Chapter 142: Paper is expensive in Huainan, interest chain When talking about sea salt drying, we naturally cannot fail to mention the development of ancient salt-making technology. Salt is a highly profitable industry in any era. Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty implemented the state-run salt and iron industries, salt and iron have always been controlled items. Every time the country encountered a financial crisis, it needed to find a way to recover the revenue from salt and iron. But during the Qin and Han dynasties, the method of producing salt was still extremely backward. There was only one way to make salt in this era - decoction. Whether it is sea salt, lake salt, well salt or rock salt, the method of making it is to boil brine containing salt until the water evaporates, and then the most primitive salt is obtained. Although this production method also involves a purification step, the output of refined salt is extremely small. There is often only a circle of white crystals on the edge of the pot, which can be sold as refined salt.

As for the colorful coarse salt at the bottom, it is the daily condiment for ordinary people. Qin Zhen had naturally eaten this kind of coarse salt. Because it contained a large amount of magnesium ions and impurities, it tasted bitter and astringent. Even refined salt has a slightly bitter taste. Under such circumstances, the wise working people naturally turned their attention to sea salt, thus forming the process of frying sea salt with brine. For example, the Mi family made their fortune by selling sea salt and seafood. However, the process of frying sea salt is complicated, the profit is far less than that of well salt, and the quality is low and cannot compare with well salt. Therefore, after the Mi family got rich, they turned their business into reselling goods. So when Mi Zhu heard Qin Zhen's method of drying salt, he was shocked. Not cooking, but drying! They have tried the method of drying salt. But the salt obtained by simply drying it in the sun is completely inedible. Some people will even turn their faces black after eating it, and their death is quite horrific. After failing to try, his family naturally gave up the idea. But now, Qin Zhen brought it up again, which immediately aroused his interest to the maximum, and he asked the same question as before. As long as Qin Zhen's method is not boasting, the huge economic benefits contained therein will be enough to make his Mi family rich! Seeing Mi Zhu's surprised look, Qin Zhen smiled and said: "Zi Zhong said this, how can Zhen be the kind of person who boasts nonsense!" "If I say there is a method, then there is a method. Moreover, the sea salt made according to my method is more delicious than the refined salt in the world today." It is to study mathematics, physics and chemistry and travel all over the world. As a science student, making coarse salt was extremely simple for him. As long as the black brine and yellow brine that already exist in this era are combined with adsorption, refined salt can be easily produced. This refined salt was a super commodity that was ahead of its time in that era. It was of high quality and low price, and could easily monopolize the salt production market.

Originally, he planned to use this method after he captured Jiangdong. But now seeing Mi Zhu's miserable look, he decided to take it out in advance. It just so happened that Chen Yu was pulled away from Haixi by Chen Deng. As the Mi family’s old nest, Haixi could be used as their enclave to produce salt. But as soon as he finished saying this, he saw that Mi Zhu's eyes changed when he looked at him. It was as if he had seen a peerless beauty. A pair of hands pulled him tightly and said excitedly: "Since you have this method, Military Advisor, please teach me quickly. Not only 30% to 70%, even 20% to 80% will do!" "But there is one thing, don't keep it to yourself, show it to me quickly!" Seeing how excited he was, Qin Zhen no longer hesitated. He immediately asked someone to bring paper and wrote down the salt-drying and purification processes. When Mi Zhu saw it, he felt like he had found a treasure and was overjoyed. But in his joy, he noticed the paper in his hand and said in surprise: "Is this the paper developed by the military advisor?" In addition to being a businessman, he was also a scholar and immediately noticed the uniqueness of the item in his hand. You should know that ordinary Cai Hou paper is made of tree bark, broken fishing nets, rags and hemp. It is heavy to hold and has a rough texture, making it easy to soak up ink. But the paper in his hand was quite thin, and its tone was lighter than the brown of Cai Hou paper, tending towards gray. The most important point is that the ink does not spread on the paper, and it looks much neater than Cai Hou paper. If Qin Zhen is developing this kind of paper, maybe it will be successful! But as soon as he finished speaking, Qin Zhen smiled and said: "It's just a semi-finished product. Since the workshop is not yet built, I will let the papermaker try it according to my method first." "The paper in Zizhong's hand is not a finished product." "But at most half a month, our army will be able to produce the first batch of paper!" When Mi Zhu heard this, he was confused. No, buddy, you really can do it? He originally thought that Qin Zhen was good at managing the army and governing the people, and might not be very proficient in these strange and tricky skills. He did not expect that Qin Zhen was very knowledgeable! If Qin Zhen continues like this, then why will they worry about money in the future? While thinking, he bowed to Qin Zhen and said in admiration: "The military advisor is truly a man of many talents. No wonder the lord always says that the military advisor is incomparable to the ancient sages." "Now that I see it, the military advisor is really talented in playing wind instruments. I really admire him!" When Qin Zhen saw him like this, he laughed and scolded: "Stop flattering me. If you have the prescription, just implement it. I only want money and food, and I don't care about anything else." As a result, Mi Zhu was not happy when he heard it, and immediately stated that he was not flattering, and his admiration for the military advisor was like the endless flow of the river and the unstoppable flooding of the Yellow River. In short, after getting the salt-drying recipe, he never bothered Qin Zhen again. However, when Qin Zhen's workshop was half built, he asked Mi Zhu to send people to Jingzhou to purchase sugarcane. Sugarcane in this era is called "zhe", and it has been the raw material for making sugar as far back as the Shang and Zhou dynasties.

By the Eastern Han Dynasty, sugar production had begun. It’s just that in this era it is like brown sugar, a rare luxury. Similar to what ordinary people can access, most of them are maltose. For example, when Qin Zhen took the children out to have fun, the only candy they bought was maltose. He thought that since he had already made refined salt, he might as well make white sugar as well. Mi Zhu no longer resisted Qin Zhen's request and simply sent people to Jingzhou to purchase. In late October, thanks to Qin Zhen's efforts, the first batch of Xuan paper was successfully launched. When Xuan paper appeared, it immediately attracted the craziness of the Huainan gentry. Otherwise, it is said that the scholars of this era are miserable. Since there was no suitable carrier of knowledge for a long time, the mainstream of this era was still the use of bamboo slips. But bamboo slips are expensive, heavy, and inconvenient to store. To give a simple example, the length of bamboo slips of this era is generally about one to two feet. One bamboo slip can write more than 20 characters, and a roll of bamboo slips can have about 600 characters. A long work like "The Analects of Confucius" with more than 15,000 words requires a total of 27 volumes and weighs 100 kilograms. For example, his father-in-law Cai Yong claimed to have a collection of ten thousand books, but in fact he only had a few hundred books. But these hundreds of books consumed all of his father-in-law's money. As a result, Cai Yong lived in poverty for many years, and even his wife and Cai Zhenji had a very poor childhood. In contrast, the collection of books by aristocratic families also costs a lot of money. The collection of books is secondary. The key is that the children's practice, writing, and correspondence all cost a lot of money. Now that Qin's paper has come out, it naturally attracted a large number of purchases from aristocratic families. However, the people who buy the most paper are not outsiders, but their own people. People like Zhang Fei and Qiao Rui usually have to read some military books, and it is always inconvenient for them to write or draw. So when they see good things like rice paper, they naturally buy it first. People like Sun Qian, Jian Yong, Mi Zhu, Liu Fu, Yuan Huan and others naturally gave their full support. The most terrifying among them are Shi Yi Guan, Zong Cheng, Tao Qiuhong, Zheng Hun and others. These people were all famous scholars in the Eastern Han Dynasty. They came from well-off families and each of them bought more than a dozen bundles of Huai paper. You must know that the paper sold by Qin Zhen was not cheap. A bundle of paper cost tens of thousands of coins. But even so, it did not stop these scholars' enthusiasm for paper. So the first batch of Huai paper alone sold for over a million dollars! The cost, including labor and raw materials, was less than 100,000 yuan. Liu Bei was shocked by the tenfold profit margin, thinking that he couldn't even rob money that fast! After seeing such benefits, Liu Bei immediately decided to build more workshops and fully support the production of the papermaking workshop. As a result, thousands of refugees were mobilized to build additional workshops, and a large number of paper workshops were built at the same time. But even so, paper is still in short supply.

After all, although Huainan suffered a disaster, the aristocratic families were still rich. It often cost tens of thousands of coins to deposit a book, but only a thousand coins were needed to replace paper. The gentry were not fools, and they naturally started to purchase paper when they saw the profit. For a time, the reputation of Huainan paper being expensive gradually spread. In just one month, Liu Bei's army plundered a full 20 million yuan. The profit was so high that it was simply staggering. At the same time, under Mi Zhu's operation, the first batch of sea salt was quietly launched in Xuzhou. Of course, this salt was made by Mi Zhu's family. But in order not to arouse Lu Bu's vigilance, Qin Zhen taught Mi Zhu a trick to convert exports into domestic sales! The salt was first produced in Haixi, then transported by water to Zhongli County on the border of Jiujiang, replaced with their military flags, and then transported to Xuzhou for sale. Since Qin Zhen and Lu Bu had reached a trade agreement before, and Liu Bei later offered the agreed money after he captured Xincai, Lu Bu gave him face and rescinded the checkpoint tax on Liu Bei's army. Of course, in order to successfully open up the market, Qin Zhen also suggested that Mi Zhu give the profits to Lu Bu in two parts. As a result, the first batch of 900 shi of refined salt was put into the market and sold at a price of 120 coins per catty, with a total profit of nearly 13 million coins. After dividing the profits in a 30:70 ratio, Mi Zhu made a one-time profit of nearly four million coins. Liu Bei made a profit of more than 7 million coins, and 2 million coins went into Lu Bu's pocket. Seeing this, Lu Bu was naturally overjoyed. He did not know how to govern, and his way of making money was mostly looting. He had never seen an army like Liu Bei's, who came to do business and took the initiative to share the money. So after receiving the first batch of dividends, he excitedly told everyone he met: "I have always said that Xuan De is kind and righteous, and today I have indeed seen that. He will fulfill all the promises he made to me!" "Now I have received a million yuan in profits from the sale of salt. This shows that Xuande is a truly kind-hearted man!" Chen Gong naturally looked down on Lu Bu, thinking that others were eating meat while he was drinking soup, and he became like this just by smelling a little fragrance. You know, it is not a good thing for them for Liu Bei to make money. So he advised Lu Bu: "The benefits of salt tax are great. Liu Bei lives in Huainan, where there is no place to produce salt. What he produces must be sea salt." "Our army is near the sea in Xuzhou. Why don't we betray Liu Bei, raid the Mi family, and obtain the salt-making method for our army?" He naturally didn't know how Qin Zhen made the refined salt, but he knew it was most likely with the help of the Mi family. As long as they send troops to Haixi, they can seize the secret recipe from the Mi family and use it to make money. But when Lu Bu heard this, he flew into a rage and scolded Chen Gong: "You are also a famous scholar in Yanzhou. You have read Confucianism. How could you not know the way of benevolence and righteousness?" "Xuan De treats me like this, how can I ruin his marriage?" "Although you have this intention, I don't want to do it." Of course he makes high profits from salt, but he doesn't know how to do business. Rather than betraying your loyalty and attacking others, it is better to just lie down and collect the money. Moreover, he now has more than one strategist, Chen Gong. He also has Qin Song to use, so naturally he will not be misled by Chen Gong again.

So Lu Bu not only did not move his troops to attack, but on the contrary he issued a death order that no customs duties could be collected privately from any goods belonging to Liu Bei's army. Chen Gong was naturally unhappy about this and wanted to join Qin Song in advising him. But Qin Song ignored him at all. As for Liu Bei's army, Qin Song had only one idea: don't provoke them if you can. Therefore, not only did he not persuade Lu Bu to go south, he also persuaded Lu Bu to go north to attack Zang Ba and plot against Qingzhou. Lu Bu readily agreed to this, and thus inadvertently changed the original course of history. Of course, these are things to follow. At this time, as the interest chain between the two parties was formed, Liu Bei's army also had stable profits. Just when Qin Zhen wanted to proceed to the next step to rectify education, Jian Yong brought him a piece of news. Their spies found traces of Taishi Ci. PS: I was delayed by something today, I'm sorry. I just realized that the title number of the previous chapter was written wrong. I was really confused today. (End of this chapter)