Read Novel Full Chapter 829 - 7: Producing New Sea Salt
Chapter 829: Chapter 7: Producing New Sea Salt
Salt is as important as grain. Without grain, people starve; without salt, they fall ill. Any anomaly in grain or salt can cause public panic. If the situation is severe, it might even lead to riots. Therefore, the prices of grain and salt cannot be too high. If they soar, it indicates trouble.
The prices of salt and grain in Great Zhou are somewhat lower than during the previous dynasty. During the previous dynasty’s riots, the prices were absurdly high, making it impossible for ordinary people to afford them. Consequently, most people either starved or died from illnesses due to the lack of salt.
The former emperor, upon ascending the throne, first took measures to forcibly lower the prices of grain and salt, restoring them to normal levels so that the people could afford them.
Back then, the wealthy merchants and noble families that controlled grain and salt were greatly dissatisfied with this policy and attempted to oppose the court. However, they were suppressed by the Crown Prince, who is now the emperor, leading an army.
To stabilize the prices of grain and salt, the emperor executed many grain and salt merchants that year.
Although grain merchants were rampant, they were not as vicious and ruthless as the salt merchants. After being suppressed, the grain merchants became obedient, no longer daring to cause trouble, but the salt merchants remained arrogant.
In recent years, the Yangzhou Family were so domineering mainly because of their collusion with the ruthless Yangzhou salt merchants. At that time, during the emperor’s military suppression, the Yangzhou salt merchants suffered the most casualties, leading to deep hatred for the emperor and the court.
After ascending the throne, the emperor issued numerous decrees to rectify the salt prices, particularly focusing on Yangzhou.
Yangzhou’s salt is the best in Great Zhou and is tribute salt. Moreover, Yangzhou produces a significant amount of salt annually. If Yangzhou’s salt prices are excessively high, it would undoubtedly affect the entire salt market in Great Zhou, causing widespread public dissatisfaction.
The court’s suppression of Yangzhou’s salt prices intensified the salt merchants’ hatred toward the court. They conspired with the noble families and officials to control the entire salt market in Yangzhou, secretly exporting the salt overseas, thereby wreaking havoc on Great Zhou’s salt market.
Both the former emperor and the current emperor were aware that the Yangzhou salt merchants wouldn’t remain compliant and anticipated their clandestine activities to manipulate Great Zhou’s salt prices, thus laying arrangements in Yangzhou early on. This was the reason the emperor eradicated the Yangzhou noble families, officials, and salt merchants.
Only after the arrogant Yangzhou salt merchants were eliminated did the salt prices in Great Zhou stabilize. Now, salt in Great Zhou costs five hundred cash per stone, while during the previous dynasty, it cost as much as eight thousand cash per stone.
The salt in Great Zhou mostly consists of well salt, alkaline salt, and sea salt, inherited from the previous dynasty. Among these, well salt is the best, while alkaline salt and sea salt are unpalatable.
Compared to Zhao Yao’s dreamed world, Great Zhou’s salt production technology is very backward. Take sea salt, for example. People simply dry seawater into salt, which is coarse and unpalatable, albeit very cheap.
Only those living by the sea consume sea salt. Lingnan’s people have always eaten sea salt. Of course, Lingnan also sells good salt, but the prices are exorbitant, unaffordable for ordinary people.
When Zhao Yao visited Lingnan, he brought tribute salt from the capital. However, he found it quite inferior compared to the salt from his dreamed world. The salt in Zhou’s world is coarse like pebbles and hardly dissolves in cooking.
He Lianfang suddenly asked, "What is the current salt price in Great Zhou?"
"In the capital, it’s four hundred cash per stone; mostly, it’s this price. In some remote areas, it might be higher, but it doesn’t exceed one thousand cash per stone." Having investigated the types and prices of salt in Great Zhou before visiting Lingnan, Zhao Yao replied.
"Do you find four hundred cash per stone expensive?" He Lianfang considered it quite cheap.
"Not expensive for us, but for many common folks, it is," Zhao Yao remarked, recalling the rampant and rampant issue of salt merchants and his face turned grim. "Although since the previous dynasty, only the court could produce and sell salt, prohibiting private sales, the reality is, private salt trading remains rampant. Without mentioning other places, the salt merchants in Jiangnan have never disappeared."
He Lianfang observed objectively, "Salt merchants can never be completely eradicated."