Zhou Zhoulang couldn't believe that there were so many salt fields in Jiangnan, and one salt field in Beihai County could fill the gap
Seeing his shocked and suspicious expression, Bai Shan explained: "Not only our Beihai County, but also Shouguang County, Laizhou and Dengzhou, several counties near the sea are drying salt now."
Bai Shan traded a lot of things by using the method of drying salt, such as the boats in Laizhou, the merchant resources in Dengzhou, the population in Cangzhou, and so on.
He would replace whatever was lacking in Beihai County, not to mention that he needed a lot of wood for the construction of Longchi Wharf, most of which he bought, and the other half was given by the governor of Cangzhou.
There is quite a lot of good wood over there.
Zhou Zhou Lang was stunned for a while, then covered his chest and exclaimed: "How much does it cost?"
The wharf and the saltworks, the two richest ones are in Beihai County.
Zhou Man said: "That's also the imperial court's money, even His Majesty and the Crown Prince can't touch it, but this year's money should be enough to build a wharf, next year our Beihai County will be very rich, right?"
Just thinking about it made her happy.
Bai Shan turned his head to look at her, "I haven't had time to tell you, the imperial court has decided to monopolize salt and iron. From now on, the imperial court will no longer levy salt tax, and all official salt will be sold by the county governments in various places in cooperation with the salt transportation department."
He said: "Although the price varies from place to place due to different transportation costs, it will not vary greatly. After all the salt arrives in the place, it can be distributed to grocery stores. The price is jointly negotiated by the salt transportation department and the county government. five percent of the cost."
Zhou Man: "Ah, from now on we will eat salt much cheaper."
Zhou Zhou Lang did not understand, and asked: "How much is that?"
Bai Shandao: "If a bucket of salt is included in all costs from production to transportation, and it costs 50 yuan a bucket after it arrives at the place, then the selling price cannot be higher than 52.5 yuan."
Zhou Zhoulang was dumbfounded: "Isn't the price of salt now one hundred and ten cents a bucket?"
Bai Shan smiled slightly and said, "It will come down."
What Bai Shan said is correct, the price will indeed drop. Now that the Salt Transportation Department has not taken over the salt administration, and the governors' offices and county government are still in charge, the price has already dropped.
Perhaps because he was afraid of the accident in the previous season, he sent someone to send salt out for two months. Before it was time to buy it in the next season, officials from all over the country had already come to him.
The refurbished and expanded station welcomed a wave of guests, and Yicheng warmly entertained them.
Although their accommodation is free, the county government pays.
Bai Shan also welcomes them, although they are free to eat and live in the station, but the security guards and workers they bring to escort the official salt are not free, and whoever comes on a business trip, the friendly tolerance will always stay in the station for food and lodging
Their arrival made Beihai County look more prosperous.
Bai Shan directly took them to visit the weaving workshop in the county. Now the female workers weaving and tailoring, including embroidery, all look good, and the clothes and fabrics they make are very good.
The purchasing officials followed Bai Shan around in confusion, and were even taken to the farm to see the pigs, chickens and ducks they raised, the melons, fruits and vegetables they grew, as well as the rice and beans...
Who doesn't have these things
The most important thing is that they are here to buy salt, not real merchants.
Bai Shan smiled and said: "The pigs here are all castrated, not only tastes better, but also grows faster, have you seen this one, this is the first batch of castrated pigs, and they have been raised for less than seven years. It's been a month, and now it's time to start killing, so I'll have someone kill one, and I'll treat you to a whole pig feast tonight."
All the officials: ... I don't want to eat.
They all prefer to eat mutton and chicken, no matter how bad they are, they also eat fish, and basically rarely eat pork.
But Bai Shan had already taken them to see the chickens in the orchard, "We also have a lot of chickens. Recently, our veterinarians in Beihai County discovered that roosters can also be castrated, and after castration, they will grow more meat, not to mention the taste of the meat. Also better...”
He observed their expressions, and immediately turned around: "But we also have a lot of hens, and many of them have already started to lay eggs, so a lot of eggs can be produced every day, and they are very fresh."
After saying this, Bai Shan finally expressed his purpose, "If your prefecture and county need to purchase these things in the future, you can consider our Beihai County. Pork, chicken, melons, fruits and vegetables here are more delicious than those from outside."
Everyone: ... They are just officials who buy salt, not agricultural by-products.
But Bai Shan is the county magistrate, not only is the official higher than them, but at this time they also need to rely on Bai Shan to get the official salt, so they didn't show it, they just smiled and said they must.
Bai Shan didn't care whether they were sincere or not, he asked the long-term workers in Zhuangzi to catch a pig, kill it and send it to the post station with a smile on his face, and then took them back to the county town, "We'll go to Dajiawa to buy salt after dinner tomorrow, everyone. Bring your own hands and money with you."
He laughed and said, "Now Beihai County has limited manpower, so we can't transport the official salt to the county for trading, so you still need to go to the salt field to trade."
Everyone's eyes widened. They didn't expect to get a promise the next day. They didn't mind traveling a long way to the salt field, but they were only worried that they wouldn't be able to buy salt.
The buyers became more enthusiastic, saying that this is not a problem, they are willing to go no matter how far away, you are short of manpower, they have.
Early the next morning, Bai Shan personally took them to everyone.
Everyone is still looking gray now, Zhou Liwei has opened up all the places where the salt fields can be opened, and it can no longer be opened at this time, but the daily salt production is huge.
During this period of time, countless long-term workers have been transferred here from various villages. Because of the large number of workers, rows of houses have been built in the open space around Xiaojiawa, and there is also a market. People who don’t know who come here must think that This is a big town, not just a small village.
Zhou Liwei is the chief manager here now, and there are too many things. Basically, he has no skills to go to the fields to dry salt and shovel salt, but he is not much whiter. After half a summer of poisonous sun, he looks even darker now.
He trotted up to meet Bai Shan and the many people behind him, ran up and said: "My lord, the salt is in the warehouse, shall we go to the warehouse?"
Bai Shan nodded and led everyone to buy salt.
The buyers thought they would rest for one night and discuss the business the next day, but they didn't expect the stewards of the saltworks to be so vigorous.
They hurriedly followed and walked past some salt fields. They only felt that the light reflected from the sun shining on the salt fields made their eyes water, and a group of people walked to the warehouse in a daze.
Zhou Liwei asked someone to open the warehouse, and carried out bags of salt, "Come on, take out the official quotation for comparison."