Tang Dynasty: Feeding Chang Le, Emperor Li Er exclaimed that she was a true immortal!

Two days.

Li Shimin only took two days.

On the first day, three hundred artisans from the Ministry of Works were secretly conscripted into the Imperial Palace.

Li Junxian, the commander of the Imperial Guard, personally led five hundred elite soldiers to block all entrances and exits of the Forbidden Garden, preventing even a fly from getting in.

The artisans were divided into ten groups, with thirty people in each group.

Iron pot, linen, water, rock salt—all the raw materials were readily available.

Especially mineral salts.

These things were everywhere in the Tang Dynasty.

You can easily fill more than a dozen carts by digging on the riverbank behind the Forbidden Garden in just an hour.

Previously, these things were either used to cure leather or thrown away as waste stones on the roadside.

But now it has become gold.

Li Shimin orally described the five-step process of salt production to Duan Lun, the Minister of Works.

After listening, Duan Lun remained silent for about ten breaths.

Then he looked up, his expression extremely strange.

"Your Majesty...that's all?"

Li Shimin gave him a cold look.

Duan Lun immediately shut up and accepted the order to carry it out.

The first batch of salt was produced that afternoon.

The pot was covered with pure white refined salt. Although its quality was not as good as the modern iodized salt that Lu Ming had sent, it was far superior to the well salt sold by the Changsun family on the market.

Duan Lun took a bite on the spot and froze on the spot.

He then had all his craftsmen take a bite.

Three hundred craftsmen looked at each other, speechless.

From that moment on, no one asked why anymore.

Everyone knew one thing—His Majesty wanted salt, lots and lots of salt.

On the first day, 800 catties of refined salt were produced.

The next day, the craftsmen had mastered the process, and their efficiency tripled.

The yield was 2,400 jin.

In addition, the two hundred catties of modern salt that Lu Ming had previously sent were mixed in as a "benchmark product" to improve the overall quality, bringing the total to over two thousand catties.

enough.

The following evening, Li Shimin issued a secret edict.

The content is extremely brief.

Tomorrow at Chenshi (7-9 AM), the Royal Trading Company will open simultaneously in the East Market, West Market, and South Market of Chang'an City.

Selling refined salt.

Price: Three coins per pound.

The Changsun family's salt shop was located in the best location in the East Market.

The storefront is three bays wide, with a gold-lettered signboard, it looks very impressive.

The shopkeeper has been in a great mood these past two days.

Salt prices have risen to fifty cents per pound, but demand still exceeds supply.

It's not that we don't have the goods; we're deliberately holding onto them and not selling them.

The meaning above is clear—wait a little longer.

What are you waiting for?

Wait until the emperor gives in.

Wait for the princess to obediently get married.

When the time comes, salt prices will naturally recover, the powerful clans and the emperor will reconcile, and everyone will continue to live in harmony as ruler and subject.

The shopkeeper leaned back behind the counter, leisurely cracking sunflower seeds.

The people queuing outside to buy salt were crying and wailing, but he didn't even bother to lift his eyelids.

It was early that morning, just as the hour of Chen (7-9 AM) arrived.

The main street of the East Market suddenly became lively.

A group of men in uniform emerged from the street corner, carrying more than a dozen large wooden crates. They set up a temporary counter less than thirty steps from Changsun's salt shop.

An apricot-yellow flag was hung above the counter.

The flag was embroidered with five large characters—

Royal Saltworks.

The shopkeeper dropped his melon seeds.

He darted out from behind the counter, standing on tiptoe to peek outside.

The workers were incredibly quick; they opened the wooden crates one by one, revealing bags of refined salt wrapped in coarse cloth.

Each bag was sealed with a yellow seal and stamped with the official seal of the Ministry of Revenue.

A shop assistant with a very loud voice stood in front of the counter and started shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Royal Saltworks Opening! Refined Salt! Top-quality Refined Salt! Three copper coins per pound! Limited supply, first come, first served!"

hum-

The whole street seemed to have been detonated.

Three coins?!

The Changsun family sells salt for fifty coins!

Royal Family selling for three coins?!

The people initially didn't believe it.

Then a few of the braver ones rushed up.

The man opened a bag of salt and let them taste it.

The white salt grains poured into my palm were far superior to the yellowish-gray coarse salt of the Changsun family.

Put it in your mouth and taste it—

Pure and savory flavor.

It has no bitter taste.

It has no astringent taste.

Clean and tidy.

The first big man to try it was stunned for three seconds, then turned around and shouted to the crowd behind him.

"It's true! It's top-quality refined salt! Ten times better than the salt from the Changsun family! And it only costs three coins!"

The crowd went crazy.

They surged forward in huge numbers.

Squeezing, pushing, grabbing.

The streets of Dongshi were instantly blocked.

At the same time, the same scene was unfolding in the West Market and the South Market.

With the simultaneous opening of three branches of the Royal Salt Bureau, refined salt priced at three copper coins per pound poured into the market of Chang'an City like a floodgate being opened.

The news spread faster than a horse.

Within half an hour, the entire city of Chang'an was in an uproar.

"The royal family is selling salt! Three coins!"

"Much better than the Changsun family's! As white as snow!"

"Hurry and buy it! It'll be gone if you're late!"

The discussions on the streets and alleys were like a tidal wave.

Meanwhile, the long queues of people that had been forming outside the salt shops throughout the city were completely emptied within a quarter of an hour.

Not a single one was left.

The owner of the Sun family salt shop in Dongchang City slumped on the threshold, his face ashen.

He watched helplessly as the crowds at the entrance of the Royal Trading Company across the street surged, almost overturning the counter.

On their side, however, it was so empty that there wasn't even a ghost in sight.

The sign hanging at the entrance read "Refined salt, fifty wen/jin".

At this moment, it seems like a huge joke.

The news reached the Changsun residence at 9:00 AM.

Changsun Chong was discussing matters with several retainers in his study.

A servant rushed in, his face pale with fright.

"Young Master! Something terrible has happened! The royal family has opened a salt shop! Fine salt is only three coins a day! It's even better than our salt—"

"What?"

Changsun Chong suddenly stood up.

His sleeve knocked over the teacup, spilling hot water all over the table.

He disregarded all that and grabbed the servant by the collar.

"Explain yourself!"

The servant stammered as he recounted the events.

Royal Merchant House.

All three locations opened simultaneously.

The quality of their refined salt far surpasses that of the Changsun family.

The price is only one-fifteenth of that of the Changsun family.

People flocked to the scene.

The Changsun family's salt shop was deserted.

Changsun Chong released the servant and slowly took two steps back.

His mind was racing.

impossible.

It is absolutely impossible.

The royal family never had the ability to produce salt themselves.

The world's refined salt production techniques are all controlled by powerful clans; this is the result of hundreds of years of accumulation, not something that can be acquired overnight.

Even if Li Shimin wanted to open his own salt fields, without technology, mineral resources, or skilled salt workers, how could he compete with the powerful clans?

But the facts are right in front of us.

The royal salt is better, whiter, and purer than that of the Changsun family.

Moreover, the quantity was large enough to supply the three major markets in Chang'an at the same time.

What does this tell us?

This indicates that the royal family suddenly mastered a salt-making technique that they had no prior knowledge of in a very short period of time.

Changsun Chong's face turned pale and then red.

He sat back in his chair, his breathing becoming rapid.

The power to reverse the salt industry landscape within two days was something the Tang Dynasty itself could not possess.

It's that "immortal".

definitely is.

Changsun Chong gritted his teeth.

"Prepare the horses."

"The eldest son?"

"I'll go to the East Market myself and take a look."

East Market.

Changsun Chong changed into civilian clothes and, accompanied by two trusted confidants, squeezed into the crowd.

Long queues still formed in front of the Royal Saltworks counter.

He squeezed to the front and saw the refined salt.

White, delicate, and packaged in a coarse cloth bag.

Each bag was stamped with the official seal of the Ministry of Revenue.

Changsun Chong reached out and grabbed a handful.

The sensation of salt grains sliding across his fingertips sent a jolt through his heart.

This level of purity.

This level of fineness.

Not to mention the Changsun family, even if all the saltworks of the five surnames and seven clans were combined, they couldn't produce something like this.

He gripped the salt tightly, his knuckles turning white.

Beside him, an elderly woman who had just bought salt excitedly squeezed past him, carrying two bags of refined salt.

"Oh my! This royal salt is truly excellent! It's so white and fine, and at three coins a pound, it's practically free!"

"Absolutely! Who would buy salt from that shady shop of the Changsun family anymore? Fifty coins a pound! Aren't they afraid of being struck by lightning?"

"Exactly! I wouldn't even take that yellowish coarse salt from the Changsun family, even if it were given to me for free!"

Every word was like a knife piercing Changsun Chong's ears.

His lips were trembling.

It's not because of the cold.

It was because he clearly realized one thing at that moment—

The Changsun family had stockpiled over a million catties of coarse salt in their salt shops.

Those stockpiles that were originally intended to be sold at exorbitant prices during the salt shortage.

now--

Everything became useless.

worthless.

His hands began to tremble, and the salt in his palms dripped down.

"Young Master..." a trusted aide called out cautiously.

Changsun Chong did not respond.

He stood on the bustling streets of the East Market, surrounded by the laughter of the people and their praise for the Royal Trading Company.

All he could hear was a buzzing sound in his ears.

The family's salt shop.

Family stockpiling.

The family's trump card.

It was crushed to dust within a single morning.

He didn't even know how he got back to the Changsun residence.

As I stood at the gate of the mansion, a fishy, ​​sweet taste suddenly welled up in my mouth.