"What about your labor? How much time is spent? How about equipment? Aren't these free?" Xiang Yang asked.
In fact, labor is not that valuable. Fatty Zuo can operate this machine by himself.
Xiang Yang watched the whole process of Fatty Zuo refining salt. First, it was heated to concentrate, cooled to crystallize, filtered and then distilled. At this time, the snow-white crude salt was refined.
The whole process was too cumbersome. Xiang Yang thought that if he really wanted to refine salt, he could make edible salt by drying it.
In fact, many coastal fishing villages have the habit of drying salt on the beach.
The use of salt has a history of thousands of years in my country.
The salt man mentioned in "Book of Zhou" is the official in charge of salt affairs during the Zhou Dynasty.
During the Han Dynasty, salt officials were appointed to manage salt taxes. All subsequent feudal dynasties regarded salt taxes as an important source of finance, and the same was true abroad.
Many ancient nations often went to war over salt. In 98 AD, a war broke out between the Hatut and Hieronymus tribes of the Germanic nation in order to seize salt resources, resulting in the extinction of the Hatut tribe.
In the history of salt development, it has undergone many evolutions, which can be mainly divided into three major changes.
The first time, as long as it was edible, it was fine. During this period, people had basically no standards for the composition of table salt. As long as it was salty, it didn't matter if it was a little dirty or bitter. This kind of salt was extracted directly from seawater or brine without any other processing. The quality was very poor and it contained some harmful substances.
However, even today, there is still an ancient well in Zigong City that continues to make salt using the traditional method. That ancient well has now become an intangible cultural heritage and is an important means for us to understand the ancient method of making well salt.
Xiang Yang did know this traditional way of refining salt, but he certainly would not recommend the villagers to use this method to refine salt.
Because this method of salt refining first requires the preparation of brine. Its raw material is brine, which is divided into yellow brine and black brine. Yellow brine is a brown solution that contains a large amount of barium ions. The salt cooked with it tastes bitter and is poisonous.
Black brine is a black solution that contains a large amount of sulfate ions, which is also a substance that is harmful to the human body.
As long as the yellow brine and the black brine are mixed together in a certain proportion, the barium ions and sulfate ions will combine to form a white precipitate. Finally, the precipitate can be removed to make the brine slag clear.
However, there are often some residues that cannot be removed. It is fine to eat such salt yourself, but if you want to sell it on the market, the Industrial and Commercial Bureau will not approve it.
The second change is that the whiter the better. After the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, science and technology have developed greatly, and the level of salt refining has also greatly improved. People's requirements for edible salt have changed. The standard is that the whiter the color, the better, the finer the particles, the better, the higher the purity, the better, and the fewer impurities, the better, which is the kind of salt most of us are eating now.
The third change was only proposed in recent years and has not yet been widely popularized. The time point is probably because in recent years a large number of medical studies have shown that excessive salt intake can easily cause high blood pressure, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and proposed the concept of health-first salt intake.
This means to avoid excessive salt intake. Experts recommend that each person's daily salt intake should be less than 5 grams, and it is best to eat simple meals without salt. Therefore, low-sodium salt was invented, or products such as potassium alternative salt were used. Various health care product companies have also launched various health care salts. A bag of normal-sized health care salt can cost as little as a dozen yuan or as much as several hundred or thousands of yuan. No one knows whether it is real health care or fake health care.
Xiang Yang felt that he could also make some health-care salt. The production method was not difficult. In fact, it was just the ordinary salt-drying method, and many people in the village knew how to make it.
After drying the sea salt, you only need to add some trace elements that are beneficial to the human body. It can supplement the trace elements in the human body and become a healthy balanced salt.
Xiang Yang did not hide anything and expressed his thoughts as soon as he thought of them.
Fatty Zuo was very excited when he heard this and rubbed his hands together. "Brother Yang, how much can the healthy salt you mentioned really sell for?"
Even Village Chief Zuo was slightly excited. Salt is not like seafood. Once all the seafood in an area of sea is caught, it will take a long time to wait for the next time when the fishery resources are abundant again.
And what about salt
Do you see the blue sea outside
Any sea water you scoop out of it is salt.
It is basically an inexhaustible golden sea.
Xiang Yang thought about it and felt that he simply couldn't afford a bigger ship in the short term. Instead of keeping the extra money and waiting for it to depreciate, he might as well spend it on some business. If successful, the money could make more money, but if he failed, that would be the same.
"A few dollars per pound is already the minimum. The formula is troublesome. Although it is nothing more than adding some potassium, iron and other elements into the salt when it is dried, we don't know the specific matching proportions. But if I really want to do it, I can ask my teacher for the formula." Xiang Yang said in a deep voice.
"Brother Yang, let's do it?" Fatty Zuo said in surprise.
Even some crew members on Xiang Yang's ship were ready to make a move.
Village Chief Zuo slapped Fatty Zuo on the head and said, "Work, work, work. You only know how to work. Do you have money?" Then, Village Chief Zuo looked at Xiang Yang with a serious face and said, "Xiao Yang, are you really planning to dry salt?"
Xiang Yang nodded calmly, "Why not make money if there is money to be made?" This point in time happens to be the historical turning point of the third salt reform. When new things replace old things, it is often the time when good and bad people mix together and opportunities are the greatest. Since Xiang Yang has caught up with it and has all the conditions and ability to do it, why not do it
"Okay, okay, okay." Village Chief Zuo said three "OK" words in a row. "Drying salt will definitely require a lot of land, right? Tell me which beach you like, and I'll call a village meeting and rent it to you at the lowest rent."
Xiang Yang smiled and said, "Thank you, Village Chief Zuo." In fishing villages like Yanlong Village, the beach is actually public. It is very clear which section of the beach belongs to which team and which section of the beach belongs to which group. There are a total of eight groups in the whole Yanlong Village, divided into three teams.
For example, if Xiang Yang wants to rent the public beach of the first group, 60% of the annual rent will be distributed equally to each household in the sixth group, 10% of the remaining 40% will remain in the account of the sixth group, 10% will go to the brigade headquarters, and the rest will be handed over to the village office.
"Don't thank me too quickly. I have conditions." Village Chief Zuo said.
Xiang Yang nodded, "You say." Xiang Yang thought that Village Chief Zuo just wanted Fatty Zuo to come in and get some shares, so he would agree as long as it was not too excessive.