In modern terms, these things could be collectively referred to as strategic resources!
If he had complete control over these strategic resources, then his status and influence would be too great!
He was so powerful that even Li Shiming, the greatest emperor in history, did not dare to act rashly against him!
Because if anything happened to Li Ke, the impact and implications would be too great!
For the same reason, when Li Shi Min chose the Crown Prince, he would also consider this issue.
If Li Ke was chosen as the Crown Prince and became the third Emperor of the Great Tang Empire, then everything would naturally be peaceful and there would be no turmoil.
However, if he did not choose Li Ke as the Crown Prince, no matter who Li Shimin chose to be the next Emperor, he would have to listen to Li Ke.
Because as long as Li Ke was unhappy and controlled the grain and oil market a little, the world would be in chaos!
Li Shi Min himself had killed his brothers to ascend the throne, so he naturally wouldn't want to see his own son suffer a tragedy of brothers killing each other.
Therefore, Li Shi Min's only choice was to choose Li Ke as the Crown Prince!
And this was the benefit of controlling strategic resources!
This was also the reason why he was so confident when he saw the three trees with luxuriant leaves!
Moreover, it was not just the three items of firewood, rice, and oil. There were other strategic resources behind them!
"We've already talked about the firewood, rice, and oil. We have to talk about the equally important salt!”
"Salt was a very important resource in ancient times. Even private individuals could not operate the salt industry. It was all specially operated by the government.”
"That's right, but I only ate coarse salt at that time. The quality of the salt was very poor, and the taste was not very good.”
"OP, you can ask Li Shiming for the salt management rights, then go to the seaside and dig a batch of salt pans to dry the salt. Using advanced technology, you can produce exquisite snowflake salt in large quantities at a low cost!”
"After all, salt cannot be sold privately. I suggest that the building owner and Li Shimin cooperate to open a royal salt company. The building owner will provide the salt, and Li Shimin will provide the business license.”
"That's good. As long as the OP shows Li Shiming the snowflake salt and tells him that it's cheap and produced in large quantities, Li Shiming will definitely be tempted!”
"It seems like 50% of the profits have been split, but the other 50% is in the hands of the owner. Moreover, the production of sea salt is also the responsibility of the owner. The owner can also reasonably control a strategic resource, once again increasing his foundation and influence!”
"Moreover, salt is something that needs to be used for every meal. If we really spread it and occupy the market, we can also earn a huge amount of wealth!”
After firewood, rice, and oil, it was naturally salt.
Salt was a very important resource. In ancient times, it was as important as iron!
In ancient times, grain could be bought and sold privately, but salt and iron could not!
Iron could not be bought and sold privately. Everyone naturally knew the reason. It was because iron could be used to forge weapons!
If someone sold a large amount of iron to an enemy country, it would be equivalent to sending weapons to the enemy. This was obviously absolutely not allowed!
And even if they didn't sell it to enemy countries, if some ambitious person bought a large amount of iron resources and forged their own weapons, it would still be a serious threat to the imperial court.
Therefore, private trading of iron was strictly prohibited.
As for salt, although it was far less threatening than iron, it was still a necessity.
The profits were huge!
From the Spring and Autumn Warring States Period, Guan Zhong began to implement salt and iron monopoly.
At that time, the emperors discovered the huge profits that salt brought, so they directly made salt a resource exclusively owned by the government.
The reason why only the government was allowed to sell it and not private ones was because it was too profitable!
First of all, with such a huge profit, the imperial court would naturally have a large amount of income from the national treasury. Whether it was used for the people's livelihood or the army, it was not bad.
Secondly, if such a huge profit was earned by private individuals, it would be an extremely unstable factor for the imperial power.
Therefore, salt was designated as a resource exclusively owned by the government, and private transactions were not allowed.
In the Tang Dynasty, once one participated in the illegal sale of salt, the lighter punishment was to receive a spine cane, and the heavier punishment was to be directly exiled!
The most severe case was even the death penalty!
Therefore, if one wanted to do salt business in the Tang Dynasty, they still couldn't avoid Li Shimin.
"The quality and taste of the salt in ancient times were indeed not good. It was far inferior to the refined salt in modern times.”
"The simplest way is to dig a salt pan by the sea and dry the sea salt. As long as the sea salt is dried and processed into refined salt, it will definitely be a mess in the market!”
"But other than sea salt, well salt cannot be ignored. It is also a major source of salt!”
Li Ke didn't neglect well and mineral salt because of sea salt. He believed that the two were equally important!
Because sea salt was produced from the sun, and sun salt required a very important condition, sunlight!
The spicier the sun, the better!
Therefore, the golden period of salt drying was from June to September every year. This was the time when the temperature was the highest and the sun was the most poisonous.
Under such weather conditions, it was naturally very smooth to dry the salt.
However, in winter, the temperature was low and the sun was not strong enough. The efficiency of drying salt was definitely not as good as in summer.
The amount of salt that would be produced would definitely be much less.
However, the amount of salt consumed every day would not change with the season. If there was less sea salt, it would naturally cause a shortage of salt.
At this time, he needed well salt to replenish it!
Well salt was the salt extracted from the ground by mining. It was also the main source of salt for ancient people.
This was not affected by the season, but by the mining technology.
As long as he brought the advanced mining technology over, the output and quality of the well salt could also be greatly improved.
However, salt wells were needed for well salt, so there was a cost. Sea salt came from seawater, so there was almost no cost.
"Although there is a certain cost, it is still safer to walk on two legs.”
Li Ke's personality and style of doing things were more stable.
He felt that sea salt alone wasn't enough. It had to be combined with well salt to be perfect!
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