Qin Mo practiced his spear every day, traveling back and forth between the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Qin Manor. Occasionally, he would write letters to Zhangsun Wuyou, who looked like Empress Zhangsun.
Zhangsun Chong had already taken on the role of a messenger. Not only did he help his sister, Zhangsun Wuyou, send it off, but he also helped his cousin, Li Lizhi, send it off.
Ever since he learned of the serious consequences of inbreeding, Zhangsun Chong had already given up on treatment and had completely become Qin Mo's fan.
Qin Mo wrote a letter to Sister Worriless in the style of a manga, and he packed it up for Zhangsun Chong to take away.
Then, he started to look at the academy's account book.
This account book was organized by Ma Zhou. Ever since he learned Arabic numbers, Qin Mo had also taught him the modern credit and loan bookkeeping method.
Ma Zhou was shocked and felt that this method would benefit the world greatly. As a result, as his practice partner, the academy's account book was handled by him.
Looking at the expenditure on the account book, Qin Mo could not help but frown." Why is this salt so expensive?”
The price of salt recorded on it had actually reached 200 wen per 500 grams!
That was the price of pork.
Salt was more expensive than meat. This was simply outrageous.
In the future, salt was cheaper than a bottle of mineral water. Qin Mo, who was used to cheap salt, could not stand such an outrageous price.
Moreover, this was coarse salt, the kind that had sand mixed in. Green salt, which was fine salt, had to be consistent. Only the rich and powerful could afford it. Moreover, it was mostly used to brush their teeth.
Ma Zhou said," Guanzhong doesn't produce salt. The salt in Chang 'an City is transported from Shandong, so it's naturally more expensive.”
Nowadays, salt was boiled. Even the people by the sea did not know how to dry salt. The perfect method of drying salt would only be perfected during the Qing Dynasty.
Boiling salt consumed a lot of firewood and grass, and it was laborious. Shandong was so far away from Guanzhong, so it was naturally expensive to transport it over such a long distance.
"Why was it only 100 coins a few days ago, but now it has risen to 300 coins?”
In just a few days, the price of salt had tripled.
Ma Zhou said," There are many salt merchants in the city that have closed down. Most of these salt merchants belong to the five surnames and seven Wangs.”
Qin Mo understood.
The core forces of the Five Surnames and Seven Wangs were all beheaded by Li Er. Their heads were rolling down. The blood in the East Market did not even dry up, and the skyrocketing grain prices fell.
However, the Five Families and Seven Wangs did not dare to fight back, so they shut down the salt shops and grain shops in Chang 'an to give Li Er a soft fight.
In this way, the market in Chang 'an was short of salt, and the price of salt rose accordingly.
"Is there a salt mine in Guanzhong?" Qin Mo set his sights on the salt mine.
Guanzhong does not produce salt?
That was impossible. There were many salt mines in Guanzhong, but the people of the Tang Empire did not know how to filter and purify the salt mines. These salt mines were regarded as poisonous salt, and eating them would cause poisoning. In serious cases, they could even lose their lives.
"Director, those salt mines are poisonous and cannot be eaten.”Although Ma Zhou was a genius, he knew nothing about chemistry.
Turning salt mines into table salt was only a small experiment in the future, but no one in the Great Tang knew about it.
Qin Mo rubbed his chin. This seemed to be a way to earn money.
Since ancient times, salt and iron had profiteering profits. During the Zhenguan period, the city tax was implemented, which meant that anyone could sell salt in the market, and the court was only responsible for collecting taxes.
For Qin Mo, who had mastered the salt-making method, this was a profitable industry.
With the huge profits from selling salt, the nine-year compulsory education seemed to be able to be implemented in Chang 'an.
Looking at the anxious Ma Zhou, Qin Mo smiled and said," Have you forgotten that I'm the president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences? A mere salt mine is nothing. I have a way to turn a salt mine into table salt.”
If the poisonous salt could be turned into table salt, there would naturally be no shortage of salt.
Ma Zhou said excitedly," Really?"
He was still a little skeptical.
Qin Mo said," Of course, it's just a piece of cake.”
While Qin Mo and Ma Zhou were discussing how to turn the salt mine into table salt, the officials of the Great Tang were also anxious about the soaring price of salt.
Li Er was so anxious that his mouth was bubbling.
Longyou was still not peaceful. The Turks invaded the border every year. Cheng Yaojin, who was stationed there, sent an urgent report saying that the army was short of salt. The soldiers could only eat vinegar and cloth. Their bodies were weakening day by day. They would not be able to pick up their weapons even before the Turks attacked.
Of course, this was an exaggeration.
However, the soaring price of salt was also an ironclad fact. The price of salt in Chang 'an City was already 300 wen per catty. One could imagine the price of salt in Longyou.
The common people could not afford salt, which was also a major problem.
Li Er had no way to deal with the soft confrontation between the five surnames and the seven Wangs. He couldn't put the knife on their necks.
"Your Majesty, the price of salt in Guanzhong has risen three times a day. The people can't afford salt and their bodies are getting weaker. Otherwise, before the Turks could attack, our people would have fallen.”During the court meeting, Wei Zheng raised this question.
Li Er said," Dear ministers, is there any way to alleviate the crisis of salt shortage?”
Wei Zheng said," Your Majesty, you can issue a decree that the salt merchants are not allowed to raise the price.”
As soon as he said this, a censor jumped out." Wei Zuocheng's words are wrong. Are the salt merchants not citizens of the Tang Empire? Even if we order them to sell at a loss, it won't last long. By then, I'm afraid the common people won't even be able to buy salt.”
At this moment, Wei Zheng's official position was Minister Zuo Cheng.
The speaker who jumped out was Dou Huai, a member of the Dou family, Li Er's mother.
Dou Zhun's words received the support of many officials.
The cunning old man glanced at Dou Zhun and said," Your Majesty, lowering the price is not a long-term solution. The key is to increase the supply of salt.”
The reason for the rise in salt prices, other than the salt merchants hiding behind the scenes to stir up trouble, was mainly due to the lack of salt supply.
The Dou family had a salt shop, and it involved their own interests, so they naturally wouldn't give in.
However, Li Er could lower the price of salt, but if those salt shops closed down, there was nothing he could do.
Even if they didn't close the shop, the salt would be sold out. What would the common people eat?
The key problem was still the lack of salt.
"Ancestors, do you have a way to increase the salt supply?”Li Er's face was as dark as water. These nobles all claimed that they were loyal to the emperor and loved their country, but what they did was to poach the Great Tang's people. This made Li Er gnash his teeth in hatred.
He couldn't conjure salt, so what could he do? The cunning old man could only say," The imperial court should transport salt from Shandong and other places as soon as possible.”
It was as if he had not said anything.
However, the others had no other choice. Even Fang Mou Du Duan only proposed to transport salt from Shandong. However, the water from afar could not quench the thirst of the present. Now the people of Chang 'an could not afford to eat salt.
Qin Mo was the culprit behind the current situation in Chang 'an. If he hadn't invented movable type printing, which made the aristocratic families angry at Li Er and then beheaded him, they would not have closed the salt shop and would not have lacked salt.
Qin Mo, this butterfly, flapped his wings and led the Great Tang on a different path.
After the court meeting, Li Er called the old man, Fang Xuanling, and Du Ruhui over for a meeting. However, after a long discussion, they still did not come up with a plan.
Li Er became even more impatient." How dare these profiteers deceive me? Could it be that my steel knife is not good enough?”
" It's useless even if we kill them," the old woman said." It won't change the situation of salt shortage."”
The Shandong gentry held the largest share of the salt market. Now that they had given up and refused to transport salt to Chang 'an, what else could they do?
"Is there no way to solve the salt shortage crisis?”Li Er felt a headache coming on. Even if he was facing a powerful enemy, he was not so powerless.
Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui looked at each other and smiled bitterly. They had no clue at all.
The old man was silent for a moment before he suddenly said," Perhaps there is someone who can resolve this crisis!”
"Who is it?" Li Er and the others looked at him.
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