in the sun..."
Bai Shan said excitedly: "We don't need to boil salt anymore. I have come up with a new method of making salt. Let's try this first."
The village chief's lips trembled and he was speechless for a long time.
Song Zhubu, who was walking over, was also stunned. Then his eyes lit up and he immediately became excited. He came forward and asked, "County Magistrate Bai, you just said you want to try a new salt-making method that doesn't require boiling salt?"
Bai Shan smiled lightly and said, "Didn't Chief Secretary Song say today that there aren't many trees around here and there's not enough firewood?"
"I've thought about it and I think what you say makes sense. The mountains and forests are also the property of the imperial court. We can't ignore other living things and destroy them on a large scale just to make salt," he said. "So I'm going to try a different method of making salt."
The village chief quickly said, "Sir, we don't have to cut down trees nearby. We can go somewhere farther away."
In this endless forest, are you afraid that there are no trees?
Upon hearing this, Chief Secretary Song turned and scolded him, "Do you think all the forests under heaven belong to your village, Xiaowa Village? It's okay to cut down trees nearby, but if you cut down trees in distant places, and then cause conflicts and disputes, can you afford to compensate for the losses?"
The village chief was not good at speaking, and the other party's status naturally suppressed him. He could not reply at all. He could only look at Bai Shan anxiously and said, "Sir, after we cut down the trees, we will plant them according to the rules and will not destroy the forest."
Before Bai Shan could say anything, Song Zhubu continued, "You sound nice, but it takes ten years to grow a tree and a hundred years to cultivate a person. You only need a short time to cut down a tree, but it takes at least ten years, or even longer, for a tree to grow. You guys are using so much firewood to make salt, can you keep up with the replanting?"
The village chief blushed and said, "A lot of trees were cut down over there by the Dragon Pond..."
"Can you compare with Longchi? Longchi's salt fields have been there for many years. Do you know how much salt they can produce for the court every year?"
The village chief's face turned purple, he lowered his head and stopped talking.
Bai Shan said slowly, "What are you arguing about? This is an excellent method I just found in a book. This time we won't use firewood, but the sun."
He shook his head and said, "If we talk about the most yang thing in the world, it must be the sun in the sky. So I think salt made from the sun must be better than salt made from boiling."
The village chief was about to cry. This didn't make sense to him. He was also simple and said directly: "Sir, the sun is so strong, it can't cook rice into rice. To boil the sea water into salt, we can only rely on firewood."
Bai Shan said, "I am the magistrate of Beihai County, and I have to consider many things. I cannot destroy the mountains and forests just to make salt, so I must try this method."
The village chief asked, "What if the attempt fails?"
Bai Shan said: "If you can't get the salt once, try twice. If you can't get the salt in one year, try two years. Okay, ask someone to come with me to the salt fields. We don't need to build the stove anymore."
Seeing the village chief's gloomy face, Bai Shan said to him, "Don't worry, the government will pay you a lot of wages. Twelve cents a day, according to the salary at Longchi Salt Field."
Song Zhubu opened his mouth to object, but when he thought about how Bai Shan had finally changed his mind, he choked it back, fearing that he would think about boiling salt again.
Song Zhubu was still a little bit unconvinced, but Bai Shan took his men to the beach, walked around and stopped here and there, and finally chose a place to gather the sand on the beach and dig out a salt field.
The salt fields in the distance were just left unattended.
See you at 11pm
(End of this chapter)
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