Two days later, Tong Zhengye rushed to Nine Peaks Mountain. Upon seeing Ren Baqian, he picked him up and shook him like a little chick.
"Sir Ren, is what you said true? Can salt really be produced? "
Tong Zhengye's boorish face was filled with excitement and nervousness. He was afraid that Ren Baqian would say no.
"Put me down first …" Ren Baqian shouted. Tong Zhengye's claws were like iron pincers, and he was almost seeing stars from the shaking.
"Oh!" Tong Zhengye loosened his grip. Ren Baqian fell to the ground and almost fell.
"What hatred?" Ren Baqian looked resentful. He almost fell apart from the shaking just now.
"Sir Ren, is what you said true?" Tong Zhengye asked anxiously.
"Why would I lie to you?" Ren Baqian rubbed his shoulders.
Previously, when Ren Baqian said that salt could be produced here, the Dayao official chat group immediately went silent. Following which, voices of surprise and disbelief could be heard.
After hearing the news, Tong Zhengye rushed to the Shi residence and asked about the situation before rushing over.
"Is there salt?" Tong Zhengye asked.
"I'll wait for you to come," Ren Baqian replied. "Don't worry, I'm at least 80% sure."
"For such a big matter, you must be 100% sure," Tong Zhengye said in a deep voice.
"It's useless to say so much. We'll know once we try. Have you brought the things you want?"
"Yes." Tong Zhengye asked someone to bring in two large buckets filled with milk. However, due to the weather in Dayao, the milk had already gone bad.
In addition, there were large pots, sieves, and coarse cloth.
Ren Baqian also asked someone to bring out a few large buckets of brine. These were the brine that he had asked people to bring back from two different places.
"Come and help." Ren Baqian called out to the students. Immediately, a few students ran out.
At this moment, the empty space in the middle of the village was surrounded by students, guards, and officials from the Ministry of Works. On the contrary, the aboriginals in the village were pushed outside.
Most of them still didn't know what was going on. They only heard from Na Gu that they were going to use the two types of poisonous water to produce salt, but most of them didn't believe her. The water was indeed salty, but it could also poison people to death.
Now, it seemed that another high-ranking official from the imperial court had arrived.
"Record the process." Ren Baqian reminded. Then, he got someone to pour the black brine and yellow brine into a basin according to a certain ratio. Very quickly, small pieces of white crystals appeared at the bottom of the basin.
"When the sulfate in the black brine and the barium in the yellow brine come together, they will form barium sulfate that is insoluble in water," Ren Baqian said to the student beside him. Although they hadn't learned these things yet, it was still a rare experimental experience.
After asking someone to filter out the white crystals, Ren Baqian said to Tong Zhenye, "Keep this barium sulfate and store it as it can be used elsewhere in the future."
After that, it was time to fry the salt. Ren Baqian got someone to start a fire and boil the brine before pouring a portion of the buffalo milk into it. Logically speaking, it would be more reasonable to use soybean milk. However, soybeans were only grown in the southern part of Great Xia, and they were called soybeans.
Dayao, on the other hand, had none.
After asking around on Earth, he found out that he could use dairy products instead. It was very expensive, but salt was even more expensive in Dayao.
"The proteins in the milk can precipitate the high-valence ions in the brine and can absorb the residues …" Ren Baqian continued.
Although the surrounding students were listening, they didn't understand at all. Proteins, high-valence ions, barium sulfate, and so on were completely incomprehensible.
This was the case for the students, and it was even more so for Tong Zhenye and the other people from the Ministry of Works.
However, they still tried their best to record the process.
Before the effects of frying the salt could be seen, the smell of milk from the pot assailed their nostrils, causing many people to feel hungry.
"Did you bring rations? There isn't enough food in the stronghold for so many people, "Ren Baqian reminded.
Tong Zhenye had brought a few dozen people with him when he came. Now, there were more than a hundred extra mouths in the stronghold, and they were all strong and had huge appetites.
One had to know that the more powerful the aboriginals were, the bigger their appetites were.
Although the hunting team had brought back some prey and the guards had caught some small beasts, the food in the stronghold wasn't enough for so many people.
Tong Zhenye glanced at Ren Baqian. He didn't need to remind Ren Baqian as Tong Zhenye knew the situation of the strongholds in the mountains better than him.
After that, everyone ate while waiting. There was a large group of people in the middle of the stronghold, but they were now sitting on the ground instead of standing.
The aboriginals were watching from a distance.
During the frying process, they had to use a strainer made of coarse cloth to scoop out the impurities from the water from time to time. This went on for eight hours before they stopped adding water to the pot. The water in the pot gradually evaporated, and a layer of white crystals began to appear on the wall of the pot.
"Is this the salt that is made?" Tong Zhenye, who had been watching from the side for eight hours, was shocked. Not only him, but the others were also shocked.
One had to know that even though there were only a few people and two pots, what they were doing affected tens of millions of people in Dayao.
"It's still lacking a little," Ren Baqian said. After a while, when the water had completely evaporated, he got someone to scoop out all the white crystals from the pot, shake them on a dense bamboo sieve, and then pour some water over them.
Most of the salt didn't dissolve with the water, and the remaining impurities almost dissolved in the water and flowed down.
"Is it done now?" Tong Zhenye looked at the remaining layer of white crystals on the bamboo sieve. His eyes lit up as if he wanted to pounce on it and lick it.
Ren Baqian dipped his finger into the salt and put it in his mouth. Then, he nodded and said, "Let's dry it."
Without saying anything, Tong Zhenye dipped his finger into the salt and put it in the water. Then, he burst into wild laughter and said, "Dayao finally doesn't have to suffer from a lack of salt."
Not only him, but the students also cheered.
Dayao had suffered from a lack of salt for decades. Back then, it was because the salt was poisoned that they were attacked from the mountains and destroyed the entire Hao Nation. Even so, Dayao still didn't have salt. For so many years, both the people at the foot of the mountain and the aboriginals had suffered from a lack of salt.
After so many years, salt had long become one of the most important resources in the hearts of the people of Dayao.
It was difficult for outsiders to understand the importance and desire of the people of Dayao for salt.
Although they didn't do anything other than fishing this time, they were able to witness the production of salt from the brine with their own eyes. They could also understand the significance of this to Dayao.
It was like a poverty-stricken person suddenly discovering a mountain of gold.
Furthermore, Ren Baqian was the principal of the academy. The more impressive Ren Baqian was, the more it proved that their choice was correct and that they could learn more things from him.
When the aboriginals saw the people in the middle of the stronghold cheering crazily, they also became restless. This was because they had heard what Tong Zhenye said just now.
However, they still had doubts in their hearts. Was this salt edible?
One had to know that the water in the Black Pool could poison people to death.
Ren Baqian looked at them cheering and a smile appeared on his face. In any case, he had accomplished something again.
However, he didn't have to laugh for long before he couldn't. Shi Gan, Du Laoliu, and the others grabbed his hands and feet and threw him up.
Ren Baqian's eyes widened. I can understand that you guys are happy and you guys are throwing people to celebrate. However, who has ever seen someone being thrown up four or five stories high?
Ren Baqian felt as if he was sitting on a dirt plane. He was thrown more than ten meters high and let out a series of screams.
"F * ck, I'm afraid of heights!"
"Whoever throws it at me again, I'll shoot him!"
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