Within Lan Zhou City, a huge workshop had already begun to take shape. Within the huge storerooms, there were piles of bluish lake salt that had been pulled from Chaka Salt Lake.
"Mo Jiu, this salt is extremely bitter. Even cattle and sheep are unwilling to eat this salt. Can Merton's method of making salt really turn it into edible salt?" Gao Shilian frowned. As far as he knew, Meton's method of making salt was to purify coarse salt into fine salt. It was not the natural salt of this salt lake.
Meton explained, "Lord Gao, don't worry. The crystalline salt of Chaka Salt Lake is naturally superior edible salt. The bitter taste is due to the many impurities in it. As long as the other impurities in the salt are removed, this salt-like mud in Qinghai will become the most delicious table salt. If further purified, it can even become the best-selling fine salt in Guanzhong.
"Fine salt!" Gao Shilian was shocked.
This bluish lake salt was as worthless as mud when pulled out from Chaka Salt Lake. If it could be turned into fine salt, its value would explode. The profit would probably be an astronomical figure.
Gao Shilian couldn't help but sigh as he looked at Modun, whose expression didn't change at all. Modun was like a prodigal son. If it were anyone else, they wouldn't be willing to part with such crazy profits.
"Lord, the new salt you wanted has been made!" The person who came was a seventh-rank salt official from the Ministry of Works sent by the imperial court. When he saw Meton and Gao Shilian, he came forward to report with a face full of joy.
Modun laughed and said, "Lord Gao, why don't we try the salt of the Blue Sea?"
The two of them came to the salt-making workshop and saw that bluish salt grains had already been piled up like a mountain. Clearly, a lot of new salt had been stored.
The seventh-ranked salt official quickly stepped forward, picking out a few small pieces of salt from a tray and placing them in front of the two men. Morton reached out and placed a small grain in his mouth, and an intense saltiness immediately filled his mouth. Gao Shilian did the same.
"This salt tastes pure. It is a rare superior table salt!" Gao Shilian also tasted it and couldn't help but brighten. This method of making salt was indeed feasible.
Meton nodded with satisfaction. The taste of this kind of salt was not as good as fine salt, but it was no longer bitter and could be eaten.
"From now on, the northwest will no longer have to worry about salt." Gao Shilian sighed. The salt of the Chaka Salt Lake could be found everywhere in large quantities. The Northwest had always been lacking in salt. With this salt lake, the price of salt in the entire Guanlong region would definitely fall greatly, and countless people would benefit from it.
"Yun City has Jie Salt, Mo Family has Snow Salt, Shandong's Sea Salt, and Sichuan's Well Salt. These salts have yet to be named. Would Lord Gao be interested in naming them?" Meton smiled.
Gao Shilian nodded and looked at the greenish salt. His heart stirred as he said, "This salt comes from the Azure Sea. The salt grains are large and have a greenish color. How about we call it Great Azure Salt?"
"Big Green Salt! It is indeed worthy of its name. "Meton nodded.
"Many thanks to Lord Gao for the naming!" The blue-clothed salt official was overjoyed.
"What is the output of this salt?" Meton asked.
The blue-clothed salt official replied, "This place has just started operation. The daily output is only three thousand jin. But as long as the raw materials are enough and the manpower is enough, the output can be increased several times."
Meton nodded and said, "Then according to the name of Great Azure Salt, the workshop will produce seventy percent coarse salt and thirty percent fine salt to supply the entire Guanlong region."
"Yes!" The blue-clothed salt official bowed and replied.
Meton and Gao Shilian looked at the Great Azure Salt production workshop again and nodded with satisfaction.
"Mo Jiu, now that the salt has been produced, how do we sell it?" Gao Shilian asked.
Meton smiled when he heard this. Now that Great Azure Salt had just started production, there was not much salt left. If they wanted to amass so much wealth in a short period of time, there was only one way, and that was to use the salt coupon method.
In fact, if conditions permitted, Meton was more inclined to implement the thousand-year-old salt permit method. He would probably make more money. However, the salt permit method could only be promulgated by the imperial court, and the scope of sales was limited. Meton did not have the power and energy to reorganize the entire salt industry of the Tang dynasty.
In the end, he came up with the most suitable method for Great Azure Salt, the salt coupon method.
"Salt coupon method?" Gao Shilian frowned.
"That's right. First of all, the price of salt is high. First of all, the production of salt is low, and transportation is inconvenient. Second of all, there are many salt merchants who take advantage of the situation and raise the price. Some even sell shoddy salt. The people spend a lot of money to buy inferior salt." Meton analyzed.
Gao Shilian nodded in agreement. This was the drawback of the salt policy of the Tang dynasty.
"Now that Great Azure Salt is backed by an almost inexhaustible salt lake, the production will definitely skyrocket. With the smooth brick roads, the cost of transportation will be greatly reduced. In this way, if we want to spread the name of Great Azure Salt, I plan to set up salt warehouses along the brick roads from Lanzhou to Luoyang. Merchants don't need to travel long distances. They only need to take the salt coupons issued by the salt factory to receive Great Azure Salt from the salt warehouses in the nearest city.
This way, each salt merchant can receive as much as they need. It reduces the cost of transportation and the risk of storage. It can also prevent salt merchants from hoarding and profiting. It can also prevent salt merchants from privately raising the price. "
"This is a wonderful method! If it can be promoted, the price of salt will drop greatly. It will be a blessing for the people of the world. "Gao Shilian clapped his hands in praise.
Meton shook his head. "This method relies too much on brick roads. Without brick roads, it will be difficult to implement."
Gao Shilian wasn't disappointed. Instead, his eyes lit up. "When the three horizontal and five vertical diagrams are completed, this method will definitely shine.
Meton nodded. "At present, the production of Great Azure Salt is limited. It's already difficult to satisfy the people on both sides of the brick roads from Lanzhou to Luoyang. I'm afraid that further away, we won't be able to!"
Gao Shilian nodded. "Now that the salt has been made, we can return to Chang 'an as long as the last 20% gap is filled."
Meton nodded fiercely. He had been out for too long on this expedition.
"Boom!"
When the Great Azure Salt and the salt coupons were announced in the Mo Journal, the salt merchants in Chang 'an were immediately stirred.
In any era, salt was the most important thing in the lives of the people. On the one hand, it was related to the lives of thousands of families. On the other hand, it was related to the taxes of the imperial court. In any dynasty, the salt tax was a small amount that couldn't be ignored.
The northwest had an important salt producing area, which had a huge impact on all aspects.
In particular, the Great Azure Salt was backed by the inexhaustible Chaka Salt Lake and relied on the brick roads from Lanzhou to Luoyang. The production was huge, and transportation was convenient. It could be said that the conditions were unique.
Some of the big salt merchants couldn't help but gnash their teeth. Meton's salt coupons directly broke their monopoly on table salt. Some small salt merchants cheered. They were previously under the control of the big salt merchants, and their profits were diluted. Now that they had the salt coupons method, they would no longer be under the control of others. They could directly pick up goods from the salt silos nearby and easily make money.
Everyone knew that selling salt was a profitable business. Once the salt coupons were released, they were immediately sold out by large and small salt merchants in just a few days. The last 20% of the disaster relief fund that Meton needed was finally made up.
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