National color raw owl

Chu Huan glanced at Du Fugong next to him, and couldn't help asking: "Does the old man mean that there is a shortage of salt in Xiguan?"

The old man sighed: "Northwest has never had enough salt. You may not be clear about it. There are three types of salt, sea salt, lake salt and well salt. Needless to say, sea salt is surrounded by seas in the northwest. Naturally, it is impossible to produce sea salt. If lake salt and Well salt is only produced in some inland areas, and it is mainly concentrated in the central Sichuan area. Although there are a few salt wells in the northwest, the salt produced is not only bad in taste, but also in an extremely limited quantity... Not to mention solving the salt market in the northwest is just solving a problem. Yanshi in the state is also a problem."

Chu Huan asked: "So, the salt needed by the Northwest Salt Market is all transported from the pass?"

The old man nodded and stroked his beard, "For a long time, salt, like iron, belongs to the government."

"Official match?" [

Du Fugong has already explained by the side: "My lord, since the Spring and Autumn Period, Guan Zhong of Qi State proposed the policy of 'official mountains and seas', and began to monopolize salt and iron. The monopoly of salt and iron, the products of mountains and seas, mainly salt and iron, were monopolized by the government, and the tax was included in the price, so that people could not avoid paying taxes, but they didn't feel like paying taxes... Until the early Han Dynasty, when the private sector was opened, but Fubi Wanghou, a businessman who did not want to operate salt and iron, was forced by financial pressure when he won Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. monopoly."

Hearing what Du Fugong said, the old man looked at Du Fugong with a hint of surprise. Chu Huan didn't think there was anything unusual now. Even if Du Fugong said something surprising, he wouldn't be surprised. Being full of economics and reading poetry and books should refer to people like Du Fugong, and Du Fugong's talents and learning are not the kind of scene skills that groan when sick, but knowledge that can really be applied.

"In the places where salt is produced, there are special salt officials to manage it." Du Fugong said slowly: "People are not good at salt, everyone must eat salt, and people don't eat salt, their limbs are weak, their bodies are swollen, and their whole body is exhausted, so they can't work at all. , and if soldiers don't eat salt, they can't fight, and they don't have the slightest combat effectiveness. Therefore, if the people and soldiers can't eat salt, it is really that the people are in dire straits and the political situation is turbulent... From the time of the Han Dynasty, it has been The Salt Transport Yamen was set up, through which the table salt produced by the salt farms was transported to various places, and handed over to government-run salt merchants for sale, and each county would set up several salt merchants, and the price was uniformly allocated by the government, and price increases and hoarding were strictly prohibited , It is to prevent someone from monopolizing the business in private, if this is found out, it will be a first-class felony."

Chu Huan asked: "The salt price controlled by the government should not be too high, right?"

"Salt and iron are related to the lifeblood of the country. Salt is the people's livelihood. If the people's livelihood is in chaos, the country will naturally be in chaos." Du Fu just said, "So in all dynasties, the government has always controlled the salt market very well. Strictly, there is too much demand in the salt market, so this is also the most important benefit for the country... If there is a problem in the salt market, it must be a serious problem in the country."

Chu Huan was thoughtful, and asked the old man, "Is there a problem in the salt market in Xiguan?"

"The salt used by the Daqin Dao is mainly from the southeast coast." The old man explained: "Nowadays the Tianmen Dao is in chaos in the southeast, and the imperial court and the Tianmen Dao are at a stalemate. Of course, the two sides will first compete for the control of sea salt. The number of salt-producing areas has decreased a lot, and the war is stalemate, so the speed of salt production is naturally not as good as before...!"

Chu Huan understood, and said, "Mr. Du just said that in order to prevent the salt market from going out of control, it is forbidden to hoard salt. That is to say, there are not many salt stores in Daqin?"

The old man nodded and said: "That's right, the empire has a special salt road, and the salt is distributed to various places through the salt transportation office, but now there is a war in the southeast, and there is a problem with the salt road. Salt, especially in our northwest, where the mountains are high and the roads are far away, the amount of salt that can be transferred from the southeast is greatly reduced.

Du Fugong said from the side: "Many places in the pass can still use the supply of lake salt and well salt. There is a big problem with this item in the Northwest...!" His brows were also frowned. There was a clear look of worry between his brows, "Even if my lord can really deal with this plague this time and wipe it out, but if there is a real long-term salt shortage and the supply in the customs cannot be supplied, I'm afraid it will still be there at that time." We have to face a more serious dilemma. Although the plague this time is not easy to deal with, it can be solved with medicinal materials after all, but if there is a lack of salt, there is nothing that can replace it."

The old man immediately agreed and said: "Mr. Du said that this salt is no different than others, and no one can lack it, but there is nothing else that can replace it...!"

Chu Huan thought for a while, and finally asked: "If we can find something to replace the salt, will many troubles be solved?"

"Find something to replace salt?" The old man and Du Fugong glanced at each other, with suspicion on their faces, but after a while, Du Fugong laughed and said, "My lord is just joking. Since ancient times, there has really been nothing It can replace table salt, if there is such a good thing, table salt will not become one of the official salt and iron monopoly together with iron...!" But seeing that Chu Huan didn't want to be joking, he had some doubts in his heart, Just thinking about it carefully, I finally felt that what Chu Huan said was a bit whimsical.

Chu Huan said sternly: "Grandfather, Mr. Du, you have said that the output of table salt mainly comes from sea salt, lake salt and well salt. Apart from these three, there is no other way to get table salt? Or, in other words, Can't Northwest itself produce a lot of salt?"

The old man and Du Fugong glanced at each other again. Du Fugong was knowledgeable and the old man was well-informed. The two exchanged glances, and they both saw the meaning of the look in each other's eyes, and they shook their heads immediately.

Chu Huan sighed, and said, "It seems to be the case."

Hearing Chu Huan's strange words, Du Fugong couldn't help asking: "Sir, what you said is indeed so, what do you mean?"

Chu Huan thought for a while, and finally said: "Grandpa, Mr. Du, I can't explain to you now, you give me a day, and at this time tomorrow, there are still things to be appraised by the two of you."

The old man and Du Fugong didn't know what "medicine" was sold in Chu Huan's gourd. Seeing the strange light in Chu Huan's eyes, they were full of suspicion. [

"They will definitely send the patient over later." Of course Chu Huan will not forget the bet with Ma Xiangu, "Mr. Du, when they arrive, I will trouble you to make arrangements. Dr. Sun is in the mansion, he remembers the method, According to the method last time, there should be nothing wrong...!"

Du Fugong naturally agreed. After the old man and Du Fugong left, Chu Huan went back to the study, made a list, called Sun Zikong, and handed the list to him, and asked him to prepare the things on the list.

When Sun Zikong saw the items on the list, he couldn't help being very surprised. He saw that the items listed on the list were all very weird, such as sieves, hammers, linen, wooden barrels, charcoal, etc., as well as hand-cranked stone mills. Kong became more and more surprised as he looked at it. He didn't know what Chu Huan wanted to do. He searched for the items on Chu Huan's list. There were many things in this mansion that he couldn't find. Go out and find it.

After Sun Zikong collected all the items on the list, it was already past noon, and when he returned to the mansion, Chu Huan was no longer in the mansion.

Chu Huan was not in the Governor's Mansion at this time, but he had arrived at the Office of the Ministry of War. The head of the Ministry of War was named Zhao Mingxin. He did not expect that the Governor would come to the Office of the Ministry of War in person, and hurriedly led the officials from the office to greet him.

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