There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 100: Non-bitter refined salt

A transparent glass goblet is only worth 9.9 yuan to Nie Yu. It is really a worthless little item.

But hundreds of years ago in the Qing Dynasty, glassware was almost unheard of in inland Hubei, and its value would have increased by at least ten thousand times.

Well, it really is tens of thousands of times. A piece of flat glass less than two square feet in the early Kangxi period could be sold for more than 300 taels of silver, or yuan, which is almost enough to buy a three-courtyard house (Kangxi period).

Nie Yu's glass is pure, transparent and colorless. In terms of the pure light transmittance of the glass, even the glassware used by Emperor Qianlong cannot compare to this cup.

Giving this cup is not only a small gift to the future father-in-law, but also a stepping stone to get in touch with him.

Although transparent, colorless glass cups are rare, they can only fetch a few thousand taels of silver at auction. There's no way to get a higher price because the value potential of glassware is so high. After all, it's not a natural gemstone.

Nie Yu’s real purpose was to use this rare glass cup to catch the big fish of the Huizhou Merchants Gang.

It is now the first year of the Jiaqing reign. Although the White Lotus Rebellion has just broken out, the situation of Huizhou merchants had already begun to deteriorate as early as the middle and late Qianlong reign.

The Qing court was no fool, and Emperor Qianlong was even more greedy for money. He would not tolerate the Huizhou merchants taking all the money. The Kangxi and Qianlong emperors, grandfather and grandson, alone made six southern tours, each emptying the coffers of several major Yangzhou salt merchants.

In addition, the Lianghuai Salt Permit Case that suddenly broke out in the 33rd year of Qianlong's reign shocked the Qing court and the public, and also dealt a heavy blow to the Huizhou merchants who were at the peak of their careers.

Nie Yu never thought of conquering the Hui merchants. Although the Hui merchants were in decline, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse, and he could not consume them with his current size.

Just because you can’t eat doesn’t mean you can’t cooperate.

The transparent goblet was a small gift, and also a way to show the Huizhou merchants his supply channels. He had a way to get a lot of cheap and rare glassware, not only glassware, but also cheap fine salt, cheap high-quality condiments, cheap cotton clothing, etc.

You can make money by selling glass, but you can't sell too much, because glass is not easy to sell, and if you sell too much, the price will be low.

The real big profits are definitely from the old-fashioned salt, condiments, cotton cloth and other daily necessities for the people. Even if you sell at a small profit but in large quantities, you can still make a lot of money.

Moreover, Nie Yu didn't just want to make money from this, he also wanted to break into the Qing Dynasty's commodity market through cheaper salt and cotton cloth.

Now is the first year of Jiaqing, or the sixty-first year of Qianlong. At that time, the salt production of the Qing Dynasty was about 23 billion jin per year, which was 8 jin per capita. It can be said that the overcapacity was several times.

But in reality, the price was not calculated that way. For example, in Yangzhou, the headquarters of the Lianghuai salt merchants, the price of salt was about 10 wen per catty, which was considered quite reasonable. However, in Zhenjiang, across the river from Yangzhou, the price of salt was 18 wen per catty, almost double the price.

If the price difference is just this high, it is still within an acceptable range. The people will certainly be dissatisfied, but they will not really cause trouble with the salt merchants or the government.

But this is only the salt price in Yangzhou and Zhenjiang, or to be more precise, the salt price in coastal prefectures. Those inland prefectures are not so lucky.

There is no need to give any examples. Just take Hubei where Nie Yu is located, or even in his own territory, the price of Huai salt has remained high for many years, reaching 52 wen per catty.

What does 52 wen per pound of salt mean?

In the early years of Qianlong's reign, a pound of pork cost more than 20 wen, and a stone of rice cost 1 tael of silver (a stone is 120 pounds, and one tael is 1000 wen).

My goodness, salt is more expensive than rice and meat combined. Who the hell can stand this?
But the people of the Qing Dynasty could bear it, because they had to bear it even if they couldn't. The court stipulated that the people of Hubei could only eat Huai salt, and Huai salt had to be transported upstream along the Yangtze River, which was a long journey and extremely expensive (regardless of whether it was really high, it was very high on paper anyway).

Either the people don't eat salt and wait to die, or they pay high prices for salt and become poor.

Don't accept? If you don't accept, go and rebel!
Nie Yu rebelled, but his territory had been blockaded by the pseudo-Qing government. All necessities, including salt, were controlled by trade. Even if he could get around by land routes, the premium would be very high.

Take those brainless smugglers for example. The Huai salt, Guangdong salt, and Sichuan salt they brought in cost as much as 150 to 200 coins per catty, which was almost impossible for the common people to afford.

The reason why there has been no problem is entirely due to the Chen family's Huai salt reserves and the Huai salt seized from the Jingzhou treasury for military supplies, but it will not last long.

Nie Yu's future father-in-law had been prepared to advance the funds, using silver to help his son-in-law overcome the salt shortage, and then seek out his Huizhou merchant friends to act as intermediaries and completely solve the Han army's salt problem. However, that was no longer necessary.

……

It's getting dark.

After the welcoming banquet, Chen Xinghuai returned to the house where he was staying temporarily.

Chen Xinghuai took out a brocade box from his sleeve. This brocade box was given to him by the general's brother-in-law. When he opened the lid, he saw that it was filled with salt, refined salt.

Because it is so white and so fine, without any other color mixed in, it is as pure as white snow.

Chen Xinghuai nodded slightly. "Looking at the appearance of this salt, it's indeed high-quality fine salt. I just wonder what it tastes like."

Although he had drunk alcohol at the banquet, Chen Xinghuai was still very sober. He took out a pair of chopsticks from his bag, picked up a little bit, and put it in his mouth to savor it carefully.

"This taste...isn't bitter at all!?"

Chen Xinghuai took a sip and was immediately shocked.

Although the Qing Dynasty had reached the first year of Jiaqing at this time, and it was only forty-four years since the First Opium War, and was firmly on the eve of modern times, its salt-making technology was still quite limited and backward.

Let's first talk about the salt production process in the Qing Dynasty. It can be basically divided into four categories: sea salt, pond salt, well salt, and soil salt. However, no matter which salt production process is used, it is limited by the bottleneck of material technology. Although it has been washed and purified, it still leaves a lot of impurities in the salt, resulting in the common bitter taste of table salt.

The reason why coarse salt is coarse is that its bitterness is more obvious and more unpalatable than refined salt.

But now, the box of refined salt that Nie Yu gave to Chen Xinghuai was not only fine and white in appearance, but also had no bitterness at all. It was no exaggeration to call it the best salt in the world.

Chen Xinghuai put down his chopsticks and looked at the pure white salt in the box. In his eyes, it was no longer just salt, but an inexhaustible mountain of gold and silver.

Chen Xinghuai said excitedly, "It has no bitterness and is so white and pure. It's such a fine, high-quality salt. If the price of salt can really be as high as the general said, 20 wen per catty, then not only Huai salt, but also Sichuan salt and Guangdong salt will not be able to compete with this fine white salt."

"No, this is not fine white salt. This is Chu salt. This is the Chu salt of my Han army!"

Chen Xinghuai was not a bookworm who only read books, otherwise he would not have been promoted to regent so quickly. He had once visited the Chen family's Huai salt business when he was at home.

The quality of those Huai salts was not that good, and they had a bitter taste. They were sold at a high price, ranging from fifty to sixty or seventy wen per catty. Now, during the salt shortage, they can be sold at a high price of one or two hundred wen, and the price is still rising.

In comparison, the purer fine salt does not have a bitter taste and is not only cheaper than the Huai salt from the salt shortage, but also cheaper than any other salt.

The price of Huai salt in Yangzhou is 10 wen per catty, which is the only price of salt in Yangzhou. It is the coarse salt sold to the people and it is definitely not comparable to refined salt.

If the tasteless refined salt that can be sold for 20 wen per pound were released to the public, there would be no doubt that the Huizhou merchants would flock to it.

This is a lucrative business. If I sell it for 20 wen per catty, the Hui merchants can buy it back and sell it for 100 wen, or even 200, 300, or 400 wen per catty.

Chen Xinghuai closed the box and made up his mind that when he returned, he would persuade his father to send his younger sister to Yuezhou Prefecture as soon as possible.

Well, we can't wait any longer. The longer the night, the more trouble we have to cause. We must quickly make the matter a done deal and make the Chen family deeply bound to the Han army. If it is inconvenient for his father to travel by boat, he can also send the bride off on his behalf.

Chen Xinghuai was already getting impatient and wished he could take a boat back to Jingzhou early the next morning.

(End of this chapter)