Yan Jue picked up a pinch of salt with his fingernail and put it in his mouth to taste. Other than the saltiness, there were also various strange flavors mixed in. This taste made his expression instantly contort. He spat it out and quickly drank a mouthful of water to rinse his mouth.
He pointed at the yellow salt and said angrily,""Is this salt? This was poison. If one ate too much of it, they would die. Even having diarrhea could kill them. Could the soldiers still fight after eating this salt?”
Old Cheng said unhappily," I know this is salt. This is the kind of salt used in the army. It doesn't matter if you break it and rub it fine. What kind of salt do you want to eat?" Fine salt or green salt? That was for the rich to clean their mouths. A catty of salt cost 500 copper coins, and a meal in the army would cost dozens of catties of salt lumps. He did not see anything wrong with it. Other than the royal family, who could afford it? The salt in one meal was enough to buy half a wife.”
Alright, you guys are poor, but you guys are reasonable, alright?
Yan Jue explained," Uncle Cheng, you can't eat this salt. It's poisonous salt that hasn't been refined. If you eat this poisonous salt all year round, even a man made of iron will collapse at the age of 40."”
Yan Jue felt that it was necessary to explain to these crude people,"This contains a large amount of nitre, phosphorous, potassium, and some other toxic substances. If you eat too much, your whole body will turn purple and your intestines will be pulled out. This needs to be crushed, dissolved, filtered, and then eaten after many processes. Eating this salt now is equivalent to chronic suicide.”
"So you have a way to extract salt from the salt mine?" Old Cheng's eyes lit up.”
"Is it that difficult to extract salt? A sieve and a few large iron pots were enough.”
Old Cheng and Old Cow were so excited that their bodies were trembling. Old Cow even picked Yan Jue up and blew on his beard as he panted heavily."You really can extract salt?”
"I'm not lying to you."
The old bull's eyes were red as he said," The Turks have been invading us year after year. The trade route to Shandong has been cut off, and the salt from there cannot be transported over. We can only eat this coarse salt. The soldiers 'bodies are getting weaker day by day, so how could the Head Chief and I not know?”
"If you can really extract salt from the poisonous salt, just with this merit alone, the Head Chief and I can fight for a title of nobility for you. His Majesty said that he would give you a marquis for your extraordinary merit. As long as we can get rid of the salt shortage, our Great Tang soldiers will only need a year and a half to recover their strength before we can wipe out those Turks. This is a feat that will last for thousands of years.”
The more Old Cow spoke, the more excited he became. Old Cheng was even more excited. He pulled Yan Jue's arm and walked out. As they walked, he said,"We'll make salt now. When we succeed, I'll report to His Majesty and ask for a title for you.”
"Salt making is just a small matter. Uncle Cheng, don't worry.”
"How can I not be anxious if I can eat less poisonous salt?" Old Cheng said anxiously. Not only does the army lack salt, but the people of the world also lack salt. If you succeed in making salt, your contribution will be to the country. Not only will His Majesty be grateful to you, but the people of the world will also be grateful to you.”
Yan Jue was dumbfounded when he saw Old Cheng pulling him to the reserve camp.
The entire tent was filled with bags of salt lumps. They were picked out from the salt mine, but they were still light brown.
A group of people surrounded them. Old Cheng turned around and said in a deep voice,""You want to see salt production? Sure, remember to leave the eyeballs behind after you finish reading.”
With a whoosh, dozens of reserve soldiers ran faster than rabbits.
"Uncle Cheng, I can't do all this work alone, right?" Yan Jue frowned. Moreover, if he wanted to extract more salt, he couldn't do it without people. He couldn't possibly ask him to refine it every time he ate it, right?”
Old Cheng nodded in confusion."You're right. I'll go and select some strong soldiers. If it's feasible, we'll slow down the march for the next few days and see if there are any salt mines nearby. If there are, we'll extract more."”
Old Cheng found hundreds of young soldiers, a few large iron pots, grinding discs, gauze for filtering, and a few dry wooden stakes from a nearby uninhabited village to prop up the boiler.
He ordered someone to pour a sack of salt into the grinding stone and grind it. The powder that came out was poured into a wooden barrel and mixed evenly with water.
He used a few layers of gauze to wrap the big iron pot and poured the turbid liquid in the wooden bucket into the iron pot. A layer of grain-like impurities appeared on the gauze.
The liquid in the iron pot was still turbid. After filtering it five or six times, the water in the iron pot turned beige.
At this time, he got someone to start a fire. The raging fire quickly evaporated the water in the iron pot. When there was no more water, he looked carefully and saw a thick layer of white crystals inside the iron pot.
Using a shovel to scoop a piece, Yan Jue placed it in his mouth and tasted it before spitting it out. He nodded and said,"Not bad, you can eat it. The toxic components have been filtered out. This is what humans eat. The salt lumps you eat are poison.”
Old Cheng and Old Cow rushed over impatiently. They broke off two pieces of salt the size of fingernails and put them in their mouths. Their salty expressions were twisted as they were unwilling to spit it out. They were not afraid of turning into bats.
Cheng Chumo gave him a thumbs up and chuckled."Yan Jue, you're really something to be able to comprehend such a complicated salt making process.”
Yan Jue looked at him with disdain. It was scary to be ignorant.
Old Cheng suppressed his excitement and asked,""Nephew, the salt production problem that has not been thoroughly solved for generations has been solved by you in a few moves. How do you know this salt production method?”
"This is all taught by the teacher. It's half chemistry and half physics. This is just the tip of the iceberg.”
"What else is there to learn?" Old Cheng asked anxiously.
Yan Jue tilted his head and thought for a moment. He counted his fingers and said,"There's chemistry, physics, mathematics, astronomy, geography, mechanical drawing, engineering, water conservancy, construction, and so on. There's too many of them.”
These people had never heard of such knowledge before. Old Cheng and Old Cow looked at each other, their faces filled with shock.
Although he couldn't understand it, it sounded very high-class.
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This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]