While waiting for the opportunity arranged by Xia Fan, Kong Xuanzi leaned towards the waiter and said in a low voice, "Master Chi, why didn't you just say it outright at the beginning? That is obviously an excellent opportunity."
In the past five years, he accompanied his master to explore many cities, and he could only meet with the local chief officials a handful of times. Even if he spent some money to meet him, he would have almost no chance to identify himself. Since the other party's attitude is unclear, just testing each other requires racking one's brains. The conversation can often go smoothly when pretending to be a big businessman or a child of aristocratic family, but when it comes to monsters, progress becomes extremely difficult, let alone marriage. Something happened.
Obviously in the prosperous era of Penglai, demons could still coexist peacefully with humans, and the favor of dragons was a good thing that most people could only dream of.
"I-I think such a big thing should not be taken lightly." Chi replied stiffly, "On the surface, he does have no prejudice against demons, but no one knows his actual thoughts."
"You can understand what you think in your heart when we get along day and night..."
"Are you looking for a husband or am I?" Chi glared at the attendant.
Kong Xuanzi closed his mouth knowingly.
"Actually, if you think about it carefully, we know nothing about him at all, don't we?" Chi crossed his hands and said, "This person's place of origin, life, background... why he fell out with the Privy Council, and how he was appreciated by the princess. I I don’t even know if he is married or has an engagement. This kind of thing... we still need to observe it for a while."
That's not what you said when you decided to leave Penglai Island.
Kong Xuanzi cursed in his heart. It was true that everyone had expressed concerns at that time, but didn't you confidently say that no one could refuse your proposal and this honor? Even if the other party is already married, it is a matter of divorce and remarriage. In short, there is no scruple.
But this resentment was quickly forgotten by him.
After all, the outside world is very different from what everyone thinks. The servant may have suffered more setbacks in the past five years than in the past hundred years. It is not easy for her to be able to persist until now after experiencing all kinds of blows.
As someone who was raised by Long Yishou, no matter what decision Chi makes, Kong Xuanzi will support her.
Chi Ze looked at the flow of people on the street in a daze.
She suddenly remembered what Xia Fan had said, hesitated for a moment, and tried to untie the cloth wrapped around her head.
With this movement, apart from Juanjuan's hair, there was also a pair of bifurcated velvet horns - compared to the features revealed by the eyes, these pair of obtuse horns shaped like deer antlers are undoubtedly much more eye-catching.
Then, she crossed the gate of the courtyard wall and stood in front of the stone steps of the Secretariat.
Soon someone noticed something strange on the top of their head.
This discovery spread like a trickle, and more and more eyes were cast on her.
But no one showed any signs of panic or fear.
What Chi feels most is curiosity and scrutiny.
There are people with good intentions, but they are not that numerous.
There were also some incomprehensible whispers, such as "It's not wolf ears this time" and "Did the Secretariat change people again to lure you into the bait?" But in general, everyone did not care about her inhuman appearance. Appear repulsion or hatred, as if monsters on the street are no longer a rare thing.
What he said... was actually true.
"Lord Chi, Jin Xia said the carriage is ready." The guard's voice interrupted Chi's thoughts.
She nodded, "Let's go."
…
Xia Fan led a group of people through the east city gate and arrived at the salt field production area.
The snow season and gray sky have brought the output of the salt drying farm to the lowest point. There are not many people working in the flat and white pools, but these square pools still give visitors the most intuitive view. It’s a visual shock—the new salt farm is almost ten times the size of the salt boiling farm, and the white land stretching for miles can be said to be endless.
The motorcade stopped in an open space, and Xia Fan introduced to the people who got off the carriage, "This is Jinxia's new salt farm. The salt it currently produces can meet all the needs of the people of Shenzhou. Winter is really good for open-air production areas. There will be some impact, but we still have the second production area to ensure basic supply.”
Chi did not see any traces of firewood burning. The first impression here was that it was clean and tidy. The white bottom of the pool looked like snow at first glance, but when you look closely, you will find that it is a layer of condensation like ice crystals.
The problem is that salt production is a large-scale industry that requires a lot of manpower to maintain. There are not even a few people here. Can a sufficient amount of sea salt be really produced
"Sir, look at your feet!" Kong Xuanzi suddenly said in surprise, "It seems that the sand is not entirely covered with snow."
Chi looked down and immediately noticed this situation.
She squatted down and pushed aside the cold snow. She saw that there were many white particles mixed in the brown sand and gravel, and it was impossible for snow to seep into these gaps through the surface of the sand.
Could it be that this is salt
She tried to pick up a small piece and put it in her mouth, and the salty taste immediately melted on the tip of her tongue.
It’s actually true!
The other attendants did the same thing.
"No way, they actually let salt be sprinkled on the ground?"
"Look at the edge of the pool, it seems to be full of salt!"
"This is too wasteful."
"If you sift the salt out of the sand, it would fill several sacks."
There was a moment of discussion in the team.
Chi walked up to Xia Fan and said with a hint of blame, "Although I don't know how you make salt, you are a little too lax in your management. You may not take a few bags of salt seriously, but for ordinary people, It is said that one bag is enough to meet the needs of a family of three for decades. When a little adds up, it is the salt expenditure of hundreds of families."
Xia Fan didn't expect her to say this, and was a little surprised for a moment, "It's not that I want to waste it, but this method of making salt will inevitably let the salt seep into the earth. Instead of spending energy to screen them out, it is better to make them again. One batch.”
"Excuse me, Mr. Xia, how much is the price of salt in Jinxia City?" Kong Xuanzi asked, cupping his hands.
"Coarse salt costs ten cents and one tael. The price of refined salt is higher, tentatively set at five hundred cents and one tael."
"Is it expensive?" Chi turned around and asked.
"It's quite cheap." Kong Xuanzi shook his head, "The price of salt in other places is basically around sixty or seventy cents, which is almost six times the difference. But this refined salt..."
"Currently it is only being promoted as a gift and has not yet been sold to the common people. After the tour is over, I can give you a few bottles to taste." Xia Fan said with a smile, "Now let's go to the steaming factory to have a look."
The so-called steaming factory is the second production area of the salt farm. The moment they stepped into the factory door, everyone was shocked by the scene inside.
I saw steam surging in the huge pool, making the temperature inside the room feel like midsummer! Hundreds of workers are busy here. Wearing only a single coat, they use long wooden pulp to stir back and forth in the pool. The moment the wooden pulp is pulled out of the water, you can already see some salt flowers hanging on it.
If you want to boil such a large pool of water, the fire must be strong, but no one saw a trace of flame. It's as if this brick boiling tank has incredible power, able to generate high temperatures on its own to boil the salt water!
The stacking area at the other end of the factory eliminated the last doubts of the Penglai people.
There are a dozen "salt mountains" placed there, each one nearly one story high. People treat it the same way as gravel, gathering it together with shovels, bagging it and digging it with hoes... A lot of salt just spreads out to the roadside and is stepped into the ground at will. Such an attitude can only mean one thing. Jinxia City does have a lot of salt.
…