Originally, it would have been more appropriate for Master Xiaoman and Xu Changming to clean up the Xu family's affairs, but Xu Family Village is hundreds of miles away from Jincheng Prefecture.
Unlike modern times with highways, it doesn't take half a day to get there.
Now, relying solely on the speed of mule carts, which require traversing mountains and valleys, even with a smooth journey, it would take at least several days, and those old men would be exhausted from the bumpy ride.
Moreover, they would have to travel through the night and rest at a post station forty miles away.
Surrounded by Nie Fantian's entourage of horses, Jiang Zhi wasn't worried about encountering wild beasts like tigers or leopards; in fact, she secretly hoped one would come out.
With the male lead around, all it takes is a sliding tackle to turn them into a dish.
It feels like two little girls competing to see who is better than their older brother.
One said, "My brother dares to eat shit!"
One said, "My brother dares to eat it hot!"
The two older brothers next to him... died!
Nie Fantian probably felt the same way if he knew he was waiting for the tiger to come out.
The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month is the waxing crescent moon, and the night is unusually clear. The moonlight shines on the official road, carrying a cool and refreshing chill.
On the first day of traveling at night, everyone was in good spirits. Qin pointed outside and kept talking: "The moon is so bright tonight, I'll definitely need to apply white frost tomorrow morning."
"Dayai Village is just ahead!"
Daya Village and Xujia Village are only about 20 miles apart, both located beside the official road, but Jiang Zhi has never been there before.
Xujia Village was burned down by the chaotic soldiers, and Daya Village naturally did not escape the fate of being looted either, but it was not set on fire and the houses were still intact.
There used to be more villagers here than in Xujia Village. After the war, most of them fled to the county seat and the prefectural city to escape the chaos. A small number of them stayed in the village. Even when the villagers returned, they were already severely weakened.
According to Errui, during this grain harvest, several families said that after paying their taxes, they would have to rely on barley to fill their stomachs.
The official road runs through the middle of the village. Under the moonlight, all that can be seen are the silent courtyards hidden in the shadows of bamboo and trees, and two domestic dogs whimpering behind a low wall. There is an inexplicable sense of death.
The horse caravan continued without stopping and soon passed through the village.
Although it was a bit cramped with Qin Shi in the car, it had many advantages. It was warm to lean on her, and someone would run errands for us when we got off.
The journey was smooth, and we arrived at the new station when the moon was high in the sky.
This place is older than Xujia Village, and you can see the traces of it being damaged and repaired in the past.
After arriving at the post station, Jiang Zhi and Qin Shi shared a room, and Li Laoshi ran around fetching hot water and bringing them late-night snacks.
Jiang Zhi didn't care about Nie Fantian and his group's food and lodging at all. She only called Xiaoman to her side, pinched his arm to see if he was tired, and touched his forehead to see if he was cold. She was very caring.
Although Xiaoman found Aunt Jiang's behavior a bit strange, she just assumed that she was worried about her first time riding a horse.
"Don't worry, Auntie. Brother Youtian taught me how to ride a horse. He said that everyone is like this when they first start riding, and it will get better with time."
Xiaoman and Nie Fantian are childhood friends. Although they rarely mentioned each other during the three years they were separated, their childhood friendship remained, and they naturally became affectionate when they met.
Moreover, Brother Tian said that if he took the knife for him, he would compensate him.
Jiang Zhi didn't really think Xiaoman was tired.
However, whenever Jiang Zhi recalls how Nie Fantian's luck would unconsciously affect others, such as how Er Rui's yellow light would disappear after being slapped by him, she becomes very worried about Xiao Man's safety along the way.
Unfortunately, Jiang Zhi can no longer see these auras. She only hopes that she can bring good luck to Xiao Man and that this contact can put her mind at ease.
This trip to Jincheng Prefecture wasn't for visiting relatives or friends, and everyone was in a bad mood on the way.
Besides calling Jiang Zhi "aunt" in Xujia Village, Nie Fantian also intentionally or unintentionally kept his distance from her on the road, letting Xiaoman relay any messages.
Jiang Zhi didn't want to get too close to him either. It would be best if things ended like this and they went their separate ways.
At night, the moon is as white as day; during the day, the frost is as thick as snow.
On my way in the morning, the white fog was so thick that you couldn't see anyone for ten meters. The frost flowers on the roadside made it feel chilling to the bone.
Jiang Zhi and Qin Shi couldn't sit still in the car. No matter how thick their clothes were, it was no use. The damp, cold feeling made them feel completely frozen.
It's not just passengers who suffer; even horse riders suffer.
We could only continue our journey once the fog cleared, so everyone dismounted and got out of their vehicles to warm up on foot.
We were walking along the edge of a cliff. The path was no more than two meters wide. On one side was a ravine shrouded in mist, its bottom invisible. On the other side was a stone wall with brown marks on it.
Qin pointed to a large bamboo tube wrapped in zongzi (sticky rice dumpling) on the cliff face and said, "I know what this is, it's a brine pipe! It's used to transport brine from the salt wells to the salt sheds. I've seen similar ones back in my hometown!"
Ba County produces salt, and its salt wells are widely distributed. They have even summarized principles such as "mouth to mouth, water flows continuously; bay to bay, water will never dry up" and "mountain mouth to mountain mouth, salt water will definitely come out," in order to find salt-rich brine layers.
After a low concentration of salt is extracted in one place, if the local drying conditions are not good, the brine will be transported to other places in bamboo tubes to be concentrated.
When the roads are difficult to travel, planks are built on the cliffs in the mountains and bamboo tubes are erected to guide the brine from the salt wells deep in the mountains.
Over the years, the salt water dripping from the gaps in the bamboo tubes has corroded large brown patches on the stone wall.
The presence of salt pipes here indicates that the salt field ahead is approaching.
During the chaos of war, the area along the official road near Xujia Village suffered the most damage, partly because there were several official and private salt wells in the area.
As the fog gradually dissipated, a tall salt shed appeared on the flat ground not far from the official road ahead.
However, the area is surrounded by a rough wooden fence, preventing people from getting close, but you can clearly see the animal-powered waterwheel next to the salt shed and the large wooden box on top.
The brine is carried from the salt pond below to wooden boxes high in the air by waterwheels, and then flows down slowly from the bamboo branches above, repeating the cycle, allowing the wind and sun to carry away the excess water from the brine.
Then, boil the remaining water off the pot on the stove next to the salt shed. The crystals on top are salt, while the impurities containing salt at the bottom of the pot are discarded.
This salt was the source of King Zhou's confidence in "purging the court of corrupt officials," and it was very profitable. After all, the earliest salt enabled the ancient Shu people to "eat without planting and wear clothes without weaving."
Jiang Zhi sighed with admiration, realizing that no matter how much money one has, it's only enjoyed by those at the top of the pyramid, and has little to do with ordinary people.
Old Li chuckled from the side and said, "I've also heard that the salt water flows directly into the ditch, and clothes washed with it will have white rings when they dry. I wonder if using that water to grow crops will leave a bad taste?"
Qin rolled her eyes at him from the side: "What nonsense are you talking about? The crops are grown in the water, and there are fish in the water. It's all diluted. You're saying that the grains grown there have a taste? Why don't you say that you don't even need to add salt when you cook rice?"
Li Laoshi nodded: "That's exactly what I meant!"
"Stupid!" The two immediately started bickering like children.
Jiang Zhi was still looking at the salt sheds, which looked like they were raining day and night, when Xiao Man rode over on horseback: "Auntie, Brother Tian is going to the salt sheds. He told us to wait outside for a while."
"Okay!" Jiang Zhi had no objections and completely obeyed Nie Fantian's arrangements.
Soon, Nie Fantian went to the entrance of the salt shed, first talked to someone, and then followed a man who looked like a manager into the room next to the salt shed.
Jiang Zhi turned away and didn't look again. These salt taxes were to be supplied to King Zhou as military supplies. Nie Fantian was busy with official duties and didn't want to know anything.
Image from the internet, model of Suining Zhuotong Well.
The ancient salt wells of Zigong are still in production and use today.
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