In the early morning in Xianyang, sunlight streamed obliquely through the window, carrying a slight chill. The wicked husband slept soundly all night, only lazily getting up when the sun was high in the sky.
After washing up and changing into simple clothes, he was about to go out to the workshop to inspect the refining of sugar and refined salt.
"Grand Commandant, you... you're up quite early today, haha!" Zhang Erhe laughed and approached, half-jokingly cupping his hands in greeting. Last night's victory celebration banquet had gotten everyone quite drunk, but who would have thought that the wicked husband would still be full of energy.
The wicked husband rolled his eyes at him: "Today is a rare day off, and I was just about to take the opportunity to check on the sugar and salt. I heard that the Chu Kingdom has placed a lot of orders for sugar at high prices. I have no idea how much they've made, so I naturally have to go and see."
Zhang Erhe nodded repeatedly: "That's right. We've been saying before that we want to expand into the salt and sugar businesses. We've already made a lot of money from sugar blocks. If you also launch this refined salt, it will surely be an even bigger fortune."
"Forget about refined salt, it's only open to the people under the rule of my Qin state!" The wicked man shook his head slightly. Compared to sugar, which had not yet been developed, refined salt had greater strategic value in this era.
Before he could finish speaking, a commotion arose outside the door. Meng Can and several of his friends from the court had come to the door, all looking on with great interest: "Grand Commandant, you're awake so early?"
“We didn’t have enough to drink last night, and we’re free today, so we thought we’d come here to mooch some drinks!” Meng Ao chimed in.
The wicked man laughed heartily and said without any politeness, "I was just about to go inspect the refined salt and sugar workshop. Why don't you come with me and take a look? We can come back at noon to continue drinking."
Everyone readily agreed.
Although Meng Ao and others were high-ranking officials in the court, they were usually busy handling political affairs and their knowledge of the workshop's progress mainly came from reports. They also wanted to go and see for themselves.
The group traveled together by carriage and horse, heading southeast out of the city along the official road.
Near the water source close to Xianyang, a large area of workshops had long been built, divided into various categories, including iron casting and smelting, salt refining and sugar boiling.
Since the evil man advocated for the vigorous development of such industries, the imperial court has successively invested a lot of manpower and funds, and incidentally allocated large tracts of land to the workshops so that they could expand their production scale.
“These sugars are quite remarkable these days; they are not only sweet but also have a long shelf life. Many foreign merchants want to buy them, but since you are not here, we dare not make the decision on our own.”
Although Meng Can was the Grand Minister of Agriculture, and nominally the workshops were under his direct control, they were ultimately established by the wicked man, so he was too lazy to interfere too much and took the opportunity to bring up this matter.
The wicked husband revealed a smile, "You can make the decision on this matter. Wouldn't it be foolish not to make some easy money?"
A short while later, as the convoy stopped at the workshop entrance, the workshop manager and his men quickly approached and greeted the wicked man with great enthusiasm: "Greetings, Grand Commandant, and all lords!"
The wicked man nodded slightly and waved his hand, saying, "No need for formalities. We're just looking around. You can continue with your work as usual."
......
The first place they entered was a workshop specializing in sugar refining. As soon as they stepped inside, they were greeted by a cloyingly sweet aroma. Before Meng Can and the others could even discern the operating procedures, they were already captivated by the rich fragrance.
Rows of large pots were placed on earthen stoves, where craftsmen were busily boiling and stirring the pre-processed sugarcane juice. The juice was then poured into stone troughs for filtering and cooling. After further purification and crystallization, brown or relatively white sugar blocks were obtained.
The supervisor pointed to bags of packaged sugar cubes not far away and said with a smile, "Grand Commandant, as you instructed, we have improved several processes. Now we can make whiter sugar cubes with a better taste, which is perfect for those nobles who like sweets. As for the price... hehe, it will naturally be several times higher."
"Good, well done!" The wicked husband picked up a small piece of still warm candy, put it in his mouth and tasted it. "It's very sweet, and it's still a bit chewy on the tip of the tongue. It's top quality, far exceeding the quality and taste before I went to war."
Meng Ao and the others were astonished, repeatedly exclaiming in amazement: "This kind of processing can actually make sugarcane sweeter and purer, it's truly wonderful. No wonder the State of Chu is scrambling to buy it at a high price."
"Absolutely!" the wicked husband explained with a laugh. "With this sugar, it's perfect for tea, pastries, and porridge. The noble young masters and ladies of Chu will soon be inseparable from it. And the money will just be pouring into our pockets."
Upon hearing this, everyone showed expressions of admiration. If that were true, this little piece of candy would be more valuable than gold or silver.
Next, the group arrived at another workshop area.
Unlike the sweet-smelling sugar mills, the air inside the salt mills was rather stuffy and hot. Salt workers were scooping brine and drying salt crystals in large square pools. Large barrels of raw salt were piled on the ground, their color uneven.
Upon seeing the wicked husband arrive, the saltworks manager hurriedly stepped forward: "Grand Commandant, you ordered refined salt, and we already have so much that we can hardly store it anymore. However, the Grand Commandant is away on a campaign, and His Majesty has not given a clear order. We wonder if it should be put on the market immediately?"
"Can't store any more?" The wicked man thought for a moment, "Then quickly spread the word among the people and promote refined salt. The coarse salt in the hands of the people can be exchanged for refined salt, which will reduce the difficulty of promoting refined salt."
"Also, Meng Can, make a note of this!"
Meng Can, who was standing to the side, quickly stepped forward and pretended to listen attentively.
He looked around the saltworks and flicked his sleeve: "Refined salt is the foundation of the nation and must be strictly regulated. We must not allow unscrupulous people to use refined salt to make money, otherwise... it will only harm the people."
"No matter what, one ounce of this refined salt is worth one half-ounce of Qin salt. Remember, sugar can be profitable, but salt cannot be arbitrarily traded. Anyone who dares to cross the line will have their family property confiscated and their clan exterminated, to deter the wicked!"
Meng Can nodded emphatically, “The Grand Commandant is absolutely right. We must not allow things that benefit the country and its people to become tools for making money! We must carry out this severe law to show the court’s determination.”
The wicked man nodded slightly, glanced around the saltworks, and instructed the manager, "In the coming days, you need to speed up the refining process. Once the refined salt is on the market, your current stock may not be enough."
His tone was calm, yet carried an undeniable authority. The saltworks manager, upon hearing this, felt a chill run down his spine and repeatedly replied, "Yes!"
At this moment, Meng Can sighed again, "Grand Commandant, have you thought about this? What if the reserves are insufficient? Some people will get them while others won't. This will inevitably cause unrest among the people and may lead to chaos."
“This is not difficult.” The wicked man rolled up his sleeves and looked at the salt bags piled up like a small mountain on the ground. “In the early stages, we will implement a quota system, limiting each household to two ounces per month to temporarily alleviate the pressure on refined salt.”
"We can't... eat salt as our main meal, can we?"
"Once the production of refined salt increases in the future, we will allow free purchase. In addition, the states of Qi and Yan have been destroyed, and our Qin state now has a sea. We can set up salt fields on the coast and implement the sun-drying method, which will greatly alleviate the pressure on the supply and demand of refined salt."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
