Chapter 2972 Secretly Rubbing
As soon as they left, only his own people were left in the yard. The prince believed that these people could be used by him and were temporarily considered his own people.
The prince raised his chin slightly and said, "Tell me everything."
Tang He didn't say anything, so Censor Ning looked at Bai Shan and confirmed again, "Can salt really be dried out?"
Bai Shan said with certainty: "Yes."
Censor Ning no longer doubted him and said to the Crown Prince with shining eyes, "Your Highness, the salt tax in Jiangnan can be investigated, and even the salt policy of the whole country can be revised."
"Father thinks so too."
This remark was like a reassurance to Censor Ning and Tang He. They both breathed a sigh of relief and said in unison, "Your Majesty, I am willing to serve you and be at your command."
The prince said, "Then let's start with the salt fields. Of course, we can't go straight to the salt fields, so we must first rectify the administration and ensure that the salt routes are unobstructed."
Tang He's mind flashed through their planned itinerary, which was indeed on the way out of Qingzhou and on the way to the salt and grain import and export from Jiangnan.
If the weather in Jiangnan changes, they not only have to ensure that areas outside Jiangnan are not affected by Jiangnan, but also have to provide Jiangnan with enough salt, so salt must also be brought in.
Tang He and Censor Ning exchanged a glance and said, "The grain transport in Jiangnan..."
"The Emperor has his own plans. What we need to do is to rectify the administration along the way and ensure the salt production at the salt fields," the Crown Prince said to Bai Shan. "I wonder what the requirements are for the salt drying location? Can it be anywhere near the sea? Or is it just Beihai County?"
Bai Shan said, "It has to be a place with plenty of sunshine and little rain. Of course, seawater with a high salt content is naturally best."
He said, "The new Dajiawa salt field was left behind by the previous County Magistrate Lu. He chose this spot very well. When we dug down in some places along the seashore, we could still see brine."
The prince understood and said, "List the salt drying method in detail, it will be useful to me later."
Bai Shan agreed.
The prince pondered and said, "Since Dajiawa is suitable, and the salt-drying method originated in your Beihai County, then you should build more salt fields. I think any place with seawater will do, so you don't have to stick to the seashore. You can go deeper and dig a large trench to let the seawater flow in directly."
Because he found that there were few crops planted in this area, and some places that were not on the mountains were barren, with sparse weeds on them, and it seemed that nothing could be grown.
Bai Shan said worriedly, "That's true, but Beihai County is poor and has a small workforce. Whether it's digging ditches, opening salt fields, or drying salt, a large number of people are needed."
The prince frowned.
Everything else is fine, but he has no way to deal with it in terms of manpower.
Even though there are always voices from all over the place saying that there is not enough land to go around and that adults cannot get enough land, the population is not that large.
"I can't conjure up a human being for you right away. Are there many widows in your land? I'll send some soldiers over to you so they can have more children."
Tang He couldn't help but smile.
Bai Shan: "...Your Highness, it's too late to have a child now. It will take at least seventeen years for a child to become an adult, right?"
Even if you get pregnant today, it will still take ten months for the baby to be born.
But he did not refuse the prince's request to send him soldiers. "After today, the Dajiawa Salt Field will definitely attract attention and will indeed need more people to protect it."
It just so happened that when people arrived, he asked the soldiers to cultivate the land. They couldn't just do patrols every day, so everyone took turns. When they had nothing to do, they could open up some wasteland. If they could grow crops, they would grow crops. If they couldn't, they would make salt.
Bai Shan's calculations were clattering as he said to the Crown Prince, "Your Highness has seen that the coastal area of Dajiawa is very long. If salt fields were built all along the coast, the daily output of salt would be enormous. It would be much easier and more time-consuming to transport such a large amount of salt by land."
The prince immediately thought of Laizhou Bay. Before he could open his mouth, Bai Shan said in a slightly raised voice, "There's a place called Longchi in Beihai County. It's a natural ferry crossing. Laizhou Bay is just outside, and it's not far from Dadawa to Longchi. If there were ships departing from Longchi, the salt from Dadawa could not only go south to Jiangnan and Lingnan, but also north to Youzhou and Pingzhou."
The prince raised an eyebrow and looked at Bai Shan. Although he felt that there was no need to build another ferry, he was still willing to listen.
Bai Shan continued, "Once the official salt reaches Youzhou and Pingzhou, it can then be taken to Taiyuan and the grasslands. This saves the need to go to Laizhou, and the journey is much safer."
At present, sea routes are still safer than land routes.
Of course, this security is aimed at man-made disasters, not natural disasters.
The prince seemed to be lost in thought. "You want to compete with Laizhou for the ferry crossing and ships going out to sea?"
Bai Shan coughed lightly and emphasized, "It's to attract more merchants to come here."
He suddenly thought divergently and hypothesized, "If salt can be shipped out from Longchi, the ship must not return empty. Silk and porcelain from the Jiangnan area can also be brought in by ship, as can furs, medicinal herbs, cattle, sheep, horses, and other items from Youzhou and Pingzhou. They can be exchanged at Longchi. It will be safer for the salt ship to follow the same route as the caravan."
Tang He's mind moved, "Wouldn't this change the current canal transport route?"
The prince, who had originally not taken it seriously, sat up straighter and thought, "If this happens, it will be inconvenient to set up the ferry for the official salt to be shipped out in Laizhou."
After all, he has Bai Shan to use in Qingzhou, but he is not very familiar with Laizhou.
Bai Shan nodded repeatedly, looking at the prince with bright eyes.
The prince pondered, "But this is not something that can be accomplished in one or two years. Without four or five years, or even five or six years, it will be difficult to achieve scale."
Bai Shan thought for a moment and then gritted his teeth and said, "I am willing to stay here until this matter is accomplished."
The prince raised an eyebrow, "Are you really willing to stay here for five or six years?"
With Bai Shan's ability and qualifications, he was sent out to gain experience. In addition, he now has the contribution of salt drying method, so no one will say anything even if he is promoted and leaves now.
However, the purpose of his being sent abroad was to gain experience, so he would not leave so early. However, the prince and the emperor also planned for him to stay for three years at the beginning.
After three years, he would be transferred to other places to continue his training, and would stay in Beihai County for six years...
The prince smiled slightly and nodded, "If that's the case, I'll agree. Isn't it just building a ferry? Go ahead and build it."
Censor Ning coughed heavily and reminded, "Your Highness, this matter requires approval from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works."
Judging from Bai Shan’s plan, it’s obviously not a small ferry, so it won’t be Qingzhou that will provide the money, but funds will have to be allocated from the national treasury.
Bai Shan thought that it would take a long time to wait for the national treasury to allocate funds, so he hinted: "Perhaps Qingzhou can advance part of the funds."
The prince was indeed very interested and leaned forward, "Oh?"
Bai Shan, facing Censor Ning's glare of "you treacherous villain," said to the Crown Prince, "It's summer now, and the summer and autumn harvests are approaching. After that, taxes will be due. If the national treasury is short of money right now, we can advance some of it from Qingzhou."
In other words, the money that Qingzhou should have handed over to the national treasury was spent first, which was actually still considered as money paid by the national treasury, but the process of first sending it to the national treasury and then allocating it by the national treasury was omitted.
The prince thought this was a good idea, so he nodded in agreement.
Of course, he agreed. Whether it could actually be accomplished depended on the opinions of the emperor and the dukes in the court. But Bai Shan also won the support of the crown prince, didn't he?
See you at 7pm
(End of this chapter)
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