Chapter 19 Where did you get this white salt?

Because that dish of salt is of such high quality!

Even the emperor had never seen such fine white salt.

Because in the Qin Dynasty people only had one way to make salt.

That is to draw brine and boil salt.

Brine is water containing a high concentration of salt, which can be obtained from seawater or salt well water.

Edible salt is produced by heating brine to evaporate the water.

But the raw materials of brine contain a lot of impurities such as soil.

Therefore, the salt produced will be a little yellow and taste salty and bitter.

Only a very small number of salt wells have brine with few impurities and can produce relatively white salt.

Such salt would be listed as tribute salt and used by the palace and ministers.

But Zhao Yi's salt is even whiter and finer than the tribute salt.

Ying Zheng dipped his finger in it and put it in his mouth.

Very salty but not bitter at all!

This salt is better than the tribute salt I use!
Is there a better salt well in Shahe Village?

Ying Zheng looked up and asked, "Zhao boy, where did you get this white salt? Official salt is not of this quality, right?"

"Of course the village made it itself."

If someone else had said this to Ying Zheng about making smuggled salt.

It had been captured by Ying Zheng's troops long ago.

But this is Zhao Yi.

It is normal for someone who always thinks about rebellion to engage in smuggling salt.

You should know that salt is not only a condiment, but also a material strictly controlled by the state.

Because it is a necessity for human beings, it is impossible for human beings to live without salt.

Even part of the salary of Qin officials and soldiers was paid in the form of salt.

This results in a huge profit margin and the ability to create huge wealth.

Therefore, during the Spring and Autumn Period, Guan Zhong of Qi State established a salt monopoly system, providing Qi State with an important source of tax revenue.

Then the Qin Dynasty went a step further. Shang Yang formulated and implemented the Qin Dynasty's official salt system - salt was concentrated in the government, and the circulation and allocation were organized by the government.

As a result, the financial revenue of the Qin Dynasty increased greatly, laying the financial foundation for the Qin Dynasty to conquer the six kingdoms later.

From then on, the sale of salt began to be monopolized by the state, and salt could only be sold with state approval.

If anyone sells salt privately, he will be sentenced to death if caught, as a warning to others.

Ying Zheng didn't care about Zhao Yi's private salt business. He was more concerned about why Zhao Yi and his private salt were so good.

"Oh, this is the private salt made by your village. But why is it so white?"

Zhao Yi replied: "Of course it's because I have a method to make this salt?"

For Zhao Yi, who has received modern compulsory education, there is no need for a system to teach him how to make salt.

Because the method of making table salt is very simple, when the saturation of sodium chloride solution is too high, sodium chloride will precipitate.

The prepared salt is then melted again and impurities are filtered out, followed by a second precipitation to obtain pure white salt.

But the ancients had not received modern scientific education, so they only knew how to make salt by boiling brine but were not clear about the principles of salt making.

Therefore, people could only slowly explore based on experience, and it was not until the Tang Dynasty that they figured out how to make white salt.

Ying Zheng asked, "So is this salt-making method for sale?"

He wanted to know how to make this pure white salt.

Then he could order the craftsmen to make this salt.

At that time, we will sell it at a high price to the noble families to increase the financial revenue of the Qin Dynasty.

Ying Zheng was well aware that this white salt had huge commercial value.

Because it has no bitter taste.

No wonder the food in Shahe Village is so delicious.

Of course Zhao Yi offered a high price for his scumbag father.

"Five thousand coins."

In addition, Zhao Yi's evaluation of his scumbag father's family background has risen to a higher level.

Since the scumbag dad wants to buy this, it means he has the official qualification to sell salt.

This qualification was only available to merchants with close ties to the upper echelons of the Qin Dynasty. "Deal." Ying Zheng agreed without hesitation.

Because he won’t lose.

He believed that this salt could bring tens of thousands of coins of fiscal revenue to Daqin every year.

Zhao Yi planned to give his scumbag father the salt-making method of the salt fields.

It is very convenient for the scumbag dad to make a lot of salt.

It can supply the army and also provide salt for itself.

You should know that salt is also an important chemical raw material.

After the deal was reached, Zhao Yi taught Ying Zheng and Wang Jian the method of brushing teeth with Baxter.

Ying Zheng and Wang Jian brushed their teeth carefully with salt water for three minutes.

After all, having experienced toothache, they naturally don’t want to feel the pain again.

I didn’t know how to protect my teeth before, but now I know and I brush my teeth carefully.

After brushing their teeth, Ying Zheng and Zhao Yi sat in the pavilion waiting for breakfast to be served.

A moment later, the villagers pushed a cart and brought the breakfast that Ying Zheng and his companions had been waiting for.

Soon all the breakfast was on the table.

There are tofu pudding, barbecued pork buns, white porridge, peanuts, and soy milk.

Ying Zheng looked at the breakfast on the table and said excitedly, "Zhao, can you please tell us what these are and how to eat them?"

Zhao Yi pointed at the tofu pudding and said, "This is called tofu pudding."

Wang Jian asked: "What kind of brain is this? Is it made of beans?"

“Yes, it’s made from soybeans.”

Ying Zheng was surprised and said, "Ah? Soybeans can be made into delicate dishes like egg custard?"

Ying Zheng felt that the cooking skills of the chef from Shahe Village were simply amazing.

Soybeans can be made into this kind of delicate soup.

Compared with the imperial chefs in the palace, they are completely defeated.

Ying Zheng and his companion tasted the tofu pudding with a spoon and were conquered by its taste.

It does not have the fishy smell of egg custard, and tastes fragrant and smooth.

Zhao Yi continued to introduce: "This is soy milk, or soy milk."

"I've only heard of cow's milk, human milk. I've never heard of soy milk."

“Beans can be made into milk?”

It is normal that Ying Zheng and Wang Jian did not know soy milk and tofu pudding.

Because soy milk and tofu pudding only appeared during the Western Han Dynasty.

Rumor has it that it was invented by Liu An, the King of Huainan in the Western Han Dynasty when he was making elixirs.

"Soybean milk is made by soaking soybeans, grinding them into powder, and then cooking them."

Ying Zheng took a sip of the soy milk and it didn't have much of a bean smell.

The taste is pretty good, I asked the imperial chef to imitate it when I got home.

“In fact, tofu pudding is made from soy milk.”

Wang Jian looked at the tofu pudding and then at the soy milk in his hand.

"Can soy milk be used to make tofu pudding?"

"You just need to drop some brine into soy milk, and then the soy milk can be turned into tofu pudding. If you press the tofu pudding to remove the water, it can also become a food called tofu."

Ying Zheng said with emotion: "I didn't expect that there are so many ways to cook soybeans."

Originally, Ying Zheng liked soybeans very much.

Because it is difficult to digest and causes bloating.

As a result, today he discovered two delicious ways to eat soybeans from Zhao Yi.

I really admire the fact that Shahe Village has done so much research on food. Even the imperial chefs in the palace are not as good as this one.

Wang Jian on the side put a peanut into his mouth and chewed it.

He was immediately attracted by the taste of peanuts.

This taste goes really well with wine!
"Zhao boy, what is this?"

……

(End of this chapter)