Xiaoyao Xiaojunhou

Chapter 668 Salt

"You were very energetic when you were pulling firewood, and you were running very fast. Do you think I didn't see you?" Dong Shuzhen frowned fiercely, with a hint of reprimand.

"Uh... Thank you for your support, madam. I'm not tired now..." Kou Wanwan saw that "taking advantage" didn't work, so she immediately took a step back and stood firm. She didn't look very tired!
"Miss Kou came back just in time. Now, we have the tasks of filtering and lighting the fire. You..."

Zhu Xiuyuan had a headache for a while and was about to assign a task, but suddenly he saw that the two women were alert again and seemed to have entered some kind of fighting mode. He was moved in his heart and said with a smile: "Let's filter the brine together first!"

Zhu Xiuyuan emphasized the pronunciation of the word "together".

The two women looked at each other, snorted secretly, and then followed Zhu Xiuyuan's footsteps, preparing to filter the brine together.

The brine in the pool was originally turbid and mixed with a lot of sediment. However, after being filtered through two layers of cloth, the liquid dripping into the copper pot became much clearer. At least, the presence of sediment was invisible to the naked eye.

The entire filtering process actually does not require three people to work together.

However, if Zhu Xiuyuan only started filtering with one of the women, the other woman would be dissatisfied.

As a result, Zhu Xiuyuan simply acted as a hands-off shopkeeper and let the two women take action. In this way, the world finally became peaceful.

Filtration is completed, followed by ignition and boiling.

In the cooking step, both women act as "fire girls", doing the same job, and no one is partial to the other.

Zhu Xiuyuan is responsible for taking care of the copper pot, and the three work together.

Zhu Xiuyuan gradually learned a little bit about the relationship between the two women and understood the "strategy of balance", so during the entire cooking process, no conflicts broke out between the two women.

Consider it an improvement.

The process of making coarse salt is simple. It involves drying in the sun, evaporating water, and turning ordinary seawater into saturated brine.

Continue to dry, the saturated brine will precipitate coarse salt crystals, thus obtaining coarse salt.

However, the drying method, or the "salt drying method", has a short history.

As far as Zhu Xiuyuan knows, coarse salt is still made by boiling it, and the method of drying is not popular.

However, no matter it is the drying method or the boiling method, the principle is the same. The excess water is evaporated and the coarse salt crystallizes out. The principle is as simple as that.

Zhu Xiuyuan worked hard and paid attention to the changes in the copper pot.

The fire in the earthen stove was fierce, the brine in the copper pot was boiling, the heat was steaming up, and it made the sizzling sound of boiling water.

Because the salt content in the brine is very high, coarse salt crystallizes out soon after the cooking begins.

Zhu Xiuyuan was so happy that he stared at the pot and kept giving orders to the two girls who were lighting the fire: "Make the fire bigger and fiercer!"

The two girls who made the fire did not dare to neglect, and they also had the intention of competing with each other, so they burned an earthen stove very vigorously and with fierce firepower.

As more and more crystals precipitate, there will be less and less brine. In this process, the copper pot will be unable to bear it first.

So Zhu Xiuyuan shouted again: "The fire is too big, make it smaller, and make it smaller!"

The flame of the earthen stove became smaller and smaller, and there was no flame at all, leaving only scarlet embers.

Zhu Xiuyuan took control of the situation and was careful. The last bit of brine in the copper pot was evaporated by the residual heat in the earthen stove.

He was really very careful, because there was only one copper pot. If it burned out, it would be gone. By then, even cooking would be a problem, let alone cooking salt.

"It's...successful! Salt, so much salt! My husband is so awesome, he really cooked the salt!"

There were a few more streaks of black ash on Dong Shuzhen's little face, which were traces left when the fire was lit just now.However, she didn't notice it at all. Instead, she stretched her head over and stared at the coarse salt in the copper pot, her eyes shining, and then she looked at Zhu Xiuyuan, a bunch of little stars appearing in her eyes.

"The young master is so powerful, he can actually change salt from sea water... The young master is so talented, I admire him so much!"

Kou Wanwan didn't dare to fall behind and was also there to flatter Zhu Xiuyuan.

Although, Kou Wanwan knew very well in her heart that making coarse salt by boiling seawater was not a profound skill at all, and everyone who lived by the sea probably knew it.

Only a boudoir woman like Dong Shuzhen, who doesn't understand anything, would make a fuss and think this is some kind of miracle.

However, this does not prevent her from competing with Dong Shuzhen for favor. Since Dong Shuzhen has already flattered her, how can she lag behind.

"It's just coarse salt. It's just like making porridge. It's very simple and not worth mentioning!"

Zhu Xiuyuan waved his hand to stop the two women's "noisy", and then took it upon himself to put the coarse salt in the copper pot into a small bowl.

After a large basin of brine, I ended up with half a bowl of coarse salt. Compared with ordinary seawater, this amount of salt production is already very good.

"Oh!" Dong Shuzhen nodded, and then smiled: "No wonder, I think this salt is different from what I have seen before. It is not so white, with a little brown, and not thin enough. It is lumpy. It turns out this is Coarse salt!”

"My wife is from a noble family, but she doesn't know anything. The salt that ordinary people eat is this kind of coarse salt, which has a bitter taste..." Kou Wanwan said with a smile.

"Who says I don't know! I know it very well! It's bitter, right? I just tasted it in the morning, and it's indeed very bitter!" Dong Shuzhen retorted immediately, but she felt a little guilty.

Because she really didn’t know that there were so many types of salt, and what kind of coarse salt there was.

The Dong Mansion was considered a wealthy family when they were in Jiangzhou, and the salt they consumed daily was naturally expensive and high-quality "rock salt" and "snowflake salt".

This salt is almost the same as modern table salt. It has a very light astringency and is of absolutely excellent quality.

But at the same time, this kind of salt is not available to ordinary people. The output is very small and the price is expensive. Most ordinary people still eat slightly processed coarse salt.

Dong Shuzhen has been "trapped" in the Dong Mansion since she was a child. Like a canary, she knows very little about the outside world. Naturally, she has never paid attention to common seasonings such as salt.

This kind of coarse salt contains a lot of impurities, including heavy metal ions. Eating too much is not beneficial.

The short lifespan of ancient people may also be due to this factor.

However, this kind of coarse salt is cheap and the output is large enough.

Moreover, if you don’t eat, you will feel even more uncomfortable. Over time, you will feel weak and in a daze...

Therefore, this is actually a kind of tragedy. Limited by backward productivity, the general public can only eat this kind of "poisonous salt".

It is equivalent to sinking in the "sea of ​​suffering" and never being able to escape.

Only if you have money and status can you enjoy high-quality "rock salt", "snow salt", etc.

Kou Wanwan is naturally very clear about this. She knows that she cannot eat too much of this kind of coarse salt.

But the current conditions are limited, so I can only eat it for now.

She and Dong Shuzhen have not taken in salt for several days. Although they don't feel anything yet, they will start to feel uncomfortable in more than ten days at most.

Coarse salt is really something that people both love and hate. It’s impossible not to eat it. If you eat too much, it will cause problems...

"However, this kind of coarse salt cannot be eaten. It is poisonous. I will try to purify it. If successful, the resulting salt should be similar to 'rock salt'. It is safe and non-toxic and can be eaten with confidence."

(End of this chapter)